Dungeon Raider System

Across the entire world there were different variations of the 'Culebre' and while the stories that served as vehicles to preserve the knowledge about that cryptid also varied, they all shared a common depiction.

The Culebre was usually described as a dark snake with bright yellow eyes and a broad body. It possessed the ability to shapeshift which it used to lure people into its lair to eat them, which explained why they were able to live so long and also why sightings were so infrequent.

Like many cryptids, it didn't need to actively hunt for prey but rather just hide somewhere and wait for its meal to arrive thus explaining why taking the form of a train was so convenient. People would willingly walk inside its belly without noticing it in such numbers that the serpent living beneath the city of Madrid went unnoticed for centuries. However, just because it looked like a train it didn't mean it was an actual train, as Nika found out when she attempted to break through the windows in a desperate attempt to escape.

Despite receiving the full brunt of a heavenly rank hunter's attack, the glass pane didn't so much as crack. Not even when Nika summoned a part of her shadow armor to give it another shot.

"It's useless, we need to kill this thing if we want to make it out alive." Nika blurted out, though both her companions had already reached the same conclusion and had already discussed their strategy.

"You and Luna will go that way and I'll go the other. If I stumble upon the flux orb I'll summon you, but if I reach the end without finding it I'll meet you guys." Uriel said.

"Have you never watched a horror movie? Like, any at all? This is the worst time to get separated. Just wear your damned geek glasses and find the flux orb!" Nika cried, holding for dear life to the grab rail as the serpent slithered across the city breaking through the concrete facade of most buildings but fortunately leaving the reinforced alloy structure unscathed.

"It's impossible, we're surrounded by flux energy and I won't be able to see anything. Besides, Luna's trait can prevent you from being stuck in a dark place where you wouldn't be able to activate your trait and she can also empower your shadows." Uriel explained further, though he felt it was a waste of time and wished Nika would be more mindful of their situation.

Needless to say, it wasn't that Nika didn't understood the kind of danger they were facing but contrary to both Luna and Uriel who usually acted based on logic and reason, this time she had let her emotions control the situation.

It would have been one thing if she was able to exit the cryptid with her trait, but when that proved to be impossible she started to panic. Luckily, Uriel's words brought her back to reality and the years of training and field experience finally kicked in and she slapped both her cheeks to focus. Then, without any meddling words, she grabbed Luna like a handbag and let herself go, sliding down the train wagons taking advantage of the serpent's movements.

Before activating his always reliable Dash skill, Uriel made sure to jab the dagger as deep as he could in the floor and detached the hilt so he could keep draining energy from the gigantic cryptid as he made his climb to the other side.

Contrary to Nika's rapid descent, Uriel had to make a considerable effort to climb up, especially when the wagons were empty and even more when artifacts, corpses and cryptids rained down on him. The more he climbed, the more frequently cryptids jumped on him, though he made quick work of them with his Magnum.

With an unlimited source of energy, Uriel was free to use Dash to its fullest and channel what could be deemed as an excessive amount of energy through his Magnum revolver causing the bullets to pierce through the beast rank cryptids and the train's hull. Sometimes even managing to pierce all the way through and hit the buildings in the outside.

The cryptid writhed in pain whenever Uriel shot his magnum from the inside and the damage caused by the bullets was more than it could just shrug off, though its regenerative ability was far superior and the damage was completely healed within the second.

Uriel, though, managed to see everything transpire in slow motion and noticed how each time the cryptid regenerated itself it took it even less time, hinting that it was somehow becoming more powerful.

Since he was receiving a sizeable amount of energy from the Red thread of fate he had no means to know that the Culebre was now rapidly digesting the contents of its belly. The same happened to Nika, since she shared Uriel's flux reserve, but on Luna's end things weren't looking so bright.

She looked pale at first, then shivered in cold and finally, she fell limp like a noodle on Nika's arms who could do nothing to aid her but hurry up in her search for the flux orb.

"Alright, Uriel is climbing up and it's more likely for the cryptid to have its head above ground level to see where its going. That means we're heading straight to this thing's butthole... it's a bit embarrassing, but If we'll end up coming out through that end anyway, I'd rather do it while I'm yet to become poop." Nika awkwardly chuckled trying to get Luna to laugh and remain conscious.

"Cryptids don't necessarily share anatomy similarities with their lookalike animals. Have you ever seen seats inside a snake before? I thought so...," Luna replied in her thing voice, then continued mumbling unintelligible words as her consciousness faded prompting Nika to giver her a slap in the face which caused Luna to continue her rant. "I've conducted extensive research on cryptid's bowel movements and have yet to find conclusive evidence about whether or not they poop."

"Let's pray they do, because if they don't..." Nika refused to continue speaking as their odds became slimmer by the second, especially when they reached what seemed to be the last wagon and there was no exit in sight. It was just a wagon without windows or lights of any sort filled with junk.

Had it not been for Luna keeping her trait active, Nika would have found herself in complete darkness, but that didn't stop her from cursing in Spanish as she usually did when her frustration overwhelmed her.

She didn't have much time to linger on negative thoughts as a rain of small round marbles started falling down on her along with debris. "At least someone's having a good time." Nika said out loud and a shaky voice replied from an unseen corner of the wagon.

"Help... me." A thin voice cried for help, it was one of the hunters that had previously entered what they thought was a dungeon.

"You're one of the Gavilanes, where's the rest of your group?"

"me... help... me..." The voice said over and over.

Nika extended her hand to pull out the hunter and reached inside the pile of junk, but instead she had her hand nearly chomped off by a steely maw. She cried in pain and horror as the pile of junk reassembled itself into a creature that could not be described in words as it had no recognizable limbs or organs other than the traplike jaw that had her in its grasp, though Nika had no interest in identifying her attacker only on exacting revenge.

With Luna hanging loose from her other hand, that left Nika only her legs to strike at the cryptid which she did only after summoning the leg pieces of her shadow armor that gave her not just a boost in power but also an extended reach.

A single kick was enough to cut through the pile of junk, but Nika continued her onslaught in a hot fury until whatever was left of her hand was finally released. Unfortunately for the wounded hunter Nika wanted to rescue, the same junk cryptid that a minute prior was slowly devouring him was also the sole reason he remained alive.

The moment the cryptid's body faded, the many steel bars that turned the hunter's body into a pin cushion also disappeared and he died due to hemorrhage under Luna's helpless gaze.

"I should have... I should..."

"Luna, no, don't even think about it... please." Nika begged, knowing she would be unable to carry Luna in her werewolf form. Even with her tiny stature she proved to be a hindrance to Nika's physical prowess and Nika couldn't even think of carrying a lumbering monster that was bigger than he.

Luna couldn't help her feelings or her emotions and she knew she would eventually lose the battle against her instinct to turn into a werewolf, but it was at that precise moment that things finally changed as the Culebre stopped moving out of a sudden.