Elongated limbs reached out and grabbed a hold of the boulder to pull out the rest of the large semi-skeletal reptilian body. The nightmarish head which was in the shape of a humanoid skull was the last to snake out of the shadows.

If any of the barbarians were here they would immediately recognize this creature as the Hunter that had followed them over from the other world, one of the Djinn. (Appearance detailed in CH 697 'the Hunter' and first encounter in CH 735 'Djinn')

Its hefty body slowly materialized from the shadow and by the end the boulder's shadow had become much brighter.

The few strands of long hair dragged along the ground as it walked out of the gorge with heavy steps.

It stopped at the exact spot Hao Xuan previously had to slowly peer left and right. It spoke with a hoa.r.s.e voice that sometimes sounded masculine and sometimes feminine.

"Soon....brothers...soon you will...be free...the time...is upon us..."

This time the shadows moved by themselves without any wind. Shaking back and forth in a maddened flurry they sent off the Djinn in the same direction Hao Xuan and company were headed, towards the city of Argham.

And as its humungous body slithered soundlessly through the dark forest countless other four-legged creatures were forced awake by its presence. They crawled out of the dirt and from the trunks of dead trees to follow in its footsteps.

***

Despite being a long ways away from the city when the party began moving forward something unexplainable happened. And Hao Xuan was the first one to notice it because he was in the lead.

'It feels like the ground is moving faster than we are.'

All they did was run in a straight line but there were no obstructions in their path nor any obstacles. Every step they took covered ten times the distance they would normally have.

And this wasn't caused by Han Rong's spell which only gave them a moderate speed boost. This was something different, something much more mystical.

In less than two minutes the trees began to part and the outline of the city came into view.

"How is this possible?? It was this close and we never even saw it once?" flabbergasted Zou Huan questioned and the answer came from the most unexpected place.

"It's magic she says, very old magic. The city will reveal itself to those in need. But now that the priestess is not well the magic is not working properly."

Hao Xuan, Han Rong, and Zou Huan simultaneously turned toward Sokol with stunned expressions.

"There is such a magic in this world?!" Han Rong inquired with no small amount of disbelief.

"To change the very terrain, to bend s.p.a.ce in and around such a ma.s.sive area, the energy needed would be monumental," Zou Huan commented, "It would have to be at the very least a 7th circle mage with an immense mana pool."

Sokol turned his head a little to the right as he had countless times before to listen to the whispers before relaying the information to the rest of the party.

"She does not know how powerful they were because she was only a small spiritling back then. It was her master who created the city from the bones of an ancient beast with little to no effort. But he wasn't the one that created this world."

"It was a man who could align the stars with a wave of his hand and give birth to suns with a snap of his fingers. He created this world around his home to protect it, and her master gave it life from his own blood."

Sokol's words might not mean much to the others that weren't aware of the small details but to Hao Xuan they were invaluable. Only one name came to mind when he spoke of someone that powerful.

"The Emperor, was it?"

Sokol once again turned his head to the side to listen but shrugged a moment later.

"She says to hurry before the shadows catch up to you."

Hao Xuan's heart skipped a beat, 'I knew there was a familiar scent around that place, he was there waiting.'

"Quickly then!"

Another thirty seconds later they came out from the edge of the forest and landed in the large cleared s.p.a.ce where the earlier battle had taken place. There was still a gaping hole in the ground from where Hao Xuan's attack had landed but apart from some grunt corpses, everything else had been cleared out.

There were raging flames all along the sides which were being fuelled by the very same corpses being tossed in by the city guards.

Upon seeing such a large group appearing out of nowhere they immediately drew their weapons.

"HALT! WHO GOES THERE!" A roaring voice inquired from the city gates.

'The one who saved your a.s.ses, open the gate,' Hao Xuan spoke directly to the person via spirit sense.

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