Dungeon Raider System

The three holy rank hunters remained on the scene questioning themselves about the right course of action. Someone with a flexible moral compass like Jon thought the only wrong action they could take would be none, which is why he insisted they should kill the people from chanting while Mister Scofield pondered about the pros and cons about doing so. As a soldier, his top priority was the defense of the flag even at the cost of thousands of human lives, but as a human being he could see how immoral such a thing was. Lily, on the other hand, questioned herself about the morality of breaking open a vending machine to get the snacks as her stomach grumbled, but she did not have any money on her.

At that moment, a woman dressed in black clothes that covered everything but her hands and face walked down the street chanting the same song as everyone, though contrary to the people on the building who showed no initiative of any kind, the woman stopped in front of the vending machine and slid her card, then made a pause between her chanting to speak to Lily.

"That's the issue with women's clothes, they don't have pockets. But my habit does." The woman handed Lily a bag of chips and received a flashing smile in return.

"What business brings you here, sister?" Asked Mister Scofield with a questioning look making Jon flinch in a panic.

"You have a sister!"

"You call yourself an archaeologist but fail to recognize a nun?"

"I know you're naive, but just because someone dresses like something doesn't mean they are. Nuns don't go out of the Vatican... ever." Jon asserted.

"Your holiness is correct, but there's a few exceptions. Now, if you allow me, I need to continue my work."

"What's the deal with the title?" Jon lifted up a quizzical eyebrow.

"You are of the holy rank, correct?" She asked and continued after receiving a positive answer. "then it is the proper way for me to refer to you." She said as she retreated back to the streets chanting like everybody else.

"It's a shame that she's affected by whatever is going on considering how few nuns are left in the world, but seeing her gave me an idea. I know someone who has a trait that enhances her hearing and she may tell us what exactly are the people chanting which may give us an understanding of the situation."

"And you just happened to remember that person now?"

"Well, the nun kind of reminded me to her." Jon awkwardly scratched the back of his head then continued. "besides, I didn't want to talk to this person because my wife would kill me if she knew."

"Don't you mean your late wife?" Scofield asked in shock.

"Oh, so he doesn't tell you everything it seems." Jon said with a smirk before dialing the huntress with enhanced hearing, Seiren. He asked her to meet far away from the odd chant in case she could be affected by it and also because there was a chance that she already knew about it.

Seiren's job was to follow Jon around and assist him however he needed, which became impossibly difficult from the moment Dana reappeared in the picture as Jon avoided her like the plague. In spites of being one of the most powerful holy rank hunters in the world, Jon did not have the courage to break up with her in person and just called it off over the phone.

"Hi Lily, hello Mister Quill. How may I help you Mister Hunter?" Asked Seiren dressed in a professional fashion, though her bountiful figure showed anyway.

"I'm sorry for how things ended up and..." Jon attempted to speak but the heavenly rank huntress cut him short.

"Just because you tirelessly flirted with me, then badgered me until I gave myself to you and then you dumped me like trash doesn't mean my job description changed in any way. I am here to do my job and only that." Seiren crossed and uncrossed her arms repeatedly, completely aware that she was effectively torturing Jon with the sight.

"I just wanted to clear things out..."

"Things are very clear on my side." She snapped.

"Fine, here's the situation. We encountered people chanting something strange, like a very old song on repeat. they react when we interact with them but they deny humming or singing anything." Jon explained.

"That's an earworm." Seiren said.

"Exactly like an earworm!" Jon blurted out.

"No, I mean an actual cryptid worm infection. It's something every hunter with a trait related to hearing knows well. They're difficult to deal with if you don't know what kind they are, but if they're of the beast rank you can take them out without killing the host." Seiren explained.

"A cryptid! How did we not think of that?" Jon said excitedly.

"If it is a cryptid related matter, maybe we should turn our attention to something different." Mister Scofield pondered.

"If you're not hunting cryptids, then what are you hunting?" Seiren asked and was stunned when she received the answer.

"We're hunting gods." Jon replied, now with a serious face.

"Jon...," Seiren lingered for a few seconds and was about to say something, but thought against it and changed the subject. "whatever the case, let me at least teach you how to get rid of them in case you need it in the future."

The group agreed unanimously, though Lily would have agreed to anything even if she didn't know what it was about, and they made their way inside the residential area finding that more buildings were affected as Seiren confirmed with her twitching ears.

They broke into the first apartment they could find and found a family of four sitting in front of the TV which was turned off and did not acknowledge the presence of the hunters.

"First thing you have to do is place your hand in both ears, then channel a slight amount of flux. This will cause the worm to feel threatened and attempt to escape, then when you feel it coming out, you do this." She said as she caught a slimy long creature with corrugated skin and proceeded to squish it with her palm. The worm exploded in a disgusting purple goo that would have caused a certain hunter to feel sick at the stomach, but thankfully the goo disappeared as soon as the cryptid vanished leaving behind a beast rank flux orb.

"We're in luck it seems." Jon said.

"Hang on, I think I hear the source," Seiren announced as she poked her head over the window. She saw a passing figure dressed in black and pointed at it. "over there!"

"That is impossible. We may have missed on the presence of beast rank cryptids because they're too weak and we were not expecting cryptids to be involved, but I'm confident we would have sensed anything stronger." Scofield rebuked.

"I don't know what to tell you, I hear what I hear. Right now, the air is filled with flux energy coming off from people. They're not hunters so it's faint, but it's steady. The source, on the other hand, is just as steady but ten times stronger." Seiren declared and the first one to go out was Mister Scofield.

Rather than walking down the stairs, he simply jumped off the window on the second floor on a direct collision course against the nun. He was against the idea of killing thousands of civilians, but if he had to sacrifice a single person with the off chance of saving more lives he would do it without question.

Jon would have liked to stop him, but he did not know his intention and he also could not catch up to the general of the army and it was actually Lily the one who stopped him by appearing in front of him and blocking his fist with her arms crossed.

"Why did you do that?" Scofield asked, yet Lily did not reply and limited herself to spread her arms and protect the nice woman who gave her a snack.

"Stop it, you blind weasel. She's on our side." Jon yelled at Mister Scofield.

"We don't have the time for this. You brought us a hunter who identified the source and my intention is to take her out."

"I would prefer if you refrained to do that, your holiness. My job here is important." The nun explained.

"Are you the one responsible for the earworm infection?" Asked Jon who joined them after following Scofield out the window making Seiren the only one who bothered climbing down the stairs knowing she would only embarrass herself if she attempted to catch up to any holy rank hunter and that she could still listen to them at a distance.

"I am indeed." The nun nodded.

"She confessed, that's all I needed to hear." Scofield sentenced.

"Hold on, let her explain."

"I am an exorcist."

"That doesn't look like an exorcism." Scofield said.

"It's an adorcism, she's helping people get possessed by the worms and she's strengthening their bond with her chant. The real question here is why." Jon glared at the nun with sharp eyes.

"The gods have their eyes fixated on this city. Good or evil it is not for me to decide, but when they reveal themselves everyone will die unless they're protected. Performing an adorcism with these filthy creatures is the only way I could think of to keep them safe." The nun explained.

"So, those worms, they're protecting people?" Jon asked, then waited for no answer before continuing. "forget that. What is going on with the gods, why did they target this city?"

"Nobody knows their reasons, yet everyone will bear the consequences."