The space in front of him bubbled for an instant before stabilizing once again. There was a mass of purple miasma left floating in the air in the exact spot Hao Xuan had appeared in.
The hooded man leaned forward and took a deep breath in through his nose, inhaling the entirety of the miasma.
"Hmm, a demon? An abyss dweller? Or a spirit? It smells a little familiar, a little...raw..." he muttered under his breath while licking his lips. He stayed there for a few seconds until a gust of wind blew in from the north, taking him with it.
**
Hao Xuan opened his eyes again and found himself hovering in the same room where he had found all the Prime Letters in the first place. The only door was smashed to smithereens and other than the central panel, everything else was in a mess.
There was even blood and numerous marks all along the walls. It looked like a fight had broken out in there after Hao Xuan and company's departure.
"Did they fight with one another?"
Hao Xuan recalled seeing at least three different camps of creatures with more on their way when they left. And seeing as not even a single corpse was left behind, the most obvious outcome was probably just that.
Hao Xuan looked around as much as he could but did not see any sign of another living creature anywhere in sight. He had full control over where the gateway would open and if he wanted to, he could have chosen any other spot on the entire planet.
But there was still some unfinished business left in this place. He needed to either destroy it or take the control panel with him because it contained a lot of information about the webway and the runes that could incriminate him.
Plus the rune sequence left on the wall was still there so he couldn't just leave it be. Everything in here needed to go.
Hao Xuan floated over to the wall where the rune sequence in question was placed etched upon and placed his hand over it. He channeled some soul power into it through his spiritual self and a new sequence lit up in his mind.
This would be the correct "address" for this world that could only be seen or rather, 'felt' by entering the webway with one's soul.
"Weird star, three-legged fish, half-moons making out, old sailing boat..."
Hao Xuan had given each of the prime letters a name depending on what he thought they looked like, so he could remember them more easily. He used this method to memorize the sequence since there was no way to note it down.
When Hao Xuan was sure he remembered the sequence, he withdrew the soul power and with it the mental projection of his soul from the webway as quickly as physically possible.
He opened his eyes in the giant hollow trunk but the only difference was it felt much hotter and noisier than when he left.
He stood up with shaky legs and waddled over to the entrance, peeking his head outside to see the barbarians engaged in deadly combat with a swarm of bare-skinned hairless creatures that looked like various twisted depictions of what could be humans.
They were deformed beyond belief and were obviously not in control of their minds anymore. (Reference Image in authors notes)
Surrounded them were walls of black and yellow flames that reached far into the night. Burak who was keeping a portion of his attention focused on the tree trunk picked up the movement and turned around to see Hao Xuan.
"Did it work?!" he couldn't help himself but shout out loud. All the other barbarians looked towards him for the answer no matter how many enemies they were fighting.
Hao Xuan gave a quick nod, "Give me a minute or two, then we will be able to leave!"
His words were like an oasis in the middle of the desert and the thirsty barbarians jumped from elation upon hearing them.
"YOU HEARD HIM! HOLD ON FOR A FEW MORE MINUTES!" Burak shouted as loudly as he could in such a situation, announcing it to all who listened, friend or foe.
And it seemed even the creatures listened because the frequency of their attacks increased by several folds. But it was the last stretch and neither side wanted to give up.
Hao Xuan got to work, etching the runes into the side of the tree with a short knife. He was done within a minute and a half and signaled for the barbarians the moment it was ready.
The gateway opened, and all of the barbarians stepped through it, successfully escaping a most certain death. When Burak stepped through who was once again the very back, the entire forest fell into an abrupt silence,
All the creatures that were attacking madly left and right just a moment ago now became docile, becoming statues in various positions.
*Tap*tap*Tap*tap*
***
Authors Notes:
All images are posted in the Official Discord.
Link: https://discord.gg/AHdSBFQ
___
Reference Image Link: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/83/d8/2c/83d82c380f39b6e0bd12a02821f33ba9.jpg
Shortened Image Link (case sensitive) : https://urlzs.com/fyGsw