"Chirp!"
White Eagle responded.
It immediately flew toward Bird One, but before it could get close, deep within the dark clouds, an arrow suddenly appeared, shooting straight toward White Eagle.
"White Eagle, dodge!"
With Ethan's warning, White Eagle quickly tilted its body, narrowly avoiding the arrow.
Right after that, it had already reached Bird One. White Eagle quickly grabbed both of her wings with its claws, and without daring to delay any longer, it immediately dove downward, heading back toward the manor.
Through White Eagle's eyes, Ethan saw a bizarre scene within the dark clouds.
Although he couldn't see very clearly, he seemed to make out countless eyes appearing behind the thick layers of clouds, as if many monsters were hidden within them.
If it weren't for White Eagle's body being made entirely of flames, illuminating the clouds, Ethan probably wouldn't have been able to see anything at all.
But now… with the firelight from White Eagle, countless reflective points appeared in the clouds. Ethan was certain those were eyes.
And not only that, from within the clouds, shriveled hands would occasionally stretch out, hands with no flesh, covered in blackened, dried skin, trying to grab White Eagle.
Fortunately, White Eagle had Ethan helping it keep watch, so whenever obstacles or danger appeared in the clouds, Ethan would immediately warn it, allowing it to narrowly avoid them every time.
Finally… White Eagle dodged three ghostly claws, two arrows, and one unknown attack.
At last, it broke through the cloud layer and rushed toward the manor below.
Only when Ethan saw White Eagle return with his own eyes did he finally let out a long breath of relief. But before he could even finish exhaling, he saw something burst out of the clouds behind it, chasing after White Eagle.
Although White Eagle's firelight lit up the clouds behind it, Ethan still couldn't clearly see what had broken through the cloud layer. He could only make out that it was wrapped in something like a layer of cloud, or mist.
The only thing visible was a skeletal hand extending out of the cloud, gripping a faintly visible black longbow, with a sharp black arrow nocked on it.
The arrowhead was aimed straight at White Eagle.
"An arrow!"
Ethan instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
There really was something inside those clouds, and it was vicious. Just entering the clouds was enough for them to try to kill you. Even leaving didn't mean you'd be spared.
Ethan quickly took out an enchanted dragon bow from his tail ring. His plan was simple.
If someone wanted to shoot White Eagle, then he'd shoot back.
Even if he couldn't hit the opponent, knocking down the incoming arrow was still an option.
Whoosh!
Very quickly, the presence within the clouds fired an arrow.
Seeing this, Ethan immediately released the taut bowstring. A tycoon arrow shot straight toward the black arrow.
The reason he chose the tycoon arrow was so that when it struck the black arrow, it could split into multiple arrows and also attack whatever was hiding behind the clouds.
But the moment Ethan's tycoon arrow collided with the black arrow, not only did it fail to knock it away, Ethan watched as his arrow was instantly contaminated, like white fur touching ink.
In an instant, it turned completely black.
Not only that, the tycoon arrow didn't split into new arrows. It even seemed to lose all its momentum, falling straight down from the sky.
"H-How is this possible?"
Although the tycoon arrow wasn't the strongest in raw power, it was definitely the most effective in terms of special effects.
Whether it was used against mud monsters or untouchable puppet dolls before, it had performed brilliantly. So how could this happen now?
Ethan watched as the arrow fell from the sky. By the time he tried to ready another arrow, it was already too late.
Because that black arrow was now less than ten meters away from White Eagle.
For a fast-moving arrow, that distance was less than the blink of an eye.
Would White Eagle be okay?
"Ah!"
"What is that thing in the sky?"
"White Eagle, dodge!"
All the residents on the ground couldn't help but cry out when they saw this scene.
But everyone knew, it would be very hard to turn things around now.
"Insolence!"
However, at that moment, the Genie Sylas had somehow appeared not far from Ethan.
Its hollow eyes stared straight at the dark cloud in midair. Then, with a wave of its mist-like hand, a dazzling bolt of lightning shot toward the strange cloud.
As the cloud was struck by lightning, the entire cloud lit up for a moment, and the thing inside was finally revealed, if only partially.
It was… a skeleton. But its frame was clearly much larger than a human skeleton.
However, the lightning flashed by in an instant, so Ethan couldn't see it clearly. He could only make out the rough outline, knowing that something like a skeleton was hidden behind the clouds.
Clack! Clack!
Clack! Clack! Clack!
After being struck, the thing inside the cloud made strange clacking sounds.
Then the cloud quickly retreated back into the cloud layer, no longer daring to show itself.
Flap! Flap! Flap!
White Eagle finally returned safely to the ground.
Just before reaching the ground, White Eagle flipped its body midair, adjusting back to a head-up, claws-down position, and gently set Bird One down onto the ground.
Only then… did Ethan finally get a clear look at Bird One's condition.
Her originally snow-white feathers had been contaminated by something black.
And that black substance seemed to be spreading continuously. At first, it was only on the tips of her wings, but it had already spread to the base of the wings, and was even creeping upward. The fastest-spreading parts had already reached close to her neck.
"W-What is this?"
Looking at the ink-like blackness spreading across Bird One's body, Ethan suddenly felt a bad premonition. He quickly called over the support-type healer unit, Healer Girl.
"Healer Girl, come quickly and take a look at Bird One! What exactly is happening to her?"
"Blah! Blah! Blah!"
After chanting a long, long spell, a white orb of light finally appeared in Healer Girl's hands.
Then Healer Girl pressed the light orb onto Bird One's forehead.
Immediately, everyone saw the orb sink directly into Bird One's forehead.
It felt like watching a 3D movie, as if a glowing sphere slowly merged into a human body.
But when this healing light entered Bird One's forehead, the inky black infection on her body not only didn't fade, it actually spread even faster, creeping up toward her neck and face.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.