On the western side of the Blood Crow Wasteland, in the center of a city, an enormous flower transformed in an instant from a single Magic Seed into a colossal entity that loomed over the city.
This crimson Magic Flower bore gaping maws on every petal, devouring everything in its vicinity. Even its roots resembled Wooden Dragons, ceaselessly expanding outward, altering the terrain as they absorbed the surrounding Earth Vein Energy.
The Whale Demon Flower's consumption of resources was relentless and insatiable. Meanwhile, Demonized Seeds scattered across the land also began absorbing resources, taking without giving, like mythical gluttonous beasts.
The sheer concentration of Magical Resources in one place was inherently dangerous—capable of easily triggering a superweapon powerful enough to reshape the landscape.
Within the city, Dark wizard apprentices were battling the Magic Plant Servants spawned by the flower, attempting to approach the Advanced Magic Plant itself to halt its relentless spread.
At the same time, the Vampires of the Blood Curse Court activated the central alarm system of the city.
A surge of potent Curse Magic energy erupted from the ground, shooting skyward and unleashing a Curse that formed a vampiric visage—a Curse Scar—across the heavens.
Dark wizard apprentices were converging from all directions, racing to destroy the Magic Plant before the Ecological Destruction Curse could fully take hold, mitigating its catastrophic impact on the magical ecosystem of the Blood Curse Court's heartland.
Standing atop a distant hill, observing the scene coldly, was the First Circle Wizard student of Madam Morgana—the mastermind behind this operation.
"Hmm, this should buy Sophia and the others plenty of time."
"A First Circle Wizard can never evade detection by the Wall of Unbelievers if they try to infiltrate—otherwise, the Blood Curse Court might as well give up."
"But by staging an attack from another direction, we can mislead them into thinking this is our main assault."
"Still," the First Circle Wizard mused, "it's not a bad outcome to use this long-planned curse to destroy one of their Magical Creature Curse research institutes. That must have been one of their top-tier projects."
Sophia, the Witch, contacted him through the Nibelungen Astrology System, whispering in his ear, "Thank you, Senior Massimo Vasquez."
"Without you, we wouldn't have been able to infiltrate the Blood Crow Wasteland, the heart of the Blood Curse Court."
Wizard Massimo Vasquez chuckled softly. "No need for thanks. You're our junior sister, after all."
"Though I don't understand why you're in such a hurry—why you couldn't wait and had to leave Lilith's Cottage immediately. But of course, we seniors would help you."
"Sophia, once you reach the Star Domain Sea, remember to write to us."
Madam Morgana's icy voice cut into their conversation. "Massimo, withdraw immediately."
"Three First Circle Wizards are closing in on you. If you two keep chatting, you won't make it back."
"However, you don't need to worry too much. I have two other Formal Wizard students who have set up one-time-use Advanced Magic Plants in two other directions. This operation isn't just about cooperating with Sophia—it's also an opportunity to destroy three of their projects above the second level."
Massimo Vasquez straightened his expression and immediately summoned a Flying Magic Plant, using flight magic to swiftly escape from the location.
Less than five minutes after his escape, a Blood Curse Magic descended from the sky. The crimson energy struck empty ground where he had stood, corroding the soil.
Furious Black Wizards rushed over. "Damn it, he's already gone."
"He might not have fled entirely. There are reports of attacks in other areas too. How long have these damned White Wizards been planning this operation?"
"Why didn't our Wall of Unbelievers react at all? We're being led around by the nose everywhere! That's a Wall of Unbelievers we spent 500,000 on—did the Corpse Court swindlers sell us a performance-gutted version of the defense system?"
"First, let's think about how to deal with this Whale Demon Flower. Once this Magic Flower reaches full maturity, even a Formal Wizard risks death by approaching it. We absolutely cannot let it continue draining this land's Magical Resources."
"But if we recklessly destroy it, it'll trigger a massive explosion. Forget the top-tier lab here—this city, the Magical Tide, everything will be ruined."
"In the end, you should've listened to me. We should've invested more resources in Necro-Ecology earlier and recruited a few first-tier Black Wizards specializing in this field. Then we wouldn't be so passive in ecological construction, constantly taking hits."
"Charas, you make a good point, but where would we get the money to hire such talent? What research conditions do we have to attract them? Other than those studying Curse Magic, who would even consider joining our Blood Curse Court?"
...
Half a day later, a civilian ship had already docked at the shore. Locke and the others quickly disembarked onto the Blood Crow Wasteland with their cargo and a group of hired civilian workers.
Locke heard Madam Morgana's voice in their ears: "I've already created the most favorable conditions for your covert infiltration."
"The rest is up to you."
"Sophia, according to the intelligence we obtained earlier, this port is only 30 kilometers from your target."
"Even at a normal civilian travel speed, you'll reach it in three days."
The witch Sophia responded silently through the Nibelungen Sub-Ring: "Understood. Thank you, teacher."
After landing, the group disguised themselves as a normal merchant convoy, completing port formalities and seeking out familiar contacts before slipping away from the port—just like any other civilian smugglers.
On the muddy path, amidst the caravan of wagons, Locke sat inside one and looked up at the sky, frowning in displeasure.
The air of the Blood Crow Wasteland was dry and cold, permeated with a Curse energy that was inherently harmful to human health.
For humans living here, under normal circumstances, it would shorten their natural lifespan by at least ten years.
Meanwhile, the sky over this plateau was covered with thick layers of clouds, their overlapping masses ensuring that sunlight never reached this land.
Even during daytime, the sky here maintained a dark cyan hue.
Clearly, this plateau had undergone magical modifications by the Blood Curse Court over countless centuries, resulting in long-term environmental mutations.
Here, Curse Magic seemed inexplicably amplified by several degrees.
White magic, on the other hand, was naturally suppressed here.
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