The Record of Unusual Creatures

When Hao Ren returned to Coldpath, he received a warm welcome from Lily.

The husky maiden grabbed his arm and gnawed it at least 70 or 80 times until his Steel Membrane Shield sparked up, giving Lily a toothache.

“Can you be a little more prudent next time, Mr. Landlord?” Lily glared at Hao Ren, her arms akimbo. “My blood ran cold when you lunged out with that dark thing. Didn’t you know how dangerous it is to run away with a nuke?” Lily said.

Hao Ren was dumbfounded. Never did he expect to get a lecture from the husky maiden, whose only priority was eating and sleeping. It was surprising that she had shown that she cared, which was quite touching but at the same time brooding. “Okay, I’m sorry. But do you think an antsy husky like you are qualified to lecture me?” Hao Ren said.

Before Lily lunged at him again, Hao Ren promptly stuffed a spicy stick into her mouth and kept her at bay.

Later, he began to understand why Lily had suddenly become so concerned about him. The reason was straightforward; it was just the natural instinct of the canine, trying to be protective of her master.

After losing the energy supply, the magic reaction in the ceremonial hall had subsided. The powerful mana thunderstorm was reduced to a drizzle, and Y’zaks’ demonic runes had absorbed the rune circle. The unpleasantly oppressive atmosphere had disappeared, and even if without the life-support collar, they all would be all right. Hao Ren looked around at the condition of the ceremonial hall; large patches of burn mark were on the ceiling, and cracks filled the roof. The dark energy had almost broken through the temple of the goddess of creation.

But compared to the supernova explosion of the star under the influence of the dark energy, a little crack on the roof seemed pale into insignificance, he thought.

The black sword of the deicide was still suspended and spinning quietly in the middle of the hall as if nothing had ever happened.

“How is the situation of the sword now?” Hao Ren asked the MDT, which was monitoring the environmental readings at the scene. “Did it cause any trouble?” he asked.

“After you moved the energy out, the magic reaction in the hall lost power and everything ended in a matter of seconds,” the MDT reported matter-of-factly. “Now the sword has become quiet. I have not found it any communication between it and the outside world.”

“But you said that this thing is still ‘alive’?” Hao Ren said.

The MDT swayed itself and said, “Yes, something is still running inside, and it has never stopped. The destruction of the entire magic spell seemed to have just terminated its current task, but have no effect on the sword.”

Hao Ren carefully came up to the sword of the deicide, stopping only two meters away from it. He observed the unusual form of this sinful weapon. The sword of the deicide was like cosmic debris; when it rotated slowly, the stars, which was the light spots on the blade, were fixed at a particular position and did not move with the blade. So it did look like a space crack that led to a different world.

Perhaps it was really a piece of debris—debris that fell off the cosmos. The stars on the sword could be real.

Vivian’s voice suddenly came through the radio. “Can I go back in now?” she asked.

Hao Ren stopped her and said, “Wait a minute, I better put this thing away first.”

The sword of the deicide had gone on a rampage because it had sensed the pure divine blood in Vivian. For safety’s sake, Hao Ren decided to tuck it away. He reached into his dimensional pocket and took out a silver-white metal container, which was used to seal dangerous items. He also released two autonomous robots to recover the weapon.

Two autonomous robots came up to the sword of the deicide and carefully touched the strange black sword with their mechanical arms. Everyone was ready for any eventuality, but still, nothing had happened. The autonomous robots took the black sword out of the suspension force field very quickly and placed it in the container without a hitch.

Closing the container, setting the lock, then activating the energy barrier of the metal container before putting it back into the dimensional pocket. After doing all this, Hao Ren informed Vivian and said, “You can come in now.”

As soon as his voice trailed off, a light flashed at the entrance of the ceremonial hall, and then lightning struck straight down Hao Ren’s head.

A swarm of tiny bats flew into the hall and regrouped back into the form of Vivian in midair. She then glared at Hao Ren with her arms akimbo. “Can you be more prudent next time? What did you think when you ran out with the nuke in your hand?”

That sounded familiar. Hao Ren quickly pointed at Lily, who was licking her fingers after wolfing down her snacks. “She just bit me; why did you still hit me?”

Vivian’s arms were still in akimbo. “Crap! When have you ever listened to a husky? A packet of Spicy Sticks is all it takes to bribe her.”

Still licking her fingers, Lily chimed in, “It was just half a pack. Mr. Landlord is seriously stingy.”

Everyone was dumbstruck.

“Alright, alright! Let’s not harp on this now, can we?” Feeling annoyed from getting the glares from Battie and Doggie, Hao Ren quickly steered the conversation away from him. “Now the problem has been solved amicably, and the cause of the problem has also been safely tucked away. Can we declare that the Coldpath incident is officially over?”

There was a confused look on the faces of White Flame and Teuton—the peace after the end of a problem, the set in of fatigue and emotions, and of course the worry for the future of the demon hunters after such a disaster. Out of a sudden, Vivian interrupted the train of thought of everyone. She said, “There is still one thing.”

“What is it?” Hao Ren had no idea what he had missed out—the culprit that led to the civil war had now been safely recovered; the war in Coldpath had ended; the cleaning up of the aftermath and post-mortem investigation would not be concluded just yet. There was nothing more that he had not done, he felt.

“The first sage,” Vivian said slowly. Her eyes fell on Claude, and she suddenly became a little forceful in her voice. “We have solved the biggest problem. Now, can we talk about this?” she said to Claude.

Claude had been standing on the sidelines since the beginning, keeping a subtle distance from the rest of the team. This outstanding demon hunter, attendant, and herald of the first sage was extraordinarily calm and had remained silent up until now. It was as though he was waiting for someone to finally notice and call him out.

Hao Ren suddenly realized what he had missed.

The first sage…

Coldpath plunged into chaos. Twelve sages held a mysterious ritual and died tragically. The Council of Elders was dragged into the war of frenzy and defeated. A ‘voice’ had manipulated all this behind the scenes in the names of the sages, all the while commanding the entire war from inside the ceremonial hall, and this voice was still shrouded in mystery.

Somehow, amid all the chaos, the most crucial character had been overlooked by everyone.

What was the first sage doing?

The ceremonial hall, eleven piles of ash, the ballroom, and the remains of Beetholis; all twelve were accounted for except one, the first sage, who had never come out. Earlier, they had been too occupied with so many things that they had overlooked the matter. Since the dust had somewhat settled, Vivian felt it necessary to find the first sage.

Claude still remained silent. The everlasting calmness on his face showed no emotional changes. Lily, who was an impatient husky, could not help shouting. “Yeah, now I remember that. Where is your supreme commander? Where has he been all this while?”

White Flame and Teuton looked at Claude curiously. Though both of them were masters in the demon-hunter hierarchy, they had never met the legendary sage. They had only heard about his legends, or his oral instructions through the heralds like Claude.

“If you are referring to the first sage, then I have never seen him.”

Claude finally broke his silence, but his reply had shocked everyone.

“What did you say?” Hao Ren looked at him, wide-eyed. “Are you not the first sage’s attendant?”

“No attendants have ever seen the first sage. We just stood outside the door and pretended that there was someone inside,” Claude said, suddenly letting out a long sigh like he had just released a heavy burden. He looked at the mess in the ceremonial hall, especially the ash piles in the corners. “Since the sages have become a history, I think I could not keep this secret anymore: the first sage does not exist. He disappeared thousands of years ago, almost the same time as when the demon-hunter organization was first established.”

The ceremonial hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.