Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1386: Seven

The idea of seeing Khan playing the bait didn’t sit right with Liiza at all. However, despite not having inherited any grander knowledge, she could understand details that Khan and Garret might have missed.

The True Chaos’ leader and progenitor fit the definition of a god, just like the white-azure spinning sphere did. Beings that could affect the universe on such a vast scale couldn’t fall in any different category.

Yet, even gods had limits. Liiza and Khan had seen the mana reaching them, so the same had to be true for the True Chaos. Nothing was truly boundless and eternal in the universe. At least, the Scarlet Eyes weren’t.

The Scarlet Eyes’ behavior somewhat proved that. Their apparent ability to teleport anywhere in the universe freely was incredible and impossible to defend against.

So, it stood to reason that the Scarlet Eyes would rely on it all the time. It would be dumb not to, and beings that could reach such high levels of existence were anything but stupid. Except they didn’t.

Initially, the True Chaos had only sent scouts. The warriors Khan and Liiza had fought were probably only one of the many teams that had reached the regulated universe to search for the Nak’s home world, so that strategy still made sense.

Yet, the mana had been able to mislead at least some of those scouts, meaning that their ability to teleport anywhere in the universe wasn’t flawless.

Moreover, after piercing the arrangement of asteroids, the Scarlet Eyes didn’t teleport directly to the center of that isolated environment. They had flown toward it, giving Khan the time to finish absorbing the azure planet and escape.

Ultimately, the True Chaos’ God didn’t show its presence until the black cloud stood right above Khan and the white-azure spinning sphere. That revealed many clues that only hinted at unclear conclusions, but one detail was clear.

The True Chaos’ God was far from omnipotent and omniscient. That made its troops unable to teleport all the time, and the last instance of that ability had a high chance of demanding a long cooldown.

Liiza was merely speculating, but the long list of affected locations worked in her favor. She didn’t know whether evolved warriors had arrived at each of those targets, but the chances of that were high, making her more confident in her evaluation.

The energy required to teleport hundreds of evolved warriors to an equally significant number of distant locations all around the universe had to be immense. Liiza couldn’t even begin to calculate it. She could only attempt to compare it to what the Nak had required to teleport her and Khan away to draw additional conclusions.

Even in the worst-case scenario where the True Chaos depleted less energy to teleport beings tainted by its power, that large-scale invasion had to have dried up its reserves.

Chances were that no more teleports would unfold even if Khan appeared in the open. Liiza’s vague calculations could be wrong, and she might even be underestimating that force. Still, she was also utterly confident that the True Chaos’ God wouldn’t be able to arrive on Earth.

The mana had already escaped once. Khan and Liiza had done it, too. That had to be the best window of opportunity for them and the universe as a whole. They could defend against part of the attack, inflicting losses that were bound to unite all the allied species in the true united front they needed to win.

Of course, there was no time to share those conclusions and the vast array of ideas and clues that had led to them. Countless lives could be lost with each passing second, so Liiza just stood up, publicly siding with Khan to show her support before the Emperor and his Royal Guards.

Truth be told, Khan had gone through similar thoughts. His brainstorming and conclusions weren’t as detailed and brimming with confidence, but he also believed that such a widespread invasion had to have tired the Scarlet Eyes out.

The problem wasn’t with what the Scarlet Eyes were capable of. The issue stood right before Khan, sitting across the table. He had just suggested to the Emperor to potentially give up on a planet in his domain to prioritize Earth, which couldn’t have sounded too appealing to him.

As if confirming Khan’s worries, the Emperor slowly stood up, relying on his methodical moves to avoid turning the quadrant into rubble. Everything shook anyway, but nothing broke.

The Royal Guards also stood up at that signal, but Lord Enforcer and Lord Envoy kept sharing their mana throughout the process, continuing what had sounded like a security function.

Of course, no one spoke. Silence ensued while everyone waited for the Emperor to speak. Garret couldn’t see the Empire’s leader from the call, but he also understood that it wasn’t his time to join the conversation.

That was an issue Khan had been worried about. Despite the common enemy, every species had domains and assets they needed to preserve, and the Thilku Empire had the biggest of them all.

The likelihood of anyone forsaking their belongings for the greater good of the universe was low, especially at the beginning of the war, and the first instance of that crossroad couldn’t have happened with a worse force.

"Lord Blue Shaman won’t go to Earth," The Emperor eventually declared, speaking the human language to make sure everyone understood his disappointing words.

A combative intensity had also pervaded the Emperor’s aura, almost making Khan wonder whether he would have to clash with his strongest ally to get out of Zedekiel. Yet, that impression ended up being completely wrong.

"Alone," The Emperor added. He seemed to have split his sentence to spare the area from harsher repercussions, and Khan almost cursed loudly, realizing that.

"Are Zedekiel’s teleports even enough for the both of us?" Khan wondered, avoiding indulging in his pettiness now that the universe needed him.

"Blue, the Royal Guards follow the Emperor everywhere," Lord Blind Sword announced. "It’s the seven of us."