The Record of Unusual Creatures

The room was quiet. Everyone was silently circulating the precious ancient instruments and artifacts. The demon hunters were engrossed in the relics, holding every piece handed to them carefully as if they were treasures too valuable to be broken. Except White Flame and Teuton, all of the demon hunters in the room were the most profound and senior figures, who could fully appreciate the value and significance of these antique items: the old scrolls, letters on the slates, crystals that recorded information, as well as ancient artifacts with inscriptions, each of which had a history of at least 6,000 years. That was the period when demon hunters were a real established power. It was also a historical turning point for them.

Not to mention, an era covered in a fog of mystery.

The demon hunters knew that they had a lot in common with other otherworldlings on the planet. Even if they had been trying to define the differences, they could not deny the fact that they had also suddenly appeared on Earth 10,000 years ago. They knew that they had at least 10,000 years of historical inheritance on this planet, but there was a blank period 6,000 years ago: it was a gap in their history, which could be in the range of few hundred years.

The few hundred years were a mere snap of the fingers compared to their inheritance of 10,000 years, but it was also the most critical period.

Before this blank period, the demon hunters were just a small group of people who wandered in the cold north. Despite their superior physical strength and magic ability, they did not develop their own profession and power system due to the lack of necessary technical and cultural knowledge. They were weak. They lived in seclusion in the snow land to keep themselves away from the powerful otherworldlings who were wandering around the world at the time. Almost no otherworldlings knew their existence.

After this blank period, the demon hunters suddenly prospered. They had a home called Coldpath in a different dimension where there were countless ancient ruins to discover and wealth left behind by a super civilization. They began to develop their own talents, forming the standard demon-hunter power system. More importantly, they had established an ambitious spiritual goal and were united by the noble goal of killing the otherworldlings by launching the first War of Demon Hunting in history.

But no one knew precisely how this blank period happened: the history of this hundred years was missing mysteriously.

After the blank period of a hundred years, the demon hunters suddenly reappeared and became the most violent people on the planet.

Scholars had spent a great deal of time and effort trying to uncover the truth, but there was no significant discovery made. The sporadic pieces of evidence that they found were merely insufficient to unveil what happened during the hundred-year blank period. It was the greatest regret for the demon hunters. Elder Gregowen once said, “We have a glorious history of 10,000 years, but we have lost the most critical 100 years!”

Such an unnatural fault would inevitably lead to the speculation of conspiracy theories.

But Hao Ren knew it. There was only one reason for their historical blackout: Vivian had participated in the rise of the demon hunters during the entire period of hundreds of years. She could be deemed the main character of the rise of the demon hunters. When her name and deeds were erased, there was nothing left in this hundred-year history.

“This-This…” Elder Gregowen’s hands trembled as he held an ancient scroll, the contents of which horrified and confused him. His heart was racing. “The 14th sage mentioned here…”

Without waiting for Gregowen to finish, Hao Ren got to his feet and asked, “Do you need to verify the authenticity of the scroll?”

The elders in the room looked at each other. They all had read the critical evidence, but the truth struck them so hard that they found it unbelievable. They began to question their understanding and were suspicious of everything they saw, including the instruments before them.

“If these are true, it would the biggest joke in history,” Elder Andaherr said. Her voice was hoarse, and her slightly petite body shrank into her oversized windbreaker as if she was hiding from something, “And it’s not funny.”

Hao Ren did not say a thing, just shrugging and smiling, as if admitting that reality was indeed more bizarre than in the novel.

“There is no doubt about the authenticity of these instruments,” said Claude, getting to his feet. “These things have been kept in the secret chamber of the first sage for the past few thousand years. There is still a residue of magic blessings left by the first sage. You can see it for yourself. And…”

While speaking, Claude’s eyes fell on Elder Gregowen.

“Elder Gregowen, you’re the most senior here. If I have not guessed wrong, you should be able to verify the authenticity of these records,” Claude said.

Gregowen let out a sigh, pinching his brows with his hand as if he was drained. He then looked at his juniors who were waiting for his reply. After a long while, he knocked on the table and said, “I am afraid… this is true.”

There was some commotion.

“I was troubled by some fragmented dreams and memories since three days ago,” Gregowen said and let out a sigh again. “At first I thought it was the influence of the somnambulism, but soon the hallucinations disappeared, only these fragmented memories and dreams kept appearing. Now I finally figured out that it was the memory of my childhood. Several of my old friends should know that I have vague images of my childhood, which are part of our lost memories.”

Gregowen forced a smile and pointed to the ancient scrolls on the table.

“I saw Vivian Ancestor leading the demon hunters in the Arctic Circle and the early excavation work in Coldpath. Although I have only recovered a small portion of my memory, it is certainly consistent with the records in the scrolls,” Gregowen said.

Hao Ren’s eyes brightened up.

He thought that the demon hunters of 6,000 years ago had all died, but to his surprise, there was still one alive, that was Gregowen, who would be able to testify.

It was just that the curse of the Godslayer was so powerful that it had permanently damaged some of Gregowen’s brain and thus his memory. Perhaps Gregowen back then was too fragile, and the curse had affected him severely. The old demon hunter could only recall a limited amount of memory. Otherwise, the evidence would be even more convincing.

Anyway, the mystery began to clear up.

Hao Ren told the elders all he had heard about Vivian, the rise of the demon hunters and the truth of the Woe of Madness caused by the black sword from Ymir. But he did not go into detail about the origins of the sword and the deicide behind it, because the background was complicated and it was impossible to explain clearly all at once. While Hao Ren narrated the events, White Flame, Teuton, and Claude added details to the explanation, making the stories more credible.

The vague fragments of memory in Gregowen’s mind fit perfectly with the facts.

“That’s all about it,” Hao Ren said after telling what he knew. He then pointed to Vivian and said, “She is your 14th sage. Strictly speaking, she is the most qualified leader of demon hunters who are still alive. Whether you are willing to admit it or not, she is your supreme leader who succeeded the dead sages.”

But, she is not the only one, Hao Ren thought to himself.

The leaders at the scene could not believe the story about the 14th sage.

Even Vivian herself was stunned.

According to the old family law, Vivian had never abdicated her status as the 14th sage. When the other sages died, the vampire naturally became the de facto leader of the demon-hunter organization.

As if this was not shocking enough, Hao Ren did not give the elders time to digest by dropping another bombshell. “I have something more mind-boggling to tell you.”

Andaherr got to her feet and said with a shivery voice, “Is there anything more hair-raising than this?”

Andaherr grasped with her mind. What could have more mind-bending than that Vivian was the head of the demon hunters? She thought.

Lily was asleep at the table. Hao Ren grabbed her up by her collar, waved the husky maiden in front of everyone. “Meet your ancestor.”

Jolted from her sleep, Lily opened her eyes. She was groggy with saliva dripping from her mouth. “What is going on?”