Hao Xuan's body went limp and his consciousness faded into the ether. Tasgall who was sitting right beside him could almost feel his soul leave the body, replaced by a wretched coldness.
He shook Hao Xuan as vigorously as he could trying to wake him up but only managed to splash more of his blood on his own self.
He couldn't believe his eyes. It felt surreal, Hao Xuan dying. But it was right in front of his face. He extended his other hand and gently closed Hao Xuan's eyes that were still looking up at the ceiling.
Tasgall looked up towards Burak to tell him that Hao Xuan had passed away when he noticed a shadow above them. Raising his head he saw the Humanoid ether beast that had raised both its arms into the air.
It let out a low growl and brought them down upon the barbarians in one fell swoop, turning half of them into meat paste.
*Crack*
The four-leafed clover pattern that held eight pearly growths on the side of Hao Xuan's brain (CH 704) shone with a yellow light.
One of the greyish leaves started shrinking and when it reached half its original size, the two pearls on top of it completely shattered and turned to dust, creating a bubble of yellow light around his brain.
*Gasp*
Light returned to Hao Xuan's eyes as he gasped for breath once again.
"Huh?!"
He found himself once again standing on his own two feet surrounded by the Nightmare Hounds on all sides. There were several wounds on his body but it wasn't bad enough to bring down his overall fighting capability, yet.
"What the fuck is going on?!" he muttered incredulously.
One of the Nightmare Hounds saw Hao Xuan losing focus and quickly jumped forward to land a strike on his upper leg, cutting several inches of flesh away.
Hao Xuan winced from the pain but it was enough to completely sober him up.
"I'm...alive...again? I'm still here!" he shouted inwardly while trying to retaliate against the hound but it quickly jumped back again before he could land a strike.
'What was that? Was that an illusion? But it all felt so...real...'
Bits and pieces of it started coming to him, creating a complete picture. He suddenly remembered every little detail up until losing the last bit of consciousness. There was no way that wasn't real!
"Deja Vu? But...how?"
As if to answer his query, a searing headache erupted within Hao Xuan's mind. The same cloverleaf started shrinking and the two pearls sitting on top of it cracked in the exact same manner as before...or rather in the exact same manager as they SHOULD have some time in the future.
A disc of yellow energy shot out of Hao Xuan's head followed by a shockwave that rocked him and the Nightmare Hounds to the core.
"Argh!"
Hao Xuan grabbed the right side of his face which felt like it was about to melt off from the rest of his body.
"AHH! BARACUS! WHAT'S GOING ON?!"
*Beep*
"Spatio-temporal fluctuations detected."
"The unidentified mutation within the brain cells has been stimulated. There is a layer of temporal energy field surrounding the brain and the brain stem, interfering with further scans.'
"Effects unknown."
It felt like someone had taken a spoon and stirred the contents of Hao Xuan's brain, mixing everything together like a soup.
His vision blurred and his head started spinning, making him lose his footing. The largest nightmare hound that was now closest to him saw Hao Xuan stagger back and forth. Unwilling to let such an opportunity go to waste, it shot forth like a shadow with explosive speed.
Even if Hao Xuan knew it was coming it would still be difficult to dodge such an attack, let alone when he was so utterly open and unguarded.
It went as expected. The Nightmare Hound's jaw latched onto the nape of Hao Xuan's neck and bit down with full force, crushing his spine and half his brain to pieces before he could even register what was happening.
Hao Xuan died without even being able to fight back this time around.
*GASP*
He opened his eyes to the exact same scene as before, half-covered in wounds while surrounded by the hounds.
'Again?!'
The memories of the past events came flooding back, notifying him of what was to come. It felt like deja vu but he now knew it was real. Preparing himself for what was to come, Hao Xuan closed his eyes and accepted the full brunt of the information.
'It's happening because I died? Every time I die it sends me back to this exact same spot. Looks like I copied the Puer's ability to the T..."
The Puer had almost the exact ability, only it didn't need to die to send information back into its past self.