Dungeon Raider System

When Flanagan failed to appear at the foot of the structure, Nika and Uriel went up the stony stairs of the kukulkan's pyramid at a slow pace. Even though the mist was only at a ground level, it appeared to be coming out of the pyramid itself and, because of that, they were still surrounded by it as they went higher.

"Don't you think that Flanagan guy is a bit sketchy?" Uriel asked, still wondering about the fate of the other bodyguards, especially the cheerful engineer who explained him what she knew about flux energy.

"What do you mean sketchy? I mean, sure, he's a bit of a creep that whenever I turn my back at him won't stop staring at my ass, but other than that he's one of the most competent bodyguards under my command. His trait is super useful for bringing in people without killing them too." Nika disregarded Uriel's worries and paid no mind to his words, there was something else bothering her at the moment.

A strange feeling of being watched from behind made her suddenly turn back her head expecting to see Uriel staring at her butt, but that wasn't the case.

Right behind them, a big feline creature with dark fur was about to pounce on an unsuspecting Uriel. Without missing a beat, she quickly pushed him to the side and received a powerful tackle that sent her rolling downstairs.

Still dazed by the abrupt push he received, Uriel struggled to get back on his feet and the feline cryptid walked towards him with the cold calmness of a predator closing up on its prey. Realizing now the presence of the cryptid, Uriel attempted to escape downwards, but the creature wouldn't allow it and placed a paw that painfully pinned him against the steps of the pyramid.

The panther made a roar gesture but emitted no sound and, just as it was about to finish the kill, it felt a stabbing pain on its eye. Shocked by the unexpected retaliation, the creature jumped back giving Uriel a much needed respite as he was about to get crushed against the pyramid's steps.

"Nice job! You should have used the dagger from the beginning!" Nika exclaimed when Uriel came down next to her.

"It's not the ceremonial dagger, I used my pocket knife." He replied breathing heavily.

"What!? Is it made from orichalcum too?"

"Of course not, it's just a regular knife."

"It's just not possible, that creature must be at least at the entity level. Cryptids like that can chew on steel like butter, not even bullets can hurt it."

Uriel too couldn't understand how exactly did it happen, he just countered with whatever he could and didn't think much on what he was doing when he stabbed the panther on the eye, but this wasn't the moment to chat.

The panther writhed in pain but, just like before, it didn't emit any sound at all. It was as if all the light and the sounds in the vicinity were being sucked up onto its fur and it only amounted to the eerie properties of the mist that surrounded them. Instead of fighting head on, the panther retreated back into the mist leaving Nika with a distasteful feeling.

"Come back and fight you pussy!" She shouted angrily.

"Stop it! We don't know what else might be hiding in the fog." Uriel scolded her.

"No, but as long as that thing is out there we won't be able to get to the top." She sighed in frustration.

"Anyway, it's not helpful to scream at an opponent, it's obvious it doesn't fight with power but with stealth. If you have the time to shout, then you also have enough time to think of a way of solving this." True to his character, Uriel remained calm even in the face of danger which surprised Nika who was a battle forged bodyguard at the most important corporation in the world.

"I can't think of anything, this fog is dulling my senses and I can't use my trait properly, I don't know if it's because of the light emitted by the fog but it's not working." She gazed at Uriel's feet to confirm that there was, in fact, a shadow beneath him. The problem was that even if there was a shadow, she couldn't feel the link to it.

"We should attempt to go up again, only this time we'll be wary of that thing."

"You say that like it's easy, but I'm not sure we could defeat it even if we work together. I'm pretty good at fighting, but this crap won't even put a scratch on that thing." She pointed towards her thigh were the coil handgun was holstered.

"What choice do we have? Even if we try to evacuate the site now we'll get chased on the way to the zeppelin. Besides, If we somehow manage to bring the protective barrier back up again we might keep the cryptids sealed inside this place."

"So that was your plan all along... I thought you just wanted to protect this site."

"I don't think you understand the situation, Nika. The platform of the descending god is more dangerous than you can imagine, if we assume all the lore is true, leaving a place like this unattended will not just be the end of us."

"I don't follow, isn't god supposed to be good?"

"Most religions do have benign gods, especially the ones that created the world, but Mayans are different. For every benign god there's like a hundred evil ones, even those that aren't inherently evil are dangerous because they don't care about humanity in the slightest. All they care about is being worshiped."

"I see... It kind of makes sense considering how they performed human sacrifices. So, what do you propose then?"

"I'm not big on altruism, but I think it's our responsibility to seal off this place, even if we risk our lives while doing so. Besides, we're already this close and..." Uriel's words were interrupted by a black figure rolling downstairs.

"Hey, this is..." Nika gaped at the sight of the lifeless panther cryptid that showed signs of being demolished in a single blow by a mysterious force.

"On second thought, I think we should retreat for now." Uriel muttered as he watched the corpse that landed right next to him.