Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 436: Ghost Part 2

All the voices that seemingly came from beyond the grave came to a stop and the whole swamp seemed to have frozen. It was so silent a pin drop could have been heard, at least until the pained screams came from the direction Rusty had walked towards.

They were the most heart wrenching screams they ever heard, which was a lot to say considering that most of them were experienced soildiers who'd seen more than their fair share of deaths on the line of duty. Usually, that kind of scream was accompanied by a loud noise and then silence, but that wasn't the case this time.

They could all hear Rusty screaming and crying at the same time for a few minutes, instead of stopping it seemed to become even louder.

"What's going on?" Asked Young.

"Ahem," Mayhem coughed. "Actually, my trait evolved and..."

"Shut up, you stupid brat!" Nika growled at her, finally realizing how people felt whenever she took things that mattered to other people lightly. Just by speaking, Mayhem soiled the sacred moment everyone was sharing. Even if those voices were nothing but an illusion, nothing could take from them the fact that they were able to hear the people they loved once more.

Mayhem looked offended by the fact that she ot scolded by someone evidently younger than her, but everyone was glaring at her and she shrunk in her own skin.

"Don't worry about that, dear." Mayhem's father voice said.

"So, what do you say Colonel sword, is it safe to go? Should we put out the fire?" Asked Tallyman once Rusty's sobbing became softer.

"I don't know, It seems he's stil alive, but is it really worth it to risk your life just to speak with people who died?"

"Of course it is!" Young replied as the sweet memories of her husband resurfaced and the group seemed to agree with her, everyone but Nika.

"No one is taking a step outside this campfire." Her tone of voice was serious, but her eyes betrayed how troubled she felt about her decision.

"You're not even in the army, who are you to give commands?" Young herself wasn't as brave as to be the first one to head into the darkness, but since Rusty was still fine even after a while gave her enough confidence to do it.

"I'm a heavenly rank hunter and I'm also the second in command of the company that owns the zeppelin that's taking you all home. Unless you want to walk back to your city, that is."

"Nika, while I don't agree with the tone she used, she's correct. Once we're all inside your zeppelin you'll be free to issue commands as you see fit, but until then I'm the one in charge." Cassandra added.

"I don't care about the army's chain of commands, I'm just stopping you guys from making a stupid decision. The voices we heard might as well be real, but that doesn't mean the people we love are back from the grave. Dead people should remain dead and those who survive them must continue living on.

That's the way of life and we need to accept it." Had Uriel been by her side, he would have been taken aback by her sudden aepisode of wisdom, but it actually wasn't that strange.

Nika had a difficult and very challenging life and even when she acquired her trait, she still had to do a lot of shady things just to get by. The time she spent with her new friends was beyond precious and not even all the riches in the world would be worth losing their friendship.

When Uriel 'pranked' her she felt she was being treated unfairly by him and didn't understand the meaning behind it, but that wasn't the case now.

Hearing the voice of the man she once loved more than anything in the world was like opening the eyes for her. She realized that loss is a part of life, but that she wasn't supposed to linger on the past but rather protect what she loved and who she loved.

"Corporal Rusty!" Cassandra called him and the faint sobbing at a distance stopped, but he didn't reply. "Lieutenant Iris, can you communicate with him?" She asked.

"Negative, I can't spot his location in this darkness." Iris telepathicly replied, but she also shook her head so everyone else could understand.

"Then, I guess we can't make a decision until Rusty comes back." Cassandra explained, but Young wasn't happy about it.

"What if this stops? What if I can't see my husband ever again!? It's been decades since I last saw him, but not a single day goes by without me thinking of him!"

"This is stupid! We can hear him! He's still fine!" Young shouted.

"Corporal Young, stop right there!" Cassandra commanded, but Young paid no heed to her words and put out the fire by throwing the boiling water into it. A column of steam shimmered under the dim light of the gas lanterns and then a chilly breeze whistled.

"You shouldn't have done that." Said Nika once she noticed the resemblance between the shimmering steam and the mist she once saw in Chichén Itzá.

"What are you going to do? Attack a soldier of the army when you're surrounded by them?" Young scoffed and then turned to the forest. "I'm here darling, come here." But no reply came. Instead, the fog kept becoming more instense and the temperature dropped several degrees.

"I've seen mist like this before. Whatever you do, do not turn off your gas lanterns." Nika warned, but before anyone could ask any questions Stella screamed in angst.

"Not again!"

"What? What is it?" Cassandra asked, confounded.

Fear and anguish spread like wild fire in the small army unit, even though nothing happened yet. Then, a shadow was cast on the distance and Young took a couple steps forward.

"Darling?" She asked.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

"It's me... it's safe to come. Put your lights out and you'll see." Rusty replied.

"Ah! Whew! And they call me a prankster, you had us scared for a moment there." Mayhem let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was so shocked to see my family again I coudn't control myself, but I was able to see them, speak to them, even hold them in my arms. This is the happiest I've ever been in my entire life. I searched for them for so long I had already lost all hope of ever seeing them again." Rusty's voice was broke, but he sounded truly happy.

That was all the confirmation everyone needed to finaly walk into the mist and reunite with their loved ones, but Nika and Stella weren't so sure about it.

Perhaps if Rusty had come back before the mist appeared they would have given into their desire to speak to those who parted before them, but wthat mist reminded them of the massacre that took place in their expedition in the ruins of Chichén Itzá and they were wary.

Especially Nika, who faced two horror level cryptid on that expedition and it wasn't pretty. Just one of them would be enough to kill a full unit of heavenly rank hunters like they were nothing. She knew it was unlikely that the mist had anything to do with what happened to her before, but the eerie feeling she got was way too similar.

To her, it felt as though someone was right behind her staring at her ass. A feeling that, unfortunately, wasn't that uncommon for pretty girls like her, but that was only the way her heavenly rank sense expressed and it was different for everyone. Luckily, Cassandra too had a bad feeling about it and she stopped those who wanted to turn off their lanterns.

"Stop what you're doing and let's think things through. Even if we're able to speak to them, it doesn't mean we should. It's just not worth it. Let's get to the zeppelin first and then try to find out more about this phenomenon. My sister may be useless when it comes to social interaction, but if anyone can make heads or tails of this is her."

"Your sister?" Asked Tallyman, imagining her as an even more beautiful version of Colonel Sword.

"Yes, she's this huge nerd and..." Cassandra was suddenly cut short by Young.

"I don't care what your rank is, I don't care that you're my superior. Everyone turn off your lanterns now or else..." Her eyes glimmered as she channeled flux energy to activate her trait.

"Tallyman, get her in line."

"Yes ma'am." Tallyman rushed in, expecting to knock Young in a single attack, but what happened instead was Young grabbing his hand with a crooked smile.

"Sorry about this, kid." She muttered as she activated her trait, turning the formerly youthful heavenly rank soldier into an old version of himself while the flux energy surrounding her became more dense.

"Corporal Young!" Cassandra gasped as Tallyman fell on his knees.

"It's only temporal, he'll recover once he regains his flux energy. Rusty, come here and help me." She asked for back up, but then Rusty spoke from the mist and his reply left everyone numb in fear.

"I can't, I can't get close to the light now."