Chapter 265: This Centaur is Such a Crybaby?
But at this moment, a faint, almost frozen pulse passed through his fingertips.
"It's alive," Dylan whispered. His fingertips hovered over the bloodstain, as if he could feel the faint residual warmth of life. "The blood still has a living aura, so the injured unicorn was likely still alive at the time."
And it seemed to be the same unicorn he'd been extracting blood from.
He picked up a small, dark red ice crystal and held it up to the moonlight. A faint, almost transparent silver thread was flowing within the ice. It was the pure magical energy unique to unicorn blood, but it was shrouded in a dull, murky film, giving it a heavy, sluggish feel.
"The curse seems to have faded quite a bit," he added, his thumb rubbing the edge of the bloodstain, where the snow wasn't completely red but was strangely scorched. "But something's not right." He looked up at Orell with a searching gaze. "It's not that easy to get a living unicorn to leave behind blood like this."
Normally, as soon as a unicorn's blood leaves its body, its pure magic dissipates rapidly, and the coldness of the curse spreads like ink in water. But in this pool of blood, the lingering warmth of life hadn't faded, and the curse seemed to be suppressed, shrunken to the deepest part of the stain, struggling restlessly.
Dylan stared at the dark red color, his fingers unconsciously rubbing together. He knew too well the precise method of extracting unicorn blood, and he also knew how difficult it was to "tame" the creature's blood, especially blood that still had life in it and hadn't been completely consumed by the curse.
After a moment of thought, he opened his palm and, with a flick of his wrist, a diamond-shaped blood-red stone appeared in his hand. Twisted, eerie patterns swirled across the surface of the diamond, and a dark, almost black-red light flowed between its facets. Each flicker was like a faint heartbeat, carrying a terrifying vitality and the power of a curse.
Orell's pupils contracted, and he instinctively took a half-step back, his front legs rigid. He stared at the blood-red diamond, his expression shifting from shock to sharp alertness. His nostrils twitched as he obviously smelled a familiar scent.
"How do you have something like that?" he asked, his voice strained. "The curse on it… it's almost the same as the blood on the ground! Wait—is that a unicorn's heart?!"
His guard went up, and Orell's back even arched slightly, ready to face whatever came. "You really did kill a unicorn! And you wickedly tore out its heart to make this evil thing!"
Orell raised his bow and arrow again. He was so stupid! He had been so easily fooled by this human's words. Humans were truly evil and cunning!
Luna also paused, her radish earrings still. Her pale-blonde eyelashes fluttered, and her usually detached eyes clearly reflected the red light of the blood-red diamond. A flicker of surprise passed through them, but she just pursed her lips and didn't speak out like Orell. She just watched Dylan quietly.
Dylan's fingers rubbed the cold surface of the diamond, feeling the faint, subtle pulse. When he first acquired it, Dylan had already done some research on it. The results were pretty much the same as what Riddle had told him. The item was a diamond with the power of a curse.
A wizard could use the power in the diamond to study curses. With the blood-red diamond, the user could even avoid the negative effects of the curse or even turn the curse into a source of nourishment. This was the main reason why Riddle, after becoming Voldemort and possessing Quirrell, had Quirrell hunt unicorns. Voldemort knew that the unicorn's curse would not harm him, but would instead nourish him and extend his life.
Dylan had experimented with the blood-red diamond he found at Lockhart's house and some unicorn blood, and it was indeed as Riddle had said. The diamond could weaken the curse in the blood and turn it into a more sinister power.
Dylan had asked the unicorn to give him some blood with a curse in it, not just the pure, life-giving blood. As for how he got it… the unicorn, after having its blood extracted so many times by Dylan, didn't seem to hold any grudges. Of course, it was a little sullen, but that was all. There was no resentment. Without resentment, the blood wouldn't have the curse's power, so Dylan had to take some drastic measures.
Like, you know, whipping it.
That's right, literally. Dylan used a vine and whipped the unicorn's backside a dozen times, making it bleed, but the unicorn still didn't hold a grudge. In the end, Dylan kept whipping the unicorn for almost half an hour. He finally managed to get some cursed blood when he accidentally whipped the unicorn on the head instead of the backside.
It was a long and difficult process, and he didn't get much cursed blood. But he had a backup plan. He had also collected some cursed blood when Quirrell was attacking the unicorn. He just wanted the blood to be fresh, so he could use it as a control group. The experiment would be more accurate with a comparison. That was a very common scientific principle.
Dylan looked up at Orell, his eyes unfathomably calm. It was as if he wasn't holding a forbidden object but just a normal rock. "Why are you so flustered? I didn't create this thing."
Orell furrowed his thick brow and glared at Dylan. "Just because you say you didn't create it doesn't mean you didn't! How do I know you're not lying?"
Dylan looked at Orell as if he were an idiot. "Are you an idiot? If I killed a unicorn and created this thing, why would I have you bring me to look at this useless blood? You are a stubborn groundhog, you're not a mule. Remember that."
A "stubborn groundhog" and a "mule." Orell looked as if he had been struck by lightning. His eyes widened, their former sharpness gone, replaced by a hazy, glassy look. He opened his mouth, as if to argue, but the words got stuck. All he could manage was a strained gasp. "How can you say such things? That's too mean!"
No matter how angry they got, the worst a centaur would say to insult someone was "stupid." How could this human's words be so vicious? Humans were truly malicious! And their insults were so cruel!
Dylan was surprised to see a centaur this big and strong look like he was about to cry just from being insulted. He was speechless.
Luna was also surprised. She watched as Orell's ears drooped and his tense back slumped. He then turned his head away, his hooves shuffling on the snow, his mane falling to hide half his face. Was there a different side to this centaur? A rare look of surprise appeared in Luna's usually dreamy eyes.
Dylan's mouth twitched, and his expression softened. But he didn't plan to comfort the guy. The best way to deal with a tsundere centaur like this was not to make peace but to provoke him.
"Don't tell me you're about to cry right now with that pitiful look on your face."
As expected, it worked perfectly, precisely hitting Orell's sense of wounded pride. He suddenly lifted his head, and his ears shot up. The watery look in his eyes was instantly replaced by anger, but this time, it was mixed with a little bit of shame.
"I'm not!" he immediately retorted, his voice a little louder. He stomped his hoof hard on the snow, kicking up a few flakes. "How could I possibly cry? I'm a centaur—a guardian of this forest!" He straightened his back, trying to look as proud as he usually did, but the redness around his eyes hadn't completely faded, making him look a little unsure. "A few words won't affect me! And, and I'm not stupid!" he added, his neck rigid. He sounded as if he was trying to convince Dylan, and himself, his mane bristling with his effort.
Dylan's mouth twitched again. "Alright, alright, you're not stupid. I guess I must have misjudged."
Although centaurs had a strict social system, the Forbidden Forest was all they had. The forest was both vast and small. Centaurs spent their entire lives dealing with the stars and other creatures, so while they could "understand" nature, their social skills were a bit "naive." Of course, the old ones were different, but a young centaur like Orell… he was just a babe in the woods. Dylan wondered why the centaurs would allow Orell to wander around the edge of the forest.
But… a faint light flickered in Dylan's eyes. Orell's identity in the centaur tribe might not be simple. He called Bane "brother" and knew Firenze and the others. A normal centaur probably wouldn't even have the chance to interact with them. After all, Firenze was known among centaurs for not following centaur traditions. A normal centaur parent probably wouldn't let their child near him. Yet Orell could learn astrology from Firenze and Ronan. That alone was enough to suggest his identity was important.
"Not bad. It seems letting him go was the right choice after all." Dylan smiled to himself. The random step he had taken had brought him an unexpected surprise.
He turned to Luna. "Although the unicorn's blood has a curse on it, it's not very strong. Also, I know this unicorn. I saved it before, and the blood it shed then was what I'd truly call cursed blood. A normal person would feel extremely uncomfortable just being near it."
"You saved a unicorn?" Orell was stunned. "When? How come I didn't know?"
Dylan sneered. "How could you possibly know? Do you think you're an all-knowing Divination master?"
Orell huffed. "Hmph!"
Dylan rolled his eyes. Was Hogwarts a breeding ground for tsunderes? Why were they all so proud and difficult?
Luna nodded. "So this diamond…"
Dylan turned back to her. "In my research, I found that this blood-red diamond seems to be able to show fragmented scenes of a unicorn just before it bled."
Dylan held the diamond in his hand. The red light in its patterns pulsed faintly with his movements. He crouched down and held the diamond half an inch above the scattered unicorn bloodstains on the ground.
The next second, the eerie patterns on the surface of the diamond suddenly lit up, wriggling as if they had a life of their own. The blood on the ground was also pulled by an invisible force, and tiny blood beads separated from the snow, turning into red threads that flew toward the diamond. When the two touched, a blinding crimson light erupted. The diamond's pulsing and the blood's movement strangely synchronized. At the same time, the air filled with a smell of rust mixed with ancient spells.
As the light faded, Dylan's eyes blurred for a moment. Fragmented images unexpectedly flashed in his mind. Under the moonlight in the depths of the Forbidden Forest, a unicorn was walking slowly. Its silvery-white mane swayed in the woods, and there were scattered bloodstains on its body. The blood dripped from its white fur onto the dead leaves, forming small red marks.
Its steps were steady, and there was no sign of panic or running. There were no chasing shadows around it, only the rustling of leaves in the wind. It was just walking calmly, the blood on it looking more like a mark it had unintentionally brushed against, rather than a wound from being hunted.
However, Dylan looked carefully. From his knowledge of unicorns, he could clearly see a wound on the unicorn's thigh. It was just covered by its fur, so it wasn't very obvious.
The image popped like a bubble. Dylan came back to his senses, blinking. At this point, the fusion of the blood-red diamond and the bloodstains had stopped. The bloodstain on the ground was much fainter, but the diamond's red light was dimmer, and the eerie patterns within it were more pronounced. Dylan didn't mind. He had already discovered this when he was researching the diamond's uses. It was a normal phenomenon when using the blood-red diamond, and nothing else would happen.
"What did you find?" Luna had sensed a lot of magic moving in the air. Something was happening on the spiritual plane.
Dylan stood up. "I saw it went that way." He pointed in another direction.
Orell and Luna looked. Dylan was pointing toward the depths of the Forbidden Forest.
Orell was stunned. "Are you sure?"
Luna also spoke. "The place where I found the blood is in another direction." She pointed, but her direction was at a right angle to the one Dylan was pointing at.
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