The Record of Unusual Creatures

There seemed to be an indescribable confusion, darkness, and unusualness lurking.

This was a dimension beyond human understanding, a place that was hidden on this planet since the beginning of time, veiled from the common people. In this strange dimension, where direction and distance did not seem tangible, one could see numerous damaged towers and collapsing palaces floating around in space. These warped buildings were connected to each other via mysterious long bridges. Amid the deep, dark chaos, indescribable star clusters and nebulae illuminated the black space as they always had for hundreds of thousands of years. The strange architecture cast elusive shadows like a herald of calamity.

No one knew who built these structures, or who once lived there. Only one thing was certain, and that was, the previous owner was incredibly powerful and technologically very advanced. The seemingly fragile structures floating in space were all unusually immune to damage. Even the strongest unusual creature would have found it difficult to move them by an inch.

Currently, the place was an active war zone.

A fragment that broke off a palace structure was floating there. Despite its damaged state, the fragment still reflected the palace’s glory days when it was still whole. At the main palace structure, where the fragment broke off, there were flashes of white fire and moving shadows of people in black coats. There was screaming and killing everywhere. This once sacred and peaceful space had now become the grand stage for a war of betrayal and evil.

A large, high-ranking demon hunter with dark skin stood before the palace’s entrance. He wielded a massive, odd-looking cross and used it to deflect arrows that came his way. Behind him, in front of the entrance to the palace, a shimmering light screen flickered. The light screen trembled like it was about to collapse. It had already received much damage before this. A small group of exhausted demon hunters hid behind several collapsed pillars as they fought against long-ranged magical attacks with their arrows. One of the soldiers cried out, “Master Teuton! We can’t hold on much longer!”

The burly demon hunter, Master Teuton, hammered his large cross into the ground. A bright flash followed, and a shield was created around the palace. Master Teuton looked around with knitted brows and saw how completely overwhelmed they were—his soldiers were mostly injured, and the protective runes outside the palace were about to give way.

Despite having soldiers guarding the entrance, their physical defensive line was about to collapse.

When he realized all of this, he suddenly heard a loud explosion in the distance. A bright flash illuminated a one-kilometer radius from the center point. He looked up to see a peak of a spire burning furiously a few hundred meters away from him. The spire lit up the surroundings like a torch, and the runes on the spire structure exploded from top to bottom—they were defenses put in place by later inhabitants of the dimension. Compared to the nigh indestructible building structure itself, these magic tricks were simply too fragile.

“…We’ve lost the energy node.” Teuton watched the disaster without expression and gestured to release the light screen outside the palace entrance. “Retreat behind the second defense line.”

The weary soldiers scurried into the palace like their lives depended on it. Teuton was the last to enter. When the soldiers began their retreat, the arrows and magic grenades came at the light screen even more fiercely. These attacks avoided the palace’s original structure and aimed for the weaker defenses, which were later added to it. The light screen flashed as the attacks on it grew stronger. It was only a matter of time before it yielded.

Teuton strode along the palace hallways, the ground shaking occasionally from nearby explosions. He could tell by the explosion sounds and all the shaking, that the enemy had begun to use more powerful siege weapons against them—perhaps the insurgents who attacked the energy node were already there. Teuton halted one of the young hunters running past him and asked, “Where is Mistress White Flame?”

The young hunter looked terrified and nearly cried out when Teuton got a hold of him. He panted heavily and replied, “She-She just came back from the flank defense line, and is now resting in the inner hall.”

Teuton nodded solemnly and made for the inner hall, but then, he turned back and called the young hunter again. “Stay calm, son. From the day you pick up your weapon of holy silver, there is no reason to fear death.”

The young hunter stared at Teuton in a daze, looking thoroughly devastated. “I do not fear death by the hands of demons, but those outside are—”

“Go, secure our defenses,” Teuton cut him off. “Those who stood behind you are also your brothers and sisters. Compared to the mad traitors outside, those who fought beside you are more worthy of your loyalty.”

In the inner hall…

When Teuton stepped inside, he felt heat radiating from all corners. It seemed to burn his body and soul. He looked up to see a young woman standing in the middle of the Sacred Flame, her long, silver hair going down to her waist. White flames burned around her like actual fire, spreading outwards until they covered the entire hall. In fact, the heat was the only palpable thing about the white flames. Nothing in the hall was burning from the Sacred Flame. Teuton was absorbed in the scene for a while before he stepped right into the fire. “We’ve lost the Western Spire’s energy node.”

“I know. I could feel it.” The young, silver-haired lady turned to him and pressed her side with one of her hands. There was a gaping wound there, but instead of blood there was a white flame flowing out of the wound. “The light screen outside is almost at its limit as well.”

“How’s your wound?” Teuton frowned. “I heard you were ambushed.”

White Flame smiled easily, as though she was not directly involved. “He almost succeeded. If his mind had been much stronger, or if he had been able to stand half a second more of the pain from the Sacred Flame…”

She lifted her hand up from her side wound. Her flesh was healing perceptibly. Her healing power was almost as good as a werewolf’s.

*Boom—*

Another explosion came from outside the palace. The inner hall shook violently. Teuton looked up at the dome-shaped structure of the inner hall and continued to speak without losing his calm. “It should last for a few days. The building itself is sturdy. Once the light screen outside is breached, they will have to send in small troops of soldiers to fight us in hand-to-hand combat. The best melee combatants are here with us.”

“It is meaningless to fend them off for just a few more days.” White Flame shook her head. “Should we consider closing off the Stellar Spire? Or just blow up the place…”

Teuton frowned. “We will lose this sacred place forever if we do so. Besides, we may not succeed in sealing off this dimension—the sages may have found a way to reactivate the Stellar Spire from the inside.”

The two of them went silent for a moment. As White Flame gradually recovered, the sea of white fire in the hall dwindled away. Teuton then broke the silence once again. “Hasse is probably still alive.”

White Flame’s eyes widened. The news finally broke her composure.

“Teacher’s alive? He—”

“He was abducted, but the sages will probably not kill an elder so carelessly. According to our intel, the insurgents are more inclined to capture the elders alive and use them.” Teuton looked White Flame in the eye. “I was worried about this, but it seems that the sages did not really go mad—or at least, not entirely. They have strategy and purpose, and this will make them even more difficult to deal with.”

White Flame’s breathing grew heavier. Tiny bursts of white flames began to appear around her.

“White Flame, there is something that only you can do,” Teuton said. Despite being a master level demon hunter like White Flame, their levels of experience were still very different. In the demon hunter community, he was still White Flame’s superior. “Take this to the Countess.”

He produced a small box made of white gold from his person and opened it. Inside was a blood red crystal.

“This is…”

“Hasse left this behind. It’s said that Sage Beetholis gave it to him about a month ago. The sage also said this, ‘If there’s an emergency, or if something truly disastrous occurs, give this box to the Countess.’ I think our current situation is what Sage Beetholis was referring to.”

“The Countess…” White Flame was stunned by the news. “Do you mean…”

“There is only one ancient being in the entire universe that Sage Beetholis would refer to as such.”