The Dawn of the New World

Hao Xuan took a few guarded steps back from the sculpture yet the uneasy feeling that was creeping up his spine did not cease. It felt like an intent of some sort was embedded deep within its body.

'This place is not that simple, and neither are these sculptures...'

Seeing as one of the pieces had this strangeness about it Hao Xuan looked about examining some of the others to see if maybe their eyes were glowing as well and if so, did they gave him the same feeling?

The one right next to the lion was of another beast. A four-legged dog-like beast without any eyes. Its maw was aiming at the ground roaring while barely discernable steams of green smoke were wafting into the air.

'This one too...'

He looked to the other side at the last sculpture that was of a Capra beast, a goat demon of sorts. Two extremely long curved horns were dangling from its head. Three golden rings were hanging from each horn, letting out a barely discernable hum.

It was the same as the other two. Each of them had something about them that made them seem alive.

Hao Xuan expectantly looked to its side at the neighboring sculpture and his mouth fell open when he saw what creature it depicted. A scaly armored giant with reptilian skin, a white beard, and pitch-black eyes.

At its feet were metallic thorns that surrounded it much like a barrier. The thorns were shinning with a dark black luster that even without any proof made it look like they were alive. There was a sense of vivacity about it that could not be missed.

Hao Xuan had seen that face before, a lot more times than he cared to remember. The sculpture looked a bit different since it showed a much younger version of the actual being but it was him nonetheless.

'Lazar...!' (CH 757)

That dracontine form could not be mistaken for anything else. Hao Xuan was flabbergasted into speechlessness.

'H-How? Why? Here?'

The one-word questions did little to help make sense of what he was seeing but after taking a couple of breaths he calmed down enough to try and come up with a few explanations.

'They're all alive, and probably on this world,' he thought looking at the other sculptures.

Other than the three-headed lion, the eye-less dog beast, and the Capra Demonic Beast, the rest of the sculptures were either partially destroyed or had no signs of life remaining, not including Lazars of course.

Hao Xuan did not have any proof of this other than a feeling in the back of his mind. It was like his thoughts were a bunch of squiggly lines that were connecting with one another to create a bigger picture.

He couldn't see it clearly just yet but it was starting to make sense.

'Assuming all these sculptures are of the creatures that were brought here by the War God, other than these four the rest are probably all dead, gone, or have broken free of their restraints one way or another.'

'Seeing as Lazar's sculpture gives off a similar feeling to the other three, and since I know for a fact that he is still imprisoned in the pyramid then that means the chances of the other three still being confined somewhere are pretty high.'

'Maybe these sculptures were a way of keeping tabs on the creatures. For example, if the sculpture breaks maybe it means the creature is not under lockdown anymore?'

There could of course be any number of other explanations for this but this was the one that made the most sense to Hao Xuan. He looked towards the other three one by one starting from the lion.

'It has the strongest aura, then the Capra beast and then the dog. Are they placed in order of strength? Or is it something else? Maybe their abilities or usefulness?'

Ranking creatures according to their strength seemed a little too simple but he couldn't disregard it completely since the Lion beast was definitely the strongest.

'But where are the other three? If they were in the pyramid I would have come across them at some point, considering how strong they are...'

While Hao Xuan was lost in that moment of brooding contemplation, Princess Helena had finished the ritual. She lit the last candle and moved back, slowly muttering something under her breath.

Each of the candles was slightly different in size but all of them were made of the same dark brown wax that burned slowly and with an odorless white smoke.

The wax melted and overflowed from the top, dripping down along the intricate design at the foot of the stone door where they were collected in three small crevices.

When the third crevice was filled up all the way the flame on every single candle went out by itself. There was no wind, no interjection from anyone present. The flame simply ceased to exist from that moment forward.

*Click*

*CLANK*

The floor behind the stone doorframe cracked and slowly opened up to reveal another staircase leading further down, all the while accompanied by the numbing sound of gears moving somewhere within the walls.