The flaming portal opens in the center of the cave. The same background of a dark stone building is once more visible beyond it, with pillars reaching toward an unseen ceiling and now pews of dark wood. The same purple-red glow filters through the stained glass windows bordering the farthest wall. And now, five hooded human looking figures stand on the other side. Muttering in an unknowns language comes from within their hood, the sound barely audible above the crackle of the portal. None seem to move, none seem to try and exit the portal.
Mewtwo and I ready ourselves for whatever comes. I have my sword out, and Mewtwo is ready to unleash any of his moves on our foe. Whatever Eziakophael sends our way, we will be ready. At least I hope we will.
The muttering continues. The voices growing louder and louder, the meaning behind the words still unknown. Mewtwo notices it first. I notice it a second later. A hand. A hand has just grabbed the edge of the portal. Then a second one grabs the other side, and suddenly, a tall lanky humanoid pushes itself from thin air. It appears as if he is not exiting the portal itself but the space between the portal and our current location. Both Mewtwo and I take a step back. This is not another praetor, this might either be a stronger foe, or a different sort of danger. The WAYLA system calls it 'Dimensional Hunter'.
The humanoid is now fully out, and its appearance is... disturbing. The monster is hunched back, yet I can tell he would be far taller than Mewtwo, easily so. The entire body seems to be only white-grey skin on bones, no muscle are visible. It stands on two legs with long feet. One of its arm is on the floor, maybe helping it balance itself, wicked long and sharp nails leaving little trenches on the rocky floor. Its other arm is just beneath the creature's head as it behold us, a cruel smile filled with crooked teeth splitting the center of the creature's eyeless face. Before we can fully take the appearance of our foe, two other creatures appear at the sides of the hunter.
The creatures ressemble dogs. quadrupedal and growling, the have the same grey skin on bone build as the hunter. Neither have eyes on their faces, but their maws seem to extend to half of their bodies. Their clawed paws leave sharp indentations on the ground beneath them. They are named 'Dimensional Hounds'.
The hunter points with a clawed finger, and the hounds howl before jumping and disappearing into thin air. Mewtwo and I recoil, ready to intercept whatever attack may come our way. I get my sword up, and Mewtwo's hands start to glow a bright red-orange. And nothing happens. The hunter's smile grows wider and, as the portal closes, he steps aside, disappearing as if going behind a wall. The reddish light disappear, and we are left in the semi-darkness of the cave, only my closest torch, some meter behind us at the entrance of the room provides any light.
A second passes, then another, and another, and still nothing. What is happening? What are they waiting for? It is as if they are gone. Neither Mewtwo nor I move, too afraid to somehow become separated. Instead we move back to back, both of us scanning the entire room.
I am the first one to spot something. I see one of the hound slowly prance from behind a stalagmite to another, its eyeless head staring straight at me. The flesh of the creature ripples along its bones as it moves. It stops for a second, and then it is gone behind another stalagmite. I scan said stalagmite, trying to catch the moment it will exit from any side, but it never reappears.
Without any warning, Mewtwo suddenly pushes me on the ground. Above! He sends into my mind.
From above! Of course! But I have little time to slap myself for such a slip up. The hunter drops from above us. Mewtwo pushed me far enough, but he himself does not have enough time to move away. The hunter's arm shoot out and stabs Mewtwo, its range surprising us both. The claws penetrates the psychic mon in his tight as he tries to fly away.
I try to get up, but a faint growling sound makes me roll aside instead. One of the hounds lands where I had just been, I barely avoided being skewered by its claws. I quickly get back up and slash down on the monster. My blade finds purchase, but barely leave a wound. Shit! This makes things harder. I should have put more xp in strength, or made a iron blade along with the pickaxe. The hound turns impossibly fast, almost looking as if it folds on itself to face me, and jumps, its entire maw opening into a dark void.
An idea traverses my head in the second before the beast lands its strike. A stupid idea, a very stupid and dangerous idea that reminds me of crocodiles and alligators for some reason. The beast falls upon me and I switch my sword from my left to my right hand. With my left, I grab the upper part of the hound maw, feeling its teeth shatter against my metal hand, and with a quick thrust of my foot, I pin the lower part on the ground. The hound whimpers as it is slammed on the ground, and I almost fall back from the monster's momentum. I feel like that should not have worked. BUT HOLY FUCK IT DID WORK ANYWAY!
With the beast now pinned and its front legs scrapping against my weight on the lower part of its maw, I strike, or at least try to. My sword thrust into the beast mouth, and finds nothing. It just goes for deeper than should be possible. What? How? A large dump of information suddenly makes itself known, and I almost release the hound under its weight. Thanks unlocking memories, but earlier would have been nicer. I parse quickly what I have just learned. Both the dimensional hounds and hunter are predators hunting between dimensional planes. When they find their preys, they either skewer them or devour them. Their mouth and maws open into a dimension that no creatures can survive, not even them. Shit! Change of plans. I can feel my body heating up in response to the effort in keeping that monster grounded as well as its maw from snapping shut. My sword is useless, I have no other weapons. What to do now?
Wait... I have another weapon. Two of them actually. I flex my tows, their talon ends scraping against the monster's needle teeth. Some of those are actually missing now. They did not penetrate the sole of my metal feet either. Okay, new plan. I let go of the upper part of the hound maw, and it slams like a bear trap on my foot. I wince as pain actually races from it, but nothing too crippling, I hope. Before the hound can move, I slam my other foot upon its head, earning a high pitched yelp for my efforts. I slam my foot again, this time sideways, my talons penetrating deep in the monster's flesh just behind the creature's collar. I slam it one last time on one of its front legs, earning a sound akin to crushing glass.
The hound finally release my foot and jump away from me, clearly done with taking punishment from me. It holds one of its front paw off the ground, and one of its side is a mangled mess of flesh and dark liquid. Then it steps back and disappear. Shit! Dimension twist. They can hide between nothing. I turn to Mewtwo and am stunned by what I behold.
My friend has both fared better and worse than me. Mewtwo is on one knee, burn marks litter his body where he hastily cauterized wounds with his own powers. The hunter is unmarred, his smile, still here. The second hound is circling Mewtwo, red blood decorates its teeth and claws. Yet it also sports a lot of injuries itself. Part of its flesh is blackened, it moves jerkily, as if some bones are either misplaced or fractured, yet it still stands. The hunter's attention switches to me for a second and the smile falters ever so slightly. Good.
A low hiss escapes the humanoid and the hound circling Mewtwo jumps at him. A purple psychic blade shoots out of Mewtwo's three fingered hand and he barely avoid the monster's claw, earning another set of gashes on his side. His retaliatory strike however, sections one of the hound hind leg. The monster fails its landing, the sudden missing leg messing its balance. Mewtwo wastes no time, with a snarl and eyes glowing white, he immobilizes the hound in a psychic hold and jumps on it. His left hand glows orange while his right finishes in a purple blade. The smell of cooking meat fills the cave chamber as Mewtwo's fiery hand chars the monster. He start stabbing it, and the hunter prepares to move. I notice it and move in as well.
With greater speed than ever before, I slam into the hunter. "NO YOU DON'T!!" I scream as we collide. We both collapse on the floor and I get back up first. The hunter's smile is actually gone now. Fully gone. It is replaced with a snarl instead. Another hiss, and something slams on my side. The hound I fought. Its maw closes on my right arm and snaps shut. I scream, in pain this time. I can feel the needle teeth dig into my flesh. Yet through the pain I persevere. I aim my left hand flat and strike down, finger first. Their pointed hands penetrate the hound's flesh, and with a yelp, it lets go of my arm. The sight is gruesome. My arm is mangled and I can no longer move it. The tattoo that once decorated it is savaged, and I can see the gleam of metal on the deepest gashes. Shit.
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The hound is breathing heavy now, more liquid drips from its new wound. The only silver lining in this entire situation is that they do not seem to heal.
A cold sensation suddenly spread within my chest. I look down and see five thin claws poking from it. I get my head backward and come face to face with the hunter. The snarl is deeper now, its crooked teeth part and the same void from within the hounds is revealed. Before I can move, its head moves to bite mine off.
Void suddenly fill my vision. It is not darkness, nor blackness. It is nothingness. Such nothingness that my mind starts to conjure impossible shapes and non-existent light almost instantly. Before I can dwell too long on what is happening, reality returns. And I am once more in the cave. I drop down as the hunter's claws are removed from my chest, and a guttural electronic-sounding roar fills the chamber. I cough oily liquid from my throat.
I quickly look around, trying to take stock of the situation. The hound Mewtwo had pinned on the ground is dying. Multiple stab wounds decorates it charred body. It still moves but it is out of the fight. The one I have fought has once more vanished.
Mewtwo is on the back of the hunter, trying to stab and contain the tall monster. He must have pulled the hunter's head back. I get back on my feet, I feel hot, my entire body feels like it is burning, my vision is swimming slightly. I am reaching my coolant limits. I take out one of our remaining gourd of water and down it. The heat immediately lowers significantly, but not as much as I expected. I rush the hunter, only to stop and throw myself on the ground. the remaining dimensional hound sails above me and I snag one of its hind legs in passing, stopping it from running away again.
With the hound once more on the ground, I get back up and slam my foot lower part of its back. The same sound of breaking glass echoes in the cave and the lower part of the hound stops moving. I jump on top of it, slamming both foot straight in the middle of the hound's body. The entire beast ruptures and dark flesh and fluid spray from the monster. An achievement notification pops up, but I dismiss it without reading it. Now is not the time.
A high pitched howl snaps me from my victory and Mewtwo slams on the ground next to me. The hunter may have no eyes, but the rictus decorating its featureless face speaks of fury and hatred. We have just killed one of its pet and the second is at death's door and unable to assit him. Yet we are far from having the upper hand. As Mewtwo gets himself back up, I can see his entire posture is sagging forward, his eyes are lined by dark circles of exhaustion, and even with his wound cauterized, he still lost a great amount of blood.
I am also not in that great of a shape either. My right arm is slowly healing, I can no longer see my metallic bones, but it is still an unusable mangled mess. The five holes on my chest are still oozing oil and other fluids, and I can feel my internal heat clawing back up once more. A familiar alert makes me wince. Low power. Shit.
How do we kill that thing? Mewtwo's telepathic message mirrors his state. It is a panting though, barely holding together.
"Quickly, because we have little in term of recovery options." I get out one of our remaining Oran berries and passes it to Mewtwo. He wastes no time in gobbling it and then summons two droplets of water. One he immediately ingests and the second he throws into my open, panting mouth. I blink as my heat drops even more than when I drank an entire gourd of water.
Do not get too exited, that move is far too draining to keep doing it. I can see he appears even more tired than before, but his wounds are now partly healed.
The hunter only watches as we make our preparations, a cruel smirk replacing its rage. It falls on all four and start to stalk toward us. It takes a step, and covers almost all the distance between us. We tense, and it disappears with a second step.
Mewtwo suddenly falls forward with cry, five new claw marks mar his back. Where? I turn around, trying to find the monster, but it now appears we are alone within the cave. Mewtwo gets back up, wincing with contained pain.
Back to back, once more. He declares.
Our back touch and I can feel him softly whimper at my touch. His tail slowly circle us both. Together we scan the room, trying to find any traces, any clue to the monster next appearance. We even look up and down, who knows where he will strike from next. The air flickers between two stalactites above us, but nothing comes of it. Mewtwo spots a shadow moving along the wall. Yet it quickly disappear. Where?
A dozen second passes, nothing. We keep ourselves tense, ready to act.
The cave is silent, only our breathing echoes along its wall. the torch still light up the dark gray walls with flickering light. And we stand, back to back, ready for an attack that has yet to come.
Coldness in my chest is the first clue that the hunter has once more revealed itself. The gasp from Mewtwo confirms he has also been attacked. Once more, claws stick out from my chest, and I can feel pressure as they try to dig down. SHIT! From behind? HOW? There was no space! Space... FUCK. I step forward, wincing as I feel the claws rake against parts within my chest. I stumble out of them. I turn around and there it stands. The sight I am treated to is an impossible one. The space around the hunter seems to collapse into him, as if he is focusing what surrounds him onto itself. How? No, not important. Beyond the distorsion, I can see Mewtwo struggle against the claws. I charge and slam my metallic left fist upon the hunter's face with all the strength I can muster. Crooked teeth fly off the monster's head and the distraction is enough for Mewtwo to slide out of the claws. The distorsion disappears and the hunter is once more in our plane of existence. Mewtwo swiftly turns around and slashes down with one of his arm. A stalactite above-head extend and skewer one of the hunter's legs. I step back as the hunter howls in pain and instantly slices the offending rocky spear. Yet the time it takes him is enough for Mewtwo to gather earthen powers. The ground beneath the hunter erupts. It screams in a deafening high pitched tone and stumbles down. I rush back to the hunter's side and slam my foot on its side. I am rewarded by a crunch and a swift slash from the hunter. Two claws rake across my face, as I barely avoid the absurd reach of the monster, and In retaliation, I grab the offending arm. An up kick from my foot shatters it, and I am rewarded by another high pitch howl. Mewtwo stabs the hunter in the back and almost separated the monster in twain.
The hunter tries to stumble back, but we press our advantage. My left arm slams into on of its remaining good leg, making it stop, and Mewtwo takes a hold of the monster's head and twist. With a strangled cry, the hunter stops. It falls on the ground, like a puppet whose strings have been cut.
We... We have won. I fall on one knee, utterly exhausted, hot and with my vision swimming once more. We have won against our second raid. Two more notification appear, and I summon back the one about the hound.
Achievement got: Doggo from outer space.
(Slay a dimensional hound. Fickle beasts these ones. Also AHAH OHOH UHUH that's a second year raid normally. Fucking asshole.)
Reward: 500xp, 4 Exp. candy M
Achievement got: They who hunts between planes.
(Slay a dimensional hunter. they only need a target and time. None escape their hunt unscathed. And a third year boss, you handled it quite well actually. Good job.)
Reward: 1500xp, 2 Exp. candy L
Achievement got: The second raid.
(Survive the second raid. Welcome to the start of your second week boyo!)
Reward: 200xp, 1 Exp. candy M
Ho... Holy shit? HOLY SHIT???? I turn toward Mewtwo, just in time to see him crumple on the ground.