The Dawn of the New World

1416  An echo through the void

The void was how we perceived the place behind the curtain of reality. It neighboured every realm of existence no matter where or how far. Everything from the beginning of time to its dreadful end existed in unison behind the curtain.

To catch a glimpse of what lay behind was akin to ask to understand all of existence...all at once.

Hao Xuan had studied the void as a normal human in one of his previous lives. Many considered it to be the emptiness of deep space but it was so much more.

What lay behind the curtain was a 26th-dimensional plane that was impossible to comprehend for physical beings like him and yet, everything they did had an effect in the shape of an echo not only in there but also in the void as a consequence.

Gods, Demons, and other powerful beings that one could think of, they were able to exist in several dimensions at once and could read, understand, and even manipulate it by peering behind the curtain through the vastness of the void.

That's how many of them were able to use their powers, just like the ones who were after Hao Xuan. So Baba Jezda planned to create a ruckus and spread chaos within the void that would make it extremely difficult for anyone to track them down.

But how best to accomplish that? Simple, wreak unimaginable havoc in the most peaceful of places. Throw a proverbial stone within the calm waters of existence until everything was but a mess.

"You wouldn't dare!" Hao Xuan exclaimed.

"Why not?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, almost disappointed with his naiveness.

"It will not matter either way once you go back. The past will be rewritten and this future will have never come to pass. So what does it matter that we strike at the heart of the Hosts of Heaven? So what if we reap a trillion souls and maim countless more? It is nothing that has not been done before in times of war."

She moved the last pin on the dial to its new position and right on queue it came.

"Brace yourself," she warned.

Hao Xuan knew what she meant so he closed his eyes and shut off all his senses after recalling the spiritual threads. At first, everything was dark.

He had cut himself off from the outside world as much as possible but it was impossible to completely sever the connection since he still existed physically. And that's how they crawled in.

It began with a single whimper somewhere on the other side of the universe before turning into a cacophony of rabid screams leaking out from behind the curtain.

Crying, wailing, screaming, and shouting, the pain and misery of a hundred billion souls could not be contained all at once.

Hao Xuan fell to his knees from the accumulating pain and suffering because despite his best efforts, his soul was not completely under his control, and as such it could not be protected in its entirety.

This lasted for but a moment before everything went silent.

He was not alone in this. Every being across with a sensitive enough soul could sense the disturbance originating from the culling of an inconceivable number of souls.

If lucky, they would simply fall into a comma for a few months or years but if not, they would lose their minds and shatter their souls into a million pieces becoming little more than empty husks of flesh.

Covered in sweat from head to toe, Hao Xuan stood up with some effort.

Baba Jezda extended a hand towards the empty space in front of them to cast a spell that conjured four mirrors. Using her forefinger she inscribed the runes from the runestones onto each of the mirror's surfaces, letting them dissolve into a mixture of various colors that created moving paintings.

"Hmm, this should be enough," she muttered in satisfaction upon seeing the scenes of utter destruction being reflected on the mirror's surface.

Entire planets turned into fiery hellscapes. One bustling metropolis after another razed to the ground in the span of just a few seconds. The atmosphere set alight, covered in a monstrous sea of blue flames that extended beyond the horizon. (Reference Image posted in discord)

"Hoho, what a marvelous sight!" the old man with the walking stick muttered from the back in melancholy, "That brings back memories. I feel like a youngling again...traveling through the worlds to spread my lord's wisdom to the masses."

Even the old man with the constant frown managed to let out an appreciative nod, "Hmm, not bad. Their sacrifices will not have been in vain."

Baba Jezda snapped her fingers shattering the mirrors into a million pieces. She looked back at the two Elders, "Let us move on to the next stop. The coffin should have been recovered by now."

The frowning elder extended a hand towards the ground and tree roots began to sprout out taking the shape of an oval entrance. He took out a small black vial and sprinkled half of it on the roots before stepping back.

"After you, my lady."