The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 359

Chapter 359: Monster

“Heretic! Get ready to face the power of the goddess! The messenger of the goddess has come!”

The cult leader was waving his long staff, his face full of zeal as if he was suffering from great pain, or immersing himself in extreme ecstasy. Hao Ren could sense a terrifying smell behind him and he could not help looking back. The dark red mist above the altar had turned into a whirlpool, condensing and solidifying in just a few seconds. At the same time, a sharp, soul-piercing whizz resonated throughout the stone chamber. Hao Ren and Nangong Wuyue almost passed out!

The rest of the believers fell into an extreme state of ecstasy. They began to mutilate themselves, allowing their blood to turn into mist to resonate with the bloody monster on the altar. Then, those who were badly injured began to heal themselves!

The MDT whistled. “Break it!”

Taking out the gun from his Dimensional Pocket, Hao Ren aimed it at the altar and pulled the trigger.

However, the dark red creature hovering above the altar dodged before Hao Ren pulled the trigger, as if it knew what was coming. In a burst of flame, the altar was shattered into thin slices of crystal while the bloody, mist creature rose into the air and completed its final stage of condensation: the mist cracked open and at the centre was a dark slit resembling an eye. The surrounding mist then grew into several pairs of limbs, which looked like tentacles with sharpened ends. In its final shape, the creature looked like a gigantic brain floating in the air—it was as horrific as it could get!

The cult leader was enraged to see the altar destroyed. He shouted, “Heretic! You’ll pay for this!”

Hao Ren glanced at the gigantic brain creature in the air and said, “That’s the aesthetic perception of your goddess? Is this how her messenger looks like?”

The gigantic brain was offended. Its black eye was fixed upon Hao Ren in a deadly stare before it wielded its tentacles against him.

Hao Ren instinctively raised his gun as he felt an overwhelming pressure from the strange creature. He refused to take it lightly, not even in the slightest. But, just as he was about to pull the trigger, a strong sense of dizziness struck him and he almost lost his grip on the gun.

He felt the world shaking before him, like he was looking out of a water curtain and this made him giddy. Amid his distorted senses, he saw a sharp tentacle reaching towards him. However, he managed to dodge it in a split second.

The end of the tentacle, which was as sharp as a razor pierced through the air silently. In the corner of his eye, Hao Ren could see the razor-sharp tentacle literally slicing an opening in the air—a spatial crack, which stayed for a moment before it closed.

“Holy moly…” Cold sweat trickled down his forehead. It was the first time Hao Ren had witnessed a monster with space-piercing abilities. Its ability was definitely several notches higher than that of the clumsy rock monsters and the cult.

Just that, because of the gigantic brain’s appearance, his perspective of the world had taken yet another blow…

After some time, Hao Ren finally freed himself from the strange sense of dizziness. He was ready to launch another attack, but the gigantic brain did not pursue its prey. Instead it spoke in a series of peculiar murmurs and watched Hao Ren quietly in the air.

Then, a strange shriek came from within the gigantic brain. Again, Hao Ren felt the same sense of dizziness flowing up from the depths of his soul, enveloping his mind. Despite anticipating the fact that the gigantic brain may possess some kind of mind attacking ability, he could not escape the mental assault. He lifted his arm with great difficulty, banking on his Steel Membrane Shield to resist its space-piercing attack.

He could feel a great force on his arm. Even though the gigantic brain only gave him a light hit with its tentacle, he immediately flew back in way that defied normal physical law. He was thrown against the wall at the end of the chamber and he began to see stars.

Nonetheless, Hao Ren bit his lip and got to his feet, thinking to himself rather optimistically: It looks like the Steel Membrane Shield can stand the impact of its space-piercing attack, but not the kinetic force.

Seeing that Hao Ren was being bogged down by the messenger of the goddess, the cult followers shifted their attention to the snake that was guarding the child in the corner. They would not allow even one heretic to live. They wanted to offer the snake to the goddess.

Nangong Wuyue had wanted to help Hao Ren when she saw him on the defensive. But, she quickly realised that she was no better than him considering how the believers, who wielded various weapons were coming after her. Meanwhile, the cult leader raised his long staff before them in an atempt to do something.

Her facial expression changed and she screamed, trying to ward off her enemies with a sonic wave—one of the few techniques she knew. Unfortunately, it did not work. The bodies of the cult followers had gone through a certain mutation after the evil ritual. Hence, the sonic wave could do no harm to them even if it could turn a human’s internal organ into liquid.

Nangong Wuyue coiled her tail nervously. She resisted the urge to curl herself up into a ball this time. “Stay away from me! Don’t force me to attack! You’ll regret—”

“Purify this heretic!” The cult leader raised his staff in the air and formed a ball of dark red light. “Sacrifice the heretic’s flesh and blood to the goddess!”

Nangong Wuyue bit her lip and lunged forward.

In the meantime, Hao Ren was having a mental fight with the gigantic brain on the other side. He managed to calm himself down amid the chaos.

The gigantic brain creature truly had a lot of terrible abilities; it was capable of mental assault, ripping the very fabric of space and time, speedy movements that defied the laws of Physics and gravity as well as kinetic energy manipulation, which Hao Ren had experienced during their encounter—it was able to send him flying for dozens of metres with just a touch. That was not normal at all.

Despite these horrific abilities, it was still not enough to kill a crackpot fighter with an energy shield like Hao Ren. It appeared that the thing was afraid of his gun. Every time Hao Ren tried to shoot, it would suppress him with even more mental assault. This suggested that the gigantic brain was highly intelligent. It knew that the gun was lethal and it did not want to come into contact with the gun.

Is there any way to overcome this mental assault?

Hao Ren’s mind was a little wobbly after being repeatedly attacked by the gigantic brain. AAt first, he thought that evading the gigantic brain’s “eye” would enable him to dodge the mental attack, but that did not work. The creature’s brain power was very potent. No matter how hard its prey struggled to escape, it continued to latch on. “MDT, do you know what species it is?”

“Nope, I’m still analysing. But, its physical structure is a mess. Based on known biological data, it shouldn’t even exist.” The MDT and Hao Ren continued to dodge the gigantic brain’s attacks. “I suspect what we see here isn’t the actual creature, but a replica created from the religious ritual. It’ll probably collapse on its own soon.”

“I’m not going to wait for it to crumble. Who knows how long we have to wait?” Hao Ren muttered in a whisper. As waves of dizziness struck, he struggled to keep his balance. The level of energy in his Steel Membrane Shield was getting dangerously low and he could not dissipate the force of impact, which had apparently injured him internally. He dared not fight head-to-head with the gigantic brain, avoiding it as best as he could.

Then, the gigantic brain thrusted its tentacle at Hao Ren again. He dodged it, but unwittingly touched the tentacle with his hand.

Suddenly, something flashed across his mind.

Hao Ren fell into a moment of trance and the MDT called out to him, trying to wake him up. “Quick! It stopped… What are you doing?”

Hao Ren got a kick in his mind and looked at the gigantic brain, which had pulled away from him. “Did you say it stopped?”

The MDT replied with a positive response.

He recalled the strange moment he just had and all of a sudden, he had an idea on how he was going to deal with the strange monster.

“I need your help,” Hao Ren spoke to the MDT telepathically. “As soon as it freezes, wake me up. Then, I’ll put a bullet in its brain. That’ll do it!”

Surprised, the MDT asked, “That easy? Why are you so confident?”

“You won’t know, if you won’t try.” Hao Ren looked down at his Steel Membrane Shield, which was almost depleted of energy. “If you see that I’m about to lose it, just cut me and Wuyue off from The Plane of Dreams.”

While they were laying out their plan, the gigantic brain recovered from its stupor. It let out an angry wail and charged at them with its tentacles.

This was it!

In a swift motion, Hao Ren locked his eyes on the tentacle that he had touched before and lunged forward to grab it. The tentacle was easily distinguishable, because it was the only tentacle that did not look like it could tear the fabric of space and time apart. This particular tentacle was obviously not a weapon.

To prove his theory, Hao Ren switched off the shield on his arms for a better “connection”.

Shortly after, an illusion began to wash over his brain.

 

Chapter 360: I Told You So

Opening his eyes slowly, Hao Ren found himself in unfamiliar territory.

He remembered what had just happened. He remembered his battle with the gigantic brain. He also remembered why he was seeing this vision—he knew for certain that it was just an illusion, and the source of the illusion was the gigantic brain.

He saw an ocean—crimson in colour, vast, and endless. There were no mountains, no land, no islands. Everywhere he turned he saw a blood-red ocean, undulating under the sky. The sky, which used to be pale and cloudy was dyed red. Hao Ren looked down at his feet, and still all he saw was the ocean… No, that was not actually where he stood, because he could not see his own feet. It was as if his eyes were all that was left of him. He had no idea what perspective he was viewing all of this from, because he could not even see his own shadow on the surface of the ocean.

Hao Ren fretted a little as he discovered that he could move around in this peculiar space. However, his movements felt slow as if he was a bloated, clumsy plankton.

But at the same time, he knew that the gigantic brain in the real world had come to a standstill. Through some inexplicable connection, he could still feel his hand touching the giant brain’s tentacle. His mind was fused with its mind and in this state, the gigantic brain was helpless despite its powerful mind attacking ability. It could only let Hao Ren break into its ancient memory like a mulfunctioned machine.

Hao Ren lowered his head and fell into deep thought. He had an accidental glimpse of the vision earlier and their second encounter validated his suspicion. He tried to stabilise the illusion, but he had no idea how fast time flew in the illusion world compared to time in the real world. So, he coud not be sure when the MDT would wake him up. But before that happened, he seized the opportunity to scan the monotonous and boring world, trying to understand what messages the gigantic brain was trying to convey in its memory.

While Hao Ren was comtemplating the vision, a loud boom from afar took him by surprise. As he looked towards the direction of the sound, he saw a bulge in the red ocean as if something was about to break out of the water. A moment later, a gigantic sphere—red and a few hundred metres in radius burst out of the water and rose into the air.

The sphere was not smooth at all. Its surface was covered with strange lines, giving it a mysterious as well as sacred kind of feeling. There were also some fine, wavy hair and slits, which looked like facial organs on its surface. One could not help but wonder if this was some kind of life form. Hao Ren was in awe as he stared at the gigantic sphere rising into the air slowly. It was like a vanguard of what was to come, because the same noise began to come from all directions and more spheres like the first one rose from the water into the air like dandelion seeds.

Let’s just call them dandelion seeds. Well, seeds with a radius of more than 200 m.

A word suddenly came to mind: sowing.

Hao Ren had a weird feeling and he looked back. A vague figure had solidified from the red seawater and appeared behind him. Its facial features were barely visible, but it was probably a female. It seemed like she was looking at Hao Ren, or maybe she was just eyeing those spheres, or talking to someone or herself.

“Hey… what’s so fun about those faraway places? You really want to go and see the stars…”

There was a loud crash, which was followed by the flickering of the red illusion. Then, everything began to crumble as images quickly flashed across Hao Ren’s mind. He saw the cycle of life, the growth of plants and trees, extinction and evolution of species, a group of reptiles raising their claws up on land, a group of deep-sea fish building their habitat on the seabed, a group of apes cautiously holding the first torch, and giant insects with armour leaving behind their own portraits on the rocks.

He saw countless species rising from ignorance and falling again in a loss.

Then, everything shattered in a bang. He had a feeling that he had not seen anything.

His head ached as the deafening whizz of the MDT pierced into his brain. Hao Ren began to feel his own body and the vision before him became even more bizarre. He felt the weight of the gun in his hand while the MDT yelled, “Yes! It stopped!”

Hao Ren instinctively raised his hand, aiming with whatever was left of his strength. Then, he pulled the trigger.

The chaotic images before him disappeared completely and he saw that he was back at the scene of the cult ritual. The barrel of his inspector gun was exuding a bluish-white afterglow, while half of the strange gigantic brain had crystallised.

While the gigantic brain was crystalising, the black slit it called an eye was still glaring at Hao Ren. It looked as if it was full of resentment and mockery. But, the monster lost its vital parts and fell to the ground shortly. As it reached the ground, the crystalisation process was complete and the gigantic brain creature turned into dust upon impact.

Just as that happened, a voice began to fade away in Hao Ren’s mind. “…You are all just scum…”

Hao Ren was momentarily stunned before he woke up from the strange illusionary world. He looked at the faint glow left behind by the dissipated creature thoughtfully, and said, “Sorry, I’m from another world…”

At this moment, he heard the sound of fighting from another corner of the stone chamber. Hao Ren realised that Nangong Wuyue was still there!

Hao Ren was physically and mentally drained after being attacked by the gigantic brain’s mental assault. He was so exhausted and tired that he almost forgot about Nangong Wuyue. He quickly turned his head and saw the siren in danger!

A dozen or so believers surrounded Nangong Wuyue, wielding various kinds of weapons and attacking her. The siren maiden was not a really good fighter and in her current form, she had difficulty in evading their attacks. Hence, she was likely in danger of getting hurt. She swung her tail to ward off her enemies, but she had already suffered multiple injuries at this point.

To make things worse, the cult leader showed no signs of exhaustion after summoning the evil brain. He was obviously stronger than the rest. He launched a torrential wave of magic arrows into the air to suppress Nangong Wuyue’s movement. The ruthless cult leader knew that the “snake” was protecting the child, so he deliberately launched the magic arrows in her direction. Nangong wuyue could not help but coil her tail in order to protect the child. But every time she did so, she received more wounds.

The gigantic brain creature had been dealt with and Hao Ren could now come for her. Just as he was about to run towards her, something happened.

Nangong Wuyue coiled herself up as if she had lost her will and given up. The weapons were hitting her, but she did nothing to resist. While being brutally slashed, she looked up at the cult leader with an angry expression. “I said, don’t force me to retaliate!”

The cult leader was startled for a moment there as though he sensed grave danger. Years of combat experience had taught him to take decisive action: he had to finish off the enemy before things went wrong.

Suddenly, a thunderous light burst forth from the tip of the staff in his hand. He swooped it down in a sudden attack and stabbed the wand through her chest before she could do anything.

Nangong Wuyue quivered for a moment and a layer of moisture rippled across her skin before she faded. Her body liquefied and crashed down in a loud splash.

Hao Ren was terrified. Was Wuyue killed?

“No!”

Smiles were plastered on all the believers’ faces. Suddenly however, they began to twitch and one by one, they fell to the ground as they screamed in horror!

These “monsters”, who felt no pain earlier could not stand the pain that they were currently feeling. It did not seem to be of this world as their bodies swelled and festered rapidly. The water in their bodies began to boil and water burst out from their skin before their bodies dried up at an unimaginable speed. Every drop of moisture was drawn from the cult followers’ bodies and reconstructed into a familiar figure in the centre of the stone chamber. They turned into ashes without leaving behind one bit of moisture!

Nangong Wuyue was reborn. The already freakishly beautiful siren appeared even more alluring from all the nutrients she had absorbed. She looked at her new body, which had regained its colour, and sighed. “Don’t force me to retaliate. I told you so…”

 

Chapter 361: Depth

Hao Ren was rooted to the spot for a long moment after the events that unfolded before his eyes: the siren was that powerful all along?

“Phew—” Nangong Wuyue breathed a long sigh of relief, her facial expressin changing back to normal. No one could guess what was in her mind. She meandered forward and curled the sleeping child up in her tail before approaching Hao Ren. “I’m done. The child must have been drugged. Let’s get some fresh air outside, the child will be fine.”

Hao Ren glanced at the little child to find that it was a girl. He could not tell its gender earlier because she was covered in dirt and ragged clothing. He turned to look at situation in the stone chamber, and was disappointed to find no survivors. After exhausting their vitality and magical power, the cult followers had become a pool of mud. Some on the other hand, were turned into ashes by Nangong Wuyue’s strange ability. It appeared that normal methods did not work in capturing them.

The two of them searched the chamber carefully, trying to find any religious texts related to the cult. But, they came up with nothing. Hao Ren searched the clothing items left behind by the followers. Judging from their clothing, some of them were probably peasants, some were merchants, while some were professional soldiers and mercenaries. They were a mixture of the rich and poor, and they were likely residents of Leyton or a nearby area. Hao Ren pulled out a small pendant from a pool of mud. The pendant probably belonged to one of the followers. He looked at the pendant, then exclaimed in shock. “A Royal Knight?”

There were Royal Knights among the cult members? Who was behind the cult?

Nangong Wuyue also found something. She saw a piece of inner clothing with the heraldry of the Disciples of Glory. “It’s the Disciples of Glory!”

Hao Ren quickly took a gander. He was certain that the heraldry belonged to a clergy. He searched the clothing, which was covered in ashes. This time he found a booklet. He opened and read it.

Written in the booklet were the ramblings of a delirious man printed on paper. Hao Ren knitted her brows together. The writings were very disorganised and the contents made him sick. It sang praises of some goddess for her greatness and wisdom. There was also the incessant accusation of the Disciples of Glory stealing the power of the true God as well as their hypocrisy and sins. Hao Ren could not help but wonder how such a mundane booklet could have brainwashed these people. He found it hilarious at best.

But as hilarious as it was, the things written in the booklet had gotten hold of people’s minds. Hao Ren recalled the moment he shared a vision with the gigantic brain, and he made a connection with the Disciples of Glory as well as the cult. The key to decipher the relationship between the three parties most likely lay in the pages of the booklet. He allowed the MDT to scan and record the contents of the booklet before shoving it inside his Dimensional Pocket. He wanted to pass it to the “expert” once he reached Leyton.

He knew as a stranger, he could not get to the bottom of the mystery without landing himself in some sort of trouble. But, it would be a different story if the Disciples of Glory or the knights themselves investigated the matter.

They left the cavern after finding no further clues. Outside, the night was still dark. It was three hours before sunrise. Dark clouds were gathered in the sky and rain was about to fall at any moment. Nangong Wuyue trudged behind Hao Ren, deep in thought, while little girl was still curled up in her tail. Hao Ren was engrossed with the thought of the gigantic brain. After a moment of silence, he decided not to delve on the thought any further. He turned his eyes to Nangong Wuyue and said to her, “I didn’t know you were so powerful!”

Nangong Wuyue was not flattered. Her face did not look good. She twisted her mouth and said, “I’m still trying to pull myself together.”

Hao Ren was curious. He looked at her and asked, “Pull yourself together? What happened.”

The siren maiden scratched her head. She was reluctant, but she still told him in the end. “I guess you’ve heard that sirens are incapable of dying, haven’t you?”

Hao Ren nodded. He had heard it from Vivian a long time ago.

“It’s not that sirens are incapable of dying. It’s just that we can resurrect ourselves indefinitely.” Nangong Wuyue pointed at herself. “You see, my body’s made of water. As long as there’s water, we can resurrect indefinitely. It’s true that I’m not good at fighting. What you just saw wasn’t actually a fighting technique, but a resurrection—by borrowing the followers’ body fluid.

Hao Ren was terror-stricken.

“I don’t usually do it,” Nangong Wuyue said as though she was recalling a painful memory. “It’s cruel. You know I’m too soft-hearted and I sometimes screw things up. As you know, I’m a half-siren with not so perfect talents. During a resurrection, sirens have to be highly focused in choosing the venue of their resurrection, but I couldn’t always focus—sometimes, I would die in a muddle…”

Hao Ren was startled by what she said. “In a muddle? How could it be? What would happen then?”

“I wouldn’t be able to choose where to resurrect of course,” Nangong Wuyue said as she stuck out her tongue. My body would reform in a random place with high moisture content. It could be anywhere on the planet. One time, I was hit by a train while I was doing some exploring. I was dead, but when I woke up, I found myself floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And, it took me nearly two months to get back to land.”

Hao Ren’s eyebrows began to twitch. “Is that how slow you swam?”

Nangong Wuyue sighed. “I got caught up in a strong ocean current and lost my way. And, you know I’ve never been to the ocean…”

Hao Ren was speechless, thinking to himself that every monster maiden had her own hidden, peculiar side. No wonder Nangong Wuyue was afraid of figthing—she truly could not fight. Her only way to “win” a fight was to consume her enemy with her own death and resurrect with the possibility of ending up somewhere halfway around the globe. Hao Ren felt sorry for her. He said, “I’m sorry, you were hurt. I should’ve protected you.”

“That’s okay, really. In fact sirens are inherently amorphous. Let’s just say that my formshift failed and my body crumbled.” Nangong Wuyue waved her hand, indicating that she did not mind. “And, thanks for killing the floating meatball. What was that thing, by the way?”

“Hell, God knows!” Hao Ren shrugged.

Dark clouds had completely filled the sky by then. Thunder began to sound its displeasure and it was going to rain at any second. Hao Ren felt a little embarrassed and he smiled wryly. “Okay, I guess even God has no clue.”

The two of them did not want to waste any more time. They got back to Leyton immediately via teleportation. They did not know what to do with the little girl they had just saved, so they brought her back to their place.

Vivian, Lily and Y’zaks were back too. All members of the scout team were back.

The first thing Lily did when she saw Hao Ren was jump up and down excitedly. She spun her tail, creating a little whirlwind. “Landlord, we found something.”

Vivian quickly kept the cups and glasses on the table. Then, she grabbed Lily’s tail and said, “Can’t you behave yourself?”

Lily held Hao Ren’s hand, licking it as if she was seeking Hao Ren’s approval. “We found a tentacle underground, which Battie and I banged for almost 300 rounds. Of course, I did most of the work.”

Vivian shot Lily a sideways glance. “Yeah, you mostly ran with your tail between your legs.”

Cold sweat trickled down Hao Ren’s forehead/ The way Lily spoke always left people with too much lewd imagination…

In the end, it was Vivian who recounted the encounter. She added, “We went into the Gnarled Grove just to get confirmation. The tentacle is indeed part of its root system. But, the trees in the forest seem to be normal and have no sensing capability.”

“Root system of the Gnarled Grove?” Hao Ren was shocked. He thought the things he saw were thrilling enough. Little did he expect Lily and Vivian to bump into something even more incredible. “Its roots are coming to the surface?”

Squatting on a chair and wagging her tail, Lily said, “Not necessarily. It’s just a tentacle. It probably just has an abnormal growth pattern.”

Hao Ren found the opinion to be very characteristically Lily—f*cking dumb.

So, it seemed that the water in the Beinz area was much deeper than they had imagined.

 

Chapter 362: Muddy the Water

After Vivian and Lily completed their debriefing, Hao Ren turned to Y’zaks and Becky. “What have you found?”

The pair had gone to the northern side of the mountain range where the rock monsters were most active. But now, it seemed like the biggest mystery in Beinz was in another part of Beinz. The rock monsters were little more than just an annoyance. Shaking her head, Becky said, “Not much, except the many rock monsters that were wandering in the mountains. Some gathered in groups. Anyway, the knights have sent reinforcements. There’s a megalithic fortress built with magic at the foot of the mountain. A mage-level officer is probably in charge. Biggie and I made a few rounds in the mountain. We were nearly spotted by the patrolling knights.”

“The rock monsters were just wandering in the mountain. They had no intention to attack,” Y’zaks added. “But the way I see it, it’s out of character. I mean they’re low-intelligence creatures; they’re supposed to behave as such—stomping their targets with brute force. I have a hunch that someone’s controlling these monsters. However, the person behind this is clearly not very good at it.”

Even though it was not much, what Y’zaks and Becky found was still something. Just that, it was not something critical. After the debriefing, Hao Ren cleared his throat. “Ahem… let’s talk about who I met—a bunch of cult followers.”

Everyone held their breath and listened attentively. Lily almost screamed when Hao Ren recounted how the cult conducted the evil ritual and human sacrifice. But, Vivian and Y’zaks appeared unaffected; they had lived long enough to have seen such a thing. Y’zaks only frowned when he learned that a flesh and blood monster was summoned by the cult. “Was the monster formed with the flesh and blood of the bodies at the scene?”

“Yup.” Hao Ren nodded. “The MDT analysed the monster’s biological make-up and it totally defied any logic. That thing shouldn’t exist.”

“Possessed summoning is a common process used by cults.” Y’zaks nodded. “What they summoned must be from another place—another dimension or planet. As they didn’t have the ability to open the dimensional door, the monster had to project its will and power into this world by possessing a body as a vessel. Due to limited availability of ingredients and technology, it seems like the cult wasn’t able to create a perfect body for it. So, a summoning of this type would only last for a short moment.”

“So, the strength of summoned monster would be much lower then?” This was the most important question bothering Hao Ren. He was traumatised by the gigantic brain; it was far more powerful than humans, and even many unusual creatures. If he had not found its weakness by accident and possessed an all-powerful gun of the Empire, which could penetrate all types of shields, things might have gone really awry.

“Not necessarily. It all depends on the form of life and the power of the possessor,” Y’zaks said as he shrugged. “If the possesor relies heavily on a physical body, its strength might be severely limited. If the soul and spirit are its main weapons, its power isn’t really affected. Sometimes, the method of possession and skills also affect its strength. According to your description, the brain-like being must have been fighthing using a supernatural ability. Even if it possesses a body, it still has the magical power to manipulate gravity and kinetic energy. But like I said, it’s just a guess based on what I know from my hometown.”

Lily slid Y’zaks a weird glance. “Sound like you’re very familiar with stuff like this.”

Y’zaks spread out his hand and said, “It’s what I’m good at, after all. Teleporting all the way from the Demonic Abyss to the human world is troublesome. So, most of the time I travel by way of possessed summoning. Although I don’t like to build a following in the human world, I do have a few human subordinates.”

Felling surprised, Hao Ren asked, “Didn’t you say you wanted no war with the humans?”

“I didn’t come for war.” Y’zaks scraped his bald head with his hand, giving an honest smile. “Mostly for travel.”

Everyone rolled their eyes, feeling speechless. The demonic king, whose appearance alone was enough to cause worldwide chaos and unrest, purportedly went to “war” with humans only because he wanted to see the world. That would have made the brave army, who gathered in anticipation of the demonic king’s arrival look stupid. Hao Ren could not even begin to imagine how the brave in Y’zaks’ hometown would react to Y’zaks’ line of thinking. Anyway, Y’zaks’ interest in travel was good for the business of weapon makers and adventure pubs.

As if Y’zaks knew his habit was hard to believe, he scraped his bald head again and smiled wryly. “Let’s not make this about me. In conclusion, the gigantic brain is dead. It’s true that a summoned creature could abandon its vessel and return to its own world at any time, but you have a very special gun. Your gun can exterminate the soul and burn the linkage of the possessed projection. So, we don’t have to to worry about the gigantic brain returning with its buddies for a second match.”

Y’zaks made the conclusion based on what Hao Ren told him about the gun.

After the debriefing, Hao Ren and Vivian, who were the team leaders as well as think tanks began to compile all the information into a report.

The mysterious underground tentacle at the lakeside (which was certainly part of the root system of the Gnarled Grove); the person responsible for the rock monsters; the cult ritual in Dragonspine Ridge; the summoned flesh and blood monster; the appearance of Church Knights and Royal Knights among members of the cults; the Disciples of Glory, which were accused of stealing the power of God, and the illusion of the red ocean in the faraway land…

And lastly, the final words that the dying, gigantic brain left Hao Ren with: “You are all just scum.”

All these seemingly related, but messy things had Hao Ren wondering how he was going to stitch everything together. He was unsure if people behind the rock monsters were the cult followers themselves. He also was unsure if the flesh and blood monster was related to the strange phenomenon in the Beinz Diocese. He could not tell if the root system of the Gnarled Grove had anything to do with these occurrences. It seemed like each incident was independent, and they only had one thing in common: they were all weird.

“I can’t think of anything,” Vivian said as she spread out her hands. “We have too little information to work with.”

“In that case, we’ll have to change our schedule for the next two days,” Hao Ren said, scratching his chin. “Since we’re so clueless, we won’t be able to find anything. I’ve decided to inform Ophra and let the marshal utilise her power to investigate; I bet she’ll be happy to deal with the cult.”

“You trust her?” Vivian had a quick thought.

“No one can really be trusted, but it doesn’t matter. I just want the powers that be in Holletta to know about the matter. They’ll know what to do.” Hao Ren shrugged. “We don’t belong here. If worse comes to worst, we can just pull the plug and presto, we’ll be back to reality. The problem now is, things are calm—so calm that we won’t be able to find anything. So, we need someone powerful to stir the pot a little. I don’t care who muddies the water as long as the water gets muddy.”

With regard to how he was going to explain their presence in those areas to Ophra, Hao Ren was still clueless.

Feeling surprised, Vivian looked at him and said thoughtfully, “…You’re different.”

Lily looked at Hao Ren with a surprised look on her face too and said thoughtfully, “You’re different.”

Hao Ren eyeballed the husky. “Do you know what you’re talking about?”

Lily wagged her tail and replied, “I don’t know what you guys were talking about. But, every time Battie talks to you like that, you’d praise her, so I figured I should do likewise!”

“…”

All of a sudden, Becky received a mental kick. She then asked Hao Ren, “Wait a second! Did you really mean what you just said?”

Hao Ren also received a mental kick, but a harder one. He did not realise that the native of The Plane of Dreams was there. She must have mistaken his words for not caring about The Plane of Dreams—of course, Hao Ren did not mean it. He quickly explained, “Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying—”

Before Hao Ren could finish his sentence, Becky got to her feet and said, “We can only stay for 10 days or so! Oh no! If Lady Ophra wants us to stay and help with the investigation, my manor and title will be as good as gone.”

Everyone had sweat trickling down their forehead: all she cared about was her title…

Fortunately, Becky was pretty considerate. She did not insist on getting it at the moment. She could bear to leave it on the back burner for the time being. Unless Holletta was destroyed in a month, she could always come back again to claim her rewards.

There was another important reason why she chose to compromise: she was no match for these monsters in the house…

There was still some time before dawn, so everyone tried to get some shut eye. After a long while of building up, the dark clouds in the night sky began to pour down its contents alongside some thunder. It was then that Marshal Ophra came visiting.

It was as if she knew Hao Ren would be coming for her too.

 

Chapter 363: Thunderstorm

Dark clouds rolled as thunders roared. Raindrops as big as peas were falling from the sky. That night, the Beinz area was having a thunderstorm—a storm that had been brewing over a night.

Perhaps Beinz was near the relic site—Dragonspine Ridge, or maybe it was because of the influence from the mysterious Beinz Blood Lake, the weather in the area had always been extreme. Sometimes it was a storm; sometimes it snowed in the summer; and sometimes there were bolts of lightning out of the blue, which resembled weather in the steppe. People in the town were used to them, so once the thunderstorm started, residents began to seal their doors and windows. Then, they stayed indoors. Magic towers across the town had been activated to lessen the effects of the thunderstorm and prevent buildings from getting struck by lightning. It was during this thunderstorm that the head of the Royal Knights, Marshal Ophra came to visit.

“I hope I’m not bothering you.” Ophra was in full armour as always. “I have something I need to talk to you about—the itinerary tomorrow.”

A chilling wind rushed into the king’s house through the opened entrance, but not a single drop of rain got blown inside. Ophra stood right at the doorway, but the rain appeared to be circumventing her. The space within a two-metre radius around her was a vacuum devoid of rain. Standing behind Ophra was an ordinary-looking, well-built, elderly man who was probably the marshal’s attendant.

“No, that’s okay, please come in.” Hao Ren ushered Ophra into the reception hall. He was just thinking about seeing her the next day, but she came to them instead. What a coincidence!

Lily was lying on the long couch beside the doorway. Awakened by the chilling wind, she jumped to her feet as she saw the visitors and she inadvertently hit the door with her tail. “Urgh, it’s freaking cold…”

Vivian gave the husky a sideways glance while she knitted her scarf. “Are you worthy of your own bloodline? What about the glorious achievement of your ancestors’ dominance in the Arctic Circle?”

Curious about Lily’s ears and tail, the elderly man beside Ophra could not help but look at her. However, he did not say a word.

Hao Ren invited Ophra to the couch. The elderly man followed Ophra and sat down beside her naturally. Hao Ren was a little surprised. He had probably misjudged the elderly man’s identity/ He could be an important figure among the Royal Knights, but he just happened to be in plain clothes. But, that did not matter much to Hao Ren. He served the two of them some hot tea. “So, what’s up?” he asked.

Ophra’s hand trembled a little without her realising. It was the first time someone had greeted her that way since she became the marshal of the kingdom a few hundred years ago. She could not help but recall a young man, who had talked to her in the same tone of voice; a young, hot-blooded, human chap, wearing elite attire, but squatting on the bench in a bar, chatting her up. “I have something to discusss with you…”

Ophra shook her head, putting the odd thought aside. Then, she proceeded to say, “Tomorrow, we are going to escort the four ascetics to the Royal City. Considering the special nature of this mission, we need your cooperation. We also need to prevent the heretics from sabotaging us…”

Hao Ren waved his hand. “Wait a second, I have something to tell you too. And after you hear this, I’m guessing you’re gonna change your plans—it’s about the cult.”

There was a subtle change in Ophra’s expression. She leaned forward slightly and her light body armou made a scraping sound. “Cult?”

“Yes, cult. They were performing an evil ritual and a human sacrifice. They summoned monsters from another world and they’ve infiltrated the Royal and Church Knights,” Hao Ren divulged everything he knew without fear or favour. He was not afraid of any consequences. “Besides, near the Blood Lake…”

Spending a long 10 minutes or so without holding anything back, Hao Ren told it all as though it was the right thing to reveal the frightening intel. Ophra was stunned. Not even an epic hero could remain composed when bombarded with such explosive intel. When Hao Ren finally finished, she pressed her hand on the tea table and respectfully said, “What you said is true? Do you have proof?”

Hao Ren took a sack out and opened it up in front of Ophra. “The stuff inside the bottle is the remains of the cult followers. This is the heraldry of the Royal Knights, and the clothing of a cleric. These daggers were also used in their ceremony. This is a corporate culture brochure and this is a blood sample taken from the altar. This on the other hand, is a tissue sample of a tentacle, which has been confirmed to be identical to the tree bark in the Gnarled Grove. This is Vivian’s cooking recipe for… why is this even here?”

Vivian quickly scurried over and took the recipe away. “No wonder I couldn’t locate it. I misplaced it while I was sorting things out last night. ”

Looking at the stuff, Ophra’s jaw almost dropped to the floor. “So, it is real…” She then looked at Hao Ren with a strange expression on her face. “That means, you guys were out there investigating yesterday? This is not something ordinary mercenaries would do on their own accord. Even the kingdom’s spies couldn’t accomplish this.”

Hao Ren spread his hand out and bragged. “Yes, we have been investigating since last night. We’ve been very interested in the phenomena around Beinz Blood Lake from the beginning. As for the reason of doing so… would you believe me if I tell you that it’s my academic passion?”

“What if I don’t buy it?”

“Then I’ll make up another reason.”

“…”

“I’m not kidding.” Hao Ren became serious. “I can tell you for certain that we are not a threat to the Kingdom of Holletta. We sincerely want to solve the problem out of our own free will. And, the intel is solid. But, it’s kind of hard to explain why we’re doing this. We are being genuine, but it’s okay if you question our sincerity. After all, you’re the marshal of the kingdom. So, you’re welcomed to vet us.”

This was the narrative Hao Ren had decided on, but it was actually not a thoroughly planned one. After all, he had nothing to lose; he was the commissioner of the Empire, who could come and go without a trace.

Not to mention, his identity in The Plane of Dreams was also fake…

Just that, he felt sorry for Becky. He glanced at Becky, who was lying near the window with Lily and yawning. The maiden was an authentic citizen of The Plane of Dreams. But, considering the fact that she could only follow him around for the rest of her life, and also the fact that she had already accepted her fate, he could not do anything more.

Ophra was now even more confused about this unknown mercenary group of Hao Ren’s. It was true that she did not visit them just to discuss about next day’s itinerary. She had received reports earlier, that a group of mercenaries disppeared from town lthe previous night, so she was keen to investigate what was going on. She believed that she could find out their whereabouts the night before with her special ability. But before she could say anything, this man before her had already confided everything to her like a guilty child.

No, he was not feeling guilty. He simply did not give a hoot.

“If this is true, then the Orb must be delivered back to the Royal City as soon as possible,” Ophra murmured. “Since the cult has infiltrated us, the Orb isn’t safe here. But first, I must make sure that the intel you’ve provided me is true.”

Hao Ren took out a piece of paper and drew something on it. Then, he said, “Of course. The cavern where the cult performed its ritual is still there. I’ve drawn a map to the place. You can send your men to scout it out, but be quick. There could still be other cult followers who may want to destroy the evidence.”

Ophra took the map in her hand and read it solemnly before staring at Hao Ren. “Who scouted the cavern last night? We need a guide.”

Hao Ren’s brow twitched. “You don’t trust me? You think it’s a trap?”

“No.” Ophra waved the map in her hand. “Your drawing is simply too ugly to understand.”

“…”

“Alright, I’ll be your guide.” Nangong Wuyue got to her feet, volunteering. “I know the way.”

Ophra nodded. She was about to say something, but a loud thunder interrupted her.

She immediately looked up towards its direction. Hao Ren did not know what to make of her reaction, so he waited. Then, thunderous sound came again from afar.

It sounded like thunder, but the the tone was much lower and it rolled incessantly. Obviously, thunder did not sound like that.

Lily’s tail puffed up. She poked her head out of the window and saw a light column rising from where Beinz Blood Lake was.The pressing sound of the bell could be heard from the bell tower in Leyton!

 

Chapter 364: Maelstrom

Rain was pouring down while a light column as bright as a light tower rose up from Beinz Blood Lake. Hao Ren heard the pressing sound of the bell and he instinctively thought of something as he shouted, “Are the rock monsters coming?”

He thought the bell was an alarm for a monster attack.

But, Ophra glanced through the window and her face suddenly turned grim. “No, it’s the alarm from the Sacred Lake Chapel. Something’s happening!”

Everyone, including Lily who lay yawning a while ago became nervous. Hao Ren and his team were not familiar with the meaning and category of the alarm. But, judging from the expression on Ophra’s face, he knew it was something big. Before he could ask, someone knocked on the door in a pressing manner. Ophra quickly sensed who was behind the door. She glanced over and the door swung open in an instant. Cold wind saturated with rain blew in and a knight, who was completely soaked stood at the doorway. “Marshal, there’s an emergency at the sacred lake. The chapel has been swallowed by the lake!”

“What?!” Ophra was stunned. It felt like all the powers and abilities she possessed were useless at this point. “Have you confirmed it?”

“It’s been confirmed. A father, who managed to escape sent word theurgically. Bishop Gelton is sending his knights to Beinz Blood Lake as we speak.”

Ophra adjusted her light armour and said, “Gather all the elite forces. We’re going too.”

“Wait, wait a second. Count us in.” Hao Ren quickly volunteered his group. “We’re experts—”

Ophra looked at Hao Ren with a strange look on her face. “What experts?”

“Let’s not delve into the details. We’re truly experts in times like this.” Hao Ren did not really know what he was saying. He just wanted to go and have a look. He waved his hands frantically as Ophra questioned him. “We just want to serve the country…”

Ophra nodded. “If I don’t buy your story, you’re gonna make up another excuse?”

Hao Ren choked, but Ophra did not waste time on the topic. She made her decision and quickly said, “You can come with us if you don’t mind the weather. After all, you were the ones who found the Orb, so I’m not worried that you’re going to harm the sacred grounds. But, don’t expect me to take care of you guys.”

Then, Ophra glanced at Nangong Wuyue and said to her, “Miss, please lead my men into the mountain. I’m worried the cult followers may take advantage of the situation.”

Ophra had not forgotten about the cult in the mountain. Nangong Wuyue did not mind at all. She said, “No problem.”

So, they followed Marshal Ophra out and departed to the knights’ base camp. Out in the open, Hao Ren could now experience the true face of the storm: the sky and the land had merged into one; it was greyish-white everywhere he looked as if the world was submerged in a pool of dye. The chilling rain was carried by a freezing whirlwind and there was so much water in the sky. It was as though the ocean had turned upside down and pouring its water back to Earth. There were no pedestrians on the streets; only groups of soldiers running hurriedly in the storm. They were all completely soaked.

Only mages or higher-level warriors had a shielding ability to protect them from the rain. Most ordinary soldiers, though relatively strong were just ordinary in other aspects.

Fortunately, Hao Ren and his team were never short of strange gadgets. They had neck rings with shielding functions, which they once used in space to stay alive. Now, they were using them to block out the rain. Meanwhile, Nangong Wuyue had a much simpler way: raindrops on her body disappeared just as fast as they fell. It seemed like they were being absorbed by her body. Plus, she was riding on the water under her feet as if she was surfing in a half-walking, half-sliding movement; sometimes, it looked like she was skating. She really enjoyed this weather.

Rain could not touch Ophra within two-metre radius from her. She glanced at them, looking surprised. “Your ‘magic shields’ are very unique. I’ve never seen anything like them before.”

Hao Ren waved his hands frantically. “Because, we’re professionals…”

Vivian gave Hao Ren the side-eye, thinking that the most expert part this chap was his shrewd mouth.

Before long, they arrived at the knights’ base camp. Nangong Wuyue followed a team of shielded elite warriors as they departed to the mountain range, while Ophra led another team of elite forces to Beinz Blood Lake.

When they reached the defense post at the Gnarled Grove, a group of knights in white robes were standing in their way. The leading knight was a pious-looking, middle-aged man—a father. The father stood in front of Ophra and said, “Marshal, Bishop Gelton has gone to the sacred lake with his own men. You can rest assured that the matter will be in the good hands of the Church Knights.”

Hao Ren was appalled by the pedantic clerics who still rigidly clung to bureaucracy at a time like this. But still riding on her horse, the no-nonsense Ophra pointed her sword at the cleric and scoffed, “Move! You are disrupting the Royal Knights from carrying out their duty.”

The female marshal’s face was stern as she spoke. She was being straightforward and an invisible air of pressure was radiating from her. The marshal was undoubtedly determined to run over these pedantic clerics if they decided not to give way.

The father clenched his jaw. Perhaps, he realised that it was not the right time to play hard ball, so he let Ophra pass. “May the goddess bless you.”

“May she bless you too,” Ophra said before leading her team and cutting straight through the Gnarled Grove.

The brigade rushed through the rain on their horses like a sheath of wind. But somehow, Hao Ren found that something was not quite right. “Are we going to run in like this? I mean the horses would be drained out before we even get there!”

Opra did not say a word. She waved to the knights behind her. “Everyone, get ready to form a straight line and attack!”

Immediately, all the knights merged into a single straight line formation and they ducked in an attacking position. The horses that Hao Ren and his company were riding on had also been trained by the knights. So, they merged into the formation on their own. Ophra led the brigade and charged forward like the head of an arrow.

Just as the knights began to charge forward in their attacking position, Hao Ren sensed his surroundings turning strange.

The ferocious wind and rain became isolated, like they were disappearing. Their surroundings started to fade like a black and white photograph, and everything became monotonous as well as abstract. The towering old trees and sceneries in the Gnarled Grove suddenly became semi-transparent. The brigade was shooting ahead like an arrow piercing through a black and white world!

The towering trees were no obstacle; the same was for the rocks and the valley. Everything before their eyes was just an illusion; the only real entities were the knights themselves. They were shooting through the Gnarled Grove, away from the main path on the shortest route towards the Blood Lake.

Their speed had exceeded that of their horses and their surroundings turned into beams of light flying past them. Based on a rough estimate, Hao Ren figured that they were moving at a speed of at least 200 clicks an hour.

Becky gripped the reins tightly and followed Ophra closely behind. She was ecstatic. “It’s Marshal’s Assault! Marshal’s Assault! The world’s only military-based magic! A long time ago, Lady Ophra penetrated the so-called ‘Impenetrable Seven Defenses’ of the rebels in the south with just one thousand elite forces in this way. She captured the Southern Grand Duke’s whole family even before the war at the frontlines began! The rebellion was suppressed in just one day!”

Hao Ren was in awe, but Ophra turned around and corrected her. “That’s just a rumour. Only four defenses were penetrated. I was thinking about attacking one of their fortresses, but little did I expect to see the Southern Grand Duke touring the area with his trusted aides. Frankly, we were both surprised. However, he was clearly slower than me.”

Hao Ren was still in awe, thinking that she was truly a legendary heroine. Even her skill tree was specially made!

With the help of Marshal’s Assault, the brigade arrived at the lakeside in just under an hour. The blood-red lake was still a scene to behold despite the storm.

Because, the dang lake was really red.

They walked along the lakeside onto higher ground and as Hao Ren looked down, his jaw completely dropped to the ground.

A maelstrom was in the middle of the Blood Lake. Everything near the maelstrom, including the isle in the middle of the lake was gone.

 

Chapter 365: Time to Bear Responsibility

The Blood Lake quickly turned into a vortex and the noise it made was akin to rolling thunder. The centre part of the lake had become funnel-shaped and the small island as well as the church on it had undoubtedly been swallowed by the vortex. The scene was so petrifying that even a dumb rock like Lily bristled in fear. The husky lass let out a low growl, before scurrying behind Hao Ren. “It’s leaking… The lake is leaking!”

Marshal Ophra stared in disbelief as well when she saw the scene at the lake, muttering to herself, “Ha-Have we angered the goddess?”

If it managed to shake the venerable marshal, the shock was even more profound when it came to the common soldiers. They were all basically believers of the goddess. In addition, the ones sent to the Blood Lake were the most battle-hardened of them all. These warriors saw something that only happened in legends. It unfolded before their eyes on their very sacred grounds. Fear gripped each and everyone of them. If had not been for their training and discipline as well as Marshal Ophra’s presence, things would have been chaotic.

The muscular old man beside Ophra stared at the lake for a while before his aura started to change. “The sacred lake has been defiled and the lake is swallowing the church. Whatever that’s been sealed since the old times may come out. Ready yourselves! Stay in formation! We may engage in combat at anytime!” Upon finishing, the old man had completely transformed. His already muscular frame was even more prominent as his muscles started bulging. His hair and beard grew out almost like a wolf’s fur. Shortly after, black wolf ears popped out as well. He then turned around and pulled his tail out from his pants.

Marshal Ophra looked at him. “Can you just not wear the low-cut pants and loose shirts your kind likes to wear?”

Still adjusting his tail, the old man said, “Don’t talk to me, it ruins my poise.”

“…”

Only then did Lily manage to react, leaping excitedly as she saw his transformation. “Whoa! You’re… one of my kin! You’re a werewolf too?”

“Lassy, do you need to be so surprised when you see a werewolf?” The old man glanced at Lily. “Holetta doesn’t have that many werewolves, but we are not that rare. Rather… you, lassy, I’ve noticed you for a while now, but I can’t tell which stock you’re from.”

Lily was wagging her tail excitedly, and in the rain, it turned into a mini hurricane. “I’m a northern werewolf! The northern stock that pulls sleighs!”

Ophra and the old werewolf were totally confused. Hao Ren quickly interjected. “Don’t worry about the details. She doesn’t know where she’s from and she was raised by humans. Let’s rendevous with the survivors.”

Under the guidance of the old werewolf, everyone was on combat alert as they headed towards the pillar of light near the lake’s shore. The light was similiar to the one seen in town earlier. It was a warning signal. The knights and monks who managed to evacuate the church had already set up camp on a safe spot. They were awaiting aid and reinforcements. They never thought the first to arrive would be the Royal Knights led by Marshal Ophra, instead of the Church Knights led by Bishop Gelton.

Hao Ren saw a big, magical barrier by the shore and a big group of people were taking shelter from the storm. There were some runic stones and activation devices around the perimeter of the barrier. A group of clergymen clad in black could be seen maintaining the barrier. Inside, there were about a hundred worn out and battered knights as well as clergies. A few of them were sprawled across the floor and a group of wounded were receiving treatment. Nervous-looking warriors were everywhere, talking softly amongst themelves. They wondered what the disaster boded for them. A few high level clergies in white robes were walking around the group of “refugees”, comforting them and stabilising their spirits.

Ophra led her knights to the camp and her arrival caused some commotion. Some of the high level clergies walked out from the masses and Marshal Ophra led Hao Ren as well as her entourage to meet them. “I am Marshal Ophra. What’s the situation?”

“We thought Bishop Gelton would come here…” a tall and lanky clergy in a white robe spoke with caution, but under the current situation, he did not bother arguing about doctrine anymore. He pointed towards the group behind him. “As you can see, we have evacuated the people out of the church, but all the valuable treasure and tomes in the repository are lost.”

Hao Ren noticed that most of the survivors were empty-handed, and the few items that they managed to save lay in the middle of the camp. It seemed like the vortex had formed rather suddenly, and before anyone could fully react, the church and the island were already consumed by it.

“Bishop Gelton is leading his men here. But, my troops are well-versed in rapid marching, so we arrived earlier than them.” Ophra nodded. “How did the vortex form? Were there any warning signs? What happened after that?”

“It just came so suddenly without warning,” the tall clergy said. He was clearly shaken by the experience. “Before the vortex manifested, we only heard some loud rumbling from beneath the lake. It was almost like a giant beast swallowing a whole body of water. After that, a giant earthquake struck and the whole island started shifting. Soon after, the vortex formed. Thankfully, the guards were the best among the best. Their faith gave us protection and we escaped by treading over the lake.”

There were no ominous signs and no appearances of any monsters. But, there was no divine guidance as well. The very lack of it confounded the pious lot. However, something suddenly struck Hao Ren, an almost “Oh, f*ck” moment came about in his mind. Was this his doing?

He still remembered the commotion under the lake during the spacecraft excavation, which was conducted by the Kerbalians!”

“Captain Hao Ren, have you found anything?” Ophra noticed the change in Hao Ren’s breathing and threw him the question. She knew that this “mercenary group” was totally odd. She reckoned that they discovered something the night before and it had something to do with the devastation that day.

Hao Ren simply shook his head. “Nothing. I was just spacing out. What do you think we should do, Marshal?”

“We need to check the vortex out.” Ophra did not hesitate. “There may be danger, but you can wait by the shore.”

Hao Ren wanted to look for a quiet place to observe things, but thinking back on what he had done beneath the lake, he needed to check it out for himself. Nevertheless, seeing how violent the vortex was, he gulped hard. “How do we even get in? The whole island is gone.”

The vortex was about a kilometre wide. The scale and strength of the thing was terrifying. The centre of the vortex was almost like a swirling abyss and Hao Ren got dizzy just from looking at it for a short while. He could not figure out a safe way to get to the bottom of the lake. Within his group, Vivian could fly; Y’zaks, while an apocalyptic fighter was above average under water; Lily could only doggy paddle; and Becky… well, forget about it. One could not even pop a submarine out there. And given the strength of the vortex, it may as well not be there at all.

“If Wuyue was around, things would be a little easier,” Hao Rem mumbled and that caught Ophra’s curiosity. “That girl who went to the mountains? What’s so special about her?”

“She’s a great Aquamancer.” Hao Ren pointed towards the lake. “Even if she can’t bring us in, she won’t drown from attempting it herself.”

“Aquamancer, eh? I have a few here.” Ophra was not too concerned as she pointed towards a few of the soldiers behind her. A few of them were clad in a mage’s combat robes. “They should be able to bring a few people through the vortex safely. But, we better wait for Bishop Gelton. This is the sacred lake after all.”

A group of knights temporarily retreated to the lakeside camp to recuperate. Among Ophra’s elites were a few mages who specialised in barriers, and they expanded the magic barrier to accommodate everyone present. With the barrier, the peole within were sheltered from the storm outside, and that brought Hao Ren some measure of relief. Being caught in a storm was really frustrating.

Lily started going around the camp, looking for new friends. The moment she saw someone big she went, “Hey! Are you a werewolf? Are you a werewolf too? Ah, the lady over there, are you a werewolf? Hi bro, are you a werewolf….”

She was her usual excited self whenever she found her kind in this world. Well, thanks to the simple-minded husky’s cheerful nature, the sprits of those in the camp were somewhat lifted.

Vivian pulled Hao Ren to the side when others were not looking, dragging him to a quiet place. “Mr. Landlord, the vortex, can it be…”

Hao Ren had a complicated expression written across his face. “Let’s not mention it. The MDT ran a scan and there’s a hole beneath the vortex. The lake water was just drained through it and it’s the same spot where we dug the spaceship!”