The Dawn of the New World

Hao Xuan was leaning back against a stone pillar while breathing heavily. There was a bad gash on the left side of his stomach which continuously spurted out blood, painting the floor beneath a bright red color.

There were several other wounds on his upper body but they had closed up, for the most part, leaving only ugly scars behind.

In front of him was one dead roach guard while another stood facing him. Its four arms gripped two blades on the two upper hands and some kind of ranged weapons on the bottom two.

The roach's four eyes blinked one by one, never leaving Hao Xuan's body.

Behind Hao Xuan was an oval entrance that looked like it was made of black water. It showed the scenes from the other side of the entrance but no sound came through.

Hao Xuan turned his head halfway and saw Ceni and Fulke talking to some of the prisoners one by one. He let out a breath of relief and swiveled his head back to stare at the four-armed roach guard.

"How about we just go our separate ways and I won't hold what happened today against you, huh?" he spoke in roach's language, forcing a smile.

In response, the roach guard raised both his swords, one above his head and pointed them at Hao Xuan.

*Sigh*

"I'll take that was a no then..."

He reached out behind him and pulled out the glaive that was impaling another stone pillar. Channeling some Qi into it, black electric currents surrounded the massive curved blade as he swung it around and pointed the tip towards the roach.

Infernal Strike's level 2 was activated which boosted his attack power by 80%. With what little Qi he had left, this was the only technique he could use. Nidhora's power surged out of his body and covered his body completely.

The roach was standing less than 10 meters away from him and with their physical attributes, they could cover this measly bit of distance with one step.

With a shout, Hao Xuan was the first one to make a move.

"HAH!"

He pushed against the old stone floor beneath and shot forward. It shattered like glass as his body flew through the air. The massive curved blade of the glaive was thrust forward with so much pure force that it sent ripples of air through the gloomy hall.

The roach changed his stance instantly, his reaction speed even faster than Hao Xuan's. He moved the left sword in a semi-circle anti-clockwise as soon as the glaive was just a foot away and managed to change its direction by a few degrees, just enough for it to miss his slender body. The sword in his right hand lashed forward like a snake.

Hao Xuan's pupils dilated. There wasn't enough time to dodge. Before he could even blink, the sword reached his head and pierced through.

The roach felt his blade pierce flesh and became elated. But before it could celebrate, a surge of pain finally reached its brain.

With utter disbelief, it looked down and saw the bottom half of its body laying a couple of feet away. Its four black pupils rolled back in their sockets and its body went limp.

"God damn it! That was way too close!" Hao Xuan bellowed as he recalled the Glaive back into his meridian.

Nidhora's shadow retracted, exposing his injured face. There was a cut going from his left lip all to the way back to the ear.

"Baracus, close all wounds!" he yelled, still angry.

He was completely out of Qi now. At the last moment, it was Nidhora's shadow that came out from his back and cleaved the roach in half. Those draconic wings weren't just for show.

It was a good thing it was so dark in this place that something like this worked.

But the roach's blade still managed to pierce through two layers of shadows and even the mask made out of nanotech before cutting his face.

Hao Xuan took a look around. He couldn't hear anyone or see anything else in the chamber so he went back towards the entrance and sat down. Taking out two spirit stones, he started absorbing them to recover his Qi.

Sounds similar to that of water guzzling came from his body as his blood rushed through the veins, slowly healing all the wounds one by one.

"That motherfucker, I'll kill him if it's the last thing I do," Hao Xuan muttered with a hateful gaze as he thought about how he got to this state.

Less than an hour ago Hao Xuan had suggested a very simple plan to the trader that would benefit them both.

To make it look like the camp was attacked and free the prisoners. He would still pay for the prisoners and then give him a little extra to make it look like a fight had taken place. In exchange, the trader could also escape to safety while Hao Xuan held the incoming cultivators back.

But upon receiving payment and freeing the prisoners, he told Hao Xuan about a secret room that led to another place he had yet to explore. Curious, Hao Xuan followed him there which is when he ordered the two roach guards to attack him.

Fortunately for Hao Xuan, he didn't let his guard down and survived the initial attack, which is when the trader ran away, leaving him to fight the roach guards.

Hao Xuan looked towards the place the trader had run off to. It was so dark that he could only see up to a couple of dozen meters.

They were somewhere deep underground now and there was no other source of light here.. Faint sounds could be heard coming from somewhere far, like the gurgling of water.