Chaos Heir

Chapter 1426: Ascension

The pitch-black, gaseous canvas was utterly still, but the pair of huge scarlet eyes inside wasn’t, albeit they didn’t move much. After those darker eyelids opened, the breathtaking gaze fell on Khan, making him experience the entirety of its pressure.

An immense, profoundly wise, captivating, and almost unbearably domineering presence converged on Khan, seemingly trying to crush him with that simple look.

To Khan’s annoyance, he had to admit that the attempt was somewhat working. The power behind that huge, heavy gaze was indeed pushing him down, crushing his very existence out of virtue of sheer superiority.

Those weren’t mere eyes. They represented the gaze of a proper god. They were like the very core of the mana, except with an intensity only somewhat human emotions could produce.

Nevertheless, Khan didn’t falter under that oppressive look. His existence didn’t break, either. Actually, after getting used to that weight, it slightly expanded, restoring part of its vastness.

Of course, that wasn’t a real face-off. The True Chaos’ God wasn’t truly there, but Khan kept conveying firm confidence. He didn’t only want to put a strong front against that final enemy. Khan also needed to show that a worthy contender had appeared.

"We meet again, God of the True Chaos," Khan announced, obviously using the Nak’s language. "It’s a pity you can’t come here, can you?"

That was a conclusion both Khan and Liiza had reached simultaneously after learning about the widespread attack on their side of the universe.

Teleporting so many evolved warriors in numerous locations all over the regulated universe had to have depleted the Scarlet Eyes’ reserves of True Chaos.

That obviously was in the realm of speculation. Nothing said the Scarlet Eyes’ God couldn’t just produce more True Chaos to reactivate those teleports.

However, Khan saw it as clear as day. The True Chaos’ God was too immense, so he would need an equally tremendous amount of energy to appear on Earth. That was highly unlikely, so Khan opted for open mockery to draw a target on his back.

Nevertheless, the True Chaos’ God didn’t fall for the insult. His huge eyes moved again, pointing at the kneeling King who still had his arms spread in reverence before the canvas as a whole trembled, releasing a deep sound that made the whole desert shake.

"[Ascend, my son]," Khan’s brain instinctively translated the sound, even if those few words made his whole head shake, almost causing a debilitating headache.

"[Thank you, my God]," The King responded, his spread arms rising to reach for his forehead while the huge scarlet eyes closed, vanishing in the canvas, which resumed flickering.

The oppressive presence vanished, only for something powerful to take its place. A cracking noise resounded as the King ripped off his horns, which released no blood as he lowered his arms, closed his eyes, and relaxed his hands, making those body parts fall to the glass-like surface.

True Chaos blew out of the King’s back, forehead, and injuries while he was in that reverential, almost worshipping stance. Still, that outburst wasn’t wild nor random. The glowing smoke escaped and spread with a precise purpose.

The King’s injuries and robe instantly healed. The wing-like protuberances from before reappeared and expanded, unfolding in all their fuming, dimming might.

As for the missing horns, they reappeared in a gaseous, longer, and curved shape, rising past the alien’s forehead but standing still. They almost looked solid despite being made of that glowing smoke, acting as a mark of a new status rather than a mere body part.

As a fellow crown-wearer, Khan could recognize a similar meaning in those gaseous items. Yet, his attention was on something deeper and grander. The King looked unleashed, as if he could finally show the entirety of his existence and the power he was capable of.

’My son,’ Khan repeated the God’s words in his mind, sensing a deeper meaning in them, but the King soon forced him to focus on the battle.

The King dropped his worshipping stance, reopening his eyes and slowly straightening himself up. His massive, fuming wings flapped, lifting him from the glass-like surface by a few meters.

"[Champion of the mana]," The King called, his voice carrying distant echoes of the deep sound released by the God in the black canvas. "[I’m now worthy of showing you a fraction of our God’s magnificence]."

The King stretched an arm forward, and his fingers shook before his figure released a torrent of glowing black smoke. Waves of True Chaos instantly flooded the circular cavity, piercing its edge, before erupting upward.

Everything had unfolded quite quickly, even for Khan. The waves’ expansion and eruption had been immediate, almost leaving him no opportunity to react.

Still, Khan could indeed react. He just didn’t.

Torrents of True Chaos rose upward, engulfing Khan. His mana survived the submersion, but his figure started to shake, struggling to remain in its position.

Khan looked down, surprised that his physical strength was being put to the test. Sure, he wasn’t feeding his cells any significant amount of mana, but his body still carried ancient horrors’ genes.

In the meantime, a figure swiftly crossed the still-rising torrent, appearing before Khan and forcing him to raise his hand. A black elbow ended in his palm, unleashing an unfathomable amount of strength that forced him to bend his legs to remain in his position.

The clash dispersed the surrounding smoke, revealing the King stuck in that attack with his elbow. Yet, his wings promptly flapped, adding a strange density to the nearby True Chaos.

The glass-like ground under Khan’s feet started receding. The same went for the surrounding air, True Chaos, and his own mana. That wasn’t the usual annihilation. Something was pulling it, wanting to devour and dismantle it.

The pulling force intensified, obviously having the King and his enormous wings as its center, but Khan didn’t let that scare him. His mana opposed that suction, gathering on his free hand, which took the shape of a gun to release two flashes in quick succession.

Yet, no thunderous noises followed. Even the flashes immediately dimmed, revealing two lightning bolts stuck in the air in front of the King, shrinking before disappearing inside his figure.