The Harpie screeched sharply as I stepped forward, before swooping down towards me aggressively, the talons on its feet poised to strike my head.
As it closed in on me, I swiftly reached out and grabbed its right leg, tightening my grip before swinging it down with immense force, slamming its back against the ground, a pained screech ringing out before I drew out my gun and fired out a Pulse Bullet at the middle of its torso.
Its body convulsed and shuddered upon impact, trickles of blood running down either side of its beak. It trembled as it shakily began to try and get back up, before I chanted...
"
As its body froze, I chanted to manifest Drain before consuming all of its Mana, which wasn't a lot.
With that done, I used Devour to finish it off, nothing but a few feathered floating in a puddle of blood left by the time I was done.
Yeah, that's about as much of a challenge a Low Level Monster can give me at this point. I held back on my full strength when I slammed it against the ground, to avoid killing it in one hit, and I'm pretty sure I still swung it with enough force to break its spine.
"You know, over these last few raids, you've seemed almost...bored," Remarked Lector, as we began continuing on.
"That's...not inaccurate. Well, the Water Wyvern was a real challenge for sure, but besides that, I haven't really faced any other genuine threats," I pointed out with a wry smile.
"Sounds like a good problem to have, if you ask me," Smiled Elicia in response.
Yeah, fair enough.
Anyway, as we made our way further into the Dungeon, we encountered more Harpies, the Monsters appearing at irregular intervals in varying numbers.
We encountered some in groups of two to five, and others in groups of around ten, there really was no real pattern or sequence like there is in regular Dungeons, even the ones that deviate from the standard patterns usually have some sort of discernable pattern.
Once we crossed the five kilometer mark, about a third of the way through the Dungeon, we didn't run into any more Harpies, instead encountering their evolved Mid Level forms, which came in one of three different variations; Flame Harpies, Wind Harpies and Electric Harpies.
They were slightly stronger and faster than regular Harpies, and as their names suggest, also possess the ability to generate elemental attacks.
After running into a few small groups of them initially, we soon ran into a group of nine, including four Flame Harpies, three Wind Harpies and two Electric Harpies.
The Flame Harpies had fiery orange feathers, the Wind Harpies with vibrant green feathers, and the Electric Harpies had dark blue feathers with a slight, electric glow.
As the Flame and Wind Harpies attacked in unison, launching blasts of flames and wind, the attacks roaring towards me as they mixed and enhanced each other, I swiftly chanted to manifest Drain in front of myself, expanding the misty white jaws of energy and swallowing up the wind and flames, before my gaze darted across to either side as the two Electric Harpies zipped in to my left and right.
Intense electric sparks crackled around their bodies as they charged up lightning, before I swiftly flung Desecrator out to my right with a sharp flick of my wrist, sending it zipping through the air towards the Electric Harpie to my right with a rapid spin, while simultaneously taking aim to my left with my gun and firing out a Pulse Bullet.
A couple of pained screeches rang out in stereo from either side as my attacks landed, Desecrator plunging into the Monster's neck before it could react, right as my Pulse Bullet struck the other one's chest, the lightning both Monsters had been charging up dissipating.
I then turned across to my left as the one I'd hit with the Pulse Bullet struggled to stay airborne, before chanting as I swiftly sprinted towards it...
"
Desecrator got yanked out of the other one's throat and came flying back towards me as I shot towards the Monster, raising Drain up to my right as another wave of flames and wind came barreling towards me, swallowing them up before I leapt forward as I closed in on the Lightning Harpie.
Sparks began to crackle around it as it started to charge up lightning defensively, before I unfurled a rapid swipe of my blade, slashing its throat open, blood gushing out as it gasped sharply, before my gaze turned across as it plummeted and hit the ground with a thud, writhing around in agony as the remaining Harpies came charging towards me through the air.
"
I watched as the Monsters came to an abrupt halt, briefly straining against the effect of Command before suddenly attacking each other fiercely, sharp screeches ringing out as they viciously clawed at each other.
It wasn't long before only one of them was left, one of the Flame Harpies, just a couple of seconds left before the effect of Command wore off...the effect lasts thirty seconds, unless the target manages to resist it, of course.
I shot forward as the Monster hit the ground with a thud, too exhausted and injured to keep flying, before it tensed as I closed in and leapt forward, raising my right leg up high as the effect of Command reached its time limit and wore off.
I swung my leg down at full force as the Flame Harpie frantically began to scramble out of the way, before my heel collided against the middle of its chest with a devastating impact, slamming the Monster's back against the ground as I shattered its ribs, blood erupting out of its beak as I caved its chest in.
Deep cracks spread out across the rocky ground upon impact, thick puffs of dust bursting out through the cracks as I left a deep divet through the middle of the Monster's chest, its body slumping and going limp against the ground...