Great Journey: Whims of Fate

Chapter 141. Dungeon of Howling Winds 3

The sky above was a churning mass of brown wings and angry screeches. Over a thousand harpies, ranging from Apprentice rank to Rank 2, swirled down like a living tornado, talons glinting in the bright sunlight, eyes locked on Bastion below with visceral hate from being taunted.

Diamond Rain.

Diamond Shatter.

Like heavy rain in a storm, diamonds fell from the sky, sucked into the tornado and mixing with the flock of harpies. As the first wave arrived on top of Bastion, the diamonds exploded into shrapnel, striking harpies mid-flight, tearing wings, piercing eyes, and shredding bodies into a bloody mess, ultimately scattering the tornado.

Of the thousand who descended, only about a hundred survived unscathed. The rest either died from an unlucky hit to the brain or heart, while the majority survived with injuries that left them unable to continue flying.

Elyra’s blades flashed like lightning as she darted around, slicing through the harpies that fell. Their bodies were light enough to survive the impact with the ground, so she needed to finish the job before they regrouped into a flock of angry chickens. A few dozen wouldn’t be a problem, but a thousand at ground level could still swarm them.

Bastion, meanwhile, stood alone amid a rain of feathers as the Rank 1 and Rank 2 harpies that remained unscathed unleashed Feather Arrows, an attack that sent arrays of hardened feathers flying with each flap of their wings.

Individually, the projectiles dealt little damage, unable to penetrate Bastion’s Diamond Armor–covered body, except for those fired by Rank 2s that managed to pierce the armor and even draw blood.

When spread out to cover the entire party, however, they were a devastating attack that would have overwhelmed any unarmored member. Fortunately, Bastion had both Taunt and Diamond Armor, allowing him to endure the assault alone and ensure the girls’ safety.

Ariel’s hand cannons roared in rapid succession, each shot finding its mark among the harpies, feathers and blood exploding into the air. Even as they twisted to evade her attacks, she adjusted effortlessly, firing with near-foresight precision. Against Rank 2 enemies, she switched to her cannon, striking them squarely between the eyes and blowing their heads apart.

Lilia moved like a ghost in her fog, ice shards forming at the tip of her staff. She unleashed a volley of Ice Arrows that pierced through the wave of descending harpies, freezing their wings and shattering them upon reaching the ground. The fog hid her from view, giving her a spectral presence the harpies could neither target nor anticipate.

The ground beneath them was littered with feathers, talons, entrails, and sparkling fragments of metal and crystal. A sizable harvest for any average adventuring party.

In no time, their latest nest on the 55th floor was finished off leaving only loot among disintegrating bodies.

“I don’t see why we can’t pull this off in the Dungeon of Despair,” Lilia said as she looked over the mountain of loot Elyra was storing. “We could even do it while mounted on your diamond steed, compared to the standoff we have here.”

“It’s a matter of efficiency,” Bastion replied, replacing his armor for the 5th time over the past 10 days of dungeon diving. “The reason my Diamond Rain and Diamond Shatter are so effective here, compared to the Dungeon of Despair, is because the undead are hollow. My diamond shrapnel would simply pass through harmlessly against the majority of them, which would require more uses and more mana to achieve the same effect, slowing our dungeon dive.”

“Here, the majority of harpies immediately become disabled with just a single cast, leaving enough for Elyra and Ariel to finish off. Not to mention, the strongest attack we have to contend with is their Feather Arrows, which are scattered and barely deal any damage, while we would have to survive a hundred Fireballs thrown at us by the skeleton mages. Don’t even get me started on the Aura of Death the liches would empower their army with.”

“What about Seraphina? Wouldn’t her Cremation Pulse let us farm freely without wasting bullets?” Lilia asked.

“You’d just be replacing bullets with mana potions, but it’s the same thing in the end. We’d still need to prepare for a long time to hunt efficiently, and even then, reaching Rank 3 while barely facing Rank 3 enemies would take centuries of our lifespan compared to our current pace, where we regularly take down enemies two ranks above us. It’s simply a waste of time as long as we can’t find an army of Rank 3 to plow through at Rank 2.”

“I wonder how much more difficult leveling would be at Rank 3. I mean, we can’t exactly go around hunting Rank 5s in Gaia since they’re prohibited.”

“I’ve wondered that too,” Bastion said. “I think the answer is that Rank 3s have the lifespan for the slow grind of hunting enemies equal to their own rank. The same applies to Rank 4s, who live long enough that grinding lower-ranked enemies is still feasible. I also think that’s why we won’t see many Rank 4s running around, as they are too busy grinding to reach the next rank.”

“I’m finished, Master,” Elyra reported.

“Thanks, Ely. How’s your stamina?”

“Half full, Master. It should be enough for one more nest before I take a stamina potion.”

“Alright then. We’ll hunt one more nest and then take a break.”

Bastion and the girls took off at a run as they made their way through the canyon. It was starting to feel monotonous, considering they had already cleared 55 floors and faced hundreds of nests, each with up to a few thousand harpies.

Still, it wasn’t for nothing. Bastion and Elyra had already reached level 195, just 5 levels away from Rank 2. At this rate, all they needed was to reach and defeat the 70th-floor boss, which was supposed to be Rank 3, to achieve their goal.

Suddenly, their monotonous dungeon dive was interrupted when they came upon a large, gaping hole in the ground, right beside a cliff face. It was about 3 meters wide, its depth impossible to gauge, and the edges were slowly drawing inward as the dungeon struggled to repair itself.

“What the hell is that?” Lilia exclaimed.

“A hole,” Ariel answered flatly.

“I know it’s a hole, but what the hell created it?” Lilia shot back. “Something punched straight through the dungeon and is actually giving it trouble repairing the damage.”

“It’s the slime,” Ariel replied as she squinted her eyes. “There’s corrosive slime coating the walls. It’s interfering with the dungeon’s regeneration.”

“It’s a dungeon anomaly,” Bastion said. “I’ve read about them in the library. They’re basically creatures that don’t match the dungeon’s theme.”

Dungeons build themselves around specific themes, such as goblins, undead, or harpies. It can be expected that the enemies encountered will fit the theme. This holds true even for dungeons with multiple enemy types, as long as their variety aligns with the dungeon’s theme, such as labyrinths, water dungeons, or forest dungeons. Anomalies, however, are sometimes created that don’t match the dungeon’s theme, whether through mutation, accident, or tampering.

Most of the time, these creatures are quickly eliminated by the dungeon through its intended inhabitants or expelled during a dungeon break. Sometimes, however, they produce powerful entities capable of threatening the dungeon itself, as was the case they were encountering now.

If the creature that created this hole lived long enough and was able to outconsume the dungeon’s ability to regenerate, it could eventually destroy the dungeon and escape far stronger than the dungeon itself.

“Isn’t Aurenthal in danger?” Lilia asked.

“Since this is a Rank 3 dungeon, the creature would reach Rank 4 at most once it manages to destroy the dungeon and escape. At that rank, the Central Empire would be duty-bound to eliminate the threat to the kingdom.”

“Yeah, but how long before they actually arrive to provide aid?”

“I don’t know, but I do remember the Goblin Chief cowering when it tried crossing the kingdom’s border. Maybe it’s immediate enough to inspire the fear of inescapable death.”

Suddenly, the ground beneath them quaked, nearly knocking them off balance.

“Scatter!” Bastion shouted.

They dove away just in time as the earth beneath them erupted into flying chunks of rock and dirt. When the dust settled, a creature towered 6 m (20 ft.) above them. Its brown leathery hide was coated in glistening slime, jagged spikes wriggled along its body, and its massive, circular maw was filled with razor-sharp teeth. It had no eyes or ears, yet radiated a terrifying awareness of its surroundings.

“It’s a Rank 3 Earth Wyrm,” Lilia screamed in terror. “We should run!”

Ariel immediately spread her wings and took off, swooping down to scoop Lilia before retreating to the stairs behind them. Elyra dove into Bastion’s shadow, while Bastion simply stood there, staring at the creature in awe.

“Why are you running?” Bastion asked without looking away.

“Because we can’t kill that thing. Its hide is even thicker than a basilisk’s, and its slime would corrode our spells before they even touched it,” Lilia answered.

“I may have forgotten to mention that killing an anomaly is one of the fastest ways to get rich, since the dungeon heavily rewards anyone who manages it.”

“We’re rich enough as it is. We don’t need any more money.”

“I may have also forgotten to mention that the dungeon only considers items heavily saturated in mana as valuable, meaning ritual catalysts and magic materials of all kinds are offered in piles as rewards.”

Lilia’s eyes widened with greed as she imagined the possibilities, tossing all caution to the wind.

“Let me try freezing the slime on it!” Lilia said enthusiastically as she pointed Ariel back toward the fight.

“That’s the spirit,” Bastion said with a greedy smile.

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