Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1618: Kick

A vast chunk of the upper side of the separate universe was in pieces, severed horizontally by Khan’s charge, shattered by the destructive force he had unleashed.

Khan was at one end of the cut, his figure dimming, regaining its regular, obscuring colors. His back had straightened after fending off the attacks that had tried to oppress him, and spiderwebs of cracks expanded all around him.

Space was in tatters, leaking pitch-black smoke to no end, which instantly flowed toward Khan. Yet, that damage was superficial compared to what hovered above him.

Khan turned and looked up, watching as the very universe receded. The world above him seemed to have turned into cracked glass that didn’t shatter, instead opting for vanishing altogether.

Piece by piece, the cracked chunks highlighted by the red, vein-like fissures vanished out of existence, turning into less than empty space. They became nothing at all, shrinking the separate universe while that destruction approached the gargantuan cut.

As for the cut itself, pitch-black darkness filled its insides, acting like a window into the true foundation of that separate universe. The God’s divinity reeked out of that massive injury, and Khan only had to stretch his hand to reach for it.

It seemed Khan’s anger-fueled charge had done the trick. He had finally hurt the God and his universe in a way that mattered, matching what he had suffered during the recent offense.

The damage also confirmed what Khan had long understood. The separate universe was a representation of the God’s existence. He had built that space using his superior being as its foundation, and Khan could look straight at it now.

That pitch-black darkness that lay underneath the separate universe was the God. It was what Khan needed to kill to win that war.

Of course, Khan had long since been aware of that point, too. Still, his recent charge had given him a taste of what kinds of attacks the effort demanded.

Khan’s previous slash with his crackling, clawed hand had come close to meeting those requirements, but it had taken that last sprint to close the remaining gap.

And that was exactly what Khan needed. At an instinctive level, Khan knew he was the God’s match, both in position in the food chain and sheer power. However, he remained a newborn with no experience of the extent of his abilities.

Instinctive confidence could go a long way, but, despite being more beast than man, Khan wasn’t limited to his physical prowess. That aspect of his being had also transcended, and there were superior ways of implementing it.

A sword was nothing but a blunt instrument in the hands of the uninitiated. In the same way, Khan’s incredible body, lightning bolts, and all-devouring influence could express far more power when used as more than basic, instinctive tools.

And now, Khan had undeniable proof. He was capable of much more. He could touch upon levels that his instincts alone couldn’t reach. He needed brain and brawn to make full use of this transcendent state.

Inexperience was an issue Khan couldn’t solve on the spot and had no time to fix during the battle. Yet, luckily, that wasn’t his first time facing a similar problem.

Just like after the Great Old One had tainted Khan, he had to readjust his entire battle experience and previous techniques to his new state. The transformation had been incomparable now, creating a far bigger divide with what he had been, but he faced the challenge with no worry.

That wasn’t only due to Khan’s previous experience in the process. That was barely a factor in his mind. Somehow, he knew that his body would keep up with whatever he attempted to do.

Somehow, Khan felt that his limits only existed because of his preconceptions.

Needless to say, the God wouldn’t let that disadvantageous break happen or last too long. He ignored the damage his universe had suffered and its still-receding state to launch another attack.

Something pressed on Khan, almost too faint to perceive, but undeniable in his mind. The universe shrank again, using that energy to deliver an attack at the same time.

However, despite the instantaneous and more powerful nature, Khan felt the attack coming this time. His perception had grown used to the God’s offense, slowing down what should be immediate, at least in his mind.

Another wave of insidious energy was gathering and converging on Khan, ready to assault his insides. Still, he experienced the event in slow motion, as if he existed on a far faster time flow, allowing him to react to it.

The God’s attack was truly masterful. It relied on the universe’s shrinking to accelerate his divine energy, pushing it beyond its state’s limits. It was a concentrated implosion rather than a wave, explaining how it managed to hurt Khan at all.

Yet, Khan faced the attack fearlessly, feeling nothing but confidence and a sliver of curiosity while mayhem unfolded in his left leg. He focused on the sensations from his previous charge, calling upon its specific rhythm to replicate it in a localized but superior form.

In a way, it was similar to the first time Khan had flown by learning to step on the symphony’s specific texture. He had experienced the power to hurt the God once, so he had to cling to that feeling to make sure he summoned it again.

And the world seemed to freeze when Khan began to lift his left leg. Everything stopped, almost in awe of the simple but impossibly graceful move of a limb that contained so much power.

The exact opposite happened when Khan stretched his lifted leg. The second part of his move was immediate, forceful, and one that the world couldn’t possibly ignore.

The very emptiness rumbled, dislocated from its layer of reality, revealing darker-than-black blackness as its shards rose and detached themselves from its structure.

Space broke, messily peeled off by the kick that didn’t seem to release any energy, pushing away the incoming attack while creating a massive, cylindrical channel in front of Khan, which the spinning detached shards of emptiness turned into a horizontal tornado.