The Dawn of the New World



That last word fell like thunder in Hao Xuan's mind.

"Compromised how?! Can I still make the gate??"

"The host will need to find a four eight square meters area that has not previously been contaminated by the powers of the shadow world."

"4 square meters isn't too much, I should be able to find a couple of rooms like that," Hao Xuan muttered ignorantly before even seeing the conditions inside the settlement.

The gate opened and he went inside, only to come face-to-face with a world shrouded in shadows. These were not like the shadow beasts he had fought along the way since their physical forms only seemed to manifest away from the light.

Hao Xuan jumped on top of one of the nearby buildings and made his way around the entire settlement that way, avoiding all shadows scurrying around on the streets and structures below.

It looked like they were corrupting everything they came into contact with, even the structures. The base of almost every building had already been imprinted with the energies of the shadow world. They had lost all color and were slowly becoming one with the miasma that had been pouring in from the outside.

Hao Xuan went into the tallest building he could find which only had three extra floors. The rooms inside were untouched by the miasma but when he inscribed the prime letters onto the wall to open the gateway the same thing happened.

All the spiritual energy was forcefully dissipated by an invisible pressure coming from somewhere outside.

*BAM*

A punch landed through the wall followed by Hao Xuan's curses.

"God damned this fucking place! It's not working here either. I think it's not just about the section of space I'm trying to create the gateway in but also what it's connected to. Because the first floor of this building has already been polluted, the connection to the world has basically been severed."

*Beep*

"Then the host needs to find an underground structure that has not been-"

The answer came to Hao Xuan before Baracus even had the chance to finish the sentence, "The control room where Altron's body was in! That should still be safe right?"

"Theoretically, yes."

Hao Xuan immediately jumped out of the window and to the roof of the neighboring building looking in the direction of the town center. He made his way over without wasting a second but when he got to the last row of buildings he had no choice but to stop.

The streets were filled to the brim with shadows. Hundreds of them packed in this small space like fish. There wasn't even enough space for him to stand let alone fight.

And if that wasn't enough, they were all trying to get to the hatch that led towards the central control room so there was no way to 'sneak' in there either.

Hao Xuan's brow began to knit in a tight furrow as he observed the scene that looked like it was taken straight out of a post-apocalyptic horror movie. They were banging their heads against the roads and pavements, trying to claw their way in like mindless drones.

There was only one thought on their mind, one reason they were here.

"Baracus, why are they all trying to get to the control room?"

"Unknown."

"Do not lie to me!" he screamed.

He quickly caught himself and pulled back from the ledge, not that any of the shadows would even notice him in their sorry states. Well, none other than the Orc skeleton that had broken the wall in the first place.

He was standing just behind the trapdoor watching the others try to break in when Hao Xuan's voice carried over.

He looked up and upon catching a glimpse of Hao Xuan's silhouette the skeleton's posture suddenly changed as a spark of pale blue light ignited in its empty eye sockets.

Hao Xuan on the other hand was too busy to notice. His clenched fist wanted to punch a hole through something but the one causing him all annoyance did not have a physical form.

"I know the god damn truth, don't you fucking dare lie to me again, understand?!" he hissed through gritted teeth.

"I know the Orcs did not start the wars, I know they didn't betray me. It was the humans they had brought over that were the root of all problems but...what I don't understand is why you would choose to lie and keep all this from me. Why? Is it because you think I'm too weak to handle this and would have a mental breakdown?"

"Everything they did was on my orders. If I hadn't left them here, if I hadn't ordered them to bring them over then maybe....maybe none of this would have happened," his voice fell to a whisper.

"I know it's my fault they are all dead."