The Record of Unusual Creatures

Chaos did not only manifest in the form of monsters in the mist, and monsters were not the only beings to stalk the mist.

The lightly-armored military order made their way swiftly across the wilderness. With no interference from the monsters, the trek across the plain was not particularly difficult. And during the trek, Hao Ren slowly learned more about Carrow from Veronica; everything including Chaos, the monsters, the mist, Order, and dark knowledge.

Hao Ren had assumed that Chaos referred to the thin mist that was engulfing the area and the monsters that formed within it. Now he understood that the mist was a phenomenon unique to the wilderness, and the environment of a realm of Chaos differed from each other and monsters would be born from all sorts of environment. The plains had an eternal blanket of mist, Darkshadow Thicket had the Shadowlands, the Dark Morass had the Abyssal Mire. Aside from that there was also the Desolation Desert, the Storm Coast, the Gray Sea, and the Cosmic River, and a boatload of chaotic realms, both big and small and almost every place had their own uniqueness, and the biggest similarity they shared was their antipathy towards the life and destruction of Order.

Carrow was a large world formed by many independent continents, and based on what Veronica had said, these continents floated in a void called Carnos and revolved around an arcane law set by God. And the power of Order and Chaos waxed and waned within the void of Carnos. The void’s waves would splash against the continents created the denizens of Order and the Servants of Chaos, and endless war between the devotees of Order and the followers of Chaos is the manifestation of the clash of power within Carnos.

The endless war had been ongoing since time memorial, and the power of Chaos will surge from the void, invading and destroying the realms of Order, twisting the laws of time, destabilizing the balance of power, turning hills and rivers into dust. Under their malignant influence, fertile lands had become fatal zones like the wilderness or the Darkshadow Thicket. Monsters would continuously appear out of thin air in this areas, becoming the fodder which the forces of Chaos use to batter the realm of Order’s defense line.

While the Light of Order was the blessing and gift the goddess of creation had given to the intelligent races. It was the source of all light in this world, coming in the shape of hearth fire, kindling, as well as holy lights, and it formed the bastions of Order. The kingdoms of humans and the other races prospered behind this bastion, and that kept the world from totally falling into the dark side.

Based on the most learned scholars of Carrow, this war had been ongoing for about ten thousand years.

Ten thousand years, that particular time period again.

The party was making good ground on the plains, much faster than Hao Ren had expected at least. The holy mountain had disappeared into the darkness behind time, and what lay before them was a desolated plain. In fact, Veronica had already lost sight of the Cassouin about ten minutes back, only Hao Ren’s enhanced vision allowed him to see much further.

But on this godforsaken land, having the best eyesight you won’t be seeing much.

The divine light of ‘holy relic’ shone brightly in a hundred odd meter wide radius, and not only the mist retreated anywhere the light shone, and even the dullness of the land faded away. The knights had never seen such potent protection before, and the purification as well as calming effect of the Light of Order was different from the golden war banners or the Amulet of Order that they were used to. They did not know that what Hao Ren had lent them was in respect a true ‘divine relic’, and could only conclude that this powerful item was a lost technology from times of yore. Under the protection of the holy light, the thin mist slowly retreated by like flowing water all along the border of the light, as if trying to attack the humans within the light shroud, but the fear of the power of the divine relic keeping them at bay.

Morian could not help but sigh when he saw that. “Oh… if only our armies have the protection of such a holy relic, we won’t be struggling that much in our battles in the realm of chaos.”

Hao Ren did not say anything. He knew the sacrifice the humans of Carrow had paid against their fight against Chaos, but there was nothing he could do as of now.

Humans cannot hope to survive in the realm of Chaos, and even breathing the air alone would kill them swiftly and corrupt them into a part of Chaos. In the brutal and endless war, the countless warriors had fallen in this darkness.

Veronica pulled out a pocket watch-like amulet and an array of magical light moved slowly around it. She used the amulet to ascertain the direction and distance before letting out a soft sigh. “We are on the same track we came from, and if we follow this direction down, we will come across a ruin. We can take a short rest there before heading for the Mound of the Nameless Soldier. If we are fast enough, we may even make it in time to the battle on the western border.”

The knight princess gently bit her thin lips, and her eyes were determined. As a military commander, she sure exudes an aura befitting of one.

But Hao Ren could not help but raise an eyebrow. “You guys are going back to fight? In this state?”

Most of Veronica’s men were wounded, and the simple first aid at the temple was simply not enough to nurse them to full health, yet when the knights heard Hao Ren’s question they only let out a ‘that does not matter’ smile. A young knight even waved Hao Ren off. “My condition is really not all that good. I can probably only take on like twenty at most.”

Veronica turned back to look at her men, her serious demeanor finally wavered. She shook herself. “The Royal House of Taros will never retreat before a battle. But you men have completed your orders. I will be meeting the General of the Western Front, and you men can…”

“Your highness,” Morian the old knight threw the princess a stern glance. “This is not what a commander should be saying!”

The younger men of the knights starting laughing as they heard that. To these men, who were probably just a few years older than the princess, sees her as a reliable commander, but she was still naive and innocent in many respects.

Being headstrong and a little clumsy, blurting out such an innocent idea was just normal.

But the fearlessness and positivity of these men caught Hao Ren’s attention. He had seen many races trapped in the face of Armegeddon, but the group before him… there was something very different about them.

Turning away towards the plains, a building appeared on the far edge of his vision.

Hao Ren pointed towards that direction, “Is that the ruins you were talking about?”

Veronica was dumbfounded for a moment before turning her head in the same direction. But to her, it was only a sea of darkness and chaos, and after a certain radius, she sees nothing but darkness.

“You can see them?” The princess gave Hao Ren a surprised look. “Does the chaotic mist in the distance not affect your vision?”

Hao Ren scratched his head. “It does affect my vision, but only things in far away I guess.”

“The chaotic mist not only affects visions, but it also devours the reality of anything in a distance. After a certain distance, no many how good your eyesight is you won’t be able to see anything.” Veronica gave Hao Ren that ‘I’m looking at an alien’ look as she stared at him. “No matter how powerful one is, everyone’s vision in the realm of Chaos is the same. Only specialized detection magic could sense anything outside our vision limit.”

As she said, she started muttering to herself. “Do all ancients have ‘Expose Chaos’ as an innate ability?”

Hao Ren too was confused at first before finally understanding why did the knights seem lost when he first rushed down to help down. It was not because of the lack of training or experience, it was because they were practically half blind in the realm of Chaos!

Hao Ren touched his eyes and could guess why he was so different from the rest.

Deep in his mind, he could hear a voice, a carefree voice that whispered to him. This goddess’ blessing is quite a work eh.

Hao Ren pursed his lips before letting out a weird smile as he shook his head. “Why thank you very much, I pretty much have magical eyes now don’t I?”

And very soon enough, Hao Ren’s supernatural vision was proven.

After heading forth for another hour or so, the dilapidated ruin of a building appeared in Veronica’s and Morian’s vision.

Like how the holy mountain had initially appeared out of nowhere, the ruins too just suddenly came out of the darkness.

Morian was scanning Hao Ren throughout the trek and gotten the latter a whole body full of goosebumps. The old knight then took the lead towards the ruins. “Everyone keep up. Stay alert. We have already lit the fire here much earlier, and the Festered may have been attracted to this place.”