The Dawn of the New World

The Scorpion King's entire right arm, shoulder and torso looked like it had been dunked in acid, which ironically would have only have made him stronger.

He cryptically pointed in the direction he had just jumped down from, "The dark...is alive."

That was the second time Hao Xuan had seen such a human-like emotion on his face, one that would be closest to primal 'fear' in humans.

Hao Xuan forced himself to look up, holding his breath and ready to jump aside at even the faintest sign of conflict.

But as expected, the first and only thing his eyes saw was the shroud of darkness that was inching closer to him by the second. He noticed that it was the light coming off of the barrier which was created by the Orcs that was keeping the dark at bay.

And while he was looking at it, the darkness suddenly flicked closer as if it was alive. Hao Xuan took a few steps towards the doorway with the Scorpion King following closely behind.

The hair on the back of his neck had retracted into his skin, something he didn't even know was possible. He kept staring at the blackness but couldn't see anything at first. It was only when he unfocused his pupils that from the corner of his eyes, something stood out. A vague shape that could be his imagination.

But the moment his eyes jerked in the direction where it was and his vision converged directly where the shape should have been, it completely disappeared.

He took another step back.

Still holding his breath, all Hao Xuan could hear was his own thumping heartbeats and the sound of their footsteps. Yet he knew deep down that they weren't alone. The Scorpion King was right, there WAS something in the darkness.

The only problem was that he couldn't detect even the faintest signs of life from it. No smell, no sound, not even a whiff of any kind of presence. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It felt like the darkness was swallowing everything.

The light, the sounds, nothing could escape from it.

'Go inside,' Hao Xuan ordered the Scorpion King to go through the doorway first, to which he promptly agreed.

The Scorpion King was a spiritual beast first and foremost and despite all his intelligence, the primal instincts inherent to those of his kind were still the strongest. And they were screaming at him to leave.

And not a moment after the Scorpion King disappeared behind the doorway a wave of indistinct hushed voices stormed into Hao Xuan's mind.

He grit his teeth trying to steel his resolve, baring his fangs at the emptiness that had assaulted his senses. It was obscure and indistinct but it was there. Unknown voices suddenly calling out to him from nothingness.

For a moment his body almost moved by itself, yearning to run into the darkness and embrace it wholeheartedly but he held back with no small amount of concentration.

He took the last step while he still could and stood within the doorway. A ray of yellow light finally fell upon his back, illuminating his silhouette.

*shhhhh*

The light reflecting off of his body managed to brighten the nearby surroundings for just an instant, for just a few milliseconds but those were enough for Hao Xuan to catch a glimpse of what was hiding within the darkness.

Floating hooded figures that started smoking in the light. Dozens of them in the limited space that was in front of him, stacked on top of one another like dolls, drifting weightlessly in the air while extending their decrepit, bonny limbs towards him.

The light wasn't strong enough to reveal their faces but he did lock eyes with one of them, the one nearest to him. Its face was perhaps only 1-1.5 meters away at most yet Hao Xuan had no idea it was even there until that moment.

A pair of black pupils that had probably never seen the light of day was staring back at him. This whole interaction was too short to even be labeled as such but in that brief window, Hao Xuan felt something pull and tug at his psyche, his very soul was attacked until he unknowingly reached out with his free hand to grab hold of the extended limb.

Fortunately, an unexpected external stimulus brought him back to reality. Ma Jiang was holding onto his shirt so tightly that her fingers were starting to dig into his skin.

"Huh," he suddenly came to and jumped backward.

*Shooooop*

The moment he crossed the threshold the doorway disappeared from sight.

Hao Xuan found himself standing in a brightly lit room. He was facing a closed-off wall that looked exceptionally ordinary.

He turned around and saw Princess Helena standing not too far from him in front of another doorway. Only her expression was one of absolute shock and disbelief as she stared at something to his right.

Hao Xuan followed her line of sight and saw the Scorpion King standing on the side. He was looking down, still as a statue but his tail was coiled behind his back, a posture Hao Xuan was more than familiar with.

He was getting ready to spring towards her.