Blood Legacy: New World Of Doom

Everyone gasped in fright and after sniffing the air, Javier whispered, "Hide!"

"Where?!" Kailu panicked. Other than rolling around in the mud, or throwing himself into a dubious looking bush he had no idea.

The four Werewolves gave him his answer as they frantically climbed the trees like a bunch of monkeys on steroids. The presence of Ikaris and Malia faded as they triggered their Stealth Spark and they too climbed the tree branches in a few nimble acrobatics.

Ruvaen then showed all the feather-light footwork and nimbleness of the elves, running vertically up the trunk of the tree in front of him and leaping several feet into the air to reach a high branch as his inertia was beginning to wane.

Soon, only a distraught Kailu was left on the ground.

'How the fuck am I supposed to climb so fast?' He cursed inwardly. He had no claws and no experience as a climber.

But most of all, he had a phobia of heights and was easily dizzy. The result of a traumatic fall in early childhood.

Vreeevreevree!

Another blood-curdling roar of a completely different nature from the previous high-pitched howl stirred his insides and he momentarily forgot all his other fears and considerations.

Summoning his courage, he launched himself at a tree, hugging its trunk like a koala bear. Somehow he managed to pull himself up a few feet, but at that moment he made the fatal mistake of looking down.

Kailu immediately closed his eyes and stood still, hugging the tree trunk with all his might.

'What the hell is that stupid human doing? Is he trying to get us killed?" Ruvaen asked telepathically. Like Magnus, he had retained that ability.

Ikaris wasn't sure what to do, but another high-pitched howl much closer made him turn his head to the northwest. At that moment, he saw them: A prey and its pursuer.

Or rather, a Demonic Beast and a humanoid creature consisting of a black bone skeleton missing an arm and some rotting flesh. An Undead.

But this skeleton was very different from what Liam had described to him. This thing definitely couldn't be killed by just anyone.

The beast being chased was a sort of hybrid between a giraffe and an argentinosaurus, but without the herbivorous side. This animal with sharp fangs and claws as long as swords had a neck long enough to reach the leaves of the highest branches of this forest and a flexible tail ending in a long club capable of smashing anything at over 200 kilometers per hour.

Why a giraffe? Because this Demonic Beast had a yellowish fur with short hair that had the particular feature of being spotted with brownish marks. Its face, excluding its sharp fangs, was also strongly reminiscent of a horse's, as was its mane.

It was the first time Ikaris had come face to face with such a gigantic Demonic Beast. Usually it was the Magical Beasts and Spirit Beasts that had giant bodies, but as on Earth it depended on which species we were talking about. A Rank 4 Ant was still smaller than a Rank 1 Elephant.

Currently, this massive beast as heavy as a loaded truck was desperately fleeing for its life, high-pitched howls spewing from its mouth every time the monster in pursuit tore off a piece of its flesh.

Its tail had been gnawed off in several places as if it were a skewer and the animal had beaten its tail maniacally to get rid of its predator, but nothing helped. The huge beast was obviously not flexible enough to reach the Undead either, taking refuge on the blind spot of its back at each attempt of counterattack.

Despite the fact that this Demonic Beast was much more powerful than this Undead, it could only be slowly devoured alive. It was all the more sad because this huge creature was rather fast for its size. Comparable to a cheetah in full sprint. Even from a distance, Ikaris and the others could see that the panicked beast and its "rider" were closing in on their position.

Ikaris tried to scan it with his Appraisal Spell. His Stamina vanished into thin air and although he felt it was not impossible he gave up dead in his tracks. He needed all his strength for the upcoming fight. He then attempted on the Undead and stopped again.

'At least Rank 3. Magnus, can you confirm?'

It was rare for him to ask for his help. The old Vampire knew it was no time to fool around and leaving the ruby ring on Ikaris' finger, he projected his mental sense on the two targets. Ruvaen, Malia and Kailu sensed something but they were too busy focusing on the two monsters to care.

"They're just Rank 3." Magnus informed him in a relieved voice. " Still... This Undead is bothering me. I'm sure I've seen one of these somewhere before."

'What do you suggest?" Ikaris asked meekly.

"The beast being chased is a Long-Necked Augias, a rather prized war mount. They have a bad temper but they are smart. If you save him, he might be grateful to us."

"He might? I don't want a maybe. I only act on the basis of certainty.' Ikaris flatly refused the Archmagus' plan.

'If you don't help this Augias get rid of this Undead, I can assure you that you and your group will be next once this beast has been completely devoured. This skeleton's Divine Spark and Body Spark are only Rank 3, but this is not their natural state. It looks like two lakes that have been drained.

With each bite this skeleton munches on, the brightness of these Sparks goes up a notch and more Secondary Sparks light up. Look, since earlier, the shreds of muscle covering his bones have thickened. Not to mention his Sparks, once his body becomes whole again his physical abilities will increase tremendously. You must kill it. Now."

Ikaris was still wavering, but alas Kailu's phobia gave him no choice. Since the Augias and the Undead had been spotted, the aristocrat had not moved an inch. As he was positioned, he and his tree would be bulldozed by the Augias in four to five seconds.

"Fuck. Okay, let's kill it."

In front of the flabbergasted expression of his companions, Ikaris jumped from his tree, flailing in the air for several interminable seconds before sliding heavily down Kailu's trunk. With his eyes still closed, the Healer didn't see his Lord's backside coming dangerously close to his head.

Bam!

Both men fell to the ground and as Kailu stifled a grunt of pain, completely stunned, Ikaris leapt to his feet and grabbing the aristocrat by the collar of his jacket he sprinted as fast as he could to get out of the way of the Augia's charge.

He may have maintained his Stealth Spell all along, but Kailu did not and the skeleton detected the human's presence despite its limited intellect.

"Vrevrevre!" Its jaw squeaked oddly, as if rejoicing, and on all fours, it took its bearings and leapt without hesitation from the back of its previous victim to gallop off in the direction of its future prey.

Glancing behind him, the recollection of a pack of Crawlings chasing him in the middle of the night in the jungle overlapped with that of the Skeleton.

"Damn it! You think I'm going to let you eat us? You're dreaming!"

Ikaris drew his sword and tossed the dazed Healer into the high grass. As expected, the Undead ignored him and suddenly changed direction and pounced on the tantalizing Kailu.

'Perfect.' The teenager licked his lips.

His muscles swelled abruptly and his golden eyes turned orange, then red. Half of his Blood Energy infused his muscles, while his face and overall appearance took on more bestial features. His ears became more pointed and hairy, his jaw moved forward slightly and his spine cracked as his height increased by a few inches.

His arms also grew longer, not to the point of being disproportionate but the difference was noticeable. His black fingernails became long claws and black fur began to grow on his body, starting from his hands.

Semi-Bestial Form! This was the first time he consciously used it. The time he had attacked Malia and Ellie during the night did not count. The transformation was clearly not as impressive, but thanks to it his Strength and Agility tripled, exceeding 25 and 20 points respectively.

This was an impressive value compared to the human Ikaris once was and he could not envision any failure. To give himself the best chance, he also activated his Enhanced Strength(35%) Spell which he had hardly used until now.

His strength increased by another third and as he lunged forward pushing on the ground, the mud beneath him rippled and his silhouette disappeared from his position. A blurred hairy shadow shot across the distance from the Skeleton fixated on his prey in the blink of an eye.

Arriving from behind, his blade slashed horizontally and the skull of the oblivious Undead whirled in the air. With another downward vertical slash, he cleaved what was left of the Undead's skeleton in half.

"It went smoothly ." Ikaris breathed out, quite dazed by his own performance.