Edward’s body started to sway as the winds intensified, the Harpies’ encirclement turning into a full-blown tornado. Edward was using his aura to create footholds into empty air but that was all they were. This didn’t actually make him float, if he didn’t concentrate on them the aura platforms were falling and he had to keep moving to maintain himself in the air. The lateral powerful blasts of winds threatened to push him aside and make him slip. If he didn’t react quickly, he would lose his ability to move, turning into a sitting duck sucked by the tornado’s pull.

Edward gritted his teeth. I won’t let you take back the initiative. I still have one more move to use. “Rèng khwāmrĕw” he let out in a single breath, the world slowing down around him. He tapped into his acceleration power, moving against the flow of Harpies. He lengthened his daggers with his aura, cutting into the Harpies at incredible speed. Cumulating his and the Harpies’ speed, collisions happened several times per second. The tornado was turning into a meat grinder, the walls of winds turning red with the Harpies’ blood.

Edward’s strain was on a full-time high, even if he wanted to, he wasn’t sure he would be able to increase his aura output. He was using his aura foothold, aura blades, and both his acceleration powers, all at the same time. He wouldn’t be able to maintain this state for long, but it was worth it. Already, the tornado was weakening with the decreasing number of Harpies, the tornado’s pull weakening. It’s a shame I can’t absorb the Harpies’ blood while I’m slaughtering them with my aura blade, otherwise, I would be unstoppable.

The Harpies finally reacted to Edward’s counter-attack, another shriek resounded and the Harpies dispersed. However, it was already late, due to Edward’s acceleration, the Harpies had been too slow to react immediately. This delay had cost them, in mere moments, close to half of the Harpies had perished. The ground was covered by corpses and feathers, the whole thing covered by a rain of blood as the wind dissipated. Edward canceled his acceleration and let himself fall back to the ground, he had to be clever with the usage of his stamina if he wanted to last until the end of the fight.

The Harpies ominously hovered above him, as if thinking about what to do. Edward didn’t play the role of a silent standoff. Instead, he took the lull as an opportunity to loot the corpses. He leisurely walked to the nearest corpse, planting his dagger into it and absorbing its blood essence to restore his power and stamina. The Harpies were outraged by his audacity, in particular, one of them emitted a loud shriek. That’s when Edward realized this one was different from the others. He hadn’t been able to sense this before due to the large number of Harpies, but now that their number had largely decreased it was easier to distinguish individuals.

Instead of the others, who had wings rather than arms, this one was having its wings on its back and distinct human arms, albeit ending with talons. Its feather-covered area was also smaller, instead having its chest covered by a leathery grey skin. Its yellow-slitted eyes were as ferocious as the others but they were also shining with malicious intellect. Edward frowned. This must be the one I saw coming from the caverns below. This one look clever, I bet this is the reason why they changed their behavior. She must be giving them orders with those shrieks. This makes things easier, now I only have to deal with this one, the rest will be easy pickings.

The Harpies didn’t let him enjoy this respite for long. The human-looking Harpy realized that if it gave more time to Edward, he would be able to recuperate all of his energy and stamina by absorbing the blood essence of its fallen comrades. It dived straight at him, deciding to handle things by itself. This Harpy was far faster than the other, but Edward was used to fast opponents. He simply teleported away to avoid the attack, still taking the time to absorb the blood essence of another corpse.

She is fast but compared to Acanthio or Quintus, or even me in my accelerated state she is still lacking. If she had the time to build more momentum diving from a higher place it may become cumbersome, but as of now, this is something that I can handle.

Those Harpies may not provide enough essence to help me climb in level, but they are still great for restoring my stamina. I used a lot less energy to slaughter them, than the energy I’m absorbing back from their bodies. This is something to consider for waves of weaker enemies, using less power to kill them than they can give me back is the condition for victory.

The Harpy continued to chase after Edward, but it quickly realized that it would lead to nothing. Edward was able to easily avoid it, and by the time it came back for another dive, Edward was able to absorb more blood essence, quickly recovering his reserves. It shrieked, calling for support from its companions. The Harpies separated into small groups and imitated their leader, diving together in a group of four or five.

Edward teleported to avoid the first group, but the Harpies weren’t all diving at the same time, instead using a rotation so that there was always at least one group of Harpies plunging at him. Their rate of attack was faster than Edward’s teleportation cooldown. He had to actively avoid their attacks which prevented him from replenishing his power from their blood essence. Edward was strong enough to confront frontally a small group of Harpies diving at him but he was worried about their leader. It had stopped attacking and was waiting for an opportunity.

Edward grew annoyed. I’m not going to let a bunch of crazy birds stop me. As one group of Harpies was diving at him, he used his acceleration powers. “Rèng khwāmrĕw”. The Harpies slowed down in his perception, and he moved into their group, stepping aside from their frontal attack while killing them with a few clean strikes. However, he stayed on the lookout for the Harpies’ leader. He did well since it threw a wind blade infused with aura at him. With the aura added to it, it was actually hard to differentiate from the aura blades that Edward usually used.

Still, in his accelerated state, Edward avoided it. The aura blade sent by the Harpies’ leader sliced cleanly into the ground leaving a deep chasm behind it. Edward finished the group of attacking Harpies and then stopped using his acceleration to save his stamina. Time resumed at normal speed, and the group of Harpies impacted the ground bouncing from their momentum and sliding for a few meters. They didn’t rise back.

This is concerning. If monsters can send aura blades from a distance, I do not hold much hope for Gobéliard’s city walls. Anything not reinforced by aura will be cut as easily as paper mache. Not that those Harpies actually need to destroy the city walls to invade the city. Giving free access to the runes was the right move, the city needs to improve its defenses, including air defenses. As it is, Gobéliard won’t be able to hold off against waves of monsters if some of them are able to use aura. At least eliminating all the monsters around should give the city enough time to improve.

The fact that one group of Harpies had been slaughtered single handily within moments by Edward didn’t deter the others. The Harpies continued to attack him in small groups, diving at him continuously. They are only a distraction. If I deal with them, I’m only giving their leader more occasions to attack me. Let’s finish their boss first. Edward was weaving through the attacks, switching between teleportation and evading maneuvers. All the while he was trying to locate their leader with his aura senses. A lot was going out, numerous Harpies were still present and flying all around him, spotting and keeping track of one of them in this mess was a difficult exercise.

Still, after some time, he finally managed to locate this peculiar Harpy. He didn’t give it any chance, immediately teleporting right behind it in midair, ready to deal with it once and for all. The Harpy sense his presence, and rather than try to turn around to parry Edward, it dived down to escape, counting on the ambient chaos to escape. Don’t think I’ll let you go this easily.

Edward dived down behind it. “Rèng khwāmrĕw”. Once more he used both his acceleration powers. However, even if he could move faster, it didn’t matter if he was in midair. Edward had the perfect solution to this problem. With his aura he summoned platforms under his feet, using them to push himself forward, accelerating his fall in pursuit of the Harpy. The Harpy was more aerodynamic but it couldn’t compare to Edward jumping downward after her. Within moments Edward was on the Harpy, while in his accelerated state, the Harpy wasn’t fast enough to react.

Edward stabbed his right dagger deep into the Harpy, absorbing its blood essence. With the other he stabbed it in the head, the blade piercing its head and killing it. Still falling, Edward sensed the ground come closer at a dangerous speed. He just had the time to teleport further in the air before the Harpy’s corpse crashed violently on the ground. Edward was still falling at a fast pace, but he used his aura platforms to slow down his fall. There was still a loud thump when he reached the ground but it wasn’t enough to injure him. The corpse of the Harpies’ leader was laying at his feet.

Edward leaned to absorb its blood essence but the other Harpies kept attacking and harassing him. Their attacks weren’t dangerous for Edward, he could block them simply by reinforcing his armor with aura, but the fact that they were physically diving at him meant that he had to avoid them. They can’t even let me enjoy my price in peace. Edward heaved a sigh, glancing one more time at the corpse. It won’t take this much time to deal with them. The blood essence won’t have the time to dissipate. Still, let’s add a durability rune just in case. Edward quickly cut the rune into the corpse before looking at the sky.

He jumped, aura steps forming under his feet, supporting his ascension into the sky. Edward used his acceleration powers once more. This is the last time today, I hope. This is getting tiresome. He was like a fox in a henhouse. The Harpies couldn’t compete with him. He was faster than them, could block their attacks, and one hit from him was enough to kill them. The sky had always been a safe place for them where they could kill their prey from a distance. This refuge had been breached now that Edward was able to run freely in midair. Within minutes all of them were dead.

Silenced fell on the scene, only broken by the waves crashing against the cliff. The land was covered by the Harpies’ corpses and blood. Edward walked back to the ground, his work done.