Chaos' Heir

Khan understood it very well, or at least, he tried to.

Khan believed the leader was telling the truth, hinting at its species' unique qualities. Those lifeforms probably had the ability to transform according to external inputs. They had done it with the Nak's mutations and could seamlessly fuse with the ground. Chances were Khan could really help them.

However, it was clear the process would hurt Khan, if not kill him entirely. He would even allow that in some circumstances, but Chuwei's creatures fell short of the most crucial requirement.

Finding the Nak wasn't the end. A terrifying threat loomed over the universe, demanding someone strong enough to fend it off. Khan couldn't leave that task to others, especially when they were far weaker than him. After all, he had many people to save.

"[Potential heir]," Khan's copy called. "[We have fought and suffered for too long. Far too long]."

The denser lifeform released a burst of energy that ran through the underground chamber's surfaces, washing over its companions. The ability affected the general internal conflict, intensifying the desire to break free of the Nak's curse.

The various lifeforms across the underground chamber suddenly overcame their foreign programming, bursting with desire and anger. Three masses of energy gathered on the ceiling, separating from it to fall toward Khan.

The incoming lifeforms had brought many debris with them. They didn't assume a human shape but transformed into long spears that accelerated through the air to converge on Khan.

However, Khan merely lifted his eyes, engulfing the three spears in their azure light. Those falling weapons were more than a dense amalgamation of rocks and soil. Actual living beings resided in their fabric, enhancing it beyond its natural limits, but that made little difference to Khan.

Khan willed it, and the three spears exploded into a rain of debris, which crumbled into dust before they could touch the ground or the damaged ships. As for the lifeforms inside them, they were nowhere to be seen or sensed.

The lifeforms that had attacked Khan were loosely similar to third-level warriors, which were nothing more than ants for him. Their unstable minds also weakened their resolve, allowing Khan to enforce his destructive will upon them.

Moreover, Khan was fundamentally superior to Chuwei's lifeforms. He had won against the Nak's curse, while those masses of energy had succumbed to it. In many ways, the latter had already lost.

That overwhelming show of power failed to improve Khan's mood. He had always known he was strong. He had actually only gotten stronger during that solitary period of absolute, single-minded focus. Still, his victims were some of the few creatures in the universe he truly didn't want to hurt.

After all, those creatures were no different than Khan. They were even closer to him than Cegnore's natives due to their unwillingness to accept their fate. If anything, they reminded him of a particular village on a cold planet and what he had found inside a crib.

"Please," Khan said. "Don't make me do it. I swear. I'll avenge you, too."

Khan couldn't have been more honest, but the leader didn't care. The copy made of debris fused with the chamber's floor as the denser lifeform hid inside it to release another tremor, and something Khan had feared unfolded under his very eyes.
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The underground chamber trembled as the various lifeforms inside its surfaces expanded, fusing to envelop the whole area. They seemed able to transform into a single being seamlessly, and Khan even recognized its brain. The leader's unique energy signature was still there, filling that bright spectacle with its influence.

Of course, only Khan saw that as bright. The various surfaces were lifeless and without much mana, but the lifeforms that had covered them shone with a brownish light, and their leader added a darker glow to it.

Enveloping the underground chamber was the first step. The joint lifeforms fused with the various surfaces and pushed them forward, shrinking the area, seemingly planning to bury Khan alive.

The advancing surfaces absorbed the valuable Nak's debris as if they were harmless waves, and Khan helplessly sighed when he realized he couldn't let that continue. The remains didn't look damaged, but Khan didn't want to search for them again.

The chamber's atmosphere suddenly changed. An intense, overbearing aura filled it, almost able to stop the advancing surfaces with its sheer ethereal pressure. Khan's sad smile disappeared, replaced by a chilling, cold expression.

When Khan lifted his hand, a thunderous noise resounded through the chamber, and a purple-red lightning bolt materialized in it. Its sparks raged with power, digging wounds into his palm and burning his already tattered sleeves. The rocky surfaces kept advancing, but it was too late.

Khan flung the lightning bolt at the ceiling, and chaos unfolded. The spell dug into the advancing surface, exploding into a circular barrage of ravaging sparks. Purple-red lines shot through the soil, devouring its fabric and whatever energy gave it power.

A deep, painful tremor echoed into the underground chamber as its surfaces began to shatter. A rain of rocks and debris fell everywhere, threatening to submerge the whole area. Khan couldn't let anything damage the Nak's graveyard, so a shockwave shot out of his body, turning anything bigger than dust into nothingness.

The destruction continued, stretching into deeper layers all around the underground chamber, exposing surfaces previously hidden by the now-dust. Nothing should have survived the attack, but Khan still saw brightness inside that mostly lifeless fabric.

A larger version of the three-eyed circle had formed on the new ceiling, releasing tremor after tremor. Khan's brain failed to translate them into words, but he felt the emotion they carried. A bottomless anger rang in the symphony, and Khan replied to it.

"Sure, give it to me," Khan announced. "I'll carry that, too."

The three-eyed circle seemed to amass power, stretching downward to create a tip pointed at Khan. It was preparing something, but a lightning bolt hit that sharp end, sending destructive sparks into the energy that filled it.

The ceiling crumbled once again, and the bright spot inside it finally darkened, but Khan summoned another lightning bolt. Nothing had lit up yet, but he could sense it as clear as day. The chaos had attracted more company.