The Dawn of the New World

"Go and receive him, welcome back your old friend," Tian Zheng ordered, his lips twisting into a devious grin.

The figure unhurriedly looked in Hao Xuan's direction before jumping down the mountainside. Its movement was robotic as if it couldn't control its body properly but the speed and power were nothing to scoff at.

Hao Xuan had just run through the enemy horde for the fourth time when he felt the valley floor begin to shake. He looked over in its direction and saw the source of the commotion.

It was a 2-meter-tall corpulent figure running straight towards him from the other end of the valley. If one didn't pay attention it would look like a boulder rolling down the hill since it crushed everything in its path.

Hao Xuan quickly swung the sword in a criss-cross pattern around him to clear out the surrounding beasts and shouted towards the Barbarians to move back.

"Get out of here, NOW!"

"WHAT ABOUT YOU?!" Burak immediately inquired to which Hao Xuan answered by making Grey jump tens of meters to the side.

"I will come after you soon, they can't catch me!"

Burak looked around at the scattering beasts and knew this was probably the best time.

"I will be waiting in Argham, don't be late!" he shouted back one last time before running out from the other side.

Jarek was the only one who stayed till the very end looking at Hao Xuan. Only when he acknowledged his presence and gestured for him to follow the others did he start moving.

'I only need to keep them busy for a little while longer. Once there is some distance between them it should be fine,' Hao Xuan thought inwardly, unaware that this was a trap set up just for him.

"Go!"

With a loud neigh, Grey sprinted towards the charging figure.

Tian Zheng who was watching everything from the mountainside waved his hand and two long-limbed figures stepped out of his shadow. Measuring just over 6 meters in height they stood out like sore thumbs.

Their bodies looked like they were made from black glass and everything else about them make them seem like abstract paintings rather than actual physical beings. Two curved horns decorated their heads proudly.

These were the same demonic figures that he had called out in the colosseum. (CH 967 'Minds eye', also a reference image there)

"Cover the escape routes, make sure he is not able to leave before its time," Tian Zheng ordered, and both the figures melted into nearby shadows and disappeared.

With that, he jumped down himself and casually started walking towards Hao Xuan who was about to engage with the stout figure within the valley.

But seeing as a vast majority of the beasts had already been killed by him Tian Zheng became a little worried. He quickly clasped his hands and mumbled something under his breath before planting both hands into the wet soil below.

As his energy began to spread to out in all directions, everything it touched began to animate. The soil, the trees, the rocks and even the other corpses of the beasts that were strewn around him.

They melted together and began combining in a bubbly liquid that spat out more of the beasts one by one. Within a matter of seconds there were hundreds of them.

But they still weren't complete. There was no light within their wretched eyes. They walked left and right aimlessly like lost puppies and only when his words reached their ears did they suddenly become attentive.

Tian Zheng made several hand gestures while continuing his chant in an unrecognizable language. Several dark portals began opening behind his back and spitting out spiraling masses of dark energy.

They hovered in the air for a few seconds before locking onto a beast and shooting in their direction. Upon coming into contact with these dark spiraling spheres the beasts froze on the spot for a moment before trembling from head to toe.

Their size began to increase bit by bit. The claws became sharper, the bodies sturdier. They were almost fifty percent bigger than the beasts in the valley.

By the time the shaking stopped their demeanor had also completely changed. They snarled and growled at everything that moved but more than that, there was intelligence behind their eyes now.

Tian Zheng gave a light nod, satisfied with the results.

"Go forth and lay waste to everything. Kill anything that moves, anything and EVERYTHING!"

The beasts growled in unison and started spreading out in every direction. They purposefully avoided the valley where Hao Xuan was.

At the same time, the two six-meter-tall shadowy figures came out of the shadows at the end of the valley.

The shadows began expanding and within seconds had hidden the only way out within their depths.