Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1566: Unity

Utter hopelessness spread. Neither Khan nor the Emperor showed any trace of that feeling on their faces, and their brains also did their best to suppress it, but no one would blame them for that natural reaction.

Khan was literally nailed to the sky, unable to move or release any mana. His injuries didn’t bleed, but that did little to improve the numbing sensation taking over his limbs.

Meanwhile, the Emperor had lost half of his right arm after the God effortlessly blocked his vast attack. That torn limb even hovered in front of his face, almost acting as a reminder of how his assault would always end.

Sure, Khan and the Emperor had been tired even before approaching that battle, but the current outcome was simply soul-crushing. They had both also unleashed some of their best attacks, only for the separate dimension to reward them with a single tremor.

A storm of thoughts rushed through Khan’s mind. He brainstormed to no end in the span of a fraction of a second, only to always end up empty-handed.

The God was so fast that neither Khan nor the Emperor could react to his moves. His attacks appeared out of thin air, seemingly striking their targets before their bodies and minds could even record them.

There was no physical leverage to exploit. The God had assumed that specific form only to indulge the invaders. Besides, even when he decided to stick to a solid state, nothing had been able to put a dent in his figure.

Now, even the mana looked unable to exist in that separate dimension without the God’s explicit consent. It was unclear whether the Emperor could still summon something, but Khan knew that he couldn’t and that he was out of ideas.

Khan had no plans and couldn’t devise any. Even if he fed everything he had to his cells, the God would probably just block him casually or litter him with new holes.

As always, the Emperor shared Khan’s thoughts, but his reaction to unsolvable problems was diametrically opposite. There seemed to be no path to victory, so the Emperor would continue unleashing everything he had until one appeared.

The loss of an arm didn’t delay the Emperor’s following attack at all, or, at least, it wouldn’t have delayed it. That next blow never had the chance to take form since the God acted as soon as the Emperor decided to move.

Something new materialized. A single, larger needle-like pillar formed, piercing the Emperor’s broad chest.

Of course, neither Khan nor the Emperor saw the attack hitting its target. They only noticed the event when it had already happened and could only watch or experience its consequences.

The Emperor widened his single open eye and broadened his mouth as blood stained his sharp canines and flowed down them. His mighty presence that still enveloped his aura shook, and the flame of his life grew dimmer by the second.

That was exactly what Khan believed the God could have done to him, and the scene confirmed his fear. The God had spared him, opting to immobilize him, but didn’t reserve the Emperor the same mercy.

The Emperor somehow didn’t die on the spot. His life was too big and mighty for something like the mere loss of a few vital organs to extinguish it. Yet, he was getting there.

"[This being has a stronger foundation than yours]," The God addressed through his mental way of speaking. "[His existence surpasses yours. It shouldn’t have been like this]."

The God half-turned back toward Khan, looking down on him, inspecting him with the same empty but deeply wise gaze as when he had trapped his chin.

"[You are a cluster of different paths]," The God declared. "[Your reliance on incomplete fusions brought you this far, but their flaws are evident to me]."

The statement sounded wrong. Khan’s existence had never been more united. He was whole, and those external influences had been necessary to bring his mana to the True Chaos’ level in the first place.

Still, those mental messages conveyed true meanings, sharing exactly what the God meant and how correct he was.

"[You should have accepted any form of unity long ago]," The God continued. "[Preferably, the one my progenitor offered so that I could have fought a being that shared my standing]."

The God wasn’t talking about Khan’s different alien arts or the techniques he had developed by studying various approaches to the mana. He was addressing the incomplete evolution, the process that would unify Khan to his superior level.

However, before Khan could explain himself or respond, the God had already found the answer. Nothing could escape his scarlet eyes, including Khan’s plans.

"[You wanted to add my path to unify your existence]," The God exclaimed, lifting his palm. "[You wanted this]."

The already dark area instantly plunged into a far deeper blackness. Something terrifyingly dim and pitch-black formed in the God’s palm, shining with an obscuring blackness.

The mana inside Khan’s body receded under that ominous, pitch-black light. The God had summoned nothing more than a lump of dense smoke, but that had been enough to alter the entire dimension and the inner workings of Khan’s body.

And, once again, Khan couldn’t sense anything. The smoke almost looked completely ordinary if it weren’t for the deep sense of inferiority it triggered inside Khan’s very being. He had never felt tinier in his life, as if he were an ant standing before a dark star.

The Maker had a trace of that smoke, and so did the Source, but the God had the real deal. The True Chaos that stood on a state above the mana, above mortals and evolved warriors, had appeared.

What Khan had been looking for was finally there, within his reach, but his limbs were chained to the sky, and his chaos had shrunk back to escape that oppressive influence.

"[I will share this with you]," The God eventually revealed. "[I will share it with you both and let you be reborn as my new sons]."