Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 564: The bridge

With that settled, the group started moving across the first rainbow bridge trying to evade the pupae, ignore the small furry creatures and fend off anything else that approached them. Things weren't easy for Tate who had to fight with a single hand, but Uriel made up for it opening fire with his old Magnum whenever a beast came too close for comfort.

As it was to be expected, once they reached the second concentric floating island the group was forced to run for their lives as the cryptids grew in both number and rank. Monsters of all sizes and shapes picked up their energy signature and came running at them frothing at the mouth, desperately trying to grab a bite of flesh uncaring of their own safety.

For cryptids, getting hit multiple times or even being reduced to shreds didn't always mean they were dead. Most of them were able to regenerate from the most grievous wounds and even Uriel's Magnum proved not to be enough to take them down with a single shot.

Things could have been easier if Bella helped them, but for some strange reason she refused to fight and simply limited herself to watching their movements while trying to make small talk with Uriel.

"So, where did you go to highschool?" She asked, spinning in the air like an ice skater.

"Why do you care?" Uriel grunted after wiping the mix of blood and sweat that came down his forehead.

"I don't, not really. I'm just trying to get to know you better." She chuckled.

"If you don't help us, I don't think there will be much of me left to know."

Bella's eyes sharpened and she leveled her altitude to match Uriel, making it obvious that she was waiting for those words to come out his mouth.

"You know the price, don't you?"

"You said you would help me rescue my friends!"

"I'm offended, are you saying I didn't hold my part of the bargain!?" Bella frowned her lips, then continued in her bubbly voice. "I already helped, what you're asking now is for me to make things easy for you. It's something different."

When Uriel realized she wasn't going to help unless it was absolutely necessary, her voice became background noise and Uriel ignored her for a few minutes. With as little energy as he had left he tried to shoot at the cryptids that gave them chase, tempted to stab a pupa that just so happened to be close by.

"Don't even think about it, if the iron butterflies come even I won't be able to do anything." Bella warned.

"Didn't you say you're impervious to damage of any kind?" Uriel finally gave in and spoke to her.

"Well, yeah... I even tried to harm myself before. But those things don't just kill wind users, if they catch you, they'll drag you down the abyss with you."

"It can't be that bad." Uriel said, trying to take a peek over his shoulder to see how deep it was.

"No one has ever came back from there. We sent a scout to see how deep it was, but after five seconds of flying down he lost control of the wind element and fell like a rock. He was a good guy, that Stevie."

"No, not Stevie!" Tate frowned.

"Sorry brother, I forgot to tell you." Bella smacked her head, though because of her wind barrier no sound came out.

"It can't be! There's no bridge!" A disgruntled Uriel shouted.

Thanks to them running in the correct direction, the spinning movement of the island allowed them to rapidly reach their destination instead of delaying them. The problem with that was that it left them with little time to think of a way to cross to the inner most island.

Bella and Tate were the only ones capable of flying, but asking them to carry them all at once was too dangerous, especially after hearing what happened to the scout they mentioned.

"There's a bridge made of wood and plants, but it seems to be withering. My sister must have made it a few days ago." The bridge Kalos mentioned was actually little more than withering vines and slippery plants, wide enough for a single person to walk atop but barely.

"You're also a tree, can't you reinforce it or something? If you're brothers you should have the same ability, after all." Bella scoffed.

"First, I'm not a tree. Second, my sister isn't a tree either, she's a dryad. But that's not the reason why she can do something like this, she's only able to because she can speak with the flora. I've tried to do the same on multiple occasions, but..."

"So what you're saying is that plants talk, they just don't like talking to you." Bella held her belly as she floated around Kalos laughing.

"Only one of us can go at a time, you go first Medusa." Uriel said after standing up on his own and thanking Tate with a nod.

"I'm not going before you. You're wounded and you know I can take care of myself." Medusa scoffed and gave Uriel a gentle nudge.

"I'll make sure he doesn't fall." Bella extended her hand to support Uriel, making sure to let him know she enjoyed every second of it.

"Take that perverted expression out of your face, I'm only grabbing your hand because it's safer this way."

"I didn't know you were such a tsundere!" Bella laughed, then caused a small breeze that pushed Uriel towards her chest. "Don't worry, I have you. Come on, don't pretend you're not enjoying this."

The vines beneath Uriel's feet creaked on every step despite Bella carrying most of his weight and making it evident that they wouldn't support a person's weight. This reassured Uriel that waiting for a day was worth it if it meant getting help from two wind users, but instead of thankful he was starting to get annoyed at Bella who took every chance to hit on him. freёnovelkiss.com

In response, Uriel walked in silence bearing a stone faced expression on his face. He stopped complaining or scolding her, but also didn't show any sign that he enjoyed her attention.

"You're no fun, no fun at all." Bella pouted.

"You said you wanted to know me better, but didn't bother to even try to understand me." Uriel broke the silence when they were close to the other end of the bridge.

"That's not true, I..." Bella attempted to reply, but suddenly stopped when she noticed the way Uriel looked at her. Being raised in a wealthy family meant lots of attention, both positive and negative. She could tell the difference and like anyone who shared her upbringing, she was more than accustomed to it. But Uriel's look was something different, it was cold, disinterested, almost disgusted.

"My friend's lives are at stake here! Look at them, they're having a tough time and you're just fooling around when you could have helped me reach the other side much faster. Even after you tried to kill me, I didn't really hold any resentment towards you because you just happened to be on the enemy's side. That's something I can understand, even respect.

You're rich, powerful, not to mention really beautiful and perhaps I could have fallen for you in time. I'd be a fool or a liar if I said otherwise. But now you showed me who you really are I can say without a doubt, I dislike you."

Bella was shocked, so shocked in fact she became speechless. She was used to throw tantrums when things didn't go her way, but this time Uriel didn't speak to her like a spoiled brat. He simply stated the unblunted truth and let its weight sink in.

Uncaring of her reaction, Uriel pushed her to the side to clear the view. He could have taken few steps to the side, but he also did it to make it clear the conversation was over.

"Why did you leave her behind!?" Uriel asked in a shout after seeing it was Kalos instead of Medusa the one crossing the bridge with Tate's help, though he suspected it was her who insisted on it.

"Sorry, Lieutenant, she insisted and there wasn't much time." Tate replied, careful not to let the now naked Kalos in human form fall off the bridge.

Medusa stood by herself, keeping her guard high in wait for the stampeding cryptids that chased after them for so long, determined to keep them from following after. The first ones to reach her position were those cryptids who relied on their speed, mainly deer-like beasts and horned rabbits.

They didn't pose much of a threat for a heavenly rank, but Jon had told her many times that in numbers they could even kill a holy rank hunter like himself.

Medusa took a step backwards to prepare for her opening kick as soon as the enemy was in range, but a horned rabbit sprung forward faster than she could react and managed to land a clean hit on her thigh leaving a bruise.

"Hang on, Miss! I'll go in just a second." Tate shouted after spinning in the air and launching Kalos like a shot put.

"Don't go! Everyone, turn your back and close your eyes! Do it now!" Uriel warned them as a crimson glimmer grew until it became a flash of light that swallowed everything.