The cryptid attempted to take down dusa who dug her heels on the ground to keep her balance and then proceeded to push her back which considering the size of the cryptid's tale alone was already impressive. The cryptid then attempted to claw at dusa and bite at her, but thanks to her martial arts prowess dusa locked her in a position where the cryptid could only look at the ground and regret her life choices.
Truth be told, with such advantage dusa could have easily snapped her neck like a twig, though she doubted it would have the desired effect as cryptids were known to possess innate regenerative abilities that allowed them to recover from any non critical injuries.
dusa was also aware of the fact that her knowledge on cryptids was nothing like Luna's and did not expect to be able to find the weakspot of a cryptid she just t and she limited herself to continue pushing around the snakelike with overwhelming power. Her intention was clear, to find a spot where the tunnel opened and be able to fight to hear heart's content. Unfortunately to dusa, rather than opening the tunnel beco even narrower which forced her to hunch her back as she pushed back the cryptid that hissed in a rabid manner while helplessly shaking her tail.
dusa's way of thinking was that it would co to a point where the tunnel would either beco so narrow that she would be forced to fight the cryptid in an uncomfortable position or open up which would make things easier for her, but whichever the case the only way was forward. Besides, by pushing the cryptid in front of her she made sure no other cryptid would ambush her and that all traps on the way would be activated by the cryptid.
What dusa did not expect, though, was the mont the tunnel finally opened up into a vast chamber, the cryptid would take the chance to recoil and bite her on the hand before disappearing into the darkness.
"That bitch!" dusa whined at the pain of the bite, then paled when inspecting the wound. Four marks, two on each side of her hand, inford her that she was actually bitten, but the black surrounding the wounds told her a much more grim story.
Realizing she was poisoned and knowing what to do in that case were two entirely different things. She was more than capable of dealing with all sorts of cryptids, but of all the possible creatures she had to encounter the one species that was sohow immune to her trait and also poisonous. As if to mock her even further, a hissing sound echoed in the chamber which left dusa with no more ti to think.
She lit up several flares and threw them at all directions causing the hissing to beco louder for a few monts as all cave dweller creatures would be vulnerable to light. Not just that, thanks to the light dusa was now able to spot around thirty similar cryptids. So hidden in corners, others hanging in the ceiling with their snake tails and others laying on the ground as if they were just waking up from a slumber.
dusa could have taken the chance to make a run for it, but although she didn't know the effects of the poison, taking into consideration that the cryptid that bit her had to be at least a monster the future didn't look so bright. More so when considering that her only way to deal with a poisonous cryptid was to kill it so it would disappear along with the poison, but spotting the exact sa cryptid in a cave filled with them was impossible.
The cryptids recovered from the sudden burst of light and it showed imdiately as they all threw themselves towards dusa who greeted them with kicks so fast it seed as though she had more than four legs. She would also mix fists in between, not expecting any of her strikes to be deadly as she was fighting barehanded against cryptids that could easily regenerate a lost limb. What dusa actually wanted was to assess their strength while at the sa ti spotting the sa cryptid that bit before using any of her weapons.
"There she is!" dusa wiped the corner of her mouth after receiving a tail strike that felt like a whip, then lunged past the wall of snake like cryptids hunting a particular specin that seed to recognize her.
"Stop! Please forgive !" The cryptid spoke, but too late as dusa was already mid flight in a kick with an orichalcum tipped boot that was sure to vanquish the cryptid. For a second it looked like the strike would be inevitable, but dusa twisting her body like a cat mid air sohow managed to change the trajectory in the last mont and the kick landed right besides the shocked cryptid.
"You can speak!?" dusa asked perhaps more shocked than the cryptid.
"Of course I can speak, I'm a naga." The female snake like hybrid stuttered.
dusa took a look around her to see if the other hybrids remained aggressive as they slowly slithered towards her, but instead of bearing their claws at her they all looked bewildered.
"Miss dusa, is that really you?" Asked one of the nagas as she slithered forward to stand out from the group.
"Do I know you?" dusa squinted her eyes as she looked at the snake like woman.
"I was there, with the Dolminicos. I never thought I'd see you ever again, or any other human for that matter." The naga let out a sigh.
Needless to say, dusa was owed an explanation and they happily agreed to answer everything she asked. It turned out that they didn't an to attack her specifically, but it was their duty to protect the lair from intruders as a an to repay their host for letting them hibernate in the dungeon.
"I'm sorry, we didn't know it was you. We've been in this dark place for so long, we couldn't see anything and only relied on our sense of heat to detect you." The naga explained apologetically.
"Then, does this an you'll let inside?" dusa scowled assuming that even if they t before, violence was not necessarily out of the table yet.
"Absolutely, we'll even lead the way!" The naga said cheerfully, as if that was sothing she had been expecting for a long ti.
With the help of the naga tribe, advancing through the dungeon beca the sa as a stroll in a park. They knew the position of all the traps even though they were not the ones who placed them, they also knew the shortest way and they went as far as to offer food, though dusa had more than enough Cheeky chicken to last her a month. The way, however, turned out to be much longer than dusa anticipated. Not just that, the path was inclined and it led them to the heart of the mountain as she could tell by the presence of ore and crystals in the cave walls the further they progressed.
dusa had no ans to tell the ti as electronic devices didn't work properly inside a dungeon, but she was certain it had to be at least a couple days judging by how tired she felt. But the journey was not at all boring, especially since after recognizing dusa the nagas went from cryptid-like hostility to a rry bunch of chatter boxes.
They wanted to hear everything she could tell them about the outside, not just world changing news but even the more insignificant details about celebrities such as Allegro, though dusa could not provide much in regards to that. For so odd reason, the one naga dusa had t before seed to be particularly interested in Uriel, which obviously didn't settle well with dusa but it wasn't like she had the ti or the ntal space to deal with her jealousy now that she was about to et her mother.
When the doors to the inner most chamber appeared in front of dusa she was left astonished. Not by the size or magnificence of the silvery double doors sprinkled with gold, with such complex and detailed carvings that made it the most incredible work of art dusa ever laid her eyes on.
The actual reason for dusa's astonishnt was the carved face encircled on the middle of both doors that acted both as a deterrent and as a lock. It was the face of a woman with snake hair and sharp eyes and she recognized it as what Uriel described to her as 'the very symbold of fear throughout human history'.
She had never understood exactly what was about her own trait that caused people to be afraid of her, but looking at that face she sowhat understood as the most primitive part of her brain reacted heavily to even the depiction of that face which ant that whatever was inside of that chamber, was bound to be far worse than anything she could have imagined before.
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