The Record of Unusual Creatures

As they heard Calaxus’ shocked exclamation, Hao Ren and Lily’s jaw dropped. The latter, with her loose mouth, immediately rumbled, “What? Fidelinopolis?!”

“On the goddess’ name, I would never mistake it for anything else!” Calaxus spoke with a hushed voice, his face pale and in shock. It took him a good 30 seconds before he recovered enough to speak. “I was sent to the monastery in Fidelinopolis when I was young, and I lived there for almost a decade. I know each and every wall and tower there. That is the cathedral district, that is the Glorious Avenue and over there… That is the monastery I studied in..”

“Looks like something horrible happened…” Hao Ren frowned. “A third of the city appears to be destroyed, and the central area seems to have suffered the worst blow. Look, there are cracks and burn marks all over the buildings.”

Hao Ren was stating the obvious because everyone could see it. But the state of the city was not what confounded them. What was the city doing there in the first place? Why did this city from the real world appear in the Nightmare within the old world?!

Everyone recalled the situation on Mount Asurmen in the real world as well as the massive crater and rifts where Fidelinopolis once stood. Hao Ren remembered a tiny detail; there were no buildings around the crater zone, and while everyone assumed that the city had been destroyed by a meteor, even the most powerful of strikes would not have taken out every structure, right? There should have been ruins and debris! But there was nothing aside from the crater!

So… Fidelinopolis had not been destroyed by a meteor strike, instead, it had been transported whole to the Scorched Plains within the Forgotten Abyss?

That was the thought that ran through most people’s minds.

“Does Fidelinopolis have such a piece of equipment?” Hao Ren turned to ask Calaxus. “A divine matrix to perform a dimensional jump in the event of an emergency and send the city into a different dimension?”

“The city itself does have such a matrix, but it is not able to perform a dimensional jump,” Calaxus whispered back. “Based on my knowledge, there is no divine art or magic that is able to perform such a miracle.”

“Could it be possible that the Forgotten Abyss has a similar mirror image of Fidelinopolis?” Lily conjectured. “Didn’t you lot say that the real world’s based on the structure of the old one? So this world could be symmetrically mirrored, and when the real world had one, another appeared here… Therefore, when the former got blown up, the latter suffered damage too?”

Hao Ren could not help but admit that the dumb husky had a spark of lunatic genius to her…

While her guess had some possibility to it, it was still a guess too bizarre for most to believe wholly. As Hao Ren pondered if he should send a probe over to “Fidelinopolis” to check things out, Nangong Wuyue prodded his arm with her cool tail. “Mr. Landlord, I think we should focus on that camp over there… That camp seems to be linked to the city itself, and the movement within doesn’t resemble that of the shambling monsters you spoke of, right?”

Lily poked her head out to have a look. “They are equally hideous though…”

Hao Ren frowned, knowing that what Wuyue said had been on his mind as well. That rickety and gloomy camp was just a stone’s throw away from the partially-ruined Fidelinopolis. And the soldiers in the camp… were even more curious… They were not fully human but festering beings with twisted forms. They looked almost like abominations sewn together from different body parts, and some were outright writhing masses of flesh. These chaotic creatures wandered about the camp like the lumbering monsters within the Nightmare. Yet, these seemingly monstrous beings wore battered equipment and still held weapons in their hands. While their equipment may have also decayed, they were real, and the equipment seemed to be clumsily-handmade adornments on their bodies.

That was enough to differentiate the “monsters” from the usual Chaos rabble. They looked more like the festered, but even those beings did not show such a level of uniformity and discipline.

Hao Ren suddenly recalled the monsters in the battle, and a group of them… looked just like the ones before him.

Just as he entertained the images in his mind, a probe sent back a warning signal, and the MDT’s voice rang through the mental link, “Warning, warning! Unusual energy signature detected. Range: six kilometers. A massive formation of units is taking place!”

Hao Ren looked up immediately, and he could already see the change ahead. Beyond the horizon, a swarm of dark clouds roiled in the skies, and many tentacle-like structures broke through the clouds, rushing toward the ground. In the midst of all the tentacles, a storm was forming, while dust was kicked up high as shadows of countless beings tore through the dust cloud.

In Lockmarton’s Nightmare Realm, where Order was totally lost, the presence of most warning systems was pretty much meaningless. The Power of Chaos could appear at will at any point in the corrupted land without so much as a sign!

“Beware, that is the manifestation of Lockmarton’s power!” Geddon warned. “Looking in his direction, Lockmarton’s body appears to only be about a few hundred kilometers away… Hmm? His minions seem to be charging towards us!”

The monsters from the maelstrom had formed into a black tide. It surged towards Fidelinopolis and the broken camp. At the same time, Hao Ren noticed the reactions of those within the camp.

The twisted soldiers were seemingly capable of sensing the chaotic monsters, and as the chaotic energy started coalescing, they were already anxious for action. In a mere few moments, they broke out of their stupor. They began to move into formations and marched out of the camp toward the plains!

“It looks like they’re about to clash…” Lily felt nervous before she noticed something. Pointing at Fidelinopolis, she yelped, “Mr. Landlord, Mr. Landlord! Look, there are people coming out of the city!”

While the monsters in the camp charged toward the plains, movement stirred within the partially-ruined Fidelinopolis. A few of the still-intact bell towers rang, and light shone from the statues on the church buildings and walls. Amid the chiming of the bells and light, an army charged out of the ruined gate of Fidelinopolis!

They were all wearing bright mithril armor, which glimmered under the light of dusk. Golden war banners bearing the goddess’ image fluttered in the air and armored steeds carried the army. Sharp enchanted swords hung from their waists as they held holy icons and burning amulets. Above the massive army were a group of battle priests as well as clerics who were wearing long robes and holding staves in their hands. These clergymen were casting all sorts of blessings and protection magic on the knights. As a result, the knights began to look stronger and stronger while they sped up!

It was a typical holy sanctum army—well-equipped, strong, and unwavering in their morale!

The holy army caught up to the monstrous army from the camp not long after and started to advance with them.

Hao Ren saw many of the clergies fly up and bless the monster army with protection spells. Meanwhile, some of them shouted, trying to communicate with the horde. But it was a fruitless attempt as the monsters did not respond. They only marched on steadily toward the incoming monsters of Chaos!

At last, the two lines clashed, kicking up a storm of dust and gore.

As the monsters clashed, it was almost impossible to distinguish friend from foe. They were both twisted, both rotten, and both nightmarish in appearances. It was like two massive tides of flesh colliding against each other as they tore at each other, dark energies shooting up from the center. Such a primal, bestial clash would rattle even the most veteran of soldiers!

Soon after, the army from Fidelinopolis joined the fray.

Dust quickly covered the entire battlefield as Calaxus and the rest looked on at the apocalyptic battle. Concurrently, Hao Ren began to realize something.

“We gonna stand here and watch?” Y’zaks patted Y’lisabet’s tiny head as he turned to face Hao Ren.

“No.” Hao Ren pulled out his spear and pistol from his Dimensional Pocket. “This is a good time to intervene.”