Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 438: Waiting for backup

As soon as Nika lost focus, she was thrown off Uriel’s museum and back to reality where the army unit was already surrounded by a myriad of shadows in the mist. Thanks to the flare that Cassandra shot, now they knew how did the enemy looked like, though they’d rather not know.

There was the massive creature above them and the many corpses that resembled those they loved and passed away. To say their situation was disheartening would be an understatement and finding the courage to fight was beyond difficult.

But Nika now knew what she had to do. Uriel entrusted her with the survival of the troublemakers and two of them had already died, but she wasn’t going to let anything happen to the remaining one.

"Stay behind me, you’re my asset now." Nika said as she took a stance in front of a very confounded Mayhem.

"I can fight!"

"No, what you’re doing is just activating your trait. I’ll show you what fighting looks like." Nika said those words as she took aim with her pistol at the nearest enemy who turned out to be Young and then opened fire. Contrary to Uriel, her aim was perfect and not a single bullet missed, though she didn’t cause any damage.

Young received a couple bullets right in between the eyes, but the bullets weren’t enough to pierce her skin and only managed to knock back her head.

"Was my mom always that strong?" Mayhem blinked a couple times in confusion, only to be left in a daze when she realized that in the brief time it took her to blink her eyes Nika had disappeared.

Nika disappeared in the proverbial blink of an eye and reappeared right behind young, kicking her on the back of the head, crushing her skull and causing her to fall face first on the mud. It seemed like Nika succeeded in defeating what once was Mayhem’s mother and a corporal of the army, but then Young stood back up with uncanny mechanical movements.

"They’re puppets!" Nika finally understood the nature of their enemy.

"I don’t care what they are, we need to figure out how to kill them for good. Nothing personal, Rusty." Cassandra spoke to Rusty after tearing him to pieces.

"Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to return the favor." He replied after his body regenerated by drawing in the algae that formed on the surface of the swamp and also the duckweed.

The vegetation filled in the holes and acted as an adhesive putting together what remained of Rusty, but it looked less human now and more like an improvised patchwork with a single missing piece, the leg that he lost before dying.

"Give me your best shot." Cassandra scoffed with a grin thinking he wasn’t strong enough in life to leave so much as a scratch on her skin, now that he was dead he wouldn’t stand a chance. But then Rusty’s eyes glimmered in a green light, brighter than ever before and he activated his trait. This took Cassandra by surprise and she barely managed to dodge it in the last second.

"What happened to that cocky smile?" Rusty said mockinly, though her expression remained the same.

"I know what your trait can do to a person, that’s why the army put up with you for so long. Now I know why the ones with the strongest traits always wind up dead, they’re just too confident for their own good." After confirming their enemies were able toa ctivate their traits, Cassandra realized that saving her flux energy for later was useless.

She was hoping for a prolongued battle until reinforcements came, but if she didn’t take things seriously even if reinfocements were on the way all they would find would be their bodies, probably in a similar state of those two hunters.

"So what if I can rust your red cells and cause instant death? You’re still a heavenly rank scared of a cripple evolved." He taunted Cassandra, but since his guard was low Nika took the chance to blink behind him and give him the same treatment she did Young before.

"This mist doesn’t only turn them into undead, it also turns them into assholes."

"No, he was always like that. He loved to make fun of people above him knowing he was able to kill them by just touching."

In the time it took for both Young and Rusty to regenerate, many more shadows surrounded the group cutting their exit path.

"What’s the plan?" Asked Nika.

"We need to survive until Luna comes, that’s all I can think of."

"That’s easier said than done, this things won’t stay dead."

"We need to burn them! They’re made of rotting vegetation and water, if we evaporate the water then..." Stella added after identifying their molecular structure.

"Take a look around you and tell me how exactly are we supposed to burn them? We couldn’t even start the fire!"

The shadows at a distance moved from side to side like a very slow metronome, but once they came into the range of their already dim lanterns their true appearance was revealed. They all looked like corpses made of vegetation, but once they were in range of attack their eyes lit up in green just like Rusty’s did a minute ago.

Nika rushed in to take down as many as she could while Cassandra shfted into her hybrid form. Her long claws allowed her to make quick work of most of the corpses, but even that wasn’t enough to keep them dead.

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Of all those present, the only one who was completely defenseless was Tallyman whose sight was now so bad he couldn’t even tell friend from foe. Unaware that he was separating from the group, he followed one of the shadows and ended up impaled by one of them.

He fell on his knees and closed his eyes, his silent demise went completely unnoticed by the rest of the group that kept themselves busy fighting off the many enemies that surrounded them.

The returned fought just like their old selves did before passing away, they were even able to activate their traits. There were only two noticeable differences besides their appearance, the first was they moved slower than they used to when they were alive and the second that they were able to regenerate from any wound.

The former allowed the group to continue fighting in spite of their numerical disadvantage, while the latter made it impossible for them to see a scenario where they could possibly win.

As if things weren’t bad enough, the mist grew even thicker than before and their vision barely allowed them to spot the enemy before it was too late. Even their shadows disappeared and the only tell of their presence was the green glimmer that came right before they activated their traits.

Nika and Cassandra were the ones tasked with taking them down before their traits were activated, but each different enemy was a gamble. It could be a weak trait or one even stronger than theirs.

Every time they disappeared into the mist to take down an enemy could potentially be the last and the rest of the unit was forced to idly watch the only two remaining heavenly rank hunters take turns jumping in and out of the fight.

The first one to disappear completely was Cassandra, though not a cry nor a scream came from the mist, not that it was any different from before since the eerie fog seemed to swallow the sounds entirely. But when Nika didn’t come back the three women were left completely on their own.

"Colonel Sword!" Mayhem shouted.

"Miss Nika, come back please!" Cried Stella, though no reply came. Everything was silent and still, just like a swamp was supposed to be. Not a ripple in the shallow waters, not a sound, only the slow moving mist.

Iris remained silent the whole time, unable to speak to anyone since the battle broke out because her trait required more focus than she could muster. She couldn’t even scream since her voice was taken away when she acquired her trait.

It never bothered her before since she gained way more than she lost, but on that moment she wished she could scream because a hulking shadow crept on them from her side and she couldn’t so much as warn her remaining companions.

The lumbering figure emerged from the mist, but it looked nothing like the enemies they’ve been fighting. If anything, it looked even more fearsome and intimidating than the ones who came back from the grave.

With prolonged limbs, protruding fangs, brimming eyes, a very prominent chest and silvery fur, the tall cryptid announced its presence howling so loudly the hunters present thought their eardrums would explode.

Iris fell on her knees as the last glint of hope vanished, but she didn’t take her gaze out from the creature’s eyes. From the minute that things went south she readied herself for this moment.

"At least I die a hunter’s death..." She muttered telepathically thinking of the popular saying ’A hunter’s retirement is always on the belly of a beast’. Though she didn’t expect what followed. Instead of killing her, the werewolf shook her head and took a defensive stance.

"Midget! You made it!" Cassandra said to her sister after finding her way back thanks to Luna’s loud howl.