Dungeon Raider System

After entering the cathedral through the empty double door frame in the front, the group of hunters fell into despair. What they expected to be be a church made of sturdy materials, a place with fortifications worthy of making a last stand, was nothing but a square building with two small towers on the sides and a wrecked interior.

The benches were completely destroyed and everything inside was weathered and moldy. As if that wasn't enough, the whole place was trashed and it looked as though it would crumble any minute now.

"You have got to be kidding me! We're doomed!" Mary cried.

"Bastard! You brought us here on purpose to die!" Said Mark while holding Uriel by the collar and lifting him up in the air menacingly. "You even took my weapon, now we're sitting ducks!"

Medusa, who didn't stand seeing Uriel being mistreated like that, was getting ready to kick Mark straight on the face but, as much as Uriel would have loved to see that, he knew it was a bad idea as Mark was as strong as he looked and a direct confrontation would be too risky for everyone.

"No one asked you to come." Uriel muttered while discretely signalling Medusa to stay out of it.

"What did you say!? huh!? You're asking to get your ass kicked now."

"Mark, please!" Tina begged, but just as usual she did nothing to help Uriel and stood idly by while Mark was bullying him.

"I said, no one asked you to come. You're still welcome to go outside if you don't like this place. About your weapon, you lost and you should be grateful I let you keep your pants, besides, Sam is making good use of it."

"They're here." Sam, who up to that point remained by the door frame pointing his rifle outward, said and he quickly started firing his new coil rifle. Every shot he fired landed right on an enemy's face and, even though weapons couldn't kill those cryptids, they took a long time recovering from headshots. His incredible accuracy only furthered Uriel's point and everyone glared at Mark.

Left with no choice, he put Uriel back on the ground, but not before making sure everyone knew how displeased he was by spitting on the ground.

"You're all idiots, we're going to die just like the others." Mark's words reminded everyone just how heavy the losses they suffered were and for a second everyone seemed sad, safe for Uriel who only felt the anger inside him growing after being toyed by Mark.

They scouted the chapel seeking for anything they could use to barricade themselves but the blood sucking cryptids were already nearing. The sound of footsteps grew louder and louder. Oddly enough, Sam remained calm and collected while firing his weapon but that lasted only until he noticed something he missed before.

"Wait... the cryptids, they're wearing clothes. Where did they get them?" Sam asked, but then answered his own question. Among the vampires that were running across the square heading directly towards them, there were some that looked particularly skinny and pale, and they were wearing the same clothes the recently deceased had been wearing. "No way! Your friends, they're vampires now!"

"That's not possible, humans can't turn into cryptids!" Tina's eyes widened in disbelief, though something inside her told her it wasn't just possible but the most likely possibility. She didn't have the chance to see the vampires properly as it was too dark and she fired from the distance, but she had also noticed they were fully clothed, only at the time she didn't think much of it.

"Actually, it makes perfect sense. One of the main characteristics of vampires in the lore is their ability to sire more of their kind." Luna explained without ever stopping taking notes.

"We got ourselves in a whole lot of trouble again." Uriel said jokingly, though the only ones who laughed were those who belonged to his own party.

As the vampires reached the front of the church everyone braced themselves expecting the creatures to launch an immediate attack, though none of them dared to cross the threshold of the cathedral.

The vampires stopped their vehement march and reacted as though the very ground inside the church was lava, even when pushed they wouldn't take a step further and, instead, surrounded the building amidst hissing and growling sounds.

"What's going on?" Tina asked noticing the strange behavior of their enemy.

"This ground is sacred, I've seen something like this happen before." Uriel replied thinking back on the protective barrier on Chichén Itzá.

"They can't get inside? Does that mean we're safe?" Sophie asked.

"Not really, they can't get inside but that doesn't mean we're safe yet. There could still be cryptids inside this building and I think it'd be safer if we explored this place. If it turns out it's safe we could wait here until dawn, I don't think they'll stick around daytime." Luna took her time explaining the situation and everyone listened carefully to her words.

Up to that moment they hadn't thought much of the minute huntress that wouldn't take part in the fighting nor helping others, but now they looked at her with well deserved respect.

"Hey, you seem experienced and knowledgeable. Why are you sticking around that group of losers. If you join our party we can pay you well and you'll get to hang out with people more worthy of your company." Mark asked as he walked towards Luna. Despite the huge difference in stature she didn't react in the slightest.

"Uhm... no." Was all she replied and she walked towards her friends.

After making sure no vampire would enter the church, everyone followed Luna's advice and explored the building. Though since they had limited lanterns every member of Uriel's party was paired with people from Tina's group.

"There's a lot of damage but it looks old, It seems they used this place as some sort of refuge when the cryptids took over the city." Tina, who had been silently following Uriel said out loud.

"Yes, people usually hide behind religious beliefs when they think their life is in danger." Uriel remembered having read something like that in many anthropology books. "Fear is one of the most common reasons why people turn to religion."

"Wow, you seem to know a lot about those things. I never took you for a religious person." Tina commented, though her mind was elsewhere. She just wanted to make conversation to avoid thinking about the fact that many people died, people she knew.

The creepy sounds coming from outside had also been bothering her for a while now and she needed to take her mind off from the cryptids loitering around the church.

"Not really, I just know a lot about churches because of my studies."

"Do you know anything about this church?" Read exclusive chapters at empire

"I don't even know what city this is, the government really loves their secrets and modern history isn't my specialty." Uriel shrugged but then he leaned closer to a marble slab that read:

'Here lies the remains of Travis.Crockett.Bowie and other Alamo heroes...'

"This is can't be... This is... San Fernando Cathedral!" Uriel let out in surprise then, he fell silent as he thought he heard someone calling his name in the distance in a voice that seemed to come from beyond the grave.