While the two negotiated, Shalti had already pulled away, drawing her bow and gathering her strength.
So that the instant the negotiations ended, she could loose an arrow that tore through the sky like a meteor streaking through the layer between the clouds and mist, shooting straight toward the harpy girl at the center.
The bird monster behind her cried out and hurriedly beat its wings, placing itself in front of her. It let the arrow strike its shoulder and pierce through its wing.
Compared to the girl, these bird monsters looked far more bestial.
They appeared to be of both sexes, yet their bodies had all taken on the form of vultures, their hands transformed into wings. Only their faces bore patterns seemingly painted in white, obscuring their features so that their true appearances could not be seen.
"Ah!"
The intense pain made the bird monster's sharp talons suddenly straighten, yet a faintly relieved smile could be seen on its face.
The other two bird monsters hurriedly moved in front as well, forming a wall of flesh to block the girl's line of sight.
But the arrow embedded in the bird monster's shoulder suddenly burst with an emerald-green glow.
Within that glow, long, slender thorns abruptly drilled out through the wound in its shoulder, twisting and winding until they wrapped around the entire arrow.
Bang!
In an instant, the arrow shattered as if it had been disassembled. Countless spikes on the thorns exploded outward, piercing into the flesh of the bird monsters beside it amid the chaos.
[Thorn Hail Spell: First Circle, Conjuration. Creates thorns within ammunition, forming a rain of thorns.]
Without saying a word, Shalti drew a second arrow from the quiver at her waist and still aimed toward the wall of flesh. Amid a