Jarek who was last of the barbarians was turned to mush before Hao Xuan could even wrap his mind around what was happening.
The Avian Ether Beast 'jumped' down from the ceiling, landing right behind Hao Xuan. It was over 200 meters long from head to tail so standing in its shadow Hao Xuan was smaller than an ant.
It lowered its beastly head as much as it could, nudging Hao Xuan awake.
He was still standing there, amongst all the death and bloodshed, but it didn't 'feel' real to him. He felt like a stranger in his own body, watching the scenes unfold from the perspective of a third person.
He turned around and to see the creature's open maw welcoming him.
Behind them the humanoid ether beast had strode in as if it was on a morning walk. It got down on one knee.
Hao Xuan heard a rumble and turned back around to see the humanoid ether beast staring down at him. Even bent halfway it was over 60 meters tall.
Hao Xuan's gaze was pulled towards its eyes. It stared at him for just a second before he felt a sudden shock to his brain. It felt like a grenade had gone off in his head.
Hao Xuan's knees buckled under the immense pressure and pain. He felt like he was about to pass out when he heard a booming voice ringing in his head. It was loud, so utterly loud that Hao Xuan couldn't even hear himself think, and it was all being projected right into his mind.
Hao Xuan could feel it going through his brain looking for words and when it found them, a sentence was formed. The voice sounded like his own but a little older, a bit raspier like it hadn't spoken in a long time.
"Undo the seal," he heard his own voice order in a booming whisper.
Blood poured out of Hao Xuan's eyes, nose and ears as the blood vessels simply popped from the pressure. A stream of images was projected into his brain that showed the scenes from the humanoid creature's past.
The scene there was much different than any world Hao Xuan had seen before. It was a world of giant humanoid beings, true giants. They lived among earth-shatteringly tall mountain peaks, sometimes becoming the mountains themselves if they managed to live that long.
This humanoid was from a race called the 'Falkenreath'. A type of species that had the bloodline of the Ancient Heartwood Dragons flowing through their veins.
They had exceptionally long lifespans with powers that matched the titles of 'Draconic Warriors'.
This one in specific had a name that Hao Xuan could not even utter but it sounded like 'Lazar' when spoken by humans.
Hao Xuan saw the barren, rocky world it lived in. Their species did not like to socialize with one another so each one of them lived in a territory of its own.
One day Lazar was approached by a man. A human male from the looks of it but that man's power was far beyond anything Lazar had seen. The man told him that he did not belong in that world, that it was a prison for him and his kind and that he could set him free.
Curious and confident in his own strength, Lazar followed the man to his world only to end up in a far worse situation than he expected. The man sealed Lazar's true power and imprisoned him within this pyramid.
The man told him that he needed Lazar's power to fight a 'disease' and when he didn't need him anymore, Lazar would be set free.
But that day never came. The man disappeared, probably meeting an untimely death, leaving Lazar sealed and imprisoned within this place. Over time, creatures from many other worlds also found their way into the pyramid but none of th strong ones could ever leave due to the restrictions of this place.
Lazar killed all the ones that did not bow down to him, leaving only these four to keep him company.
"Lift the seal!"
Hao Xuan heard the words again. He opened his eyes and saw Lazar's face peering back at him.
Hao Xuan obviously had no idea about this seal or how to lift it, but right now that wasn't the question on his mind.
"Why...did you kill them? My friends? They meant you no harm."
Lazar seemed confused by his query. He glanced to the side at the multitude of beast corpses strewn across the floor.
"So it was payback?" Hao Xuan asked but the answer he got was not one he expecting.
Lazar let out such a wide smile that the ring of thorny horns on his head even shifted a little.
"To sow fear!"
He wanted Hao Xuan to be afraid, to know what would happen if he disobeyed. He would have probably done the same to whoever survived, it just happened to be Hao Xuan this time around.
He wanted to break Hao Xuan's willpower so he would not be able to resist.