The Record of Unusual Creatures

Panda Novel

Snowfrost City, The Lord’s Castle, The War Council.

Constance stood before a massive battle sandbox, and next to her was Duke Owen who was being given a second round of treatment by Rheia. Surrounding the sandbox were Hao Ren and his team plus Charlemagne and Awenna. Aside from them, there was no one else around.

Most of the front line commanders were down south, and it would not be possible for them to rush back to join the impromptu unofficial meeting. Constance used her mind link to be in two places at the same time, becoming a bridge to pass on information from both ends.

“The main combat zone is around here.” Constance moved forward, her rapier pointing at the sandbox. That was the edge of the Northern Realms, the borderlands between the six northern provinces and the heart of the empire. There were no mountains there, mostly running hills and small plains. There were no distinct advantages to the attacker or the defender. “The Army of the North has already completed engineering works in this area, but their advance was greatly stymied, and part of our lines were even pushed back. We used the element of surprise to gain an advantage, but once we got into the heartlands, we encountered savage counterattacks from the Ebon Blades and the imperial army. Now, with the appearance of the monster armies, things are not looking good.”

“The good news is that the Ebon Blades cannot afford to totally focus on us,” Duke Owen pointed to the south of the sandbox, “Count Naaem of the south has already answered our call with Greymountain as his base of operations, and the Empire has to shift some of the knights to take on the Army of Greymountain.”

“A pincer attack from the north and south may sound good on paper, but the real situation is far from easy,” Constance said with a grim tone, “The combat prowess of a mutated Ebon Blade is far stronger than expected, and common soldiers would need to swarm them to even hold them at bay. And the only ones capable to face them are the Broken Blades, but the numbers of Broken Blades are far lesser compared to the Ebon Blades. With the gap of ability and numbers, it is difficult enough to even hold fast, much less attacking the imperial city.”

“And based on the latest reports, there were sightings of mutants in the imperial army corps.” Duke Owen added.

“So the mutation is not only limited to the Ebon Blades now huh…” Vivian frowned, “And it is spreading to the common folks…”

“So in every Turn of the Era, the Annihilation will always infect the strongest leader, and turn his empire into its minions…” Rheia said as she hugged her arm, “So Emperor Berentine is the conduit of Annihilation this time around, and as long as we take him down, everything will be resolved right?”

Constance raised an eyebrow, her voice chilly, “Did you not hear what we had just said earlier? Our situation now is pretty much a stalemate. And indeed, just as you say, as long as we are able to take the imperial city, we will be victorious, but we can’t even go into the heartlands.”

“The White City Federation can provide assistance,” Charlemagne suddenly interjected, “While the World Scar is between us, the Federation has the largest fleet of civilian skyships, and can work as military transports, and send men over. We have contacted our father, and he is willing to help.”

It seemed like after spending a night contemplating, Charlemagne and Awenna had steeled themselves.

Hao Ren waited for Charlemagne to finish, and just as he saw Constance starting to ponder, he spoke, “Don’t bother with the war planning just yet. After seeing the Basilica of the World Tree’s military might, I’m sure you’ll have new ideas.”

“The military might of the Basilica?” Constance, as expected gave Hao Ren a doubtful look. “You had mentioned them before and had confirmed that the army will arrive very soon. But where are they? And when can they appear before me?”

Hao Ren picked up the MDT and had a look, before looking up with a smile. “Your timing is just nice. They have arrived, but they need a wide enough space to land.”

“Is it a skyship fleet?” Constance had a look of realization on her face, “Snowfrost’s upper platforms…”

“No, they are many times larger than a skyship and even larger than your upper platforms.” Hao Ren waved dismissively… “Forget that, I don’t think this city has any place for them to land. I’ll have them land on the plains outside the city. Want to come and have a look with me?”

Constance and Duke Owen exchanged glances, but they did not have any objections on the matter, and in fact, nodded at the same time.

“And there’s another thing,” Hao Ren added, “How… are the nerves of the civilians in Snowfrost?”

Constance did not understand what this odd question actually mean, but she guessed that the army of the mysterious Basilica of the World Tree probably had some terrifying forms, and this she could totally understand: The heritors had inherited ancient knowledge from an ancient era that had already been lost, and these objects, with a massive technological gap, will normally inspire fear in the commoners, just like how the Gorgons in the ancient era were seen as ‘demons’.

“Don’t worry, the northerners have sturdier nerves that you would imagine.” Duke Owen laughed heartily, and after Rheia’s second treatment his spirits were in much much better space, “And we had been fighting against so many types of ‘ancient relics’ all this while, you think anything could faze us?”

Hao Ren did not explain further and merely smiled. “That’s for the best.”

And very soon, they came to the western side of the city walls, and along with them, were a few commanders and adjutants that Duke Owen had summoned at the very last minute.

There was an overlook protruding out of the city walls facing the vast snow plains outside the city.

Hao Ren had indicated the troops from the Basilica of the World Tree would land on the snow plans, and Constance reckoned that this overlook was the best place to receive them: They could see everything on the plain from there, and there was an independent elevator that could swiftly bring everyone from the overlook to the western gate of the fortress city.

At the same time, Duke Owen had sent others to the army stationed in the city, to let them know that a special group of reinforcements had arrived in the city, and to prepare for any unnecessary trouble in the city.

Without a question, Hao Ren’s reinforcements came rather unexpectedly, and under any normal circumstances, any country would not allow any forces other than their own to directly go to their base camp, but Constance did not have any reservations about it.

Before the Turn of the Eras, none of that was important.

Heritors were natural allies, and every norm and custom in the world would make way for that. At least at this moment, Constance still believed that Hao Ren and the rest were “heritors”, and this trust saved them a lot of trouble.

In the clear skies above the snow places, the divine barrier had a wondrous clarity to it, and with today’s cloudless sky, even the rift of the Gorgon’s Abyss appeared smaller somewhat. And for the northerners, this was a rare good day.

And a massive shadow suddenly appeared in this unusually clear skies.

The shadow appeared so suddenly as a massive behemoth cast a shadow beneath the light. And the blurry shadow soon expanded and solidified as more obvious lines and details appeared. Constance and Duke Owen looked in awe at the sky. They soon they realized those were not the so-called “skyships”.

Skyships could never fly that high, or appear in such a size.

They were like mountains falling from the skies!

Three massive black starships pierced through the divine barrier above L’Haronne. Their armor was thick, and their surfaces were lined with sail-like black crystal wings while energy particles spat out from the back. Around the starships, they were countless escort fighters flying about like a swarm of bees, casting a dazzling light stream across the skyline.

An odd crash echoed across the entire plain.

The northern soldiers and officer standing on the platform gawked as they looked at these massive ‘skyships’ that were bigger than a Gorgon Lord slowly descending from the sky. The tiny escort vessels continued to circle in the air, while the ship stopped a few meters above the group.

Soon, a series of exits opened beneath the ships, and gigantic creatures from the legends walked out from them.

It was a fully armed guardian giant army.

“While the corrupting powers have already spread in the heartlands, there are many uninfected citizens who had yet to escape, so we cannot blast those areas from air, so the best way is to send an overwhelmingly powerful land force,” Hao Ren seemed to be talking to himself, but at the same time it looked like it was directed at Constance, “Letting these giants fight against the Ebon Blades is probably overkill, but now that the knights have turned into the minions of madness… for the guardians, the war is now back on track.”

Constance and the rest of the officers and soldiers were totally awed by the presence of the guardian army on the plains, and yet Rheia frowned as she saw the three ships and the number of escort vessels. She gently tugged Hao Ren’s sleeve, “Did you deploy an entire fleet? Why only three? And where’s the droid swarm you had summoned?”

“They are meant for another battle… I’ll brief you all on the stuff Nolan had found once we get back.” Hao Ren whispered back.

“This is the Basilica of the World Tree’s…” Constance’s murmurs interrupted the hushed conversation between Hao Ren and Rheia. This usually calm princess could no longer control the changes to her expression. Just as she looked at the three starships (and due to the ships being so massive, they had taken up almost all of the space of west of the city, and from that distance, she could not see the end of the ship), “Are those giants your soldiers?”

“Strictly speaking, it is her personal army.” Hao Ren pointed at Rheia. “Told you so, don’t bother with the war plans just yet…