The Record of Unusual Creatures

The search and destroy parties had entered the deepest areas of the mountain, and the leading werewolf cavalry suddenly found themselves stepping into a foreign land.     

This was their homeland, yet it was absolutely alien to them.     

Hao Ren remained silent as he followed Uruk from behind, while a dozen knights and clerics looked out for any threats. Everybody was tense, but there were still no signs of hostile contact.     

"Other units have also responded," Uruk grumbled, his ears twitching. The werewolves' unique communication technique allowed them to keep in touch across the mountain. "A few teams are heading towards the valley, and none of them remember this mountain path.     

It was just as Hao Ren predicted. The monster had used some sort of mental disruption or sense distortion ability to hide this valley. For most living beings with cognitive abilities, this was akin to a piece of the mountain being excavated, and those under the influence would be none the wiser. No one could say when this disruption started, but there was something unsettling. No written history from the time the werewolves moved to the Sacred Mountain until today made any mention of this valley. There was also nothing about it in their maps.     

A knight of the party could not digest what was going on and blurted out, "Why did this valley appear all of the sudden?"     

Uruk threw him a glance. "It's because of the protective crystals. This is the first time someone's stepped into the area without having their senses disrupted."     

As they went farther ahead, Lily suddenly shouted as she pointed forward, "Something's up ahead!"     

Hao Ren turned towards the direction Lily was pointing at and saw half of a stone pillar sticking out on the side of the snow-covered mountain. It seemed like the remnant of a manmade item. He went up to have a look and noted that it was a black obelisk. On it was a series of runic inscriptions. An accompanying cleric immediately recognized the words. "A mark left by the heretics."     

"This thing's been lying in the open for a long while," Y'zaks said as he touched the almost fully eroded inscription. "Can you run a scan?"     

The MDT floated ahead as it scanned the obelisk. "There's dried paint on the inscriptions. This is about 3,000 to 4,000 years old."     

If the obelisk was about 3,000 to 4,000 years old, then the valley and everything in it was probably even older. Lady Ophra looked at the obelisk with a dumbfounded expression before something dawned upon her: the fact that the heretics had somehow flourished unknowingly under the noses of the Disciples of Glory.     

It was because they had been there all along!     

"Their history is beyond the Disciples of Glory." Hao Ren clapped his hands as he got up. "They were here before the migration of the werewolves, before the founding of the Kingdom of Holletta, before the Disciples of Glory were first sanctified. The valley was already being shielded by the monster's powers. They did not expand under the nose of the Disciples of Glory, rather the Disciples of Glory and the Kingdom of Holletta grew under the noses of the heretics."     

Lady Ophra's expression was conflicted. She had no way to accept the fact of the matter. This was even more outlandish than saying that the heretics were hiding within the Beinz Diocese. Even the usual thick-headed Becky found it a little too surreal. "The Cult of Origination is more ancient than the Disciples of Glory? Then, this world was theirs to begin with! Why didn't they do anything for the past thousands of years?"     

Hao Ren waved his hand. "How would I know what they have been up to. We're just basing this on the cold-hard data here. As early as the start of the werewolf migration, the inner sanctum of the Sacred Mountain was already under the disruptive spell."     

Vivian rubbed her chin as she demurred. "For something to stay incognito for thousands of years only to rear its heads recently, there must be something more to it. Perhaps they had some long-term plans, which needed thousands of years to realize, and the change of events in the past years have forced them to react. Possibly something to do with the goddess."     

Lady Ophra frowned and was still in disbelief. The fact that the heretics had been hiding out in the Sacred Mountain for thousands of years was a seismic shock to what she had known. Thousands of years... If this was a mere mortal race, how many generations had passed?     

When did the heretics start congregating there? Where did they come from? How did they live there? How did their doctrine spread? How did they keep contact with the outside world? What kept them hidden for thousands of years, yet still enabled them to maintain fervor for their cause? Was it due to the influence of the brain monster? Or something else?     

"Move on," Lady Ophra shook her head as she ordered her knights. "Stay focused. Report the moment you detect any illusions or psychological effects."     

Even though she was holding on to the protective crystal, her unease was apparent. Mind control was not something that you could defend against, and as such, was a terrifying weapon. The terrifying part was not only its ability to corrupt someone totally but the fact that the victim would not be aware of it. That was even more chilling. A sleeping person would not realize it when he fell asleep, and for a victim of mind control, he was most vulnerable when he felt that he was well-prepared for it.     

Any accomplished mind control master knew this trick: Controlling your prey was the easiest when the prey was under the illusion that it was free. And any master of the art of mental defense would always remind students that the moment they looked down on their foe, it usually meant they had already lost.     

Uruk and a few of the cavalrymen beside him went ahead with a grim expression. The path before them was foreign to them as there were many unknown lanes and scenery. Even when they were walking within their own homeland, they were as lost as a foreigner. The only advantage they had was their accustomization to the local environment and lay of the land. They would probably have an advantage if attacked but God knows if that was actually worth anything.     

"Why do I feel like the brain monster here is much more powerful than the one in Nasaton?" Lily mumbled as she got next to Hao Ren. "The monster in Nasaton needed a very long time to control others unnoticed. Why does the one here seem to be able to mess with everyone from the outset?"     

"Maybe it has something set up here," Hao Ren added. "It's been a few thousand years you know. It'll probably manage to dig up the Epang Palace¹ with its tentacles alone."     

Lily thought for a bit before poking Vivian on the arm. "Battie, do you know how to walk inside the Epang Palace?"     

Hao Ren and Vivian both decided to ignore the husky who was beyond cure.     

Uruk suddenly stopped in his steps. His ears flickered amid the chill wind as his nostrils expanded. A faint whiff of a foul scent came from nowhere. "Beware... Something unclean is abounding."     

Lady Ophra immediately drew her longsword as the enchanted blade was ablaze with holy fire. Nangong Sanba and Nangong Wudi squinted as they activated their special demon hunting abilities. Within the demon hunters' spectral sight, everything on the snow-covered valley was layered with a light blue outline. Any unclean matter within their sights had no place to hide.     

But the first one to detect the enemy was not a combat specialist, but a hyperactive dumb cat who had been running here and there since she entered the valley. Rollie suddenly let out a yelp before she darted out from behind a rock not too far away. "Meooowwww—Meownster!"     

Just as Rollie dashed back to the group, a humanoid monster appeared from behind the rocks!     

Well, "humanoid" was a misnomer, as the monster had already log discarded any vestige of humanity. It was a giant, rotten monster with wound marks and mismatched body parts. It almost looked like a few corpses were stitched together to form the monster. It was also clad in an oddly-shaped vest, which was pitch black with plenty of onyx crystal chips on it. Electricity ran across its surface, and it was clearly not something that the Holettans were able to produce.     

When the first "stitched horror" appeared, rustling sounds came from all over the place as a horde of monsters appeared out of nowhere, surrounding the group.     

Hao Ren had no idea how these monsters had eluded their notice, but there was no time to think. He pulled out his spear and pistol out from his Dimensional Pocket and led the charge. "Take them down!"