The Record of Unusual Creatures

“Lorissa?”

The name sounded familiar, but Hao Ren was still startled for a while. He never thought of things in this direction before. “Lorissa, the ancient elf queen?”

“It’s that Lorrisa.” The knight quickly nodded.

“Are they the same person?” Vivian asked.

This time the knight could not answer, because he had not put so much thought into it. The name Lorissa was notorious in Holletta, especially among residents around the Gloom Mountains. The name was associated with legends, myths, ghosts, and horror stories used to coax children to go to bed. Even the energy wall above the mountain range was named after her. Everyone knew the name. So after hearing that an elven woman had come out of the ancient ruins claiming herself to be Lorissa, the first thing that came to the knight’s mind was the ancient mage emperor.

Leaving the search for the “container” aside, Hao Ren immediately said, “Let’s check her out!”

The elven woman was squeezed in the mobile medical pod. She could not get out because of the energy shackle. But just by looking at her appearance, it was hard to associate her to the mage emperor and the insane Sacred Flame Incarnate. Instead, she felt weak like a poor bunny. The lid of the medical pod slid open to one side when the medical treatment completed. A hologram on the edge of the medical pod showed the patient’s conditions. The woman’s physical injuries, mental and soul’s wounds had healed, but she needed time to recover her energy. She was still extremely weak.

But due to the complexity of soul and the strangeness of her life form, it was hard to tell whether this ‘Lorissa’ had indeed regained her sanity.

Hao Ren came before the medical pod and looked down at the elven woman. Aside from the grogginess on her face, there was also a slight majestic aura, which perhaps was a natural disposition as an empress. But this patina had faded into the background because of her physical condition. After Hao Ren and the elven woman stared at each other for three seconds, Hao Ren asked, “What is your name?”

“You guys seem to be completely uncoordinated,” the elf woman scoffed. Her brow pulled together and her voice weak. “I have said it before, I am Lorissa. Cough cough. Who are you guys?”

The women looked at the attire of Hao Ren and others, her brows knitted even tighter this time. “You guys are not from the crisis management?”

“I’m afraid the crisis management agency won’t be coming,” said Lily, who poked her head out from behind Hao Ren. Staring curiously at the elven woman in the medical cabin, Lily’s ears flicked. “But you, what is your relationship with the elven queen?”

“I am…” Lorissa almost made a slip of the tongue but choked back at the last moment. “Since you guys are not from the crisis management, then I will not answer any questions from you. And you have tied me up.”

Lorissa struggled a little, but the energy shackle prevented her from doing more, which angered her even more.

“Do you know what you are doing?” She looked up at Hao Ren. Besides angry, she could not believe she was being treated like that. “How dare you treat me like this! Do you know who I am?”

Seeing the woman’s reaction, Hao Ren was more or less sure about her identity. He felt it unbelievable, but he had to believe the evidence: the elven woman was the ancient ruler of a magic empire, Queen Lorissa!

When Vivian saw Lorissa was angry, she squinted and said in a cold voice, “We tie you up for your own safety. Do you know that you almost destroy… no, you have already destroyed this place? If not for us, you would have died.”

“What?” Lorissa became lost, there were confusion and muddiness in her eyes. “What happened before? How do I… wait! I should be on the bench! How do I end up here?”

Lorissa fell into great confusion and contradiction as if her frozen memories had thawed suddenly. She completely ignored the suspicious strangers around her and fell into a panic and talked to herself. The elven queen began to mutter quickly some words that no one could understand. The next moment, she would mention things in the lab. After a while, she wondered why she was in this place and was confused about her identity and name. She kept saying the name of those people and organizations that were long gone. Lily was anxious when she saw Lorissa’s condition. She dragged Lorrisa up from the medical pod and smacked her face. Had Hao Ren not stopped Lily in time, the elven queen might have lost all her teeth.”

After a short few minutes of chaos, Lolissa suddenly stopped, and her murky eyes suddenly became clear. Suddenly, she struggled to get up but almost fell back into the medical pod. “Stop! You must top them! We’ve been cheated! We’ve been cheated!”

“Calm down!” Hao Ren grabbed Lorissa’s shoulders. “Be quiet! We’re in control! What is going on?”

“Fake! It’s fake!” Lorissa grabbed Hao Ren’s arms. Her grip was so hard that translucent ripples began to appear on Hao Ren’s Steel Membrane Shield. But the elven queen was unaware of that, and she just kept shouting like mad. “The divine decree is fake! The divine power is also fake! We have been deceived! Someone is trying to steal the authority of the goddess! Come on, stop them! You must not allow the divine decree and the mortal to come together! You must not allow them to complete that thing! Otherwise… What are you doing? Quickly stop them! I order you to—”

“I’m afraid your order is already too late.” The light dawned on Hao Ren. He suddenly understood many things. Shaking his head helplessly, Hao Ren forced Lorissa back. “It’s 10,000 years too late.”

“10,000 years?” Lorissa was baffled. “What do you mean?”

“It has been 10,000 years, Your Majesty,” Becky said. She felt it difficult to break the news to the queen. “You have been sealed for 10,000 years, and now you are waking up in another era. The conspiracy of stealing the authority of the goddess is over—and successful.”

“10,000 years!” Lorissa was stunned. She did not understand what Becky meant for a while. “What does this mean? Are you kidding me?”

Hao Ren exchanged a look with Vivian, who nodded gently. “You tell her,” Vivian said to Hao Ren.

Hao Ren told Lolissa the truth, as concise as possible, about the deicidal war, and the changes in the Plane of Dreams over the past 10,000 years, especially about planet Holletta.

Hao Ren also briefly explained about himself and his team, but mentioned just the necessary amount—not too much, not too little. For an ancient being from 10,000 years ago, the things he told her were too strange; it would waste a lot of time.

Hao Ren had made his explanation as concise as possible, but it still took him a good half an hour. Plus, he was interrupted many times by Lorrisa. The elven queen apparently did not trust these people, who just popped up out of nowhere. Her attitude had been resentful and suspicious from the beginning, and her questions fully reflected it. But the explanation went on with more and more clues forming an intertwined net of history, there were fewer interruptions and questions from Lorrisa. She began to listen attentively to the news that seemed like an exaggeration.

When Lorissa learned that the once prosperous magic empire had become history, and even its legacy was lost and turned into some mythical story, she let out a soft sigh.

However, the elven queen was surprised when she heard that the First Born underground had broken out and almost destroyed the world.

When Lorissa heard about what Hao Ren had done on the planet and the new world order, she began to curiously observe the group of strangers, including Becky.

“I have finished explaining. Do you have any questions?” Hao Ren looked into Lorissa’s eyes.

“Not until you can prove what you are saying,” the elf lowered her head and said in a low voice.

“Then it’s simple. You go with us to the outside world to see for yourself, then you will know,” Hao Ren said with a shrug. “This place is now called the Gloom Mountains. An energy storm in the mountains is named after you. You can see that the labs and energy towers have been completely weathered. We can also take you to see the land of the Elven Empire, which is now split into three kingdoms and a dozen forest tribes. The closest from here is the kingdom of the mountain elves, whose ancient books might contain some names you know. If you still don’t believe us, I will take you to space to see the lunar colonial base.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” Lorissa shook her head. “I knew there would be a day when I would find out that the divine decree was fake. But I didn’t expect things to end up so badly.”