Chaos Heir

Chapter 1350: World of mana

Liiza couldn’t help but experience everything from a different perspective.

Despite the mental connection, Liiza had only seen Khan’s nightmares once. That was more than most of his loved ones could boast, but it still made her unable to completely relate to what her husband was going through.

Instead, Liiza’s inspection was mostly unbiased. She didn’t have deep-seated memories that could fill the gaps in that almost-completely barren scenery, so she only focused on her perception of the symphony that entered the ship through the channels in the hull.

For a species that studied the mana so deeply, Liiza was inevitably stunned by what her senses captured. The symphony reeked of the purest form of energy she had ever perceived, surpassing her ice in that field in ways she didn’t think possible.

That purity wasn’t about power. The mana inside that isolated environment was simply untainted, devoid of the slightest pollution. It was something impossible to recreate by any being that wielded the slightest hint of will, leading to shocking conclusions.

The arrangement of asteroids had kept that mana safe from pollution, and the isolated environment contained its very source, the origin of its purest and most basic shape.

An ordinary Shaman would have found the discovery incredible, and Liiza was no exception. However, she couldn’t focus on the many possible studies and uses. That pure feature confirmed that the ship had reached the mana’s source or core. Khan and Liiza were in the right place.

That realization unleashed a wave of chilling emotions through Liiza’s brain. The Niqols despised the Nak like basically every other species in the universe, but the matter was personal for her.

Liiza was getting closer to the aliens that had cursed her husband to restless nights for most of his life, making her cold killing intent palpable.

In a different situation, Khan would have dealt with Liiza’s scary mood, but the experience was too much for him. The picture reflected on the screens was the culmination of twenty-three years of struggles, which claimed his entire attention and a fair share of his ruthlessness.

Liiza sensed Khan’s scorching nape and placed her cold hand on it, but didn’t say anything. Khan also didn’t thank her for that refreshing feeling. The two simply looked at the screens, watching as the azure planet grew closer and closer.

Khan had to perform a few maneuvers to dodge a floating cloud of mana and some rocky debris. The ship’s barrier could have probably handled those, but he didn’t want to risk anything when his target was so close.

Afterward, Khan steered the vessel in a straight line toward the azure planet. The path was clear, so the ship quickly reached it. Yet, he stopped right before touching that blue atmosphere, keeping the vessel in orbit to absorb everything seeping through the channels in the hull.

The scanners started struggling. No interference hit them, but they failed to capture anything slightly deeper into that blue atmosphere. The air itself seemed made of azure mana, which the ship wasn’t equipped to study.

Khan and Liiza’s senses partially failed at that, too. They sensed the immense gathering of mana before them. It seemed every atom of that celestial body, from the edge of its atmosphere to its hidden surface, was made of that energy, vouching for its flexibility.

On top of that, Khan experienced the most intense version of the Nak’s call yet. He even accepted that the him from a few years ago would have fallen prey to that feeling, hypnotized and compelled to listen to it.

However, Khan believed he had fulfilled the Nak’s requirements before inheriting their legacy, and his ability to ignore that call seemed to confirm that point. He wasn’t even alone, and the cold hand on his nape definitely helped his self-restraint.

Nevertheless, despite the self-restraint, only one path existed. Khan and Liiza diverted their gazes from the screens for the first time, exchanging a brief but meaningful glance that served the same purpose as an hour-long conversation. They reaffirmed their resolve, and Khan pushed the steering wheel forward.

The planet’s blueness created a stark contrast with the space’s darkness, highlighting its edge. The ship dived into it, and what looked to be azure air turned out to be far denser than expected, as if it were a light liquid that tried to mimic its behavior and fabric.

Khan had engaged in battles at the bottom of seas, so the scene didn’t make him hesitate. However, that strange air did affect the ship despite the mana barrier protecting it.

As soon as the ship completely crossed that azure boundary, all its functions stopped working, becoming nothing more than a metal prison. Usually, gravity would make it free fall, but the blue air seemed dense enough to keep it afloat.

Khan didn’t know if the air truly dealt with density at that point, but didn’t care, either. The ship had become useless, but it was safe. He and Liiza simply had to reach the surface through other means.

Liiza stood up on her own, and Khan stopped floating, stretching his legs to plant them on the floor. The two quickly headed for the now-dark cargo area, where Khan retrieved two respirators before manually opening the exit.

The blue air immediately invaded the ship’s interiors, bringing its intrinsic illumination to the place. Both Khan and Liiza tested it with their nostrils, finding it heavy but breathable. It was also invasive, attempting to mutate them through an energy Khan knew far too well, but their bodies fended off that influence.

Khan threw the respirators aside and wrapped an arm around Liiza’s back when she leaned on him. She could fly on her own, but he was faster and nimbler in the sky, so she relied on him.

Khan crossed the open entrance with a jump, floating before it to manually close it. Then, his body began to descend through the blue atmosphere, picking up speed as his senses kept studying his surroundings.

There wasn’t much to say about the planet. Everything was blue and made of the purest and unpolluted mana Khan had ever sensed, and reaching the ground didn’t bring any changes.

A ground existed but shared the same shades as the air, making it unnoticeable to most gazes. Of course, that didn’t apply to Khan and Liiza since its higher density made it far brighter in their vision, allowing a safe and calm landing.

Khan secured his foothold, inspecting and testing the ground with his foot. He was in the middle of an immense, flat, and barren plain, and its surface was tougher than ordinary soil.

Different landmarks existed in the distance all around the couple. The monotone scenery tried to hide them, but Khan and Liiza spotted mountains, hills, slopes, and valleys from their position, and they all featured a similar or denser version of the ground they were stepping upon.

The planet truly was a blue world made of mana. Everything from its soft winds to its surfaces came from that energy, as if someone had purposefully repurposed it to build the celestial body like that.

Moreover, a strange stillness permeated the area despite the ever-flowing symphony, mimicking the barrenness outside the atmosphere. The place looked dead, but that quickly changed.

Khan and Liiza’s arrival didn’t go unnoticed forever. A few seconds after they landed on that blue ground, the surrounding air came to life, changing direction and condensing to give birth to brighter, detailed figures.

In a matter of seconds, Khan saw figures he had only casually looked up on the network once out of pure curiosity. Massive, winged, reptilian creatures made of mana took shape all around the married couple. Somehow, dragons had surrounded them.