The Record of Unusual Creatures

The Ancattero family patriarch, Vogus, was still alive. He was very weak, but he survived the freezing temperature and had only mild suffocation. Andaherr immediately transferred him to a warmer place: at the side of Hesperides.

Hesperides was standing in the center of the hall, emanating a healing and spirit-lifting warmth, which was preferable than the intense sacred flame of the demon hunters and the tempestuous magic flame. The Tannaeans began to recover under the heat radiating from the nymph of the evening. It seemed that other than the weirdoes in Hao Ren’s house, the otherworldlings in the wild and the demon hunters could also make the best use of their abilities.

Hao Ren, Hasse, and others came up to the patriarch Vogus. The light-gold skinned Tannaean slowly opened his eyes. He looked around, still appearing a little confused. “I.. who are you guys?”

“Vogus,” Andaherr held the hand of the senior patriarch. “Listen to me. It’s over. They’re the search and rescue team members.”

“I’m Hasse, elder demon hunter. This is Hao Ren, the head of a sanctuary for the otherworldlings in Asia.” Hasse nodded to Vogus, never had he thought that he would be able to speak to an otherworldling patriarch like this. “How do you feel now?”

“I’m fine,” Vogus said, struggling to get up. Water was dripping down his clothes from heavy condensation, and he coughed a few times, spitting out the life-supporting substance. He then noticed his compatriots receiving treatment nearby. “Is everyone else okay?”

Hasse and Hao Ren explained the situation to the patriarch and told him that it had been a month since the incident happened, and these few hundred people were the only survivors in the Ancattero territory. Vogus was surprisingly calm after hearing this as if this was something expected. Perhaps Tannaeans had a different way of expressing their emotions, Hao Ren and Hasse could not notice any sign of grief or sadness on his face.

Vivian came up from behind and bent down slightly before Vogus. “I’m Vivian, Vivian Ancestor. I don’t know if your family has a record about me.”

Vogus finally showed some animation that the earthlings could understand on his pale-gold face; he looked like he was surprised. The way he was staring at Vivian was as if she was a living fossil out of the mythical story. “Vivian? You were with our ancestors…”

“Great! At least you lot still remember history,” Vivian said before letting out a sigh. “I lost my memory and contact with my family. I was worried that I’d not be able to find someone who could tell me what had happened in the past.”

Hao Ren had tons of questions to ask Vogus. He first let the patriarch rest for a while. Until the patriarch finally recovered his strength, Hao Ren and Hasse began to ask Vogus questions. Questions regarding Amatura and the demon hunters, Vogus’ reply was similar to what Andaherr had known. Hao Ren was most concerned about the innate hostility and the Shades of Chaos though.

“What exactly did you seal?” Hao Ren asked. He was obsessed with the Shades of Chaos. “Are they creatures, a phenomenon, or a curse?”

Vogus leaned on a pillar, and his voice was soft. “They’re none of what you said but something indescribable, abstract, and a concept. They’re the dark side, anger, and hatred of god. They’re like a curse, but more abstract than a curse, something mortal could not understand with their earthly wisdom.”

Hao Ren was stunned by the answer. It reminded him about what the spirit detective, Pierre, had said: the Shade of Chaos was the representation of the dark side of the ancient gods—Zeus and Odin families, for example, the result of the gradual materialization of hatred in battles. This theory had come from the mouth of a spirit detective, which was why Hao Ren had a great reservation from the beginning. But little did he expect the Ancattero family that guarded the seal also had a similar thought.

Were those things the representations of the dark side of the otherworldlings, the original sin in the hearts of the supernatural races?

If this were indeed the case, it would only become more mysterious.

Hao Ren could not read the expression on Vogus’ face, but Vogus was very familiar with the emotions of the earthlings. He had noticed Hao Ren’s changes of expression and knew what was in his mind, but could only shake his head. “I know you’re confused, but all I know was passed down from my ancestors. I’m merely quoting what they told me. The Shades of Chaos is something indescribable from the beginning, and even our ancestors had difficulty explaining this to future generations. That’s why this ambiguous metaphor has been passed down from generation to generation.”

“All right, let’s not talk about the Shades of Chaos, we should just treat them as the evils of this world,” Vivian said, waving her hand impatiently. “What is the relationship between that thing and the innate hostility, and why the shadows emerged after the sense of hostility disappeared?” she asked.

Vogus forced a smile. “Frankly, I don’t know. If I knew, things wouldn’t have turned out this way. My memory has stood still since a month ago, do you know that? In my mind, the Shades of Chaos has just got out of the seal a few hours ago. So what I could tell you is the teachings that I inherited from my forefathers,” he said.

Vivian was not happy with the answer. Then Vogus told her about his conjecture, “If you insist on hearing an answer, maybe the Shade of Chaos is just another expression of the innate hostility between the various races.”

“The Shade of Chaos is the innate hostility?” Hao Ren quickly got the meaning behind Vogus’ words. “You mean the shadows are the extract of the innate hostility in the blood of the otherworldlings?”

“I quote what our ancestor had said,” Vogus said with a low voice. “‘We are the cursed ones exiling in this world, a lasting curse is forever on our heads.’ This curse means the sense of hostility, so this hostility has been unbreakable from the beginning. I have had unnecessary fantasies, and I didn’t know that trying to lift the curse would cause things to end up so terribly. The Shades of Chaos could be the sentinels that monitor the curse. When the innate hostility disappeared, the Shades of Chaos immediately broke the seal, came out and possessed us so that the killing cycle would continue indefinitely.”

Hao Ren knew that there were some elements of personal opinion in Vogus’ words. He did not take it in its entirety, but it was still worthy of attention.

The Shade of Chaos was the innate hostility, and the two complemented and resonated with each other. When the innate hostility disappeared, the Shades of Chaos appeared and possessed the races, and triggered the innate hostility in them again. This mechanism was like a self-repairing virus in the blood.

This theory explained what they had experienced in this exotic realm.

“Though it was very mysterious, your ancestors and I had successfully captured and sealed them,” Vivian said, looking at Vogus with her arms crossed. “I remember we had sealed the shadows in the Solar Roulette. Where is the roulette now? Let’s check it out.”

Compared with other, Vivian had a disdainful attitude towards the Shade of chaos, probably because she had sealed the thing once and confidence in herself. However, she seemed to forget her skills and talents at that time.

“The Solar Roulette…” Vogus’ voice appeared a little serious. “You helped my ancestors control the divine artifact, of course, you can see it. But do you still know what it is?” Vogus asked.

“I heard Andaherr said that you guys did not make the Solar Roulette but were just the custodians,” Vivian said, nodding her head lightly. “The roulette is older than your family. It is truly a divine artifact.”

“It came from an unknown place, something that was created by a great existence that we couldn’t understand,” Vogus’ voice sounded in fear. “Yes, it’s a divine artifact, but it’s nothing to do with sacredness. It brings disaster, is the original container of the Shades of Chaos, and may even be the root of the innate hostility. We have exhausted all our strength and barely kept it stable for the past thousands of years. The roulette is full of destructive energy and madness from the inside out. It was already so when the seal was intact, and I couldn’t imagine it since the seal is broken now.”