Chaos Heir

Chapter 1545: Clash

Since the final opponent had yet to show himself, Khan had planned to hold back, both to keep information about himself a secret and to avoid tiring himself out.

That was a regular battle strategy, not something especially devised for the True Chaos’ God. After all, information was power, and Khan needed any possible edge to win against that enemy, no matter how slight it was.

However, Khan’s current opponent could turn mere energy into stars, and the other side of the battlefield featured a warrior who could generate enough True Chaos to build a whole universe.

The scales had never been bigger, standing beyond the limits of what a human brain could comprehend, so Khan couldn’t hold back. He had no confidence in winning without going all-out, and lives could be lost with each second he wasted in that battle.

Khan and the cloud spell always had a problematic relationship, but that was in the past. The two couldn’t be closer now. Actually, there was no real difference between them anymore. One was simply wilder and more unrestrained when it came to what it desired.

And what both Khan and the cloud desired was quite simple. They wanted to get that curse done with once and for all, to protect their dear ones, and finally get the chance to enjoy their embrace without having to worry about universal threats looming over their heads.

Luckily, the road toward that goal was quite straightforward. Khan and the cloud simply had to obliterate anything and anyone on their path.

The cloud didn’t expand, but more mana flowed into its relatively limited shape, adding power and brightness to its growling sparks.

Meanwhile, Khan split the mana inside his body into multiple strands of energy, forcing them to clash against each other to release even more power.

The theory behind the Transcendent Step went on full display, and Khan pushed it even further, filling every inch of his flesh with enough raging energy to make several ordinary bodies instantly blow up.

Even Khan, despite his incredible body, felt on the verge of blowing up. After all, the mana released through the Transcendent Step’s theory wasn’t something that could be contained or controlled. At most, it could be directed toward specific techniques to unleash incredible moves.

Yet, Khan did precisely that, relying on his cells’ utmost support and the best his mental capabilities could offer to control the mana raging through his flesh, keeping it contained inside his figure.

As a result of that, Khan’s body inflated, as if performing the harshest physical task in the world. His muscles bulged and his veins popped out, adding some mass to his shredded build. He never gained monstrous or just inhuman proportions, but the change was quite evident.

Of course, that wasn’t anything new. The King in Aynor had faced that same technique, albeit in a weaker fashion.

What Khan’s body could contain depended on his attunement with mana, which had reached its utmost limit after that battle. The proficiency level Khan had labeled as "embodiment" could now show its full power, applying an equally heavier weight on his mind.

Containing such an immense amount of energy that Khan couldn’t generate naturally was mentally taxing. He also had to keep feeding his cells to prevent his body from exploding, filling more of his already overloaded brain capacity.

On top of that, Khan even had to save something for his actual techniques. That superior proficiency level would be useless if he couldn’t deploy the Transcendent Step’s forms otherwise.

Therefore, it stood to reason that Khan would forsake his spells to focus on his martial arts. However, the growling, thundering cloud didn’t deplete any of his mental capacity. It was connected to him and partially relied on his mana, but was also a completely separate being.

As such, Khan didn’t need to manage, order around, or be burdened by the cloud, only focusing on his martial arts while the spell did whatever it did best.

That separation didn’t go unnoticed. The Maker inspected Khan and the growling cloud with contained but evident interest, mostly focusing on the latter since the True Chaos had no data on that ability.

Moreover, there was something else about the cloud that the Maker couldn’t ignore. In a way, the spell surpassed the inherited realm the Maker was a master of. That mass of thundering mana wasn’t nearly comparable to an actual star, but it was undoubtedly alive.

The Maker knew about divine matters far more than Khan, so that ability gained a different meaning in his mind. It wasn’t quite the same as creating life, but Khan’s chaos had indeed bordered on the realm of godhood.

Of course, that made perfect sense. Khan might have rejected the mana’s offer, but he had still inherited crumbs of its knowledge.

Also, the whole Nak’s mission had always been about empowering a different kind of chaos to a level similar to or superior to the True Chaos, but having a new nature.

Khan had partially succeeded at that, basically obtaining a mortal version of what a God should wield. He could actually push it a bit further, but hated the idea.

"[I wonder]," The Maker muttered, his strange whisper barely resounding past the cloud’s thundering growl. "[If I were to taint you, would I be able to surpass my dear Father]?"

Khan didn’t miss how the Maker had dropped the plural, which gained even more meaning since his brain had made sure to translate that point. The alien’s ambition was seeping out, and the area reacted to his existence.

The hand the Maker had closed reopened, joined by his other one. Trails of True Chaos started converging in his palms again, condensing until that glowing blackness flashed with blinding light.

Two stars now hovered above the Maker’s hands, but Khan let his eyes face their light, uncaring of whether they would blind him. More veins popped out of his skin, too, the blood inside them clotting to add black shades to his figure.

Then, the growling cloud shot forward, and the Maker threw his stars at it, unleashing an explosion that could burn entire solar systems to the ground.