The Record of Unusual Creatures

Lily was happy about the safe return of the lizard scouts as it proved that the fur on the amulets still possessed a robust protective effect away from her. She had not been able to figure out why there was a glow in her body, but she knew the light made her awesome. She would have jumped head over heels in joy if people were not around.

At that moment, she had to maintain her majesty as an alpha.

The lizard shaman and its chief warrior bowed respectfully in front of the Alpha, who was sitting on her throne. This throne was a flat boulder in the forest, covered with a thick layer of fur. But no one dared to belittle this throne. The skin on the stone used to belong to a thicket dreadfang; a horrible behemoth once dominated the largest territory of the Black Forest for half a century. It has endless strength, able to smash a rock in half; there had been an uncountable number of beasts and humans died under its fangs and claws. Even the southern knights of the Kingdom of Taros regarded it as a considerable threat and listed the thicket dreadfang’s territories as restricted areas.

But during a fight, the Alpha defeated the thicket dreadfang, smashed the neck of the horrible behemoth, and tore its head from the body.

The former forest overlord became the gourmet meal for the alpha and her cronies, and the fur the mat on the throne. The powerful leader from the floating island in the south was now the ruler of the Black Forest, the lizard shaman so thought.

The alpha, draped in wolf skin, sat on her throne, debriefing the lizards while fiddling with a strand of hair in front of her forehead. She wore many spoils on her body: a necklace made of sharp teeth, the beast skulls hung around the waist, and ornaments made of skins and bone fragments. All these things made the alpha looked fearsome. These loots were initially of the primitive tribes that were once fearsome and powerful in the Black Forest. But now these tribes had either become a member of the Beast Tide, or food for the beasts.

“Just as the uncle monk said, this storm of Chaos is mighty. Even the human defense has not been able to stop it.” Lily yawned. She had not been able to sleep since her body started to glow. Fortunately, she began to adapt to the light. “How far are those towns that billow smoke from here?”

“A day’s journey,” the lizard shaman replied reverently. “If we maintain the speed of the past few days.”

“That is pretty near.” Lily blinked. “Are there any monsters along the way?”

“There is a shadow on the edge of the fog,” the lizardman said, “but not much.”

Lily looked to the side. The high-ranking monk, Calaxus, was standing on the edge of the throne as her ‘advisor’. The man from the sanctum seemed not to have a complaint about his position. His men were grumbling that they had to come down to dance with the beasts. But the intelligent monk was thinking otherwise; at least he could continue to fight the Chaos. Noticing the stare of the alpha, the monk nodded and said, “According to the lizards, the storm of Chaos has just passed the first line of defense in the south. Even if the Chaos has endless energy, in the face of human resistance, it would have worn out somewhat and take some time to recover. So there will not be too many monsters of Chaos at the border. But this window would only open for three days at most, after which the Chaos would come back stronger. By then, the second line of defense in the south of Taros will probably be in jeopardy.”

“The human kingdom is such weakling.” Lily shook her head. “What would happen to Mr. Landlord?”

Lily glanced at her men around her.

The demonic wolf, as the undisputed chief confidant of the alpha, though not the brightest bulbs in wisdom and strength, still had a place closest to the throne. Next up was the leader of the demonic forest ape, and the investigation team of the sanctum. Further out were imps, goblins, lizards, bear monsters, gnolls, etc. These leaders and representatives of all species gathered here to form a ring around the alpha.

Lily called it Ring of the Beasts while she was the commander of her army.

Those who were present were only a small part of the beasts, the representative of each species. Only those who were more powerful were qualified to send representatives. Farther away from this open ground, there were countless third and fourth tiers species, which were not even eligible to have an audience with the alpha. Only at the special meeting that Lily held, those weaker leaders got a chance to speak to the alpha.

Calaxus raised his head and looked in the direction of Lily’s gaze.

Though Calaxus could not see it, he could feel a massive sense of presence in the dense forest.

It was not the strength of the individual, but the sheer size of the group.

Countless abhumans had gathered under the protection of the alpha. They were chaotic and noisy but a terrifying force united by some beast instincts and the might of the alpha. In every hollow of the forest, marsh and high ground, lair, mud, even on the forest canopy and in the shadows, the group of beasts was growing every day.

Calaxus could not help but sigh. Having studied the scrolls and books for many years in the sanctum, he had never even thought that there were so many abhumans hidden on the edge of the human civilization.

This force was no longer just of the beasts. It had grown beyond the size, starting from lifting off the floating island in the south on their hot air balloons and swelling into an army. Calaxus had named it the Beast Tide.

The alpha endorsed the name.

While Calaxus was in deep thought, Lily was also observing her army. The smell of the beasts drifted into her nostrils. The slightest breeze in the air and fluttering of the grass in the Black Forest could not hide from her enhanced senses. She felt the edge of the beast tide and started to ponder:

Since when I have so many men under my command? When did this bunch of guys gather here?

Lily sat there trying to figure out the formation process of her army. The expansion started after she entered the Black Forest, she finally realized, when she caught the smokey tentacles that appeared in the nightmare.

On that one mild morning, or maybe it was noon, the alpha had caught a monster. Lily was in the best mood. She could finally show it off before her landlord. So she hurried all her little friends to wade through the forest while the group from the floating island in the south followed her from behind with noise and excitement. Soon after, group after group of abhumans, like the lizards, which may be just goblins, living in the forest began to emerge. These native creatures, probably did not realize there was a large group of beasts behind Lily, or maybe the energy of Chaos in the forest had confused them, they jumped in front of Lily trying to extort money or something.

The alpha smashed them with her paws, or maybe bricks.

She subjugated a lizard tribe, which could be a goblin tribe.

Things just happened as it was.

Various native abhumans emerged from all corners of the forest. Some were dug up from the caves when the beasts foraged in the forest. When they saw the legion of beasts, some were scared to death, some ran away, and some launched suicide attacks, but mostly suicide. After the alpha and her men beat the daylight out of these abhumans, they submit themselves.

When the group of beasts grew to like the sand on the beach, their movements became so loud, and the earth would tremble when they ran. The tremor shook the ancient creatures out of their holes. These creatures were savage, cruel, and powerful, and would not fit into one pot. So the alpha would put them in a different pot; one was natural flavor while the other one was spicy.

There were also ancestral creatures that were more sensible and communicable. These powerful monsters in the Black Forest had now become the beasts of the beasts. They included a fierce python, a dragon, a powerful elemental creature, and even a weird black dragon living in isolation.

The alpha could not always conquer every creature. But some could not resist the Light of Order in the darkness, and since Lily was glowing that brightly, these creatures with intelligence would be willing to follow her.

“No wonder there are getting more and more.” Lily suddenly clapped her hands, and it stunned Calaxus, who had spaced out.

The high-ranking monk looked at the strange ‘chosen one.’”Alpha?”

“I’m fine.” Lily got to her feet and put on her wolf skin. “We have enough rest. Inform everyone; we are going to the human territory!”

The beast tide rushed out of the forest like a rising tide. It was the most earth-shaking event in the history of Collow—the beast tide.