The Record of Unusual Creatures

As Hao Ren had expected, Raven 12345’s divinity was super effective in countering the chaos.

The monsters in the mist were a sort of being that subverts natural laws, and their negative aura could be sensed even by a half-baked servant of God like Hao Ren, and Raven 12345’s divinity was undoubtedly the power of Order. Even if she’s screwed in the head, doesn’t mean her laws are all over the place, a real god is the pillar on which the will of the universe stands, and how could mere chaos go against it?

Every time a ‘divine relic’ entered the mist, a wide-area supernatural phenomenon will occur, sometimes it was blindingly bright, sometimes it was a bolt of lightning, while at times, the mist will retreat miles away. When Hao Ren placed a strand of Raven 12345’s hair into the area, a small psionic storm screamed to live, and the entire top half of the mountain was lit by the holy light. The chaotic energy in the place had already warped long time ago and was so concentrated that people would fall sick from it. It was not an exaggeration to say that the place had already detached from the laws of the universe and evidently all those ‘holy relics’ that Hao Ren pulled out had an effect against the surroundings, and regardless of the effects, it was clear that it could disperse the surrounding chaos.

And given how effective this dispersion was, Hao Ren had to carefully choose from the whole pile of relics for an item or two which effect was milder and least likely to injure someone. Else any mortal caught in between the storm of Order and Chaos would simply be annihilated.

Hao Ren then came back holding a plastic plate. This was a new addition to his collection and was a by-the-way thing he took from Raven 12345 after bringing the ‘Emperor’s Sigh’ back. There was even a production print on it…

But Veronica and Morian could not read the words. In their eyes, that was an amazing holy relic.

And Hao Ren seems to be carrying a boatload of them.

The two captains and about two dozens of royal knights all raised an eyebrow at Hao Ren. They were a learned bunch, and they had seen the royal collection of relics of Order, but what Hao Ren had was something different altogether. None of the items he had fits the image of a holy relic; with cups, plates, chopsticks, pens and the likes, and the second part was how irreverent Hao Ren had treated the items. He started chucking them the moment he pulled them out. Did the holy spirits above treat their relics this way too?

Even the most learned scholars of the kingdom had to undergo a two-fold purification (hand wash) and a five-minute long chant before he even gets to take one of the goddess’ statuettes out of the royal treasury…

After some thought, Veronica decided to pin everything on the lost ‘culture of yore’.

“This thing can provide a good amount of protection.” Hao Ren started yapping excitedly as he got back to the group. “I’ve tested it just now. It could create a safe zone a couple hundred of meters wide, and is much more useful than the banners.”

“Is this a holy relic from the temple?” Morian was not as receptive as the princess was, and the cautious knight could not help but ask. “I’ve seen ancient relics before, but I’ve never seen anything that had such an…’obvious’ effect.”

“This is a special relic.” Hao Ren tried to keep a straight face. “It’s my own personal item. And is different from the mass-produced stuff in the temple. Don’t bother asking me about its origins, I can’t even explain them myself.”

“Personal items?” Veronica looked at Hao Ren like she’s seeing an alien. She had a mind of asking if the ancients were all monsters during their heyday, but she smartly decided to pivot it another way. “Were you the bishop of this temple? You’re very young…”

Hao Ren pondered for a bit before answering, his expression serious. “I am a real high pontiff, you know.”

Lunatic goddess above, not a word out of his mouth was a lie.

Seeing how the princess and the old knight had a belly full of questions, Hao Ren immediately waved them off. “That’s enough for now, you won’t be able to glean much off me as I’m equally clueless of things myself. But let everyone rest for now. Mend the wounded, fill your bellies, and take a nap. After that we’ll need to make our way back to civilization.”

That did the trick of shutting the two up.

The knights rest in the temple for about a day, and as Veronica completed a round with an amulet in hand, and the knights got their orders to move out.

And that respite was frankly insufficient, but Veronica had to contend with problems of supply and minds of her men. The second part was especially important; staying in the domain of chaos for any length of time would be fatal to the human mind, and this will continue even within a holy shelter. The knights had already spent time in the wilderness longer than they should, and if they do not leave this place soon, they would be consumed by the chaos without them even noticing.

Before they leave the temple, Veronica had her men remove their armor and sidearms.

“Everyone, just go with your tunics, main weapon, Amulet of Order and the magic stones. Take two days worth of rations from me.” Veronica barked her orders as she went around her men and put the heavy armor and weapons into her dimensional pocket. Those items will be useful after crossing the wilderness, but now they are just mere burdens. “We have no more mounts, and we will need to travel light!”

The princess now displayed the air of a proper commander as she commanded about two dozen burly men. That show of authority made Hao Ren revise his opinion of her.

A young knight could not help himself but ask. “Your highness, what do we do if we were to get into combat without armor?”

“We shall place our faith in the protector’s divine relics.” Veronica looked at Hao Ren. “He said these ancient relics can protect us throughout the journey and don’t need to recharge like our golden warbanners. If everything goes to plan, we shouldn’t be getting into a scrap.”

She then added. “Crossing the wilderness in full armor is just having a death wish. Going light at least gives you some hope of survival.”

After completing their preparations, the lightly armed and armored knights left the ancient temple. With Hao Ren at the fore, the small troupe descended the mountain towards the wilderness.

On the desolated wilderness, it was engulfed in an eternal flux of darkness and chaos as the thin mist encroached on everything. Only the barren grounds and twisted rock formations were visible, alongside some blackened plant life laying lifelessly on the ground, showing signs of petrification.

The dreadfully dark spots rumbled as they passed by slowly as if a beast was hiding deep in the sky looking down maliciously at this world.

The golden war banners had been exchanged for the holy relics borrowed from Hao Ren, and these items that were personally used by a goddess were emanating a gentle halo. Anywhere was the light radiated, chaos retreated, and the mist dissipated. The road ahead was clear.

The lightly armed group quickly made their way across the plains and everyone was on their nerves. While the holy relics could push back the chaos, this place was still a notorious death zone. The dangers in the mist not only came from the stalking Servants of Chaos but also roaming beasts that had not been fully corrupted yet. These pitiful beasts, straddling between Order and Chaos would inadvertently break through the safe zones of the holy relic and many careless travelers perished by their claws. This was an elementary mistake the knights could not afford to make.

“Just seven years ago, this vast plains was a domain of Order.” Veronica sighed at the dreadful sight before her. “At that time there was still a small town between the Darkshadow Thicket and the wilderness. It was called Tamerqe and it produced the best grape wine on the continent. Going back further 300 years ago, the wilderness even had a name: ‘Greenfields’. As it was an endless plain, the centaurs used to live there a long time ago.”

Morian then sighed. “Chaos always tried to invade the realms of Order, and the realms of Order would reclaim their lost grounds. This back-and-forth battle went on for thousands of years. No one even knew when the whole thing started. The wilderness will become fertile ground again, and a powerful nation can become nothing but a muddy swamp. This is a cycle, and how the laws of this world operate.”

Hao Ren looked blankly at Veronica. “I have no idea of anything you guys just said.”

“That’s a given. You were asleep for a thousand years.” The princess smiled. She had by now firmly believe that Hao Ren was an ancient guardian who had slept on the holy site for more than a thousand years. “That was the world of yore, a world where the war of Order and Chaos had been ongoing for a thousand years. Your battles are probably even more horrific than the skirmishes that we have.”

I could tell from those explosions earlier, the princess said to herself.

“Tell me more about the stories of this world.” Hao Ren said. “I’m totally clueless about your world, to be honest.”

“Of course. We have a long way to go too. You’ll have plenty of time to learn.”