The Record of Unusual Creatures

Taking advantage of the powerful attributes of the two cosmic fragments, Hao Ren had the situation under control. Meanwhile, on the other side, Hasse did not need any help whatsoever.

Hasse brandished his silver sword and slashed at Hasse’s shoulder. Hasse blocked the attack with his sword, and at the same time, yanked out a runic card. Hasse blocked off the runic magic and kicked Hasse in his blind spot, sending him flying out. Hasse fired a fireball and smashed Hasse in the face. Hasse followed up with more attacks as Hasse went on the defensive.

The above may be confusing, but all you need to know is that it was chaos.

Hao Ren, Lily, and Hessiana watched on. The husky maiden began to lose patience. “Mr. Landlord, do we need to give Hasse a hand?”

Hao Ren thought for a moment and said, “Heck, I don’t even know who’s who now.”

Hessiana had also lost track. “Is the old man that freaking poor? He’s been wearing the same set of clothing and shoes from 44 BC to 1,400 AD.”

“I learned from White Flame that demon hunters don’t change their uniform design for thousands of years, especially Hasse. He only has one uniform in his closet. The demon hunters are obsessed with practicality. They’ve upgraded their weapons many times but not their appearance.”

Hessiana’s mouth twitched. “They don’t know how to enjoy life.”

The three of them made frivolous comments while they watched the two Hasses beat up one another. “Would you shut up?” the two Hasses said in unison.

“They even speak at the same time,” Hao Ren said.

Meanwhile, the result of the fight was becoming apparent.

Amid the dazzling sword clashes, one of the Hasses had lost his balance and exposed his vulnerability, which apparently sealed the outcome of the fight. He lost his grip on his sword next, and his runic shield broke. Before he could react, a runic (Letta) card had appeared before his face and exploded, sending the old demon hunter flying several dozen meters back. He passed out.

The powerful explosion did not kill him. He was merely in a coma. That was how strong he was.

The other Hasse breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew! Fighting with myself is stressful.”

He tucked his sword and walked towards Hao Ren. Hessiana suddenly stopped him. “Stay where you are! Secret code!”

The old demon hunter could not make head or tail of what Hessiana meant. What secret code?”

Hessiana crossed her arms and asked, “Where did Napoleon finally die? Who was the US president in 1962? What is White Flame’s favorite book?”

Hasse forced a smile, but his paralyzed face remained deadpan. “Napoleon died on St. Helena Island. The US president in 1962 was Kennedy, but he died in 1963. White Flame likes to read…”

The old demon hunter hemmed a couple of times. ” The Complete Guide to Making Potions ,  which I gave her.”

Hessiana shot the old demon hunter a sideways look. “Are you sure about that?”

“Okay, it’s comics.”

“Wrap it up,” Hao Ren interrupted. “There’s no time for jokes. The demon hunters will come looking for their commander soon.”

Hasse went over and dragged younger Hasse back. “I suspect that ‘I’ came here to check out the radioactive smog. Right now, the main wave of attack on the temple of Poseidon is over. The sacred army will launch an exhaustive attack on the energy shield for the next couples of days, and there will be no need for the commander to stay onsite. So ‘I’ have time to come here. The noise from the battle and their commander’s mission may have aroused suspicion amongst the demon hunters.”

“What do you plan to do with him?” Hao Ren glanced at the other Hasse. “Don’t you want to kill him? Let me help you if you can’t do it yourself.”

“Wait, we can’t kill him,” Hasse said, not that he could not do it himself. “You may not know, but a commander like me carries a constant spell that’s tied to the soul. Once the commander is killed, it will trigger the spell and send an alert to the sacred army. The spell can even relay the commander’s specific coordinates and information about the enemy. That’s why I didn’t kill him.”

There was one thing Hasse had not mentioned. Under those circumstances, the best course of action was for him to impersonate the Hasse of that era and infiltrate the command center of the sacred army. So, Hasse of 44 BC had to stay alive. Otherwise, the whole sacred army would know of the commander’s death, and Hasse’s cover would be blown.

Hao Ren had also thought of that as he pouted. “So, this spell won’t be triggered as long as the host is alive, right?”

“That’s right. As long as Hasse is alive. The spell will only be triggered when the target dies,” Hasse said. “Do you have anything in mind?”

“Let us first tie him up,” Hao Ren said as he opened his Dimensional Pocket and took out various devices for restraint. He put the devices on the body of 44-BC Hasse. “We’ll hide him.”

When Hasse saw the shackles, he could not help but have goosebumps all over his skin. The scene where Hao Ren bound him up with those devices in 1,400 AD was still vivid in his memory. It also reminded him of the shameful experience when Lily hit him many times on the head.

He shook those disgraceful memories off his mind. “Do you intend to keep him in your Dimensional Pocket?”

Hao Ren waved his hand. “No, I’m worried that things may go wrong. We’re about to find Vivian. When Vivian awakens, all the things belonging to this space and time will turn into information fragments. If I forget to let Hasse out of the Dimensional Pocket by then, God knows what will happen to him. Even if nothing happens, I don’t feel comfortable putting a factor that’s out of my control in my Dimensional Pocket. It was a forced choice to put you inside the last time. Normally, I wouldn’t do that.”

Hasse looked daggers at Hao Ren, but of course, his paralyzed face did not reveal any emotion.

“Don’t worry, I have a better idea.”

While he spoke, Hao Ren tied Hasse up—the BC version—to make sure that he could not move a finger when he awoke. His little friends, especially Hessiana, were curious about where Hao Ren was going to hide Hasse. Right then, the demon hunters had controlled the entire Mount Olympus, and the passage to the Underworld had collapsed. They wondered which part of the enemy’s territory that Hao Ren was going to hide the demon hunter.

Then, they saw Hao Ren take out a heavyweight cruise missile from his Dimensional Pocket.

“After I remove the warhead, I’ll be able to stuff him and a radiation shield inside. The radiation shield will protect him from the radioactive clouds in the air. Let’s send this Hasse flying in the air around Mount Olympus. What do you guys think?”

Hasse stared at Hao Ren and could not form the words to respond for a long time. “Have I disturbed the graves of your ancestors that I deserve such treatment?”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. Just bear with it,” Hao Ren said matter-of-factly. He then directed two autonomous robots to shove Hasse into the warhead compartment, which had been cleared out. “Earlier, I rode on the missile. At least you have a private suite.”

Hasse was stupefied.

The heavyweight cruise missile, dubbed Hasse 1, blasted off under the everyone’s watchful eyes. It rose into the air and disappeared into the radioactive clouds over Mount Olympus.

The demon hunters would not be able to do anything about the cruise missile once it was in the clouds.

They would not know that their commander had disappeared and a fake one was among them.

As soon as the missile took off, Hao Ren began to sense a powerful force moving in their direction. Lily snuffled and said, “There are people coming, more than a hundred of them.”

Hao Ren nodded and looked at the old demon hunter. “Hasse, it’s all yours now.”

The old demon hunter looked solemn. “Don’t worry, I’ll pave the way for you.”

“Be careful,” Hessiana said. The differences between the demon hunters and otherworldlings were forgotten for the moment. “You may be their true commander, but the 2,000-year time gap means you are technically not their current leader. So don’t blow your cover. If things go wrong, find a way to get back to the light-path platform.”

The old demon hunter turned and waved to them as he left. “Don’t worry about me. I was in charge of this campaign 2,000 years ago. Today, I am still the commander of this sacred army.”

“Is the old man trying to look cool?” Hao Ren asked.

“I feel like he’s not going to make it back here,” Lily muttered.

“Ahem, can both of you say something good?” Hessiana chided.

Meanwhile, Hasse quickened his pace and finally intercepted his old company from 2,000 years ago.

An emotion rose within him as he saw the old faces.

Nearly half of those faces were supposed to be dead according to history. They all fell in the war of the Twilight of the Gods and did not make it until the curse was lifted.

Yet, here, in this distorted space and time, his former comrades were still alive. They were only broken and short-lived historical illusions, but at least for a short moment, they were standing there for real.

“Elder!” One of the demon hunter masters saw Hasse and saluted him. “We just saw a strange thing—”

“Do not worry about it. It is just a little remnant of Olympus,” Hasse cut in. He recalled memories from that point of his life, 2,000 years ago. He knew what to say and how he should say it at that moment. “I have purified the one who controls that thing.”

“What about Master Feliks? He was with you.”

“Ahh, I have sent him and the rest to investigate other places to see if we have missed anything,” Hasse said bluntly. “Back to the command center. I just found something. We need to revise our patrol route and guard posts.”