Dungeon Raider System-Chapter 644: The mission Part 1

"That is preposterous!" Jon Hunter rebuked.

"Impossible!" Added Medusa in disbelief.

"Makes sense." Both Uriel and Luna said in unison.

"Isn't the army waging war against cryptids? Their goal is supposedly to take back our territory and wipe them from existence." Medusa insisted, not wanting to believe such a dreadful plan was the best the army could come up with.

"There's no other way, titans are impossible to defeat. All we can do is stall for time, salvage what we can and escape." Jon Scofield replied with a wry smile, not because of the weight behind his own words but because it was always difficult to tell the truth to the youth.

"Escape where? Cryptids are everywhere!" Medusa blurted out, this time it wasn't Mister Scofield who replied but Uriel.

"Where else? Dungeons, of course. History likes to repeat itself after all." Uriel crossed his arms in annoyance at Medusa's naivety.

"What do you mean, young bookworm?" Mister Scofield asked with curiosity. The existence of dungeons was already known to Mister Scofield and the army alike, but he wanted to know how deep was Uriel's knowledge to prevent accidentally sharing something he shouldn't.

When he came to rescue him after his expedition on the Alamo dungeon, most higher ups in the army and the government thought it was just a lucky break from a college student that just happened to be on the right place at the right moment, but Mister Scofield knew better.

The old librarian always enjoyed chatting with the young bookworm who was able to draw the most deranged theories just by reading the same old books people before the arrival used to read.

Had Uriel spoke about a proto civilization and the existence of the universal language before the arrival he might have passed as a paranoid conspiracy theorist and the same could have been applied to Luna who believed creatures of fantasies inhabited in the fringes of civilization where people could only see them when it was too late.

But now things were different and although they lacked the knowledge passed on for generations amidst the ancient families, they somehow managed to scratch the surface of the truth behind too many mysteries to be a coincidence.

"This isn't the first time something like the arrival happens and dungeons are a testament to that. They explain the similarities in language and the apparent coincidences between different civilizations that are on opposite corners of the planet." Uriel explained making Jon Hunter's eyes go wide as the implications of Uriel's theory filled many of the holes in his own research.

"That would also explain the out of time objects... If what you say is true, then it means that human presence in this planet is cyclic. They go from primitive cavemen, then to hunters and gatherers until they stumble upon a dungeon where they learn language and basic technologies."

"Then, their civilization grows to the point where the planet can't sustain life anymore and they're driven to extinction. Not because of the lack of resources, but by these creatures that used this planet like a battleground." Uriel sentenced prompting Mister Scofield to intervene before they left him without anything to add.

"You are correct, or at least that's the army's theory too. Most of the knowledge the ancient civilizations gain inside dungeons fades in time. I remember like it was yesterday when you barged into the library claiming it couldn't be a coincidence that all the different cultures shared so many aspects despite their geographical location.

By now you must have noticed they also share their own version of how the world ends. They also coincide in that a few chosen will survive the extinction level event that wipes out the planet and the army believes it's because they build an ark. Or that's our current theory anyways, we can't be certain.

Many ancient families hold different pieces of the puzzle and they refuse to share their legacies with the rest of humanity."

"But, why!? If we all cooperate together, I bet we can find the answer!" Medusa's hopeful voice was a ray of sunlight in the otherwise grim room.

"That's because they believe the worst is yet to come. Take some time to ponder this, if you think the arrival was bad, you must know it's nothing compared to the Ragnarok or the Armageddon..." Uriel sentenced with a grim look on his face that wiped off the dim light that was Medusa's voice.

"Uhm... This isn't a team effort scenario but a competition. The only reason why the government, the army and private companies work together is out of survival instinct, but that doesn't mean they won't turn against each other if it serves their purpose." Luna muttered in a low voice. free𝑤ebnovel.com

"Damn you old fucker!" Jon scoffed gritting his fists in frustration.

"Don't you dare speak like that about Mister Scofield!" Uriel growled at the holy rank hunter who shook his head in reply.

"I didn't mean the old weasel, but the other old fucker. Walter must have known all this for a long time and he kept me out of the loop in purpose. He's been sending me places to recover artifacts and kill cryptids when I could have been researching dungeons.

I thought I had one up on him by destroying the pictographs, glyphs and runes I found on my travels, but he probably already knows what they say and I was just shooting myself on the foot!" Jon grumbled.

Medusa didn't like to hear someone speaking ill of her grandfather, but this time she remained silent.

By that point it was impossible for her to think that one of the most important technology companies in the world, the same that discovered the existence of dungeons in the first place and also the ones that had the monopoly on air transport wouldn't know the truth of what was going on in the world. In that scenario, it was impossible to see her grandfather as an innocent man anymore.

Up until that day Medusa revered her grandfather and idolized him. He was just the loving grandfather that protected her from the political ploys of the rest of her family and that cared so much about her. She never questioned herself of the kind of man he actually was, but that conversation had taken the figurative blindfold off her eyes.

Not the actual one, though, since that would have meant turning her friends into stone.

On his side, Uriel was pondering about an entirely different matter. After all, just knowing that his theory was correct didn't mean any significant progress in his research since he still lacked any proof.

"For all we know, the knowledge preserved by the ancient families Mister Scofield mentioned may as well be a crapload of bullshit. There's no evidence to support the idea that something even worse than the arrival is about to happen or that the only thing we can do to survive is build an ark, those are just theories.

While it is true that world ending events are common in most cultures beliefs, there are discrepancies about their values. For instance, in the ancient Norse mythology you earned a place in the 'Valhala' by dying a warrior's death, but in Egypt your actions were examined by a judge and you would only be granted passing onto the afterlife if you lived a peaceful and balanced life." Uriel pondered.

"Are you saying we shouldn't prepare, then?"

"He's not saying we shouldn't prepare, he's saying there's no way to prepare for an event like a true world ending. An ark would work in the Babylonian culture, but it would be just a waste of time in the most others." Jon explained Uriel's train of thought.

"Why are you telling us this now?" Uriel lifted an eyebrow in concern. "I appreciate that you came to visit and there's so much I need to thank you for. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, Mister Scofield, but I also feel betrayed."

"Betrayed how?" Mister Scofield asked.

"During all our conversations you never once said I was correct or point me in the right direction. You just listened to my theories like I was ranting about a subject you didn't care much about, when you could have helped in my research or at least let me in on it." Uriel lowered his gaze.

"Like I said before, I don't intervene in matters that aren't of my direct concern if not strictly necessary. I believe everyone is the main character of their own story..."

"Again with that bullshit! You never hesitated to say how wrong I was for joining the Mapple corporation instead of the army.

If instead of looking down on me and beating my ass back then, you talked to me and told me how they got me chasing my own tail I would have definitely joined the army instead!" Jon scoffed at the old librarian, thinking on how sour their first meeting had been and how during the years they remained enemies.