The Record of Unusual Creatures

Standing beside Teuton and looking up, he saw a collage of disorganized structures. In the vast interior of the tower, a light gray fog was filling the space where corridors, staircases, and bridges were interconnected. There were platforms fixed on the walls, rooms that looked like they were about to crumble any time, walls that served no purpose, and even staircases as well as aisles that were broken in the middle. A discontinuous, broken staircase was connected to the stone platform, and it went upwards before disappearing from his line of sight. It was dizzying at first glance.

The place was so strange that even Hao Ren could not find any logical designs to the messy architecture. The structures that were pieced together by absurd techniques defied any natural law. Such a scene could have caused tremendous mental stress and damage to ordinary humans. After he escaped the spiritual pollution, Hao Ren recalled the sight of the Netherrealm Clock Tower before he entered. The tower looked like it was built by an urchin by stacking blocks on top of each other. Its geometry and structure defied all laws of Physics. Now, it seemed that the interior was far more chaotic than its exterior. It was merely a result of a disastrous architectural design and construction, which went against everything considered normal and possible.

“This…” Lily looked up, feeling choked. She felt as dizzy as Hao Ren did. “How was it like previously?”

“The structure of the Netherrealm Clock Tower is chaotic from the second floor onwards. It has been like that since the beginning,” Teuton said in a serious tone of voice. “But back then, the disorganization was not as bad as it is now. I’ve never seen that combination of staircases and platforms!”

As soon as Teuton’s voice trailed off, a rumbling sound was heard coming from above. They all looked up in unison. A stair moved in the air and slowly joined a platform on the wall.

“Is the tower in the midst of changing its shape?” Vivian found it incredible. “Is this place a living thing?”

Teuton did not say anything. He just stared at the intricate paths and steps above him. His eyes jumped between the platforms and broken rooms, trying to piece together a correct route. “The path is still there. The path on the left should lead us straight to the upper floors. However, these paths are not stable. They are dangerous,” he said.

Y’lisabet raised her hand and asked, “Can’t we just fly?”

“In this tower, the seemingly empty space is more dangerous than it looks,” Teuton said faintly while he continued to observe the ever-changing staircases and platforms above. After a while, he finally figured out that certain paths stayed the same. The structure affixed on the wall was quite stable, and could almost form a path for them to walk on. He led everyone up the path and said, “Come with me. Watch your step.”

They walked out of the wine cellar, following behind Teuton. Due to the chaotic nature of the space, the wine cellar was no longer a sealed space. Not only was the roof gone, but one of the walls had also mysteriously disappeared.

Hao Ren and Vivian were walking side by side. Hao Ren suddenly noticed some cracks in the wall, as though it had been damaged by an impact. Some of the cracks were even a few inches wide with lights of various intensity shining through. He curiously peeked through a crack and was startled.

There was a brightly lit hall on the other side where gorgeous men and women were immersing themselves in gourmet food, music, and wine. The elegant ladies and gentlemen were swinging their bodies along with the music as well as enjoying a never-ending feast. But when Hao Ren realized that he was in the Netherrealm Clock Tower, he had an odd feeling that it was a time warp.

The rest of the team did not notice the cracks on the wall though. The demon hunters just went ahead silently. Only Vivian saw what Hao Ren had seen. She stopped and checked it out. “What did you find?” she asked.

“Something on the other side of the wall,” Hao Ren said. “Look!”

Vivian took a peek. She was not just surprised; she had recognized something familiar. “It looks like the place where Odin held his banquet. I remember Asgard having such a hall,” she said.

“The Nordic gods?” Hao Ren was shocked. The era of Odin and the Nordic gods had ended thousands of years ago. He could not wrap his brain around how this imagery appeared in the cracks of the Netherrealm Clock Tower’s wall.

His brows were knitted together as he peeked through another crack, which was even bigger. To the shock of his life, he saw a sword coming straight right at him.

Hao Ren quickly calmed himself down. The scene of the closed hall, which he had seen earlier was replaced by an open battlefield. Draped in gorgeous armor, warriors with indistinct faces were fighting. Their opponents were mutant beasts and humanoid monsters. A black dragon billowing thick smoke was slowly flying across the sky. The smoke and flames from it ignited the mountains as well as forests below. Not only that, the toxic gas it spewed was corroding and cracking the earth.

On the edge of this chaotic battlefield, a dazzling light like that of the sun was shining on the horizon. It was divine yet destructive.

“It’s the Twilight of the Gods. The battle took place in the Aesirian Garden, and the soldiers were einherjars,” Vivian recognized the scene again. “I saw it from a distance; the Aesirian god and the other ancient gods had a scuffle, and Yggdrasil almost collapsed into the real world. Later, the demon hunters launched a surprise attack on the two sides when they were mostly exhausted. The demon hunters first destroyed Jotunheim, then they fired Annihilator Magic Bullets to the center of Yggdrasil.”

“It’s a weapon of the Netherrealm Clock Tower,” Hao Ren muttered to himself and peeked through another crack. This time, he saw a golden, giant ship floating in the clouds. Its glow was as gorgeous as the sun. Countless figures were moving on the large ship, each of them was tall, strong, and handsome. The huge ship broke through the sea of ​​clouds and revealed the earth below. The Nile River was flowing across the land like a snake.

It was the solar ship of the sun god, Ra.

“These are images from the Mythological Era,” Vivian said in a low voice. “Is this part of the demon hunters’ collection?”

The voice of White Flame came from the front and interrupted Hao Ren as well as Vivian. “What are you two doing there?” she asked.

“What are the cracks on the wall all about?” Hao Ren caught up with the rest of the team and pointed at the cracks on the wall. “Are they ancient video material that your ancestors left behind?” he asked.

White Flame was dumbstruck. “Crack? What crack?”

She glanced at the wall. “There’s nothing there,” she said.

“You can’t see them?” Hao Ren was surprised, immediately pulling Lily towards him. “Can you see the cracks on the wall?”

“Crack? What crack?”

No one else could see the cracks.

Hao Ren asked everyone on the scene, but no one could see them except Vivian and him. That gave him a creepy feeling.

After Vivian described what she saw, White Flame made speculation according to her understanding of the Netherrealm Clock Tower. “What you’ve witnessed is probably the distortion of space and time. The Netherrealm Clock Tower is located in the most unstable rift in space and time. In fact, even we don’t know how big the tower is. Sometimes, inexplicable rooms and doors would appear in the middle of the tower, but in most cases, they’re just illusions. You could see, but not touch them. So, you could have encountered a similar phenomenon.”

Hao Ren did not say anything. He knew that there was truth in what White Flame said, but he was also sure that what he and Vivian saw was different from what White Flame described.

“I was born from the blood of the goddess, whereas you came into direct contact with the divine blood,” Vivian whispered to Hao Ren. “I’m afraid this is the problem: this tower is a relic of the goddess of creation, and both of us have made a connection with it!”

“Meaning, the Netherrealm Clock Tower’s been monitoring the otherworldlings on Earth, and because both of us are related to the divine blood, we’ve been given permission to browse the database?” Hao Ren was stunned. “What is this tower for?” he asked.

Vivian shook her head. “God knows! But judging from its appearance, it has obviously mutated. Perhaps… Oh wait, there’s someone ahead!”