The Record of Unusual Creature

The synthetisation formula and true “product description” of the Sacred Relic of Origins were finally revealed before them. But, the results amazed everyone. Astounded, Hao Ren pointed his finger at the holographic images and descriptions he saw before he was able to say a word. “Is this a demon hunter synthetisation formula?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s a creature called ‘the sixth-generation enhanced life form’,” the MDT corrected him. It retrieved information from the data vault in the Orb of the Holy Synod, projecting the scientific name of the humanoid via hologram. “It’s a synthesised product of the Sacred Relic of Origins. It closely resembles the demon hunters we know, in terms of their physical structure, life expectancy, tenacity and other natural abilities. I’m trying to get more info from the database… however it seems that’s about it. The sixth-generation enhanced life form is the demon hunter—the first generation of the demon hunters we know today.”

A long silence ensued. The ascetics had no clue of what they were talking about, so they just remained silent and sat on the sidelines. Meanwhile, the rest were shocked and did not know how to respond. Even Lily was rooted to the spot like a fossilised husky. The 10-second long silence was only broken when Lil Pea looked up to see everyone frozen like a statue as her stomach brewed and she hiccupped.

The hiccup sent her flying 10 metres backwards into a cistern, which was full of reactant liquid. Only half a tank was left after Lil Pea fell into it.

The sound of splashing liquid woke Hao Ren out of his stupor. Blinking his eyes, he pinched his face trying to make sure that he was not imagining things. Then, he jabbed Vivian on the arm and said to her, “What do you say, Vivian?”

“If demon hunters were synthesised by the Sacred Relic of Origins…” Vivian looked at the large reactor curiously where a red alarm light flashed. The mixture was still flowing out from the main container as a result of the emergency stop. The remnants of magic in the mixture glowed as two autonomous robots frantically cleaned up the mess. “It means our understanding of the otherworldlings have been all wrong. The otherworldlings were originally from The Plane of Dreams?”

Hao Ren was confused. He tried to collect his thoughts . “We can’t be sure. Maybe both otherworldlings and demon hunters were just products of biochemical experiments. And, the machine before us is one that synthesises demon hunters. My thinking is that this synthesiser only made demon hunters. Remember what Hesperides said? The Olympians were acting weirdly during the end times and Athena murmured something about digging their own grave after she fiddled with the Sacred Relic of Origins…”

Nangong Wuyue listened and a thought came to her mind. “Wait a second! When she said ‘digging our own grave’, was she implying that it was the otherwordlings who built this machine? Were they the ones who created the demon hunters?”

There was even more silence. Lily, who would usually be daydreaming nodded her head; her face was serious this time. “Maybe…”

“But, that doesn’t add up historically,” Vivian said, spreading out her hand. “I’m the oldest otherworldling on Earth, but I have absolutely not heard about the Sacred Relic. As far as I remember, no otherworlding has created a similar device. Demon hunters have been in existence as long as we have. They were quite low-profile in the beginning and only became active during the Mythological Era. However, I’m dead sure… that demon hunters have been in existence since the beginning.”

Nangong Wuyue looked up. “Ahh… demon hunters have been in existence since the beginning.”

Hao Ren looked at Nangong Wuyue curiously. “Could the sirens be the ones who created them? I mean, sirens are the most otherworldly of all otherworldlings on Earth. And, no one knows what your race has been doing.”

Nangong Wuyue waved her hand, distancing herself from the matter. “How could I possibly know? If you threw me into the Pacific Ocean I’d be more at lost than you.”

Hao Ren rubbed his chin in thought. He looked up at the Orb of the Holy Synod and a sudden realisation hit him. He realised what a fool he was, because he had mixed up the timeline. “Now I get it! Demon hunters have been in existence at the same time as the otherworldlings on Earth. But, their real existence happened much earlier than that. Don’t forget one thing—they actually came from The Plane of Dreams!”

He walked towards the Sacred Relic of Origins and knocked on its outer shell a few times. “The Orb of the Holy Synod existed before the destruction of the world. It came from The Plane of Dreams and it’s one of the components of the Sacred Relic of Origins. So, this entire device was already in existence before the world’s destruction!”

Vivian shouted, “So, were the demon hunters!”

They looked at each other after the moment of epiphany The fragmented intel they had gathered started to piece together. It was still incomplete, but so much better than the wild guesses they had made previously. Y’zaks, a total outsider in this matter had the clearest view of all. “Everything began in The Plane of Dreams. The races there built the Sacred Relic of Origins and it produced the sixth-generation enhanced life form—the demon hunter. Some time after that, The Plane of Dreams was destroyed and some of the residents, relics as well as the first batch of demon hunters were flung into Earth, all of which we have known to be true. And now for the inference: people who came to Earth from The Plane of Dreams were affected by certain problems during the travel, causing them to lose their memories as well as part of their achievements. Their unity fell apart and they turned against each other based on racial lines. There weren’t many Sacred Relic of Origins on Earth and most were buried in places unknown to the otherworldlings. The number of demon hunters who arrived on Earth were not that many too, they only confronted the otherworldings openly when their numbers grew, which Vivian’s memory. We still have no explanation regarding the destruction of The Plane of Dreams, but Becky mentioned people in there poking their noses into forbidden knowledge—to create a perfect life form, which I believe was the demon hunter!”

It sounded convincing. Hao Ren nodded in agreement, but Nangong Wuyue was unsure. “Then why would the demon hunters want to go against their creators as if there was much hatred between them.”

Lily’s ears fluttered as she confidently said, “The reason is simple: the creatures were ill-treated by their creators. So, there was a revolt . Although this may sound old-fashioned, it’s still pretty common. I have been writting about similar storied. All creatures have a tendency to rebel against their creators.”

Vivian hugged herself. “According to your theory, would Hessiana become a turncoat one day?”

Hao Ren downplayed her misplaced concern. “Not at all. Her affection for you is almost morally challenging. You’ve never abused her, have you?”

Vivian knitted her brows together, feeling unsure. “Maybe not. Back then, we were so poor, we did not go through a day without hunger. Plus, I did beat her up, sometimes—she was such a pig head, and she still is.”

No one gave a sh*t about Vivian’s unfounded concern. They all agreed with Lily. Perhaps the hatred the demon hunters had towards the otherworldlings stemmed from their creature-creator relationship.

While they were discussing the matter among themselves, the four ascetics stood silently at one side, listening. Their faces were sombre. No one could guess what was in their minds. When the discussion came to an end, Big Beardy opened his mouth and said, “You were talking about the destruction of our world.”

Hao Ren observed the speaking ascetic and realised that the four “masters” barely made their presence known in their silence; he was too engrossed with The Plane of Dreams discussion and his senses were overpowered by Y’zaks’ loud voice, so he did not notice them. Big Beardy found Hao Ren looking at him and he said indifferently, “Do not blaspheme against our goddess, or I will defend her with my life. Other than that, it’s none of my business.”

Big Beardy and the three ascetics lowered their heads, becoming statue-like again. No one could guess what they were thinking.

Hao Ren shook his head. He then ordered the autonomous robots to clean up the scene and seperate the Orb from the Sacred Relic of Origins just as they agreed beforehand. Those two objects had to be returned to the four ascetics.

He turned and looked at the others. “Let’s not waste any more time. I’ve decided to go into The Plane of Dreams. There is a big problem now!”

The little mermaid nodded just as everyone else did. She hiccupped and was flung against the wall.

Nangong Wuyue said, “Maybe we should first check the kid out.”