The sound echoed in Evan Chu's ears, making his whole body tremble. He could clearly sense that this magical beast's strength was utterly terrifying—maybe even the Azure Spirit Drake wouldn't be its match.
"Could this be another ancient-era ferocious beast? My luck is just unreal!" Evan muttered to himself.
With a thought, Evan shot rapidly into the sky. Against a beast like this, all he could do was keep his distance and run. His Chaos Dragon Force hadn't recovered yet, so there was no way he'd risk a head-on clash.
He'd barely reached the sky when tremors shook the ground below. Countless rocks tumbled down the mountainside—a scene so fierce it made anyone watching shudder with fear.
Evan frowned slightly and said, "Is this beast about to come out? It can even attack my divine sense—this is no ordinary monster. But the commotion is just ridiculous, shaking the earth and mountains like this."
As soon as he finished speaking, a crack split the mountaintop. Instantly, a surge of blazing red magma shot skyward, and the surrounding space seemed to ignite—the temperature soared in a flash.
Thick smoke billowed from the fissure, blanketing everything so densely that nothing could be seen. Evan flashed away again and again, surprised to find that this really was a volcano—except it didn't even have a crater, which struck him as incredibly strange.
Suddenly, a red light blazed forth, and a colossal red monster—mountain-sized—appeared in midair. The instant it showed up, it let out a roar so powerful it nearly knocked Evan out of the sky.
"What kind of freak is this, living inside a volcano? Its appearance is totally bizarre, and just from that roar, I'd better get out of here fast," Evan said.
This monster had a dragon's head, deer antlers, a tiger's back, and a bear's torso, its body covered in scales—and most striking of all, it kept breathing fire nonstop. It was obviously a fire-attribute magical beast.
"Luna, do you have any idea what kind of beast this is? It's such a weird chimera, and it feels seriously dangerous. Does this thing have a demon core?" Evan asked.
"Evan, that's the terrifying Holy Beast Fire Unicorn! How can there be a Fire Unicorn here? This is honestly bizarre. You're absolutely no match for it—get out of here, quick! The Fire Unicorn is at least eighth-layer Saint Martial Realm. There's no way you can beat it," Luna warned.
"An eighth-layer Saint Beast? Damn, that's way too strong! Why do I keep running into monsters like this? How come it's never showed up in the Divine Battlefield before—was it just sleeping?" Evan grumbled, then flashed away, fleeing as fast as he could.
Evan flashed away, but the Fire Unicorn instantly followed, its speed nearly matching his teleportation. In no time, it was right behind him, giving Evan a real scare.
It was the first time Evan had ever faced a beast this fast—of course, this thing was a Holy Beast, and even his teleportation was being pushed to the limit.
"Human, you can't escape! How dare you disturb my cultivation—you're courting death!" came an ancient voice from behind, making Evan's eardrums ache.
He hadn't expected the beast's words alone to have such attack power. At this point, Evan was fully set on escaping and had totally given up on trying to get its demon core.
He kept chain-teleporting, but it was like the Fire Unicorn could predict exactly where he'd appear next. No matter how he ran, it stuck right to him, making Evan more and more anxious.
"Damn thing, so relentless! Shaking it off isn't going to be easy. What now, what now?" Evan muttered helplessly.
"Evan, the Fire Unicorn is a fire-attribute Holy Beast. To deal with a beast this powerful, you have to counter its element. If you can knock it into water, its strength will drop sharply—then you'll have a chance," Luna said.
"Knock it into the water? That's seriously tough. Since it's a fire-attribute Holy Beast, it must know its own weakness—if it sees water, it'll probably just steer clear. How would I ever get the chance to knock it in?" Evan said.
Just as he finished, a thought struck him—if it left, he'd be safe, no more running and hiding. But Luna said, "Evan, the Fire Unicorn seems to have a strong grudge against you. Its demon core is way better than the Azure Spirit Drake's. If you get the chance, you need to find a way to take it."
Evan's forehead darkened. "Luna, you can't be serious. I'm barely able to escape, and you're telling me to grab its demon core? That's just asking for death!"
Evan found Luna's request hard to accept, but she insisted, "The Fire Unicorn is born with a fiery temper—it's easy to provoke. If you can lure it to the water's edge and catch it off guard, I believe you can knock it in."
"Even if I knock it into the water, it's still eighth-layer Saint Martial Realm—there's no way I can handle that. Is it supposed to drown or something?" Evan said, speechless.
If the Fire Unicorn fell into the water, it might just fly right back out—this plan seemed totally useless. For the first time, Evan started doubting Luna's idea.
"If the Fire Unicorn hits the water, its strength will drop by more than thirty percent. If you use Watershift for a surprise attack, how good are your odds then? Why are you getting so timid lately? That's not like you at all, Evan," Luna said, a bit annoyed.
Luna's words made Evan break into a cold sweat—maybe he really didn't know enough. He said, "Alright, I'll give it a shot. Maybe I really can kill this eighth-layer Saint Beast."
Evan kept shifting his position, making it impossible for the Fire Unicorn to land a hit for the moment. Up ahead, a massive lake appeared—he'd been shortening his teleportation distance just to find water.
Soon, he reached the sky above the lake. Evan stopped, turned to the Fire Unicorn behind him, and said, "Fire Unicorn, you've chased me long enough—don't you need a break? We don't have any grudge, so why are you so dead set on hunting me down?"
"Why? You disturbed me at a critical moment in my breakthrough, making me waste five hundred years of painstaking cultivation. You tell me—do we have a grudge or not? If I don't eat your flesh and drink your blood today, I can't vent the hatred in my heart!" the Fire Unicorn growled, its eyes fierce.
"Hah, big talk! I'm just worried you don't have the strength. It's been ages since I've tasted unicorn meat—maybe today's the day I try some," Evan sneered.
"Eat me? You've got guts, I'll give you that. Let's see who eats whom!" the Fire Unicorn roared, then spat a stream of black flames at Evan... (Author's note: Visited relatives yesterday, must've eaten something bad—spent the whole day sick and weak. Had to grit my teeth to finish this chapter. Misery.)