Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 647: The one who knows the answer Part 2

The lush vegetation announced the group they made it safely out of the barrenlands in record time thanks to the luxurious car that kept working despite the cryptid's FOD. Nika was by no means an expert driver, but apart from being covered in mud the car suffered no damage.

Upon reaching the ancient well Uriel quickly jumped off the vehicle and started tying a rope to the entrance to access the cave system inside. The group of hunters checked their provisions, grabbed their gear and prepared themselves mentally for their endeavor like usual with one small difference.

"Where's my lamp?" Asked Nika extending her open palm towards Uriel.

"We won't be taking any with us this time." He shrugged before disappearing inside.

"You can't possibly be this cheap!" Nika screamed at the bottomless pit that swallowed her complaints without them reaching Uriel thanks to the strange properties of the polished black stone of which the cave was made of.

Needless to say, Medusa wasn't troubled by the lack of light and easily made her way inside the pit, followed closely by Luna and then Bella, leaving Nika in the rear position.

"This place feels nostalgic." Uriel let out after sniffing the musty air that sometimes carried the fresh aromas of the interior of the dungeon.

"Why are we here? I mean, if you wanted to enter the dungeon it should have been easier from the lost city." Bella asked.

"I have no clue about what you're doing here, but we're not here just to enter the dungeon. We're here to seek answers from the only one who knows the truth." Uriel replied annoyed at his past self for letting Bella come with them.

The sounds of their steps were muffled by the cave walls making them seem distant and detached from the feet that caused the sounds. It was a phenomenon all of them already expected and yet it didn't make them feel any better.

"When we reach the chamber of echoes I want all of you to start channeling flux. Not much, just enough to coat yourselves with it." Uriel explained.

"What if we get tired?" Medusa asked, but received no reply since Uriel himself didn't know what to expect.

From the moment Jon mentioned the existence of 'gods' Uriel had been wondering if the creature he met in the abyss was truly the shadow demon mentioned in the Comanche tradition. It clearly despised humans, but it didn't show any ill will towards him or anyone that crossed the cave system after being exiled from the dungeon by the society.

For a moment he thought of sharing his intentions with the rest of the group, but then thought against it. Not because he thought his friends didn't deserve to know the risk they were taking but because he knew it would make no difference to them.

The sounds of their own breathing becoming so loud it became annoying announced the hunters they made it to the chamber of echoes and they did as Uriel told them to. Just as Uriel expected, it protected them from hearing the myriad of voices trapped inside that room and from the booming sounds that would have hurt their eardrums.

Not just that, it also protected them when after following Uriel to the hidden passage they found themselves in the presence of a being seemingly older than time itself.

"You are back, but your hands are empty. Where is my relic, where is it?" A voice that came from the abyssal depths and from within themselves reached the hunters' minds.

"Father of horrors, I come here to seek your wisdom." Uriel said as he knelt on the ground in front of what he assumed was the presence speaking to him.

"I know why you are here, just as I know you have made no progress in the task I gave you. Voice your questions and they shall be answered once you bring me the relic. Your manners have improved and it pleases me, I will grant you one answer to show you my good will."

"I want to know if you are a god." Uriel asked his question, relieved that the flux he used to coat himself also protected his mind from the searing pain he endured last time.

As an experiment, Uriel fluctuated the strength of the flux he channeled throughout his body and found out the more flux he channeled the lesser the effect the voice had in him, but it also made it difficult to understand its words. In the end, he settled with channeling enough flux just so the voice would be annoying, but not to the point it was painful.

"A god? Am I? To my children I am their father, to my enemies I am the poison and to the world I am the unending darkness that shall engulf everything. A god is worshipped, but I am feared. I am no god." Father of horror's answer wasn't cryptic or difficult to understand, yet it also wasn't what Uriel wanted to hear.

He wanted to confirm whether or not gods existed and all he got was a reply born of semantics.

"Geez! You could have just said no." Nika's ears popped under the roaring voice that thundered inside her head and she tried to fix the situation with her pinky finger.

"You are disrespect me after I saved your life!" The voice caused a shockwave that made Nika regret ever learning how to speak and prompted Uriel to interject in her favor.

"Father of horrors, please, we are here to do your bidding. Forgive this naive child and she will prove to be useful to you." Uriel didn't have the need to raise his voice since he knew it wasn't the sound what conveyed his words but his mind.

The voice faded in the emptiness of the void and even though none could feel its presence in the first place they somehow knew the creature wasn't there anymore.

"That was stupid." Luna muttered after letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"I know, but you know Nika." Uriel replied with a wry smile that went unseen due to the darkness.

"No, you are stupid. Coming here was a mistake." Luna sentenced.

"You of all people should be glad I brought you! This should help you further your research in cryptids or whatever." Uriel grunted, already making his way towards the exit.

"No, that wasn't a cryptid or if it was, it must be at least at the rank of a titan. We are nowhere near the point where we can safely study them."

"I have to agree with Luna. What part of striking a deal with a creature like that sounds like a good plan?" Medusa said.

"Why are you so mad? Did you really expect me to side with the government that keeps secret after secret? Or the army, that does the exact same thing but while pretending they're going to save the world when they're just looking for an out?

No, we need need to find a different way and if it turns out there isn't, we're going to make it ourselves," Uriel couldn't believe his own friends would turn against him when he was doing everything in his power to find the answers they desperately needed. "Nika, I know you try to keep yourself from thinking about this, but what the Father of horrors said was the truth.

He gave you a new body or whatever and he also returned you to us. If it wasn't for him you may have been stuck in the shadowlands forever!"

"Hey! I'm not complaining. I actually think coming here was a good idea." Despite still being shaken by the mysterious being outburst, to her it wasn't much different from being yelled at.

"Medusa, you can't even open your eyes without harming those around you. And you, Luna, you just complained that you can't get any stronger. The answers are out there, but the people who have them won't give them out of the kindness of their hearts. I'm trying my best here to help you, but I can't do it if you keep nagging at me for doing what needs to be done.

Now tell me, why are you mad I brought you all here?"

"I'm mad because... uhm... I peed a little." Luna replied, embarrassed by her blunder unaware that she wasn't the only one.

Uriel knew more or less what to expect when facing that being and thanks to infusing his body with flux he was able to withstand the pressure emitted by that being's voice, but the same couldn't be said about the rest of the members of his party.

With the exception of Nika, no one had ever experienced something similar to that pressure. It was a feeling of dread that coursed through their bodies as though trying to take control of their every cell. It had nothing to do with the flux energy or any pressure emitted by the voice, it was something primitive deeply seeded within their souls.