Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 424 : Troublemakers Part 3

Mayhem ventured inside the forest hoping to find the nastiest creature she could find to put that petulant lieutenant on his place. She could hear crickets chirping, but as soon as she got near the place where she heard them the sound would stop. No matter how much she tried, not even stealth or speed was enough to catch those pesky little creatures.

The same thing repeated over and over, and before she could realize she was completely lost and too far away from the camp.

"Dammit!" She exclaimed as she scanned her surroundings. She wasn't scared since she knew her trait could be used as a weapon, but also as a beacon. Even if she got lost, as long as she wasn't too far she was certain they would be able to find her, but that also meant she would be scolded by Colonel sword.

She looked from side to side trying to figure out how to go back on her steps, but the forest looked all the same to her. At least that was the case until she noticed her own footsteps were still fresh on the muddy ground.

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"Ah! I'm completely fine by myself!" She laughed following her own foot tracks. She didn't find any insect to bring back with her, but at least they wouldn't scold her for doing stupid things, because she was aware of the fact that running into the forest without any sense of direction was a stupid mistake.

But for some reason, the more she thought about going back empty handed the more annoyed she became. It wasn't that the new lieutenant was a spoilsport since most people in the army didn't get her sense of humor, what bothered her was something different.

She couldn't reconcile with the fact that it was her own incompetence what caused Rusty to become a cripple and instead put all the blame on LT Sage.

"That bastard!" She grunted and a hissing sound came from a bush as though replying to her. She froze for a couple seconds thinking it may be a snake, or even worse, a cryptid, but she was relieved to see a small mammal. "You're so ugly!" She exclaimed, though she wasn't grossed out by its appearance.

She was actually happy she found a nasty creature since that meant she could still pull a prank on the lieutenant.

Little did she know, the creature in front of her was no honey badger nor was it a possum. It was only after she got stung when attempting to capture it that she realized that she was actually in front of a cryptid.

Her leg became numb immediately and she couldn't help but fall on her knees as a debilitating pain traversed her body. She usually didn't mind some pain, in fact, it was more or less like a fetish, but this was the kind of pain that weakened her body and left her unable to move.

"Help..." She mumbled in a faint voice, fully aware that her muffled voice couldn't reach anyone. She crawled through the mud until she reached the shallow waters and tried to swim, but the pain was too much and could barely keep her head out like an alligator.

But the cryptid was far from done, in fact, it was only waiting for its venom to fully kick in and didn't take its uncanny yellow eyes from the unruly corporal.

"Someone, please..." She had always thought her dead would be in a fight, particularly one filled with the adrenalinic sensation of the battlefield and the magnificent explosions she was able to conjure. She wasn't even afraid of dying, or so she tried to convince herself.

But now that death was knocking on her door, not in the middle of a battlefield but in the middle of nowhere, she realized something. Her death didn't matter, she wasn't the hero of humanity she saw herself as. And how could she be a hero when she had yet to achieve anything.

Death wasn't as heroic as she thought before. It was filthy, muddy, painful and meaningless.

Desperate, she struggled to keep her mouth from the waters, all under the expecting gaze of the tejuino, but in the end she failed to remain afloat and sunk completely in knee high waters. Diner was served for the unsightly creature that couldn't wait for its meal and it leaped onto the waters to fester on its prey while she was still alive.

However, before the cryptid could take the first bite, a swift shadow bashed at him.

It was a gigantic alligator that crushed the pitiful cryptid in its maw until it died with a squeaking sound. But as a creature of the swamps the presence of the huntress didn't escape from its wild senses and a single beast rank cryptid was nothing but a snack for a monster rank one.

The alligator dove into the waters and grabbed the still alive woman, who struggled to release herself from the maws of the lizard with no effort at all. When the last glimmer of hope disappeared, when she closed her eyes in surrender, it was then that a loud bang broke the solemnity of the cryptid's meal.

"You are in so much trouble. What do you have to say in your defense?" Uriel pulled the woman's head from the waters by the head, with complete disregard for her safety or pain.

"Harder..." She muttered.

"What?" Uriel blinked a couple times, not knowing what she meant by that.

"Do it harder." She finally let out in a moan.

"As you wish..." Uriel said with a cruel smile as he dragged her back to camp while scolding her. "Do you have any idea on how much trouble you caused me? This isn't what a responsible adult should do. You're much older than me and should be more serious! You can't go around pranking people, let alone in the middle of an incursion."

The scolding lasted all the five minutes that took to get back to camp and even though Uriel wouldn't admit it to himself, he did find some strange pleasure in inflicting pain to the person who forced him to rescue her. It was by no means similar to a fetish, it was more similar to payback.