The Cobalt Eagle chirped. "Who are you? And why are you helping that crow? I did not do anything to harm you."
"You did not harm me but your actions against the Musclewood Tribe is not in the interest of my dungeon. You will have to pay the price for attacking it!"
As soon as she spoke, Harriet charged at the Cobalt Eagle. She wanted to deal with the totem spirit before the arrival of the Flame Riders. She chose to attack physically as most of her magic attacks dealt damage in an area. She did not want to harm the Skyblazing Crow who was coordinating with her.
The Cobalt Eagle frowned. It shrieked as it activated its power.
[Crystal Reflections]
Several identical copies of the Cobalt Eagle appeared and flew in different directions, surrounded by a blue glow.
Harriet swung her Harpy's Blood at a Cobalt Eagle but as soon as the blade went through its body, the bird disappeared. She targetted the wrong Cobalt Eagle. In the corner of her eyes, she saw the Skyblazing Crow piercing another Cobalt Eagle with its claw but just like it happened to her, the Cobalt Eagle simply vanished into nothingness.
When she turned around, Harriet saw eight Cobalt Eagles flying above her head. They did not have the intention to flee. Instead, they all activated a skill: [Swirling Twister]
[Crystal Reflections] did not create simple copies of the user. It divided the user's mana into each of the copies, allowing each copy to cast skills individually. The more copies one made, the more skills could be used simultaneously but at the same time, the less mana each copy would have for the skill.
Harriet and the Skyblazing Crow frowned. They saw several twisters flying toward them from different directions. Each twister produced a powerful force, pulling them toward their center. They were unable to escape and was flung around by the skills. Fortunately, [Swirling Twister] was not a high-level skill; they did not lose too much HP despite being hit by several ones.
Harriet manipulated the wind around her, forcefully dispelling the twisters. However, the Cobalt Eagle already had enough time to run away. It was flying as quickly as possible toward the other totem spirits of the ten tribes.
Seeing all her targets lining up, Harriet no longer needed to hold back.
[Aeroblast]
The giant sphere of wind appeared in Harriet's hands and without hesitation, she threw it toward the totem spirits. The wind blades in the sphere wildly danced, looking for a target to shred to pieces.
The Cobalt Eagle panicked as it felt the fluctuation in the air current. It did not hesitate to move to the side, exposing the five totem spirits channeling their power for the [Predator] buff.
However, the totem spirits did not react at the incoming sphere. An invisible barrier appeared, blocking the [Aeroblast]. The wind blades exploded all over the barrier but in the end, one of Harriet's most powerful skills was completely stopped.
On the ground, several Shamans trembled as they faced the backlash of their barrier. Nevertheless, they were able to block the attack of an enemy several levels above their own.
Harriet furrowed her brows as she looked at her own hands. Was her skill that weak? How did they manage to block her attack? Then, she heard the warning shriek of the Skyblazing Crow.
The Flame Riders have arrived.
A long spear was piercing the air toward Harriet but the latter simply raised her hand and grabbed it. She completely stopped the Flame Commander's charge.
"Get out of my way. Idiot!"
[Zephyr Strike]
Without hesitation, Harriet violently punched the Flame Commander. The latter raised his shield just in time, absorbing most of the damage but as a result, a large indentation was left on his Flame Shield.
The Flame Commander frowned but did not leave. Instead, he attacked again with the help of the other Flame Riders.
As his spear was pushed aside by Harriet's Harpy's Blood, the Flame Commander spoke. "You should stop attacking so violently if you don't want your dungeon to be destroyed. I am actually helping you."
Harriet frowned. "What are you talking about?" She remained on her guards but did not push the Flame Commander away like last time.
"My name is Flint. Pretend that we are still fighting to avoid raising suspicion." He pulled his spear and thrust it back at Harriet but this time, he did not apply much force.
Harriet easily deflected the spear. She remained vigilant as she observed the other Flame Riders' movements. They were engaged in a fight with the Skyblazing Crow. Although they were much weaker than the totem spirit; there were more than thirty of them and together, they could suppress the spirit.
"We are not really allies with these tribes. They are just fools being manipulated by my master. As long as we prolonged the fight, your dungeon will be safe."
Harriet frowned. "What do you mean? Explain yourself!"
"It is simple. My master tricked these tribes into allying and attacking the Musclewood Tribe. Then, these foolish barbarians would leave behind their villages with only a few barbarians to defend them. While they are busy raging war here, my master will lead the Bramble Deer Tribe to conquer their villages. When they the news of the conquest of their village would arrive, these tribes would naturally hurry back but it would be too late!"
"As we speak, the Blue Eagle Tribe should have already been conquered. Maintain the status quo and your dungeon will survive! If the tribes decide to stay, we will help you to protect your dungeon. It is a win-win situation; your dungeon is saved and my dungeon gets to expand its territory."
Harriet was momentarily stunned. She did not expect that this attack was all orchestrated by the other dungeon. Furthermore, how was this a win-win situation? His dungeon was clearly the only one benefiting from all of this. "You... Do you think I need your help to protect my dungeon? You are more than ten levels below me. What can you do with your puny strength? What if I kill you right here? According to what you said, there are a few survivors of these tribes rushing here. Even if your master knows that you died, it is too late; the survivors should have almost reached here. Am I wrong?"
Flint coldly laughed. "You are a smart beauty. Just the type that I like but you should not have threatened me! Now, you will have to pay the price! Do you really think my dungeon is that weak and only have these Flame Riders? There are more than fifty Fire Golems on the ground, blocking the way from the Blue Eagle Tribe to the Musclewood Tribe. If I die, the Fire Golems will prevent the survivors from going through them! The tribes will never hear that their villages have been conquered before they finish destroying your dungeon!"
"Now, since you dared threaten me, let me kill you or else, we will block those survivors. Without our help, your dungeon is guaranteed to be destroyed! The Shamans of these tribes have yet to make their move, do you really think you will be able to handle all these totem spirits?"
Harriet fell silent. She did not speak and remained calm. Flint was simply taking advantage of the situation to gain some benefits. He was already too far from his dungeon for his dungeon master to obtain any DP but he himself would obtain some experience that would allow him to level up.
Whenever an enemy was killed, some DP was generated. Part of it was absorbed by the monster while the rest was transferred to the dungeon core. Unfortunately, part of the DP was lost in the transfer and the farther apart they were, the larger the losses. Flint would obtain quite a lot from killing Harriet. He could see that the harpy queen was several levels above his own. How could he let go of this opportunity? To top it off, it will also weaken the competitor's dungeon as Harriet would lose a level from her death.
"Hurry up! Or do you want me to raise the price a little more?" asked Flint with a wicked smile.
"Idiot."
"What? What did you say?" Flint's expression darkened but at that moment, he felt a sense of crisis but his eyes were still staring at the harpy queen. She did not move at all since their exchange but then, a long spear pierced through the fiery bird he was riding and his right leg.
His HP dropped down by 200! A single spear took out one-fifth of Flint's HP despite him being in his Battle form.
"What? Who is it?" exclaimed Flint but he froze as he saw the attackers. It was unexpectedly one of the Shamans of the ten tribes, more specifically, the Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe.
Furthermore, he was not the only one attacking, two other Shamans raised their staff and aimed at Flint threateningly. Even the Cobalt Eagle, who went to hide from Harriet, came back and menacingly glared at Flint.
"What is happening? Why are they attacking me? Could it be that they know our plan? Impossible, we are too far away for them to hear anything!"
"Really?" Flint froze as he heard the sarcastic voice of the harpy queen. He furrowed his brows. "You? You did something?"
"Me? No no no. The wind was just blowing toward them. It is not my fault if it carried over our conversation to them. I would never do something as underhanded as you," said Harriet while grinning.
Flint flushed red. "You! Your dungeon is doomed without our help!"
Harriet laughed lightly and calmly spoke. "Do you think so? Hey, Crow. Do you mind moving away from me for a minute? I don't want you to get caught in my storm... It is so hot here but a little breeze should cool me down."
[Eye of the Storm]