The Record of Unusual Creatures

The rumble of the robotic spiders came from behind while bullets from the heavy-duty rotary machine gun pierced through the air, whistling past them. The sound of the alarm still rang through the city. More Twilight Guards were rushing out from their garrisons, trying to intercept the dangerous elements that were moving towards the lift.

As they passed through a blockade, the steam columns around the lift were getting clearer in front of their eyes.

Feeling awesome riding on Lily’s nose, Hao Ren looked back over his shoulder and found that the steam robots of Steam6 did not pursue them. It seemed like those robotic spiders were only good at defense. He petted Lily on her forehead. “Well done,” he said.

Lily cocked her eyes at Hao Ren, nodding excitedly. “Hu hu hu hu—”

Hao Ren was almost thrown off her nose by the sudden massive movement.

“This is nothing like what I have planned for!” Wendell was still wrapped in a massive swarm of bats, carried away in the air.

“This is Plan B!” Vivian shouted while spreading out her bat wings flying in the air. “Your ancient sage is hidden in the deepest part of the city and heavily guarded. The influence of Lightseekers is no longer as it used to be. Could you still expect to safely bring us to the Iron Throne?”

Y’lisabet was leaping behind Lily with a two-meter robotic leg on her shoulder. “I like Plan B!”

Watching this group of super creatures that were ridiculously powerful and unconventional in their actions, Wendell said nothing. He began to think whether it was a mistake to bring these people into Twilight Capital.

Perhaps the long journey into the dark had weakened his mind. Maybe he was too carried away by the excitement of finding the kindle-light that he had let down his guard as a Lightseeker. Perhaps age had slowed down his ability to think. He saw that he did not really know these people. He only knew their names, that they came from outside Twilight Capital, and that they were the afterglow in the night, but he did not have a clue of their real intention and character.

Now, this group of powerful and mysterious strangers was in Twilight Capital and had quickly shown off their incredible power. Steam6, the main force against the monsters from the outside, was no match for these people. They were heading toward the Iron Throne looking for the ancient sage. Was this really okay? He thought to himself.

As he calmed down from the initial excitement and joy, Wendell began to have cold sweat slowly trickling down his forehead.

Just when this thought started to get out of hand, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind. “Bring them here.”

Shocked, Wendell woke up from his thought. “Who is this?”

“Bring them here.” The voice did not explain anything, it just repeated the phrase with a soft but awe-inspiring tone of voice. “They are the ones I am waiting for.”

Wendell’s mind was blank for a full half a minute until another shrill of the whistle came from afar woke him up. The old man almost exclaimed, but he quickly shut his mouth and tried to reply in his mind. “Ancient sage?”

After a while, the expression on the old man’s face finally eased. With some kind of joy, he looked up and forward, just to see a black steel tower gradually coming in front of his eyes. He said aloud, “There it is! The lift. Up ahead!”

At the top of Twilight Capital, several of the most magnificent buildings leaned together with platforms and steel beams extending out, overlapping and linking with each other to form a grand steel square. Giant gears and bearings rotated on the platform at the edge of the square. Large pipes around the square always hissed with steam that had not completely condensed. A few black steel towers were the most striking structure on the square. These steel towers were inlaid with shinning runes while laser light on the towers swept red laser beams across the square.

This was where the lift was.

The Twilight Guards had assembled on the squares waiting for them.

Hundreds of Steam Assembly guards draped in armor formed a human wall. Each of the guards was at least two meters tall, their armor was heavy, lined with valves and pipes, and a dark-red pressure gauge on their chest was surging with steam power. They were carrying heavy flamethrowers and serving as the first line of defense on the square.

Behind the guards were several semi-mobile heavy artilleries and mobile artilleries, which lay on the ground. The robotic legs of the mobile artilleries were attached securely to the sockets on the platform of the lift. There was a pair of creepy eyeballs moving in between twin-barrel of each artillery.

Behind this second line of defense was the last line of defense: a dozen spellcasters who was floating in midair.

Hao Ren was surprised to see magicians here. Perhaps he should call them wizards. Wearing black robes and hovering two meters above ground, the wizards looked solemn and cold, and their hair fluttered even though there was no wind blowing. Due to years of exposure to forbidden power, they were skinny, almost like mummies. Each spellcaster was surrounded by a few arcane balls, though unlike those of Anthony Alfonso, it showed that they combat masters who meant business.

The existence of magic forces in Twilight Capital was a surprise. Hao Ren could not help but be amazed by the diversity of this city.

“That is the wizard corps,” Wendell said. “They are the scholars with the bloodline of ancient taboos, experts in runes. So be careful. Their power may be weaker than the monsters of Steam6, but their abilities are extraordinary and elusive.

Hao Ren turned and glanced at Wendell. He was surprised. The face of the old man had a mysteriously proud smile, which he was obviously trying to hide.

“What good thing are you thinking of?” Nangong Sanba asked. He had also noticed Wendell’s expression.

“Today is a day of glory.” Wendell did not really answer his question. “The ancient sage is guiding our destiny.”

Everyone felt inexplicable. Meanwhile, the Twilight Guards in front of the lift were already nervous, though.

Most of the Twilight Guards were hurriedly summoned here, clueless about what happened. Ordinary soldiers simply had no clue of what happened in the city, and they had no idea of what kind of enemy they were facing. They heard that Steam6 had already set off to form the first line of defense, so people thought that things would be dealt with in no time. Steam6 was a dominant force in the eyes of ordinary soldiers, never did they expect the enemy would show up in front of them so soon.

Steam6 could not even delay these people for more than ten minutes; this stunned the Twilight guards.

What stunned them, even more, was the appearance of these enemies. The group of people had the exact terrifying look of the beasts from the Mythological era: the giant white wolf (dog) that could swallow anything, the fierce giant that was even taller than the armored steam soldiers, the evil bat-winged woman flying in the air, and the strange half-human, half snake creature!

The wizards floating in the air were obviously more imaginative than the ordinary soldiers on the ground. They had been studying the fragmented ancient history for years, so they had linked what they learned to what they saw. An old wizard whose forehead was inlaid with runes pointed at the giant wolf (dog) and said with a slightly trembling voice, “In the name of the ancestors! That is probably the descendant of Fenrir!”

“The snake-like woman is probably the descendant of Jormungandr!”

“The fierce man must come from the kingdom of the giants. Though he is shorter than the giant, he is just as ugly!”

Their imaginations ran wild, but all wizards were thinking the same thing: these people seem to be the descendants of the ancient devils out of myths and legends. Is the end of Twilight Capital finally here? Are these fierce enemies here to finish what has been left off during the Twilight of the Gods two thousand years ago?

The wizards’ nervousness and fear seemed to be infectious. Hands shivering, one of the guards on the ground, fired a shot accidentally as his massive flamethrower spit out a long trail of flame, which in turn detonated all the explosives on the defensive line.

All hell broke loose.