Chaos Heir

Chapter 1265: Rifles

The Kros didn’t mind that veiled insult. A scanner was still hovering around him, and part of the cylindrical items split up and rearranged themselves to create more of those.

A new holographic screen also formed before Muhsin, updating him on all the data the simple exchange had featured. The Kros only appeared interested in learning more about Khan, but he had barely begun to show his new battle prowess.

Khan was in the opposite situation. He guessed that Muhsin’s first attack had only been a probing blow, but its might was disappointing nonetheless.

The thunderous noises grew louder as a few lightning bolts materialized around Khan. Their radiance turned that piece of the sky purple-red, but Khan’s voice still slipped past it, reaching Muhsin in all its clarity.

“It’s my turn now,” Khan declared, and the lightning bolts shot forward.

The lightning bolts flew faster than Muhsin’s beams, but his reaction speed was inhuman. More data appeared on his holographic screen before the scanners instantly split and rearranged themselves, turning into an array of hollow half-spheres that flew before the Kros.

The hollow half-spheres barely had the time to form a barrier before the Kros when the lightning bolts reached them. Nevertheless, no crash happened. To Khan’s surprise, his spells slowed down as if trying to fly through a dense substance.

Khan’s glowing eyes could easily spot the truth behind the strange event. Muhsin didn’t alter the air’s composition to create a barrier. The symphony told Khan as much.

Instead, the hollow half-spheres seemed to have created a different and isolated gravitational field, altering the physical laws in that restricted area of the sky. The lightning bolts were still flying through it but required more time to cross it, time the Kros used to employ another function.

More energy flowed into the half-spheres, making their concave insides shine with blue light. That radiance affected the lightning bolts, dismantling their unstable structure to harness their energy.

Khan remotely detonated his spells, but it was already too late. The artificial gravity affected the explosions, too, slowing down the crumbling and release of destructive sparks, allowing Muhsin to steal more of that energy.

In a few seconds, the lightning bolts disappeared without a trace while new energy flowed inside Muhsin’s machines. Part of it was stored, joining their reserves. Meanwhile, the rest kept being dismantled, providing more data to the Kros.

Muhsin had turned Khan’s mighty attack into a study session, and the development inevitably irked him. Khan wasn’t showing his real arsenal, but treating his destructive spells as a mere energy source still fueled his violent urges.

Yet, urges aside, Khan didn’t overlook more important details. The chaos element was renowned for its ability to mess with technology, but Muhsin’s machines had been entirely unaffected by the lightning bolts’ vicinity.

‘Is he belittling my element or something?’ Khan wondered, purple-red light shining over his scarlet tattoos. He wanted to erode them and go all-out, but time wasn’t ripe yet.

“Prince Khan is more powerful than our data suggested,” Muhsin praised. “Your mastery over the chaos element is surprising. The Kros are willing to admit you are forty-five percent of the Global Army’s value.”

Muhsin didn’t want his manufactured, robotic statement to sound like a mockery, but Khan couldn’t control how he felt. He smiled, but his expression had no friendliness. Khan was actually close to snapping, but it was the Kros’ turn now.

“Why don’t we step it up?” Khan suggested. “I’m sure Muhsin of the Kros should be able to make me bleed.”

“I agree,” Muhsin responded. “The Kros are also interested in your capabilities.”

Another round of transformations unfolded after that statement. The hollow half-spheres split alongside the rest of the hovering technology. Even the metal chair underwent modifications, losing its armrests to create new machines.

Muhsin dropped the array of weapons to focus all his technology on two huge machines. Two giant rifles took shape above his shoulders, their thick, barrel-like pair of structures pointing at Khan.

Meanwhile, the chair’s armrests gained mirror-like tips, probably acting as scanners. It seemed the Kros didn’t want to miss anything about the imminent exchange, fueling Khan’s hopes for something worth his time.

“Please, Prince Khan,” Muhsin called. “May I ask you to summon your defensive technique?”

As insulting as the request had sounded, Khan understood Muhsin’s words carried none of those intentions. Besides, that wasn’t an actual battle. It was a mere spar meant to improve political relationships, so Khan complied with the request.

Blood vessels clotted all over Khan, bulging over his skin before their black color stretched even further. A faint stiffness invaded him as his figure turned completely dark, shielding every inch of his flesh.

Khan didn’t have to say anything to make Muhsin act. A large amount of energy flowed into the hovering rifles, and blue light shone between both pairs of barrels. Sparks also appeared, shooting up and down while the heavy weaponry amassed more mana.

Muhsin fired without giving any warning, showing Khan the reason behind his previous request. The two heavy weapons released a roar that shook the sky while two dense beams flew out of them, instantly reaching Khan.

In a different situation, the attack would have taken Khan by surprise. Thanks to Muhsin’s warning, Khan had been ready for it and could dodge the beams despite their incredible speed. Yet, he didn’t.

Khan barely had the time to cross his arms above his face before the beams hit him, pushing him away and piercing the sky diagonally, reaching the sea below.

The not-waters parted, opening a cavity that reached into their depths while the sea around the beams grew violent. Tall waves rose and clashed with each other before exploding upward when a blue light expanded far below the surface.

An isolated rain fell in the area as chaotic waves closed the profound cavity. A small storm afflicted the ground zero and its surrounding non-waters, removing any trace of peace and tranquility from that chunk of the quadrant.

Still, Coravis’ sea was simply boundless. Hence, its surface quickly attempted to stabilize and retrieve its original flow, especially once all the drops of non-water in the air had finished falling.

However, that peace never arrived. As soon as the sea’s surface began to calm down, violent tremors afflicted it, creating short waves that clashed with each other, flowing in random directions.

The affected area was far vaster than what Muhsin had achieved with his previous attack, and the event didn’t stop at mere tremors. The not-waters in countless spots directly crumbled, turning into shimmering trails of drops and energy that rose toward the sky, defying gravity for a few meters.

Muhsin couldn’t help but dismantle his rifles to repurpose them into more scanners. As impossible as it sounded, it seemed that the sea had started bleeding, and its essence was leaking into the air.