The Record of Unusual Creatures

The Northern Realms, Coldwind Ridge.

There was a sea of camps as military flags fluttered. Military encampments made out of heavy and sturdy rock ash trees extended all across the hilltop as it a trench was dug up along the snowy landscape. Soldiers clad in the ‘winter wolf’ armor unique to the north were busying about among the camps like busy worker ants reinforcing the newly built encampment.

And above the camp, a flickering magic barrier was slowly forming, as the mages from Icewind Vale were working hard to set up barrier pillars all across the camp to get the magical barrier up and running before the coming of the snowstorm.

This was the elite army of the northern six provinces, the Army of the North that was the pride of the Empire and until half a month ago the army was Dragon Empire’s most formidable northern barrier, fighting for the empire against the monsters from the Gorgon’s Abyss in the north, but now they were setting up camp far away from their original defense line with their sword now pointing north against the imperial city.

A figure clad in heavy black plate armor walked up the slop as he looked down at the camp and the soldiers in the camp. The armored figure bore a commanding presence, not to mention a rather tall height, but the special armor allowed this commander’s clearly much more slender limbs to show, and the rose adornment by the side of the cloak too indicated the wearer’s real gender.

A slow trudging of snow was heard from behind as a white-haired general arrived on top of the slope. The old general had the face of a lion and bared his arms even in the blowing snow and his body was so ripped that people wondered if he had barbarian blood running in him. He stopped behind the black-armored figure and his voice reverent, “Your highness, you should get some rest. The storm is coming.”

The black figure did not turn back as a low, yet clearly feminine voice rang out underneath the heavy black helm, “Duke Owen, how do you see this war?”

The old general looked to the distance in the direction of the imperial city, “Ever since the founding of the Army of the North, we only had two missions, to loco down the Gorgon’s Abyss, and to complete the change of the eras. His majesty had given us this mission, and you shall lead us to complete it. This is the raison d’etre of the Army of the North.”

Constance Dragon shook her head, her armor creaking in the process, “Putting your sense of purpose aside, how do you see this war? Our victory and defeats, the future of the empire… and the effects of this war.”

“The warriors of the north can fight against the infestation of the Gorgon’s Abyss whether in fire or ice. We do not have those chainswords or some ancient techniques, we only have will and courage forged in the fires of war, and the brains of our generals that have yet to be frozen solid,” The man referred to as Duke Owen smiled, “I think the Army of the North can go toe to toe with the Ebon Blades, and we have your Broken Blades as well, and that means victory is with us. As for the aftermath of the war…”

The old general demurred for a moment, “Your highness, there are many things that is predestined.”

Constance let out a gentle sigh before looking up in another direction.

Further north, a slightly reddish line leap between the sky and earth and the skies around the red line were showing signs of distortion as if a powerful force had occupied that area and was waiting to invade this world.

“The Gorgon’s Abyss has responded to us. It will be quiet for two years, and we have to end this war within two years.”

“The warriors of the north will not fail you, your highness.”

Constance nodded slightly as she turned away from the Forgon Abyss. Looking at the edge of the Coldwind Ridge, a new snowstorm was brewing.

She took off her helmet as a long silky black hair flew in the wind as the incoming snow and cold wind caused the sharp-eyed, and stern-looking princess to squint, an ancient voice rang in her heart.

“No dynasties last forever, the gods will die, the holy spirits will die, the sages and the dragons will also die. We do not know the start of all of this, but we can only see the bleak future. In that future, the world will be in an eternal night as all creations turn into ash in the dark flames, while all great spirits could only wail helpless at this end. In their limit life and knowledge, the world was bright and graceful, and aside from those born in the age of strife, most will know peace, but the eternals would need to bear the burden of knowing the truth. This is the price of immortality.”

Constance started walking towards the encampment.

“Father, please wait. I will soon be over there to inherit your throne.”

…

There were indeed some changes in the Black Forest, but due to the difference in the observer, the changes could be very well just the truth revealing itself.

The caravans were trudging along a path that no one had taken before as neat rows of fossilized lamps and the endless rows of black pines disappeared behind the caravan. By then all three caravans had changed formed as all of the walls were retracted into a low cover while the passengers sat behind the covers to observe the situation outside; that allowed them to see everything in the forest. Plus the caravans were equipped with a shield generator anyway, and even pulling down the cover would not affect its defensive capabilities.

The third caravans at the end of the group had now moved to the front and became the lead vehicle.

Rheia lay on the front of the caravan as she stared at this mysterious forest, the fog and the temporal distortion were nothing before her eyes, as the forest showed its most real form.

“I can be sure that we are on the correct path of the Black Forest It was originally like that. And all those roads and markers left adventurers are illusions.” Hao Ren explained to Charlemagne and Awenna, “I can even be bolder in my assumption, that for so many years the adventurers had pretty much been circling in the inbetween at the edge of the Black Forest. The adventurers may have felt like they had passed through the Black Forest using the path but in fact, they had gone through some sort of dimensional portal, or those who were circling the forest were under some sort of deep hypnotism, and the true face of the forest had never been seen by anyone before.

Awenna was shocked to the point of not knowing what to say as she looked around her with her eyes opened wide before turning her sights on Rheia “This assumption is very shocking… and who is this young lady? How are you all able to be so bold?”

Rheia mumbled in reply without turning back. “Don’t call me a young lady, I am much older than you all!”

“Her identity is rather complicated, but she has a very unique ability, the moment she sees something… uh no, her ability is to see through everything,” Hao Ren was casual with the explanation. “She could see through all falsehood in the world, and it is because of her, that we are able to step into a realm that no one had stepped foot on before.”

“That Basilica of the World Tree organization of yours… What sort of organization is it?” Charlemagne was hesitating but he ended up asking anyway.

Hao Ren pondered for a moment before answering, “Basically trying to save the world.”

“Pardon me, I had overstepped. Please don’t take it to heart.”

“…I’m being serious!”

As Hao Ren emphasized that he was telling the truth, Lily prodded him on the shoulder. “Mr. Landlord, Mr. Landlord! Look! They appeared again.”

Hao Ren turned to the direction Lily was pointing and saw a few blurry figures at the back of the caravans. Their form then solidified to no different than a real person. They were ‘figures’ clad in civilian garbs, with golden red eyes, and silver haired, standing at two meters tall. Their figures were comprised of both males and females as they walked around the woods like normal people, chatting as they walked into the fog in afar, and the words they spoke were soon becoming audible:

“The frequency of military movement had been really frequent now”

“I heard that fighting had started near the borderlands…”

“The cardinal had been frequenting the Great Cathedral, could it be…”

“The Council of Seven Kings will commence soon, I really hope there’s no chaos this time around.”

The images soon disappeared, while Vivian frowned lightly, “It’s the seventh time already, and now there’s this Council of Seven Kings.”

Ever since the caravan headed deep into the Black Forest, the illusions had appeared more than once.

And the content was different each time.

The first time, Hao Ren had seen the soldiers fighting against a corrupted monster, the second time, they saw a group of wounded refugees running away as the soldiers covered the retreat. The third time, they saw a group of prisoners being led deep into the forest, but the fourth time around they saw a group of workers clad in simple garbs crowding a road, pointing at the forest as if planning some sort of construction work…

And now this was the seventh time.

The illusions had no proper rhythm to it as everything they saw so far were not of a consecutive timeline, at times there were refugees escaping danger, at times, there were pioneers leading an exploration team.

Rheia had first guessed that these illusions were a ‘possibility of the world that never materialized’, but she had discounted that assumption now, and Hao Ren suspected what they saw in the Black Forest were reenactments of the ‘old world’s’ history, and these were parts that even Rheia had never seen before.

These were probably all memories of the past, and for an unknown reason became the ‘false world’, Hao Ren guessed that this unknown cause is probably linked to L’Haronne’s destruction and rebirth.

But there was something that he could not explain. This world was recreated by Rheia’s dream, and something went wrong during that process leading to pieces of the ‘echoes of the old world’ to be left behind, and appeared in this world as the Black Forest?

Looking at the bleak forest, Awenna was nervous. “Are… Are we on the right path?”

And as if to answer her, Rheia who was lying at the front of the carriage suddenly tapped the cover, pointing towards the fork ahead of them. “Up ahead, turn left.”

“Trust her judgment,” Hao Ren smiled, “Her instinct and true sight will lead us to the truth of the forest.”

Awenna almost cried. “But we are not looking for the truth of the forest, we are looking to get out of here as soon as possible…”

Hao Ren’s expression did not change. “Oh, then her instinct and true sight will lead us out of the forest.”

Awenna’s heart sank as she suddenly felt that this mysterious group of people was not looking to get out of the forest…

And just at that moment, Vivian suddenly looked up, her nose wrinkled. “I smell… blood.”