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The Nightstalker's Bow by LoganMidnight
 Destiny & Rising of the Shield Hero/盾の勇者の成り上がり XoverRated: T, English, Adventure & Fantasy, Ghost, Guardian, Naofumi I., Raphtalia, Words: 86k+, Favs: 589, Follows: 752, Published: Dec 31, 2019 Updated: Jul 8 223Chapter 6
Disclaimer - I do not own the Destiny franchise or The Rising of the Shield Hero
My longest chapter yet boys.
(Hopefully you like the fight scenes, I don't think I'm very good at writing them)
Chapter 6 - The Hound of Hades
It had been a week since Rifana joined his party and Lance still didn't know what to think about it. It went against his moral code to willingly let someone, let alone a child, close to a battlefield.
But, Shade had brought up a good point that night.
(Flashback - A Week Earlier)
"We are going to set out in the morning and I need to ask this. Is there anywhere you want me to take you? People you can stay with?" Lance had asked this hopefully, even if he knew the answer.
Rifana looked down, a sad look on her face, confirming what he thought.
"I… see." He followed his own statement.
'Lance.' Shade called out mentally, causing the hunter to look at him, 'You know that we have to bring her with us.'
Lance didn't argue that fact, 'Yeah, I know, I'm just worried. She's still a kid and we're more than likely to encounter the monsters of this world when we travel. She'll be in danger.'
'I'm worried about that too,' The Ghost responded, 'But, if we are in a party with her she should be fine.'
'What do you mean by that?' The hunter asked.
'Well,' The Ghost continued, 'If I understand it right, when people are in a party together they grow more powerful based on killing monsters. If she was in your party, things you kill should make her stronger.' He paused, 'At least that's what the help menu said. This XP thing is weird to me.'
'Alright,' The hunter said after a second, 'I'm still not okay with it though, but I might as well teach her how to defend herself as well.'
Seeing that the conversation was over, Lance turned to Rifana and asked, "Rifana, would you like to travel with me? At least until you have a place to st-"
"I would love to travel with you!" She cut him off in an excited voice.
Maybe a little too excited.
He quickly recovered from his surprise, "Well then, welcome to the team."
At the conclusion of that sentence, another pop up appeared in his vision. 'Rifana has joined your party.' Along with this, something new was added to his vision.
In the top right of his vision his and Rifana's names appeared. Under the names were thin red, green, and blue bars. Next to each of their names was a number preceded by the letters 'LV'.
He guessed that meant level.
Next to Rifana was level one. It made sense really. Lance was more confused about his own level though.
'I'm level 240?'
(Present)
His own level was still confusing to him, but after thinking about it he found some sense in it. He was a Guardian and likely a lot more powerful than the average summoned hero.
Even then, he didn't know if his level was considered powerful compared to the average adventurer in this world.
As for training Rifana, that was going good. Lance, not wanting her to be close to the battle field, had started to train her on how to properly use a gun. More specifically, a scout rifle.
She was rather confused on what it was when he had given it to her, but she learned quickly. Over the past week she was able to get the basics of shooting down, even if she threw the gun with a scream the first time it fired. The ears on top of her head were more sensitive than he thought.
She wasn't near the level of a Guardian, but she was on her way. Speaking of level though…
Lance glanced at Rifana, who was walking beside and a little behind him. She had grown to level 14 during the week, according to the hud, and the change was very obvious.
Not only had she gained weight and muscle mass, making her look a lot healthier, but she had physically grown. No, grown was the wrong word. She aged.
It was strange beyond belief for the hunter, but while the girl was 10 years old she looked to be around 14-15 years old. It basically happened overnight. One day she was normal, then the next day Shade had to resize her clothes because she had grown out of them.
Her hair was still cropped short, but it was cleaner and better kept. She also walked with a bit more pep, her eyes livelier than when he found her. While her clothes were resized, the color was changed, leading to her now having a light tan shirt and tan combat boots. The pants were kept black. He did give her a spare jacket Shade had in his storage, which was of course black.
That didn't change the fact that they would still have to go to a town or city soon to get her actual womens clothing if she kept ageing like that.
She was holding the scout rifle he had given her, not having a way to mag lock it to her back and no real holster for it.
The gun itself was entirely black in color. It was smooth yet boxy, the same style as Kindled Orchid. The scope was a piece of what looked like glass fixed to the gun with two metal pieces. Behind the scope was a gap with a rainbowy energy flowing through it. The stock was behind that of course, the ammo clip inserted into it.
This was No Feelings, a gun that showed only apathy to its targets.
He refocused on the path. They had traveled a lot in the past week, killing monsters mostly. Right now they were close to the coast, the ocean's waters splashing against the cliff edge nearby.
They had no real destination in mind when traveling and no real goal. Just to travel the frontier.
Something caught his eye up ahead. He held his hand out for Rifana to stop, which she did, "What's wrong?" She asked.
"There's something up ahead." He answered before tapping the side of his helmet. Like looking through binoculars, Lance's vision zoomed in, giving him a closer look. He idly noticed Rifana look through No Feeling's scope.
Getting a closer look at it, he noticed that what he saw up ahead was a set of buildings, all collapsed on themselves. There were enough of them to be considered a village.
Well, what used to be a village.
He zoomed back out and looked at Rifana, but the look on her face made him pause. Only for a moment, "Rifana, what's wrong?"
With a sad face, she answered him in a soft voice, "Th-that's my old village."
Ah, well, this was awkward. He didn't really know how to proceed, "Do you… want to avoid it then? We could always go around."
"No," She answered quickly, "No, I need to do this. Let's go." She marched forward.
Lance followed.
It didn't take long to get there. It was a decent sized village that expanded across the hill and the beach. Old boats floated in the water, decaying with time and water exposure. The wooden beams of houses were in no better condition, roofs caved in and walls had fallen down.
Rifana was walking down the road, looking around the buildings with a sad look on her face. Lance walked behind her, "What happened here, if you don't mind me asking?" He asked her.
She was silent for a moment, but spoke nonetheless, "It happened during the first wave. Monsters attacked the village."
'That made sense.' Lance thought.
"But that wasn't the end of it." She continued, "A lot of us survived, and we started to rebuild." She gave a weak laugh, "Well, after Raphtalia gave us the motivation to."
"Was Raphtalia a friend of yours?" He asked, standing next to her when she stopped.
She gave a sad smile, "Yeah, my best friend." Her eyes started to tear up before continuing, "As the village started to rebuild, things were looking up for us. We were recovering."
"But something else happened, right?" The hunter asked when she paused.
"Yeah," She answered, tears now rolling down her face, "A few days after the wave, we saw soldiers coming to us. We thought they were there to help us, but…"
"They attacked you." Lance guessed, clenching his fist when Rifana nodded.
"T-there was no way for us to stop the soldiers, most of us were children after all. A-a lot of people were killed, but most of us were taken and e-enslaved including me and Raphtalia." She choked on some of the words, crying hard.
She fell to the ground and leaned against the ruins of one of the buildings. Lance, not knowing what to do, sat next to her and put his hand on hers for reassurance. Only to stiffen in surprise when she suddenly closed the distance and hugged him, her head on his chest. He quickly relaxed his body and put his arms around her to comfort her, letting her cry it out.
They stayed like that, the only sounds being her cries and the ocean's waves.
After a few minutes, her tears had stopped flowing and she looked up at Lance, "S-sorry about that."
The hunter just chuckled, "Its fine. Are you feeling better now?"
"Yeah, a bit at least." She answered with a small smile before standing up and dusting herself off, "Let's keep going, I want to see if I can fi-" She was interrupted by Lance spinning in place to look behind him.
The edge of his motion tracker had lit up.
He couldn't see anything but wrecked buildings, so with bow now in hand he crouched low and started moving. Rifana, having seen this before, crouched and followed him, No Feelings at the ready.
They moved slowly, but quietly around the building towards the tracked motion. When the mid radar range on his tracker lit up, they could hear the sound of claws scratching on stone inside one of the nearby intact(mostly) buildings.
They each took a side of the closed door, the middle of Lance's motion tracker red, and slowly opened the door. The creature inside didn't notice them, but they noticed it.
The creature looked like a doberman, except it was standing about as tall as Lance at about five feet. Its fur was a dark black/grey that reminded the hunter of ash.
Above its head was a red bar, its health, a name, and a level. The name being 'Spawn of Cerberus' and the level 15.
Lance mentally logged this and drew back an arrow, aimed, and released. The hound died instantly, turning into particles of light. A pop up appeared a second later.
Rifana Leveled Up!
Level 15
He had seen this pop up a lot in the past week, and he had to say that it was interesting to see the level grow fast. He couldn't say that for himself though.
+0 EXP
It was annoying, but understandable as to why that kept happening. The monsters were too low of a level for him, to put it simply. Nothing would give him EXP for a long time.
If he would get any at all.
But that didn't matter now, "Rifana," She looked at the talking hunter, "Have you seen these monsters in the area before?"
"No, monsters never really appeared near the village before. Other than the wave." She responded, adding the last part after a pause. A confused look crossed her face, "Why would that be important? Monsters migrate like any other animal."
"I wouldn't be concerned if it wasn't for its name." Lance said. Rifana just looked more confused so he continued, "It was the 'Spawn of Cerberus'. I've fought creatures with titles like that before, and it always means the same thing. There's a higher tier, a leader, of those creatures in the area."
She nodded slowly in understanding before her face appeared a little fearful, "S-so you're saying that there's a boss monster somewhere around here." Lance's nod only made her grip her rifle tighter.
"If that's what you call that class of monster, then yes." The hunter took note of her expression, "We don't have to fight it though, we can just leave."
She seemed to consider it before steeling herself, "No, we can't just let a boss monster run free." Rifana said shaking her head, "Besides," She continued, "This is my village. I won't let a monster make it their home if I can do anything about it."
Lance nodded at her words. He couldn't help but worry though. Mainly for Rifana's safety, but his thoughts were also on this boss monster. If there was one at all. For all he knew the name 'Spawn of Cerberus' could just be a coincidence.
Still, thinking about it made him think of the Hive. Them and their armies of spawn bred to fight for the darkness. It made him uneasy.
"So," Rifana said, breaking Lance out of his thoughts, "How are we supposed to find the boss?"
The hunter looked at the spot the hound used to be, "Well, we can't track it with its spawn. Shade?" He called out to his trusty Ghost.
'I'm tracking an energy signature that might be it, it fits well enough. I'll mark it for you.' The Ghost replied, causing both Lance and Rifana to nod.
That was another thing Lance and his Ghost gave to her, an earpiece that would allow her to hear Shade when he was hidden away.
True to the Ghost's word, a small, grey diamond appeared in the hunter's vision. He started to follow it, Rifana close behind him.
(The Coast - A Few Minutes Later)
It didn't take long for them to track it down. The village was bordering an ocean, separated by a beach. There was a cliffside next to a portion of the ocean that provided a great look from above. Below, however, there was a cave.
The entrance wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. It was big enough to fit an arcadia class jumpship, but any bigger and it wouldn't fit. They couldn't see the end of the cave, but they could tell that it was deep.
"Ready to go?" Lance asked the weasel demi as they stood at the entrance of the cave, their feet half submerged in the tides water.
"Yep, ready to go." Rifana responded before glancing at her soaked feet, "Let's get out of this water."
And so, they entered the cave.
Following the natural corridors, the two of them quickly noticed just how dark and narrow the cavern got. So dark in fact, Shade saw the need to come out and provide light ahead of them. Interestingly enough, it seemed as if Rifana didn't need the light provided.
Maybe she had night vision. He would have to ask her later.
It wasn't long before the hunter noticed something strange though, "Rifana," Lance started, making said girl look at him, "Was anything ever built down here?"
The question was warranted. The further they walked into the cave's system, the more shaped rock or bricks he would see. They were obviously old and worn down by erosion, but they were there nonetheless.
"Nothing that I can remember," She replied, "But there was, or should I say is, an old temple down here. None of the kids were allowed to go to it though." She pouted at the last part.
The hunter nodded at the statement. He was beginning to see the makings of a cobblestone path, leading further into the cave. Even if it was gradual, he didn't need Shade to tell him that the path had started to decline, making them go further into the ground.
'Your closing up on the target.' The Ghost stated, making Rifana stand straighter, 'There's a big chamber up ahead, the target is in there.'
The two of them slowed their march upon seeing the entrance to said chamber, Shade turning his light off and returning to Lance. The hunter was only blind for a second though as the 'eyes' on his helmet emitted a light, barely visible glow. This glow signified the helmet's night vision turning on, allowing Lance to see the room ahead of him.
It was, as the Ghost said, a large chamber. Several entrances could be seen along the walls, one bigger than the others with parts of it cracked off of the edges. Almost like something big went through it. Another notable entrance was on the top of a large set of steps that lined the wall going up at least 40 feet.
On the other side of the camber was what used to be the main attraction, a stone temple that would have been glorious in its time. It was long past that time though. The walls were crumbled and the ceiling caved in. A few pillars were still standing, but they were cracked and likely to fall at any moment.
The only distinguishable feature about the old structure was a symbol on a large slab of stone. It was made of multiple weapons, four to be exact. On the bottom of the weapons was a shield, on top of that was a bow that was facing up. A spear and sword were also there though they were layered on top of each other, the spearhead facing up and the sword's blade facing down.
The appearance of the weapons didn't go over Lance though. They looked exactly like the Legendary Weapons.
Interesting, but he had bigger problems to deal with. Mainly the three headed dog sleeping in the center of the room.
It was massive to say the least. If it was standing, it would have been 15 feet tall. Its body was similar to the spawn he had killed, pure black fur and doberman like. Its main differences were of course its size and the fact that it had three heads. Each head was different though. The one on the far left had two horns while the one in the middle only had one and the far right head had none.
Above its middle head was a name, 'Cerberus, The Hound of Hades'. Next to that was its level, 35. Its health bar looked different as well. It was still red, but the red was outlined in gold, the ends shaped like open mouthed wolves.
Rifana whimpered.
Lance's head snapped to her, "What's wrong?" He spoke, barely above a whisper.
She responded quietly, her voice shaky and terrified, "T-that's the m-monster that destroyed the v-village during the w-wave. It k-killed Raphtalia's parents."
The hunter nodded slowly. This was a wave boss then. One of the monsters he was summoned to kill to protect this world.
But, if the wave boss didn't die then how did the wave end?
He couldn't worry about that now. Lance turned to Rifana, "Go back outside if you feel you need to, I still need to kill it."
This time, Rifana didn't object, she only nodded and started to back up from the cavern opening. Only to stop when her ear twitched, "T-there's something back the way we came in." She informed him quietly.
A quick check of the long range motion radar confirmed it, making the hunter curse. He looked back in the cavern and locked his eyes onto the stairway up to the small passage, "Up there then. It should be too small for the monsters to get through."
The girl nodded and the two of them slowly made their way into the room, practically hugging the wall as they made their way around it. Rifana didn't take her scared eyes off of Cerberus, in fear that it would wake up, while Lance kept his senses open for other threats.
Slowly but surely, they made it to the ancient staircase. The steps looked just as old as everything else. That along with the fact that they were not secured to the floor, only the wall, made the hunter want to rethink his decision. They were there though, so they continued.
"Head up there quickly, but be quiet." The hunter told Rifana, "You don't want to attract any unwanted attention."
She nodded before stuttering an apology, "I-I'm sorry for making you come h-here only for me to l-leave. If I h-had known it was this monster I-I wouldn't have suggested it in the first place, but I just can't fight it-"
"It's fine," Lance interrupted, "Your safety and peace of mind comes first, so do what you need to." He thought for a second before saying, "Go with her Shade."
The Ghost reacted instantly, 'What!? Are you crazy, what if you d-'
"I'll be fine," The hunter interrupted, "You can be more use to her right now, just keep her updated on anything in her surroundings."
Shade sighed after a second before appearing and floating over to Rifana, "Fine, but be careful and don't be an idiot."
The hunter just nodded and turned to the weasel girl, "Now go, I shouldn't be long."
She nodded and started to move up, until she froze at the howl. Lance looked at the origin, a Spawn of Cerberus coming from the tunnel they entered. Its howl was followed by many others echoing around the cave as more hellhounds appeared from the ground entrances.
"Go!" The hunter shouted causing Rifana to move again, this time in a run up the stairs. Shade was close behind. The stairs cracked under her weight and shattered shortly after, making her run up quicker.
It seems that the stairs were just as old as he thought.
She made it to the top though, looking back down on Lance before heading into the tunnel.
The hunter's attention was fully on the army hellhounds and, more importantly, the now standing Cerberus. All three of its heads stared at him with a mix of curiosity and hunger, but it didn't attack. It instead barked.
Apparently that was a signal.
The hellhounds charged Lance in a frenzy, ready to tear down the man in front of them. The hunter was faster though.
A quick flick of his wrist, one faster than the Legendary Bow's weapon violation rule could activate, a small object flew from the hunter's hand and onto the ground in front of him. It exploded into a wall of void energy making a trail of purple flames appear.
The hellhounds that touched it didn't survive, only fade into purple particles. This made the others pause in front of the flames, not wanting to cross them. Lance took advantage of their pause.
With his bow in Le Monarque form pointed forward, he fired into the thick crowd of dogs. A cloud of poison settled over them, causing them to choke and fall over, dead.
Arrow after arrow was fired into the crowd, but it didn't seem to thin. Each monster killed was replaced by another one. At first he wondered why there were so many, but he realized that the Cerberus had more than a month to spawn them. An army that was expendable and easy to increase.
Speaking of the three headed dog though, it only watched the massacre and hellhounds flooding into the chamber.
Maybe it wanted to kill him with numbers rather than fight the hunter himself. That wouldn't work though, not with a Guardian.
Lance dashed forward, throwing a smoke bomb in front of a close hellhound. The smoke dazed the dog and allowed the hunter to plant a foot onto its head and launch himself up, making the dog's head cave in.
Every pair of eyes in the room tracked his form flying up, the hunter kicking off air to go higher. At the peak of the launch though, Lance's body stilled. Not freezing up, but instead staying in one spot in the air.
Cerberus and the hellhounds found out why a second later.
The hunter's body erupted in purple flames as the bow in his hands disappeared, reappearing on his back. His hand was outstretched into the open air, only to grab nothing.
The nothing responded.
A new bow appeared in his hand, one that looked to be made out of the same purple flames that covered Lance's body. His other hand held an arrow made of the same flames, an arrow that was currently being drawn back. The air around the bow and arrow was silent and empty. Not even the release and the inevitable impact made noise. But it did do something else.
At the point of the arrow's impact, a now disintegrated hellhound, a glowing purple ball was left behind. From this ball, several tendrils of purple energy lashed out and latched onto the nearby dogs, including Cerberus itself.
The effect was instantaneous.
All of the tethered monsters stopped moving, their legs collapsed underneath them. Their eyes lost their glow as they didn't make a sound. Not even a growl. The only sound in the chamber was Lance's feet landing back onto the ground, Legendary Bow back in hand.
One swift arrow was nocked and fired at the nearest bound hellhound, killing it and making it burst with purple energy, starting a chain reaction. The tethered hellhound closest to the one killed also burst with energy, so did the one after that, and the one after that. It chained until they all burst, all except Cerberus himself.
When the chain reached the monster, a pop up appeared instead.
[Alert! At Death's Door Activated!]
[You Have Not Been Invited]
… What?
The menu responded as Cerberus, the only monster left, got up, untethered.
[At Death's Door - Cerberus Unique Wave Survival Bonus - No Damage C-]
Lance ducked underneath a swipe made by the large monster's paw before backpedaling and shooting it directly.
[Alert! At Death's Door Activated!]
[You Have Not Been Invited]
"What is it with that?" The hunter grumbled under his breath while dodging another strike ment for him. The pop up appeared again, but he ignored it for now and ran to the ruined temple.
The monster followed with haste.
Each step the Cerberus took shook the ground and caused rocks to fall and, when it was close enough to the temple, walls to collapse.
The hunter dodged and slid past falling walls and collapsing parts of the roof. Cerberus couldn't follow as the hunter went into the building, providing cover for the hunter.
Said hunter turned his eyes to the alert that had laid ignored in his vision.
[At Death's Door - Cerberus Unique Wave Survival Bonus - No Damage Can Be Dealt To This Monster Unless The Attacker Is Below 25% Health]
"What kind of dumb rule is that?" Lance spoke in equal parts curiosity and frustration.
He had to think of a game plan then. If he couldn't hurt the monster, then maybe the surroundings could. He could probably get the pillars of the temple to fall onto the monster.
Granted that they didn't break before then.
But would that work? Would it count as his own damage if he was the one that caused them to fall? Only one way to test it.
Lance peered around the corner he was at and looked at Cerberus and his surroundings. There was one pillar close enough to it.
The hunter carefully eyed the structure before readying his right hand at his belt. After a second of lining up, he swiftly moved his right hand, a grenade now in it, and tossed the object into the air. An arrow was nocked and swiftly fired at the grenade, piercing it and dragging it along the arrow's path. The end of it being the stone pillar.
Hitting the target square on, the arrow detonated, causing the pillar, easily twice the monster's size, to fall onto the surprised Cerberus.
And do no damage.
[Alert! At Death's Door Activated!]
"Oh come on!" Lance exclaimed, trying to think of something else he could do to hurt this monster. The only thing he could think of, that wasn't suicidal, though was dealing the damage to himself. That was too risky though, if he did it wro-
[Alert! Party Member (Rifana) Has Dropped Below 25% Health!]
Lance's eyes darted to the right side of his vision and noticed that, yes, Rifana's health had dropped quite low. To about 21% of her total.
… Screw risky.
He slightly pulled back the string on his Le Monarque, summoning the arrow. Instead of firing the poison arrow though, he took it into his hand.
And stabbed his own leg.
Hard.
He hissed in pain as the arrow broke past his armor and made his health crash from a golden 100% down to around 47%. Then the poison activated, draining another 27% and leaving him at 20% before he pulled the arrow out.
[Alert! At Death's Door Activated!]
[You Have Been Cordially Invited]
Cerberus seemed to know what was happening as the monster slammed against the temple's wall, causing the room to shake and the temple to collapse even further.
Lance didn't waste any time though, sliding past fallen debris and running straight to the monster while trying to get a clear shot past the new rubble. Only when he was literally next to the monster was he able to have a clear line of sight. He nocked an arrow, and fired.
[Alert! No Easy Way Out Activated!]
"You've got to be kiddi-"
The large leg of the Cerberus slammed into his stomach, sending him flying into the cavern wall across the room.
He didn't lose any health, strangely enough, but that didn't stop the hunter from feeling dazed by the impact. The monster closed in fast, aiming its snapping middle jaws at Lance's throat.
It never made it though.
BOOM!
Like a crack of thunder, the familiar sound of a sniper rang through the cavernous space. Cerberus's far left head snapped back in pain from a large force and its health, for the first time today, dropped. Even if it was only by a sixth of its health.
Lance took advantage though, raising his bow and releasing another arrow in hope that the monster would now take damage.
It did.
In fact, the health bar instantly hit zero, making the monster fall and the chamber fall silent. Silent until a familiar voice called out to him from above.
"Lance!" The mechanical voice was that of Shade, who was floating in the doorway he and Rifana had gone through, "You need to find a way up here quick!"
(Rifana - Earlier)
Her thoughts raced as she ran through the dark tunnel, 'I'm an idiot! I'm an idiot!' She mentally yelled at herself, 'I shouldn't have come down here. I shouldn't have dragged Lance down here for no reason.'
She gripped the gun in her hands tighter, 'And now I'm running away and leaving him alone. Like a coward.'
She stopped running and idaly noticed her surroundings. The room looked a lot like the rest of the cave, grey stone with a cobbled floor. Man made no doubt. Along with this though, the room had racks of old, rusted weapons. Dull swords to rotting bows were laid on the racks. There was even a piece of armor or two, but they were too deteriorated to be of any use.
"I'm a coward…" She spoke in a whisper, ashamed of herself for leaving the Bow Hero alone with the boss.
"Not necessarily." A familiar voice said, making Rifana jump as she forgot Shade was even there. She quickly spoke back though.
"Of course I am. I left Lance after being the one to bring us here. All because I was scared." She softly said the last part, tears threatening to come out of her eyes.
"And it's alright to be scared." The black construct retorted, "Besides, he will be fine. He always is."
She knew that, but that wasn't the point, "I was the one that brought us down here though!" She exclaimed, "As soon as it got difficult, I ran! That's why I'm a coward!"
"Lance would have come either way." The Ghost stated, "He's a Guardian, it's what he does."
"Even if it kills him?" The girl asked rhetorically.
"Yes." Shade put simply, "Even if it kills h..." The Ghost went silent.
Rifana went from her mix of anger and shame to worried, "Shade?"
"Around us." He stated quickly, "Something's coming."
That got her to raise her rifle, hesitantly. She scanned the entrances to the room she was in. There were two, the one she came from and the one in front of her. The way she came had no other entrances or branches, so nothing could have followed her through. In front of her though…
Glowing eyes cut through the darkness. At least five pairs of them, maybe more. The monsters that they belonged to emitted low growls as they stalked forward. They all had the same name floating above their heads.
'Spawn of Cerberus' - Level 15.
They had all filtered into the room and stopped. She was right, there were five of them. They looked at the girl with hungry eyes, their hind legs tensed in preparation to lunge. Rifana pointed her rifle at them, eyes locked down sights.
The monsters made the first move.
Out of the five, the middle one lunged first. It didn't make it far though as Rifana quickly fired four rounds at it. Only three of them hit though, the last one in the head.
One down, four to go.
"To your left!" Shade called out, making her turn and duck down as a hellhound flew over her head and hit the wall with a yelp. Another one had followed behind it though, this one managing to land a swipe of its claws on her jacket, tearing it, before she put it down with three shots.
Two down, three to go.
She had to back up as another pounced, making it land in the spot she was at and allowing her to put a round in it. Only one though as the last hellhound shoved her to the ground, making her health drop lower and causing her to miss two shots.
That dog didn't make it far though as more shots were fired into it, three to be exact. It died.
Three down, two to go.
The hound that had slammed into the wall was back up, evident by the fact that it tried to pounce on her downed figure. It died to three more shots before it could get a chance to.
One left.
She scrambled to her feet and locked onto the injured hellhound. Its back leg was injured, making it move in a slight limp. It still moved towards her. She pulled the trigger.
Click.
Nothing happened, nothing except the click of her gun running empty.
"Oh no." She stated in a panic, reaching for a new clip of ammunition. The hellhound took its chance first though.
Once again, she was pushed to the ground. Rifana was unable to keep a hold of her gun though. It flew from her hands and landed in a pile of old weapons next to her, knocking them over.
"Rifana!" Shade shouted, unable to do anything to help the trapped girl.
She struggled under the monster's grip, yelling out in pain as it bit her arm. Her health dropped further, down to 21%.
Using all of her strength, she kicked the monster off and scrambled to her feet. The hellhound recovered fast though and moved to pin her down again. Only to get smacked in the face by the only thing Rifana found that was still sharp.
Or, at least in usable condition.
It was a spear. No, that was the wrong word for it. It was a staff, both sides pointed with an edge. It somehow managed to keep its green-ish blue color, maybe it had something to do with the little bit of magical energy in it.
Rifana held it clumsily with both hands, not used to melee weapons of any sort, and pointed it at the hellhound. Said hound ran for her again. It had forgotten about its own leg though, causing it to stumble.
That was all Rifana needed.
With a yell she thrusted the staff forward and proved the edge true by piercing the hellhound's skull, killing it instantly.
The room was silent, save for the girl's heavy breathing.
"... Rifana? Are you ok?" Shade broke the silence.
"Yeah." She responded after a second, "I thi-"
[Alert! Party Member (Lance Nightshade) Has Dropped Below 25% Health!]
She shot up in surprise, which quickly turned to panic, "We need to get back to Lance!" She exclaimed, picking up No Feelings and running down the tunnel they came in.
"Wait, Rifana!" Shade yelled at her only to be ignored. He sighed and followed.
It took no time for them to reach the main chamber again, allowing them to see the completely crumbled temple and, more importantly, the Cerberus smacking Lance across the room.
"Lance!" Both Rifana and the Ghost yelled at the same time, "We have to do something!" The girl exclaimed.
"I don't kn-" Shade started to say before cutting himself off, "No wait, Rifana take this."
The spear and scout rifle in the girl's hands were suddenly replaced with a longer rifle. One covered in thin ropes and beads.
"What is-" Rifana began to ask before being interrupted.
"No time! Just lay down and use that thing to shoot the boss monster, as quickly as you can!" The Ghost exclaimed in a hurry.
She followed orders and layed on her stomach, using the boxy sight to line up a shot. The monster was running now, straight at Lance. She picked the biggest target, one of its heads, and fired.
BOOM!
The sound of thunder roared next to her sensitive ears, causing her to release a surprised and pained yell. Her ears rang, even when the monster fell over dead and she gained two levels, reaching level 17.
She barely heard Shade call out to Lance, but she did notice Lance climb up the side of the platform they were on.
Somehow.
"Rifana." She barely heard her name being said, the world still ringing. Turning, she saw that it was Lance that said it, "Can you hear me."
"Barely." She spoke, her own voice muffled to her.
Even muffled, she could hear his chuckle, "Good, let's get out of here then."
The sniper disappeared in a flash of light before the hunter picked her up. Her face turned red in response, but she didn't argue as she could feel her injuries catch up with her.
And she liked it, but she wouldn't tell him that.
Her face lost its redness after feeling his leg limp slightly, "... I'm sorry." She said, now being able to hear herself a little clearly.
"For what?" Lance asked curiously.
"You know what." She retorted, "I'm sorry for forcing you down here with me. You got hurt because of it, because of me."
"Don't blame yourself for me being stupid." He responded instantly, "I would have come down here anyway, you didn't force me to come."
"Still," Rifana spoke, "I should have stayed with you and not run away. I want to fight by your side."
Lance paused at that, "You want to fight up front with me?"
"Yes." She responded simply, "I want to be useful instead of someone who runs away."
The hunter was silent at her statement, silent enough to make her nervous.
"We should double up your training then." He finally spoke, making her smile.
She was looking forward to it.
(End)
Chapter 7 - The Wave of Darkness - March 23
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