Chapter 261 – The Harpy

The bloody scene before Punk, while gruesome, was hardly surprising. Being relatively close to the city, it was quite common to find adventurers hunting magical creatures in the jungle. Moreover, Punk had noticed numerous magical creatures along his journey through this jungle. Had he not encountered any hunting adventurer parties, that would have struck him as odd.

However, the reason Punk halted his steps wasn’t due to shock or a desire to meddle in others’ affairs, but because he had noticed something peculiar.

The hunting party consisted of a reasonably well-balanced trio: an Apprentice-Level mage, an Apprentice-Level stalker, and an Apprentice-Level holy warrior. Such a configuration was very common among small adventurer teams and nothing noteworthy.

Their targets were three harpies. These creatures, known for their penchant for stealing livestock and capturing young human males, had been hunted down for quite some time. Thus, being targeted by an adventurer party was hardly unusual.

As a relatively common magical creature, harpies were quite familiar to Punk.

Their ancestors were failed experiments of a Grand Arcanist who enjoyed biological research. After the fall of the Netherese Civilization, the originally research-only harpies gradually evolved into a massive species, now found across many medium and large planes.

As intelligent beings, harpies thrived in tribal communities. They possessed no valuable organs usable as magical materials, so few hunted them for such purposes.

However, these restless creatures frequently attacked human settlements, often making off with all the livestock and showing a particular fondness for young human males (don’t get the wrong idea—they were captured for stew). Consequently, cities near harpy colonies often posted substantial bounties to eliminate these bandits.

These adventurers were clearly after the reward.

From the looks of it, the adventurer party was close to victory. Two of the three harpies were already dead—one with half its skull cleaved off, the other blasted into chunks by spells. Only one wounded harpy remained, barely clinging to life. It seemed only a matter of time before the three nearly uninjured adventurers finished it off.

Yet, what puzzled Punk lay with these harpies.

They felt off to him. Though they appeared no different from ordinary harpies—claws still claws, wings still wings, combat prowess still at the Apprentice-Level, and their fighting style as chaotic and disorganized as ever—Punk’s Master-Level perception allowed him to faintly sense a thin but potent aura of hatred, evil, and rage enveloping the three harpies. This aura wasn’t born from their companions’ deaths, for if it were, such a sinister presence wouldn’t have unsettled Punk, nor would it be as frenzied and chaotic as it was now.Punk could sense that the hatred and rage weren’t directed at the adventuring party across from her, but rather at everything around them—even including Harpy herself.

However, this aura was also extremely faint and obscure. It didn’t seem to originate from Harpy herself, but rather seemed to be carried over from somewhere else. At the very least, neither the adventuring party currently battling the last remaining Harpy nor Harpy herself—who was in imminent danger of being cleaved in two by the Holy Warrior—seemed aware of this strange aura. Even Punk would have doubted his own senses were it not for the System’s reminder.

“How fascinating. It seems there’s no hurry to reach the city after all. This Harpy appears to carry something peculiar about her!”

Punk’s eyes narrowed slightly. He had developed an interest in this blood-soaked Harpy and now decided to intervene in the battle.

Truth be told, he hardly needed to lift a finger. The moment he appeared, both the mage and Stalker from the adventuring party froze in place. The female Stalker stood motionless, staring dumbfounded at the suddenly appeared Master-Level powerhouse, while the mage beside her trembled as he performed a clumsy mage’s salute.

Of the three, only the Holy Warrior—who appeared to be in an extremely unstable state—continued frenziedly hacking at Harpy, completely ignoring Punk’s presence nearby.

But what happened next took a rather dramatic turn.

When Punk appeared with his undisguised Master-Level aura, Harpy actually reacted the fastest among those present.

Before Punk could even open his mouth to stop the battle, Harpy desperately charged toward him at the cost of having one wing severed by the blade. She scrambled toward Punk in a wretched, stumbling crawl while shouting:

“Supreme Master! I have brought the enemies as you commanded! Please avenge us quickly, Master!”

Her expression, movements, and voice were so perfectly executed that one would truly believe Punk was her master. Had this been on Earth, she’d undoubtedly deserve an Oscar statuette.

“……..Blame Shifting? False accusations? Using others to eliminate enemies? Since when did Harpies learn such tricks?”

Watching the Harpy address him as “Master” in her sharp, hoarse voice, Punk couldn’t help but laugh aloud.

Clearly, by Harpy racial standards, this one was relatively intelligent. At the very least, she understood she stood no chance of surviving against the seemingly bloodlust-crazed Holy Warrior, and the suddenly appeared Punk was her only lifeline.

But since Punk remained stationary without showing any intention of saving her, this Harpy immediately conceived a plan of “using others to eliminate enemies.” She attempted to frame Punk as her master through Blame Shifting, dragging him into the conflict to make him fight the adventurers.

However, this Harpy ultimately possessed only petty cunning. She completely lacked foresight—at the very least, this severely wounded Harpy never considered that Punk’s power far exceeded what she could scheme against, nor did she ponder whether those adventurers’ intelligence reached average levels.Adventurers aren’t fools—how could they possibly provoke a Master-Level expert just because an enemy randomly claims someone as their master? Not to mention it’s obvious at a glance that this person has nothing to do with a mere Harpy like you. Even if they truly were the Harpy’s master, facing a Master-Level powerhouse, these three Apprentice-Level adventurers would likely have no choice but to surrender.

Punk cast an amused glance at the dramatically expressive Harpy, a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips. Then, he directly used Mage Hand to seize the Harpy, who was still loudly shouting something about “Master, avenge me!”

“Little one, don’t go randomly claiming masters—especially when both your enemy and the one you’re claiming aren’t stupid”!

Votes, please~ I really want votes!

(End of Chapter)