Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1514: Lie

Boulder by boulder, the moon disappeared, shattered into nothingness, devoured by the massive, stylized, open maws of the bright reptilian head hovering above it.

The scene perfectly exemplified what Liiza meant by not being inconsequential to the universe anymore. Once the last grey pebble vanished, the reptilian head closed its maws, seemingly eating Khan, only to be reabsorbed by his figure, leaving him alone in the middle of pure darkness.

Khan reopened his eyes and broke his sitting stance, straightening himself in the deadly expanse. A moon had just vanished from the universe, causing gravitational consequences he couldn’t even begin to calculate or imagine, devoured by his spell, only for him not to feel any different.

Actually, a slight change existed. Khan felt it while inspecting his tattooed hand, opening and closing it as if to test his own strength. However, the effect was truly minimal.

Khan felt like a bottle almost filled to the brim, while the moon he had just absorbed had been a mere, single drop added to its contents. It definitely had an effect, threatening to make him overflow, but it couldn’t fulfill him quite yet.

Nevertheless, that probably suited what Raymond and the other scientists needed to calculate an accurate target for Khan’s goal. That practice promised to involve many similar trips, to which Khan didn’t have alternatives.

Of course, teleporting Khan and the Emperor all across the universe multiple times wasn’t exactly cheap, but that wasn’t something either of them could worry about due to the ongoing war.

Khan would usually heave a sigh, but his environment didn’t really allow that, so he flew back to Lekegawa, planning to rejoin the Emperor among breathable air.

The Emperor hadn’t moved from his spot. He hadn’t blinked at all throughout the smooth devouring of the celestial body, only choosing to cross his arms at some point during the spectacle.

Those thick, muscular arms remained in their place when Khan returned, stopping before the Emperor, their eyes meeting to create an unexpected tension that surprised them both.

Unknowingly to that broken planet, two of the greatest existences in the regulated universe were now hovering in its sky, studying each other as if about to clash.

But Khan knew the Emperor didn’t want to fight him, or rather, he would, but only for fun. Khan even partially shared that desire, but both understood that their spar couldn’t happen now.

Still, that awareness intensified the tension. Khan couldn’t understand the reason behind that intense inspection, but the seriousness in the air didn’t allow him to shrink back with one of his casual jokes.

The Emperor’s unclear intensity deserved a proper opponent, and Khan obliged him.

"[Why do you lie to yourself, Lord Blue Shaman]?" The Emperor eventually asked, his mighty voice thundering through the sky.

The Thilku were indeed intense with basically everything, and the Emperor embodied that trait better than anyone else. Yet, he struck a chord, which Khan only partially understood.

Truth be told, Khan could guess what the Emperor was referring to. He just didn’t believe he was talking about that. After all, that was something only Liiza really knew anything about.

"[What do you mean, Emperor]?" Khan wondered.

"[Why did you settle for an alliance]?" The Emperor questioned. "[Why do you wear the Empire’s colors? Why do you let me call you Lord]?"

"[I like the Empire]," Khan stated.

"[You are no subordinate, Prince Khan]," The Emperor declared. "[Your hunger hisses for power]."

It was strange to hear such accurate words, but that only confirmed the Emperor’s many talents. He could see right through Khan, albeit not due to incredible perception.

At that point, Khan finally realized the uniqueness of the situation. That was the first time he and the Emperor had been alone as equals, which paved the path for a heartfelt, honest conversation.

A conversation Khan didn’t want to have.

"[I just want to be a husband to my wife]," Khan revealed, "[And a father to my daughter. Everything else is superfluous]."

"[You lie, Khan]," The Emperor declared, changing the way he addressed Khan again. "[You defend the weaklings in your force. You fight for a universe that shouldn’t survive. Your desires are too big to hide from my eyes]."

"[That can wait for after the war]," Khan said, shaking his head.

"[Beings like us only have two paths]," The Emperor stated. "[Isolation out of devotion for power, or rule out of connection to other beings]."

Khan didn’t reply that time. He only looked at the Emperor, annoyed at how well that louder-than-like alien could speak.

"[We both belong to the second category]," The Emperor continued. "[For me, my Empire. For you, your people]."

"[Emperor]," Khan sighed, now that he could. "[What would you have me do]?"

The Emperor opened his mouth, only for violent winds to blow in his face that time.

The event didn’t stop there. Purple-red light filled the sky, condensing in the shape of crackling clouds that flashed due to the countless lightning bolts thundering in their insides.

No actual storm formed, but the layer of clouds seemed on the verge of unleashing it. Meanwhile, Khan and the Emperor hovered right above it, immersed in their blinding brightness.

"[I truly do not care for underlings who don’t want me as their leader]," Khan stated. "[But yes, the alliance would have existed. I would have forced it to exist even if someone opposed me]."

The layer of clouds seemed to react to Khan’s declaration, adding a deafening thunder to the end of his statement, echoing his domineering intentions.

The Emperor felt watched, both by Khan and by that dense gathering of crackling mana under him, as if his opponents had multiplied. Somehow, he could feel a second, intense, and primordial will radiating from under his feet, as if an ancient beast had suddenly materialized in the area.

The purple-red sky was boiling with destructive might, waiting for the Emperor to make a wrong move. Obviously, that hardly scared the Thilku leader. If anything, it excited him, but he knew better than to fall prey to his battle drives.

"[You lie]," The Emperor repeated, ignoring names entirely now. "[You desire the universe, don’t you]?"