The Dawn of the New World

For a brief moment Hao Xuan felt like he was transported back in time and tossed head-first into the life from which he had pulled out this combat method.

Ishtravan was the name of a large stretch of land that was discovered countless eons ago. It was located at the edge of our known universe, standing between the ten worlds and the abyss.

It was unique in the sense that it was unaffected by the torrential abyssal forces and could even ride them like an ocean wave if they became too powerful.

The land was rough and desolate. Nothing could grow on its surface or live on its own for too long but because of its relative position to the abyss, it had always been disputed territory between the era's great forces.

In that life, Hao Xuan was born and raised on Ishtravan as a battle slave for one of the countless powers that sought to create a stronghold there. It was a strange time where many powers looked the other way as long as it benefitted them which led to his fate.

He was selected to be a part of an experiment that was conducted to see if there was a way for life to prosper on this land of death. Using dark magic, at birth, a portion of his soul was weaved with a dreadful abyssal creature called the 'Black Mist' to create a symbiotic relationship between them.

The 'Black Mist' as it was called back then, was an abyss demon that could instantaneously jump between the physical worlds and the immaterial. It was an anomaly that could switch forms at will depending on the situation.

In the physical realms, it could only be seen as a cloud of black mist that was immune to all forms of physical contact but in the immaterial realms, it existed as an eight-legged equine beast that feasted on the nightmares of mortals before absorbing their vitality.

Not only was its dual-form especially suited for the harsh environment of Ishtravan but it could also be effective in combat if properly tamed. At least that's what the dark wizards theorized but what they got was neither a success nor a complete failure.

On one hand, they were able to create a lasting and unbreakable bond between the human riders and the demons which allowed the riders to switch between the two dimensions at will as long as they were close to one another.

But on the other hand, the bonded humans started to change with every transition. Their souls became corrupted by the vile energies of the immaterial realms and the longer they were exposed to it the worse it became.

And if that wasn't enough, every time the demon fed the human bond was able to experience it firsthand. After spending years feasting on others' nightmares the humans became twisted in their own right.

Not just their physical forms but their minds as well.

In the beginning the results were considered a resounding success because their losses were almost negligible and the enemy forces were decimated at every turn.

The Black Cavalry would arrive in the form of a dark cloud and penetrate deep into the ranks before changing back into their real forms. No magic could slow their advance, no wall could keep them out, and no sword could pierce their wretched forms.

Within just a few years they became the scourge of the plains of Ishtravan. When word of their arrival came the enemy would surrender unconditionally before fleeing in every direction.

But with time they became harder and harder to control. Their bloodlust could not be satisfied and soon they stopped taking orders if they kept them from shedding more blood.

It was at this point that one of them came up with a particularly cruel and reckless combat method. It was called the 'Final Stampede' which usually ended up taking their life.

What Hao Xuan was using was a derivation of that form.

The Chaos Lighting surrounding the massive blade was pulsating along with its position. When the blade was cleaving down the lighting was at its weakest, allowing the momentum and weight of the sword to do all the work.

When striking upwards the chaos lightning became several times stronger which in turn created a lasting trail that left everything in its trail alight.

The idea behind this form was to keep building momentum. This was especially easy for the Black Cavalry since they could pop in and out of the physical world in case something was blocking their path but Hao Xuan did not have that luxury.

He forced Grey to run through everything that blocked their path with brute force alone.

Thankfully his swordsmanship was at a level where he could easily change his position with minimum effort to make sure Grey wasn't overwhelmed.

Every move he made had to be calculated and he had to think ten steps ahead but to the barbarians who were locked in a battle of attrition just moments ago, Hao Xuan looked like a messenger from the gods.

The massive sword switched from left to right with a trail of lightning in its path as Grey sent the beasts flying into the air with his deadly kicks.