"What happened?" asked Anfey, surprised.
In the eye of the sky, Suzanna was galloping. Feller's ability to control the eye of the sky had not improved. Moreover, Suzanna was running very fast: the eye of the sky could only capture Suzanna’s movements from behind. However, just the sight of her back was horrifying enough—her clothes were torn and her whole back was covered in blood. Who knew how much blood Suzanna had lost!
Anfey could not believe what he saw. To ensure Suzanna's safety, he even equipped them with the magic scroll. Knowing Suzanne's skills, coupled with the scroll and the assistance from Riska, there was no way she should be in such danger.
"Anfey, your turn!" urged Christian.
"I am ready." Anfey nodded and said, "Zubin, enchant my arrow with air element for me please." After saying this, Anfey dashed outside of the magic array, rushed ahead, drew back the string of the long bow in his hand, and aimed at distant cave which was covered by a dense silver magical web.
This was a long bow handmade by Anfey, with the help of a group of mages. The materials were easily accessible. The bow was made from rib bones of flash leopards, and they were strong and elastic; the bowstring was made from the tendon of a three-eyed cow, which Anfey had urgently asked little Shally for; arrows were even easier to make, as Anfey did not need arrowheads. He only planned to use the arrow to irritate the unicorn, not to actually injure or kill it.
Anfey experimented several hundred times and determined that the range of the arrow was about 150 meters. This range was moderate compared to some elf bowman’s record of 500 meters. However, Anfey was satisfied with the result. With the air element enchantment by Zubin, Anfey’s arrow could reach 300 meters.
Unlike manticores, unicorns normally did not like staying inside a cave. Usually, unicorns enjoyed falling asleep under the moon. They did not like the gloominess of the caves. Only after a new baby was born, the mother and the child would hide in caves for their own safety for a short time. Because of this, Anfey’s group predicted that the cave should be relatively shallow, even though none of them could scout the den.
Anfey’s arrow was no ordinary arrow: rather, it was a fire arrow. Not only was it wrapped with flammable and long-lasting burning oil, Anfey also mixed in several ingredients that would stink when burnt. Anfey basically turned the arrows into a primitive chemical weapon.
Zubin followed Anfey, enchanted his arrow with air element, and then cast a small fire ball to light up the arrow.
Anfey then released the bowstring. The burning arrow flew straight toward the cave and disappeared in the silvery web.
Magic beasts, even if they were high-level, were not capable of setting up a magic array. The silver web that was covering the unicorn’s den was placed to detect magic surge, and potentially cause some minor injury to any invaders. However, that silver web could have barely any impact on Anfey’s arrow, since it was lifeless and would not cause any magic surge.
Suzanne also arrived at this time. Anfey, after shooting the arrow, turned around and ordered, "Zubin, help Suzanna!"
Zubin cast a levitation spell toward Suzanna, controlled the air element to lift her body, and pulled her into the protection of the magic array. Realizing that she was safe, Suzanna let out a long sigh of relief, and then lost consciousness.
Anfey and Zubin fled back to the magic array without any delay. This array was set at a hidden spot behind a bunch of bushes, there was a gulley to the left and a rock to the right. The magic array was set to conceal a magic surge from being sensed, and the location of the array was chosen to visually conceal Anfey’s group.
A tall beast rushed out from the cave. The silver web was torn opened, and black smoke rose from inside the cave.
Anfey finally got to see a unicorn—it appeared just like a horse, except it had a long horn on its forehead. This was a large unicorn—feet to shoulder about two meters tall, and feet to head probably close to three meters. Its whole body was mostly silver. Only right above the four hooves was some long golden hair. Unicorns were known as high-level magic beasts of light, and they were just beautiful. Though horses and unicorns looked almost exactly alike, even the most appealing horse could not be compared to this unicorn. The confidence and the unruly nature of the unicorn could never be possessed by their domesticated counterparts.
In the eye of sky, Anfey and his group could clearly see the sky-blue horn and eyes of the unicorn glittering like gems. When the unicorn turned its head, slight waves of an arc could be seen in the air. Its four legs were gently kicking the ground, they were long—if little Shally was in front of the unicorn now, she could easily walk through under its belly—and slim, but known for explosive power. Its tail was silver, shimmering like sunshine, spreading out like a cloud, and waving with the wind.
At this time, the manticore had rushed out from the valley, flapping its short webbed wings, and entered the territory of the unicorn. The loss of children could destroy a human being mentally, and such pain would be even more destructive to a beast. The care for their next generation might be the only love that a magic beast could ever possess, and destroying that only love would certainly trigger the most unbearable hatred and madness. That manticore ignored the existence of the unicorn, and its bloody pupils were still searching for Suzanna.
The unicorn, however, would not offer its forgiveness to the invader. It was irritated, and threw its long horn toward the manticore. A flash of blue lightning shot out from sky-blue horn and hit the invader.
The manticore’s wings stiffened for a second, and then its body fell to the ground. This was what made unicorns terrifying—the lighting they produced was not fatal, but all of their lightning magic could naturally paralyze their opponents. Such paralyzing effects were much more powerful than a human mage could cause. Except for archmages and master swordsmen, most people would suffer from the impact of this unique power.
The manticore fell on its belly and looked at the unicorn furiously. Soon after, the manticore was able to launch an attack. Its bulky body was outlined by a dark red light and it charged toward the unicorn.
The unicorn was unwilling to give in. It stamped its back legs on the ground, jumped into the air, and charged straight at the manticore like a silver meteor. It sped so fast that it seemed that space was torn by the sky-blue horn. The overwhelming magic surge could be sensed in the air.
"Bam!" The two beasts crashed into each other. The battlefield was too messy to sort out what had happened. Dark red fog was everywhere, countless lighting flashes appeared in the air. Anfey’s group could not clearly see the fight between the two beasts, but the result was clear—the unicorn was tossed a dozen meters, and its huge body totally flattened the grass. The manticore, on the other hand, was only pushed back five or six meters, and then got up quickly to roar at the unicorn.
"Something is not right," Sante lowered his voice and said. "The unicorn should be much more powerful than this!"
"True! Even a seven or eight thousand kilogram magic cow would not be able to handle a full charge from a unicorn." Christian nodded his head and added, "Something is going on."
"I wonder… whether this unicorn has just given birth?" Zubin said hesitantly.
Christian commented, "It is possible! Zubin probably has figured out what happened!"
"Anfey, if this is the case, that unicorn is not going to beat the manticore. Should we move forward with our plan?" asked Zubin.
"No, not yet. Let’s wait a little longer."
From the eyes of the sky, the group could tell that the two beasts went back to their fight. Both had been injured in the collision. The neck of the unicorn was torn open and blue blood was dripping down; meanwhile, the eyes of the manticore were swelling; probably suffering from internal wounds.
The unicorn was not at all as agile or speedy as its reputation. It was a bit slower than the manticore. In addition, it also did not release any consecutive lighting. Anfey’s group figured that the unicorn probably lost the ability to release consecutive lighting temporarily after giving birth, otherwise it surely would use lighting to win the battle.
The situation became more and more unfavorable to the unicorn. The crazy and fierce manticore utilized its speed and circled around the unicorn. When it found an opportunity, it would injure the unicorn and retreat a safe distance to avoid the counterattack from the unicorn.
Gradually, the unicorn was covered with all sorts of wounds. Its power was fading, its movements were slower, and as a result, it got hurt more and more severely. The manticore’s weapons were its claws, fangs and tail, while the unicorn only could use its horn. The result of this battle could almost be foreseen.
Sante shook his head and commented, "There must be a baby, otherwise the unicorn would have been fleeing by now."
"True. Magic beasts are no human heroes," Christian agreed. "They would not be ashamed to lose a fight, and would retreat to save their lives whenever possible. However, this unicorn will not give in… the only explanation is that it wants to protect a baby in the cave."
At this time, the manticore jumped to the left of the unicorn and attempted to claw at the ribs of the unicorn. As the unicorn turned around to fight back, the manticore stretched its webbed wings, pulled out its long-hidden needle tail, and pierced it into the unicorn in a flash.
The unicorn let out a painful neigh, but used its own body to trap the tail of the manticore. Then it leveraged the momentum and flipped the manticore upside down. Immediately, its long horn was planted into the chest of the manticore.
"Oh my! Magic immunization, magic immunization! That is a top-level unicorn!" Zubin shouted, shocked.
The needle tail of the manticore could paralyze its target, but that unicorn was not impacted, and that was a sign of a top-level unicorn!