Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1009: Dismay



Khan had never considered himself smart. He was open-minded but primitive, often blind to his good points. Realistically, Khan wouldn't have obtained half his current power without women scolding and slapping him around.

However, Khan knew how his brain worked. He was aware of how his learning process functioned. Experiencing techniques through his senses granted him insights into their theory, even if he had to pay the price with his body, which had never been a problem.

Bruno had merely reacted to Khan's offensive in their spars, but Lord Mighty was trying to deliver proper attacks. His seemingly simple punches hid the knowledge Khan sought, so he would clash with them over and over again until his brain finally realized something.

Khan caressed the cursed knife's handle before deciding to stay away from it. That wasn't a battle to the death. The Emperor was testing him, and relying on external equipment wouldn't convey his actual strength. Lord Mighty probably wouldn't mind, but Khan wanted to understand how to be enough without his powerful weapon.

The symphony shone brightly in Khan's eyes as he focused on it. His aura tainted it on a deeper level, making it echo his feelings. Structural flaws popped everywhere, multiplying and widening until they filled Khan's vision. He only needed to will it, and the air would shatter, but he had other plans.

Lord Mighty respected the silent agreement, waiting at the center of the circular crack. He wore a battle stance, bending his legs and bringing his right hand to his waist, but he didn't jump again. The sky was Khan's domain, so he would fight him on the ground.

Tense seconds passed, in which the two warriors stared at each other. One was on the arena's floor, pure excitement on his face. His opponent was in the sky, his expression emotionless but focused, seemingly preparing something massive.

Then, without clear warnings, the battle resumed.

Khan lifted his right arm, and a spear instantly materialized in his palm. The spell didn't need preparations and casting time when the symphony echoed his element, and his limb showed no hesitation in launching it downward.

Compared to Khan's kicks, the spell was unbelievably slow. Lord Mighty could dodge without putting much effort but didn't, leaning backward to let it crash on his broad chest.

The spear detonated, giving birth to a scorching pillar that engulfed the huge Thilku. Purple- red light fended off the environment's scarlet radiance, replacing it with a far brighter glow, but that fearsome flare of destructive mana didn't live long.

Two six-fingered hands pierced the pillar, splitting it in half while moving its scorching energy aside. Lord Mighty pushed that destructive mana away, opening a gap into Khan's iconic spell.

By then, Khan was already upon Lord Mighty. The pillar's halves were still close, threatening to burn Khan, but he dived at the Thilku without minding the heat. His heel slammed on the warrior's rectangular head, deepening the surrounding cracks, but his offensive didn't stop there.

Khan waved both hands, his fingers glowing with ominous light. No slashes appeared, but two cuts opened on Lord Mighty's shoulders anyway. The wounds were superficial, but dark blood still seeped out of them, and lingering destruction kept eroding their edges.

Lord Mighty didn't mind his wounds. His existence suddenly grew denser, threatening to suppress and suffocate Khan. The cuts stopped spreading, and even the darker marks on his chest lightened while his arms rose.

The gesture could lift mountains and shatter the sky, but Khan had already escaped its range. He reappeared behind Lord Mighty, his stretched left hand glowing brightly. No short sword grew from his fingers, but they still pierced the evolved Thilku's skin when they cut away his white hair to reach for his nape.

Khan's fingertips felt warm. The Thilku didn't exactly run hot, but Lord Mighty's body temperature looked higher than average, especially when Khan touched his insides. Avoiding Khan's attack had been impossible, so he had successfully stabbed his nape, albeit without obtaining the intended results.

To Khan's dismay, his fingers couldn't even go a centimeter deep into Lord Mighty's nape. Blood flowed from the wound, dripping on his hand and the Thilku's white hair, but the damage was negligible at best.

That outcome didn't make any sense. Khan had seen many strange things in his life but almost felt his eyes were lying to him.

The neck was one of the body's weaker spots. The Thilku had a different physiology, but that truth didn't change. Khan had also purposely avoided hitting Lord Mighty's spine, afraid that the titan's bones would be too tough for him to break, and his preparations didn't stop there. Khan had taken Lord Mighty by surprise while aiming for a blind spot. He had also summoned his best version of the Divine Reaper. His sharpest technique should have met no resistance against an unprepared and defenseless opponent, but the reality couldn't be more different.

Khan's fingers hurt as if he had slammed them against a steel wall. Actually, the latter would have split apart under his sharp technique, but Lord Mighty's flesh somehow didn't. The evolved Thilku stopped the Divine Reaper through sheer muscle density alone, and even the lingering destructive energy couldn't advance deeper into his neck.

The matter went beyond the muscles. Each strand of Lord Mighty's tissues seemed to carry a spark of his unlimited, explosive energy, which instinctively fought against any invader.

Khan literally saw the Divine Reaper's lingering sharpness exhausting itself in a hopeless battle against the wall that was Lord Mighty's flesh, and his mind struggled to absorb that sight.

Lord Mighty wasn't as amazed as Khan. His counterattack had started as soon as his nape started to itch, and to Khan's dismay, the warrior opted for something unavoidable.

The Royal Guard knew turning and waving his arms wouldn't get him anywhere, so he shouted. His lungs fueled his battle cry, transforming it into a sound attack that ruptured anything in its radius.

Lord Mighty wasn't looking at Khan. The latter was on the opposite side of the fearsome shout's source, but a shockwave hit him anyway, engulfing and pushing him away. Khan had reacted in time, starting to retreat, but Lord Mighty's timing had been better there.

Khan flew backward as if he were no different than paper in a hurricane. He lost control of his body, slamming on the metal floor and rolling over it. The impact was violent, but he could endure it, and it took him no time to kick that dangerous state away.

Khan returned into the air while Lord Mighty was still turning. The circular crack around the Royal Guard had transformed. The metal under his feet had bent oddly, and part of Khan's damage had expanded under that additional blow. A mere shout had accomplished almost as much as Khan's kicks, and things didn't end there.

A warm sensation spread from Khan's face, making him forget his ringing ears. He wiped his cheeks, only to find blood flowing on them. His hearing was slowly recovering but had suffered some damage, and his insides didn't fare any better. His abdomen felt hot, hinting at internal bleeding.

That outcome spoke louder than a thousand words. Khan was supposedly destruction incarnate, but Lord Mighty could match and even surpass his powers through voice alone. It was almost scary to think what the Thilku could do if his fists were to hit their target.