The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 407: The Ferocious Magical Beast

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*

The silvery moonlight cascaded like water, reflecting on the small stream.

A magical beast slowly emerged from the pale red mist.

Tall, robust, and divine, its fur glowed like rubies in the moonlight, shimmering like red satin as it moved.

There was an unusual sound from the woods ahead.

It was a sound it had never heard before.

The Crimson Smoke Beast possessed a pure and curious heart.

It was familiar with every sound within its territory—the wind, the water, falling leaves, the various animals, the birds in the sky, and the insects at night.

But this sound was entirely new to it.

Curiosity killed the cat, and this time, it might be a magical beast.

The Crimson Smoke Beast slowly walked across the shallows, leaving deep hoof prints in the ground, each the size of a bowl and remarkably similar to a horse's hoof.

Recently, many humans had entered its territory—over two thousand—accompanied by hunting dogs. An unsettling atmosphere had enveloped the entire Bielka Marsh, causing even the small birds and beasts to disappear, rarely singing at night.

The Crimson Smoke Beast had attacked several times, kicking and biting a few humans to death. However, the intruders did not relent, and the sense of danger grew stronger, causing the Crimson Smoke Beast to feel uneasy: there were too many intruders!

The Crimson Smoke Beast had roamed the entire peninsula, leaving its tracks everywhere, from the easternmost seashore to the canyons bordering the Bielka Marsh.

Aside from the unease brought by these human intruders, the Crimson Smoke Beast feared no other animal.

Shadow Mountain Cats, wolves, lions, and black bears had all confronted the Crimson Smoke Beast, but without exception, they had all retreated. The Crimson Smoke Beast had either defeated them head-on or toyed with them using its speed until its continuous, effective attacks forced them to flee.

This had left very obvious traces of its existence for humans to discover.

Gradually, more and more people became aware of its presence until finally, every tribe on the peninsula knew of its existence.

The free and invincible Crimson Smoke Beast began to feel threatened, and its playground steadily shrank. Wherever it stayed, an unsettling aura would soon envelop it—humans were tracking it relentlessly, from day to night, and from night to day.

Sensing the threat, the Crimson Smoke Beast returned to its territory: the Bielka Marsh! It hid in the peach-red mist.

Within the peach-red mist, it shared a mountain stream cave with venomous snakes and giant pythons. No other birds or beasts dared to enter; the peach-red mist was its safety barrier.

From time to time, with its territorial dignity severely challenged, the Crimson Smoke Beast would launch attacks in the dead of night or at dawn, killing intruders.

Recently, the unsettling aura had suddenly disappeared, and the intruders who had entered the marsh had retreated one after another. The Crimson Smoke Beast quietly followed behind these intruders for a long distance until it confirmed that all of them had left the Bielka Marsh.

The intruders gained nothing except for the corpses of a dozen men and the lives of a dozen horses.

Its territorial dignity was not to be violated.

Several days later, the Crimson Smoke Beast relaxed its vigilance.

Like a king, it emerged from the mist, patrolling its territory and galloping and neighing in the woods where the intruders had been. It felt safe.

The danger was over.

The intruders knew it was not to be trifled with, admitted defeat, and left.

This filled the Crimson Smoke Beast with joy. It raised its head and roared, its voice like a horse's.

Except for its stronger and wider bones, taller stature, and a threatening sharp horn on its head, the Crimson Smoke Beast's voice, appearance, and hoof prints were all those of a horse.

Tonight, it rested in the mist with venomous snakes and giant pythons when a strange sound came from afar.

It was a sound the Crimson Smoke Beast had never heard before.

Curiosity was in the Crimson Smoke Beast's nature.

It was a playful and curious child of the Blood God.

Its curiosity was even stronger than its belligerence.

Belligerence and proactive attacks were the Crimson Smoke Beast's character. On the second night after the intruders left, it chose to attack their camp, biting and trampling several human sentries to death, impaling several horses with its horn, and causing all the horses in a small camp to panic and flee until all the intruders came out of their tents with swords. Only then did it slowly run away with disdain…

The unheard sound was fatal to the Crimson Smoke Beast. It had a strong urge to figure out what was going on, to go to the nearest place to see…to peek, was it a new intruder or some other bird or beast…making the strange noise…

The Crimson Smoke Beast was cautious!

When facing unfamiliar sounds and unfamiliar intruders, it was initially very cautious.

When it first engaged in battle with humans, it did not kill them. Instead, it cautiously probed them time and time again…until it discovered their fragility and vulnerability, it revealed its brutal fangs…Even when it encountered other humans who posed no threat while playing, the Crimson Smoke Beast would rarely let them go.

It committed many 'crimes' of actively provoking and killing. Each time, it easily eliminated the 'intruders' and easily retreated unscathed.

This led it to seriously underestimate the strength of humans: only when humans gathered in large enough numbers would the Crimson Smoke Beast actively avoid them.

The pedestrians, the farmers planting corn on the mountain, and the honey gatherers in the trees, first, there were few of them, some were even alone, and second, these people were not the real warriors of humans.

*

The Crimson Smoke Beast slowly approached the place where the strange sound was coming from. The sound had disappeared when it emerged from the mist and started approaching along the stream.

The Crimson Smoke Beast circled around in the small forest where the sound had disappeared. It smelled the scent of humans.

It was the humans it deeply hated, the most detestable intruders, physically weak and vulnerable, slow to act and greedy.

This made the Crimson Smoke Beast feel very bad.

It hated humans. There was nothing more hateful to it than these weak and provocative beings. One kick was enough to kill them, and one bite would tear off half their face. Even if it launched an attack from a distance, humans could not escape because they were too slow, including the horses they rode. The only way they could deal with and threaten it was to gather enough numbers.

Bang!

Another strange sound came from further away.

The Crimson Smoke Beast pricked up its ears and listened.

Bang, bang, bang!

The sound came again, but the rhythm had changed—it became rapid and loud.

The fragile intruders were provoking it!

After smelling the scent of humans, the Crimson Smoke Beast was no longer cautious. It knew that a large number of humans had left, and a small number of humans posed no threat to it.

A red light flashed, and the Crimson Smoke Beast ran straight into the distance.

As fast as a flame of smoke!

It had fought humans countless times, and as long as humans did not gather together, it always won, without a single defeat.

The snorting from its nostrils would make human horses uneasy and fearful. Many horses would break free from their reins and desperately flee at the first scent of it. Its roar would cause the herd of horses to panic and lose control, utterly distraught…

It had rich experience in dealing with humans!

*

"It's coming!" a scout in a big tree said lazily.

"Did you see it?" another scout took out a bow and arrow, but the arrow had no arrowhead.

"I heard it!" the scout said.

This was a team of tracking experts gathered from various tribes, totaling more than a dozen people, divided into two groups. The group responsible for attracting the Crimson Smoke Beast immediately rode away to the next location designated by Madam Jenny.

The first step was to lure the Crimson Smoke Beast out of the Bielka Marsh.

Otherwise, this intelligent and spiritual magical beast would escape into the mist and deep into the swamp when pushed to the brink, and the warriors would be unable to enter.

Even if you had the antidote to enter the mist, there was no way to go into the swampy mud to fight the Crimson Smoke Beast, which would sacrifice the lives of too many warriors.

This time, the tribes had already sacrificed enough warriors to capture the Crimson Smoke Beast.

Jenny hoped no one would die this time.

*

The Crimson Smoke Beast arrived at the place where the sound was coming from, but the sound had disappeared again.

The scent of humans was even stronger.

It ran around, but it didn't see the shadow of the provocateur.

But the smell was obviously strong.

Clang!

In the distance, another unfamiliar sound rang out.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking traveled very far at night.

The sound was melodious, long, and lingering.

The Crimson Smoke Beast raised its head, pricked up its ears, and listened.

This time, the sound still came from a distance, but it was more pleasant than the previous two sounds.

Ding! Ding!

A crisper sound of metal striking rang out.

The Crimson Smoke Beast pawed the ground with its front hooves. It felt something was wrong.

This was the third strange sound, and each time it rang out in the distance, but as soon as it approached, the sound would disappear and stop ringing, and the scent of humans was obviously very strong.

Going out again would mean leaving the Bielka Marsh. The outside was no longer its territory.

It was sensitive to the fact that the intruders were luring it, leading it step by step away from the marsh, away from its territory.

The Crimson Smoke Beast decided not to be fooled again.

If it was going to go, it would wait until tomorrow night.

It stood in the woods, raised its head, and listened for a while before deciding to return.

It was curious about the unheard sound, but its sensitivity to danger was also innate.

This strange sound was a kind of lure. After the first and second times, the attraction of the strange sound decreased, and suspicion grew. The Crimson Smoke Beast decided to return.

Whoosh!

An arrow shot down from the top of a big tree.

The Crimson Smoke Beast heard the whistling sound of the arrow. It had heard this sound before, a very sharp sound with a threatening aura.

The Crimson Smoke Beast jumped away suddenly, and an arrow stuck in the place where it had just been standing.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Three arrows shot down from three directions.

The Crimson Smoke Beast did not retreat but charged forward and came to a big tree. Behind it, the three arrows missed again.

It looked up and saw several intruders: humans, in the big tree.

With a loud crack, the Crimson Smoke Beast's horn pierced into the big tree, and the entire tree was shaking, with leaves falling.

This was a tree that took two adults to encircle, one of the largest trees in the edge of the forest that the trackers had carefully selected to ensure they wouldn't be knocked off the tree by the enraged unicorn.

The unicorn was incredibly powerful, and the sharp horn on its head was even more terrifying. When it went berserk, it would even ram rocks. Lions, mountain cats, and wolves did not dare to fight it head-on. The insertion of the steel-hard horn was fatal.

As the unicorn's horn pierced into the big tree, an arrow shot down the instant it pulled it out, hitting its hindquarters squarely.

The arrow stuck in its body, but not deeply. A minor injury. But this was enough to enrage the Crimson Smoke Beast.

The Crimson Smoke Beast had thick skin and flesh, as if it had a layer of armor on its body.

Within the Crimson Smoke Beast's family, there were various pure-colored members, but only this kind of crimson unicorn existed on the Crab Claw Peninsula.

"Hey!" a tracker's voice revealed surprise, "You used an arrow with an arrowhead?"

"I forgot to take off the iron arrowhead just now," a voice filled with apology said.

"Oops, you must have really angered it!" a panicked voice said.

"Madam Jenny repeatedly told us not to hurt it, otherwise it will hold a grudge, and it won't rest until it kills us," the first brother said in a frightened voice.

"It shouldn't be able to recognize us," the brother who made the mistake said without confidence, "There are so many of us, it won't know who we are in the future."

"It's a divine beast, the child of the Blood God. It will remember us," the third brother said, his voice filled with despair.

The first brother complained, "Madam Jenny only wanted us to shoot it with blunt arrows to provoke it so that when it couldn't attack us, it would follow the sound to attack the brothers at the next spot, not for us to injure it."

"I really…just now…was nervous."

In the midst of the three tracking experts' panicked voices, the unicorn had already stabbed the big tree several times in a row.

Wood chips flew everywhere, and terrible deep holes appeared in the tree.

The tree was very large and would not fall down in a short time, but it could not withstand the Crimson Smoke Beast's violent roars and fierce stabs—this was terrifying.

Revenge!

The nature of beasts.

The Crimson Smoke Beast not only sought revenge but also held grudges.

It was also very smart and did not stab in one place but stabbed in circles to prevent the humans in the tree from shooting at it again. While rotating, the people in the tree needed to find the right angle to shoot, avoiding the dense branches. The Crimson Smoke Beast would never go to places where there were no branches overhead.

It was a magical beast that was hard to fool a second time after being fooled once.

Advanced magical creatures always possessed wisdom and spirituality and could easily reach a tacit understanding in action with those who subdued them.

In the big tree, with the sound of splintering wood, the three scouts decided to call for help.

Although it was safe now, they would definitely not be safe if they did not call for help. The tree, no matter how big, would eventually fall under prolonged attacks, or the Crimson Smoke Beast would just stay here, rest for a while, and then come back. Moreover, it was impossible to expect the Crimson Smoke Beast to stop soon due to exhaustion. It could run continuously for days and thousands of miles without slowing down. To make it tired enough to rest, this tree would have to fall.

If they were deep in the forest, they could find trees several times larger than this one. But at the edge of this forest, a tree that two people could encircle was already the largest. But as it stood now, under the Crimson Smoke Beast's violent attacks, this tree seemed too small.

Its horn was too sharp and hard, like an axe. Each stab and pick sent wood chips flying.

The mistake had been made. The initial shot, intended as mere harassment, had agitated the Crimson Smoke Beast, causing it to vent its frustration on the source of the metallic ringing in the distance. However, they had forgotten to remove the iron arrowhead, and the arrow had struck it in the rear, enraging it.

Tweet!

One of the brothers blew the military whistle that Demon Mountain had given him!

They had never seen an iron whistle before, and it amazed them. They hoped that, as Lord Demon Mountain and Lady Jenny had said, the sharp whistle blast would bring them reinforcements as quickly as possible.

The sharp whistle sound startled the Crimson Smoke Beast. A brief silence was followed by an even more violent assault, piercing a hole straight through the tree and now cutting into the trunk from the outside, like the blows of an axe.

Although unicorns were magical creatures with intelligence and spirituality, they could not escape the savage, brutal nature of their bloodline.

The three tracking brothers felt like only a moment had passed before the tree shook even more violently, as if it were about to fall. They had arrows and swords, but even if it meant their death, they dared not truly harm a divine beast.

Tweet tweet tweet!

The iron whistle sounded again, even more urgently.

Tweet!

In the distance, the sound of an iron whistle could also be heard, along with the sound of galloping hooves. Just as Lady Jenny had said, she did not want to see any more warriors die. Someone was coming to save them!

Beneath the tree, the unicorn's movements ceased. It, too, heard the distant whistle and the rapidly approaching hooves.

Humans were approaching!

The Crimson Smoke Unicorn did not hesitate. It could tell that there were only three riders. As long as the humans were few in number, not hundreds or thousands, the unicorn would be fearless.

Crimson Smoke charged towards the sound of the hooves, as fast as smoke.

It would kill the intruders who dared to trespass first, then return and kill its three enemies.

It knew that the battle would be over quickly, and by the time it returned, the three in the tree wouldn't be able to run far, even if they jumped down.

"Defense!" Demon Mountain's voice boomed like thunder.

Accompanying Demon Mountain were his two captains: Knight Elin and Sir Graladdon.

Just as Elin and Graladdon raised their shields, the Crimson Smoke Beast shot towards them like an arrow, unbelievably fast, beyond imagination.

The two were shocked. It was the first time they had seen such a ferocious and massive magical creature. In comparison, their tall warhorses seemed like mere ponies.

The two warhorses, upon seeing the shadow of the unicorn and hearing Crimson Smoke's roar, immediately became afraid. They dared not face it. The two horses veered away, ignoring their masters' commands, and turned to flee in a frenzy.

Demon Mountain's warhorse also lost its will to fight and wanted to turn and run, but Demon Mountain held the reins tightly. Unable to turn, the warhorse reared up, throwing Demon Mountain to the ground.

Demon Mountain crashed down like a mountain. Before he could get up, the Crimson Smoke Beast had already swept past him, carrying a gust of wind as it howled past.

The Crimson Smoke Beast would not allow its chosen enemy to escape.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind swept past Elin as it chased after Sir Graladdon, who was desperately fleeing ahead. A red flash, it soared into the air, catching up to the fleeing knight. The sharp horn pierced through Sir Graladdon's back without resistance. With a sickening thud, Graladdon's body was impaled, the tip of the horn protruding from his chest, killing him instantly!

The unicorn landed on the ground, throwing the knight's body into the air. His warhorse, terrified, bolted sideways, running wildly. The unicorn pawed the ground, darted out, ambushed, intercepted, lowered its head, and pierced the horse's belly with its sharp horn, carrying the screaming warhorse dozens of meters in the blink of an eye, stopped, and flung the blood-splattered warhorse away.

Elin's warhorse had already turned around again, galloping wildly towards the swamp. Elin could not stop it. And Demon Mountain had just gotten up from the ground.

A flash of red, and Crimson Smoke launched an attack on Demon Mountain.

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