Chapter 538

Chapter 538: Sun Rock Retreat

Jesse was shocked to find Sun Rock Retreat in a much more terrifying state than he had imagined. Thick smoke billowed into the sky, darkening nearby cliffs. The sky, illuminated by fire, was filled with the shadows of harpies. It seemed that the harpies had taken over the area, forcing the Tauren to defend themselves inside. This explained why the harpies dared to loot and leave – they saw the remaining Tauren as defenseless.

Suddenly, a burst of flames erupted from Sun Rock Retreat and soared into the sky. With a fierce roar, the flames grabbed a harpy, tumbled, and collided with a cliff before crashing down.

Was that a Wyvern tamed by a Tauren?

A sharp whistle sounded from the sky. Before Jesse could look up, Vereesa had already shot the harpy giving the warning, causing it to fall into a group of trees, alerting its nearby companions.

"Darn it," Greed cursed. "Every one of these cursed creatures can fly! There’s nowhere to hide!"

"Then we’ll just have to kill as many as we can," Vereesa said.

The dwarf laughed and said, "What a cruel elf, just as I always thought of you! Come on, Jesse Seso, show Mosa your true self!"

Jesse glanced at him, then looked at the harpy flying overhead. Using a magic wand, he cast a Shadow Bolt, a dark ball of magic that was almost invisible in the dark night. The harpy didn’t even realize what hit her, screaming in agony as she struggled to fly before all her feathers fell off, her skin turned black and rotted, falling down the hill.

The harpies quickly spotted this group of adventurers and started flying towards them after a blue-feathered harpy’s cry from the village above.

"That blue harpy is their leader, Vereesa!" Jesse shouted.

Vereesa nodded, drew her bow, and shot swiftly. The harpy commanding the attack towards them fell lifeless, pierced through the chest by Vereesa’s arrow. Clutching the arrow weakly, the harpy flew a short distance before falling into the forest.

However, the harpies didn’t give up despite losing their leader. They screeched and flew into the forest. One harpy, driven mad, crashed into the trees due to her frenzy, her broken wing dragging her towards Jesse. Before reaching him, a flying warhammer crushed her skull.

As the warhammer flew, a harpy dived towards Greed. The dwarf swung a stone axe as his warhammer was still in the air, but the harpy dodged. Jesse used Gorefiend’s Grasp to bring the harpy closer while Molofeel skillfully sliced open the harpy’s chest.

Greed retrieved his hammer and threw it at several harpies flying towards Mosa. The hammer brought explosions in its wake. Jesse turned to check on Vereesa but heard a swoosh. Before he could react, an arrow struck his ribcage from behind.

Jesse felt a sharp pain in his back, but a red Mageweave appeared on his skin. He turned abruptly, spotting a succubus high above.

"Master?"

She must have felt the pain from the Soul Link. Did the arrow hit her waist? With the Blood Pact imp and the Soul Link of the succubus… There shouldn’t be any problems, right?

Jesse didn’t expect the harpy to have an archer. He looked in the direction where the arrow was shot, the harpy flapped its wings and surprisingly used its talons to pull the bow and shoot the arrow!

She flapped her wings hard to fly up for a while, quickly pulled an arrow on the bow to aim again during the suspension, but before she could shoot, an arrow suddenly pierced through her head. The harpy’s whole body immediately stiffened and fell into the forest.

Jesse touched his back but didn’t feel any blood.

Saenor glanced back and said, "Master, that arrow is hanging there, pierced through the outer animal skin cloak but didn’t pierce your robe. You’re uninjured!"

Is this the power of the robe made of Felcloth?

Amazed, Jesse remembered Jalane’s words. Just because this robe is more resilient than ordinary clothes, doesn’t mean he should recklessly challenge its defense…

Being able to withstand harpy’s arrows shouldn’t be considered a very powerful defense.

"Jesse, are you okay?" Vereesa asked from over here.

Jesse threw the arrow on the ground and said, "I’m fine."

The elf hesitated and nodded, Jesse cast a Shadow Shield spell on himself. Just as the spell finished, a harpy jumped down from a tree nearby, trying to attack Mosa who was using Natural Magic. Jesse quickly cast a Shadow Bolt on her, causing the harpy to tremble and kneel on the ground, soon turning into a decayed body.

To Jesse, casting Shadow Bolt was not only simpler than Fireball but also easier to control. It could even slightly change direction according to Jesse’s thoughts, similar to controlling The Hand of Gul’dan.

Killing the two harpies so effortlessly, Jesse even felt a bit addicted.

The group defeated the harpy warriors summoned by the blue-feathered harpy and continued climbing towards the direction of the village. Suddenly, a strong wind blew, causing sand and pine needles to obscure Jesse’s vision.

This wind was not natural but magic-induced. Amidst the chaos, Jesse couldn’t identify the direction of the spellcaster.

Compared to Jesse, Vereesa had a much clearer perception in the chaos. She stood firm, raised her bow, and shot an arrow in a distant direction. The arrow, wrapped in Arcane energy, flew through the wind and sand… hitting the target accurately!

A shrill scream almost drowned out by the wind sounded, and the dust settled significantly.

The sand scattered away, a white-winged harpy appeared in the sky, despite being hit with an arrow in her chest, she continued chanting spells loudly, raising her hands up high. Suddenly, a dry thunder roared in the night sky, and two lightning bolts struck her hands. The eagle-like enchantress was guiding elemental magic from above!

Vereesa directly raised her hand and shot another arrow through the harpy’s forehead, causing the electricity she had gathered to scatter, blasting the harpymage into pieces, like a torn rag falling into the forest.

"Too slow," the elf murmured as she looked into the distance, shooting down a harpy who was about to aim an arrow towards them.

Jesse watched her effortlessly shooting down enemies with each arrow, imagining a duel with her for a moment, only to visualize herself getting her mouth pierced by a shot before completing even two words of a spell.

The whirlwind slowed their pace towards the village, giving their adversaries time to regroup and a group of harpies swarmed towards them from all directions. The woods were filled with the sounds of flapping wings, shadows darting back and forth in the moonlight, and the piercing cries of the harpies. Even though Jesse could not comprehend their language, he could sense their angry curses.

A harpy broke away from the circling group above and dived towards Mosa while screeching, Vereesa attempted to draw an arrow to stop it, only to realize that she had already used up half of her arrows.

The rest of the journey…was still very far.

Of course, Mosa was not a fragile spellcaster, she grabbed a stick from somewhere and struck the harpy down, crushing her chest with a hoof.

However, the numerous harpies in the sky continued to circle, awaiting more allies to assemble for a larger attack. It was evident that they had realized how challenging it would be to deal with this unexpected group of intruders.

"Keep walking forward, stay away from me," Jesse said while holding a magic wand.

Immediately, Greed understood what Jesse wanted to do. He urged Vereesa to leave quickly. Mosa hesitated for a moment before following the footsteps of the elves and dwarfs ahead.

Seeing the three people in the team suddenly advancing, the harpies circling in the treetops seemed to want to chase after them. Jesse raised the Gorefiend magic wand high and shouted the Fear spell. A wave of darkness shrouded the pine forest…

In an instant, countless terrifying harpy screams came from all directions. The sky cleared up significantly. The chaotic black shadows, the sound of wings scraping against branches… all disappeared at once.

Greed stopped in his tracks and looked up, Vereesa’s face turned pale, and Mosa tightly gripped the nearby tree trunk, staring back at Jesse intently, refusing to look away.