The Record of Unusual Creatures

2Hearing about the breach in Leyton's defence, Big Beardy's utmost concern was whether the sacred lake had been attacked. After all, the rock monsters were already very near the lakeside. Though no one really knew what the rock monsters were going to do to the lake, they had to be stopped from moving forward. When the knight heard Big Beardy's questions, he reacted with a strange expression on his face. "Well, we really don't know yet. Where the rock monsters want to go is still a mystery. At first, it appeared as though their destination was the sacred lake, but when they reached and gathered, they were just loitering around the Gnarled Grove and the lakeside."     2

"They didn't try to contaminate the lakewater?" Big Beardy said, perplexed. He could not think of any other reason for the rock monsters to come to the sacred lake other than to spoiling it. "Is the sanctuary in the centre of the lake safe?"     

"It's safe," the leader or commander of the knights said as he shrugged. "The Lake Sanctuary was not affected even one bit. But, Bishop Gelton opined that it did not matter what the rock monsters wanted to do, they had to be stopped from gathering. So, we were ordered to clean them up in the area."     

Big Beardy nodded, indicating that he had no more questions.     

There were more pounding sounds of hooves in the forest as the knights summoned to escort the Orb arrived. Hao Ren looked ahead and saw a sea of torches everywhere. He was amazed by the sheer number of knights. It seemed like the Beinz Diocese had committed a significant part of their forces to this mission and they were determined to clean up the rock monsters, which had breached their defences.     

The knight was frank about the area surrounding the sacred lake not being safe. Battles were going on in the Beinz Diocese, hence he suggested that everyone retreat back to Leyton through the Gnarled Grove and return the Orb as soon as possible. Even though there were other monsters in the Gnarled Grove, they seemed less problematic than the rock monsters, which were still loitering around. The four ascetics were desperate to return the Orb, so they agreed at once.     

Everyone except Y'zaks hopped on the horses that the escorts brought. Hustling through the Gnarled Grove on the path to Leyton, the Church and Royal Knights escorted them all the way. Having been a mercenary all her life, Becky had never been so proud of this moment. She felt like she was coming home after saving the world; she felt like a hero with so many knights as he bodyguard. She hurled her horse in front of the group, working hard to make herself look like a returning hero. However, she realised that no one was looking at her after almost two hours into the journey, so she felt dejected. She slowed down her horse and rode side-by-side with the leader, asking him loudly, "Will there be a welcome party? Will there be a parade? What about an award ceremony back in the Royal City?"     

The knight looked at Becky as if she was missing an eye and it took him a few moments before he turned his head away. "How would I know?" Then, his mouth twitched as he spoke, not bothering to lower his voice, "Tsk, tsk, typical of a mercenary—all they care about is money. You should pray more; pray that the goddess will cleanse you with her holy will."     

Becky did not get it. Instead, she shouted happily, "I want to be rich!"     

Hao Ren had been observing the knights, who were escorting them; they were travelling on a long path through the Gnarled Grove, passing by a few patrol posts. There were different groups of knight escorting them, but almost eight out of ten groups were knights from the Church. There was only a small number of knights from the kingdom and they mostly patrolled on the side as if they were just ornaments. So, he was particularly curious about that. "Why are most of the knights pursuing the rock monsters from the Church? Aren't the Royal Knights the main forces?"     

The commander answered, "The soldiers under the command of Marshal Ophra are responsible for defenses outside of Leyton and in Dragonspine Ridge. They have to get rid of the rock monsters that came from the mountain in order to prevent them from coming inland, and at the same time, give instructions to the mercenaries on the outer defence positions. Areas within Leyton's defence belong to the Church so naturally, the Church's knights are the main forces in this case. Don't worry, the knights from the Church are capable of defending the sacred grounds. Our unswerving faith is a guarantee."     

True to form, the knight serving the goddess would always sway the conversation to his faith. Hao Ren nodded, agreeing with what he said—two different kinds of knights were responsible for two different layers of defence; that was totally understandable.     

No one talked after that. Under the escort of an army of knights, they did not bump into any Gnarled Grove monsters. By the time they were finally out of the forest and arriving at the valley where Leyton was, it was already dawn.     

As the sun slowly rose up to the sky, the first light of the day shone across the land from behind Dragonspine Ridge. It woke the sacred grounds up from its rocky nightmare. The protective shield shrouding Leyton could be seen from afar, glowing under the morning sun. The knights' spirits were visibly lifted as many of them breathed a sigh of relief. The battle there had been raging on for half a month with defence breaches, surprise attacks, destroyed outposts, and even the sacrifice of a whole battalion of knights. Those left standing were worn out and suffering great mental stress. The glorious glow of Leyton's fortress was the only strength they could draw on to keep fighting.     

The convoy slowed down and Hao Ren went to the side to scan his surroundings. He noticed that marks of battle were everywhere: there were large rock pits and burned bushes outside the Gnarled Grove; makeshift structures of stainless steel and stones, which had clearly been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times lined the road; protective slates engraved with runes could also be seen strewn along the way. These runic slates were magic barriers used to block the advancing rock monsters. Their magical power had been exhausted and the runes were broken, extremely telling of how brutal the defeat was. Of course, there were signs that indicated that the rock monsters had also suffered a fair share of destruction; the lifeless black rocks piling up around the forest, some of which were cut, dug, and used as construction materials by the defending soldiers.     

The commander sighed. "We don't know when it will end. The bishop has been studying the secrets in Dragonspine Ridge, but so far he still can't figure out how the rock monsters split from the mountain."     

They arrived at the entrance of Leyton as they talked. The tall wall of the town was still standing, but it had taken some damage.     

"...Looks like there's been a brutal battle." Seeing the conditions of Leyton, Y'zaks could not help whispering. "The rock monsters went straight through the town?"     

Despite Leyton being a town, it was practically the biggest military fortress on the edge of Beinz Blood Lake. It had very thick walls and strong inner wall buildings. Nonetheless, the fortress had suffered huge damage. Everyone could see large cracks on the outer walls. Even the wall facing the Gnarled Grove had its missing gate replaced by a 100-metre-wide gap. Debris was everywhere. Evidently, no one had cleared it up. Groups of soldiers were also seen patrolling inside the town and outside its walls as if another battle was about to erupt.     

Hao Ren could see most of the destruction in Leyton Town. Collapsed buildings were everywhere.     

When he recalled what happened that day, the knight was still visibly terrified. "Yes, we couldn't believe that we actually managed to keep the town intact. At that time, Dragonspine Ridge had another collapse and thousands of rock monsters came down from the mountain. Half of the defensive forces were in another battle with the monsters up north and they could not come back in time. The rock monsters soon breached the outer shield and they stormed straight through the town towards the Gnarled Grove."     

The knight spread his hand out and said, "Fortunately, Marshal Ophra came back with reinforcements. She went straight to the back and cut off the advancing rock monsters from behind. With that, we were able to keep the town under the command of Bishop Gelton. But, as you can see, the destruction is still pretty massive."     

The patrolling units at the town's gate had spotted the returning forces and a muscular man on horse, who appeared to be an officer came out to greet them. "What happened?"     

The knight solemnly said, "Inform the bishop quickly, the Orb of the Holy Synod has return."