The Dawn of the New World

Hao Xuan returned the shield back to Burak who immediately integrated it with the main part, recovering some of its original size and condition. Hao Xuan grabbed the legs of the three unconscious Barbarians and moved back in more or less a straight line while providing Burak with audio clues through spiritual sense to provide cover for him while trailing behind.

The 60+ meter distance was covered in around three minutes. But when they entered the cavernous confines of the Pyramid once again, something quite strange and unexpected happened. All the barbarians, Burak included, suddenly regained their senses.

Burak's previously cloudy eyes suddenly cleared up and he looked around in shock.

"Human!" he grabbed Hao Xuan's shoulder in elation, startling him.

"W-What?!"

"HAHA! I can see and hear again!" he reported proudly for some reason.

Hao Xuan's eyes narrowed in contemplation. How was this possible?

He originally thought it was due to the radiation or some other difference in their physical bodies that only made them deaf and blind, but was that not the case? Was it just a timed thing?

Most of Burak's body was covered in severe burn marks but that did not stop him from almost jumping around. Even though he was acting like it wasn't a big deal, Burak had almost given up being a warrior thinking that this change was permanent.

"You stay here, I will go get the others!" Burak threw out the words towards Hao Xuan who was lost in thought and ran back out in wide strides.

But he had only taken three to four steps before freezing mid-stride.

"Hmm?" Hao Xuan looked towards him with knitted brows.

"What's....wrong?" he asked but Burak did not respond.

"Oi!" he walked up behind him and grabbed his shoulder. "I asked...what's-"

He had yet to complete the sentence when their gazes met and Hao Xuan could once again see the cloudiness within his pupils.

"Human, is that you?" Burak extended his hands towards Hao Xuan.

Hao Xuan's eyes narrowed once again. He grabbed Burak's hand and pulled him back while staring at his pupils. They had barely moved a meter back when Hao Xuan noticed the cloudiness slowly fade away by itself and Burak's vision returned.

"Huh? This...what's going on?" Burak mumbled with a stupefied expression whereas Hao Xuan's mind suddenly jumped into action.

Although he wasn't paying attention before since he had to drag three unconscious barbarians that weighed several hundred kilograms EACH while dodging other threats which made it quite difficult to focus on anything other than the matter at hand, but he had felt it clearly this time.

The moment Burak's eyes cleared up, Hao Xuan's body felt lighter, like a small weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It wasn't so obvious because he completely missed it before, but this time it was as clear as day.

If he had to describe it, it was akin to walking through a thin film of water. His body just felt a tad bit lighter over on this side.

'Baracus, is this...because of a law?'

Hao Xuan had absolutely no evidence to back this theory other than a simple gut feeling. He had felt a law before when Gou Yang was training his own back in the Beast World (CH 389). This feeling was a little familiar.

But it was much less obvious that was for sure.

*Beep*

'That is a possibility, among many others,' Baracus swiftly responded with a more clear thought process.

'If the scenes that are currently playing out in the sky as you say are real, then the chances of it being a law are much higher. The avian figure could be some sort of a divine entity or the one fighting against it could be one.'

'These changes could simply be byproducts or unintentional secondary effects of their battle. If they were strong enough then such a feat would not be too far-fetched. Without even meaning to, a simple altercation between them could very easily result in prolonged damage to a weaker world's corporeal laws, especially if it did not have a world spirit to defend against such effects or to keep things in balance.'

Listening to Baracus's explanation Hao Xuan could not help but look up towards the sea of clouds once again. The yellow miasma had covered a majority of the atmosphere making it that much more difficult to see what was happening up there but every now and then it would clear just enough to see a glimpse or two of this otherworldly battle.

'But how did we get here? I think it is safe to say all this isn't just happening inside the pyramid. To hold an entity that powerful, there is no way a small space could do that. And we sure as hell didn't pass through a portal or get teleported, so what is this place?'

Hao Xuan's mind was filled with questions, the answers to which he could not hope to understand by his own limited abilities and shallow experiences.