Chapter Seventy-Seven The Harpies Nest (Patreon)

Susan took a second look around her cell. It was a modestly sized room with very little of note. The walls were solid stone bricks and reinforced in the same way all dungeon walls were. She was resting on a raised mat in the middle of the room, which was the only thing of note on the cell’s hard stone floors. That left her with the bars in front of her, they were sturdy and to her sight enchanted. Getting out of the cell was going to be interesting no doubt. Brute force was obviously out, but Susan had read the special rules for this area already. That wasn’t a surprise. She reviewed it, again just in case she had missed something.

Floor Transfer Trap Activated!
Welcome to Floor Three, Special Challenge Area: The Harpies’ Nest

New Objective: Escape the Harpies
Time Limit: 24 hours
Special Rules:
Rapid Respawn (Monsters in this area respawn shortly after they are killed)
Increased Strength (Monsters in this area are of a higher level than normal for the floor)
Harpy Guards (Special Guard Monsters are in the area. These monsters are invulnerable. If they catch you, you will be returned to your cell. They may also confiscate your equipment)

Failure:
New status: Dungeon Pet (Expires in ???)

There were only three special rules. The first two were interesting, but the last one really caught her eye. She looked around her cell again, she was seeing a pattern. This was a test, no doubt about it. One where brute force wasn’t meant to be the answer. Something like this was also unusual in young dungeons. Not that she focused much on that. The increased strength rule was self explanatory. As for the rapid respawn it meant that the regular monsters in the area would come back quickly, but it also left a lot unsaid. That left her with unknowns and Susan didn’t like that. By far the worst part of this area was the special guard monster. If they were invulnerable, the best course of action was to avoid combat with them.

Susan cursed, that was not her style. What kind of archmage slinks around in the shadows and hides from her enemies? Sure she wasn’t recognized as one yet, but she didn’t like the idea of running from a fight and certainly not from insects below her level. Sadly thanks to a certain goddess her options were... constrained. When she had said she could Solo the dungeon she didn’t mean like this.

Letting out a breath, she focused herself and headed for the bars. While it didn’t look like there was a way out, she was certain there was. This wasn’t Susan’s first dungeon. She knew the rules. No challenge could be impossible, there was almost certainly a way to escape the Harpies as the new objective stated. What that was, she wasn’t sure yet. It didn’t help that she wasn’t that familiar with Harpies, and certainly not the demon kind. They weren’t common in these parts.

What she did know about Harpies was general knowledge. They were winged humanoids, often either naked or lightly dressed. Without fail, they were always female and most important of all was their song. It was apparently quite dangerous, to all who heard it. Supposedly their song inflicts the charmed status. If true it was easy to deal with.

As she studied the bars, Susan started making a battle plan. Considering which spells to use to fight them. Lightning spells worked quite well against flying opponents and she knew the Harpies were flyers. As for their song, she knew a few spells that could block charm. Easily too, sadly they were also somewhat expensive as they required an active channeling of mana to maintain the effect. A thought that made her once again curse the goddess while idly playing with a nipple.

It didn’t take her long to figure out how she was getting out. Susan sighed, and focused a bit of mana on the lock and got started. Feeling it drain. Magic was wonderful and quite versatile, but it utterly sucked that she had to spend it this way. It felt like a waste, but it didn’t take long before she figured out the lock. There was a click, and her cell door quietly swung open. Susan checked her mana and cursed. “A thousand mana for a fucking door!?”

What kind of lock needs a thousand mana just to open? Where the heck did a young dungeon even come across such a complicated locking mechanism? Susan had plenty of questions about that. Of course, normally she wouldn’t care. Lockpicking spells were great when you didn’t have a rogue handy, like right now, but they weren’t something she used often. So she wasn’t very good at them, but a thousand still seemed steep to her. Especially given her current lack of regen.

Pushing the problem aside, she took a quick look outside in the hall. No Harpies, that was great. Combat was a waste of time and resources right now. A thought that reminded her of the stupid quest she got handed.

Susan turned a corner. Smiling to herself when she saw light ahead. That must be the exit, something she was happy to see. Other than the one group of harpies she managed to avoid via a cheap spell, this nest was rather uneventful. Obviously she had been worried for nothing, there wasn’t any challenge here. She was going to get out of this zone, challenge the boss and be done in time to celebrate. The thought was delightful and idly her fingers slipped into her robes again to play with an itch.

The distance to the light shrank quickly and soon she emerged from the passage to find herself on a rocky lip. Glancing over it she found herself sitting over quite the drop. The view was spectacular, however, not that she was focusing on it. Susan had other things on her mind, namely the drop. There seemed to be no way down either. Not from this spot. In fact this little outcrop of rock vaguely resembled someone’s balcony. Just no railing and made of rock.

Glancing around the edge, she didn’t find any other paths leading off from the ledge. It seemed her only option was to go back. She sighed, too bad she didn’t know any flight spells. Susan very much preferred being on the ground and that was a long way down. A sigh escaped her lips, it seemed she would need to find another route. With that in mind, she turned around and blinked.

She was being watched, by a bird girl casually standing in the corner. A flash of anger went through her. She was a future archmage and this bird woman wasn’t taking her seriously. Even as she was preparing to give her her mind, Susan gave her a second look. The Harpy girl was small, about a hundred and twenty centimeters tall, maybe a little taller. Instead of arms, she had a gorgeous set of wings coated with a mix of red and brown feathers. A pattern that was repeated with her hair, which was kept mostly loose and secured with a blue-green ribbon. Peeking out of her hairline were a pair of short silver horns. The girl’s eyes were a vibrant purple shot through with flecks of silver and blue. Her chest was quite flat and completely exposed giving her a good view of her puffy little nipples and large pink areolas. Her belly was quite well toned, speaking of hidden power. With just enough muscle tone to be cute without being garish.

Around her waist, she wore a tight pair of panties that pressed firmly against her sex, giving her a perfect view of what lay beneath. The panties were sheer white and secured by a ribbon that matched the one in her hair. Her toned thighs quickly gave way to a vicious set of talons. Talons that were sheathed in metal claws, as her lower legs were protected by reinforced leather greaves. Greaves that were obviously part armor, part weapon. It seemed she wasn’t wearing much armor, but Susan could tell that she was better protected than she looked. Her panties and greaves were enchanted, heavily.

Susan didn’t waste a moment, a spell forming on her fingertips, as the harpy girl spoke up  “Why, aren’t you lovely? Care to jump? I’ll catch you, we can even have some fun in the air?

Her face turned red. Flushing deeply in response to the demon’s comment. Susan shouted and unleashed her spell. A powerful charged bolt of celestial energy shot forth from her palm. It zipped across the distance with impressive velocity and the demon didn’t even blink. Not even moving a muscle in surprise at the lethal bolt of magic. It slammed into the girl’s belly.

Only to do nothing, there was not even a scratch on her clear skin. No marks, no nothing. It was as if she hadn’t done anything at all. Susan froze for a moment as she had put far more mana than she should have in that one. It should have vaporized her, and likely anyone else who was in the path. Assuming they were level fifty or below that is.  Yet she wasn’t even scratched, and Susan knew that even her own shields would have struggled against that bolt. Who wouldn’t, considering she had put a staggering five thousand points into that one.

Suddenly feeling worried, she inspected the harpy. A blue box popping in her vision, even as she started working on her next spell. One of a different sort.

Name: Sally

Gender: Female

Race: Demonic Harpy (Lust)

Level: 50

Age: 15

Health: 100% (Invulnerable)

Class: Aerial Lust Mage

Shields: 75000/75000 (Invulnerable)

Subclass: Siren (Lust)

Mana: 10000/10000

Titles: Harpy Nest Guard

Susan cursed. It was just her luck that her first fight in the nest would be with one of those damn special guard monsters. How was she going to get out of this one? Worse, the guard was blocking the way forward.

The demon girl giggled, “Well aren’t we naughty? Need a spanking?”

Susan unleashed her next spell. If she can’t hurt this damn guard, maybe she could slow her down?

Strands of light shot out of the ground to wrap around the harpies limbs. As they did, each strand surged with rippling energy and sparked. The harpy just laughed. “An ensnare spell? Really? Do we like that sort of thing?”

The Harpy shifted in her new bonds, in a manner that emphasized her pussy. With a song-like note to her voice this time, she said, “How about we have some fun then? My pussy is feeling a little lonely.”

Susan flushed deeply. For a moment her gaze locked on the girl’s pussy pressing tightly against the sheer fabric. She could even see a growing stain and a swelling clit. It seemed so tempting to reach out and touch it. Susan blinked and shook her head. What was she thinking, she was in trouble here!? It didn’t matter how cute that pussy looked.

She ran, heading right for the demon. Then slipping past her through a gap and into the corridors. It was time to find a different exit. Behind her, she heard the harpy comment, “Oh running are we? I’ll give you five seconds and then we can enjoy a nice game of tag! I’ll even give your lonely pussy a nice petting, just like it wants. If you like, that is!”

A shudder rippled down her spine and for a moment she thought that sounded nice. She cursed. That damn harpy was worming into her mind wasn’t she? Susan took a breath, turned a corner and kept going. While she started focusing on a new spell.

Ahead, she saw a group of Harpies. They seemed to be playing with each other. She had a clear view of a pair, sprawled on the ground, with one of them licking their younger looking friend between the legs. For a moment she stared, it looked... Her face flushed more deeply and she rushed down a different path. Hoping they hadn’t seen her. She already had one purser. Susan didn’t need more.

Behind her, she began to hear wing beats. She looked back and cursed, the Harpy had broken free already and was chasing her. Susan tossed her hand back, unleashing a new spell. A wall of rippling lightning shimmered into existence behind her. She smirked to herself. Now that harpy would have to...

She blinked, the harpy suddenly accelerated ramming herself into the barrier. It shattered like a plane of a glass and the harpy continued forth. Unscathed, and not even slowed. Susan cursed. That should have slowed her down at least a little!

Hurriedly she cast another and kept running. Only her next one met the same fate. It seemed wards weren’t doing anything. The damn demon didn’t even have the decency to break them with a spell, she just rammed them. Worse, her lead was shrinking.

Reaching the end of this path, she was forced to take a turn. Even as she was quickly trying to think up anything to slow that harpy down. Only to nearly run face first into a wall. Susan cursed as the demon caught up.

“I’ve caught you! Ready for your punishment?”

Susan gulped.