The Record of Unusual Creatures

Panda Novel

Hao Ren had asked the demon hunters to investigate the remains of the ancient Greek Olympian gods after their fall.

According to the information he already obtained, some of the upper-class members of the Olympians seemed to have learned the secrets of the sin of the deicide and the Ultimate Absolution through some channels. And before the destruction of Olympus, they were conducting a series of research on idolatry centered on Vivian. These studies were very likely to reveal more secrets of the ultimate plan of the goddess of creation, or at least would let Hao Ren understand the otherworldlings of the ancient times.

The Olympian gods had gone, and their remains were drifting in the space crack on the edge of the main material world. Locating these remains was like finding a needle in a haystack. But there was a place that still preserved the secrets of the ancient times; that was the Demon-hunter’s Library in Coldpath. The vast archives contained information about every otherworldly race, including the old Greek gods, which the demon hunters had annihilated. It was this thing that Hao Ren had asked White Flame for help.

“I’m heading to Coldpath right away,” Hao Ren replied quickly. “Get all the information ready.”

“No, I am in the city where you live now. You can come to XXXX to find me.”

White Flame had given a location that sounded familiar to Hao Ren. Stunned, Hao Ren asked, “The culture hall? What brings you here?”

“There is a comic exhibition here.” White Flame replied. Her voice was as calm as ever.

Hao Ren was struck dumb.

Hao Ren brought Vivian and Lily to the cultural hall. As White Flame said, a grand comic exhibition was going on. Hao Ren had not attended any comic exhibitions before. After buying the tickets, they stepped inside the comic show. To Hao Ren, the scene looked like a Halloween party with men and women dressed in various game and anime characters and booths scattering in the hall. The venue seemed chaotic, but there were also some high-quality cosplayers, which gave Hao Ren the illusion that he had returned to work in the real otherworldly world.

He had seen too many otherworldly races, and all of them were the real deals.

It took Hao Ren a while to find White Flame. It was Lily who sniffed her out. White Flame took this event like a duck to water. She could even wear her usual uniform with her silver hair walking around the exhibition. There were weirder costumes than that of hers anyway. When Hao Ren found White Flame, the girl was loitering at several stalls with a few large shopping bags in her hands. The bags were carrying all kinds of peripherals that she had just bought, and her dagger.

Hao Ren could not believe how Hassel got himself such a ‘wonderful’ disciple. I seemed that closed-system education indeed had its drawbacks as it was prone to produce autistic and homebody.

“I’ve been waiting,” White Flame quickly said when she saw hao Ren. “I was going shopping while waiting for you guys.”

“Is it okay to wander so conspicuously in the exhibition? What about your job?”

White Flame was not embarrassed but smiled indifferently. “I am not strolling. I have work to do here. Look!”

While saying, the demon-hunter maiden pointed to the corner of the venue. Looking into that direction, Hao Ren saw several men and women in cosplay costumes hanging around and chatting. One of the men had noticed the stares of onlookers and looked over. The men behaved a little unnaturally when he saw White Flame.

“The two werewolves are real deals. The one in a witch suit next to him is a witch who used to be Dracula’s mistress. The one in a knight costume is empty underneath the armor, which belongs to some famous knight. But God knows which sorcerer has summoned a spirit into the armor. Probably he has possessed the armor himself.” White Flame pouted. “Look around, and you will see a lot of real deals.”

Hao Ren looked around in astonishment and found some clues.

People were peeking at this side. Those high-quality cosplayers came in groups. Some exhibitors who looked like ordinary people were not so ordinary at all: they cautiously kept a distance from White Flame.

Lily sniffled. She had sensed some ‘close relatives,’ but she did not say a thing.

“How many of them here are real?” Hao Ren asked in a whisper.

“At least one-third is real, and one-third is their family members and servants.” White Flame shrugged. “The rest is just ordinary folk. I am not here to play. I’m monitoring the event.”

“But it’s a gathering of the otherworldlings.” Hao Ren scratched his chin, baffled. “Does this only happen after the truce between the demon hunters and the otherworldlings, and the establishment of the Shadow Council? Is it a social activity of supernatural beings?”

“Well, you’re right. It is an expansion of activity of the supernatural races and experiments of interracial exchanges under the condition that it would not disturb the existing social order. Those races least affected by the innate hostility are here. They don’t have a serious feud between them. But someone still needs to monitor them lest things go wrong.”

“You’re here to monitor the event? A demon hunter monitors the gathering of the otherworldlings?” Hao Ren was surprised.

“How is that possible, but I am also being monitored.” White Flame quickly said. “The elders sent me here as an observer, but at the same time, we have an agreement with the Shadow Council that I must accept their monitoring in return. So far so good. Probably since I have a good relationship with you and you are influential in the Shadow Council, no one has bothered me.”

Judging from what White Flame said, Hao Ren knew there was something more than meets the eyes. There must have been more significant changes in the lives of the otherworldlings.

Some new social orders were emerging as the subtle relationship and confrontation between the demon hunters and the otherworldlings evolved. The gathering here seemed comical, literally, but there was something more serious going on behind the scene. Hao Ren was dead sure that what he saw here was just the tip of the iceberg. The otherworldlings could not go about their business in front of ordinary people, after all.

But Hao Ren could not care less about the event. He had delegated the matter of the Shadow Council to Hessiana and Ymir, who would be the ones worried about it. He was here for the secret of Olympus.

White Flame brought them to the lounge area behind the pavilion, and then followed a specific route, passed through the place with many ordinary folks, and arrived at the deepest part of the venue.

A few cosplayers stood outside the lounges. A girl with wolf’s ears was using her tail like a fan to create some airflow to cool herself down. “It’s hot. I wish there is ice here. And the event is freaking boring.”

“Agree.” Another lady with a witch hat nodded. “I thought I could come here and play all day long. But it turns out I could only stay here. Had I known it was the case, I would have chosen to stay back in the family’s secret realm.”

“Hey, wizard, where is your partner? Isn’t that your girlfriend? How could she leave you here alone?”

“What are you talking about? That is my grandma. She has got guys to pick up.”

“Oh…Shhh, the hound is here!”

The werewolf and the sorcerers, noticing the approach of Hao Ren and his entourage, immediately stopped talking. They appeared cautious and resentful. White Flame was enjoying some privileges here as everyone recognized her.

The demon-hunter maiden did not mind the stares, neither she bothered to smile at the otherworldlings. She brought Hao Ren, and others walked past into an exclusive lounge without even looking at them.

“That’s all about it. I’m quite happy already,” White Flame said. She dropped her shopping bags on the table and rummaged in them for a while before taking out a few old scrolls. “This is it,” she said.

She did not care if the scrolls were important; she just stuffed them all in the shopping bag!

Hao Ren took the scroll and began to study it carefully while White Flame explained to him on the side.

The scrolls were not a product of the Olympian gods, but the investigation paper and notes the demon hunter compiled after the war. The records detailed the hunting of the Olympus survivors.

Most survivors who escaped from Mount Olympus died during the hunt. Some, hidden for centuries, still could not avoid death eventually. Survivors like Hesperides was a rare exception.

“Here, a servant evaded dozens of hunting operation, including even a major manhunt performed by 20 elite demon hunters and three master demon hunters.” White Flame pointed to a few lines of text on one of the scrolls. “There is little known about this servant. The only thing special about him is that Zeus trusted him. During the chase, a dozen demon hunters died; all of them were experienced fighters.”

“He has a powerful divine artifact with him,” Vivian said quietly.

“Yes, there is indeed a divine artifact. Here is the record of it.” White Flame pointed at the bottom of the scroll: “The target has a dangerous weapon. It is a dark scepter, inlaid with a huge blood-red gemstone, could boil the blood of its target within 100 meters, or cause fatal bleeding and disease. Master-level demon hunters could barely stand against this mighty scepter.” I think this power is very close to the power of the Countess.”

Hao Ren frowned and looked at Vivian. “They not only looked for a way to overcome the sin by worshipping you but also studying your power?”

“What else?” Vivian’s brows knit together as well.

“Here.” White Flame took out another scroll. “‘I saw the target carried a large number of files with him. Judging from the fragments we have got, it should be the missing piece of information discovered during the stock counting of the Olympus literature. This batch of materials comes from Athena; it may be related to the study of a series of weird ritual toward the end of Olympus’, and here, ‘The target has once looked for the Countess of the Crimson Moon during his escape. He may be seeking protection from the Countess. We must complete the mission before the Countess grants him protection.’”

Hao Ren squinted slightly. “This should be the one.”

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