Instead of the large river with its turbulent currents from which they could barely make out the other side, Ikaris and his friends were more concerned about the sheer number of Demonic Beasts and Magical Beasts clustered here in tight rows. All the unfound creatures that seed to have vanished from the forest were gathered here.
They ca in all sizes and types. So were mutant beasts reminiscent of common animals of that bio like boars, deer, wolves, bears, snakes, elks, wild horses and all sorts of insects and birds. Others seed to have co a long way to get here, their appearance being too exotic and novel to belong in this forest.
Of course, even these "common animals" were not common at all. They were powerful Demonic Beasts and it was near impossible to mistake them for their harmless versions.
For example, there were hordes of Demonic Shield Boars like the ones Ikaris had hunted on his first morning trip to the forest. By the looks of it, there were over 50,000 of them. Their average level was between Rank 3 and 4. One-hundredth of such an army of mutated boars high on steroids could raze Last Saint Village.
And that was only the number of Shield Boars. There were several dozen subspecies of wild boar represented here and this was not the species with the most mbers. Deer, birds, and lizard or snake-like reptiles were at least as nurous, not to ntion so breeds of insects.
In the ever-present mud, mole holes were sprouting by the dozen every second and the head of a huge mutant ant or termite would pop up from them intermittently. Who knew how many of these insects were lurking beneath them. Much more infrequently, so kind of monstrous mole would show the tip of its snout.
The scariest part was that because of the low visibility and the high density of trees their vision was limited to the few hundred ters around them. They could only guess at their numbers.
It was Magnus, who had actually reported the actual number of creatures present and he himself did not dare to deploy his ntal sense without restraint for fear of provoking a creature that they could not afford to offend.
"Holy shit..." Kailu felt weak in the legs.
Even though he was still in Anor, the capital of Hadrakin and the safest place in the kingdom, he would still have pissed himself if such a horde of beasts had flocked to their wall.
"I didn't even know there were that many Demonic Beasts on this island." Javier muttered in a low voice, his face sowhat sallow. "We may be the first humans on Cutthroat Island to witness such a gathering."
"Unless it happened in the past." Liam surmised thoughtfully. "How would we know? It's not as if we could normally make it here. And even if we could, I doubt anyone could make it back alive to report the existence of such an army."
"Haha, true." Luka smirked as he nervously clutched his battle axe. A veteran Werewolf like him could also be intimidated from ti to ti.
"Relax. We're on the sa side as those long-necked reptilian horses." Ruvaen tried to lighten the mood. "As long as we don't give them a reason to pick on us it should be fine."
As Ikaris and the others wondered what all these creatures were waiting for at the river's edge, a cold wind swept through them from the very depths of the Tartarus Gate Forest, freezing their bones.
A cataclysmic roar sounded from the other side of the river and they saw the giant trees on the other side of the river sway violently before a shockwave of unprecedented magnitude uprooted them and blew them into the air.
Seconds later, a hail of splintered wood, branches, and bones rained down on them, including the shattered skeletons of several thousand Undeads. Thousands of Magical Beasts standing stoically at the river's edge swooped down on the Undeads, still stunned from their brutal landing, and finished them off with a furious stomp.
Ikaris and his companions grew solemn as they witnessed the ruthlessness of this rampage. These Undeads had been finished off so quickly, but they still had enough ti to feel their terrific strength. Even after being hurled through the air at nearly the speed of sound, the landing did not imdiately kill them.
And yet, the Magical Beasts leading this exceptional gathering of creatures had squashed them as easily as if they were swatting flies. It comforted their human party that these creatures could kill them at the drop of a hat and it nipped in the bud any ambition they still had to fish in troubled waters and profit from the situation.
"What do we do, Ikaris?" Malia asked as she shot him a tense stare. It was rare to see her this nervous.
" ... "
Besides waiting in silence what could he say? He was neither omniscient nor a ssiah or prophet. He had no solution.
As Ikaris and his group wondered how much longer they would have to wait around with this growing army of Demonic Beasts, a tremor almost made them lose their balance. The level of the Erald Rivier ahead of them dropped sharply, as if soone had pulled the plug out of a bathtub.
Ikaris knew that the water in the Erald River ca from the Tartarus Lake north of his territory. Looking to the right of the stream, he saw that the water was still flowing normally, but instead of following its natural course it was suddenly cascading down vertically like a waterfall, disappearing under the riverbed.
Looking further to the left, he saw a torrent of water gushing out of the earth's bowels, cascading upward in reverse to resu its natural flow path. In the end, only the one or two kiloters of river in front of them had been mysteriously dried up.
Ikaris and his party were stunned, but when the river dried up and a path connecting the two banks magically appeared in front of them, the horde of beasts started moving in good order. It was the signal they had been waiting for and they were not surprised at all by this phenonon.
The Long-Necked Augias on which they were sitting also started to follow the rest of the horde and soon they were on the other side. There it was even colder and there was also an evil sort of mist obscuring their vision.
They could feel their extremities getting colder and a feeling of weakness seeping through their bones and muscles. If Danchun was there she would have said sothing along the lines of "This mist is stealing our Blood Qi and Life Force" or sothing similar.
The only good news was that they didn't run into any other Undeads. For so reason, Ikaris had a hunch that the Skeletons they would encounter here would be completely different from the ones they had faced on the other side.
"I should have written my will before I ca..." Kailu grumbled under his breath with a blank and soulless look as if he was already dood.
His comrades said nothing, but from their gloomy faces they secretly shared his opinion. Even the elf Ruvaen was beginning to feel that venturing to this side of the river might not be such a good idea.
Not even a minute later.
"Oh fuck." Kailu jerked upright, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. If before he was just pessimistic, now he had just succumbed to despair. "Guys, pinch so I know if I'm dreaming or not."
Liam and the other Werewolves sniffed the air and straightened their snouts on high alert as well. Astonishnt showed on their wolfish faces.
"This is... I can't believe my eyes." Noreen rubbed her eyes a few tis, but the vision in front of her did not disappear. On the contrary, it beca more and more distinct as the Augias they were riding ca nearer.
In front of them, less than 50 ters away, a giant tree was missing, giving way to a natural clearing where the sun's rays could locally pierce the spectral fog. These were not enough to disperse it, but their light shone through undiminished to brighten up a field of flowers of various shades of red, pink, orange, white and vibrant yellow.
Black veins ran down their stems and so of their petals, and the plants themselves glowed with a ghostly greenish halo of light.
If they were re magical herbs like those at the edge of the forest they wouldn't have been so shaken. The energy emitted by these plants, their flowers in particular, was so concentrated that they could feel their skin burning as they drew nearer. Subconsciously, the Augias herd and the other creatures chose to skirt around this clearing.
"Hellfire Dahlia." Magnus muttered grimly after Ikaris failed to scan it with his Appraisal Spell. "This treasured and very dangerous flower only grows on a very specific type of battlefield..."
"What kind of battlefield?" The youngster asked without understanding the reason for their disquiet.
"The kind where Glenrings have been slain."
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