The Dawn of the New World



When the booklet materialized in the palm of Hao Xuan's hand a bizarre phenomenon reflected in the skies above. A dark cloud rolled in from somewhere far and completely blocked out the white moon.

Hao Xuan glanced at it once but did not give it much thought. At this point it did not matter what sinister omens came to be-

"If it will help then I don't care how terrible it is," he told himself before directing his attention towards the booklet.

It was thin, barely a handful of pages that were wrapped in a cover made of human skin. A single black string was wrapped around it three times to keep it from opening on accident.

When Hao Xuan held the string in his hand he felt its relatively soft and elastic texture against his skin.

'Tendons, dried and treated...probably human too.'

One end of the tendon string was connected to the back of the booklet and the other open end was tied to the front side to an ivory clasp.

'Teeth, shaved down to create a hook.'

The closer he looked the worse his findings became. There was almost every appendage added to the already small booklet in some shape or form.

He pulled the string and opened the cover to see the first page. Only two words were inscribed on the whole page in, as expected, blood.

They read: 'Regis Officium'

Hao Xuan's brow furrowed, he knew their meaning somehow. It was an ancient language that had existed for as long as people were writing things down. It was called Latin on Earth and by numerous other names in different worlds and time periods.

"The Sovereign's Duty...or The Duty of the Ruler?"

It was tricky to translate these old languages because the demons always used words that had multiple connotations to trick the readers.

Hao Xuan turned the page, feeling its grainy texture within his fingertips as he did so. The pages were stiff but surprisingly flexible.

'Crushed bone mixed with a few other things. Turned into a paste and dried-'

He suddenly realized how strange this whole experience had been so far.

Hao Xuan had no prior knowledge of these things even in other lifetimes but when he touched the booklet the idea suddenly manifested itself in his mind, giving extensive details about the process by which every section of the booklet was created.

All he had to do was hold his hand over the page and close his eyes and like magic-

'I can see it! The bones are crushed and ground down into a fine paste. Then add spinal fluid, coagulated blood and- Urk!'

He almost vomited when even the horrid smells began to seep into his nose. It was like he was there in person, watching himself create the booklet by using his own body.

Even the heat from the crimson hellfire singed the hair on his arms and face.

"STOP!"

Gasping for breath, Hao Xuan forced his eyes open to break the visions. And in that moment he knew just how gravely he had underestimated this flimsy little item. He had come across several demonic books in the past but none of them were strong enough to do anything remotely similar.

"To induce such powerful visions, no wonder even Dai Zhi was afraid to use it," as he spoke a cone of vapor slowly drifted out. The temperature had fallen by several degrees.

The look in his eyes went from one of cold indifference to fierce apprehension.

'This was probably personally given to Dai Zhi by Meng himself. Considering all the omens from the changing weather to the illusions and drop in temperature, it's safe to say whatever this book holds is powerful beyond belief. But...why didn't Dai Zhi even open it to check what was inside?'

The more he thought about it the more his imagination ran wild. Dai Zhi was a smart man but there was little he wouldn't do. And if even he chose to stay away from it then perhaps it was in Hao Xuan's best interest to do the same.

He sat there looking at it for what seemed like an eternity, weighing all the pros and cons of such an endeavor. And in the end, he always came to the same conclusion.

'What if it can turn the tide in my favor? What if I discard it and it turns out that it could have saved all of us?'

The decision had already been made. He knew it, somewhere deep down, but he just needed to convince himself of it which wasn't very difficult since the booklet was already influencing him.

A curtain had fallen over his eyes and he could only see one thing.

'Yeah...just checking it out won't do any harm. Just...one...page..."