Dungeon Raider System

The whole group rushed across the city in hopes of leaving the enemy behind. Fortunately for them, vampires weren't as fast as the ascended hunters, but they were untiring and kept running after them without stop.
Explore more at empire

Usually, ascended hunters would have no issue running for long periods of time, but all of them were already tired even before their previous encounter with cryptids which left them in a disadvantageous situation.

After running a couple blocks the group would turn around and fire their weapons against the cryptids while taking the chance to rest. Although Tina's group was equipped with high quality long ranged weapons and they were trained in their use, thanks to his trait Sam outperformed most of them with the coil rifle Uriel gave him.

The sole exception to this was Tina, who possessed a powerful shoulder cannon which was a high pulse weapon developed by the Celes company. Though the only reason why she was able to carry and fire such a weapon without hindering her movements, was because of her heavenly rank trait.

Each shot she fired caused a blue flash of light and a small explosion wherever it landed, causing a lot of damage to the incoming horde of vampires. Although no weapon in their whole arsenal was enough to kill even one of them.

"It seems they're able to see in the dark." Sam pointed out.

"Uh... it makes sense. Vampires are night predators, but they're also weaker than I expected." Luna replied while she jotted down her findings on her notepad. She was able to do it because she didn't have a weapon to help in containing the cryptids, but maybe even if she had one she would still prioritize taking notes over fighting.

They were still at a distance from the plaza and the vampires were getting closer by the second, if not for the combined efforts to keep them at bay they would have been caught already. They kept the same strategy of running and firing for a while until a sense of security lead them to forget they were still inside the dangerous lost city.

"I can see the church!" Said Medusa.

"We're going to make it! Thank you, thank you so much." Said one of the hunters following Medusa, it was the same one that Uriel scolded for trying to take a flux orb.

"Dude, don't raise flags!" One of his friends said jokingly and they both laughed. But their laugh was short lived as a four legged creature, unlike any they had ever laid eyes upon, crawled from within a destroyed building.

The cryptid growled at the group and Tina Celes quickly fired her high pulse weapon at the monster rank cryptid. Blood splattered all over the place and the cryptid was destroyed, though no one bothered in waiting for the flux orb to fall as they all started running.

Noticing the breach in the defense the rest of the party started running as cryptids just like the one that Tina just killed appeared from all sides.

"What is going on!? It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Tina exclaimed.

"What did you expect? This group is too big and we're making too much noise." Uriel explained the reason why so many cryptids appeared, though Tina had been to a few incursions since acquiring her trait and none had been like that.

She and Mark were both heavenly rank hunters and they always hunted together, but something like that had never happened to them even though their energy signature should have been roughly the same as their previous incursions.

Everyone ran towards the church amidst panicked screams, they pushed one another without caring of the consequences and eventually a couple of their companions fell to the ground.

"Wait for me! Help me!" The young hunter that just rolled on the ground begged as he raised a hand at Mark who was the one who pushed him seeking for help, but all Mark did was look at him with a displeased expression and he darted along with the rest of the group.

Just a few seconds later, the young hunter's screams of agony echoed in the streets but no one spared a thought for him as they were too scared for their own life to care about the rest of them. Since the group stopped forming the defensive line and taking rests in the middle of their race, it didn't take long until the vampires started catching up to them

The first one to fall to the bloodthirsty cryptids was the hunter following Medusa, the same one who 'raised the flag' though something as superstitious as that had nothing to do with it. He was simply too tired and was struggling to keep up with the pace as he was among the weakest in the group.

The vampire who caught him stretched its arm and grasped on the young man's neck, then pulled him back and threw himself at his jugular greedily drinking his blood. Medusa turned back and gasped at the scene in horror, though Uriel caught on to that and pulled her arm forcing her to continue running.

One by one the hunters were falling to the cryptids as most of them were only ascended hired by Mark and Tina to act as support. As regretful as losing some of their companions was, they still benefited from their demise as the ever thirsty vampires were distracted by the meal presented to them.

Much to everyone's surprise, Uriel not only was able to keep up the pace, but he was in good condition even after going back for Medusa. He was supposed to be just an evolved, and yet he didn't seem tired at all.

By the time they reached the plaza, the group that used to be comprised of almost twenty people was reduced to Uriel, Sam, Medusa, Luna, Mark, his friend Tom, Tina, Mary and Sophie, the tall huntress that remained by Tina's side. The open space created by the lack of buildings on the whereabouts allowed some of the night light to bathe the place.

Just when they thought they would be safe, they noticed an imposing figure in the middle of the square and flinched in surprise.

"Why did you guys stop? it's just a sculpture. The church is that way." Sam informed.

The group was relieved by his words as now everyone knew his trait allowed him to see in the dark, but their short respite was interrupted by the vampires closing in on them again and they headed towards the building Sam indicated.