The Record of Unusual Creatures

The alpha insisted on entering the ominous land polluted by Chaos, which caused disagreement in the group.

The dispute was not surprising: the team that accompanied her consisted of three forces, including the knights of Fort Raven, who besides serving as the guide and guard of the alpha, were also messengers sent to White City by the governor of the southern front, Ulysses. The second force was the Sanctum investigators led by Calaxus. Their purpose was to cross the Kingdom of Taros to search for the Cassouin Grand Temple in the wilderness. The third force was the personal guards of the alpha consisting of demonic wolves, ogres, and bear monsters. Lily had selected them because they were ferocious fighters, loyal to her, and would do whatever the alpha said without questions.

They would make good travel companions, but now they would not see eye to eye.

The head of the Raven Knights was a black-skinned, red-haired female knight named Tridis. Female chief knights were rare in Fort Raven, but no one dared to look down her, who was born with high physical strength and wielding a double sword. Tidris was the first to stand up against the alpha. “The tearing point of Chaos is perilous, Alpha. You don’t understand; it is far stranger than it looks on the outside. We don’t have to waste time here. We need to go to White City as soon as possible, which is a matter of urgency.”

Calaxus joined in the conversation. “The tearing point of Chaos is not uncommon, Alpha. You would see more spectacular tearing points in Taros, where you can explore as much as you want when you get there.”

The monk thought he knew Lily well enough and was thinking that she was only curious about the black-purple fog.

The demonic wolves in the beast team started to howl, meaning they wholeheartedly agreed with the alpha and that the human should shut up.

Lily circled around and then sniffled. She pointed at the head in front. “My nose is fine. I just smelled something familiar here. Maybe Mr. Landlord is in front!”

Calaxus and Tridis looked at each other as they knew that the alpha had an excellent sense of smell. If what the alpha said was true, then no one could stop her from entering the tearing point.

Everyone knew that searching for her landlord was the only reason the alpha went to White City.

“You can decide for yourself,” Lily said with her arms akimbo as she looked at the two groups of humans. “I want to check it out. You can leave if you want. After all, you are not my men, and don’t have to take the risk.”

Calaxus frowned. His eyes swept across his men. After a night’s rest in Fort Raven, the Sanctum warriors had regained their strength. But the former glorious investigators looked like a group of wanderers because they were still wearing their tattered church uniforms.

Before the high-ranking monk, the church knights and monks stood straight, and no one flinched.

“Our mission is to fight the Chaos. No matter where were are, we would not blench when facing the Chaos. But our mission is equally important,” Calaxus said, raising his hand and selecting several knights and monks in the investigation team. “Karl, Hubert, Vanessa, Veruserland, and Ryan; five of you stay on the outside. If the alpha and I have not come out after one day, you are required to continue the journey and finish the mission. Hubert, keep my seals and the sacred objects.”

The high-ranking monk gave a few things to his deputy, a rustic and steady church knight. After a moment of thought, Tridis nodded to Lily and said, “His Excellency Ulysses ordered me to be the guard and guide of the alpha, and as such, we would honor our mission. I will bring half of my men to go with you, and the rest will wait outside for one day, just like the monk’s men do,” she said and turned to her men. “Now those whose names I mention come with me!”

Lily thanked her and looked back, pointing at the large iron cage that the bear monster carried. “What about the smoked meat?”

“This monster still holds important secrets.” Calaxus’ brows knit together. “Bring it to White City and hand it to the royal family of Taros. But guarding the monster must be the bear monsters who would not dream.”

“That’s simple, a few of you stay,” Lily gestured to a few bears, and also a lizard shaman who spoke human language. Otherwise, the stupid bear monsters would not be able to communicate with humans. “You, you, you, and you. Escort the smoked meat. Now, let’s go into that tearing point!”

This time, no one raised any objections.

Everyone checked their gear, and for safety reasons, Lily had put her hair into everyone’s pocket. The alpha then took the lead and stepped into the dark-purple fog.

Lily felt that she had stepped into a different realm. The air was cold and foul, and the dark-purple fog was affecting her visibility. The soil under her feet was soft and putrid. Even the sky above had a layer of dark-purple gauze, making the sun into a dark round spot as if darkness would drive it away anytime soon.

All these changes occurred at the moment Lily entered into the fog. The tearing point of Chaos was a gloomy hillock when looking from the outside. It was never as strange as now.

Lily sniffed, and the foul smell in the air was disturbing. She looked down at her hand and found that she had indeed started to glow again.

This time, the glow was much weaker than when she was in the Black Forest and the vast wasteland, and the size of the light was also much smaller. It was because the land of Order surrounded the tearing point of Chaos, the ubiquitous forces of Order had suppressed the dark primordial magic energy, weakening the conflict between Order and Chaos.

“This place is much bigger than when looking from the outside,” Lily said as she shook her head and looked up. “It looked like a mound from the outside, but inside, it is a hill.”

Calaxus was a veteran in this matter. “There is an air and optical distortion near the tearing point of Chaos. It is normal. Be careful, we are in the realm of Chaos now, and the evil forces here have sensed the arrival of the intruders. They will attack at any time.”

Lily nodded and walked in front toward the hillock.

The hillock was several times larger than when they observed it from the outside, but this time it was only a few hundred meters tall. Lily looked up at the top of the hill and saw a big broken house standing quietly in the dark.

The once gorgeous, two-story house was now run-down with mottled exterior walls and damaged roof. Windows and doors were broken, and twisted and poisonous thorns had overgrown around the house under the stimulation of dark magic. It looked as if the vegetation was going to swallow the entire building as it climbed the second floor.

“That is the Horgus’ Hut,” Calaxus said. The high-ranking monk knew every tearing point of Chaos in Collow from the inside out. He had spent time in the library of Sanctum studying the history of every lair of Chaos. “Four centuries ago, before the existence of the Kingdom of Taros, this hill was once the territory of the Aetos Empire. When a curse-carrying plague broke out in the territory, a powerful Shadow Master came here to investigate the plague, which had signs of shadowmancy. The Shadow Master named Horgus was a Cult of Armageddon believer, who planned everything to collect the primordial magic of darkness to open a portal in the world of Order to Chaos. Later, his plan fell through, and the emperor sent knights to hunt him down and chase him until this place. Here was his last magic lab. The madman used himself as an energy source to open a portal to Chaos.”

“After that, this place became a tearing point,” the female knight Tridis said while shaking her head. “The tearing point once shrouded a third of the southern hills, and after many generations of Sanctum monks and wizards, they reduced the tearing point to its current size. So the mad cultists are the most hateful things in the world; they deserve to die.”

The team had already arrived on the top of the hill, before the broken house. Lily instantly saw there was something abnormal with the place. “Someone was here recently!”

Dark magic filled the house and the surroundings, and poisonous thorns grew all over the place. But someone had cleared the area in front of the door.

Lily got down on the ground and sniffed again. The stench in the decomposed soil irritated her, but she could sense a familiar smell.

Excitement gradually drained from Lily’s face.

Calaxus had noticed Lily’s change of expression. “Alpha, what’s wrong?”

“There are other smells,” Lily said. Her eyes sparkled with a strange light. People familiar with the alpha would know that it was a sign of the awakening of her predator instinct. “It is irritating. I feel like biting people.”

Dark magic began to leak out from the house.

Tridis, alerted by her warrior instinct, drew her swords. “Watch out. There are enemies!”