TEOCH 59

“Damian, Lord Rikiel! Hide right now!”

The moment I recognized what ‘it’ was, I immediately grabbed both of their arms and pulled them back. As soon as the two of them retreated, I covered the cave entrance with broken branches and piles of grass, leaving only a small hole to peek outside before returning inside the cave. Startled by the sudden situation, my companions looked at each other in bewilderment.

“What in the world was that?! Just as Damian said, that was definitely a person!”

“That is not a person, Lord Rikiel. It is merely a monster that resembles a person. Monsters that are close to human form are much stronger than those that are not. Especially that one…!”

I took a deep breath with difficulty and peeked out through the hole. I hadn’t seen it wrong. The thing floating in the sky, hazy with volcanic ash, resembled a human silhouette at first glance, but it was clearly flying freely through the sky like a bird.

But why is that person here? They’re supposed to be cooped up in their nest with their sisters and never come out!

“If we’re discovered by that person, we’ll be killed before we can even save our own lives. I have no idea why it has come this far, though!”

I peeked outside again, and the other companions also came up behind me and began to observe the situation outside. The silhouette, with its long white hair fluttering, which had been circling the sky, slowly approached where we were. My heart sank, thinking we had been discovered, but fortunately, the silhouette seemed not to have noticed us and just passed over the cave.

The moment the silhouette passed near the cave, we were able to see its form clearly. Yes, that person was definitely human. The fluttering hair and the briefly revealed skin, the cold, sunken red eyes and the elegant features, all of it looked more like a human than a monster.

But the evidence that that person was not human was very clear. Below its shoulders were not the two arms a human should have, but the large wings of a bird. Unlike its casually exposed upper body, its legs were tightly covered with several layers of white cloth, and it wasn’t too difficult to imagine what the lower half hidden beneath the cloth would look like.

“What in the world is that…? A half-person, half-bird?!”

“To be precise, it’s called a Harpyia. According to the mythology of some distant country, they are said to be excessively cruel and greedy, preying on human children, but in reality, they are the rulers of this region. Rather than being greedy, they are actually quite calm and composed.”

“Is it a monster similar to the Queen Spider we saw in the last region?”

“You could say that. That monster has four more sisters. The five Harpyia sisters rule over all twelve islands. Normally, they stay in their own nest, separate from the twelve islands.”

“Th-there are five of them?”

“Yes. But this is strange. That one wouldn’t come out of the nest unless something major happened… wait.”

No, something major did happen. Guessing the reason that person had come here, I scowled fiercely. Their islands are collapsing one by one. Unless they’re idiots, they would naturally come to check on the problem! I was the fool for not anticipating this situation!

Is this another new event added because it’s the second playthrough? Like how a ton of enhanced monsters appeared in the last stage? Well, what kind of game is this, to end with just an island-collapsing event? It has to be at least this much to be called a high difficulty level. This game had never created a lenient situation for us in the first place, so I accepted the situation with a sense of resignation.

Of course, just because I understood it didn’t mean I was relieved at all.

“For now, let’s observe what that monster is doing. Surely it hasn’t pinpointed our location already.”

I tried my best to think about the situation positively. Surely we wouldn’t be entering a boss fight already. No matter how unreasonable this game was, it wouldn’t force us to defeat a guardian at this point, when we hadn’t even gone through half the stage.

Perhaps this is just a type of event. Just as the event where the Queen Spider and thousands of spiders moved occurred in the last stage, the incident of one of the Harpyia coming out of its nest might also be just an event and not lead to an actual battle. Of course, I’ll have to wait and see how the situation unfolds.

And, just then.

—You with wings, you who rely on the land, gather before me, every last one! I must know for certain what has happened to you!

A roar so loud it made my mind go blank echoed from above. No, it was more like an earthquake than a sound.

“Th-this is…?!”

“Ugh!”

Covering our ears was not going to stop the vibrations that shook our entire bodies. Unable to withstand the roar crashing down from above, we had no choice but to curl up as if collapsing. To be able to neutralize us just by raising its voice to summon monsters, it was certainly befitting the ruler of this area. And…

“What is this now?! Is it a real earthquake?!”

“It’s not an earthquake this time either! The monsters are flocking here after hearing that person’s voice!”

If the vibrations had been pressing down on our bodies until just now, the monsters that swarmed in response to those vibrations shook the ground so violently it was like they were causing an earthquake. We held onto each other and looked outside with anxious eyes. The pile of branches and grass we had barely managed to stack up looked precarious, as if it could collapse at any moment.

—Screee, screeeeeee-!

The monsters swarming from the sky were just as fierce as the ones rushing in on the ground. The sharp cries and the sound of wings spreading in all directions made my ears ache to the point of my eardrums bursting.

Just a glimpse of the monsters roaming noisily outside was enough to see that there were quite a lot of them. It seemed that all the monsters that had been hiding in every corner of the island to avoid the volcanic ash had come out. The only consolation was that those monsters weren’t approaching where we were, but my ears were going numb from the loud roars of all sorts of monsters.

—Do not make a fuss, you pitiful things! Shall I not listen to your words!

With the voice that rang out once more, we felt a nausea that threatened to turn our stomachs inside out, but fortunately, perhaps thanks to that voice, the monsters’ commotion instantly subsided.

While my companions covered their mouths and fought back nausea, I struggled to my feet and approached the hole at the cave entrance. It was to check what was happening outside. Because so many monsters had gathered, the Harpyia’s form was not clearly visible, but at least checking the situation itself was not difficult.

—You there, step forward. With your large eyes and wide wings, you must have seen what happened on this island better than anyone else.

—…Screech!

—Now, speak. What in the world happened on this island? Why did the volcano erupt and the island collapse?

A voice, much calmer than before, called out to someone. As the words suggested, a pterosaur with large eyes awkwardly stepped forward, and the other monsters just watched what the pterosaur was doing quietly. The pterosaur hesitated as if extremely nervous, then began to screech something.

—Screech, screeech! Screeee!

“I can’t understand what that monster is saying at all. I could more or less understand what the Harpyia was saying…”

“Wouldn’t it be stranger for a human to understand what a monster is saying in the first place? The Harpyia isn’t using a language; it’s conveying its will by imbuing its voice with magical energy, which is why we can understand its words too.”

Leaving Damian, who was struggling to interpret the pterosaur’s intent, I waited for the pterosaur’s plea(?) to finish. What was important to us was not the pterosaur’s words anyway. How the Harpyia responded to those words was far more important.

The Harpyia, who had been listening for a long time, slowly tilted its head after the pterosaur finished speaking.

—…Humans?

My companions’ faces instantly stiffened. They covered their mouths for a slightly different reason than before, and I, too, instinctively held my breath. While the pterosaur flapped its wings up and down ceaselessly and screeched, the Harpyia listened to its plea without any change in emotion.

Only then did I begin to wonder what the pterosaur might be saying. It definitely wouldn’t be conveying information that was advantageous to us.

—It is quite similar to the stories I heard from the other islands. There is credibility. Yes, you say you saw four humans? And one of them has wings on its back?

—Scree, screeee…

—It is easy to guess that it is not a lie. Humans do not originally possess wings, but I have heard that humans use tools to protect their weak bodies. Perhaps that human is also flying using some kind of tool. It is unlikely that a mere human would know how to use a parasite.

“…”

—And another human can create a large fire. Then that human must be a mage. Hmm? That human has two heads? One head is attached to its back? …That is a bit of a strange story. Could it be that one human is carrying another human on its back?

—Screech.

—I thought as much. It seems that mage cannot use their legs. How pitiful.

Rikiel lowered his head with a disgruntled expression, and Damian and Rehas looked at each other with expressions that said they didn’t know how to react. Tristan and I tried hard to suppress our laughter and continued to listen to what the Harpyia was saying.

Yes, a situation of this level was within the range of my expectations. Of course, the fact that the Harpyia could obtain information about us would work against us, but fortunately, the information it was receiving was not very accurate. If we could just guide the Harpyia to obtain incorrect information, it would be quite advantageous for us.

But.

—Yes, I know… You’re saying that those humans destroyed your island?

The Harpyia’s soft and gentle voice instantly turned icy, and at the same time, the smiles vanished from our faces. Wait, what in the world is going on? What did that thing just say?!

“Wh-what did you say…?!”

“Calm down, Lord Rikiel! Lower your voice!”

I gritted my teeth as I stopped a furious Rikiel, who looked ready to jump out of his spot at any moment. So dumbfounded that my jaw dropped, I glared outside. The pterosaur was once again screeching and spouting its unintelligible plea.

Suppressing the urge to shove my sword into its head right now, I focused more on the Harpyia’s reaction. I had a bad feeling about this!

—The island began to collapse not long after the humans arrived. While you were surprised and fleeing, those humans started running to the mountaintop, and when the humans did something on the mountaintop, the volcano suddenly erupted… Is this what you want to say?

—Screech, screeech!

—Screeeeeee!

As soon as the Harpyia’s words ended, the surroundings instantly became chaotic. The monsters that could fly flapped their wings and restlessly circled the sky, and the monsters gathered on the ground also joined the commotion by noisily stomping the ground. It was a sight that could only be seen as agreement to anyone watching… but from our perspective, we obviously could not agree at all.

“Um, it’s not entirely wrong.”

“Is this the time to be agreeing with that ridiculous logic?! Damn it, we went through all the trouble of stopping the island’s collapse, only to be treated like this…!”

I pulled Damian’s ear hard and ground my teeth. Of course, it wasn’t that the monster was conveying distorted information to the Harpyia. After all, from the monsters’ perspective, it would only look like a situation where ‘the volcano erupted the moment the unidentified humans arrived at the crater.’

But this was too unfair. We had worked so desperately to survive on the collapsing islands until now, only to be treated as the very culprits who destroyed the island by those monsters!

“Shouldn’t we go out and explain to that person right now?! What on earth did we do wrong!”

“No, it’s useless! We’ll be lucky if we aren’t captured by the monsters and killed. They won’t listen to anything we say in this situation anyway. Besides…!”

As I continued speaking, a monster approached the Harpyia and screeched something at it. The monster’s demeanor was quite agitated, but unlike the others, it seemed to be trying to explain something with specific movements. Wait, is that monster describing something like a stick?

Watching the Harpyia’s expression harden seriously as it listened to the monster, I felt a sense of foreboding. Wait, don’t tell me…!

—What, the controller is gone?

—Keeek! Keeek!

We instinctively looked at each other. This was beyond just a bad feeling. With the situation having turned out like this, it was already too late to argue. No, that person wasn’t the type to listen to arguments in the first place, but in this situation, it was even more so…!

—Did such a thing happen on this island as well? Thank you for letting me know. It seems things have gotten bigger than I thought.

—Keeeeee…

—I have a rough idea of what those humans are after. To think they are going around to all the islands to collect them… I was half in doubt when I heard the news that the Queen Spider had died at the hands of a human not long ago, but to think that news was true.

Damn it, I had a feeling this would happen! Feeling the atmosphere begin to turn icy, I sensed that words would no longer get through to that person. Even though the regions were different, a fellow guardian had been killed. There was no way it would listen to our excuses in that situation. Rehas seemed to have had the same thought and whispered to me.

“Rohan, what do we do? At this rate, we could be killed by that monster right now!”

“The Harpyia is one thing, but there’s a bigger problem than that. This has become a headache…!”

Feeling a sigh escape me, I rubbed my eyes several times. Of course, if the Harpyia were to attack right now, we would be wiped out immediately, but even if we were lucky enough not to be discovered right now, the problem wouldn’t disappear. For instance.

—Then I ask, are there any who have seen those humans since the volcano erupted?

—Scree, screee!

—Screeeeeee!

—I see, well, it can’t be helped, as you must have been preoccupied with just preserving your own lives.

—Groan…

—No, I am not trying to reprimand you. What could I expect from you, who must have done your best just by staying alive. Even now, the clouds of volcanic ash are so thick that it is difficult to even breathe properly… But.

The moment the Harpyia’s red eyes flashed intensely, I was crushed by an unknown sense of fear. The Harpyia was far away and hadn’t even made direct eye contact with me, yet I felt as if I had received its gaze directly. Without anyone saying a word, we instinctively curled up and covered our ears.

Of course, it was useless against the intimidating voice that shook our entire bodies.

—Lives that depend on the islands of the sky! In the name of the rulers of the sky, the Harpyia sisters, I command you! If you discover the existence of those humans, capture them immediately and bring them to us! We will personally deliver their punishment!

The shock was so great I couldn’t even properly control my body. A vibration that made what we had just experienced feel like child’s play struck our entire bodies. Even though I was curled up on the floor, a fear that my entire body would collapse shook my mind. Damn it, this is even more violent than the earthquake I felt when the entire island collapsed yesterday…!

—I do not know what cunning method they used to commit this act, but those humans dared to destroy the islands of the sky and try to take our home! We cannot possibly let the actions of those arrogant humans go unpunished!

Screeeeeeeee! As if on cue, the surrounding monsters began to make a ruckus, crying out loudly. The sound of them flapping their wings and stomping their feet was also as loud as an earthquake. I felt like I was about to be crushed and pulverized by the sound of the monsters that filled the air… Damn it, I feel like my ears are going to go deaf! These damn monsters!

—They may be roaming our home as if it were their own world now, but they are merely weak humans! If you attack them with your strong claws and beaks, humans are no match for you!

The Harpyia’s roar echoed throughout the island, and we gasped for breath in agony, leaning against each other. Ah, right! It’s not entirely wrong! In reality, if those damned things were to attack us with intent, we in our current state would die without even being able to defend ourselves properly! We’re in a state where we’d be knocked out just by one of the Harpyia shouting with power in its voice!

—If those humans are allowed to escape this island, then those who rely on the other islands will suffer the same disaster as you! Now, find those humans to the best of your ability!

As soon as that last word was spoken, a fierce gust of wind began to swirl around the Harpyia, making a sharp sound. Noticing the pile of grass blocking the entrance shaking precariously, I immediately stood up and moved my companions deeper into the shelter.

By the time I helped Rehas up and took cover in the back of the cave, the wind, which had grown as fierce as a typhoon, had almost completely blown away the pile of grass at the entrance. While the remaining branches barely concealed the entrance, we hid deep in the shelter and lay flat on the ground.

“Hurry and hide! We might be discovered!”

—Find the humans who tormented you and bring them to me alive! We sisters will punish them!

Whoosh. The rushing gale made it hard to even open my eyes properly. Because we were hidden and lying down deep in the shelter, I couldn’t see what was happening outside, but I could clearly tell that the Harpyia was about to leave the island.

Even with the wind blowing so hard, the monsters kept shouting as if they were overjoyed about something, and even in that strong wind, the sound of pterosaurs flapping their wings struck my eardrums.

“The wind, the wind is too strong! Aren’t we going to be blown away at this rate?!”

“That’s why I’m telling you to lie down so you don’t get blown away! The monsters outside must be in a frenzy right now, so if we just lie down like this, we won’t be discovered!”

No, to be honest, that’s half wishful thinking…! I squeezed my eyes shut, just hoping that the monsters wouldn’t come near here.

Please, just don’t let us get caught. The Harpyia has already realized that we’re trying to kill them with a magic tool, and the monsters under her command will be hell-bent on killing us, but still, at least for now…!

No, damn it, what’s the use of holding out now? We’ll end up dead eventually anyway!

‘Damn it, damn it all!’

Honestly, this is too much! It’s already hard enough to stay alive with the island collapsing, and now the monsters are going to be hell-bent on capturing us too?!

Of course, those monsters weren’t exactly friendly in normal times either, but now that they’ve received an order from their ruler, they’ll stick to us tenaciously if we leave even the slightest scent or trace! And if the monsters start moving cooperatively, unlike before, then it will really be…!

‘What in the world is this? Is this a difficulty level that was made for people to overcome?!’

I held Damian tightly so he wouldn’t be blown away and cursed inwardly. The wind swirling all around was only getting stronger, and my ears, which had been subjected to the tremendous noise for several minutes, were now almost numb.

I could feel the distinct sour smell of vomit being swept up by the wind and gradually fading. It seemed someone had thrown up. Before any sympathy for my companion, the anxiety that the smell might spread and give us away reared its head first. I couldn’t help it.

I had no idea what to do. Honestly, I felt like I was going to throw up myself.