Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 585: Hunting done Right Part 2

Being the only one who saw the corpse, Nika hurriedly closed the door and held her breath until the foul stench emanating from the corpse dissipated. It hadn't been that long since her last meal and just the sight of the decaying corpse was more than she would have liked to endure.

She wasn't by any means a squeamish person and had seen more than her fair share of corpses, but for some reason she felt sick in her stomach.

"Why did you do that? There might be clues inside." Luna asked.

"I only took a peek inside, but that was enough. Besides, there was a message that said to close the door... in Uriel's handwriting." Nika turned to Uriel with an expectant gaze, but he just shrugged in reply.

"What if I take my blindfold off and walk inside? It should be enough to turn any cryptid into stone before they could even react." Medusa's newfound confidence thanks to the martial arts training she had been following along with the rest of the crew made her eager to prove herself, but Nika shook her head.

"It was Uriel's handwriting, which means he had enough time to write a message, but not enough time to avoid the effects of whatever happened to him," At Nika's words Medusa slouched her shoulders, which prompted the team leader to correct herself. "I think your idea is great, but we first need to find out what happened to the man who let us in.

He might be a rogue hunter with a weird trait who lures other hunters to kill them or he just fell victim to the cryptid, artifact, or whatever it is causing this to Uriel. Besides, I didn't feel any presence in the bathroom, so it's very unlikely that a cryptid is behind it."

"Oh." For once, everyone understood precisely the emotion Luna wanted to convey with her sudden utterance, it was pure disappointment.

"Bella, keep watch over this door. Since we can't rule out the presence of skinwalkers, you're allowed to use force against anyone who doesn't prove their identity even if they look like us. Medusa, I'll replace you on the vanguard while Luna keeps Uriel safe in the middle."

"Understood." Medusa replied and took position at the back of the line.

Although the villa didn't look that big from the outside, it was very convoluted and had many different corridors that led to doors which in turn led to other corridors and Nika was having a hard time keeping track of their location.

"If I didn't know any better, I could swear we're in a dungeon." Nika said loud enough for her voice to be carried out through a closed door.

"It's not a dungeon, we're still on this side of the veil." Bella replied as she opened the door directly in front of the bathroom.

"How is this possible?" Nika gasped, then showed a silver coin in her hand to prove she wasn't a skinwalker before Bella took action against them.

"I know it's really you, I never lost track of your presence. You went all the way over there, then took to rights and ended up in front of me."

"This place is... uhm... weird."

"Totally, this isn't a house."

"Do you come from the slums or something? They said they're antiquaries, they have this many doors and corridors to guide their guests through certain paths while keeping them from seeing each of their relics and artifacts without having to bother putting them up for display and taking them down each time they throw a party.

This alloy reinforced doors keep even heavenly rank hunters from stealing anything, which makes security security cheaper."

"Why don't they just build a vault or a safe?" Medusa tilted her head.

"And put all their valuables in the same spot? That's too tempting, this way, even if someone wants to steal something, they won't know where it is and would have to work their way up there." Bella explained.

"Also, storing everything away from people defeats the purpose of having nice things." Uriel nodded.

"Who are you and what did you do with Uriel?" Luna growled making it clear that she wasn't joking as she truly suspected Uriel had been swapped by a cryptid. Uriel understood this and cowered behind Bella who by that point was the only one among them who treated him nicely.

"Calm down, I can sense my bond with him. It's really him." Nika said, somewhat hurt that Uriel didn't chose her to protect him.

"But, it doesn't make sense. Uriel... uhm... he always... he hides everything from people. He doesn't even show me his dolls." The corners of Luna's mouth drew an upside down semi circle which was the closest to an honest pout Nika had ever seen on her.

Her expression was cute, but she understood the kind of pain coursing through Luna's heart.

"We need to fix him ASAP." Nika said.

"What if there's no way of fixing him?" Medusa asked, then continued. "What if he doesn't need or want to be fixed? He's different now, but just hearing him I can tell he's more relaxed than he's ever been. Not even when I met him did he sound so honest and carefree."

"She has a point, I wouldn't mind taking care of him if you don't feel you're up for the task." Bella added.

"What if he gets worse? What if he forgets his own name? What if... he dies?" Luna spoke somberly.

"Am I in danger!?" Uriel's shout echoed through the hallway and a grumpy voice replied.

"Who's there!?" It was the man who let everyone in. His voice allowed Medusa's enhanced senses allowed her to pinpoint the man's exact location and she blindly felt the door until she found the knob, then slowly twisted it. "Who are you!? Get off my property! Help! Security, there's intruders inside my house!"

The man panicked and pressed the button designed precisely for that kind of situations. Red lights started blinking and each door closed on the spot which left Medusa separated from the rest of her team as she was the only one who managed to cross the door in time. She attempted to open the door many times, but it wasn't giving in.

"You let us in, you moron!" Nika grunted as she attempted to open the door from her side with as little success as Medusa.

"We're trapped." Bella's eyes widened for a second when she realized they were enclosed within four closed doors.

"Don't worry, alloy doors mean nothing to Uriel. He's able to break through them like they're made of butter." Nika proudly stated.

"He is?" Bella was impressed.

"I am!?" Uriel was shocked.

"Maybe... not." Luna heaved in a sigh.

"Guess it's my turn then," Nika cracked her knuckles, then her neck and disappeared into the shadows. Two minutes after that the doors opened and she climbed back from Uriel's shadow. She expected people to be amazed by her feat and compliment her abilities, but when no one reacted in any way she muttered in a sarcastic monologue. "Wow, how did she do that? Is she even human?

Good job Nika, we would be lost without you."

"It's not a mystery, you used the shadows to pass beneath the doors until you found the control room and then you hacked the security mainframe." Medusa explained what she thought Nika did. Needless to say, she was spot on in everything except in the hacking since Nika didn't even know it was possible.

Instead, she spent two minutes pulling on every wire she found on the control room crossing her fingers that one of them would get the doors open.

"Uhhh... yeah, I did that."

"What do you want from me? Where's my wife?" The man asked.

"You don't remember us?"

"Huh? Have we met?" The man said in a yawn as he scratched his head.

"Shit, he's just like Uriel. It's like he's on drugs." Nika bit the tip of her thumb.

"Anyway, did you find my wife? I've been looking for her all morning...," The man asked, he then heard Luna's knocking on the door and he became excited. "Good! The pizza is finally here."

The man attempted to walk out of the room, but as he passed by Nika she left him unconscious with a single strike in the back of his head.

"That is... uhmmm... dangerous. You could kill someone like that."

"How do you know that's not what I wanted to do?" Nika scoffed.

"Fair point. We can't really tell if he's a victim or the one causing all this. I'll tie him up like Uriel taught me." Luna took her hunter grade alloy wire and hog tied the man with ease.

Even Nika started wondering if she would be able to escape from those bindings, until she realized that if Uriel was the one who taught Luna how to do it it meant that he was even better and her mind started drifting.

"You're making that face again..." Luna announced.