The Record of Unusual Creatures

L’Haronne, this world that went through countless cycles, countless destruction, and countless rebirths, was stuck in a perpetual wheel of despair. Its every gear was clamped tightly, and once started, it could not stop the trudge into annihilation. The humans of this world had used everything to fight against the operation of this machine, and yet, with their power alone, it was not possible to stop this from happening from the inside.

Yet, a powerful, almost savage outer force had broken the operation of this wheel and smashed a gaping hole in its tightly fitted gears.

That was the out-of-control divine power that was released when Rheia lost consciousness a few thousand years ago.

The out-of-control power had become a shock wave and tore L’Haronne into two, and this was not limited to the physical world, and the divine power had even torn every perimeter of the world, their history, and every incomplete world lines into two, and even when Rheia’s powers had recreated the world, the effect of the divine powers was deeply imprinted on this world, never dissipating.

L’Haronne’s cycle of destruction and rebirth had been a norm, but the “accidental rebirth” caused by an outside force a few thousand years ago was like an ill-fitting part had caused the world to get stuck. Now, Hao Ren was holding a lever that could dislodge the part.

It was Rheia’s armband, and I must emphasize, it was a child-size one.

The phantoms of the past appeared from the depths of the world seemed to have sensed something, and with the taint of the power of madness, they were awakening from the various dormant timelines and materialized into their original form before charging in a suicidal matter towards the guardian starships and the droid swarm. The Gorgon starships unleashed swarms upon swarms of carrier-based crafts, as Tumen combat satellites were self-destructing at the edge of the battlefield, while Haersonca’s last beam cannon slowly sank into the clouds, while the inverted pyramids colossal battleships were sending more and more warp missiles into the battlefield.

The guardian fleet had created a few fortified bases at the edges of the battlefield and deployed a powerful barrier against the ever-increasing, ever-evolving phantoms, at first they could use the overwhelming power of their starships to rip the enemy into shreds, but slowly but sure, the numbers of enemy appearing from the clouds could withstand the guardian’s attacks by sheer weight of numbers, and further on, the phantoms had strengthened to the point that they could fight on equal footing in terms of quality.

In this situation, the powerful weapon sent forward by the droid swarm became the key to hold the line. The experimental weapons meant to fight the Mad Lord brought from CARS and the various massive military manufactories across the Plane of Dreams, including the Annihilation Lance, and the upgraded great cannons of the droid swarm, plus a few experimental machines equipped with mathematical blocker, and lightspeed disruptor. These weapons were brought to the front line and this chaotic battlefield was the best place to test them out, and boy did they shine.

From a certain angle, this ‘surprise battle’ in L’Haronne had an unexpected reward.

At the droid forward base, a series of connected crystal array started charging as crystal bits big and small began floating and forming into a spear tip akin to a prism. The large number of auxiliary facilities started humming, and a few seconds of charging later, a blinding white beam launched out of the binding field and towards a Gorgon starship in the distance.

The beam ripped through the starship as if it was paper and tore the thousands of Gorgon Lords within it into pieces.

“The Annihilation Lance is really a good thing.” Lily gazed excitedly as the high-powered beam swept through the battlefield, wagging her tail hard. “Heh, as I’ve said, tactics be damned, firepower is the supreme truth…”

Vivian rolled her eyes, “Don’t go learning the tactics of a brute, else you might as well turn your degrees into toilet paper.”

Hao Ren did not bother with the two’s daily bickering and placed the tiny armband on the generic exchange platform. He then looked up at the edge of the clouds afar.

At the edge of the clouds, a faint, scar-like rift was getting more and more obvious, it had pierced through the entire dimension while crack-lines extended out of its edges, at times some enemies would spawn near the rift, but the moment they appear, they would be torn apart by the energies from the pale rift, not even lasting a second.

That is the projection of the World Scar in this dimension or an extension of the scar on the physical world in the World’s Depth, and compared to the World Scar that had appeared as a literal scar on the planet physically, the scar in the sky on the other hand… was still active.

“Boss, I’ll admit your plan sounds super cool, but are you sure this will be fine?” Nolan’s voice sounded a little unsure.

“Nonsense, I’m such a meticulous person, I won’t blow myself up just to get a SSS rating!” Hao Ren glared at her, “I’ve studied the goddess of creation’s power for so long now and purposely collected energy samples from that rift. Plus, I’ve gone through all the information I got from above. If I can f*ck this up after so much preparation, I might as well go off myself in a random hole.”

“Right, right right, you’re the boss, while I’m just a ship.”

The Divine Armband (child-sized) floated under the effect of the anti-gravity field, and a few beams focused onto the band with Nolan in control, the latter immediately let out a pleasing hum.

Nolan may have sounded like she was grumbling, but she was no slouch when it came to working.

The communicator at the side lit up, and Salaman’s projection appeared above the comms, “Observer, the first and second line of the flank is facing enormous pressure, and their numbers have reached three times our size, we need to pull back.”

“Right, that means Constance had stepped into the imperial capital, and the power of madness in this world is going all out to force the restart before she conquers the capital.” Hao Ren nodded. “Don’t worry, we just need to hold on for a little while longer. I have prepared a surprise for the monsters here.”

Salaman could pretty much guess what Hao Ren was up to, as a guardian no one was more sensitive to the pulse of the goddess of creation’s powers, “I saw the aftershock of divine energies becoming active again… You are planning to once again tear this world apart?”

“No, I only plan to tear this battlefield apart,” Hao Ren smiled as he entered the final command into the terminal. “This shock wave had already been expanded by the initial tear, and further weakened by the passage of time, it does not have the same level of power like the past, if we activate it here… it could still tear this dimensional structure apart with ease.”

“Do you need my fleet to adjust?”

“No, don’t have to. I have set up a few energy focus point, and the structure will come apart near those points, and then the wave of enemies will stop. You will only need to wipe out any surviving units. I believe… this could buy us enough time.”

“A bold plan, but we are glad to go along.” Salaman broke into a smile. “Fighting under Mother’s glorious radiance is what we guardians do best.”

The comms ended, and Hao Ren looked at the pale rift that pierced through the dimensional structure at the far end of the sea of clouds.

Nolan’s voice then rang on the bridge, “Resonance adjustment completed. Broadcasting in five seconds… four, three, two, one. Broadcast live.”

Every antenna system on the Petrachelys suddenly let out an overloaded screech, as a powerful surge of energy blasted out, and covered the ship with countless tiny fireworks.

Every enemy, be it the ones exchanging fire with the guardians, or the ones that had just appeared from the clouds sensed that explosion of energy, and even without a mind, their instincts drove them to turn and charged towards the energy source that was the greatest threat to them.

But they were destined to fail.

Stimulated by the divine power of the same origin, the already unstable pale rift once again went ran wild, and the divine power of a true god hidden within the rift was suddenly unleashed, completing their task from a few thousand years ago…

Tearing the dimension apart.

The pale rift suddenly expanded, and the entire sea of clouds and the chaotic dimension above it suddenly shattered.

The imperial capital, a rainstorm was raging.

A powerful rainstorm never seen before in the heartlands suddenly fell and washed against the world that was smothered in darkness and despair. The black walls of the imperial capital were before them, and each rock and stone was the same in her memory.

The black wall was sturdy, and spear-like battlements were lined all along the city walls, and dragon head ornaments were arrayed on the top of the walls every few hundred meters apart, and as if they were the kings and emperors that had fallen in the past cycles looking upon the world.

On the plains outside the city, the raging fire had been doused by the downpour, but the smoke and blood could not be washed away. Countless twisted bodies lay broken on the ground, and the black smoke that raised from the bodies coalesced in the sky above the battlefield, turning into a patch of dark clouds looming over everything.

Constance held her long sword before her army. As she looked up into the sky, she gripped her blade hard, “I’m home… but I really could do without this weather.”

Rheia too was looking upwards, but her vision pierced through the sky, and the layers of time and space, using the resonance of her power, she could see what was happening on the other side of the world.

“Hao Ren… you had me blowing this place up twice now…”

Constance turned back, “What did you say?”

“No, nothing,” Rheia refocused and shook her head, “It’s the final battle. Your final battle.”

Constance looked at the guardians around her. These powerful, and seemingly immortal warriors were standing at the edge of the battlefield, and no expression could be deciphered from their stern faces. Beneath them, the warriors of the north and the Broken Blades were preparing for the coming battle.”

“My guardians and I will not interfere with the next battle,” Rheia said, “Even if you perish in the battle, we would not act.”

Constance smiled, “That is just how I wished it to be.”

“Is that so…” Rheia smiled, “Let me add something, even if you perish, I will still be with you.”

Constance pondered for a bit, “Who.. are you?”

“Leave that for later, it’s a little awkward to tell you now.” Rheia waved dismissively, “I’ll tell you once the battle is over.”

“Alright, each and every one of you is so mysterious, but I could guess part of it…” Constance said before she turned around and walked toward her knights. “Well then, off I go.”