The Dawn of the New World



And not a moment later the winds became so strong that people were being pulled into the air like they weighed nothing. But the worse part was that once they passed the 100-meter mark the pressure was so intense that their bodies were simply exploding like water ballons.

Dai Zhi understood that even he might not be able to withstand that much pressure for too long and quickly weighed his options, deciding it was better to get into cover first.

"INTO THE RUINS! EVERYONE GET INSIDE!" he roared before running in before any of them.

By the time Micha and Ensis realized what was going on Dai Zhi was nowhere to be seen. They exchanged knowing glances and understood one of them had to step up and take charge.

Micha waved his hand to create a barrier around them while shouting orders, "YOU HEARD THE MASTER! MOVE IN NOW! GO GO GO!"

He turned to the side, "I need your help, we need to work togethe-" but there was not a trace of Ensis anywhere.

"Gods be damned!" he cursed, pushing the soldiers into the stairway leading down, "MOVE YOUR WORTHLESS ASSES!"

A few hundred meters away in one of the countless dark hallways, Dai Zhi was standing with a confused expression. He was running in a straight line but kept ending up at the same intersection.

The air moved behind him and Ensis appeared like a shadow.

"My lord."

"Oh, it's you," Dai Zhi loosened his grip around the blade hanging from his waist, "I'm glad you are here, see if you can figure out what kind of magic this is. We can't move forward this way."

Ensis took one look around and pointed in the direction he had come from, "We need to go this way."

"What? We just came from there, are you sure?"

"Yes," he answered and ran in first.

Dai Zhi watched his silhouette melt into the shadows and with a deep sigh followed after him. Ensis took a few seemingly random turns that made no sense and should have led them back outside but by some miracle, the opposite happened.

"Behind this rubble," Ensis pointed at the debris blocking their path.

"Let me, it will be faster," Dai Zhi extended a hand and a red aura ignited around his figure.

The rocks began to fly up and move to the side by themselves, opening a path for them to walk through. There was light coming from the other side and an opening could be seen on the wall ahead.

Ensis stepped aside, allowing Dai Zhi to go in first.

"What is this place?" he murmured while stepping closer. But when he actually saw what was on the other side his jaw dropped.

A massive cavern that seemed to go on for miles. There was a black pyramid in the center with one way leading up from the right side. And right now plumes of golden light were leaking from its every crack and crevice, lighting up the entire place with its holy light.

And if that wasn't enough, every single surface within the cavern was covered by millions of illusionary silhouettes that were facing the pyramid, watching and waiting for something to happen.

Even Ensis who knew that Hao Xuan was down here was shocked to see these new developments spring up out of nowhere. Something much bigger than he expected was at play, as was evident by the storm outside and the pyramid inside.

Dai Zhi's eyes were almost radiating with the green glow of greed.

"What a fortuitous discovery!" he gasped, "This must be why that terrible storm appeared! Whatever treasure is in that pyramid must be powerful enough to invoke the envy of the gods! We MUST get to it first, understand? We can't let anyone else get their hands on it before us...especially those filthy mongrels," his gaze turned poisonous as he looked down to the left.

There was a small group trying to make its way through the army of illusionary figures. Rhisiat and Henrik were in the lead while Claudia and Princess Ceni were strutting along the back on Grey.

Ensis leaned over to get a better look.

"I don't see him with them," he mumbled under his breath, prompting a second glance from Dai Zhi.

"Who? Wait, where is that pissant Hao Xuan?! It can't be-" before suddenly turning towards the pyramid, "He is already in there?!"

Ensis finally let out a breath of relief.

'Master must have been the one to activate the treasure in that place. I must protect him at all cost!' he thought inwardly, readying himself for a tough fight.

Oblivious to the dagger on his neck, Dai Zhi was trying to come up with a plan to make the best of a bad situation.

"It's not too late. Let's follow them and try to find out where that mongrel is and how to get in there!" he threw out the words before inconspicuously flying down from the side.