Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1517: Entertaining

Khan’s casual tone couldn’t change the reality of the situation. He had covered the sky with a layer of thundering clouds that was ready to unleash a storm. Also, a massive, hungry creature was slithering throughout its fabric, as if swimming through lightning bolts.

Moreover, it was unclear what else the raging mana could unleash. The Emperor only knew that energy was keeping track of him, wary and ready to lunge forward autonomously.

That seemed to be both opposite and proper for someone the Thilku Empire had recognized as a Shaman. Khan looked to have no control over his mana, but the latter also wielded powers that defied reason.

Still, one thing was obvious. That was nothing short of a threat, a promise from Khan and his mana to the Emperor and the universe as a whole. They would accept anyone, as well as destroy those who opposed them.

For a species as proud as the Thilku, and especially for their leader, that situation would usually instantly trigger a fight. The Empire wouldn’t stand for threats and would teach a lesson to anyone delusional enough to engage in them.

However, that was Khan and the Emperor’s first time alone, away from the ever-present political eye and all the intricacies it brought with it.

Crowns weren’t items that could just be put aside, but both the Emperor and Khan could prioritize something else now, only deciding to focus on aspects outside reputation and politics.

That privacy was why the Emperor avoided taking Khan’s promise as a challenge, opting to smirk instead, even forgetting about the partial suppression he usually applied to himself.

The sudden smirk unleashed a shockwave that threatened to split the layer of clouds apart, which it did. That purple-red sea opened, as if rising into two tall waves that curved to begin crashing back down on the impossibly strong figures hovering in the sky.

Yet, before the two masses of thundering sparks and violent energy could wash over those leaders, submerging them in their destructive power, Khan smirked, too, preventing the imminent crash.

The waves stopped, defying gravity, releasing crackling noises while Khan and the Emperor smirked at each other. A few tense seconds went by, too, only for the Emperor to stop that trend.

“[Ah]!” The Emperor cried. “[Ah! Ah! Ah]!”

That strange laugh unleashed pure mayhem, shattering the waves of mana, turning them into bright gales that the Emperor’s shockwaves blew away.

Nevertheless, Khan also laughed, and the dispersing gales echoed his voice, thundering in happiness as they spread throughout the sky.

It didn’t take long before the entirety of those masses of violent mana stretched themselves too thin, losing their brightness, and dispersing into the air, restoring Lekegwa’s night sky and the darkness around Khan and the Emperor.

The mana’s quiet dispersion vouched for the change of mood, and the Emperor’s loud, excited question further confirmed that point. “[Anyone]?!”

“[Anyone]!” Khan promptly confirmed. “[Be it monsters, gods, or forgotten creatures, I’ll welcome anyone].”

“[It takes a lot of strength to hold something so vast and diverse together],” The Emperor warned, still laughing.

“[I have strength],” Khan claimed, “[And who cares? It’s either how I want it or death]!”

The Emperor laughed even harder, his arm snapping forward to slam his huge palm on Khan’s shoulder. The event was sudden, but not too abrupt for Khan’s reflexes. However, despite preparing for the clash, his best estimates failed to predict the Emperor’s strength.

Khan’s cells tried to come alive and devour his mana to empower themselves, but they were one step too late. A reason-defying, impossible to oppose weight slammed on Khan’s entire existence when the Emperor’s hand touched his shoulder, making him lose his balance and more.

Khan lost control of his body for a fraction of a second, which was enough to fling him from the sky’s highest point to the planet’s surface. He crashed violently on the sea of debris, blowing everything away as if he were a human-sized meteor.

The Scarlet Eyes’ invasion had already ruptured the quadrant’s surface, so the crash generated a profound crater littered with grooves, lifting its edge past the sea of debris, as if isolating its insides from the rest of the broken city.

Obviously, Khan was at the very bottom of that crater, and he released a groan once the surrounding tremor ceased. He even stretched his left shoulder, rotating his arm, surprised to feel proper soreness after so long.

“Ouch,” Khan cursed, instinctively switching back to the human language. “What’s with men and my poor shoulders?”

Of course, the soreness was short-lived, as was Khan’s solitary state. Another figure crashed down from the highest point in the sky, landing in the same crater, only to generate another.

Walls of dust rose from the craters, blowing over the sea of debris, seemingly attempting to submerge them in their dark-brown grains. They washed over Khan, too, covering him under a dark hill.

However, the hill suddenly disappeared, vanishing as if it had never existed in the first place, revealing Khan, now on his feet. He even softly hit the side of his tilted head, trying to remove the few grains of dust that had been too deep into his ear for his aura to destroy.

Ordinary warriors would have died many times over in that short interaction. Even those in the evolved realm would have suffered injuries, but Khan was completely unharmed. If anything, he only experienced some helplessness, which intensified at the sight of the Emperor’s continuous grin.

“[The universe after our victory will be entertaining]!” The Emperor declared, seemingly having removed any limiter on his power, unleashing his loudest voice yet.

Khan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but the former ended up being his reaction due to the Emperor’s contagious excitement.

“[Ah]!” Khan cried. “[Creating problems is my real talent. Life will never be boring as long as you hang out with me].”

“[To our future problems, then]!” The Emperor shouted, approaching Khan, his muscular arm already lifted to reach for that tinier shoulder again.

Khan didn’t let the Emperor catch him by surprise again. His cells were ready for the imminent, deadly impact now. The same wasn’t true for the quadrant as a whole, but that already destroyed environment seemed doomed to endure its owner’s violent excitement that day.