The Record of Unusual Creatures

Inspectors observed the world from a unique perspective. Since they observed from a different angle, their focuses were often unusual. The chaotic forces and the Festered in the wilderness did not surprise Hao Ren at all. But when he saw the sun of Collow, he regarded it as a crucial finding.

A star was shining on this world.

It meant that there was at least a planetary system in the alien dimension of Collow. If Veronica’s description was correct, the planet here might be understood as a series of broken space continent floating in space. But at least the sun in the sky was real—it was a complete and functioning celestial body.

The power of Chaos had not spread to the sun.

He could look directly at the star with his strengthened physique without having to worry about his eyes getting blinded by the bright sunlight. He squinted because it was habitual to human. Gazing at the sun, he began to reevaluate his understanding of the war of Chaos in Collow.

The tens of thousands of years of war might only happen on the earth. All the dark forces in this anomalous dimension were confined to one place. At least as far as he could see, the star was not affected by the distortion of the law. Then what caused the Collow fell into this dark power?

Sir Morian had noticed Hao Ren’s action and realized Hao Ren’s identity as the ancient guardian. He said, “Please don’t stare at the sun like this. The light of Ulo will blind you. You haven’t seen the sun for many years. No. Have you seen the sun before?”

Hao Ren was started for a while and did not know how to react. Ulo was probably a religious name for the sun in this world, and Morian’s question was little inexplicable. “Why do you think I have never seen the sun before?”

“Legend has it that the tide of Chaos 10 centuries ago was unprecedented. Half of the world, except the sanctum, had fallen into eternal darkness. For a hundred years, thick clouds were blocking the light of Ulo, and humans were relying on the power of magic and faith to survive. In the place where the eternal night existed, generations of people had never seen the sun.”

Now Hao Ren began to understand. He appeared calm. “I have of course seen the sun, and I have seen it many times.”

I have even blown up one, Hao Ren whispered to himself.

“Ahh, forgive my gaffe.” Sir Morian immediately bowed a little and apologized, and his attitude was frank.

“It doesn’t matter.” Hao Ren waved his hand and continued to gaze into the distant land.

The airships flew faster than Hao Ren had expected. Their maker had not yet figured out the way to seal the cabin, but the airships had runes around their hulls, which could not only control airflow but also reduce the drag down to an incredibly low level and thus increase speed. Soon the mountains in the west had become a faint silhouette at the end of the horizon while the sight ahead was becoming the ‘normal.’

They were flying over a plain, and the vast expanse of land was covered in lush vegetation. Two glittering rivers ran across the plains, and they eventually flowed into a half-moon lake. On both sides of the river were towns and villages. Looking at this height, they appeared like small wooden blocks laid flat on the ground. Around these ‘wooden blocks’ were yellow crop fields and pastures.

Roads crisscrossed between towns and villages. With his supervision, Hao Ren could even see the horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians traversing the streets.

All of this was under the glorious sun of Ulo. Everything was brimming with life and orderly.

Hao Ren looked back to the west, where the mountains were almost invisible. But the light pillar of Fort West was still standing as if a fine silver thread at the end of the dark blue sky, where the boundary of Chaos was.

If he had not come from the realm of Chaos, he could hardly believe that the earth at the end of the horizon was the world shrouded in chaos. The worlds on both sides of the barrier were so distinctly different.

“No matter how many times you look at it, it is still a sight to behold,” Sir Morian said. He seemed to have become more talkative after returning to the hinterland. He even took the initiative to strike up a conversation. “Look, this is the reason and result we block the chaos outside the barrier. This calm and peaceful land is our home. We only need to fight for ten years at the border, and then our children and grandchildren would be able to live peacefully on this fertile soil for a century.”

“But a hundred years later, the Chaos will return.”

“Then we will fight them again. Some of us will die, but our children and grandchildren will continue the struggle.”

Hao Ren turned around and looked at Sir Morian for a while. He had not interacted much with the old knight in the past many days, because the old man gave him a serious, stereotypical, and difficult-to-get-along kind of old chap. But this time Hao Ren had a deeper understanding of Morian, or rather, he had begun to understand the thinking of many people in Collow.

Hao Ren could not help but nod. “You guys deserve respect.”

“We?” Morian felt a bit strange. “Why are you so saying so? Were you not a warrior fighting in the frontiers of Chaos and Order a thousand years ago? You should be a warrior bigger than us. Guarding a temple to the last moment was not something anyone could do.”

Hao Ren was choked in embarrassment.

But he quickly picked up where Morian left off. “You are right—I am indeed a guardian. I guard many things, including the peace and order of Collow. So, knight of a thousand years later, I do not know what is your thought on the Chaos. Where do you think it comes from?”

The quick switch of conversation worked like a charm. Morian suddenly turned serious as he quickly expounded his views. “All the sacred books have recorded that the evil giant Lockmarton was the culprit that brought the world into the darkness. He broke free from the chains and broke the earth apart, but he was also injured by the security measures of the goddess of creation. The ancient warden used a weapon given by the goddess to pierce into the head of Lockmarton, whose corrupted thoughts spurted out and into the Sea of Carnos, while his sinful body was scattered on the earth. His flesh and blood turned into ashes. When the ashes drifted with the wind, they became the first Chaos and monsters. The so-called tide of Chaos is the eternal nightmare of Lockmarton. He might have died, but his thoughts scattered in the Sea of Carnos continued to function. Every hundred years, his thought would produce a dream, in which he thought he was still alive. So his body in this world would come alive again and produce the tide of Chaos. But a dream is still a dream, the power of Order the goddess left behind will not allow the long-term existence of the twisting force, so the tide of Chaos will dissipate eventually—it comes and goes in a cycle.”

Hao Ren listened to Morian’s long-winded speech, startled. He did not expect that Morian could talk for so long in a single breath. But the myth he heard aroused his interest.

It was a surprise that the people of Collow explain the Chaos this way. It was a colorful mythical story, but there was some part that worthy of pondering.

He thought of the First Born, which could tear a planet apart, and after its death, its soul could still live for some time and be able to destroy the living beings in the world. Looking from this angle, the First Born did match the legend of Lockmarton of Collow.”

But there was one fatal flaw: as far as Hao Ren knew, it was impossible that the soul of the First Born could survive for 10,000 years after it left its body. And the First Borns had never manifested the strange phenomenon as the Chaos.

While thinking, he did not let Morian feel being left alone. “You are reading from the textbook. I want to know what you think about the world of Chaos.”

“What I think? I think it is an enemy. A sworn enemy.” Morian shrugged. “Scholars and monks only think about problems. But it is the task of the soldiers to get rid of the problem.”

Hao Ren felt what the old knight said was true.

The airships had almost finished crossing the Great Plains in the west. At the end of the plain, a strange geological landscape came into view.

The sight instantly attracted Hao Ren’s eyeballs.

Towering black pillars with clouds and light lingering on the surface were exuding a kind of power—a familiar type of power.

It was the divine power of the goddess of creation.