Blood Legacy: New World Of Doom

'W-what do you mean by that, Magnus?' Ikaris shuddered, finally understanding the horrified shock of his comrades.

Noreen and the other Werewolves had probably never fought Glenrings in their lives, but apparently, the legends surrounding this flower were far more notorious than he had imagined. Kailu and Malia also seemed to recognize it, judging by their grim expressions. Unlike the natives of Cutthroat Island, they were used to dealing with them and knew everything there was to know about these monsters.

In the end, the only two who had no idea what these flowers were, were the two Otherworlders recently summoned, namely Ruvaen and himself. That said, just the mention of the word Glenring was enough to conjure all sorts of unpleasant implications in his mind.

This flower was bad news.

"Exactly what it sounds like." The old Archmagus growled, clearly no happier than him. "Glenrings died here... And it wasn't so long ago. A few months or years at most."

The youth shivered with a cold sweat as the ghost confirmed his fears. Even here, those damn monsters managed to dampen his spirits! However, he forced himself to take a short breath to regain his composure and asked once he had recollected himself,

'Magnus, can you explain what's special about this flower and why the fact that Glenrings have perished here should alarm us?'

"Sure…" The deceased Vampire was still as gloomy about their discovery but made an effort to explain what he knew about the flower as best he could. "Hellfire Dahlias... The first thing to know about these cursed flowers is that where they proliferate, other forms of vegetation perish, leaving their place to ever more Hellfire Dahlias.

They steal nutrients from other plants, monopolize their Mana, and with their spores released in all seasons, they multiply too quickly for ordinary plants to fight. If we weren't so close to the Tartarus Gate, but in a typical forest, the entire area within a radius of three to five kilometers would have become a wasteland.

Once the Hellfire Dahlias have completely drained a soil of its vitality and driven all competition to death, they then begin to cannibalize each other until only one remains.

"This victorious Hellfire Dahlia then ceases to seek to reproduce, and instead focuses on its own growth, trying to spread its roots and influence further. Its domain then becomes a barren land where nothing grows. It's all the more ironic since they initially only grow on battlefields where many Glenrings have died, their blood and carcasses being the foundation they need to root permanently.

That's also why Hellfire Dahlia fields are typically called Glenring Graveyards."

'Yet, these flowers seem to grow peacefully in this clearing without affecting the trees around,' Ikaris objected with a glimmer of optimism, attempting to hope that he had mistaken the flower.

"Because as I said, we are in a special forest." Magnus retorted with a weary sigh. "Dark and Death Mana prevail, and the vegetation growing here is also quite aggressive, not to mention that most of these trees are at least Rank 4. Here, these Hellfire Dahlias are really at a disadvantage, but despite that, they have managed to occupy this entire clearing in such a short time. Make no mistake.

Not so long ago, there was still a tree in this spot. Given time, they could well devour this forest, although I doubt it will let them do so without reacting."

The old Vampire kept his other thoughts to himself. When a tree exceeded Rank 4, they could, given enough time, awaken some sentience to become a Treant, then an Ent. Given the age and levels of miasma permeating this forest... It was prudent to assume that all the trees around them were capable of understanding everything they did.

Ikaris stood frozen for a moment, making sense of everything he had just learned. In the end, after brief reflection, he concluded that all that mattered was that Glenrings had recently perished here.

'Let's assume Glenrings were killed here,' the teenager resumed, playing along with this scenario, 'Could the early arrival of the Undead Season and the sudden activity of these Undeads have something to do with this event.'

The Archmagus didn't hesitate for a second and confirmed grimly, 'Without a doubt. I'd like to keep my assumptions to myself until I'm sure, but if I'm right, it seems Faulch might not have created these Tartarus Gates just to terrorize the population of the Warring Lands at night…'

As Ikaris conversed mentally with Magnus, he was taken aback by catching the exchanges between his companions that they too had arrived at a similar conjecture. Their gloomy and austere expressions were the most telling proof.

"What if these Undeads were meant to protect the Warring Lands from the Glenrings?" Malia suggested without much conviction, finding the idea herself absurd.

Liam and the other Werewolves growled with disapproval in response, arguing that these Undeads were more of a scourge to Cutthroat Island and its inhabitants than anything else, but deep down they recognized that it was a possibility.

Kailu, enlightened by his noble upbringing, saw it as an obvious truth,

"The legend claims that once all the Warring Lands belonged to Faulch and his descendants, today a Major Saint. Knowing his passion for necromancy and black magic, I wouldn't be surprised if his kingdom was originally unwelcome to humans either. The House of Morgunis had to make adjustments after his disappearance to encourage other Houses to immigrate there.

According to rather sure rumors, it's because the House of Morgunis has proven control over the Tartarus Gate and what it contains that Tartarus Shade was able to emerge and that their authority remains unquestioned despite the recent weakening of their clan.

It was already the case before, but it became evident after they lost many of their elite Sorcerers a few decades ago in an internal incident. Many assumed at the time that it was because they had lost control of their Tartarus Gate, but what if it was because of the Glenrings? It all then makes perfect sense."

Liam outright rejected the idea.

"Lots of hypotheses and conjectures, but that doesn't solve our problem. Besides, where would these Glenrings come from?"

Ruvaen, paradoxically the only one amongst them summoned to this world just this morning, rolled his eyes in exasperation and snorted, looking at him as if he were a complete idiot,

'Obviously, dumbass... They come from the other side of the Tartarus Gate! Otherwise, what would it and all the Undeads it harbors be for?'

'GRRR!' Liam unsheathed his claws, ready to clash again with the elf, but a well-placed 'shut up' from Noreen brought them back to order.

The two men glared at her resentfully, but instead of taking offense, she pointed to the forest ahead of them and snapped, 'Look!'

The group complied, and Ikaris realized that while they were pondering and debating the origin of these Glenrings and the function of these Undeads, the long-necked Augias had continued on their way. The field of Hellfire Dahlias was already far behind them.

Instead, an even more baffling sight awaited them. Another field of Hellfire Dahlias, far larger than the previous one.