Chaos Heir

Chapter 1449: Ant

Khan and Liiza weren’t omniscient, but their perception was monstrous nonetheless.

Aynor was famous for its luxurious healthcare services, but there was a different reason behind the Scarlet Eyes’ attack in that specific location.

The city had merely been the second, nearest target, a casualty of war. The black cloud’s true goal had been the secret lab or warehouse that had most likely stored Nak’s remains.

The existence of that secret location often implied the presence of a proper underground network branching from it. Those structures didn’t even need to be attached to one another. They could simply exist in the same quadrant, splitting their functions to lower the chances of being spotted.

That wasn’t always the case, but Aynor’s quadrant followed that rule. Except, a distant set of eyes, or scanners, had fallen on Khan mid-battle, hinting at something he had waited years to address.

Khan appeared in a location far past the gargantuan cavity he had created and the immense hole dug by the black cloud. White sand still stretched everywhere as far as the eye could see, but Khan’s glowing vision couldn’t help but focus on a multicolored, synthetic symphony right under him.

Cloaking measures tried to hide that artificial symphony, but technology couldn’t possibly do anything against Khan’s perception. Even the deep layers of sand and defensive devices in place were powerless against his existence.

Khan only had to will it, and the desert opened.

A vertical cavity widened on its own right under Khan’s feet, deepening as he hovered into it. Rivers of sand flowed down the expanding edges, threatening to hinder and submerge the new passage, but those white grains disappeared before they had the chance of getting in Khan’s way.

Flares in the artificial symphony deep underground unfolded, only to lose their structural integrity and disperse. Whatever the people down there were attempting to do, it couldn’t work in the face of the incoming entity.

It wouldn’t work as long as Khan wished that.

As more sand made way for Khan, layers of metal and pieces of technology became visible, only to break and stop functioning on the spot. Whether it was sand, alloys, or defensive measures, everything bent to Khan’s will, moving out of his path.

And when something couldn’t move away, it simply vanished out of existence.

The descent uncovered an intricate array of metal staircases, corridors, and doors featuring all kinds of security measures. A structure that would take the best technicians days to unlock expanded in the quadrant’s underground world, but Khan had no need to play by its artificial rules.

Khan ignored steps, walls, floors, and doors, descending in a straight, diagonal line deeper into the quadrant, until the scenery changed.

As another floor or ceiling opened, Khan found himself in quite a luxurious location. A living room with comfortable couches, thick carpets, vast screens, and the best consoles money could buy expanded in his vision, as well as its branching paths.

Khan instantly gained a complete understanding of the entire underground structure. He saw small labs stretching from the doors at his sides. He sensed simple living quarters branching further ahead.

Khan even felt the oval machine in the place’s back, which still leaked the mana he had previously forced to disperse.

Still, Khan’s eyes never moved during that thorough inspection. They kept shining on the man at the back of the relatively vast living room, a man he couldn’t help but recognize.

The fourth-level warrior in the place’s back wore a fancy black suit, had sharp facial features, and donned quite an uncommon but curated hairstyle. His long, curiously grey hair fell over his ears and neck, showing a couple of braids and a simple bun.

The grey-haired man wasn’t alone. A small team of soldiers and scientists stood in various areas of that underground structure, but they all shared his frozen status. No one even dared to breathe in the presence of that bright-eyed entity.

Khan joined that silence, acting as a still, unmovable statue once his feet landed on the metal floor. He even let the place’s artificial illumination work properly, but his presence remained undeniable.

As for how that infamous grey-haired man had ended up there, Khan could make many accurate guesses, but didn’t bother to. He didn’t care, and there was no point to it. All that mattered was that Raymond Cobsend was finally within his reach.

Needless to say, Raymond stayed true to his reputation, immediately recovering from that sudden invasion and wearing a confident smile. He even moved, crossing the couch directly in front of him, before kneeling on the metal floor.

That gesture snapped the other soldiers and scientists out of their stupor. Everyone came out in the open, gathering in that vast living room, to kneel to Khan. They also lowered their heads in respect, fear, and surrender, but Raymond didn’t follow suit.

“My Prince,” Raymond called, his apparent confidence spreading to his tone. “It is good that we are finally reunited, now that we are on the same side.”

Raymond’s words barely entered Khan’s ears. The pleasantries that man voiced had no value anyway. Instead, Khan focused on something inside Raymond, spotting a trace of foreign mana that stirred into action under his inspection.

A trace of pain tried to twist Raymond’s expression as a blue light began to shine behind the grey strands hiding his neck. Still, he promptly smiled, moving his hair away to show the Niqols’ symbol under his chin, the same mark Khan had once worn.

“I willingly accepted our Niqols allies’ restrictions,” Raymond explained. “I also decided not to remove them. I hoped this could have been a good step toward gaining your trust, My Prince.”

As foul as that alliance felt, Khan couldn’t help but experience nothing at all, or rather, he didn’t sense any of the irrational, violent anger he had expected to invade him at that reunion.

Monica was an exception. George and a few others were, too, but Liiza’s words finally rang true in Khan’s mind. The man Khan had considered to be the greatest thorn in his side was nothing more than a mortal, a brittle ant that could breathe only because he allowed it.