The Record of Unusual Creatures

Smart people preferred to be aristocrats in paradise than be kings in swamps and radioactive craters.

Those who did not care about the enjoyment of life and modern society were rare, but they still existed. These extremists were hell-bent on rebuilding their glory; they were motivated by the sense of honor or the illusion of ruling the world.

However, they were a minority.

The Shadow Council was an organization that protected the interests of the majority. Those wanting enjoyment, peace and wealth formed this council. They wanted to ensure the future would move in a direction in line with their expectations, and they would eliminate the minority who challenged them.

Hao Ren knew that all orders and rules in the mortal world were temporary. This Shadow Council system was also brief, just as the Mythological Era had finally come to an end, the peace that the demon hunters had maintained through their high-handedness for thousands of years would end in a few days. The Shadow Council would probably last even shorter.

But at least for the time being, there was no worry about more turmoil.

The discussions about the Shadow Council and the future direction had gone into the second day. As the largest sanctuary in Europe, there were not only family representatives from the Athens Sanctuary, but also spokespersons who came recently from other sanctuaries across Europe. These people were here to discuss the various problems after the disappearance of the demon hunters. They gathered just at the right time; the meeting effectively became sort of the European Supernatural Creatures Conference. It was said that the otherworldling family leaders in other parts of the world were also coming. They all responded to the call of the Athens Sanctuary—strictly speaking, they were responding to the call of some of the most senior ancients. So the formation of the Shadow Council was surprisingly fast.

Hao Ren was not interested in this. He led his men and left the meeting the next day and then strolled around in the Shadowy City. He was not worried about the problem of monitoring as Hessiana was still at the meeting. As the split of the most ancient, the little bat was now rising towards the top of the Shadow Council, giving the long-standing prominent family leaders a run for their money.

Though mischievous, Hessiana was capable in her own right. Under Vivian’s stern command, this naughty kid followed Hao Ren’s instructions. She reported the progress of the Shadow Council while playing her role in the meeting as per Hao Ren had instructed.

They strolled to a high platform in the southwest corner of the city. This elevated platform was the entrance that they used when they first visited the Shadowy Dimension. It was linked to the antique shop of Hesperides. An avatar of Grandalr’s tree swayed in a corner, waving his own branches and leaves, and occasionally watching the movement of Vivian, his master with a pair of dim eyes on the trunk. The old tree guardian was one of the most highly respected Ancients in the city, but it did not participate in the meeting: it was a disinterested party.

“Ma’am, look at the city; out of the thousands of supernatural creatures here, only less than one-tenth of them dared to go to the outside world for the past few thousand years. They were very low-key and secretive because once they were exposed, the demon hunter would come after them in flocks,” the old tree guardian said. Feeling a bit boring, he began to talk to Vivian. “I have heard about the Shadow Council and the end of demon hunting. This means that tens of thousands of otherworldlings will openly enter human society. I am a bit uneasy about it,” the old tree said.

Grandalr was an old magic tree. It inherited the nature of his own race, which was that he disliked change. He was not sure whether the future was going to be good or bad, so he could not help but express what was in his mind.

“No. The otherworldings do not enter openly. There is a clause in the agreement that you cannot interfere with human society. Disrupting the social order will affect the interests of many large families,” Vivian said, patiently correcting him. “Did you say tens of thousands of them? Let us not first mention that not everyone could pass the assessment. Even if they all pass, do you know how large the human population in the world is?” she said.

“Of course, there will still be some changes, such as a sudden emergence of many urban or spiritual legends,” Hao Ren said and smiled. He did not take this seriously. As an inspector, he should pay attention to the ‘orderly development’ of civilization. Orderly development was not static. Any changes were considered reasonable under the condition that the foundation was not shaken. So he could not care less.

When the Shadow Council matured, there were be more and more unusual creatures living among humans. Consequently, more and more humans would come into contact with the mysterious realm. Some subtle changes would occur naturally. This peaceful and mutual infiltration seemed not that bad at all.

Just when Hao Ren was losing himself in a maze of thoughts, a shadow in white smoke suddenly appeared on the platform. The smoke quickly condensed to form the figure of a woman.

This woman had a cold temperament. She was none other than Hel, the sole survivor of the Norse gods, who frequently appeared before him recently. She was low-key, indifferent and barely talking with outsiders. Hao Ren did not know her well, but after the last Shade of Chaos incident, he became an acquaintance of this goddess of death.

“You look for me?” Hel asked, walking straight up to Vivian. “Hesperides asked me to see you after the meeting.”

Though a veteran being who survived the Mythological Era, Hel was not considered an ancient. Not all the unusual creatures who lived through the Mythological Era were deemed to be ancient. Only the old guys who were born in the glory days of the gods and had a particular influence are counted as one. Hesperides fulfilled the requirement because of her age, but Hel fell short by a bit. She could only be classified as being from the “Middle Ages.” So, despite her unsociability and bad temper, she still showed enough respect for Vivian.

According to some grapevine, Hel as a child was robbed of her candy by Vivian. It was also possible that it was her father, Loki, who was deprived of a sweet.

“I’m not the one looking for you,” Vivian said, raising her finger to point at Hao Ren. “It’s the head of the house.”

Vivian had been calling Hao Ren ‘Head of the House’ since they came to the sanctuary. Perhaps it was to emphasize Hao Ren’s status as a “team leader” and let him have more say in the sanctuary. She publicly recognized Hao Ren’s leadership in front of the unusual creatures and thus accorded her authority to Hao Ren. It turned out that the trick worked pretty well, except that it had agitated Hessiana, the jumpy little bat.

Hel looked at Hao Ren with a zombie face but quizzical eyes. Hao Ren said bluntly, “You are a survivor of the Norse gods.”

Hel, who was still expressionless, nodded.

“When Yggdrasil dimensional chain exploded, you were there. But you escaped the explosion?”

Hel continued to nod.

“Do you know where the dimensional debris are after the explosion of the Nine Worlds? Any clues will do.”

Hel’s face finally had some animation. “You’re looking for the Nine Worlds, aren’t you?”

Hao Ren’s heart missed a bit. Her reply seemed to reinforce the notion that the debris of the Nine Worlds really existed.

When he summoned the Norse survivor, he did not have high hope of getting anything out of her. But her reply was a pleasant surprise.

“So the Nine Worlds really exist?” Hao Ren’s eyes were filled with excitement. “Do you know the situation of Svartalfheim and Jotunheim?” he asked.

Hel looked at Hao Ren with suspicion, but she had no intention of hiding the historical relics that had already turned into ruins. “Even a divine realm as simple as Olympus could survive the explosion, more so Yggdrasil. The demon hunters have only destroyed the branches that connected the Nine Worlds and the main material world, detaching the alien dimensions from the main material world but not destroying them.”

There is a difference between destroying a world and destroying the dimension where the world was located. Just as human weapons could easily destroy human civilization itself, but would not shake the foundation of the earth, the demon hunters could only kill the gods of Vanir and Asgard but not the nine dimensions. It was consistent with Hao Ren’s guess!

“The Nine Worlds should still exist, and Svartalfheim and Jotunheim are no exception,” Hel said. “But their links to the main material world have been broken, it will be hard for you to find them.”

Hao Ren’s eyebrows arched. “Sounds like you know how,” he said.

Hel hesitated. Vivian patted her on the shoulder. “No matter what you have, it is best to let us try. Maybe those things don’t work in your hand but ours.”

Hel’s brows knit together, her face without a single animation, but she was clearly thinking. At last, she held her hand out in the air before a metal object glowing in electric light emerged in the air.

“This is the spear tip of Gungnir.”