The Record of Unusual Creature

Y’zaks did not seem to be too surprised. He smiled as he said, “Oh, that took them a good while.”

Helcrown as well as the Demonic Army had once again reappeared in the world, and it was an earth-shattering incident. Banuklaak, Serathon and the Allied Army had probably gotten news from their scouts that Helcrown reappeared near the Broken Plains. It was a matter of time before they marched upon Helcrown again. Everyone in the city knew what was coming, but as they had access into the other dimension, there was no fear of being conquered.

“Get ready to retreat back into the other dimension,” Y’lisabet ordered the technician with the authority of a queen.

Hao Ren turned back towards the red ball, and the latter lay dormantly in the grooved container, looking harmless. Well, despite it being something similar to the First Born, it was clearly dead. Frowning hard, Vivian said, “Let’s study it later, we’ve got guests.”

The whole group then left the generator room, and before passing through the ring corridor again, Hao Ren took a look at the center of the hall. The red light was still throbbing in a rhythmic pattern. A series of odd concentric rings were extracting energy from it to levitate the city, and under that light, was surely the other red ball. Hao Ren was consumed with a myriad of questions. What was a First Born? How did it end up there? How could a corpse still have such energy? Why did the ball-shaped object appear that way?

Hao Ren shook his head and threw all his questions to the back of his mind. He quickened his pace to catch up with the party, leaving the Demonic Furnace behind.

They arrived at one of the spires on Helcrown’s outer walls. Y’zaks had already returned to his demon form, and the gigantic living flame stood right in front of them. The group looked towards the Broken Plains below, and saw a massive amount of demons converging towards them. Heavily armored, demonic vanguards stood before them in a square formation. Gigantic abyssal demons on all fours were scattered across the ranks as mobile rally points. Demonic statues, ballistae and chariots made of obsidian slowly paced forward while winged gargoyles as well as terrorgheists weaved through the air like vultures. Their gazes were all locked firmly on Helcrown.

The demons, already numbering in the tens of thousands were still amassing. Clouds of thick dust and smoke obscured the horizon of the Broken Plains; the end of days was truly coming.

What seemed to be leaders of the demonic hosts could be seen standing at the head of the army.

One of them was about six to seven meters tall, almost like a giant reptile. It had three pairs of strong looking limbs supporting its massive frame. Its upper body was a bulge of muscles and it was fully clad in obsidian armor. Its face reminded one of a salamander and there was a solitary red glow in one of its eye. The other eye was gouged out by Y’zaks many years ago.

Another demon was even more horrendous; it looked almost like a beetle, and it was larger than a battle tank. A rocky carapace covered its entire body and flame as well as molten lava seeped through the gaps, searing the land beneath it. The demon’s head was also covered with layers of chitin carapace. Its dark red eyes flickered menacingly, but the demon’s limbs skittered about nervously, as though the reappearance of Helcrown had unnerved it. If Hao Ren was right, that giant bug was probably the ruler-in-name of the Second Plane, Banuklaak.

Hao Ren looked at the two demon lords, and turned to the towering Y’zaks beside him. He then rubbed his chin. “I just realized that if I throw Y’zaks into a beauty pageant with those demons, the big guy will win hands down…”

Vivian quipped nonchalantly, “Why do the demons all look so goddamn hideous?”

Lanina somehow took offence to that. “How can you judge a book by its cover…”

“You’re a pretty looker yourself,” Hao Ren said after throwing the succubus a glance.

Lanina then coughed. “Ahem… Looks can be a weapon at times…”

Lily was holding on to the chains of the crenellations to have a better look. Slightly frightened, she spat, “Looks like the siege of the six big sects in Guang Ming Peak.” She then turned towards Hao Ren, “Right, Brother Wuji¹…”

“…”

Hao Ren really could not wrap his head around the husky’s thought process!

“Well, the Allied Army has yet to arrive. When they do, then it’ll be the six big sects,” Y’zaks quipped, joining in the mindless banter. That left Y’lisabet, who was straining her neck in awe of her father’s stunning visage. “Why is it the six big sects? With the Allied Army there’s only three, no?”

Hao Ren approached the little demoness and pulled her aside. “It’s just a cultural story. When I have the time, I’ll tell you about the one-armed hero and his adventures…”

“Don’t teach her nonsense!” Y’zaks spew embers onto Hao Ren’s face.

The banter atop the tower finally wore out the patience of the two demon lords. The reptilian Serathon lumbered forward as he swung his warglaive high into the air. His voice was like a rolling thunder, “You failure of a demon! Coward! You dare show your face again?!”

Y’zaks looked down. “You came all the way just to say this? Just a kind reminder, don’t move any farther. A few more steps and you’ll be in the effective range of my cannons. At this range, even your armor is paper thin.”

At Y’zaks reminder, the demons quickly backed away. Only then did they remember that Helcrown’s walls were lined with rows upon rows of cannons. Serathon then slammed his warglaive into the ground in a fit of rage as he slowly retreated. “You think you can scare me with that?”

Y’zaks had a grin that said eat sh*t on his face. “Stay still then.”

He then turned his gaze to Banuklaak. The scorn was palpable in his voice, “Looks like you have a new master, bug.”

Banuklaak was scratching at the ground, and a deep, sharp clatter rang from within his carapace. “Y’zaks… klak klak… there’s no escape this time… Unless you’re confident in fighting all of us with just a single castle… klak klak…”

Y’zaks looked down at Banuklaak in silence. He never held much regard for the scheming demon despite his ability. He finally grinned. “The Allied Army is coming from the other side.”

Serathon then let out an ugly, slithering laugh. “Hahaha, then you will be crushed under our combined assault. Neither demons nor mortals will suffer your presence! I don’t like working with those lowly mortals, but if it means taking you out, I shall gladly do so with them.”

“Well, that’s what you think.” Y’zaks laughed. “Both you and the Allied Army will only focus on me if I, the greatest threat were here. But… let’s say I suddenly disappeared, I wonder what will happen?”

As Y’zaks finished, he turned around to face the other side. The war banners of the Allied Army were visible in the horizon.

“Good luck!” Y’zaks looked down and turned away from the tower.

Helcrown vanished into thin air the very next moment.

“…”

Serathon and Banuklaak stared at the sky in bewilderment. The floating city that was there a moment ago had disappeared into nothingness. The two demons suddenly realized that they had been tricked by the cunning demon king.

One of the terrorgheist in the air shrieked. “The Allied Army is here!”

The banners of the human hosts were fast approaching and the holy light called upon by the paladins almost broke through the brooding clouds above. Banuklaak suddenly shuddered. “We’ve been tricked!”

If the crazy demon and his city were still there, he would have been the main target without question. It was the same many years back on the Obsidian Plains, when both demons and humans united against their common enemy. Even as Serathon stabbed Y’zaks in the back, no one dared to say the Allied Army did not play a part in it. Sure, the demons and the mortal races hated each other, but the higher echelons would make deals or concessions when it came to the bigger picture—it was normal.

But now… Helcrown had disappeared.

So, what was left when these two mortal enemies met?

The demon hosts were already in a furore as the rowdy vanguards readied their weapons for a tough fight. The Allied Army in the distance had also deployed a strong holy barrier as their knights braced themselves with their lances. They saw the Helcrown disappearinf as well, and the demon hosts before them were the next enemy.

Serathon’s bulging muscles trembled violently, but rage did not consume the old demon. After releasing a big roar and smashing his warglaive into the ground, he commanded his army, “Retreat!”