The Dawn of the New World

The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the golden glyph hitting him head-on. It felt like somebody slammed a hammer on his chest with such strength that his very soul was almost forced out of his body... "almost"...

Hao Xuan's vision went dark. His mind was awake and he could clearly feel himself falling, but it 'felt' different. He couldn't feel his arms or legs, or any other part of his body for that matter. There was no air, no resistance.

It was like at that specific moment in time, he only existed in thought. Without a body or soul, without a past or present, just a mere concept, an "idea" of him floating through time and space, through an endless dark void.

He felt afraid and alone, so incredibly alone.

Hao Xuan always believed he knew loneliness, so many years spent living alone while being surrounded by those that called him family, he told himself it doesn't get any worse.

But at this moment he was proven wrong, just like so many times before. It was like he was daring the universe and it gladly accepted his challenge.

He was falling into nothingness, through complete and absolute darkness. He could feel himself becoming "less" somehow. And at that moment he realized, this was death.

He was dying, truly.

He wanted to cry out, ask for help from someone somewhere but he had no face. He wanted to try and fight back, try and help himself but, how could a mere thought do that? It wasn't up to him.

And soon after, panic caught up, followed by utter helplessness and then despair.

'Dying is much worse than I imagined it would be,' the thought crossed his mind.

As if responding to his words, an inaudible murmur came into his mind, pulling him towards a strange place. A place connected to him somehow.

Light returned to his world and Hao Xuan found himself in a strange area.

He had perhaps already visited it or would do so sometime in the future, or the past. It was a strange kind of Deja Vu like he recognized the place yet it was still completely foreign to him.

He was standing at the top of a grand old building with a large dome. A temple?

But it was lined with statues of hundreds of armored warriors standing in a straight line with their swords outstretched, creating an archway leading to the temple's entrance.

Each of the statues gave off a suffocating feeling just from a single look. They had cold, arrogant expressions that suited them perfectly. Hao Xuan didn't need to know their background to recognize what kind of abilities they had when they were still alive.

These were the warriors that you would only see once in a hundred years if you were lucky yet, hundreds of them stood guard here, a testament to whichever deity they served.

Hao Xuan raised his head only to be left stupefied and at a loss for words. He couldn't believe his eyes.

The statues he thought only went on for a few hundred meters were just the ones at the front of the temple.

The temple was located at the summit of a tall mountain, overlooking a metropolis that went on for as far as the eye could see. The statues lined the entire path down.

At first glance there were probably thousands, tens of thousands if not more and each one was at a level Hao Xuan couldn't see himself achieving. Some of them were releasing such overpowering auras that Hao Xuan took a step back in shock, only to realize he did not have feet.

He was but a spectator in this world, of the events long gone.

So many brave warriors.

"But...what killed them?" was Hao Xuan's question and as soon as he asked, the answer came to him.

Followed by a deafening roar, the sky opened up. A row of white and yellow teeth ripped the space apart.

The statues lining the mountain released divine auras trying to seal it back up but it was to no avail, it was too strong. The tear in space became larger and larger until it was hundreds of kilometers long.

The teeth pulled back but not a moment later out poured a swarm. A swarm of death and destruction. Hao Xuan couldn't see exactly what those things were but he could hear the screams and cries of help from their victims, from the people living in the metropolis underneath.

The temple Hao Xuan was standing on opened its gates. A row of warriors clad in blue armor stepped out. Not more than a hundred even.

They were covered in blood and wounds from recent battles yet they held their weapons high. They peered down at the scenes of carnage unfolding in front of their eyes with heavy hearts.

Hao Xuan could feel their anger, their agitation, their helplessness. It called out to him for some reason. He saw the look in their eyes and could tell instantly that they knew it was their time to die.

At this juncture, death was unavoidable but not a single one of them had any stray thoughts. Neither of running away nor of surrendering.

Hao Xuan stared at them for a few seconds as tears formed around his eyes. He blinked and the scene suddenly changed.

The statues were more or less turned to rubble, the steps leading up to the temple painted with blood. The dismembered bodies of the armored warriors lined the sides of the temple, leading inwards. They had already died.

Hao Xuan felt sad, so much so that he forgot about his own precarious situation. With a deep sigh he blinked again and reappeared in a closed-off chamber somewhere deep inside the temple.

Here eight figures stood.

At the back of the chamber was another statue, this one much larger than the ones outside. It was of an armored warrior sitting somewhat lazily on a throne. His shoulders drooping and his head lowered. The statue looked tired and sad. And unlike all the others outside, this one's face could not be seen since he was looking down.

In front of the statue were three warriors in blue armor, the same as the ones that died outside.

Facing them were five large humanoid creatures that although held human forms, were warped and twisted in different ways. Hao Xuan could feel a strong stench of sulfur coming from them, somehow. They were obviously demonic in nature.

It was very similar to what he had smelt back in the pit.

The largest of these demonic creatures that also looked the most human-like stepped forward. Four black eyes and one broken horn adorned its hideous face as it turned to face the armored warrior in the middle that had four black lines surrounding a gold shield on his pauldrons.

"Give up "grandmaster". How long will you fight? Why persist when you know the result?" the demon spoke in a bestial voice.

The grandmaster it was referring to had his back towards it.

He was kneeling in front of the statue on one knee as if the demon wasn't even there. The two warriors to his left and right were covered in wounds, parts of their armors completely destroyed but they stood guard in absolute silence.

Seeing as he was totally ignored, the demon laughed instead of getting angry.

"What use is praying? What did he ever do for you? An empty old man, a relic of a forged past. Once I am done peeling the skin of your flesh, I will use that statue to-

"Watch your tongue, filth. Do not utter a single word of disrespect in this chamber, for I will not tolerate it!" the grandmaster spoke up.

The entire temple shook with his powerful voice!