The Record of Unusual Creatures

The dimension had ripped apart.

Even when it had been weakened for almost 9,000 years approximately, even when part of its powers were already consumed when it first tore L’Haronne in half, the power of a real divine entity was still beyond terrifying. It had been buried deep within that world, consisting of fragments of history. Not fully stabilized, the moment another divine power of the same source resonated with it, the accumulated energy instantly shot out in all directions.

The pale rift, which cut through the dimensional structure, grew bigger and bigger as it distorted into all sorts of horrifying states, while the cracks around its edges seemingly came to life as it spread all over. Everything the cracks touched, be it material or energy, or even space itself, destruction immediately ensued, turning it all into the basest of information units. The already chaotic and disparate dimension was thrown into an even more chaotic spiral under the assault of the divine storm. Twisters, ten-meters-tall, swept up in the middle of the endless sea of clouds, and the ripples of the divine power created millions, even billions of lightning strikes within the storm. Before this terrifying power, the dimensional structure in the air, which had been expanding the entire time, finally stopped growing.

Hao Ren could see a large “collapse” at the edge of the battlefield with his eyes, as countless of gravity wells had appeared out of nowhere over there. Wherever the divine storm swept through, light distorted unnaturally and folded upon each other, creating a curtain of bizarre reflections. And within the curtain, vast numbers of Gorgon starships, vessels from other eras, soldiers, and buildings that were corrupted by madness were all disintegrating.

“The dimensional structure has stopped expanding and transitioned into a disintegration phase.” The combat assistant AI reported all of the battlefield information it had collated, “The divine storm is weakening rapidly, and it will pass the balance point in approximately three minutes…”

It was not possible to depend on Rheia’s remaining powers within that dimension to totally wipe out everything there, but for Hao Ren, that level of kaboom was more than enough.

The rampaging divine storm had swept through everything at the edge of the battlefield, and not only did it stop the dimensional structure from expanding continuously, but it also suppressed the speed at which the corrupted ancient vessels were “appearing”.

“It is time to attack!” Salaman’s command rang across the guardian’s command system. “For Mother! For all life!”

“For Mother, for all life!”

The once suppressed and retreating guardian fleets unleashed their rage and countless laser barrages, as well as missiles, toward the surviving echoes of corruption. The chaotic red sky was once again lit up in the fire.

The droid swarms had also completed the charging of the next salvo of Annihilation Lances, and as the command to fire was given, hundreds of blinding white light rays blasted out from the forward base. They pierced through the sea of clouds and cut a swathe of dimensional rifts across the battlefield.

The dimension of the battlefield started to distorting as a false sea of stars appeared. Those who were mutated, engorged, and maddened were nightmarish memories from when the universe was destroyed. Under the continuous influence of the divine storm, they shook, quaked, and crumbled apart.

Below the war zone, rifts appeared all over the sea of clouds. The integrity of the dimensional structure had reached its limits, and with the divine power resonance at its peak, the barrier separating the world was no longer stable. Tiny and temporary tunnels appeared between the world’s depth and the physical world. Hao Ren looked at the images from the monitors outside, and he saw the mountains and hills of L’Harrone, the burning land, as well as a black city with an army approaching it.

…

The storm had weakened slightly but showed no signs of stopping.

Fighting in a storm was never a wise move. If it was against a normal enemy on a normal battlefield, no commander would choose to assault a fortress city in a storm.

Yet, Constance knew she did not have any choice; the world did not have any choice.

The storm would not stop. It was not a natural phenomenon, and the moment that world marched into madness, there was only one chance, one chance to stand before the lair of “Annihilation” and assault it directly.

It was their one and only chance since the first era, since the countless cycles and turns of the eras.

A monster’s dying roar thundered amid the rain, and its savage looks no longer contained any human traits. Its body showed no trace of human limbs either. There were pieces of broken metal hanging from its body, indicating that it probably used to be an Ebon Blade knight or member of the imperial army.

Constance raised her arm with her sword in hand. Powerful magic focused on the blade as she unleashed a ray of light more powerful than that of the Broken Blades’. Before the monster hit the ground, it was sliced into two, and it disintegrated into dust.

“Forward! Watch the flanks! Level any obstruction! That includes every dwelling you see!”

“The monsters may appear from everywhere!”

Roars of commands from the leaders of the squads could be heard in distance. Their voices rang through the rain, while explosions and cannon fire ripped visibly across the air sporadically. The ancient dwellings of the imperial cities were torn apart by the great bombardment as glorious historical statues and towers collapsed under the relentless magical raid. The fallen structures were all things that Constance had grown up seeing.

And on that day, everything was about to disappear.

The giants were standing outside the city together with the “little girl” whom they had sworn fealty to. They stood in the distance, watching the battlefield as if they were upholding an ancient accord and observing the battlefield.

The soldiers did not have any questions or reservations about it.

Another monster was sliced into two by Constance while she unleashed another bolt of lightning from her other hand, saving a northern soldier who had tripped.

She looked at the burning city and recalled what Rheia had told her earlier.

“You know the truth of this world? The truth behind the cycles…

“It is not a curse or evil prank by this world. It is the only a relic that the ancestors of the first era have left you. It was the only piece of hope that they managed to grasp from the jaws of annihilation after they paid a massive price.

“And while you fight, there is another battle happening on another battlefield…”

A series of loud noises came from the sky, and even the raging storm slackened for a moment. The soldiers exclaimed in surprise and even Constance could not help but look up.

She saw the clouds tear apart, and a chaotic dystopian dimension appeared in the sky. Countless starships were duking it out in that dimension.

This time, she did not see it through the resonance, but due to the tear in the dimensional fabric, not only she could see what was in the sky, but even the normal soldiers could.

“Do not mind what is in the sky!” she yelled, her magically-powered voice thundered across the battlefield. “Onward!”

“Onward!”

“Onward!”

The commanders quickly rallied their man, and Rheia’s slightly sympathetic visage appeared before her eyes again.

She heard Rheia’s voice once again in her mind. “… But Constance, do you know that you may not be a true inheritor? Or rather, you are not what a normal inheritor should be…”

She instinctively raised her blade and parried an attack from a black claw.

“After I found out that you could transfer your consciousness between a dozen clones or so like an Ebon Blade, I became slightly interested in you. We know of your unusual birth. You were picked out by Emperor Berentine 200 years ago from a lava lake, and unlike the usually short-lived inheritors, you had a parent. You were also unlike the inheritors from ancient times…”

The monster with the black claw fell, and its body quickly disintegrated in the storm. At the very last moment, its face returned to its original human form. It was a normal-looking man, a nameless imperial soldier.

He even smiled at Constance during that split moment. There was reverence in his smile.

It was the same look many imperial soldiers and knights would have every time they saw the princess. While they may try hard to hide it, Constance always detected it.

Constance looked up, and the imperial palace was before her. That was the place she grew up in, and looking at the familiar walls and spires, she felt even more at peace than expected.

The warriors beside her were all wounded, and the Knights of the Broken Blades who had arrived with her were less than half of their original numbers now. A large group of soldiers formed in the rear to block off any counterattacking monster, and in the storm, their silhouettes appeared distant.

Most of the fallen soldiers had committed suicide. Whenever they were wounded by the minions of annihilation or whenever their strength failed them, almost all of the soldiers would commit suicide. They would activate the runestones that they carried with them and blow themselves to pieces.

That way, the number of enemies would not increase.

The main door of the palace lay wide open. It was eerily silent. There were monsters in every part of the city, but at the heart of annihilation was a peaceful oasis.

Constance took a deep breath. The young yet seemingly confident and calm inspiring voice rang again in her head. “Constance, I inspected your soul while you were unaware. Do you know why you were able to transfer your consciousness so easily between your clones without any delay?

“It is because your soul is man-made.”

Charlemagne traveled through the rain as steam surrounded his body. In his hand was the famous holy sword of Izzo, The Blazing Sun. He looked at Constance, seeming much more matured and grounded than before. “It feels odd inside. We should first—”

Constance stopped him with a wave of her hand. “I’ll take point. Everyone else, follow me.”

Without any question or doubt, Charlemagne turned to his soldiers and started to arrange them. The Knights of the Broken Blade and the soldiers of the north had all gathered, forming a defensive formation behind Constance as well as the flanks.

“Constance, your soul is pieced from many fragments and memories. These memories are what you know as ‘the inheritance’, and the soul fragments that form you are probably from the real inheritors.

The palace was unnaturally silent. It was as though they had stepped into a different world the moment they went through the door. There were no monsters in sight or any signs of blood and combat, but everyone could sense that the terrifying dark powers nested there.

At every corner, behind every door, beneath every light, there were unknown shadows writhing about.

“If we are not wrong, Constance, the creator of your soul is probably your father, and the lava lake that you were born in, was probably Berentine’s doing to wipe out any traces. His reason for doing so… could probably be the fact that he is the last of the true inheritors.

“He created you and gave you the knowledge of the inheritors. He told you about the inheritors’ mission, but the memories that you’ve had of the cycles have been false. Your actual birth was about 200 years ago. The life that you have personally experienced… It is these 200 years.”

The path to the throne hall was smooth. Before Constance and her warriors arrived, he was the only person in the entire palace just like his identity in his world. He was the last and only inheritor.

The loneliest emperor in this era…

As the conduit of the power of Annihilation in this era and the source of all monsters, Berentine looked seemingly normal without any visible mutations. At least his armor allowed him to look human.

However, everyone gripped their weapons tightly because underneath his armor was an aura more foreboding, mad, and terrifying than any monster they had faced earlier.

Constance quietly looked at the throne. She knew that her father was no more; within the armor was only a shell and madness.

Under her gaze, the armored silhouette stood up as “it” walked slowly down the throne. The grinding of metals let out an unpleasant noise, and a raspy voice, even more grating and terrifying, came from beneath the armor. “Ah, you have come, my beloved daughter… What brings you here?”

Constance raised her sword slightly as she approached the monster. “To take the throne.”