Chaos Heir

Chapter 1097 Blue and green

No thoughts formed while Khan watched the pale green sphere dissolve into nothingness. The feeling of being watched vanished as the crackling cage became empty, but he remained still, too shocked and astonished to do anything.

Nevertheless, Khan's mood darkened. A chilling vibe joined the light from his glowing eyes, deepening the shallow cracks throughout the reinforced room. The damage on its surfaces expanded, putting the area and the whole ship at risk.

The crackling noise waned as the sparks dispersed. The purple-red cage vanished, easing the pressure on the reinforced room, but Khan still didn't move. He brought his hands to his cross-legged legs, staring at the black wall before him. His glowing eyes didn't waver, but countless thoughts started to rise into his mind, and none carried good news.

That short, shocking event had revealed many clues. Khan could learn much from it, and each detail added fuel to his worries.

The cage of crackling chaos affected many layers. It wasn't a simple physical prison. Its influence delved deeper, destroying energy, the effects it created, and any will it might carry.

Theoretically, the pale green mana should have been cut off from its source, but whatever inhabited Coravis had still used it as a channel for study and communication. That entity had controlled that energy inside Khan's cage, showcasing a level of control and connection the chaos element couldn't entirely affect.

The voice's human language was another clue. Khan didn't believe for a second that the entity on Coravis belonged to his same species, but the other implications were scarier.

Coravis' being had probably learned the human language while studying the area with its pale green waves, meaning it had intelligence. Khan had seen something similar in Cegnore when its natives spoke the Thilku language, but the issue at hand felt leagues above in magnitude.

At last, the words spoken by the pale green mana revealed that Coravis' entity had already figured Khan out. It knew Khan was a human and was suitable to inherit the Nak's legacy. It had also learned about his element and its nature, as well as his position in relation to the planet.

Of course, the entity could have learned that earlier while Khan was still venturing through the quadrant. After all, its perception went beyond the limits of Khan's imagination. However, he felt he would have sensed its mana in that case.

Besides, Khan didn't know which idea was scarier. One saw the entity as capable of ignoring his element's effects, while the other made it able to study him unnoticed. Both could also be true simultaneously, and Khan's mood darkened even further at that thought.

Khan was no coward. In many ways, his whole life reeked of suicidal tendencies. Still, he couldn't help but consider whether to retreat now. He had stumbled into something far bigger than himself, something capable of beating reason into his wild urges to make room for primordial fears.

Yet, Khan had already made up his mind, and his recent discoveries reinforced that decision. He could follow the routes found on Chuwei past the quadrants, but such priceless opportunities didn't happen so often. Coravis' entity probably knew more than what Khan could gather in a lifetime, and he needed that information.

'Stop hesitating,' Khan scolded himself. 'It's not like you have anything else to lose.'

Monica had left Khan, and George had swallowed his pride and had accepted to bear deep shame to voice his request. His loved ones had removed themselves from the picture to let Khan be as careless and reckless as possible. They knew that was how Khan gained power and succeeded, and he wouldn't disappoint them.

'Who knows?' Khan thought, not believing a single word that resounded in his mind. 'Maybe this thing is benevolent and kind. I also have a good track record with aliens.'

Khan stood up, heaving a sigh before a faint smirk appeared on his face. He didn't know why. Maybe it was due to the seemingly desperate situation, but his brain had managed to utter a dumb joke.

'I hope these aliens won't have nice legs,' Khan joked in his mind, shaking his head. 'Curse my love. I can't even get laid one last time.'

Khan's joking mood abruptly ended. He stopped in his tracks, his smile disappearing. He peeked past his right shoulder, his eyes illuminating the blue tattoo behind it as a trace of guilt entered his mind.

'You know I didn't mean it,' Khan thought, seemingly speaking to the tattoo. 'Whatever happens, it was worth it. I'll never regret that.'

Khan stared absentmindedly at the tattoo but diverted his gaze as soon as memories attempted to fill his vision. His face regained its usual sternness as he moved toward the bridge and sat behind the ship's commands. Coravis' entity had been polite enough to greet him, so Khan had to reply in kind.

The ship was already close to Coravis, and no security measures could prepare it for whatever the planet held, so Khan started the landing procedures. He slowed them down, giving himself time to fill his stomach and recover completely, but the vehicle eventually dived into that celestial body's atmosphere.

The short trip was uneventful. The ship seamlessly entered Coravis' atmosphere and started studying its features. The azure sky had no clouds, and the blue sea that covered the entirety of the planet attempted to glow with its own light due to the mana it contained, but Khan knew the scanners wouldn't find much else.

Khan's hunch was correct. Aside from some superficial features, the ship was blind to the mystical events around and inside Coravis. The planet's entity either had the best cloaking technique known to men or belonged to a level of existence too superior for mere scanners to track it.

The first hypothesis sounded more reasonable. After all, the scanners should have still picked up something in the second case, but Khan didn't feel like dismissing anything. Yet, he stopped the ship when it was still high in the sky, parking it there to avoid putting it in the sea's range.

Hesitation abandoned Khan's mind at that point. He relayed the last orders before approaching the ship's side doors, leaving the vehicle for good. His mana core immediately started screaming, bringing his gaze to the not-waters below. That blue liquid reeked of Nak, but his eyes spotted the pale green energy that tainted it.