Chaos' Heir

Chapter 953: Apex predator



After unlocking the Nak's hand's spell through Baoway's toxic substance, Khan continued to master and study it. At its core, the attack expressed the chaos element's true nature, so Khan believed enhancing its effects would push him closer to the realm of evolved warriors.

Destroying inanimate objects was the first step, which Khan had mastered with relative ease. The universe strived toward entropy, and the training with the toxic pool had made his body better suited to sense it. He felt that intrinsic and unstoppable force everywhere, and eventually, a single thought became enough to push it toward the critical point.

Instead, the second step had been far more challenging. The living beings were the next target, and Khan couldn't simply will them out of existence. Their bodies still strived toward entropy on a cellular level, but the flame of their lives opposed any attempt to push them toward the breaking point.

The mana-enhanced living beings were especially tough to deal with. The energy circulating through their bodies improved all kinds of physical functions, raising the requirements for their breaking point.

Relying on additional steps or proper techniques could fill that gap but would also defeat the purpose. Khan already had spells that could accomplish those feats in the end. The whole point of those attempts was to summon and improve his element's true nature, which meant succeeding through its most basic form.

Khan ended up finding the solution in his element's nature. The greatest clue at his disposal was the unreasonable, overbearing energy flowing through his body and affecting his personality. His mere thoughts could destroy inanimate objects, so his wildest desires could affect living beings.

If Khan's desire to destroy surpassed a living being's attempt at self-preservation, the latter would crumble. It was a straightforward but profound challenge that involved the very concept of life and whether Khan's urgers were enough to squash it. Succeeding elevated the wall between him and the world but also brought satisfaction. It boosted his ego and appeased his unreasonable energy.

That bitter satisfaction seemed to reflect Khan's entire life. Everything he had obtained had always come with a steep price tag, reminding him of an old line he used to tell himself.

'My advantages come from traumas,' Khan thought, watching the powerful alpha crumbling apart as if it were no different than a boulder. 'My happiness comes from the blood on my hands.'

Khan once hoped that getting stronger would have created a path outside that predicament, but the universe kept proving him wrong. Paul had been right all along back on Nitis. Blood was the most valuable currency in the world. It was only a matter of being willing to use it. Khan's fingers soon closed, catching nothing but bloodied bone shards and torn muscles. Under his watchful eyes, the alpha transformed into gory dust, tainting the mineral with its disgusting insides. He had just willed something as strong as a fifth-level warrior out of existence, and his spiritual loneliness had never felt deeper.

'Monsters are indeed easier to affect,' Khan concluded, mentally addressing the puddle of gore. 'You lost when you abandoned your pride.'

The alpha's death emboldened the monsters rushing toward Khan's position. Killing the invader didn't only promise additional food. A gap in leadership had appeared, and most creatures wanted to fill it to seize its many benefits.

The monsters jumped on the short hill, crowding it. Some slipped on its smooth surface, turning the charge more chaotic. Creatures fell left and right, but no one stopped rushing toward the prey, submerging the mineral in a closing sea of fur.

Khan sighed, ignoring the incoming pack to look at the dark sky. The distant stars seemed to call him, telling him Senerth was too small for his existence. The vast universe promised endless adventures and possibilities, but his duties chained him to a mission that risked taking everything away from him.

A monster eventually broke through the messy cluster of fur, leaping toward Khan. Its open maw revealed its sharp teeth, which reflected the light radiated by Khan's eyes. The creature was almost upon him, but a purple-red color suddenly filled its vision.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The spherical version of the Wave spell expanded from Khan's body, devouring anything in its path. The monster crumbled, the mineral shattered, and even the air seemed to fall apart. The attack created a death zone that kept reaping lives, only allowing Khan's existence.

The spell eventually dispersed, leaving Khan at the center of a half-spherical cavity. Only fur and blood surrounded him, but more monsters stood past that gory swamp. The pack looked immense, but Khan didn't feel any danger.

'What did Lieutenant Colonel say back on Ecoruta?' Khan wondered. 'Evolved soldiers are dragons among ants? Or was it rats? Anyway, I guess he was right.'

The monsters charged again, splashing through the gory swamp, but Khan still looked at the sky. He casually lifted his arms to his sides, aiming his palms at the nearest enemy groups, but his mind kept wandering in memories.

'When was the last time I even ate a rat?' Khan frowned, trying his best to remember. Meanwhile, two conical versions of the Wave spell shot from his palms, erasing the incoming monsters from existence.

The return of the deadly purple-red light stopped the assault once again. Monsters died without getting the chance to utter a last cry, while those outside the spells' range simply watched, dreading coming any closer to the new death zone.

'I can't remember,' Khan thought, giving up. His spells lost power and disappeared in the air, clearing the path for the remaining monsters. Still, he finally lowered his bright eyes, enforcing a primordial motionlessness.

The monsters trembled in fear under Khan's bright gaze. They couldn't recognize him as one of their own, but labeling him as food didn't work anymore, either. The creatures' weak survival instincts grew stronger in Khan's presence, temporarily suppressing their boundless hunger to remind them of a long-lost concept.

Senerth's monsters were the planet's overlords. They were its sole species, and their dominion had lasted for decades. They had wiped out everything else long ago, leaving only themselves as potential enemies.

However, Khan had awakened an idea deep into the monsters' genes. The forgotten concept of the food chain gained new life, updating the creatures on a terrifying truth. A new apex predator had descended upon Senerth's fauna.