The Record of Unusual Creatures

A chaotic fight soon ensued as the stitched horrors that appeared out of nowhere roared like enraged beasts before charging towards the knights and clerics. Even though their frames were gigantic and their bodies were a tattered mess, their speed and strength were beyond belief. A fully armored Royal Knight raised his shield to block the attack, only to be sent flying 10 m back. He went crashing deep into the mountainside as a result. Seeing this, Marshal Ophra dropped an order, "Don't face it head-on! Anti-giant formation, now!"     

Immediately after the order, the knights quickly switched their formation. The frontline changed into a three-man team as they tried to take down that abomination of stitched flesh. The clerics got to work too as they prepared their divine spells. No matter what kind of monsters they were, the divine spells would probably work against them.     

Hao Ren swung his spear about as he charged towards the closest foe, and just as he closed the distance, a nauseating stench assaulted him. It was the rotting smell of the decomposing corpses. He held his breath as he plunged his spear through the enemy before leaping sideways. "F*ck! They're walking biological weapons!"     

Lily had already cooked up a storm of fire and ice with her Frostfire Claws. As she dashed out from the cloud of steam, it was like a Chinese celestial descending from the heavens. As the white fog dispersed, the white-furred husky jumped as she grumbled, "Just my luck to have such a sensitive nose!"     

Rollie was darting about the battlefield. There were plenty of foes abound but she did not dare engage them. The dumb cat finally decided enough was enough, so she clambered up a withered tree and stayed there. As she stayed perched on the tree, she managed to warn the rest, "There's more meownsters! They're coming from underground!"     

"Underground?" Hao Ren was surprised. At the same time, Y'zaks had just blasted one of the stitched horrors down the cliff with a punch. It was a cakewalk for him to face against these monsters. As he had time, he hailed Hao Ren. "Go down and have a look. I can take them on solo."     

Hao Ren responded with an "Oh" as he dashed towards the position Rollie pointed in. Lily followed him. "Wait up! I'll protect you!"     

She could not stand the stench anymore.     

Hao Ren swiftly dispatched a few stitched horrors that were in the way with his spear before using his pistol to turn a few more approaching foes into crystal dust. He soon spotted the burrow where the monsters came from and the scene shocked him as well as Lily. There were at least a dozen big holes in the ground and the holes were tunnels with a metallic hue. The exits were petal-like gates created out of onyx-colored crystals. The stitched horrors had came through these tunnels to the surface. Lily looked at the exits, which seemed like they only existed in an ultra-modern sci-fi setting. "This sure doesn't fit Holletta's architecture, eh?"     

As she spoke one of the metallic doors opened and a stitched horror with electricity running all over it leaped out of the exit. It immediately noticed Hao Ren as well as Lily and charged towards them after letting out a bone-shattering roar. The electricity danced across its onyx crystal vest and made the monster look like a charging thunderbolt. Lily saw the smelly excuse of a creature charging towards her and immediately picked up a rock weighing half a ton without thinking. She then flung it towards the monster. A thunderous crack later, the monster was destroyed. Hao Ren took a peek and only saw a pool of blood...     

"Calm down." Hao Ren looked at the werehusky before charging towards the gateway. He noticed that the bottom part of the exit was a metal catapult that was burrowed deep into the earth. The all too familiar stench was coming from that tunnel, and it was apparent that the tunnel led deep underground.     

"Stand back." Hao Ren motioned for Lily to take cover before taking a shining tube from his Dimensional Pocket. He gave both ends of the tube a twist to unlock the safety and start the countdown before lobbing it into the tunnel. The tube was a kind of bomb. The difference from a graviton bomb was, its explosion did not cause a spatial distortion, rather it released a powerful electromagnetic pulse. Hao Ren noticed that the electrified vest on the monster had something to do with how they moved, and figured that this was not any cookie-cutter undead, but a half-flesh, half-mechanical monster that acted based on electric transmission. An electromagnetic pulse would probably ruin their day.     

A bright flash of light came from deep within the tunnel as the tube exploded. Hao Ren heard a few thuds following the blast. As the din faded, smoke started to come out of the tunnel, and a few other tunnels nearby. It seemed like the tunnels were interconnected underground.     

After a moment, Hao Ren realized that all machine activity had ceased and no monsters appeared from the tunnel. It seemed like the electromagnetic pulse had wrecked the tunnel's function, but how many of the stitched horrors were taken out was still unknown to him.     

The other stitched horrors that popped up earlier were easily dispatched by Y'zaks and the rest. Lady Ophra led the party as they rushed to Hao Ren's side. "You... Have you taken them out?"     

Vivian saw the corpses strewn around Hao Ren and the few smoking holes, blinking. "I was just about to let you know that using high voltage electricity works well against them. They're finished when their vest shortcircuits."     

Y'lisabet kicked one of the dead stitched horrors with her tiny leg. "See if your vest will save you now, huh?"     

Nangong Wuyue had also appeared from whatever hole she managed to hide in. The siren was assured that the fighting was over before she collected whatever courage she had and came to Hao Ren's side. The first thing that caught her attention was the smoking tunnels. "What's that? Did the heretics make it?"     

"I don't think the heretics have such craftsmanship, and even if they had, they wouldn't have the technology. You see the connectors and the lever of the gate? Those are some pretty advanced hydraulics." Hao Ren pointed at a part of the metal gate. "This was probably created by the brain monster... I have a bad feeling."     

The MDT floated forward to scan the area. It was only a PDA and with the Sacred Mountain being shrouded in a weird energy field, its radar could only tell that there was a big hole underneath. Nothing else appeared on the scan."     

"Looks like the nest of the Cult of Origination's underneath." Hao Ren looked at the rest. "Let's look for any other entrances... If there are none, we'll have to go through here"     

Lily suddenly remembered the rancid-smelling stitched horror that came out from the tunnel, and her fur immediately stood up. "Are you sure it's a good idea, Mr. Landlord?"     

"Not a good one, but it's an idea at least." Hao Ren gave Lily a glance. "You can activate the life support collar later, no? Just treat it like it's outer space. Vivian, throw a bat in, scout the place out for some place for us to set foot."     

Lily mumbled as she followed. "I'm afraid that we'll fall into a sea of corpse and blood. Don't blame me if you puke out what you had for the reunion dinner."     

Hao Ren had not thought that far and he had the urge to puke when Lily mentioned it...     

Vivian summoned a bat and threw it down the tunnel before squinting as she focused. A moment later, she nodded at Hao Ren. "The bat got lost."     

"...Then why are you nodding?"     

"I was trying to act all cool." Vivian turned away, slightly embarrassed. "Don't blame me. It's a maze down there and many of the pathways intersect like an ant's nest. My bat didn't carry the protective crystal. It got dizzy a few seconds in, and I was lucky I managed to dismiss it before it got mind-controlled."     

"Alright. Regardless whether there's anything down there or not, if it's that well interconnected, we should have a look. What are you doing, Lily?"     

Lily scampered up a rock before she lay on it and sniffed the place out. "Looking for a normal entrance!"     

Hao Ren had indeed asked the rest to look for other entrances, and having said that, he knew that the brain monster would not let the entrance to its sanctum be found so easily. Thus, he simply rolled his eyes at Lily. "So... have you found one?"     

Lily stepped before the tunnel that still bore the stench, her expression dauntless. "Fame and glory are only gained through mortal perils. You think mere stench will hold this werewolf back?!"     

"Take that life support collar off and repeat that again," Vivian shot back with an incredulous look.     

Lily just remained silent.