Dungeon Raider System

Hazel watched in disbelief how Uriel inhaled on purpose the same toxic fumes that would kill a lesser hunter within seconds. Not just that, he made sure to hold it as long as he could despite the burning sensation on his lungs that soon spread across his body without so much as crumpling his face.

Hunters were more resilient than humans and were able to achieve wonders people could only dream about, but if asked it was highly doubtful that a person would answer they wanted to become a hunter to be able to inhale poison.

Uriel welcomed the searing pain in his veins, in his lungs and resumed firing at the back of the snake's head. The thick scales were long gone given that contrary to the soft meat beneath, it took way longer for them to regenerate. Even with this advantage, the cryptid still regenerated far too quickly for Uriel to make any kind of progress.

On the other hand, Uriel's skin was turning purple, his lips blue and his face pale. His pupils widened and shook from side to side making him look like he was under the influence of a strong substance, precisely because he was.

All living creatures were designed to endure pain up to a certain point, after which their bodies would simply shut down on their own and causing death. It was nature's gift, the ability for a creature's body to yield and save the victim a world of pain. This was exactly Uriel's case after the poison reached his brain, it caused a pain so extreme even a hunter's body would shut down, but not Uriel's.

Both his body and his mind had already endured the same hardships of a violent death without the sweet relief of an end which is why he was able to resist the pain up until the very moment before losing consciousness where he managed to utter a single word.

"Repentance." His voice echoed clearly in a ten block radius as he channeled a vast amount of flux energy into that single spell.

The cryptid's eyes widened just as Uriel's a moment before and it opened its maw abroad gasping for air as though its lungs had stopped working. It wrapped itself tightly around the building crushing the outer frame of reinforced alloy and digging up further inside the skyscraper.

In a single second it experienced the pain and agony Uriel endured for a full minute along with the same damage he suffered. It was a kind of pain the Culebre had never experienced in its long cozy life, but even that was not enough for it to die.

With the last of his strength Uriel pulled the trigger once more before letting go with a smug grin as the system confirmed the kill

[System notice] Dungeon boss, The Culebre has been defeated.

Reward: +10 stat points into each attribute.

*Warning* maximum cap has been reached, the exceeding stat points will be purged.

Stats:

Strength: 100

Agility: 100

Flux: 100

Just like the last time Uriel received more stat points than he was able to support he was filled with a terrible sense of loss. He felt something that belonged to him had just been taken from him and wasted, but this feeling didn't last for long as he noticed something he had missed the time before.

The cracks on his skin started to close at a speed visible to the naked eye, only instead of the purplish color it was completely healed and pristine. Not just that, it was as though a fog had been lifted from his mind that was now clear and sharp as ever and a feeling of wellness overcame him.

After giving his everything into the fight he was left spent and could barely move, but at least he was completely healed. The process of vanishing for a cryptid of that size and power was bound to be large, which for once was a good thing since he remained tethered to the back of the snake corpse's head by the Red thread of fate's flux wire.

Thinking he would be able to rest, he closed his eyes with an expression only someone who just achieved the impossible could muster, but his rest was abruptly cut short when he felt someone pulling his hand.

"I can't take him, it's like he's stuck." Kristina grunted as she tried her best to rescue Uriel.

Noticing this, he stored the crimson dagger in his museum making the flux wire disappear in an instant and causing both him and Kristina to fall on the rooftop that now looked like Swiss cheese due to the acid venom that befell the city.

That, however, wasn't the only effect it caused. Being so close to the venom and the ensuing cloud dust, the Defenders had their armors and clothes destroyed by the substance, their naked bodies fully displaying a reddish color. It looked unnatural, but a mild rash was nothing in comparison to being eaten by a gigantic snake.

After facing death and somehow surviving, being naked was the least of their worries and it didn't prevent them from hugging Uriel amidst a cheerful celebration. Kristina softly deposited Uriel on the ground with the tender care they would use for a child, then proceeded to smother him in her arms.

Hazel then showed up with a stern expression on her face, some redness on her face that could be due to the venom, but also to shyness and just when Uriel thought she would somehow find a reason to scold him, she proceeded to hold Uriel's face to her chest. If not for her obvious awkwardness, it could have been argued that she was ignorant of the physical touch, but Uriel was not so lucky this time.

Especially when Nika showed up with Luna on her arms after the longest climb up to the rooftop with Luna on her arms, both completely covered in goo boasting glares that shouted murder.

"Don't mind us, continue." Nika said with a voice so calm it was uncanny, her wet black hair falling on her face though was a hint for Uriel to immediately make some distance, a hint that went completely over his head.

"We're splitting the reward in half." Spoke Uriel, leaving Nika in such shock she completely forgot she was mad at him.

"Really? I don't think that would be fair, you killed it all by yourself. If anything, you saved us and we should pay you." Hazel said, now back to her calm demeanor.

"That is also correct," Uriel nodded, then pointed a finger towards Kristina, who reacted by awkwardly sidestepping, but the accusatory finger followed her. "I'll take her as my reward."

"She is... uhm... not as pretty as their leader, but she has a nice figure," Luna muttered approvingly, then continued. "but Nika is prettier."

If she said that only to ingratiate herself with the person who carried her all the way to the rooftop of the building where she could as easily drop her to her death no one could have guessed, if not for the fact that Nika she only spoke those words when Nika openly threatened her by leaning over the edge.

"I... I'm not the prettiest or the strongest. Also..."

"It doesn't matter if you want it or not, it's not your decision." Hazel shut her up while sizing Uriel's intentions. While the Defender's loyalty lied on their leader, it was just like any other hunting party and exchanging members between companies or parties was actually pretty common, though she wondered what would Uriel possibly want Kristina for.

"Great, this is just great," Nika butted in again. "you're all about counting pennies, but the moment a woman flashes their tits in your face you lose your mind like any guy. Grow a spine already." She finished, yet Uriel ignored her altogether and continued speaking with Hazel.

"I'll let you keep all the credit for killing the Culebre and I'll sweeten the deal by throwing in some clothes for you and your team. You don't want to get your picture taken like this, would you?" Uriel said barely containing a grin.

"Fine, you can take her." Hazel nodded and received the clothes Uriel handed them, though she did wonder how could he possibly pick fitting clothes for each of their female members while failing miserably for the male ones.

Hazel climbed down the stairs of the skyscraper and heaved a sigh of relief before mustering the smile only someone who just struck a million credit deal would. Selling a horror level flux orb was already a lot of money, but it paled in comparison to the reputation that came along with being credited as the ones who killed it.

Leaving Kristina behind was a tough choice, but she came to peace with the idea after realizing that Uriel just killed a horror level cryptid in front of her eyes and came out unscathed, which meant he would likely be able to take better care of his companions than herself.