The Dawn of the New World



A shockwave passed through the mountain waking Grey from his nap.

*Neigh!*

Both his heads bobbed up and down in confusion when he couldn't feel Hao Xuan's presence anywhere but then a second shockwave followed suit and a dusty figure came shooting out of the mountain.

Grey quickly got out of the way and prepared to attack but when he felt that familiar energy reaching out to him he immediately calmed down.

Hao Xuan pulled himself out of the mountainside before patting himself dry from the sticky purple flames that covered his chest. He threw up a mouthful of the same purple liquid.

*Cough*Cough*

"T-That...barely worked...what even...was that monster?"

*Cough*

*beep*

"It seemed to be attracted to your energy during the transition. There are no know records of such an entity in any official records within the database."

"Well...it doesn't matter anymore, I have more pressing matters to attend to," Hao Xuan mumbled looking at the ocean of black clouds overhead, "This place is as gloomy as I left it. How long was I gone for?"

"Approximately 24 standard minutes."

Grey walked up to Hao Xuan and lowered one of his heads. Hao Xuan grabbed a hold of him and stood up with his help, "Thank you."

*Neigh*

He leaned next to him and took a couple of deep breaths.

"Did you get everything you could from the control room?"

"Affirmative."

"And the central matrix?"

"Without the coolant it is impossible for the matrix not to overheat. Given the disparity within the flow of time, the host will be able to feel the connection cut off within the next 7 standard minutes."

Hao Xuan gave a weak nod, "Then I'll wait..." and walked over to the side and sat down. He couldn't focus on anything until this was done.

Time trickled by as slowly as it possibly could, making the next few minutes seem like an eternity. Hao Xuan was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, completely focused on the power of the Constitution.

And just as Baracus had said it came through right on time.

Hao Xuan felt the connection sever to all of the Orcs in one go. Their souls were wiped away with no chance of ever being reborn.

He clutched his chest with a pained expression, "It hurts more than I thought it would. It feels like I've lost countless little parts of me."

But the pain subsided and the emptiness only lasted a few more minutes before he got used to it, making it difficult to even feel the discomfort anymore.

But that didn't mean all his guilt was washed away. In fact, thinking of the last battle where Arthur and the others had to fight the twisted remnants of their own loved ones made it feel like a dagger was plunged into his heart.

"Even then-" he caught himself on the verge of losing control again and quickly let out another deep breath, "Patience, breathing....focus. Later, I promise to pay for it later."

He stood up just as Baaracus spoke up about their future.

*beep*

"What does the host plan to do now?"

Hao Xuan thought about it for a moment, "I have wasted too much time. Ma Jiang and Zhurong need my help but the army I was hoping for doesn't exist. I need information first, maybe I can find a way to sneak in with the help of [Umbra] and get them out without even getting into a fight."

"The system will continue scanning for any humanoid lifeforms. But interrogation techniques are known to be tricky and require-"

"I'm not torturing anyone. Not to mention the time it would take to find someone that would actually know their whereabouts. I'll go to the camp Wern mentioned in the ruins, maybe one of the survivors knows where it is."

That was the only thing he could pin his hopes on now.

Hao Xuan jumped on Grey's back and gave him the directions to follow. He was extra careful not to make too much noise because of all the demons crawling around but that made travelling slow and arduous.

What should have lasted for just a couple of minutes ended up taking close to half an hour. Hao Xuan jumped off and recalled Grey to rest upon reaching the entrance of the ruins.

"Too many demons crawling around everywhere. Most of them are not even that strong, maybe Wern was right about the hatching pits."

*beep*

"Perhaps it would be a good idea to kill a few of them for a chance to find more demonic cores. Strengthening your abilities before running into the enemy's camp would be beneficial even if it takes longer."

"That depends on where Feng Huang is hiding. If it's not too far then I don't mind gearing up a little beforehand."