The nest of the harpies was similarly built in a corner of the maze. Their nest was hollowed out in a ‘U’ shape with a portion of it leading through to the other side of the maze.
Even now, we still didn’t know how many harpies resided in this hollowed nest, nor did we know if there were any four-stars here. And so, it was imperative that we rescued Harlow as soon as possible.
I led the party off into the direction I saw the harpy fly in. However, before I could take a couple more steps, I was abruptly lifted up by a furry hand and placed onto the shoulders of Habona. My speed was clearly too slow for these four-stars and so I was relegated to pointing instead.
“Forward, take a turn…ah, to the right”
As I only knew the rough location of that harpy, I had some difficulty giving out directions. Strangely, our road so far had been pretty smooth. Except for the initial wave of harpies, we basically navigated through their nest unopposed.
This struck me as being extremely suspicious, therefore I made a mental note of this as I continued guiding the party. This was, after all, the nest of the harpies, the lack of harpies wasn’t normal and could just be a trap. Getting ambushed because of a moment of carelessness was simply not worth it.
The nest was unexpectedly vast, but with our rapid pacing it didn’t take long before we located Harlow.
Perhaps the heavens finally smiled favorably on us but only after a few minutes of running, Habona was able to pick up the scent of Harlow.
“I’ve got his scent. It’s coming from this direction.” She growled excitedly as she took off, leaving the two medusas in the dust. As I sat through this rollercoaster ride of a dash, my body was pelted with fragments from an assortment of objects.
After ten seconds of sprinting, we came upon an area where various species of organisms were held captive.
I staggered around after hopping off her shoulder; her speed was simply too much for me to bear and had nearly knocked me unconscious. As I wandered around in a daze, I was hit with an odd smell. It was clearly an awful scent but it was strangely soothing. It felt like I could put aside all my worries just by being here.
As I continued inhaling this strange scent, I felt a strange heat growing within my body…
While I hadn’t taken an aphrodisiac before, it was clear to me that this scent was an aphrodisiac of sorts.
“Don’t inhale the air, there’s something wrong with it.” Perhaps it was due to my unique constitution protecting me or perhaps it was due to my innate talents as a sage (virgin males above 40 but below 50) showing their true value, but either way I was unexpectedly resistant to its temptations.
Of course, it could just be my lack of a pee pee at work here. Regardless, that strange heat began to rapidly cool down before it even had the chance to take effect.
Habona on the other hand, didn’t notice anything strange and instead waved her hand dismissively, “It’s fine, the bodily fluids of a harpy has a bewitching effect. It’s only effective on males though.”
“…” Based on this piece of information, I’ve learnt two things. The first was that the strange scent came from the bodily fluids of a harpy. The second was that I’m…neither a male nor a female…
…nooo, I don’t want to be a trannie!!
Unfortunately or perhaps I should say, fortunately for me, I didn’t have much time to mourn this fact as I came back to my senses and began scanning the area for our main objective, Harlow.
Just based on the frightening sight before me, I could tell that this was the mating area of the harpies. There were over ten male creatures lying stock still on the floor; devils, demonic half-orcs, ratmen, dogmen and even three lizardmen.
They came from a wide gamut of races but they all had one thing in common, that was that they were emancipated to the point where their bones could be seen through their skin. It was as if they were drained dry after countless assaults. The lifeless males stared blankly at the ceiling, not even noticing our arrival.
Right at the corner of the area was the sole werewolf in the bunch. Unlike the others, he still maintained his original appearance, without the characteristic stoned look of the others. He probably hadn’t been here for long; his condition was mostly alright albeit worrisome.
He laid there spread-eagled on the floor, secured tautly by four ropes tied to a separate pole. His eyes were slightly glazed over as he stared mutely at the ceiling. On his dishevelled body was the pungent scent of the harpy’s bodily fluid.
…is this Harlow…
“Harlow!” Habona’s shout rendered any need to guess useless. She rushed to his side in a couple of strides and with a swift swipe of her claws, cut the bindings on her brother.
“Harlow, wake up! It’s me, your sister is here to save you!”
She grabbed his shoulders and shook it excitedly. It didn’t work and so she shook him even harder, shaking basically his entire upper body. However, he merely stood there dumbly staring at her.
Seeing his lack of response, frightened her even more. She slapped him several times without giving it much thought. As the vicious slaps rang out across the mating area, his lifeless eyes finally began to stir.
“Sis…sister…” His unfocused gaze finally centered on the female werewolf in front of him. As he took in the familiar sight and scent of his sister, his puppy dog eyes watered up and immediately broke down into tears. “Sis…it was terrible…they…they were just merciless…wah wah…”
From the looks of it, he’s had some rough experiences. I wonder how many times his little wolf was bullied…
“Don’t worry, Big Sis is here to save you, I’ll bring you out right now.”
Just as she lifted up the frail werewolf, his body immediately collapsed as his eyes rolled into the back of his head; he was simply too weak right now. Habona rushed in to catch his falling body, not caring about the filthy bodily fluids on him.
“Harlow!” The lagging medusas finally caught up at this point. With just a glance, Majosha immediately recognized her lover and slithered up to him with a few rapid shakes of her tail, pulling him into her embrace unabashedly. Given his height of 2.5 meters, he still managed to tower over her despite his slumped body.
“Sha sha…”
While they hadn’t been separated for long, the tumultuous events up till now made them miss each other even more. The reunion of these lovers could be said to be a long awaited one.
He let go of his sister and returned the intense hug of his lover in a touching reunion scene of a wolf and his snake lover.
I’ve never been so touched in my entire life…even in hell, the heavens made sure to rub a PDA in my face…exactly how determined are you…(Public Display of Affection)
“Hey hey, that’s enough hugging for now. How about turning around now? We still have to find a way to leave.” I turned around and looked at the other males with a pitying gaze. “Should we help these unfortunate potatoes out?”
Habona rolled her eyes at me and gave me an extremely pragmatic reason. “Do you think they can even move?”
“…” I guess you’re right about that. Even Harlow who was in a much better shape than them, was thoroughly fatigued. His back and head were probably aching right now along with his jelly legs. Given that he had gotten off lightly, the other males were probably a lost cause.
“Don’t you guys find it strange that we didn’t encounter any harpies on the way here? I’m afraid that they might be plotting something.” Manasha posited, clearly having the brains to back up her beauty. She was acutely aware of the strange behavior of the harpies and the potential danger it posed. Unfortunately, even she couldn’t fathom what that danger could be.
“Screw them, no matter what plot they have in mind, I’ll take them all on. In terms of strength, there’s no way I’ll lose to some harpy.” Having found her little brother had filled her with renewed confidence.
“Well then, let’s get a move on it. I don’t want to stay here for a second longer.” I didn’t choose to come here in the first place and so I naturally didn’t want to stay here either. Habona and the others seemed to agree with me as well. However, Harlow seemed to have taken some issue with me as he gave me a strange look.
“This beautiful lust demon sister…”
“This brother is a male! A guy!” While he was polite about it, I definitely didn’t intend to forgive him just because of that. This was a matter that transcended even life and death. No matter what, I must fight for this bit of dignity!
“…how…” As he laid his head on Majosha’s shoulders he gave me a “You’re lying” look and smiled. “You’re such a kidder.”
“…” Kid, since you’re out to get me, I’ll just have to return that favor. So…I heard that medusas have a really strong sense of envy…
I turned to Majosha and flashed her a devilish smile: “Hey why is your husband flirting with me? Don’t tell me he has picked up some bad habits from those harpies?”
“…” The rumors weren’t exaggerating the least bit. That simple question immediately had the desired effect on her as her face turned pitch black. “Harlow! I’ll let this matter of the harpies go but if there’s a next time…hmph…”
As expected, a half finished threat was a lot scarier than a completed one. I don’t know what went through his mind as he heard that “hmph”, but it clearly wasn’t anything good judging from the cold sweat on his forehead. If it wasn’t for his fur covering up his face, I bet his face would be a deathly pale right now.
“Alright, that’s enough horsing around for now. Our first priority is to find a way to leave this place.” Manasha interrupted the lovebirds, reminding her sister not to take things too far.
“Where did those harpies fly off to? Not knowing where they are is slightly disconcerting.”
“I only saw them fly out of the nest. As for the reason why, I have no idea what happened.” I was extremely concerned about this matter as well. If they were to suddenly show up and ambush us, we would be in an extremely perilous situation.
“Ah~ah~~ahh~~~~~ahhhhhh~~~~~~ahhhhh”
Just as we were discussing the matter of leaving, a strange moaning suddenly filled the airs of the mating area. How was it strange? Instead of us hearing it, it seemed to be echoing directly in our minds. It sounded like a combination of a hundred, even a thousand sounds. While its pitch wasn’t uniform, it sounded surprisingly harmonious and didn’t give off a repulsive feel.
Before I could ponder the meaning of this sudden intrusion, I heard Majosha issue a yelp before giving off a series of moans.
“Harlow…no…here…here…lower…” As I turned around and followed the moaning to its source, I saw the lovebirds engaging in an advanced form of PDA…
What the f*ck, are you guys a bunch of exhibitionists or something? Now’s not the time for this; Who knows when those harpies would show up and ambush us. You better shape up this instant, don’t tell me you’ve been corrupted that badly by the harpies!
Seeing them engage in the act of fornication, made me angry for some unknown reason. I didn’t know why this was so but I certainly knew that I wasn’t happy about it.
“Lust demon…” Habona had a strange look on her as she leaned in on me. She gave me a sharp tug and pulled me into her embrace and proceeded to run her moist tongue all over my face and body.
“Hey! Habona! What do you think you’re doing!? Even a sanctimonious b*tch like you wants to assault me? You’re sick…scram!” Why did she suddenly turn into a pervert…
I desperately struggled to break free but she was simply too strong for me. No matter how much I hit her, she didn’t seem to budge a bit.
“Lust demon…let’s do it…” My heart leaped into my throat as I heard the seductive voice of Manasha behind me. The beautiful snakewoman coiled herself around me and Habona. Being trapped between her cold scales and the warm fur of Habona felt like I was being sandwiched between two extremes.
“Hey hey hey…don’t touch me there…I, I, I…no…mercy…I’m on the verge of breaking through to a Grand Sage…” (Grand Sages: Virgin males who are at least 50 years old.)
