Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 639: Celestial hypothesis Part 1

"Are you sure Sam is one of them?" Was Medusa's first question after hearing the full explanation of what happened in Santa Barbara.

"An asshole? Absolutely. Not so sure about the angel part." Jon shrugged.

"Hang on a second, you said it like it was a certain thing now you're backtracking on your words." Uriel grunted.

"Don't put words in my mouth. It's just that I gave your panspermic theory a thought and arrived at the conclusion it's not so crazy as it sounds." Jon replied with the wide smile he always used whenever he stole something from someone.

"I don't know what that is, but it sounds dirty." Nika chuckled.

"The Panspermia hypothesis claims that life in our planet originated from outer space. It's unproved, but it answers many questions." Luna explained.

"Now you're going to tell us that you believe in UFO!?" After hearing Luna fumble about so many alleged creatures from the myths Nika still found herself astonished.

"Of course not. I just explained what that theory is about, I don't think extraterrestrial creatures are real. But I want to believe." Luna looked at the ceiling as though trying to pierce through the alloy plates with her gaze.

"First, my theory isn't that life comes from outer space. I just theorized that all languages and cultures share the same origin. At the time I came up with it I had no clue as to what that origin was, though now I believe it must somehow be related to dungeons. Second, the possibility of extraterrestrial life isn't that crazy at all.

And third, how do angels fit in all this?" Uriel finished by glaring at Jon who was busy spiking his coffee.

"You can't deny it crossed your mind too. I mean, you saw him, he has feathers and all. If it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck..."

"That is the duck test. It means you can identify anything by observing the subject's habitual characteristics." Luna turned to explain to Nika. Her voice was the same as always and it lacked the condescending tone that would imply she thought her to be stupid, but it made Nika feel she was a child in the middle of an adult conversation.

"Forget ducks, we're talking about mythological creatures here, why don't you say something about it Luna?"

"Uhm... I don't believe angels are real." Luna replied with glistening eyes.

"Care to elaborate?" Uriel prompted her to speak since Luna had the bad habit of falling silent.

"It's because... uhm... I used to pray to angels all the time when I was a child, but none of my wishes ever came true."

"Oh, Luna, you poor thing." Nika stood up to hold Luna close to her chest and caress her hair. Just the thought of the cute little Luna enduring the harsh life she had when she was a child and then running away from home praying everyday for angels to come rescue her broke Nika's heart.

In truth, Luna's prayers weren't precisely what Nika expected. She didn't pray to be reunited with her family or for protection. Luna started her studies in cryptozoology from a tender age and she knew better than to assume if angels existed they would be nice and cute.

"Angels are portrayed as celestial beings of untold power, most often depicted with wings ranging from one up to countless numbers. They're harbingers of destruction and can lay waste to cities with but a thought. Each angel is supposed to hold power over a specific concept and... oh." Luna suddenly fell silent as she realized something that up until that moment had gone over her head.

"I think her OS just crashed." Medusa chuckled.

"Luna, please..." Uriel dragged his hand over his face in annoyance.

"It's something unrelated to the matter at hand." Luna replied, blushing in bright red when she realized the reason why she felt attracted to Uriel in the first place was because he shared his name with the angel to whom she always prayed. If not for that silly coincidence Luna would have given up on trying make friends with Uriel and just added him to the sizeable list of her failures.

"And what exactly is the matter at hand?" Uriel furrowed his brows and leaned back on his chair making a puffing sound. The meeting room in the Pegasus was far from luxurious, but it was comfortable enough to hold long meetings and safe enough to keep anything they said a secret, yet Jon hesitated before speaking.

"I think your friend is onto something. As you all know, I am considered the first hunter and I'm also the strongest one."

"Second strongest one." Uriel faked a cough.

"Look, kid, you're not bad, but holy rank hunters are made wood from another tree." Jon scoffed at Uriel, thinking he was just being cocky.

"Really? The last one I defeated didn't feel like much. If anything, I'd say he was weaker than any horror level cryptid I've faced before," Uriel replied with a smug grin, then continued without giving Jon the chance to rebuke. "I wasn't speaking about myself anyway, Mister Scofield is still alive."

"It can't be, I saw him die." Jon gasped.

"I'm not saying you lied, just stating a fact. He's still alive." Uriel thought about telling Jon about Soulfire's trait to explain how he learned that his oldest friend was still alive, but thought against it. He didn't like Soulfire much, but so far he had given Uriel no reason to betray his trust other than his family name.

"That old weasel." Jon heaved a sigh with a wide smile. Despite his enmity with the old librarian, they both fought on the side of humanity and they needed all the help they could get.

"Did you find out what happened to the Mapple corporation zeppelins?" Medusa asked, cutting Jon's happiness short.

"Yes, I did. It is related to the reason why I came here. As I was saying, I'm one of the strongest hunters and I'll let you in on a secret only the holy rank hunters are supposed to know. We can speak with the gods."

"Pfff, really? Everyone can do that!" Nika blurted out.

"If you speak to the gods you're a man of faith, but if they talk to you then you have a problem." Uriel chuckled.

"I'm being serious. It's not something we do on purpose and it's only happened to me a couple times and it's something all holy rank hunters have experienced. Some people think it's their inner voice, some say it's the gods and others have even more deranged theories, but what all these experiences have in common is that the gods or whatever you call them want us to become stronger.

That is how even though I'm at what is supposed to be the highest rank a human can achieve, I know there is something above."

"It makes sense..." Luna muttered.

"How does it make more sense than angels being real!? If gods exist then why do they allow cryptids to exist? Why do they let people suffer and die?" Medusa's indignant voice cut Luna short. Just the thought of almighty beings that refused to help humanity at their lowest disgusted her.

"That's a question as old as religion itself and no one has the answer. Who knows, maybe it's the titans the ones who wants us to become stronger so they can eat us." Jon's theory was even worst than the gods being uncaring, it meant they were actually enemies.

"Tell us, Jon, does the voice inside your mind tell you to kill humans?" Uriel asked with the nicest tone of voice he could muster, while pulling his Magnum revolver from his trait secretly behind the table.

"Not quite, but I'm afraid I can't share it with you guys. It's a personal experience and even if I could tell you, it wouldn't make any sense to you."

"That is why I said it made sense. Angels are mythological creatures whose existence can't be explained without gods being real. They're supposedly tasked with carrying the gods will." Luna hated being interrupted and once she made up her mind to speak she couldn't rest until she fulfilled her compulsion to say whatever it was she wanted to say.

"Well, every culture has its own version of religion each with their own gods. When people talked to their gods it was called a prayer and whenever the gods spoke to a person it was called an oracle. Oracles were divine messages only a few chosen, usually priests, received. They could be anything from omens to commands, yet they were always unclear and convoluted." Uriel explained.

"Precisely." Jon nodded.

"So, when you mentioned Sam is onto something you actually meant to say he managed to understand whatever oracle he received and he knows how to become even stronger than a holy rank hunter.

We have an idea of what's going through your mind, now all what's left is for you to fill us in on the facts." Uriel glared at the holy rank hunter in a fashion much similar to when they first met, making Jon shiver just like that time. Now, however, it was completely unrelated to Water warlock possessing Uriel, it was just his sharp gaze what shook Jon to the core.