Chapter 234: Princess 'King' Maker 4
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
Join the discord! Here
We had been severely reprimanded by the viewers, though whether it was all a strategy to induce a flurry of donations, I wasn't sure, but time passed, and we once again set foot on the 41st floor.
Even if a political side quest involving a prince and a princess had occurred, harpies were still harpies.
There was no situation where they would come close to us.
Thanks to this, going from the 41st floor to the 42nd, and then to the 43rd, walking through the mountains was nothing but peaceful.
The only enemies were the unstable mountain paths and the thin oxygen thanks to the high-altitude.
"Phew... Just walking is strangely exhausting."
"Could this also be a curse of the Demon King?"
"Maybe, it could be."
Since everyone had reached the advanced state of externalizing mana outside the body, none of us collapsed, but the discomfort in breathing was annoying for everyone.
Tiny noses twitched as they took in the air as deeply as possible.
Neither Grace, who used to play in the mountains nor Katie, who trained her body, understood altitude sickness, something that occurs in high-altitude areas.
Irene, too, found it difficult, gently scattering divine energy to periodically comfort the party members, but divine energy did not create oxygen.
Above our heads, the harpies circled without any intention of coming down.
Amidst all this, the terrain made us ascend and descend narrow, steep mountain paths.
"Can't we just push through the mountain peaks with Roland's Beam?"
-Feel the pain of ten million people with rhinitis
-Even implemented altitude sickness? Wouldn't noobs faint here?
-Except for killing mountain goats, there's no battle, so the stream feels a bit lax
-BB Games is really vicious. An environment that kills streamers
The floor was frustrating for players.
If it weren't for the occasional attacks from shadow leopards and one-horned mountain goats, it would be hard to tell if this was an RPG or a hiking sim.
The party, focusing on adapting to the high-altitude area by calming their breathing, gradually quieted down, and Han Se-ah, even while panting, continued conversing with her viewers.
Could it be that BB Games, true to form, was earnest in tormenting the players with such exquisitely designed gameplay?
"Phew, Roland? Why does it seem like the harpies are getting closer?"
"Are they coming out of curiosity like last time?"
"It's different this time, the way they're circling in groups has changed, as if they've received some kind of order."
At that comment, the tiny heads all looked up at the sky simultaneously.
As Grace said, the group of harpies had gotten a bit closer.
Without the beautiful red-feathered harpy joining them, the old hag harpies with bodies of eagles were slowly getting closer to us.
The earlier flight trajectory circling above our heads was now grouping in threes and fives, going back and forth as if they were fighter jet formations.
It was clear to anyone that they were forming a group and preparing to swoop down for a surprise attack.
"Why are they suddenly so aggressive?"
"Could it be, there's a nest nearby?"
"A nest?!"
Grace, after Han Se-ah murmured a question loud enough for both the viewers and her companions to hear, was the one to answer.
As a hunter from a mountain village who had experience hunting birds, her mention of a nest made Han Se-ah's eyes sparkle.
"Their behavior is a bit different, but maybe their sudden change means that we've approached their nest too closely for them to just stand by and watch?"
They blocked vision by rising dust with their wings and aimed to strike the neck of their prey with their exceptionally sharp talons.
"Hanna, arrows!"
"Explosive and incendiary!"
Swoosh Bang-!!
Of course, if mere dust obscuring the view led to an opening, it would disgrace the name of a tank.
Raising the shield to block the talons while swinging the warhammer overhead.
Although not much force was applied, it was more than enough to crush the body of an eagle.
A harpy, swept by the warhammer without even being seen, crashed to the ground without a sound, turning into a mana stone.
At the same time, I could see Han Se-ah pulling out a handful of fiery red arrowheads from her inventory and handing them to Grace.
Now that they were coming at us without hiding, this seemed to be the right decision.
"Everyone, watch your heads!"
Twang
A light plucking sound was followed by a fiery blaze roaring above our heads.
So she didn't learn magic but focused on alchemy.
The flames from the alchemical arrowheads was more powerful than expected.
'Has she decided to just be support?'
Kyaah-
Kyak-!
While I was thinking this, the legs of two harpies floundering in surprise at the flames that burst into the air were neatly sliced off by a cyan light.
In that short moment, about five of their comrades died, and the rest hurriedly increased their altitude.
An arrow shot at one's tail with a boom-! dropped another one, finally allowing us to count how many there were.
Seven dark old hag harpies circling overhead.
One mashed by my warhammer, two swept by flames, two with sliced legs, one hit by an explosive arrow.
Roughly thirteen in total seemed to be moving in a group.
However, regrettably, only three mana stones were salvaged.
"...Fighting like this is going to be a loss, isn't it?"
"Huh, why?"
"Each arrowhead costs 5 silvers!"
"What, how can it be so expensive?!"
Twenty shots, not even a full quiver of arrows, would cost a whole gold.
Becoming senior adventurers might have increased our earnings, but the price was shockingly high.
Shooting them indiscriminately like regular arrows would lead to a deficit in gold with each adventure.
Even so, proving their power, the harpies, frightened by the rising flames and explosions, widened their distance and circled above us again.
"...Grace, can you guide us to the mid part of that mountain as quickly as possible?"
"Yeah, that's possible. There aren't many forks in the road, anyway."
The problem was that the soaring flames had scared the harpies overhead, but it also attracted the attention of harpies that were herding goats or patrolling afar.
I had no desire to fight dozens of harpies on a narrow mountain path.
"Then let's run!"
"Uh, okay? For now, let's head towards that cave over there!"
There was a large chance that the dots in the distance, which looked like dark specks, would join together and attack us in numbers.
Flying monsters, from small to large, are troublesome for this reason...!
So, we began to quickly run along the mountain path under Grace's guidance.
