The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 436

Chapter 436: The King’s Decision

 

The long hall was filled with a merry and exuberant atmosphere as everyone celebrated the return of the “Great Sage”. The reappearance of Lanina, the right-hand woman of the demon king obviously gave a boost of confidence to the remnants of the demon army. Hao Ren looked at the goings-on in the hall with much curiosity; humans and beastmen with arms around each other, demons and dwarves squatting on the floor, arguing which was better—a hammer or an axe, elves and dark elves studying the patterns on the table—both were drunk.

These were Y’zaks’ most loyal men, who held on to the last minute. They refused to surrender even when the demon king began to lose the war. Everyone had been more or less influenced by the rugged “culture” of the demons, so much so that even the elves were careless about their manners as they enjoyed themselves in the choatic banquet.

Perhaps their compatriots in the human world would have chided them for disregarding their traditions and customs, but here, nobody cared.

After the grand ovation, Y’zaks and Lanina began a discussion with their comrades. Zadamor was seated next to Y’zaks and he asked Y’zaks cautiously, “My King, would you like to announce your return?”

Y’zaks waved his hand and said, “No, it’s not necessary. Only a few of you know that I’ve been missing for a year, no one else needs to know. The order in the city has been well maintained. Let’s keep it that way.”

Zadamor nodded in comprehension and proceeded to ask, “In that case, what’s next?”

“There’s something I need to clarify.” Y’zaks laughed. He then patted Y’lisabet’s small head. “Honey, let’s be honest, were you the one who gave the crystal to the Allied Army?”

Y’lisabet had a piece of roasted meat in her hand and she was scoffing down a huge chunk of it in contest with Lily. She replied without looking up, “Ah, yes!”.

“When I saw Papa III, I knew it was you.” Y’zaks guffawed. “We didn’t know what was going on, but now we figured… You wanted to break the enemy up from within, correct?”

Y’lisabet’s face was stained with roasted meat oil, true to the demeanor of a demonic princess who paid no attention to etiquette. With the barbequed meat still in her hand, she explained, “It wasn’t only to provoke infighting, but also to divert their attention, so that I had a chance to run tests on a few spatial nodes.”

“Tests on spatial nodes?” Y’zaks seemed to have clearer picture now. “So, that’s what you came out for?”

Y’lisabet nodded. “Well, after we found a way of accessing the mysterious dimension, we’ve been testing its law of teleportation. The law is pretty chaotic with every door connected to other places in an irregular manner. I’ve only figured out three stable doors recently. One of the safest is here, which leads to the Broken Plains in the Second Plane. As for the other two, one leads to the Obsidian Plains and the other to the human world. The purpose of our emergence from the otherworldly dimension is for the collection of required data.”

“It’s too risky to bring the entire city out of the otherworldly dimension.” Y’zaks’ knitted his brows. “By now, Banuklaak and Serathon must have already mobilized their armies for the offensive. The Allied Army is also moving towards the Second Plane as they must have received news about the re-emergence of Helcrown.”

“Let them come. We can always hide back in there.” Y’lisabet shook her head and a gleam of cunningness flashed across her dark red eyes. “Once we find a few more fixed exits, we can play hide and seek to drain their energy.”

“Childish.” Y’zaks snorted, but he had a smile on his face. Apparently, he was satisfied with his daughter’s capabilities.

Looking at the demonic princess who was not much different from a human girl aside from her pair of horns, something suddenly crossed Hao Ren’s mind. He reached into the Dimensional Pocket and took Lil Pea out. “Here’s another member I’d like to introduce to you. This is Lil Pea; her real name is Elizabeth.”

The little mermaid was still having her afternoon nap, however it was about time to wake up. Hao Ren gave her little tail a slight jab and Lil Pea jumped up like a koi. She was surprised to find herself in a strange place. She then greeted everyone around her. “Good afternoon Dad-dee, good afternoon Doggie, good afternoon Beardie, good afternoon Battie, good afternoon table, good afternoon lunch … Dad-dee, is it lunch time yet?”

“This little one is going through puberty right now, I guess.” Vivian quickly handed Lil Pea half a piece of chopstick and asked, “Who’s Beardie, by the way?”

Sentias Hot Hammer rubbed his beard, which looked almost like a curtain. “Maybe my face isn’t as eye-catching as my beard.”

Y’lisabet the Little Devil looked at the little mermaid in amazement. She was jumping around and greeting the plates on the table. “What is that?” Y’lisabet asked.

Elizabeth Lil Pea a.k.a the little fish raised her head and greeted the little girl. “Good afternoon to you too! Are you renting a room in my house too?”

The little one had familiarized herself with the business after following her landlord dad for some time.

That was how Elizabeth-Y’lisabet had their historic meeting.

Meanwhile, Lily was done with Y’lisabet yet. She challenged her to another around of bone gnawing. “Let’s see who can finish this bone first.”

Hao Ren looked on, thinking to himself that the husky may be dumb in many aspects, but when it came to partying, she was all that and a bag of chips.

Zadamor seemed to have something to say from the beginning and he finally broke his silence. “My King, have you returned this time to launch a counter-attack?”

Everyone at the table suddenly quieted down. Even Lily, who was gnawing at her bone excitedly stopped as her tail fluttered gently in the air. Nangong Wuyue let out a long sigh. “Considering the situation right now, you seem to have a good chance, Y’zaks.”

Y’zaks just smiled. Of course, it was difficult for most people to really tell if Y’zaks was smiling or not, especially when he had a face of someone who just got out from a brutal accident. But it did not matter. He was silent for a moment, before he shook his head to the surprise of many, and said, “No.”

Many were stunned, but Hao Ren nodded as if he had anticipated Y’zaks’ response. Mainly because, as early as Cadessar, he had known Y’zaks through-and-through as a person. He was a firm, almost paranoid forward-looker, yet at the same time, he had a weird and devilish “knightly spirit”. He neither regreted his choices (even if his choices did not work out), nor felt annoyed over failures that were a fait accompli—he would not look back.

Zadamor thoughtfully lowered his head as though the answer was not very surprising to him. On the other side of the table, a higher demon with a scar on his face exclaimed, “My King! What did you just say?”

“My work here is over.” Y’zaks smiled. “It turns out that the task of uniting the world isn’t for a demon. The demon’s way of doing things just isn’t suitable for the task. Maybe in the future there will be someone that rises up to the job—the grand unification of all races is the way forward, and I believe sooner or later, there will be a man who is better suited for it than I was in.”

The demon who had a scar on his face was one of the veteran generals under Y’zaks. Hao Ren remembered that his name was Lamadenor and he apparently belonged to a typical hawkish faction. When Y’zaks announced his decision, the general reacted intensely and the scar on his face almost tore open. “My King! How could you give up so easily? Are you going to abandon us? We’ve been waiting in that dimension for a year just for the right moment to launch a counter-attack, and you are giving yourself up?”

“No, I’m not going to give anyone up.” Y’zaks shook his head and exchanged looks with Hao Ren. After getting an affirmative nod from Hao Ren, he continued, “I will find a new place for all of you to settle down. Everyone will move there. My affairs with this world are over.”

Y’zaks paused and looked into Lamadenor’s eyes. He continued, “You must remember why I started the war in the first place—to travel to the stars. Now, I’ve achieved that goal. As for this world… I’ve given it a push, and that’s all that a demon can do.”

Lamadenor still had something to say, but Y’zaks waved him off and said, “Please, sit down. This is my first meal with my daughter after a long absence. If you have anything more to say, we shall discuss it later.”

Chapter 437: High Tech

 

After the banquet, Y’zaks led Hao Ren and the rest to a terrace on the upper parts of the castle. From there, they could see a good part of Helcrown. The city was massive, almost too massive as you could not have a full view of the city even from the highest point of the castle.

The circular city was a patchwork of districts. Within the great obsidian walls were 12 districts that were partitioned by high walls. From each district you could see each race’s unique buildings and black demonic towers. The citizens were however, not blocked by the high walls as they were equipped with gates and suspension bridges. The gates were powered by demonic energies and could be opened or closed at any time. This was probably for defense in case Helcrown came under attack. The attackers could be sealed within a district if they ever infiltrated. The castle itself stood tall in the center of the city upon a rocky hill.

Looking down, you could see giant elven trees alongside human hovels, and dwarven furnaces just across the beastmen’s gladiatorial grounds. The ethereal crystal towers were built upon the halflings’ burrows. A few hundred years of co-existance had changed the traditions and customs of the “demonic citizens”. As citizens of Helcrown, they were most influenced by Y’zaks’ vision. They had gotten used to getting along with each other. The elves were not scornful of the beastmen’s brutish nature with their strong liquor and grilled meats, while the beastmen were willing to study the elven’s complicated, yet intricate woodwork. This was the true face of Helcrown.

Nonetheless, most could not see beyond the imposing obsidian walls.

Y’zaks crossed his arms as he looked on. “You mean you can move the entire city away?”

Hao Ren was not fazed. “Well, we’ve moved a few billion elves, and their floating islands before. Those islands were way bigger than your castle.”

“But we had a transportation fleet back then. Plus, the Aerym universe had a World Gate.” Y’zaks looked at Hao Ren. “This place has none of those. Our plan was to came for Y’lisabet. I never thought that we would still have a city full of people…”

Hao Ren shrugged. “I can’t ask you to abandon them, right?”

Y’zaks grinned and said nothing else.

“So, that settles it then.” Hao Ren pursed his lips. “Don’t worry too much about this. I have my own arrangements. The issue of the World Gate can be solved as well. I’ll submit a request to open a temporary gate. As for the migrants… don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

As soon as the words left Hao Ren’s mouth, both Vivian and Nangong Wuyue, who were beside them rolled their eyes. They immediately knew what that guy was referring to.

Vivian gazed upon the majestic city, and turned to Y’zaks curiously. “I’m rather bothered about something.. Are you really going to let all of this go?”

“I’ve done what I can, and I’ve lost. There’s no justifying sending everyone in this city to their deaths just because of my own obsession.” Y’zaks pointed down towards the city. “This is not a revival, this is akin to throwing these people into a meat grinder.”

“But some of your underlings may not share the same sentiment.” Hao Ren glanced at Y’zaks. “For instance, that Lamadenor.”

Y’zaks demurred for a moment and gently ruffled Y’lisabet’s hair. “It won’t be long before he leads some of the demons out of the city. Y’lisabet, be a dear and tell Zadamor to not stop him when the time comes.”

The little demoness nodded. Hao Ren on the other hand, was surprised. “You already knew?”

“We’ve known each other for thousands of years. I’ve fought alongside him even before the Unification Wars. There are a few other old coots too, I know them all very well.” Y’zaks smiled without much concern. “Rather than looking towards the stars or any other grand schemes, they are more interested in war. If I’m not wrong, they stayed back with Y’lisabet for a year just to prepare for a comeback, and now that that’s gone, they won’t be staying any longer.”

Y’zaks then sighed. “I can’t expect them to stay when our visions don’t align.”

Hao Ren looked on quizzically. “You’re sure accepting of this… even when you’ve known about it so long ago?”

“I’m not being accepting. I’m just using whatever tools I have at hand.” Y’zaks smiled. “I don’t need everyone to think like me, I just need their strength to be useful to me. Those who can fight, let them fight; those who can explore, let them scour the land; those who can research, let them do so. Lamadenor is your standard demon, so I just let him do what a standard demon does best. Since he isn’t receptive of the future I’ve planned, he’s free to go as he wishes.”

Vivian still had some questions to ask, but Y’zaks did not seem interested in dwelling on the topic any further. He looked at Y’lisabet. “That’s enough, let’s talk about the city. How did you solve the propulsion system issue?”

The little demoness immediately puffed her chest up. “Oh, I solved it alright! We found a source of energy in the alternate dimension. It’s in the power generator powering the city. Papa, do you want to have a look?”

Y’zaks broke into a wide smile. “Of course. You guys wanna come along?”

The question was rather moot. How could Hao Ren and the rest miss out on this? The party was extremely excited. Even Lil Pea mumbled happily, “Kam along! Kam along!”

The group then departed for the power generator inside Helcrown. It was right beneath the castle and Y’lisabet led the way. Hao Ren and the group circled the castle for a bit, going through winding corridors and security checkpoints before reaching a circular hall. The hall itself was rather different, and did not have any decorative items adorning it. The walls were however carved with a series of crystalline and metallic leylines, almost like runes. The mysterious runes glowed as they were driven by demonic energies. The lights seemed to resonate with each other and there was a continuous hum of energy in the background.

Y’lisabet motioned everyone to stand on the obsidian platform in the middle of the hall and she made a series of weird motions towards the crystal above the hall. The obsidian platform shook for a bit and started descending.

It was an elevator…

As the elevator descended, the group entered the most important place in Helcrown. Hao Ren realized that he was descending through a long, translucent crystalline tube. Through the tube, they could see the inner workings of Helcrown, which were unknown to others. A massive, steam pipe of dwarven design snaked through the place. Thick, bronze machinery chugged as they were powered by dwarven steam engines, providing the city above with power. Beneath the steam piping was a dark red crystal, and a silver grid. This grid was the buffer area of the power generation zone. Further down, there were even more bizzare looking items; a series of dark green crystalline matrices with intricate spells and a forest-like metal structure. Heaven knows how long Y’zaks took to modify the place to what it was in the present. Looking at the ungodly mixture of technology, magic, alchemy, demonic energies and steam-powered contraptions, Hao Ren now understood why the Allied Army could not take down the city.

This was as high tech as one could get…

After a long descent, the platform finally came to a stop. The group had arrived in a deep area of Helcrown.

Y’lisabet led the group through a series of staircases into a ring-shaped corridor. The inner ring of the corridor was lined with rows upon rows of window arcs. Lily poked her head through one of the arcs and realized that the ring corridor was probably surrounding the power furnace.

The furnace was built directly using obsidian and its inner part was a giant circular hall. The staircase of the hall spiralled downwards and the circular rings made the place looked almost like the Colosseum. You could see countless glowing runes and silver circuits along every level of the steps. All of them were connected to the center of the hall. In there, a device made out of a few concentric metal rings were spinning rapidly, and in the middle of the device, there was a mysterious item that glowed in a dark red light.

On the steps above the power furnace, scores of workers were busy performing their duties. Aside from demons, there were blue-skinned ethereals and stout dwarves, who also looked like walking beer barrels.

Y’lisabet proudly introduced the place to the group, “This is Helcrown’s Demonic Furnace!”

Hao Ren stared at the device for a good while before turning to Y’zaks. “…Now I know the other reason of why everyone world wanted a piece of you.”

“What?”

“You stick out like a bloody sore thumb everywhere you go!”

Chapter 438: The Core

 

Almost everyone looked for Y’zaks’ source of strength and wisdom. Now, this source of power stood right in front of Hao Ren. The old adage was indeed true, “knowledge is power”… This super high tech contraption right in the bowels of Helcrown was proof!

The massive power generation chamber echoed with the hums and chugging of the generators, while a few technicians clad in alchemist garbs were busy regulating the experimental Demonic Furnace. Hao Ren and the rest slowly made their way along the circular corridor into the equipment zone, yapping in amazement the entire way. Lily peered about curiously before squatting down to look for something on the ground. Hao Ren immediately gave her a karate chop as soon as he saw her. “This is a restricted zone! Don’t go around looking for pebbles or you’ll get thrown out!”

Lily clutched her head dejectedly. “I was just curious about the runes on the floor…”

With a quizical look, Y’zaks stared at the floating crimson object in the middle of the concentric alloy rings. The facilities around the place was initially built by him, but the core device was left incomplete as he could not find anything that could provide a massive but stable output of demonic energies. Even a ton of the purest ores available did not suffice. As such, the theory of a floating castle remained just that, a theory. But now that the most teething of issues had been solved, it was almost unbelievable for the great demon. “What’s actually inside the core?”

“We don’t know for sure,” Y’lisabet said as she played with her small horns. “We got it from the other dimension; three of them actually. One of it was ruined when we did some tests, another one is in there, and the last one is in storage for back-up purposes.”

A massive figure approached from the side, and bowed respectfully before Y’zaks. “My Lord, have you come to inspect the energy furnace?”

Hao Ren threw the figure a curious glance. The big creature had dark blue skin and unique, glowing emerald eyes. He also had a reptilian tail, and thin scales were visible on his arms. This was one of the seven main mortal races, the ethereals. It was said that they were highly skilled in alchemy and crystalline technology. Within Helcrown, the ethereals and dark dwarves were the main source of technical expertise.

“Mhmm.” Y’zaks nodded. “Let me see that back-up energy core.”

The energy core that was placed within the power extractor was surrounded by a crimson hue. The light had a rather unique property, allowing it to completely obscure vision from the outside. Hence, they were unable to see what was going on inside the light. Knowing that there was a back-up, Y’zaks brought up the matter to him.

The ethereal technician was curious about his lord’s sudden interest in the energy core, but he nodded without question. “Most certainly. Please follow me.”

Hao Ren was curious about the “energy core” as well and he had a gut feeling that the stuff underneath the dark crimson light was familiar to him. He quickly caught up to them. “Let me have a gander too!”

The reserved energy core was placed in a secured vault not too far from the power generator room. This was to facilitate a quick replacement of the core within the furnace in the event it acted up. The secured vault was built out of cast iron and the thickness of the outer wall was about one meter. It was obvious that the content of the vault was valuable in the eyes of the technicians. The ethereal technician opened the vault door and there was 10 m² of space inside. Gentle light glowed from every corner of the room, making the place very bright, and they could see the reserved energy core on one of the storage frames in the center of the room.

It was had the appearance of a red ball with a radius of three meters.

“What’s that?” Hao Ren was overwhelmed with a unknown feeling the moment he saw the ball and he stepped forward curiously to look at the surface of the ball-shaped item. It was not smooth, having indentations and wrinkles at places. Its skin was almost like that of some echinoderms, yet when he took a closer look, he could see a pattern within the imperfection, a runic circuit of sorts. Hao Ren touched the ball with a bit of strength, and felt that it was bouncy.

Y’lisabet, who was standing beside him leaped up. “Whoa! You touched it directly?!”

“Huh? I shouldn’t?” Hao Ren was also surprised.

The little demon rubbed her cheeks. “Uh no, I was just scaring you.”

Y’zaks then pulled his daughter aside and went ahead to get a grip of the aura from the ball. “It contains strong energies… almost primal… Interesting… it’s giving me some sort of vibe…”

“Almost like a living thing isn’t it?” Hao Ren frowned as a forboding feeling welled up within him. Next to him, Lily had already begun sniffing the object. A worried look appeared on her face and she wagged her tail nervously. “Mr. Landlord… this thing smells awfully familiar!”

Hao Ren tried to listen for anything inside the ball before he pulled out the MDT. “Give it a scan!”

The MDT quickly stuck itself to the ball and said, “Now allow me to show you what real high technology is!”

“I’m just asking you to run a CT scan, how is that even a monumental task?” Hao Ren sneered.

A blue light canvassed the ball for a bit, and the MDT threw out a holographic chart of its internal structure.

The ball’s internal structure was suprisingly simple—just an intricate, flexible skeleton, which was almost sponge like. It supported the ball’s entire structure, and from the gaps there were elements that looked like blood vessels or nerve bundles. The ball was also filled with a sticky, dark red liquid and its texture was alarmingly familiar.

“I think we have trouble…” Lily gasped as she realized what Hao Ren was getting that. “This thing is really familiar!”

“My word… I swear with all my processing cores!” The MDT darted away from the ball-shaped item and flew towards Hao Ren. “This thing’s the same type of organism as the First Born!”

Everyone present turned pale aside from Y’lisabet and Lanina, who were oblivious to the nature of the object. Lily’s tail immediately bristled as she leapt two meters into the air and turned tail to run. “Awooo!!! We’re gonna die… Ungh!”

“Calm down! Calm down!” Hao Ren yelled for everyone to calm down as he pulled Lily off the vault’s wall. “Don’t panic! It’s dormant!”

Vivian was even paler than usua and she quickly summoned a horde of bats to protect all who were present. It was only when she heard what Hao Ren said, that she noticed the ball was dormant. Its aura was slightly different from the First Born they ran into previously. She carefully ordered a few of her bats to approach the ball, and cautioned everyone else. “Take a step back. Slowly, slowy… don’t wake it up like the other time.”

Y’lisabet looked at all of them in a puzzled manner. “What are—”

Y’zaks quickly grabbed his daughter by the head and placed her behind him. “Stay still… This thing is dangerous. Papa’s seen it before!”

The little demoness gave her father a bewildered look, and noticed that he looked like he facing a mortal enemy, so she grew nervous too. “Dan-Dangerous? There’s one in the energy furnace! We can’t just stop it at any time!”

“Don’t panic, calm down! Let’s get a clearer picture before we do anything.” Hao Ren turned to face the demonic father and daughter pair before shifting his gaze to Vivian. “What’s the situation like?”

Vivian commanded her bats to lie on the ball, and she used her innate sensitivity to blood to check what was going on within the ball. She had one of her bats taste a sample of the First Born’s blood before, and she was using that sample to base her judgement.

“No signs of life.” Vivian frowned. “The blood’s dead too.”

“You sure?” Hao Ren was still concerned. “The First Born we encountered the last time was hibernating and dormant as well.”

“But that First Born was filled with vibrant life energies.” Vivian waved as she recalled her bats. “I can tell that the ball here’s a little different than the First Born. It probably died a long time ago. Its blood isn’t flowing, but it still has loads of primal energy in it.”

Only then did Hao Ren allow himself a breather and he stepped forward to touch the ball gingerly. He was a little afraid that the thing would suddenly come back to life and swallow him whole. “Dead?”

Lily also snapped out of her daze, and she looked at the human-shaped indentation on the wall. “This figure looks familiar…”

So, the dumb husky actually had a use after all: to break the tension.

“You said you found it in the other dimension?” Y’zaks said as he turned towards his daughter. His face was grim. “Quick, show me where—”

Before he could complete his sentence, the alarms wailed throughout the castle. It did not take long for an ethereal technician to barge in. “My Lord! Serathon and Banuklaak’s army’s outside the walls! We’ve also detected the Allied Army. They are approaching as well!”

Chapter 439: Encirclement and Escape

 

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!”

Chapter 440: The Other Dimension

 

Helcrown 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.

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!”