The Dawn of the New World

The gateway that looked like a vertical eye had only opened halfway when the barbarians jumped into action.

"Throw everything you have on it! Do not let it open all the way!" Burak shouted while he himself channeled all his internal energy into the words of power on his arms, materializing a diamond-shaped shield that surrounded the gateway, preventing it from opening all the way.

Hao Xuan was hunched over the control panel, talking to Baracus through the spirit sense.

"Quickly, we're out of time! I can't wait for you to do everything by the book so just destroy everything in there!" he ordered, in response to which Baracus informed him of the consequences of such an action.

"The reason it is taking so long to delete everything is because of how the data is stored inside the panel. There is an entire virtual world sealed within the Yin Qi Crystal. It was most probably the doings of the True God that was conducting all the experiments and he didn't want any accidents to happen so he did something I have never seen before."

"He has sealed a part of his own Divine Territory inside the panel where all the problems he faced can naturally evolve and unravel themselves. The only issue with this is that I have to erase everything in a very specific order otherwise, some of it might leak out."

"Destroying the panel will surely do the trick but the Divine Territory sealed within the panel might create some adverse side effects. Would you still like for me to continue?"

By the time Baracus finished his lengthy explanation, the gateway was almost fully opened.

"Yes!" Hao Xuan yelled looking at the expanding yellow light that was solidifying despite the best efforts of the barbarians, "I'll deal with it later, whatever happens. But this stuff cannot be leaked so get to it, NOW!"

"Affirmative."

"Commencing self-destruct sequence."

"T-minus 60 seconds. Please evacuate the facility as soon as possible."

"S-Sixty seconds?!"

Hao Xuan's heart almost stopped in its tracks. They were at the lowest level of the pyramid and leaving it in less than a minute would be nothing short of a miracle.

But it was already too late to do anything about it. There was a timer counting down on the panel's main screen.

"HEY!" Hao Xuan yelled towards the barbarians to get their attention, "LET'S GO! QUICK! ITS GONNA EXPLODE!" he threw out the words like an unpinned grenade before running out of the room.

The barbarians were dumbstruck at his behavior until they realized what he had said.

"GO GO GO! FOLLOW AFTER HIM!" Burak shouted at the top of his lungs, kicking them away.

"Y-Yes!" everyone other than Isak sprinted out of the room at full speed.

"What about you?" Isak stopped at the door and inquired calmly, in quite the opposite manner to the overall atmosphere.

Burak grinned, "I'm right behind you, who do you think I am?"

Isak looked him in the eyes for a couple of seconds before running out as well.

Burak's smile slowly disappeared. He really didn't have any plans to sacrifice himself, all he wanted was to keep the gateway closed until the very last moment so the Djinn would not be able to come through, or even if it did, the explosion would kill it for certain.

He had experienced first hand the horrors it had brought upon inhabitants of the other world and he did not want the same to happen here.

Back in the mine when Burak led his men into the depths in hopes of finding the ones missing, he stumbled upon something that could only be described as a scene from hell itself.

There, at the very bottom where even the air was heavy with anguish, he found it. It slumbered on a mountain of misshapen skulls, akin to a dragon protecting its treasure.

The skulls were its trophies, left as the only remains of an entire civilization that once lived there. And it was not just one section that was loaded with them, but entire caverns filled to the brim. And the worst part was that their souls had not yet left this world.

They were sealed within the skulls by some archaic dark magic, done for some unholy purpose. They still cried for relief, begging for it from anyone and everyone.

And when Burak finally stood in front of this so-called 'Djinn', he knew that it was not something so simple. Deep down, he knew the truth the moment he looked into its eyes.

"Death," he whispered to himself.

Burak had seen how his life would come to an end when he stared into its eyes. It was not an illusion but a precognition.. And in that moment he knew that he had stood toe to toe with death itself.