The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 375

Chapter 375: Seismic Change

 

The truth of the apocalypse was finally revealed and it was not what everyone had imagined.

Apparently, the goddess was not a product of this planet, but an ancient spirit who sowed the seeds of life in the universe.

Also, it was not the goddess who ended the world, but the First Sowing, hence the reason the first pope of the Disciples of Glory called the powerful creatures born out of the Original Seed the “First Borns”.

Hao Ren could almost imagine the epic history of creation in his mind: somewhere in the universe, a seed bearing massive primordial life and magical powers pierced through the atmosphere and crashed down on the barren surface of a planet. The seed fell next to the water, or somewhere in the ocean. Life broke out from the seed and the first spring of life on the planet was created.

The supernatural power of the seed quickly sprang the barren planet into life, creating the earliest powerful creature. Millions of years then passed and the powerful creature fell asleep. Then, a second batch of intelligent beings spouted out from the “seed” to fill the void.

These second-batch beings were small, but agile. Their fervent curiosity allowed them to develop a brilliant civilisation and embark on a journey of exploration. Eventually, these daring beings began to find interest in the magical power that had created them in the first place. They found the seed that crashed on the planet millions of years ago. From it, they attempted to acquire the power of creation, which would allow them to control the world.

The First Sowing was thus awakened, infuriated by the actions of their brethren. They launched an apocalyptic war to reset the ecosystem of the planet with help from the short-lived Third Sowing, vowing to clean the earth of the arrogant brethren along with everything and anything they had ever created.

In that critical juncture, the seed’s safety switch was triggered and the actions of the First Sowing were cut short. This inadvertently saved the Second Borns from extinction.

However, the First Borns did not disappear. They were just asleep in the depths of the earth, waiting for the day of awakening. When the time comes, the plan to reset the ecosystem, which had been delayed for 10,000 years would be continued to turn the planet into a pool of blood.

Hao Ren took a deep breath as he slowly turned to look at the heart, which was soaked in a pool of blood. He now knew who the First Born was.

The four ascetics were still in a state of shock. The revelation had a greater impact on them than it did on Hao Ren, the pagan. Big Beardy’s face became pale and for a long moment, he could not say a word. He then mumbled to himself about some long-forgotten secrets. “According to legend, the earlier popes of the Disciples of Glory devoted themselves in uniting all the kingdoms in the world, and tried to establish an all-powerful kingdom as well as develop lost ancient technologies…”

Shortly after, another ascetic whispered, “But, the fourth pope met opposition in carrying out these policies. He was assasinated by heretic extremists.”

Big Beardy’s eyes were unfocused. “Then in a haste, the fifth pope was elected. The secret record of the Church states that the fourth pope had some manuscripts, which he had inherited from the earlier popes and wanted to pass to his successor. But, the manuscripts were lost during a chaos…”

Hao Ren looked down at the parchments on the altar. He knew what the lost manuscripts were all about—perhaps, it was the unabridged version. But the things that the first pope were worried about was not avoided; his plan tanked. No one knew the truth about the apocalypse and no one knew about the fearsome forces out there!

Y’zaks furrowed his brows together. He looked at the heart in the centre of the cavern, thinking to himself whether he could take the First Born out before it woke up. He was hesitant. Meanwhile, Becky pointed at the parchments, trembling. “According to the manuscripts, the First Born is about to wake up!”

“Also, according to the message, we have allies.” Big Beardy was connecting the dots. “It’s about the truth of the Chosen Ones! The Chosen Ones must be the forthcoming help before the First Born awakens!”

Instantly, their eyes landed on Hao Ren. Then, the penny dropped: they had all been wrong about the Chosen Ones!

Hao Ren and his company could not possibly be the aliens who signed the covenant with the ancient mage emperors. He could not have possibly been the help the first pope had prophesied 3,000 years ago. He was just an inspector living on a piece-rate compensation plan. He just came by to conduct a household check!

The real Chosen Ones had not arrived yet!

“So, where’s the promised help?” Becky’s voice was shaking. “Is that tree supposed to wake up so quickly?”

“I’m afraid yes,” Y’zaks said with a low tone of voice. “Just think of the recent strange phenomena in Dragonspine Ridge and the rock monsters that have been loitering around the Blood Lake—if they’re soldiers created by the ancient mage emperors, then there’s no prize in guessing who they’re after. Who are they going to war with?”

Y’zaks’ analysis had silenced everyone. They realised thatthe clock was getting close to midnight. “I’m afraid the First Born will awaken soon!”

At that exact moment, the thumping of the heart suddenly stopped. But after a moment, it resumed with even more forceful thuds!

The constant “lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub” sound of the heart kept pounding and the red pulse became brighter in keeping up with the thuds. The roots attached to the heart were also pulsing with a faint red glow. Lily gasped. “Guys, I think we’ve just awakened it!”

Instinctively, Hao Ren pulled out his gun out from the Dimensional Pocket; it was the most powerful weapon they had at the moment. He aimed the gun at the heart, but before he pulled the trigger, he asked, “Can it be killed this way?”

The MDT performed a wide-area scan and stopped him immediately. “No, it’s not going to work. There are several similar organs in the nearby caverns. This is not its weakest part.”

Hao Ren had cold sweat trickling down his back. “Then, what do we do?”

“…Evacuate immediately! Leave Dragonspine Ridge!” The MDT ran a quick calculation and came out with the best plan. “This is a super life form. It’s several hundred kilometres across. No conventional weapon will do damage to it. Only a very large scale destruction can see chances of success. But anyway, Beinz will be destroyed completely with such an attack!”,

Then, it quickly examined the signal pulses in the roots. “It’s waking up… but we still have three days! Get everyone out!”

Three days… there were only three days left!

Hao Ren nudged Big Beardy and said, “Go to Ophra and Gelton. Tell them what’s going to happen! Quick!”

“What about you guys?” Big Beardy asked.

Hao Ren clenched his teeth, looking at the heart which had more activity now. “We can create some diversions to delay it!”

Big Beardy stared deeply into Hao Ren’s eyes and nodded at him. “Be careful… don’t wake it up too soon!”

Big Beardy and the three ascetics left the cavern. Their understanding of the world had completely been shattered in the last 10 minutes. Now, they treated Hao Ren like a god. Soon, there would be more people like them, whose thought would be provoked before being shattered into pieces. But Hao Ren did not have time to think about those consequences. His only worry at the moment was to keep the thing from waking up!

*Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub…*

Unlike previously, the thumping sound of the heart became much forceful. Even the blind would have seen that the giant thing was waking up. Hao Ren could vaguely feel that the ancient being had a thousand-year rage waiting to be unleashed.

Becky was wielding her sword and waving her magic scrolls frantically. But eventually, she cried out, “Are you kidding me? How can we possibly fight this monster?”

Hao Ren did not respond. Instead, he looked at Vivian. “You’ve got a neurotoxin?”

Chapter 376: A Storm Is Brewing

 

“Neurotoxins?” Vivian pulled her eyebrows together. “You think neurotoxins would work?”

“Whatever. Let’s just give it a try.” Hao Ren approached the pool. The surging red fluid was emanating an even greater luster with an increased vitality like a liquid ruby. The heart, which was immersed in the pool was thumping with a greater force. “Neurotoxins, anesthetics, acids, alkalines… whatever you can get your hands on. Of course, be careful not to pour them in directly as that may agitate and wake it up too soon. We should set up some booby traps and time them to trigger once the thing awakens!”

“I never knew you were so evil.” Vivian glanced at Hao Ren, stunned but impressed with his little evil thoughts!

The vampire maiden began to draw a magic circle around the heart. It could only be triggered remotely and it would create a large area of corrosive Blood Mist. Although she was not sure if the corrosive mist would do any damage to the super life form, which measured several hundred kilometres across, she hoped that it would stun it for a while, no matter how slightly.

The MDT was spot on; this was a creature beyond the normal sense. The life form had seriously out-spec’d anything that God ever designed. No normal method was going to bring it down; not even the inspector gun Hao Ren was wearing. When going against such a massive creature, no explosives would do either—not even 200 lbs of C4 would work. The sheer size of the thing was its ultimate defense!

So, the only option left to destroy the ancient, awakening monster was to bring total destruction upon it. But before they did that, they had to evacuate the residents in Beinz.

However, Hao Ren had no clue about the kind of weapon he could use to bring the thing down: there were no nukes there and frankly speaking, he had every reason to believe that not even a nuke could bring the super life form to its knees!

By then, Vivian had finished laying her booby traps; it was a two-metre wide rune circle. Compared to the thousand-metre heart, it was just a drop in the ocean. The heart was just one of the many organs of the Gnarled Grove. A sense of helplessness began to weigh on Hao Ren’s mind. Will this circle work at all? he asked himself.

“Done.” Wiping the sweat off her forehead, Vivian said, “Shall we go and find the other hearts in the other caverns too?”

Hao Ren shook his negative thoughts away. He pulled the MDT out and said, “Show us the way!”

Without wasting any time, they moved swiftly through the complex underground world. They were not worried about getting lost as the MDT was also a navigation device. Soon, they found one cavern after another, all with similar hearts. Each cavern resonated with the increasingly strong heart thumping sound!

Once Vivian was done setting up the seventh magic circle, she gasped as she looked at the massive thing. “I’m afraid that I’ll be the first Blood Clan member to suffer from anemia if I keep drawing the circles with my blood like this… What damage can we expect here? A few scars? I wonder how this thing even grows!”

“Probably, that goddess of creation wasn’t as powerful as Raven 12345…” Hao Ren’s mouth twisted as he spoke. “But she’s definitely outgunned us! We’ll just have to do our human best and leave the rest to God. Now let’s get the hell out of here and meet the others.”

They immediately withdrew from the cavern, leaving behind the magic circles to say hello to the hearts when they fully awakened. A rhythmic thumping of the heart was heard coming from behind them and it sounded like it was sneering at them.

They came back to the first cavern they visited and found only Ophra as well as Elson there. Elson nodded at them gratefully. He seemed fine and was just lost in the caverns. It was Big Beardy who found him and got him out. Ophra stepped up to Hao Ren and said, “Is the news true?”

Clearly, it was a stupid question. But, she just wanted a confirmation becase she felt lost.

“Do you think it’s a joke?” Hao Ren spread his hand out. “Has Big Beardy gone with the bishop?”

“They’ve gone back to town using the teleportation stone. We were waiting for you guys.” Ophra furrowed her brows tightly. “The parchments, which the four masters brought out had an unforgeable, sacred seal on them. I’m afraid everything written on them is true… but still, it’s hard to believe!”

“I know it’s hard to accept, especially for believers like you,” Hao Ren said as he waved his hand, “but this is no time to harp on who has gotten the wrong bible! Let’s catch up with them first. Your knights will be of help too.”

Looking at Hao Ren with surprise, Ophra had an even stronger feeling that Hao Ren was not an ordinary mercenary; the way he spoke to her was not like someone talking to a marshal, but a friend. Nonetheless, she did not harp on it. She just nodded before she took out a little shiny gemstone underneath her armour. “Let’s teleport using this gemstone. You lot may have not seen it before, but please come closer.”

The teleportation stone was a very precious thing. Even people like Marshal Ophra would only use it under absolute necessity. However, Hao Ren stopped her. “Maybe you should just use our technology. It’s just more accurate.”

He remembered his cover—he was supposed to be a spatial magic wizard.

Before the light of the teleportation came on, Hao Ren asked, “Have you and Bishop Gelton found the Divine Sarcophagus?”

Ophra shook her head. “Not yet. Maybe the Divine Sarcophagus is buried underbeath the mud in the pool. And according to the theory of the four masters, it’s too late even if we find the Divine Sarcophagus now. The life progenitor may have lost its effect.”

With a flash of a light, Hao Ren found himself standing in a room somewhere in Leyton. Judging from the feminine decorations, he knew it had to be Ophra’s residence.

The storm outside had subsided, but dark clouds still lingered in the sky. Muffling thunder occasionally rolled out of the clouds, making the already grim atmosphere even more depressing.

Ophra and Hao Ren then walked out of the room. They were apparently near to the knights’ station. Hao Ren looked around. He saw knights and clerics hustling past in a hurry. Those poor folks in the streets, who looked at those knights and clerics had no idea what was happening.

All of a sudden, the bell tower in Leyton sounded its desperate siren.

Bishop Gelton was calling out to the people, ready to issue an evacuation announcement.

A hurried pounding of hooves was heard from the other end of the street. A monk draped in a white robe was arriving on horseback. The monk lit down and came up to Ophra. “Marshal, the bishop requests your help to evacuate the people and personnel in the villages up north. He’s too tied up with his duty.”

“Understood. It is an emergency and we shouldn’t harp on formality.” Ophra took the reins from Elson’s hand and lifted herself up onto the horse. She looked down at Hao Ren. “I’m going to assemble my men. You guys may want to get some rest back in the king’s house. I will find you later.”

Hao Ren had thought of acting nice by offering to help out, but he knew Ophra. The marshal was a very forthright person. So, he thought better of it and agreed. He and his company were not even part mercenary. They were not going to be much help in such a situation. Hence, he nodded his and said to Ophra, “Just be careful.”

“You’re a strange mercenary. I know that all of you have some secrets,” Ophra said with a smile, baffling everyone. “After this is finished, I want to dig your secrets up one by one…”

Then, the marshal left into the distance, leaving Hao Ren confused. “What did she mean?”

No one answered him. Instead, he heard the voice of Nangong Wuyue from afar. “Hey, you guys are back?”

Hao Ren turned around and saw the siren maiden, who was riding on a horse. She had stopped not too far away from him. Accompanying her were the knights who went on the scouting mission with her.

“What’s going on?” Nangong Wuyue got down from her horse and ran towards him. “What’s the grim atmosphere all about?”

“Let’s head back and talk.” Hao Ren did not mention what he had found underground as he led them back to the king’s house.

Chapter 377: Seismic Movement

 

Sirens rattled throughout Leyton. Church Knights draped in white robes and clerics on horses hustled through the streets, looking for any residents who may have fallen behind. Wind mages also flew from the church to the entire town, announcing the evacuation order.

Groups of knights left for the villages and stations scattered in the north and south. In the master hall behind the church, teleportational light columns constantly lit up the sky, sending personnel to the other parts of Beinz to enforce the evacuation order. The lowly populated Beinz, which was half covered by mountains and forests had many small villages scattered around the line of defense apart from Leyton. These villages formed part of the line of defense and were gazetted for military-civilian use. Meanwhile, knight stations and sentry posts in between these villages were the sacred lake’s line of defense. Now that people had to be evacuated from Beinz, the most mobile personnel were deployed for this purpose while knights were responsible for the nearby villages. Magi were also teleported to evacuate people from remote areas. It was a race against time as those people had only two days left.

The sudden mass evacuation order had left the people and soldiers perplexed. No one knew what it was all about as all personnel irrespective of clerics or not were ordered to leave Beinz in two days. If not for Bishop Gelton and Marshal Ophra jointly signing the order, chaos might have erupted. The four ascetics had also issued a joint statement to enforce the order. Since no one in the Beinz Diocese was purely a civilian, and almost everyone was associated with the military or church, the evacuation was able to be carried out rather smoothly. But then, even if there were civilians, they would have now moved along under the leadership of the clerics.

Of course, Gelton was not credulous at all; the old bishop was known for his cautiousness. When he was back in town, he had already dispatched his men to the Gnarled Grove to scout out the place. He only issued the evacuation order after he was convinced that the forest was indeed pervaded with a strangely dangerous energy, and monsters of the forest were becoming violent.

Hao Ren and his team were in the king’s house, catching some rest while they still could. However, the disturbing atmosphere in the streets was making them nervous. Lily in particular was unnerved. “What should we do? Are we really going to fight that hundred-kilometre monster? It’s suicide!”

Y’zaks clenched his teeth and said, “I’ve got the meteoroid ready—extra large, enough to level the Gnarled Grove entirely. You won’t you stop me again, would you?”

Looking at the meteoroid maniac, Hao Ren finally saw Y’zaks’ tendency to smash people up with meteoroids as a good habit. “We’re all counting on you. Or else, I may have to call for back up.”

Vivian had been sitting near the window with her brows drawn together in thought. Now looking up, she asked, “Do you think it’s a coincidence? This place has been peaceful for the last 3,000 years. Just right after we arrive a few days ago, the Gnarled Grove decides to wake up?”

“It must have something to do with that spaceship.” Sucking his teeth, Hao Ren was having a bad feeling about all of this. “If that kilotonne-spaceship hadn’t created a bloody hole in its backyard, the thing wouldn’t have woken up. I’m afraid as sweet as the lullaby sounds in the Divine Sarcophagus, that thing’s not going to calm down.”

Suddenly, Y’zaks fell into deep thought before saying, “There’s another reason: the maelstrom may have damaged the Divine Sarcophagus and in turn, the lullaby has stopped playing.”

That sounded possible, but it was meaningless to harp on it. Becky was wiping her sword over and over again, and mumbling something nervously. Hao Ren came closer and heard, “…May Grandpa protect me, may Grandpa protect me. You’ve studied history all your life, now your granddaughter might be history soon…” She paused for a second and continued again, “…Life’s three greatest joys are to get hung on the wall, get hung on the wall and get hung on the wall… There’s nothing to worry about. I might be a heroine this time…”

Hao Ren almost laughed out after he heard her murmurs. He could not help but pat Becky on the shoulder. “Take it easy. Worse comes to worst, we can always disconnect. We’re not going to die.”

Out of nowhere, Becky was overtaken by a sudden change and she said, “I’ve decided not to run away.”

“What?” Hao Ren was surprised.

“This is my home.” Becky lowered her head and kept wiping her sword. “The First Born may be very powerful. If it escapes from Dragonspine Ridge, I’m afraid no one in this world is going to survive. They have no place to run, so I’m not going to run away too.”

Hao Ren was almost impressed until he saw Becky folding the sword in her arms and murmuring again with her eyes shut. “But, you can always bring me out of here by force, right? Don’t you forget that…”

“…”

What a confused little maiden!

Suddenly, Lily’s ears twitched. She slid down from her chair and pressed her ear against the floor like she was listening to something. “Did you guys hear that?”

Hao Ren exchanged looks with the others. “Hear what?”

“There’s a rumbling sound.” Her other ear was tilting. “It’s coming from underground…”

Cold sweat immediately trickled down Hao Ren’s back. “That quick? Shouldn’t it be in two days?”

Before his voice trailed off, commotion could be heard from afar. Then, the siren went off again. This time, it sounded even more urgent!

Everyone looked out through the window and saw an army of heavily armed warriors running back, and further out was a sea of fire chasing after them.

Y’zaks was the first to run out. “Let’s go and have a look. Something’s wrong!”

Hao Ren and company got out into the street and ran towards the noise. People were running back in a panic from the direction of the fire. Becky stopped one of them and asked, “What’s happening?”

The person was almost scared out of his wits and said without even looking at Becky, “Monsters! Monsters are coming out from the ground!”

Hao Ren’s stomach churned, thinking that it definitely had something to do with the root system!

He ran ahead of the team and bumped into many residents, who were running in his direction. When he got past a row of houses, he finally saw what it was all about.

Tentacles were bursting out from the pavement and attacking people indiscriminately!

It was the Gnarled Grove’s root system!

These scary subterrainean creatures had struck fear into the people. People finally knew what the evacuation order was all about. Everywhere, there were civilians screaming in fear and groaning in pain. The tentacles were inflicting great damage and casualty to the town. People were running, sometimes aimlessly as they tried to escape from the never-before-seen monsters. The Church Knights engaged the monsters in hand-to-hand battle, relying on their heavy body armour and their specially enhanced strength to ward off the monsters. However, they struggled to keep the powerful enemies at bay. The mages on the other hand, had been observing and they managed to figure a way to ward off the tentacles—fire.

The blazing fire Hao Ren had just seen from afar was the idea of the mages.

But the warriors and mages were in a situation of David versus Goliath. In the face of the ancient creature, they were no way near David. With just a swing, the tentacles were able to send a handful of heavily armed and armoured warriors flying 10 metres back. The fireballs, which the mages had been using could only scorch a little layer of scalp off the tentacles’ skin. Soldiers used themselves as human shields to bog the monster down, but the situation quickly turned south as more tentacles broke out from the earth!

Suddenly, a ball of fire burst out from Y’zaks’ body. He rolled straight towards a tentacle as he called a soldier in a loud voice, “Go! Inform Ophra and Gelton! Meanwhile, we will handle this!”

Hao Ren pulled out his gun as he motioned the others and said, “Attack!”

Chapter 378: Yet Another Relative

 

Hao Ren had quickly found out that his gun was not suitable for the occasion—it was not because the gun was too small but because, its firepower was too strong.

When fired, the gun could crystalise an area as large as 10 m in radius, and strike any target within sight. As the evacation was still underway been completed, use of the gun could have caused civilian casualty, not to mention the harm the radioactive crystalised particles could cause. He had no choice but to tuck his gun and take on the tentacles CQC style.

Fortunately, he had his Steel Membrane Shield, so it was not going to be a problem.

He reached his hand into his Dimensional Pocket and found an alloy staff with a pointed head. It was like a spear. The weapon was not made in the Empire, instead it was a hand-to-hand combat weapon, which he received as a souvenir from the Aerymians. He was not trained to use it, but he could wield the two-metre long, alloy spear like Kung Fu Panda thanks to his enhanced body.

He sensed a sudden change of wind pressure behind him. With a quick manoeuvre, he dodged the tentacle coming at him from behind before he wheeled and stabbed the tentacle’s mid-section. The tentacle pulled back, trying to fling him away in the process. Hao Ren clenched his spear, which he planted firmly in the tentacle and got carried into the air. Despite getting himself flung around, he remained focused. He turned the handle of the spear and a bright light exploded from the spear’s pointed head, blowing the tentacle in half.

“This toy is better than my professional gear.” Hao Ren landed on the ground and took a satisfied look at the spear. “I should’ve asked Hilda for more weapons of surgical destruction like this. I’m short of this category of weapon right now.”

The MDT, now working as Hao Ren’s intelligent, hovering interceptor brick casually said, “It’s all about experience. Like every other inspector, from a warrior with a divine weapon, you will slowly become a Jack of all trades. Sooner or later, you’ll discover that when fighting the war of mortal civilisations, sometimes smaller mortal weapons are far more practical than divine weapons.”

Having dodged another tentacle, Hao Ren replied, “You should’ve f*cking told me earlier! I only managed to get one staff from Hilda!”

The tentacles’ attack moves were very simple—sweep and thrust. They only attacked physically unlike earlier the assumption that they had psychic powers and neurotoxins. Fighthing them with conventional techniques would suffice. Lily wielded her Frostfire Claws and sliced a tentacle in half like a whirlwind. She came up to Hao Ren happily, babbling, “Yeah, it’s payback time! That thing scared the hell out of me the previous night. Looks like they’re not that powerful…”

“Watch out!” A voice was heard accompanied by a loud boom in the air. The Lightning Strike from the bat swarm struck and scorched a severed tentacle Lily was battling a while ago. It was Vivian who had saved the husky. “This thing’s very tough. It can live for at least another 10 seconds after being severed.”

A burst of hot whirlwind came up back with Becky emerging from it. Despite being an experienced mercenary, she was still the weakest among them all. She was already exhausted, gasping for air. “Why… why did they come out all of a sudden? I thought it’s supposed to be in another two days?”

Hao Ren looked at the tentacles, which kept bursting out from the ground. His knitted his brows together. “I have no idea. There’s probably been some changes. Say something MDT.”

The MDT spoke very calmly, “It’s normal. I said, the thing would be fully awake in two days time, but I didn’t say it wouldn’t toss and turn before it wakes up. What do you usually do when you first open your eyes in the morning?”

Lily replied, “I usually yawn!”

A loud bang was heard as another tentacle emerged from the street. The MDT said, “Right! It’s yawning now!”

Just as Hao Ren was about to take a jab at the MDT, he suddenly frowned. He felt an unusual trembling through his feet. Unlike the earth-shattering quake when the tentacles emerged, the trembling was more subtle. This chilled him to his bone.

At that critical juncture, Hao Ren and Lily came to their senses. “Get out!”

A loud boom came underneath the pavement and the street burst open as the two leaped away. Yet another tentacle was rising up from the ground.

However, this tentacle was not at all similar to the rest. It had rougher, lavender-coloured skin with smaller lumps on its tip, which was covered in a mysterious pattern. Hao Ren managed to get a glance before an overwhelming sense of dizziness struck him.

Just when everyone thought it was just another normal tentacle rising up, here came a mutated version!

Becky, the weakest of all was standing closest to the tentacle. She was struck by the tentacle’s psychic assault and got into a trance. She then walked towards the tentacle as the glow of her magical body armour disappeared!

At that exact moment, a sonic boom was heard from afar. A white light pierced through the air and the psychic-powered tentacle froze in the air before it was engulfed in white flames. After the loud boom, it burned into ashes.

“Are you guys okay?” Ophra was heard approaching from afar. Hao Ren turned his head around and saw the female marshal who always wore her body armour. She emerged from the end of the street with a team of knights. The silver sword in her hand was still emanating an afterglow. She was obviously the one who issued the attack.

As Hao Ren waved at Ophra, he saw the air warp around her and at the next second, she was already teleported next to him!

“Let’s deal with them first.” Ophra wielded her sword. Her body was covered in a layer of sacred white flame and she charged at the tentacles, leaving behind a trail of ashes wherever she went. The knights were just standing by as if they were used to watching their marshal going on a killing spree.

Hao Ren and Vivian withdrew from the fight. They both gaped at Ophra, who was engulfed in a white flame. They were in awe of the non-standard sword she was wielding in her hand, and her spatial moves. Vivian exclaimed quietly, “This is…”

The White Sacred Flame, a rune-carved sword specially made for demon-slaying. This was almost like an inborn spatial movement skill… These figthing styles were almost a little too familiar.

“She’s like a demon hunter!” Nangong Wuyue was now back, exclaiming in awe as she saw the way Ophra fought.

Becky was pulled out by Y’zaks. Feeling stupefied, she was still recovering from the tentacle’s psychic influence as she glanced at them. “Demon hunter? A demon hunter has come from the real world?”

Hao Ren pointed to Ophra and said, “We’re talking about her!”

Ophra had finished the last few tentacles off. Since half of the “subterrainean monster” had already been killed off by Hao Ren as well as his company, and the rest was now scorched by Ophra, the monster instinctively knew that this was not the most welcoming breach to the surface. A moment of rumbling later, it left the area. Ophra tucked her sword away and came up to Hao Ren. “Are you guys alright? Why are you guys staring at me like that?”

Hao Ren could not help but say, “Your fighting skill is…”

“Ahh… I see. I know, it’s unusual,” Ophra said matter-of-factly as she dusted her windcoat. “It’s just an ancient sword fighting technique. Is there anything wrong?”

That stirred a storm in Hao Ren’s mind. The ancients of The Plane of Dreams… are demon hunters in the real world?

But, they did not have the slightest hostility toward the unusual creatures! Ophra was not hostile towards Vivian!

What happened back then on Earth?

Unfortunately, he did not have the opportunity to ask her as sirens were blaring from multiple places at that time.