Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1432: Theory

Something had become glaringly obvious ever since Khan had inherited the Great Old One’s genes. Martial arts almost always took the backseat in the evolved realm, but Khan was in the very opposite situation.

Khan’s union between mana and might had opened the door to evolved versions of martial arts. His body’s cells couldn’t just keep up with his spells. They could surpass them, creating something stronger than both.

Khan could settle for merely adjusting his martial arts to his new physical strength. After all, the Transcendent Step was incredible already, and his unique body had allowed him to master its six advanced forms in no time, something that no one had ever done.

Yet, that would be a waste of Khan’s potential. He could do much more with his fusion of might and mana, but the guidelines ended there. Adding his cells’ power to the equation had already been uncharted territory, and expanding it further would require time and enlightenment.

Enlightenment Khan had obtained while absorbing the white-azure sphere.

The crumbles of knowledge from the mana’s heart that had stayed with Khan resonated with his very existence. They had stuck because his being was already inclined toward those fields and could accept them. Nothing about that involved his unique cells, but he could fill the blanks.

The how had been easy enough to find, too. Khan only had to look at why evolved warriors ended up focusing on spells after stepping into that superior status. They had to express their existence to convey their full power. Those techniques embodied them, so Khan would do the same with his martial arts.

A mess of countless strands of mana clashed inside Khan’s body, generating an unfathomable amount of energy in the process. That was far more than what the individual advanced forms required, but Khan kept going, filling himself to the brim and going even further.

The same reaction that had surprised Liiza on the Nak’s home world seemed about to replay itself. Khan’s muscles bulged, almost about to bloat past their structural limits, only for his cells to devour all that raging energy, turning it into physical prowess.

That would have normally emptied Khan’s body of mana, but more of that energy refilled the now-empty flesh, repeating the process until he felt on the verge of exploding.

When Khan’s cells and flesh were full of physical might and mana, he forcefully stabilized his state, making it his new normality. He now had all the energy and strength possible at his disposal, achieving the utmost peak that his attunement level could allow, unlocking something the Transcendent Step didn’t include in its theory.

The six advanced forms were separated for reasons that didn’t only involve physical limits. The energy required to unleash a single one of them was enough to make most evolved warriors’ legs explode. Still, those violent strands of mana also had to move in a specific pattern, demanding immense concentration.

However, Khan could now hold far more energy than necessary, and his cells and enlightenment could simplify the required control, allowing him to use multiple advanced forms simultaneously.

Six different events had unfolded around and onto the King in the span of a fraction of a second. Everything had been so fast that the world had yet to record those massive effects, but time kept flowing, eventually making the alien experience them.

The tremors that severed the King from his power made his flesh explode. His body flattened under the ethereal but unbearable weight, and the hole that connected his abdomen with his back finally started to hurt.

The vertical wound on the King’s torso also expanded and deepened, reaching the other side to open it, severing his neck from his shoulder to create a V-shaped cavity that reached his waist.

Instead, the hits that landed on the King’s shoulders pushed him down, leaving dents and cracks on his skin and glowing smoke still escaping his injuries.

The King shot deeper into the cavity, only to stop, noticing that his terrible predicament had yet to end. Somehow, three Khans had materialized around him, and their legs were already on his body, unleashing another round of those incredible attacks.

The exchange flung the King down again, but his body stopped once more, this time by two Khans, who replicated that overwhelming offensive, trapping him in it.

After the fifth time enduring that assault, the King stopped trying to oppose it. He simply couldn’t. Khan’s attacks had already landed before he could even try to muster energy for a counterattack.

Moreover, the bright clouds above had never stopped releasing lightning bolts, which raged right inside the King’s existence while following his descent. He grew weaker with each exchange, his now-unavoidable defeat getting closer by the second.

Despite wielding a shard of the True Chaos’ God’s divinity, the King was powerless to do anything meaningful against Khan. However, he felt no shame anymore. One of his attacks had partially worked, and that was enough to confirm one unmistakable truth.

Khan was strong, but he wouldn’t be able to do anything against the True Chaos’ God. The experiment had been praiseworthy but ultimately pointless.

As the King’s body shattered, another smile formed on his cracked face. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that the universe of mana was done for. That single defeat wouldn’t change anything. His God would devour that inferior energy and reach even higher peaks, reigning supreme.

The King’s legs eventually vanished, followed by the left side of his torso. The cracks on his face widened when what was left of his back crashed into something solid, and his eyelids broke as he tried to open them, putting him before a chilling blue glow.

Khan had stopped his unending and overbearing assault when what was left of the King had landed on the gargantuan cavity’s bedrock. His glowing eyes shone on the whisps of black smoke still trying to create horns, but they were too faint and weak to claim his attention for long.

"I have a theory I want you to confirm," Khan revealed. "The guys I fought, those things fighting in the city, and you seem to have watered down versions of the True Chaos."

The King didn’t answer. He could hear Khan clearly but spent those last seconds inspecting him, rejoicing even more at the flaws he spotted.

"You especially only revealed your actual power after your God’s permission," Khan continued. "It makes me think that there’s no True Chaos or God. They are one and the same."

Khan lifted his hand, and a thunderous noise resounded from far above him, sending a relatively small lightning bolt into his grasp.

"Meanwhile," Khan added. "You are glorified Nak with a more defined power structure. Maybe your God personally created or modified you in his image to give birth to better avatars."

Khan lowered the lightning bolt and pointed it at the King’s cracked face, its sole blinding halo already threatening to kill the dying alien.

"So, how close am I?" Khan asked.

The King had never stopped smiling, and seeing the lightning bolt broadened that expression. His head snapped up, leaving black shards on the bedrock to make the crackling spell pierce his forehead.

Khan could have retracted the lightning bolt, but didn’t. An opponent willing to kill himself wouldn’t talk anyway, but the King did add something while what was left of his figure finished shattering.

"[You will never be a god]," The King said, exhaling his last breath before crumbling into dust that left no trace of his previous existence.

"Loyal until the end," Khan sighed, lifting the lightning bolt to scratch his head with it. "Did he even know that I refused to become a god just hours ago?"