The Record of Unusual Creatures

The undead army loitering outside Tartarus seemed to be a problem.

Maybe it should not be called an army because Hades, who ruled the world, had died, and the undead under his control were running wild. The undead used to be an army, but after they lost their commander, they only wandered around on the crumbling wasteland of Tartarus.

However, an undead army without a leader was no less dangerous. On the contrary, just because they had lost their unified command, they scattered everywhere, occupying places that used to be safe passages.

Hao Ren and his team overlooked the situation on the plain from higher ground. Walking skeletons and carrion were blocking the way leading to the copper palace. Translucent souls were elusive; the number of these seemingly fragile guys was large enough to cause trypophobia, triggering patients to commit suicide instantly. There was little doubt that as soon as one undead was killed, there would be millions of undead arriving. Hao Ren and his men may have been able to fight their way out, but it would undoubtedly put a strain on their strength and energy. They would suffer losses in Tartarus before they could even see the entrance to Mount Olympus. That would be very unwise.

“Didn’t the demon hunters overrun this place once?” Hessiana looked at Hasse, displeased. “You’ve even stormed into the copper palace and killed Hades. Why did you not finish the skeletons on the plain?”

“My compatriots killed all the undead creatures that they met,” Hasse said. There was no expression on his face except for in his eyes. They exuded a sense of helplessness. “But half of the dead rose again.”

Hao Ren had noticed something about the undead creatures. They were all wounded, some lacked arms, some with broken legs, some had only half of their bodies crawling on the ground, and some even headless. Many skeletons were made up of bones from different individuals, making them look weird. Had there not been for the dark energy held the bones together, those joints would have probably fallen apart.

It was an army that had been eliminated before and now came back to life again.

The sacred magic of the demon hunters had a damaging effect on the dark creatures like the undead. Those undead, when burned by the Sacred Flame, could never resurrect. But the mission of the demon hunters besieged Tartarus back then was to kill Hades. Their target was the copper palace. The demon hunters did not waste the precious holy water and magic power on the cannon fodder like the undead creatures. Instead, they killed them with silver weapons. But as soon as the demon hunters left, half of the bodies on the Tartarus battlefields rose again.

The corpses on the plain outside the copper palace were nothing compared to the much more powerful souls lurking on the inside.

The underworld palace of Hades had a triple-layer wall. Outside, it was plains where the undead roamed. Inside the wall was where the lord of the underworld resided. This dimension was a failed project of the Olympian gods in building a home. But as a test site and cemetery to experiment spells of the soul and collect soul power, it was a success. Hades was sent to guard this out of control lab, and he had his way of killing time. For thousands of years, Hades studied the forbidden spells in the copper palace day and night using the bodies and souls of various creatures as his experimental subjects. He had created many power and disgusting undead creatures and used them to guard his palace.

The ordinary undead was outside the triple-layer wall, while on the inside, there were the experimental products of Hades.

The experimental products could still remain very powerful even if the demon hunters had killed them once.

But as horrifying as the copper palace was, it was still the best route to go to the divine realm of Olympus.

“I can use my blood magic to temporarily shroud the breath of the living.” Hessiana looked at everyone. “This way, we can at least walked past the ordinary undead on the plain. After we enter the copper palace, the undead on the outside would no longer be a concern. The undead would not dare to enter the Temple of Hades even though Hades is dead.”

“Good idea, but there is a problem,” Hao Ren said, forcing a smile. “Cast your blood magic on me.”

Hessiana had no idea what Hao Ren was thinking. But since he asked, she was more than happy to oblige. With a wave of her hand, she summoned a blood sphere—one that was non-fatal—and smashed it on the face of Hao Ren. “You ask for it. –Aah!”

Before the blood sphere could even come close to Hao Ren’s face, it disappeared instantly into thin air.

Little Bat’s jaw dropped to the ground. “Are your face enchanted?”

Hao Ren almost choked hearing what Hessiana said. “Enchanted my foot! I am a magic-immune. At least Vivian’s school of magic has no effect on me, let alone yours. The only power of Vivian that I have no defense against is her crimson moon. But all other lower-order magic is useless against me.”

Little Bat was baffled. “Holy moly, where did you acquire such an ability?”

“I am born with it,” Hao Ren replied.

Hessiana was even more confused. “Then the only option is to fight our way in. We may be able to make it.”

Hao Ren thought for a moment, and he had another idea. “I have a better plan.”

Little Hessiana looked at Hao Ren curiously.

“You guys could sneak into the copper palace under cover of shadowmancy. Since I could not hide my scent, I will use myself as a bait to draw a much undead to myself as possible. After that, we meet at the main entrance of the copper palace.”

Hao Ren’s plan surprised Hessiana. She was wide-eyed and looked at Hao Ren as if she had seen an extraterrestrial being. “I cannot believe that you still want to play hero at this moment.”

Hao Ren rolled his eyes. But it was Lily that showed more empathy. “It is too dangerous, Mr. Landlord! You cannot possibly fight so many undead alone. They will crush you.”

Hao Ren smiled and waved his hand. “Don’t worry, I have a plan.”

Hao Ren explained with a solemn face to alleviate Lily’s concern. “I have a way to break through the undead. But I cannot do it while bringing you all together. Let me be frank; when alone, I can cross the plain like entering into a no man’s land. It is just that my method may frighten you all.”

Lily and Hasse could not help but almost believe Hao Ren considering how confident he was. Hessiana, however, was less convinced. “Heck, you sound like it is real.”

But the expression on Little Bat’s face showed that she had also believed him.

So that was the plan.

Hasse and Hessiana quickly got ready. The four of them gathered together. As Little Bat recited an incantation, a layer of dark-red light curtain appeared out of nowhere and shrouded the four of them before it gradually disappeared.

It seemed that nothing had changed. But the heartbeat, body heat and breathing of the four had disappeared from Hao Ren’s perception. Even the ‘air’ of the living had become elusive.

A shiver ran up Hao Ren’s spine. His buddies before him seemed to have turned into fake undead. When he closed his eyes, it felt like he was in the morgue.

“How is it working?” Hessiana looked at Hao Ren with a smug look.

“Dead to the core.” Hao Ren nodded. He was totally convinced.

Hessiana was stupefied.

Under cover of blood magic, the four carefully went down the high ground and headed for the plains of the undead.

Hao Ren watched nervously. But the undead seemed to have not noticed the four living persons as they walked past, letting them swagger cross the territory of the skeletons and zombies.

Hao Ren took a deep breath, turned around to look in another direction. He took out a pair of plasma handguns from the dimensional pocket.

Overlooking at the dark world full of dead souls that represented the end of the Mythological Era, Hao Ren sighed.

“Sons of a bitch!”

Boom!

An earth-shattering explosion was heard from behind. The four ground to a sudden halt. Hessiana looked back at the direction from where they came and saw a little mushroom cloud carrying festered bodies parts and broken bones rising up into the air.

The explosion had alarmed the other undead. After a while, groups of undead had gathered and began to swell in the direction of the blast.

Hessiana’s brows knitted together. She might not warm not to Hao Ren, but this time, she could not help worry about him. Perhaps Hao Ren’s heroic deed had touched Litle Bat, she finally muttered, “Is that guy okay?”

Lily, who had been worried a while ago, was not concerned at all this time. “He is fine. Mr. Landlord can handle it.”

“Then why did you try to stop him earlier?”

“Oh, but Mr. Landlord said he could handle it, then he could handle it.”

Hessiana could believe how ingenious the husky was.

How happy it was to be simple-minded.

Hessiana came out of her wandered thoughts. She carefully maintained her Blood Curtain as she led the others hustled toward the pure copper palace at the highest point of Tartarus.