Dungeon Raider System
Chapter 830 - 830: Shadow of the Pegasus Part 3

To say the Pegasus had lost its former glory would have been the understatement of the century. A former top of the line ship maintained with love and care was now a shadow of itself. With so many holes in the hull poorly covered with scrap and cloth that waved eerily in the wind and its rusty appearance no one would have thought it was even capable of flying and to be fair, they would have correct if not for two people.

One was the captain of the ship whom after flying it since Sam left the company had now become a seasoned pilot. Phlox always had a knack for driving, but behind the rudder she found her true calling. Her trait also helped as it allowed her to empower the entire ship's kinetic force for briefs periods of time. It consumed a great deal of flux but also provided her with invaluable experience in controlling her flux which was almost as good as using it in combat.

The other person was something Uriel was not particularly fond of, especially after she betrayed him and flew away with a priceless artifact. The moment he learned Bella was on board Uriel almost stabbed her despite Nika warning him that if not for her trait, the poorly maintained ship would crash like a meteorite.

That managed to calm him down for about a second, after which he proceeded to lunge at her anyway.

"Where is it!? Where is the fishing spear?" Uriel shouted at the witch who lost focus long enough for the ship to take a nose dive.

"You should be thankful I came to rescue your friends in their time of need." Bella scoffed.

"We both know you only did it because you're too scared to be on your own. Now hand over the spear and I'll let you live for as long as you're needed." Uriel snarled.

"I... I lost it." She sniffled as she lowered her gaze. Just looking at her was enough to know she had a hard time on her own. The blond witch had her clothes tattered and despite being a hunter there were wound that didn't yet heal hinting that she passed through the radiation zone over France.

This didn't surprise Uriel as he knew her sense of direction was poor and even if she was an expert in navigation, there was no way she would have enough flux energy to cross the ocean and return to America. It was the fact that she was dumb enough to lose such a powerful artifact what got to him.

"You dumb bitch." Nika buried her palms in her hands.

"Didn't you mean to say witch?" Bella joked, but no one found her joke amusing and Uriel even stormed off leaving the blonde witch to continue using her control over the elements to keep the ship afloat.

Things were not going Uriel's way at all. The ship had not only lost maneuverability but was also way slower than back on the day to the point where traveling on foot would have been faster. Not safer, but certainly faster.

To add insult to injury, no one with far sight remained on their crew which meant finding Alonso in the wilderness would be extremely difficult and although Kristina was more than willing to help Uriel in any way, she had never met Alonso which also made it impossible for her to find him.

In other words, they were wandering aimlessly on the skies above cracked dirt, desert and soft hills crossing their fingers to stumble upon the Spanish Tercio by luck.

"As if luck was ever on my side." Uriel grunted on the ship's bridge.

"Some would think you are extremely lucky. You're always surrounded by beautiful girls like us." Said Nika striking a pose.

"We can find materials pretty much anywhere in Spain since there are lots of abandoned towns and cities. Alonso also has some engineers and plenty of men to help fix this ship and I know he would be willing to help." He spoke to himself ignoring Nika altogether. Sure, traveling with beautiful women was always a nice thing for a young man Uriel's age but he had grown numb to their charms most of the time.

"I have an idea, why don't you buy some snacks for everyone? I bet that would improve the crew's morale!" Nika blurted out, inwardly hoping he would also grab some beer.

"I second that." Said Dragonfang keeping a serious attitude, though inwardly relieved she didn't have to ask.

"Go grab whatever you want." Said Uriel extending Nika a handful of trites, though making sure not a single coin would fall on the floor. He might have considered Nika a nuisance at times, but having experienced picking up money from the ground he knew it was something she didn't deserve.

"No way," Nika crossed both arms and refused the coins. "I'm not setting foot on that place. The voices are getting too loud."

"The... voices... you idiot! That's Soulfire trying to communicate with us!" Uriel summoned the book of the dead expecting Soulfire to say something to him through the book.

What happened instead was a much skinnier version of the stupid handsome man appearing out of a burst of ghostly flames. His naked torso lacked the muscular appearance it used to have, yet somehow it was still extremely alluring for Miss Dragonfang who threw herself on top of him.

"Now this is what I call a snack!" She rubbed herself all over the unconscious man and hissed when they tried to get her off.

"Who knows how long he's been waiting for me to open the passage." Uriel said after dragging a hand down his face. Despite him having a good night's rest he found himself with a headache.

After sending the maid to tend to Soulfire's needs with a clear warning that he did not mean carnal desires, Uriel arrived at the conclusion that going to Spain was a mistake. Even if the Spanish Tercio were willing to help, there was no certainty that they will even know how to fix the ship and even in the unlikely case that they did, if Medusa found out he allowed anyone tinker with the engine she built with her own two hands she would kill him.

But that didn't mean he couldn't make the most of his trip and asked Phlox to take them to a POI he already knew, Villanueva de infantes. He took that decision not only because it was filled with scrap they could use, but also because he wanted to check if the giants that passed as windmills were still around.

Being a place they already visited before it took Phlox no time to steer the wheel in that direction and although the ship was slow they still arrived at the break of down, the perfect time for hunters to do their job.

Uriel was disappointed that Emma and her closest friends were not aboard the ship, but Miss Dragonfang reassured him that contrary to some of the members they didn't quit the company and instead were performing a not so secret mission for Uriel himself. Everyone knew they shared a last name which made it obvious they were looking for clues about Uriel's family.

Phlox hovered over the city for a short period in order to scan the place and look for the giants that made them turn tail the last time, though when Uriel reassured her he already took care of the smaller one and was more than eager to fight the remaining two she landed on the highest building on the destroyed town.

Landing on a high place meant their taking off would be faster and gaining altitude was of the utmost importance when fighting against giants.

Nika, Uriel and Miss Dragonfang were the first to come out of the ship ready to start their incursion guns blazing, yet nothing showed up to greet them. It was kind of a disappointment, but their landing zone being secure was actually a good thing. Especially when the building was so small in comparison to the zeppelin since a fight breaking out in there could destroy what little support the ship had and cause it to fall.

Miss Dragonfang shapeshifted into her lizard form, sticking out her forked tongue to quite literally taste the air performing Luna's role to perfection and allowing them to clear the entire building in less than an hour. Uriel fought every beast and monster level cryptid they encountered with the support of his friends while the rest of the crew grabbed whatever they could find and loaded it on the ship.

That is where Phlox's recycler became the most important piece of equipment they possessed. While usually pretty convenient as it allowed the hunters to replenish their bullets on the go, now it was absolutely indispensable as it turned the scrap into metal sheets they could use to patch up the ship. It was a slow process, but anything made of metal or plastic would eventually be turned into material they could actually use.

"Am I forgetting something?" Uriel dismissed the passing feeling of forgetting something as soon as it came and somewhere in Spain, at that precise moment, Alice found herself sneezing without apparent reason.