Rhodes found searching for something to be a rather tedious task, especially when he couldn't use his "Three Wolves and Six Birds" and had to do everything himself.
Well, let's just consider it another part of the test.
After learning about the kind of environment the Unicorn Beast liked to inhabit, finding its cave wasn't as difficult as it initially seemed.
Rhodes carefully observed each suspicious-looking mountain, an idea coming to his mind.
What if he sent the Stone Armored Bugs to burrow everywhere, causing all these mountains to collapse? Wouldn't that force the Unicorn Beast to come out?
Like how that pangolin opened up Gourd Mountain, releasing the snake spirit and scorpion spirit.
It might be more efficient this way, without worrying about overlooking which mountain it was hiding in.
Rhodes was tempted, but after thinking about how the guild master might cry afterward, he decided against it.
He'd keep that as a last resort.
"Help me, help me!"
After searching for over half an hour with no results, Rhodes' card suddenly made a noise.
"That direction, go!"
Rhodes gave the order, and the Swiftcrab took off at full speed, reaching Kana's position in just a few minutes.
"Did you find it?"
"Shh..." Kana pulled Rhodes behind a rock, signaling him to stay quiet, then pointed to a cave not far away.
Rhodes listened closely; inside the cave, he could hear a faint snoring sound.
Kana whispered, "That's the Unicorn Beast's snoring. It should be asleep inside. Got any plans?"
"Of course, we're going to ambush it," Rhodes whispered back. "The kid's sleeping so soundly—if we don't take advantage of it, are we even human?"
"But that cave doesn't lead directly to where it's sleeping. I can't shoot my cards straight in," Kana explained.
She had considered unleashing all her offensive spells at once, but she worried that the beast might wake up before she got into position.
"So we can only set traps and lure it out intentionally." She pointed to some spots near the cave entrance, discussing the trap positions she had in mind. "What do you think about this arrangement?"
Rhodes thought for a moment and nodded. "It's doable. Leave the task of luring it out to me.
But we don't have much energy for prolonged combat, so we should go all out from the start and try to finish it off in one go."
"I understand." Kana nodded seriously, taking all her cards out of her satchel.
She carefully arranged them in groups, striving to maximize the effects of various combinations, and then used her excellent throwing skills to shoot them into the best positions.
Rhodes originally thought about using the Swiftcrab to lure the beast, but then he had an even better idea.
"Summon, Swamp Toads!"
Two huge toads, each as tall as a person, appeared. Before their throats could inflate, Rhodes issued his first command: "No croaking!"
The toads forcefully stopped the inflating movement, making no sound.
Rhodes looked at their feet, satisfied.
No extra toxins spilled this time.
"You two, sneak in there. When you see the big monster, spray its eyes, nose, and mouth with poison.
Once it wakes up, immediately run out and start attacking at that location, got it? Hey... no croaking, no croaking. If you get it, then go."
The two toads turned around and hopped quietly to the entrance of the cave, then crawled in as Rhodes instructed.
"Using poison? Nice idea!" Kana remembered Laxus's arrogant expression earlier and grumbled, "We should have used this on Laxus too! Anyway, there's an antidote."
Rhodes shook his head. "No way. If Granny Porlyusica found out that I used poison against our own just because we had an antidote, she'd beat me with a broom."
Laxus could be annoying, but he was still one of them.
"Ribbit~ Ribbit~"
"ROAR~~~"
The croaking and the beast's roar came out of the cave together, and the ground began to tremble.
"So it can cause earthquakes even in its juvenile stage?" Rhodes wasn't sure if it was using its ability or if the tremor was just caused by the heavy creature running.
The croaking grew weaker, and only one Swamp Toad made it out, the other already taken down by the Unicorn Beast.
"Ribbit~" The surviving toad reached its designated position, waiting for the enemy to emerge.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The tremor intensified as the Unicorn Beast, with its horn still attached, staggered out of the cave, its face smeared with purple venom.
The more Rhodes looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. This thing looked so much like "Golza, the Beast that Shakes the Earth" from that old tokusatsu show.
Just smaller in scale—standing at about six or seven meters tall, larger than Rhodes' Treant or Golem but smaller than the guild master's Titan form.
"ROAR~~~~"
The Unicorn Beast let out a roar that could have been from either anger or pain.
The Swamp Toad wasn't afraid at all; it simply sprayed another mouthful of venom.
The beast was enraged, staggering towards the direction of the toad.
Seeing it step into the trap, Kana activated her magic:
"Tower's Restraint! Fool's Smoke! Fountain of Prayer! Lightning of Fate!"
Rock walls, smoke, water whips, lightning...
A series of spells with effects like binding and paralyzing hit the Unicorn Beast.
Then followed the wind blades, fire bursts, ice spikes, and a variety of offensive spells.
"ROAR—"
"It's not over yet!"
Kana didn't stop, activating the pre-set traps one after another. Whenever there was a good opportunity, she'd also throw in a few extra cards.
The magic's radiance completely enveloped the Unicorn Beast's massive form.
For a while, only Kana's shouts and the sounds of spells activating could be heard—the beast's cries of pain were almost drowned out.
Meanwhile, the Swamp Toad kept diligently spraying poison.
When almost all of her cards had been used up, the tremors from the beast finally stopped.
The mountain the Unicorn Beast had lived in was impacted by the spells; cracks formed in the rock, sending large chunks of stone rolling down.
Kana panted, staring at the beast now hidden under a pile of smoke and rubble. "How is it? Even if it was a real S-rank beast..."
Rhodes pulled her back behind a boulder. First, you can't just go around declaring victories, and second, when the situation is unclear, it's best to keep away from dangerous creatures.
"ROAR!!!"
It was good they were cautious. With a roar, the pile of stones was blown apart by the beast, and the ground shook even more violently.
Debris clattered against their hiding place, and some struck the still-poison-spraying Swamp Toad.
The toad let out a pitiful cry but had no time to leap before being sent flying by the enraged beast's claw.
The Unicorn Beast looked extremely battered now—its horn was chipped, a few teeth were missing, and one eye was shut tight.
Its scales were broken in many places—some spots looked like they'd been hit with a blunt weapon, others seemed to have been slashed with a sharp blade, with blood flowing freely.
There were burn marks, frostbite, and, of course, signs of corrosion from the poison.
It had originally walked out on two legs, proud and imposing. Now it was reduced to moving on all fours, howling up at the sky.
"ROAR~~~"
The beast roared again, its tail slamming into the ground, causing everything around to shake.
The nearby mountain began to collapse. Rhodes immediately grabbed Kana and jumped onto the back of the Swiftcrab. "Go, go, go! Quick!"
This thing seemed to have entered some sort of berserk second stage—better to hide for now.
The Swiftcrab sprinted away, with the Unicorn Beast, even in its heavily injured state, giving chase.
"It's actually..." Kana stared at the rampaging beast in a daze—she had already done her best.
In most battles, it was rare to get such an opportunity to set up the field...
Even then, it wasn't enough?