The Record of Unusual Creatures

Hasse’s expression turned solemn.

He began to observe his surrounding environment. The grassland in the dreamland was vast and very similar to that of the real world, yet utterly different from the black and white, two-tone Shadow Fortress. When Hasse woke up, he did not notice the differences between the dreamland and the real world. It was only after Hao Ren prompted him that he started to feel incongruity from the wind and the steppe.

The wind blew continuously at the same intensity in the same direction, while the grass swayed gently in one direction. High up in the sky, the moon remained in the same position the whole time and did not seem to move one bit. It was like a lamp in the background. Furthermore, it looked much brighter and more prominent than the usual moon.

The moonlight even coated the grassland with a faint silver light.

The old demon hunter was certainly not stupid. Just like any other demon hunters, the strong impulses that arose from his killing instinct had masked his judgment. Of the two people before him, only Lily could trigger Hasse’s killing instinct. But he quickly suppressed the impulse with a little willpower. Hasse was able to quickly calm down and control himself. He now knew that he was in a strange realm, isolated from the real world. He appeared calmer and more solemn than before. “What do you want?”

“I told you, we have a common goal. I want to stop Vivian before things get out of control,” Hao Ren said with a shrug. “But I did not expect the demon hunters to come for the same purpose. You and I know very well that there is no love lost between the demon hunters and other races. So even though we have a common goal, a fight is inevitable. It will ruin things and do no one good when things get out of hand. You are a smart person, you know that we have no choice but to bring you here by force.”

Hasse knitted his brows together. He could not refute Hao Ren’s statement. The war between the demon hunters and other races was an irrational killing spree and carnival. In that era where no one could stay immune from the innate hostility, even if a few people realized the foolishness of such a war, they could do nothing about it. They would still lose control of themselves when they faced the other races and joined the battle.

At that moment, Hasse was calm and could not help but admit that what Hao Ren said made sense.

But he was unhappy with how he was treated.

“You are naive.” Hasse looked into Hao Ren’s eyes. “Even if you were sincere, I must tell you that you are too naive. You want the demon hunters and the otherworldling to reconcile?”

“I did not say that.” Hao Ren shrugged. “I just said that right here, right now, we can cooperate in the face of Vivian’s threat. But outside this cooperation, we could fight however we like. Think about it.”

Hasse was silent. He looked at Hao Ren, he slowly looked past Hao Ren’s shoulder and into the sky.

The bright round moon still hung high in the sky. Somehow, it had turned bloodshot without them noticing earlier.

“It seems we do not have much time to consider,” Hasse said with a smile. “She has noticed us.”

Hao Ren turned his eyes into the direction where Hasse was looking. The moon was turning crimson.

“Would you be comfortable to take off these shackles?” Hasse raised his hands, the two metal manacles glowing in faint blue light were restraining him from using his power, rendering him even weaker than an ordinary human. “Once you take it off, don’t expect to put them back on again.”

“I do not need to remove them, just reduce their power.”

Hao Ren snapped her fingers with a smile. The shackles on Hasse’ hands and feet hummed softly. Hasse immediately felt strength return to his body. But the metal rings had no loosened a bit. Apparently, these things could restrain his power again at any time if Hao Ren so wished.

“Do not think of taking the shackles off by force.” Hao Ren could read what was in Hasse’s mind right now. “These things are stronger than anything you could ever imagine. Let me put things into perspective for you; they are just as indestructible as the bricks and tiles of the ancient temples in Coldpath.”

Hasse gave up the idea of hacking the shackles. Standing beside him was a werewolf, who was the most agile close-quarters combat race in the world. He knew very well that he would not gain any advantage over her. Within two seconds, the metal rings on his limbs would power up again, and his resistance was futile.

“Who are you? How do you know so much about Coldpath?” Hasse was wide-eyed.

“I do not only know where Coldpath is, but I also know that there is the Stellar Spire as the passage connecting Coldpath to the outside world, that Coldfrost Citadel has twelve barracks and seventy-seven towers, and that there are three spires on the main entrance to the Hoarfrost Sanctum. You have an elder named Gregowen, who is of higher seniority and close to you. Elder Gregowen was very naughty when he was little. Once, in the barn, he… Ahem, I think I should not talk about it here.”

Hasse was struck dumb. “You have been to Coldpath?”

“Are you curious? After we settle this crisis, I will tell you about it.” Hao Ren had created suspense to hook Hasse’s interest. He looked up in the sky. The moonlight appeared reddish now. “Now, it is your turn to talk. Do not tell me that you do not know anything when you have come here with your entire elite team. Now that Vivian has not woken up. We still do not know where she is. How is your original plan?”

Hasse looked at Hao Ren and sighed helplessly. “Well, we initially planned to wait for the Countess to wake up and come out in the real world. But we also have a backup plan to enter the Shadowy Realm before the Countess wakes up.”

“The Countess will wake up in the two worlds separately. First, she rises in her own dreams. Her incarnation in the dreamlands is the shadow in the moonlight. Then she will wake up in the real world, and everything in the dreamlands will collapse into reality. If we were forced to face her earlier than we have planned, then we must not let this process be completed. Otherwise, she will become invincible in the Shadowy Realm,” Hasse said as he fished out his sacred silver dagger. Lily watched on cautiously as Hasse punctured the skin on his finger. Blood shimmering in faint silver light oozed out from the wound and floated in the air. “It is the knowledge many demon hunters have exchanged with their lives. During an operation more than a thousand years ago, dozens of warriors were buried as the dreams collapsed into reality. Just before they died, they had sent back this information. By holding a blood sacrifice ceremony, we can wake the Countess up.”

More and more blood floated in the air and formed a complex and mysterious pattern under the influence of magic. The patterns glowed brighter and brighter in red as they spun around the three of them. It was as if some kind of resonance had been established.

The transformation of the moon in the sky sped up.

A vast expanse of red began to appear on the moon disc. At first, there was a growing web of lines, then red spots rapidly appeared. The patches of red spread like ink on a paper, quickly covering the entire moon in just a few breaths. The bright white moon had now turned into a blood-red moon.

But this red moon was not the crimson moon that Hao Ren knew. It only carried an evil air but not enough to drive any creatures insane.

Just then Hessiana’s voice rang in the communication device. “I have gained control of the Soulless Guards.”

Hasse turned around. “What is that?”

“Just a little gadget to talk to each other,” Hao Ren said casually. “What have you just done?” he asked Hasse.

“I have just woken the Countess up,” Hasse said, “before she is at the peak of her strength.”

It seemed that the demon hunters had learned something after enduring many years of Vivian’s torture.

A little shadow appeared in the moonlight.

At first, Hao Ren thought that the moonlight was playing a trick with his eyes as the shadow was extremely vague and elusive. But soon, the shadow grew so large that it was hard to ignore. Something red as blood began to seep out along the edge of the moon disk as the shadow appeared. It looked like the bloody teardrops of the red moon; they formed a circle of dithering red aura around the moon.

A moment later, blood-red light overflowed from the circle of bloody teardrops and poured down on the land below.

It was a beautiful scene that no words could describe. Blood that materialized from the crimson moon dropped straight down to the earth. It seemed that the line between reality and illusion had vanished; Hao Ren could no longer tell whether it was the moonlight or fresh blood that was pouring down. He only knew that the shadow at the center of the moon had descended along the dropping light column.

Just as he had expected, it was a Malevolence.

“Sigh, I had planned to lead 75 veteran demon hunters to battle the Countess,” Hasse said as he tucked away his dagger and took out his crossbow and runic cards. “But now there are only three of us. Can you two fight 75 fearsome demon hunters?”

“More than that,” Hao Ren replied with a smile. He took out two long swords that were as dark as cosmic fragments from his Dimensional Pocket. Various turrets and missile launchers emerged from the void behind him. “On top of that, we’ve brought reinforcements.”