Chaos Heir

Chapter 1358: Planned evolution

Both Khan and Liiza had refrained from expanding their existence and control over the environment too far in the previous battles.

For once, there was no need to summon natural catastrophes against mere mana beasts. It would have been a waste of physical and mental energy that the couple might have needed upon reaching their destination.

Moreover, Khan was still learning to use his broader version of his element, and the endless tide of mana beasts worked as perfect training dummies. Vanquishing them all with a single spell would have prevented any meaningful exercise, so the couple held back from doing it.

Nevertheless, there were external reasons, too.

The planet’s mana was oddly resistant to external influences, seemingly actively working to retain its unpolluted state. It abided by deeper, instinctive directives, following a master it didn’t want to abandon.

Also, Khan and Liiza didn’t know what influencing the surrounding mana would cause. Chances were the planet wouldn’t like their attempt to take over its energy, triggering a worldwide, catastrophic reaction, hindering the journey altogether.

That worry even extended to Khan and Liiza themselves. They had to establish a certain level of connection with their surroundings to affect or dominate them, so something could flow back to them, and it was unclear what that would have caused.

Still, the couple had reached their destination now, and Khan was past caring. He was finally before the cause and solution to the curse that had afflicted him for twenty-three years, so he would show the entirety of himself, holding nothing back.

The Nak merely stood straight at Khan’s words. They didn’t react at all, making Liiza wonder whether they had understood her husband at all, but he didn’t care about that point, either.

If the Nak didn’t understand Khan, he would make them understand.

Khan didn’t speak again, but the area tainted by his existence released a tremor into the azure air, which flew into the valley, reaching each Nak that had materialized and affecting their bodies.

The platoon soon wavered before falling to its knees. The over thirty Nak slammed violently on the ground, kneeling at the couple. Still, none of them betrayed any surprise, simply continuing to look at Khan, emotionlessly awaiting something.

Khan could sort of understand what the Nak wanted from him, but their wishes didn’t matter now. The mission was of utmost importance, especially now that his daughter had been born, but he would only play by his rules. That was what his new state demanded.

The Nak had wanted to create an heir to their legacy, so Khan found it necessary for them to kneel now that he had appeared in their presence. After all, they had succeeded, so they had to play the part.

Khan ran his glowing gaze over the kneeling platoon again before focusing on the only figure unaffected by his arrival. The Nak by the spinning sphere hadn’t turned yet, and Khan’s influence had been unable to reach it due to that white-azure radiance.

Therefore, Khan stepped forward, resuming his hand-in-hand advance with Liiza. The ground he stepped upon and the air he crossed turned purple-red at his passage, creating a bright trail behind him as he approached that fateful destination.

The kneeling Nak ignored Liiza, only following Khan with their bright gazes. Still, he didn’t spare them a single glance, knowing what they wanted from him.

The married couple eventually crossed the valley, getting closer to the white-azure spinning sphere and its heavy influence. It became harder to endure the promise of boundless knowledge and answers that it radiated, but Khan and Liiza had their methods to resist it, which their mental connection enhanced.

It was unclear how far into the valley the couple had to go, but something eventually happened. When Khan and Liiza were almost upon the spinning sphere, the last Nak finally turned, lowering its three glowing eyes on him.

The Nak didn’t open its mouth, but the air around it trembled, conveying emotions and words both Khan and Liiza could translate.

"We have been waiting a long time for your arrival," The Nak said, "Our heir."

Khan experienced a storm of emotions as soon as the Nak spoke. Part of him still couldn’t believe he had ultimately gotten there, but the realization grew more rooted in his brain with each passing second, and that announcement finalized it.

Childish urges and more went through Khan. He wanted to rage, throw fits, shout, and complain about those twenty-three years of restless nights and all the struggles the Nak had forced him to endure. He also considered avenging himself, but his following words ended up being quite rational.

"I want answers," Khan declared, using the Nak’s way of conveying meanings. "About you, the Scarlet Eyes, the mana, and its legacy."

The Nak stared down at Khan for a while, silently matching his glowing gaze. Then, it turned toward the floating, spinning sphere, pointing at it in the same way the alien in Khan’s nightmare had reached for him.

"The Nak are natural-born of the mana," The Nak explained. "We are one of its most complex iterations, embodying it while expressing individual lives. That’s a natural progression of any higher form of energy searching for randomness to manufacture evolution."

That short, initial revelation already cleared many doubts and generated additional questions. Still, Liiza and Khan remained silent, waiting for the Nak to continue.

"Individuality bore fruit," The Nak continued. "It expanded the mana, deepening it, enhancing it, until it turned against it."

The Nak turned toward Khan, showing its palm to morph the azure air. Two sharp eyes took shape before the neckless giant, eventually gaining scarlet irises.

"An individuality detached itself from the mana," The Nak revealed, "Bearing a will that surpassed it. It wanted freedom. It wanted power, so it tainted others with those desires, creating the enemy of the mana."

It turned out Khan had been partially right about the Scarlet Eyes, but that wasn’t the moment to ask additional questions yet.

"The Nak fought the enemy," The Nak stated, "And the Nak lost. We ran away with the mana, establishing our home here, developing more individualities."

Scenes inherited from the mutated twisted vegetation tried to rise in Khan’s vision. He could guess what came next, and he turned out to be correct.

"But the enemy found us," The Nak added, "So the Nak expanded the mana forcefully, accelerating the manufacturing of the planned evolution."

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