Dungeon Raider System

Chapter 82 : Creepy crawlers

The next chamber he reached was twice as big as the last one. Uriel feared he would have to face the second men created in the Mayan religion, the ones made of wood, but this time, instead of human-like creatures, the place was brimming with insects.

It wasn't the usual type of insect that would crawl out from trash cans though, the smallest one on sight was the size of a fist while the bigger ones were probably a bit bigger than a medium sized dog.

"Bugs!? Why did it have to be bugs!" Uriel lamented. If there was one thing that creeped him out, it was bugs. He didn't mind facing beasts bigger than himself, eerie shapeshifting creatures or even undead, but insects of all kinds gave him the chills.

Mosquitoes, spiders, cockroaches, anything with an exoskeleton and more than four legs disgusted him beyond reason.

The high tech rifle resounded in the spacious chamber as the young archaeologist blasted his weapon in full auto, splattering multiple insects at a time.

Contrary of what would be expected from mindless insects, the small critters seemed to realize they were under attack and rapidly swarmed towards Uriel who kept firing as he retreated step by step without ever letting go of the trigger, he walked back until he reached the carved slabs that could potentially trigger a trap stood his ground.

Green goo oozed all over the place as the bugs fell in great numbers but no matter how powerful his high tech rifle was, it lacked the firepower to eradicate them completely. Uriel was grossed out by the bigger insects as they seemingly exploded in a bubbly purple substance, but he was also thankful they weren't smaller as their increased size also made them easier targets.

Uriel retched in disgust as the grotesque scene in front of him became more revolting by the second. One of the bigger insects, a beetle-like creature that somehow walked on two limbs, was seemingly unaffected by the barrage unleashed on it and slowly closed in on Uriel. The high tech rifle was no match for its hard shell and the alloy projectiles bounced off causing no harm to the filthy creature.

Left with no choice but to use his magnum revolver instead Uriel let the rifle cool down for a few seconds as he produced his revolver from his trait. The magnum bullet easily pierced the litmus shell and liquid splattered all over. He silently thanked the revolver's passive ability to recharge ammunition while stored inside of his trait and swept the bug entrails from his face.

Uriel had shown time and time again that he could stomach a battlefield. Not just that, even when he saw Atomic's corpse he didn't bat an eye. Being raised in the boundaries of the city had many disadvantages, like poverty, but as a tradeoff people from the slums were really tough as it took a particular type of person to survive in that place.

None of that mattered in the slightest when facing against insects. He didn't understand the reason why, after all the slums weren't the cleanest of places and insects were a fairly common sight, but Uriel simply couldn't tolerate bugs.

He struggled against the imperative need to puke his guts out after being drenched with the beetle like creature's insides and shifted back to his rifle to continue his onslaught against the nasty critters. No matter how many Uriel killed, the unending swarm was drawing closer and closer to him. But he wasn't ready yet to give up.

He didn't know how long did it take for him to clear the chamber, but in the end his finger was cramped into position making it difficult for him to let go. Fumes escaped from the smoking assault rifle as Uriel gasped for air.

He mindlessly walked over the hard shells littering the floor amidst wet crunching sounds trying to make his way towards the exit as soon as possible. Had he been paying any attention he could have avoided stepping over one of the surviving insects, but he was being careless and didn't even think much of the small critter.

As he made contact with the nasty critter, the insect quickly shut its maw cleaving through Uriel's boot and foot like butter, clipping off half his foot in an instant.

"Aaaaaaagh!" He stumbled on the mucus covered floor after being brutally maimed by the creature. His skin, now tainted with the disgusting liquid also started emitting a sizzling sound as some of the goo that carpeted the floor was actually a powerful acid. Numerous burn marks appeared on Uriel's left side and on the palms of his hands as he was forced to place them on the floor to stand back up.

The pain was indescribable, it was like nothing he had ever experienced before. Even the shock of losing a part of his body was nothing compared to the enveloping pain that coursed his body.

'I'm close, I know I'm close to the emergency exit. Once I reach it I'll be safe and then... and then...' He tried to convince himself in silent thoughts as his cracked ribs made every breathe of air more valuable than gold.

Uriel's sight faded in between steps and the whole place seemed to be swinging from side to side but, in fact, it was he who was swaying as he struggled to limp forward. He couldn't afford to stay put as he knew the nameless horrors were after him to seek revenge for breaking the jeweled bracelet.

Each step took a toll on his exhausted and hurt body. His pitiful appearance made him look much more like an undead creature than a human being. Any regular person that saw someone in such a state would have thought of ending his misery instead of attempting to save him.

The steaming acid burns all over his body, the wounds, stings and his now maimed foot made it clear that even with the help of a doctor he was minutes away from death. Despite that, despite his pain, he didn't give up.

He would limp as much as he could, if he stepped on another bug he would then crawl and if even that became impossible too he would slither his way like a worm because he had an objective on his mind. It was a simple task, yet only possible outside of the mysterious dungeon and it gave him the strength to keep going forward.

Thankfully for him, a glimmer of hope appeared in the form of a stone arch at the end of a small passage, it was the exit. Never had something as unremarkable as an emergency exit looked so beautiful.

Uriel then placed his bloodied hands on both sides of the stone arch and pushed himself through the mystical gateway.