Dungeon Raider System
Chapter 672 - 672: The scholar and the beast

Unbeknownst to the group, Medusa was right in the sense that the explosion that took place in the lost city of San Antonio didn't go unnoticed.

Authorities from Hollywood city in the west were trying to gather as much information as they could thanks to the hunters whose traits allowed to surpass the limits of human senses, but those who could see far in the distance didn't have night vision and those who did have night vision lacked the ability to see from afar.

There were some hunters with extra sensory perception, but it was also limited and didn't work well at such distance. At least not as well as Sam's lightbringer trait which allowed him to see as far and wide as he wished, his only limitation being physical objects.

But if Sam saw the explosion or if he cared in the first place remained a mystery. Just like Uriel expected, no one showed up. No one from Hollywood, no one from the megacity of Texas that was in the middle of being rebuilt and of course, Jon didn't show up either.

It was a basic human instinct to run away from danger, a basic human instinct Uriel ignored completely as he slid down the still searing gap in the ground that became smooth after being melted by a single powerful attack by the creature he was now facing against.

It was an ominous creature that already proved to be stronger than Uriel, stronger even than the ancient Navajo whose power already far surpassed that of Uriel. Not even the strongest witches, the same ones that summoned the creature, knew how to deal with it and ended up helpless in front of their so called 'god'.

Despite acting like a senseless beast the creature didn't use its overwhelming power to destroy Uriel upon noticing his presence which was something Uriel was already expecting. The only thing Uriel knew for sure about the creature was that its hunger had no bounds, what he didn't expect though was that it also didn't use any element to try and pull him closer.

'It makes no sense, it should be able to use earth manipulation to propel me towards it or at least shoot me down with any element. Unless it's not able to control the elements so much as feed upon them.

This would explain why it only used the same element the witches were able to control.' Uriel pondered as he slid towards what most would consider certain death, though for him it wasn't a rare occasion.

After spending so much time at the bottom, living in the slums surrounded by people who would have killed him without sparing a thought just to steal his shoes, after spending so much time being the weakest even among people without traits, facing a stronger enemy was nothing but an normal day and the feeling of being overwhelmed by an enemy that would have made most hunters falter was actually how Uriel felt his entire life.

Uriel fired a few magnum rounds at the beast and despite the bullets bouncing off its thick skin he realized it didn't have a protective barrier of any sort. Not just that, although the bullets didn't seem to do any damage the creature showed pain, though it only served to stoke its fury.

The nameless advanced uphill stomping its feet while Uriel inexorably slid in a collision course and when they met, Uriel rapidly shifted his gun for the Red thread of fate expecting their forces to add up and give him enough leverage to back down.

What happened instead was the cryptid's fist absorbed the impact and Uriel unable to retreat in time. It was only thanks to Dash that Uriel was able to dodge the creature's grasp and counter with a powerful fist to the flux orb in the creature's body managing to leave a small crack from which light escaped causing the nameless to fall into a rampant fury.

Light stopped coming off from the flux orb as it seemingly regenerated, something Uriel had never seen before. It was an interesting phenomenon that Luna would have loved to witness, but she remained focused on preventing Bella from dying as they retreated back to Hollywood city, leaving Uriel completely alone at the scene.

The pain Uriel caused on the anthropomorphic creature gave him a much needed respite as he was not just tired, but also running low on flux energy. So much so, he instinctively knew the system would start annoying him with low battery warning any moment now, yet he went on and summoned his jaguar spirit nonetheless.

As soon as the figurine touched the ground and cracked, the jaguar spirit immediately pounced at the vile creature from behind and attempted to keep it still, but not only the creature remained unaffected, it also didn't show any interest on the cryptid whatsoever and started chasing after Uriel who turned on his heels.

"How come my bullets can cause it pain, but neither my dagger nor the jaguar can?" Uriel pondered out loud as he dodged the creature's clumsy arm at the same time he cancelled the jaguar's summon to save his much needed flux energy.

Although the creature moved and attacked in a mindless manner and the only signs of sentience it showed were pain and hunger, its movements were faster than those of the average holy rank hunter and Uriel knew the moment he ran out of flux energy was bound to also be his last.

Uriel did his best to keep the nameless at a distance kiting the creature as he fired shots from time to time just to gauge its reaction and fish for weak spots apart from the flux orb in its abdomen. Said flux orb was obviously a weak spot, but Uriel had already tried to destroy it with all of his might and managed to crack it, only for it to regenerate in a matter of seconds.

Whenever the nameless was hit by a bullet in the chest area, it yelped in pain but continued on its onslaught. When Uriel targeted his legs and arms, it didn't show any reaction and all. But things were different when he fired at its face.

As it had been from the beginning, the nameless never attempted to block or dodge any incoming attack no matter how slow or predictable, yet whenever Uriel fired at its face the creature closed its eyes if only for an instant.

"Bingo!" Uriel's hands became a blur as he fired shot after shot, recharging the revolver every time it ran out of ammo by simply storing it in his museum and retrieving it at lightning speed. The creature bellowed a mouthless roar as it was forced to keep its disgusting eyes closed under the barrage of bullets befalling onto its face.

Instead of the most obvious reaction which would have been to cover its face, the mindless beast writhed in pain leaving its flux orb exposed.

It was a chance, more than that even, it was 'the' chance to end it all if not for a single problem. Uriel already proved not to be strong enough to destroy it, but even if he knew he was capable of breaking it there was no assurance that it wouldn't regenerate.

Uriel knew by experience that cryptids could regenerate their bodies as much as they wanted and at a very fast speed, but no matter the cryptid it would die as soon as their flux orb was destroyed. It was difficult to find it in most cases, but after learning where to find it killing that species of cryptid became a chore instead of a challenge.

Such was the case of skinwalkers, vile shapeshifting monsters that went from the stuff of nightmares to an easy income.

But Uriel doubted the thing in front of him was a cryptid to begin with and most of the evidence supported his suspicion. Despite having a flux orb, the creature didn't display the intelligence the stronger cryptids showed.

Going just by its behavior it could be said it couldn't possibly be of a higher level than 'beast', but judging by its power it far surpassed the power even a 'horror' cryptid should posses.

Unfortunately to Uriel, he spent too much time thinking and as much as his perception of time was heightened while he kept Dash active it was incapable of actually freezing time.

[System notice] Battery level low.

"Dammit! I knew this moment would come but it's too soon." Uriel clicked his tongue, still firing against the nameless creature only to keep it at a distance. Albeit barely noticeable, either the creature started moving faster or Uriel's movements became slower and Uriel was forced into making a decision.

Being so much as grazed by the creature meant an instant death and that wasn't the worst case scenario as getting eaten alive was even worse. Running out of energy and time, Uriel was forced to make a decision though instead of rushing into his go to weapon, this time he entered his museum in a last ditch attempt to find anything that could save him.

It was at that moment that he heard it, he couldn't tell if it was a male or female voice but it beckoned him.