Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 279: Chapter 135: Blood Moon and Harpies

In the sky above, the blood moon hangs high. As the mysterious day approaches, the moon no longer appears weak as usual but radiates an unsettling red glow, like the blood tears of the Goddess, dyeing the battlefield air in an eerie crimson.

Suddenly, a sharp cry pierces the night’s silence from afar. It’s the screeching of Harpies, the messengers of night, the harbingers of calamity. With the first screech, dots start to appear in the sky, initially scattered, but swiftly these dots are drawn from all directions by an invisible force.

As their numbers grow, their flight path quickly forms a massive vortex; they are so numerous that they almost cover the sky, blocking the bright crimson light source of the blood moon!

If a thousand flies are overwhelming, then how much more so are these thousand cruel, shrieking Harpies whose wings gleam coldly?

They fly in flocks, embodying the essence of demons, obscuring the entire sky, swooping toward humans under the blood moon like a swarm of bloodthirsty bats.

Below, the Knights guarding Su Li shout anxiously, ”Lord, descend quickly! Our Air Cavalry is not adept at close combat and is vastly outnumbered. We absolutely cannot stop such a massive wave of monsters in the air!”

Clearly, Harpies are far more terrifying than bloodthirsty bats; they are exceptionally vile and sordid creatures, only occasionally showing a hint of intelligence, usually when they’ve hatched a malicious plan.

Due to their timid nature, they usually roam in swarms, covering the sky, traveling between mountain peaks and ravines, searching for unsuspecting prey.

Typically, Harpies don’t attack creatures larger and better-equipped than themselves; making such a decision requires the monsters considerable time to gather courage. But once Harpies believe they have a significant numerical advantage, they will immediately swarm, screaming and shrieking with claws continuously tearing at foes. There’s no loyalty in such battles—once a Harpy is slain in combat, its companions will devour it, just as they would enemies.

During the full moon of Mosleb, Harpies become more dangerous than ever. Under the eerie moonlight of the blood moon, Harpies are wilder and more ferocious than at any other time of year because these monsters seem to fall into a frenzy of incessant hunting. On this Mosleb full moon day, villages and caravans will double their guards to prevent their kin and assets from being swept away by the monsters’ storm.

The stink of corpses is the Harpies’ favorite decoration for their nests. For those brave enough to venture into a Harpy nest, the rewards could be great—only meat holds value for Harpies, while gold and treasure are cast aside, ignored.

However, this is extremely dangerous for men, as the Harpy society is entirely female, and they will tear and drain any male entering their nests to reproduce. Men’s cries of agony are the most thrilling sounds for these Harpies.

Just as goblins capture human women to breed, Harpies also abduct solitary farmers, hunters to fulfill their beastly desires.

Thus, Su Li flying alone in the sky is extremely perilous.

These fearsome monsters howl as they draw near the military camp, hunting everywhere; their sharp claws have already snatched several Half-Elf Archers off guard, and numerous Harpies insanely besiege the high-altitude Arrow Tower.

A solitary Harpy’s combat ability is comparable to a goblin’s; if a lone goblin and a lone Harpy were in a close-quarters brawl in the wild, it would be hard to determine which monster could tear or overpower the other and unleash their beastful desires.

Yet in the war ecosystem, Harpies’ position is far superior to goblins!

Because war isn’t one-on-one duels, Harpies’ status as noble flying units and their rapid movement ensure their unmatched battle advantage.

They swoop past like nomadic Light Cavalry wielding sabers, their sharp claws like a Death God’s scythe slicing through human soldiers’ bodies, leaving deep, bone-revealing wounds.

Not to mention Half-Elf Archers, even the elite Infantry Corps can easily be torn into countless pieces if a soldier falls alone amidst monsters attacking from all directions.

The enemies’ pain is these cruel monsters’ greatest pleasure.

And they have already spotted Su Li, the Griffin Knight flying in the air, with hundreds of Harpies flocking towards Su Li.

Even a Griffin, with retaliatory traits, will inevitably suffer severe injuries facing such a vast monster attack from all directions.

So Flying Horse Knight Fastrick risks it all to take off, reaching Su Li’s side, shouting anxiously, ”Lord, let’s land quickly. The Bow and Arrow Corps and Thunder Gunners have already formed their ranks and will shoot down these Harpies.”

At this moment, Su Li develops an extremely deep, direct impression of the phrase that human camps are always surrounded by numerous monsters.