The Dawn of the New World



Within the darkness of the planes of creation, they stood across from one another.

The All-Seeing Eye and its holder watched in silence as the Emperor's remaining soul fragments worked tirelessly to finish the magic circle and bound Hao Xuan within.

Nothing needed to be said, they were well past the point of discussion.

Outside the chamber, the raging storm had grown big enough to cover nearly half of the planet's surface. It had almost eaten its way to the under-world where everyone was still engaged in mortal combat.

It was coming straight for the chamber and everyone inside it.

But the Emperor already knew that. A little over a minute later he finished the last set of runes that slid down and settled in place around Hao Xuan, completing the magic circle and sealing it from all sides.

Jin Wang looked over at Mr. Hyde who could only shake his head in dismay. Without even a physical form it was next to impossible to do anything in such a short amount of time while his soul was sealed behind a barrier.

'The spell is complete. He just needs to channel the right type of energy into it and it will be done after that,' Hyde informed Jin Wang.

'Right type of energy? What do you mean? Magic circles rely on the user's own mana to power the spells.'

'Not this one. It's a very old magical system and requires too much energy for one person to provide. He will need an outside source, something extremely powerful and potent that matches the type of spell, along with a catalyst to bring it all together. It's a relatively long and crude process, nothing like the kind of magic we have these days.'

Jin Wang's brow rose in anticipation as something clicked.

'This energy source, since the spell is related to 'Soul Magic' would the energy also be...?'

'Yes, souls. And a great many of them.'

'And the catalyst, what would that be?'

'Right there,' Hyde pointed to the dial that Hao Xuan was strapped to, 'Look how the magic circle seamlessly melts into each notch. The dial is made from sun-metal ore that is used extensively in any field related to soul manipulation, it HAS to be that.'

Something suddenly clicked in Jin Wang's mind, 'That's it! That will be the only time we can intervene without tipping him off!'

'What do you mean??'

'He will have to open a path to allow all the souls that he has gathered to be pulled in. We can exploit that for ourselves.'

'And do what?'

'Send in a soul of our own! You will see.'

Jin Wang circled around towards Hao Xuan's back until he was standing on the exact opposite side of the Emperor. He closed his eyes and started chanting a spell under his breath, which did not go unnoticed by the Emperor.

For a moment it looked like the Emperor had not seen this coming and was a little taken aback.

[Why must you continue to stand in my way, old friend] his aged voice echoed within the chamber, [We must stand together against our enemies, is that not what you desired for ages past? Why do you wish to oppose me]

Jin Wang paused the chanting and opened his eyes halfway to stare at the golden figure across from him.

"Too many people have died for our cause- Or should say YOUR cause. You even sacrificed the entire population of this planet just to prove a point so excuse me if I don't believe you anymore. Besides, I made him a promise and I intend to keep it. That's the least I can do as his friend," he finished by stealing a glance at Hao Xuan's back before continuing the chant.

The last sentence truly puzzled the Emperor, [A friend? Him? That remains to be seen]

And with that, the Emperor also extended his left hand to activate the dial.

It began vibrating and the outermost part of the dial started moving in a clockwise direction while the innermost part moved anticlockwise.

The chamber shook and dust fell from the walls as mechanical wheels could be heard moving underneath the floor and behind the walls.

Just like Jin Wang had said four smaller holes opened up within the dial, one in each of the four cardinal directions. They were disconnected from the rest of the chamber since they rested in the center of the dial, all around Hao Xuan.

The Emperor moved his hand up and down in the empty space as if looking for something before suddenly making a grasping motion. Followed by an ear-piercing scream four illusionary figures appeared above each of the holes.

They were down on their knees clutching their heads in pain. But that only lasted for a second before they were ground into white dust and absorbed by the magic circle making it shine brighter.