The Dawn of the New World



Hao Xuan watched helplessly as the hammer struck him down.

The pain he experienced at that moment was not something that could be described with words alone. Hao Xuan felt like he had been punched back into his childhood before he had learned how to protect himself because...the very notion of resistance was beaten out of him in one blow.

With the first strike of the hammer, his consciousness was forced into the central Mind Palace. He did not choose to come here but it was the only place that could protect his soul.

In the outside world his body had remained unaffected. The hammer was a spiritual weapon created by the Emperor's soul power and as such, it did not harm the shell that housed him.

Mr. Hyde was thrown against the barrier while Jin Wang to the back wall. Neither of them really understood what was going on but they could feel the presence of another being around them, someone far more powerful than anyone here.

Jin Wang looked up, his quivering lips only able to whisper, "He...is watching."

Unperturbed, the Emperor raised the hammer for the second time, [And he shall be a witness to his first failure] before striking down again.

Within the Mind Palace, Hao Xuan was just about to stand up when the force of the second strike reached him. It came down like a tsunami and by the time it washed over him...the Mind Palace was no more.

Hao Xuan's bare soul lay on the rubble of all his hard work, everything he had done so far was destroyed in an instant along with the few remaining severs still locked within.

Outside, blood spurted from his mouth since such a significant change could not be disregarded. Jin Wang's attention was pulled towards Hao Xuan as his eyes widened from shock.

"NOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" his scream filled the chamber.

At the same time more and more of the Emperor's energy began to slowly dig into Hao Xuan's body and only then did they realize what he was trying to do.

"Soul Transference!" Hyde shouted, "He is trying to replace the boy's soul with his own!"

Jin Wang staggered back unable to believe his eyes, for more than one reason.

"W-Was this your plan all along?? To have him go through all that pain just so you could take over his body? To what end? You will never be able to synergize with it, sooner or later the body will reject your soul and you will be back where you started!"

The Emperor pulled back the hammer for the third time, [Not this time, old friend. I discovered a way to meld my soul into this new form. That is why he is here, to stop me from achieving my goal]

*BAAANG*

The hammer came down and Hao Xuan's soul was once again struck into oblivion. This time he was smashed through the rubble of the Mind Palace and by the time he came to, there was only water around him.

It was deathly silent here as Hao Xuan's soul floated on the surface of his 'Sea of Consciousness'. This was the last refuge for his soul before it began to slowly dissipate on its own.

With the Mind Palace gone, there was nothing else left to accommodate it.

At the same time the changes taking place in the outside world were just as astonishing. A grey cloud appeared on the surface of the planet before turning into a raging storm within the blink of an eye.

It washed away one layer of dirt at a time, getting bigger in the process while eating at the planet's surface.

This created earthquakes and tremors that shook the planet inside and out but neither Dai Zhi nor anyone else for that matter had caught up to the apocalyptic event that was drawing closer by the second.

Engaged in their own insignificant battles, Dai Zhi's army was ordered to kill anyone on sight as they chased after the survivors.

Rhisiat carried Henrik on his back while fighting alongside Claudia, trying to keep the attackers at bay while the others escaped deeper into the ruins.

Claudia had gotten much stronger and could hold her own against most people on the planet but even she was getting pushed back in these close quarters.

She summoned a ball of dark energy that shot out needles in a 180 degrees in front of it while slowly falling back.

"Are you sure this is the right decision?! Wouldn't it be better to flee outside?" she shouted towards Rhisiat after killing two of the attackers that could not defend in time.

Rhisiat was in his transformed state after having become one with his beast companion. He punched the side wall, collapsing it into the narrow passage way to block the attackers.

"Yes! This is the only way! There are a lot more of them outside, our only advantage is in these narrow spaces! We need to keep heading down, that's where Mr. Jin Wang and Hao Xuan are."

"Why would they be down there?!"

"I don't know! I only followed Mr. Jin Wang down once and saw a much larger space. I think that is their secret weapon, whatever they are doing there could be our last chance to fight against these guys head-on!"

***

Authors Notes:

I will try to keep the next few chapters as straightforward as possible but it could be a little difficult to get right the first time around because three different scenes will have to be described simultaneously.

1. The events taking place inside Hao Xuan's mind.

2. The events unfolding within the chamber.

3. And the events related to the survivors and the planet.