Chaos Heir

Chapter 925: Enlightenment

Khan and Bruno's appearances were quite different when they returned to the city's main building, and their mood also described much of their fight's outcome.

Bruno looked as calm and friendly as before, but the upper part of his military uniform had disappeared. He was also barefoot, and his trousers' edges had turned into rags. Still, no injury marked his body as he walked with his arms behind his back.

Meanwhile, Khan was the opposite. Only strands of his pelts had remained on him while he held the Thilku cape under his arm. Also, multiple bruises covered his torso and shoulders alongside patches of dirt.

Yet, Khan's aura was as intense as ever, and the excitement on his face matched that feeling. Something wild and unruly filled his expression, making him appear more oppressive than usual.

Khan and Bruno didn't return through the building's main door. They had climbed onto one of the upper balconies to reach the reserved areas. Yet, the menus still recorded their arrival, eventually putting them before three figures.

Prince Thomas, Princess Rebecca, and Monica hurried to encounter Khan and Bruno, but they didn't know what to take from the scene. The two didn't seem to care about their appearance or respective presence, but Khan did react at that familiar sight.

Monica's eyes widened when Khan materialized before her. She was about to say something when Khan grabbed her face with one hand, squeezing her cheeks before leaving a long kiss on her lips.

"I'm crazy about you," Khan announced, "But I must be alone now."

Khan kissed Monica again before hurrying toward the edge of the corridor. He thought about giving directives to his Aunt and Uncle, but they were more than fine on their own, so he soon disappeared inside the building.

"The Prince's eagerness is admirable," Bruno commented, reaching the trio. "I'm afraid I stirred his enthusiasm. I'll take full responsibility."

Monica was too startled by the previous interaction to reply, but Prince Thomas took things into his own hands. Bruno was a Nognes problem, so it was only fair for him to handle it. "What do these responsibilities entail?" Prince Thomas asked, embodying politeness.

"I believe the Prince will name them when the time is right, My Prince," Bruno said. "For now, a room is more than enough."

Prince Thomas and the others didn't linger in pointless questions. As an evolved warrior, Bruno was quite the untouchable and unreachable figure. Faction leaders aside, no one could order him around or apply their authority, so Prince Thomas prioritized getting rid of him. Soon, the trio led Bruno into one of the building's best quarters, politely saluting him at the door. The place had a vast bath, a huge bed, and various pleasant services, but the evolved soldier sat on the floor as soon as the entrance closed, and his attention quickly fell on his right palm.

A cut almost connected Bruno's pinkie and thumb. The injury didn't leak any blood but didn't close, either. It was a wound that went beyond his body, and inspecting it triggered a deep sigh.

"Truly frightening," Bruno muttered before lowering his hand and closing his eyes.

Meanwhile, Khan stormed down the building, initially planning to isolate himself in the best training hall. Still, his restlessness eventually left some room for reason, making him give up on the idea and head outside again.

Khan's dangerous element and inclination to blow things up had forced him to take some precautions. He had littered the quadrant with private and isolated training areas at some distance from civilization and other important buildings, and his troublesome intentions made him fly toward one of them.

Khan landed in the middle of a patch of trees before activating hidden menus on a trunk. The wood split open, revealing a secret elevator that brought him underground. A reinforced hall lit up in his eyes, and he immediately sat on the floor, closing his eyes to review the previous battle and his hunches.

The best of Khan's attacks and spells had failed to make Bruno move. Once, Khan had managed to send decent effects into his aura, but the event had been short-lived and seemingly futile.

Of course, Khan had held back from showing his entire skillset. His paranoia still made him unable to trust Bruno, so he had been content with triggering occasional, serious counterattacks.

Nevertheless, the sparring session provided valuable insights. Battles between evolved soldiers involved more than sheer physical might and powerful spells. Those warriors had embodied their element, becoming more than flesh and bones, so only something with similar intensity could dig through them.

Isolating the chaos element's nature and forcing the spells to summon it had made Khan's attacks effective. Yet, he knew something was missing, and his body wasn't to blame. One's element was quite personal. It developed through a mixture of life experiences, personality, and natural inclinations. Moreover, it rarely was as generic and superficial as it sounded. Bruno's mountain clearly had more to do with enduring existence than actual rocks, and Khan found it reasonable to apply the same logic to other types of mana.

For example, the fire element was quite popular among humans, and its wielders could use the same spells. However, evolving through it would show differences, making each unique. 'But my chaos isn't mine,' Khan thought. 'I inherited it. It was forced on me. It's not something I affected.'

Khan was quite sure about that point. Due to his life, his version of chaos should have had clear hints of desperation. Yet, it showed nothing similar, forcing him to consider the only source he truly trusted.

'Chaos is the freest type of mana,' Khan thought, recalling Liiza's words.

Humankind saw the chaos element as the most destructive type of mana, but Khan believed that aspect to be a consequence of its real nature. The chaos element sought unreasonable freedom, and breaking anything that tried to get in its way was simply one way to achieve it. 'Unreasonable freedom,' Khan pondered, forcing his mana to flow while focusing on his flesh. Khan's body had already partially evolved through his element. His very skin almost had the right channels for his energy, which naturally conveyed its true nature. Khan only had to focus on it, summoning memories of his successful attacks against Bruno.

'Forget the human ways,' Khan thought. 'Forget percentages, science, and all that idiocy. Forget control, even.'

Khan's concentration reached its peak as he immersed himself in that meditative session. He wasn't trying to improve his attunement with mana, but the process still pushed him closer to what he wanted to summon.

'Chaos has no rules,' Khan repeated the Nak's corpse's words in his mind. 'Chaos has no enemies. Chaos is free. Evolve past mana. Evolve past chaos.'

A foreign feeling invaded Khan's mind. He had experienced something similar many times in the past, but the urge was calmer now. The cloud's unruly desires gained a new shape as Khan opened his eyes and inspected his surroundings. Quiet understanding flashed in his bright eyes, and a disdainful smirk broadened on his face.

'This is my home,' Khan thought. 'Why am I even training underground?'

There were plenty of reasons for that, but Khan couldn't consider them anymore. He didn't feel like staying underground, so he glanced at the ceiling, and that metal surface annoyed

him.

Khan's influence had long since tainted the entire symphony inside the hall, so his annoyance immediately filled it. The ceiling was the feeling's target, and cracks appeared on it. Those fissures deepened until the ground's weight became too much to handle.

The ceiling collapsed, and brownish waterfalls fell into the hall. The surface above was caving in, but Khan didn't care. He didn't mind the dirt and closed his eyes while standing up. Soil washed him over, but he ignored it as he slowly rose into the air.

It didn't take long before Khan resurfaced. Baoway's clear air invaded his nostrils, but his senses allowed him to see much more through his closed eyes. He felt the trees, the cozy night, and the symphony they created.

Khan opened his eyes, and his influence unfolded. He even added some mana to it to quicken the process, but the trees felt no disturbance. Their leaves remained intact as if Khan's aura

didn't exist.

'I like this place,' Khan considered. 'It doesn't hinder my freedom. It doesn't even try to.' Khan looked at his palm, which traced a few bright lines in the air. He closed his hand around them once the rune was complete, and opening it revealed a tongue of purple-red fire. The flame had every reason to burn things. It was in its nature, but when Khan threw it at the nearest trunk, it simply lingered on the wood, dispersing without damaging it.

'So much for the most destructive element,' Khan mocked before repeating the process. He drew another rune, identical to the previous one. The same purple-red flame appeared in his palm. However, throwing at the trunk led to a different outcome.

The flame directly dug through the wood, creating a charred hole before dispersing. The attack didn't end there as multiple cracks stretched from the cavity's edges, expanding and

deepening until the tree split and fell to the side.

'Freedom, huh,' Khan thought, his bright eyes pointing at the sky. He knew he had understood something important, and only one person on the entire planet might be able to

appreciate it.