The Record of Unusual Creatures

3Helcrown was floating about in a very unique dimension. It was impossible to tell up from down, left from right. The gloomy darkness harkened back to outer space, but it was not as dark as the void. A faint light was radiating, but no one knew where exactly.     3

There was a brief loss of gravity as Helcrown made the jump, and it was quickly restored by the massive gravity spell matrix beneath the city. The spell matrix was only hastily created when the city first disappeared into the other dimension. Thankfully, the mages were no slouches and it was their diligence that prevented the city from losing gravitational control altogether. The casualties would have been staggering if not for them.     

"So... this is the other dimension?" Y'zaks looked on curiously as he stood on the tower complex. "This space has some sort of energy, and some stray radiation... it's like space, but there are many other things here as well."     

"We were thrown here during the dimensional storm." Y'lisabet strained her neck as she looked up to her mountain-sized dad. It sure was difficult for the little demon to speak to her father. "There was only a thin layer of atmosphere outside, so we almost lost our air supply. Thankfully, the warning spells noticed the change in air current and thought we were under the attack of the forbidden 'Void Hell', thus the barrier was deployed within a moment's notice. I wouldn't dare imagine the number of dead if it wasn't for that."     

"Then the elves and dark elves worked together to create a greenhouse of sorts, and that ensured our supply of breathable air." Zadamor had also made his way to the terrace and joined the conversation. "That also temporary solved our food supply issues. With the supplies in reserve, we did not have to worry too much about it. The first three months were spent trying to figure out how to survive in this other dimension. We had to be vigilant against any air leakage and we measured the radiation of the environment. We also made sure that we recycled everything possible and guide the city against colliding into any foreign objects. We then finally found a way to leave the place. Thankfully, My Lord, you've been studying the mysteries of space, and we were able to adapt to the living conditions here."     

"Only the Demon King's Army could survive here." Y'zaks smiled. "Aside from us, who would have thought of living in outer space?"     

Hao Ren was still thinking about the demonic hosts back in the Broken Plains. He looked up towards Y'zaks. "Say... you think those fools we left behind started fighting already?"     

As he said it, Hao Ren felt a sense of schadenfreude; he never thought a "good-natured" guy like Y'zaks could be such a scheming bastard. He had purposely engaged in worthless banter with Serathon and Banuklaak to buy time until the Allied Army arrived. The moment the two armies saw each other, he coolly turned around and left the two parties to fight it out. What a bastard...     

It was no wonder why Y'zaks could run rampant for hundreds of years. Anyone with just brawn and space age technology alone would have been overthrown long ago. It seemed like he used every underhanded move available to him during his reign. Any king worth his salt would have kept a few daggers hidden for when it mattered most; although most of us would simply just call it repression.     

But Y'zaks unexpectedly shook his head. "No, Serathon is a smart guy. He can't tell how much power we have. He's probably puzzled about how Helcrown could appear and disappear at will, so he'll conserve his strength and avoid combat with the Allied Army. As for the Allied Army... hmm... two out of the six present are scheming bastards as well, so they won't fight. Of course, there's no telling how much damage the retreat will inflict, as both have to guard against each other."     

"Meh, that sucks." Hao Ren sighed.     

"Well, I don't care if they want to fight or not." Y'zaks shrugged. "I have no interest in those land crawlers anymore."     

As he finished, Y'zaks returned to his human form and left the terrace. "Feel free to do whatever you want. I'll go back to the generator room. I'm still worried about that ball thing."     

Hearing that it was free-and-easy now, Lily cheered and jumped down from the tower. "I'm going on an adventure! Awooo~~~~~"     

Vivian immediately facepalmed before taking flight. "I'll look after that idiot."     

Wuyue checked her surroundings. The siren had half the mind to explore the wondrous city, but she still wanted to enjoy the scenery on the tower. After demurring for a bit she waved her hand at Hao Ren. "Mr. Landlord, please get me a tub of water. I'll soak with Lil Pea here to enjoy the view."     

Hao Ren then pulled out a huge tub of water for Wuyue to soak in. He also threw Lil Pea into the tub to let the little rascal have her fun. He then mumbled, "Why does this feel like I'm rearing fishes, having the need to change the water every now and then.... Keep an eye on Lil Pea, don't let her chew a hole in the tub!"     

Hao Ren noticed that something was staring at him as he spoke and he turned around to look at the source. It was Y'lisabet. The little demoness did not tag along with her dad, instead she stayed behind to observe the group of strangers. The bratty demoness stood just about two meters away from Hao Ren as she stared at him. It was almost like she was sizing the latter up as curiosity beamed through her crimson eyes.     

While the girl staring at him was indeed a cute little doll, Hao Ren was uncomfortable with her intense gaze, and he broke the silence. "Is there something on me?"     

Y'lisabet waved as she touched her little intricate horn, her eyes still locked on Hao Ren. "So... I should be calling you my uncle?"     

Hao Ren was confused. "Ugh... if we go by age, I've definitely not lived as long as you... but based on seniority... Y'zaks would probably have you call me that."     

"Oh, I'll call you Uncle then." The little demoness' expression was serious. She took a couple of steps closer towards Hao Ren. "So Papa's been at your place all this while?"     

Hao Ren nodded. He found the little demoness to be rather bashful with her questions. "Just ask me anything you want. I'm close with your dad. You don't have to treat me like an outsider."     

"Papa's changed a lot since he came back." Her face was serious a she nodded. "He was much more serious back then. He rarely smiled, and he was... scary. But it's different this time around. Why? Is it because he was with you?"     

Guess apples really did not drop far from the tree. The little demoness' intuition was indeed keen. Looking at the serious little Y'lisabet, Hao Ren thought hard on how to explain what happened to Y'zaks. His empire, which spanned hundreds of years, its collapsed, the awe-inspiring knowledge of the metaverse, the sense of gratification when he first stepped into space, as well as his life on Earth; these were not things you could summarize in a few words. He sighed resignedly. "Well, your papa was at the height of his career before his untimely—"     

Before he could finish his sentence he felt a slap on his back. Turning back, the visage of a pouting Lanina was staring down on him. The thing that hit him was Lanina's whip-like tail. "What nonsense are you talking about? That's so inauspicious!"     

It appeared that the translation module had translated what he meant to say literally!     

Hao Ren coughed drily. "Uh, right. So your papa ran out of budget before he could complete his great work... or something like that. It was something of an upheaval for him, so a change is natural. You don't have to worry, he is still your papa. His main motivation to come back here was to look for you."     

"I know." Y'lisabet nodded grimly. "And I feel that the papa now is much better. You said you plan to bring everyone here away? To where papa was living? Can you?"     

Hao Ren gave a hearty laugh as he patted his chest. "Don't you worry. I'm a specialist in mass migration. I even handled one on a scale much bigger than this, without a hitch I might add!"     

As Hao Ren finished, his gut churned. Talk is cheap, how would he even begin writing this report? While he did successfully move three billion Aerymian elves the other time, even he was too embarrassed to bring up that underhanded tactic he used. He would need to find another excuse, or that insane goddess would have him hauled away to ward off another disaster in her desperation. Given her neurotic tendencies, that was not out of the question!     

Y'lisabet by then was in awe of Hao Ren. With her beloved papa's assurance, she was rather trusting of the "weird human uncle" before her. In fact, she was looking at him much more favourably right now.     

But Hao Ren did not know that at all. He was still cracking his head on how to bullsh... uh no, write his report.     

Helcrown was still floating in the empty void, but it was not stationary. In fact, it was floating in a specific direction. The technicians had found a place in the void that they could set foot on, and they left a mark on it earlier. The floating city was now headed that way. During the rather uneventful transit, Y'lisabet bugged Hao Ren to tell her more about the other worlds. Wuyue had made a sculpture out of water as entertainment, while Lanina squatted by the tub as she carefully put her tail into the tub. She was fishing...     

Lil Pea leaped at every opportunity to grab on Lanina's tail. She was being fished...     

It seemed like everyone was at least occupied with something.     

And finally, something appeared in the gloomy void.     

Debris of various sizes appeared before the city, but they looked like some sort of space debris. Y'lisabet squinted and pointed to a silhouette before them. "Aha! We've reached the point!"