Chaos Heir

Chapter 1546: Sturdy

The apocalyptic clash had multiple catastrophes unfolding simultaneously, and each could eradicate any trace of life that dared to exist in their presence.

The heat was more than unbearable. It was obliterating, unleashing such scorching force that both ground and air vanished before even having the time to burn.

The blinding light seemed to gain physical properties, piercing anything that dared stand in its path, acting like the sharpest blade in the world.

Also, an invisible but unstoppable force expanded outward, pushing everything away, preventing anything from remaining within that spherical detonation.

However, something did remain inside. Actually, it advanced through that series of life-ending catastrophes.

Stars were quite outside what Khan could handle, even miniature ones like those unleashed by the Maker. They messed with too many laws of the universe and wielded features too extreme to be anywhere near approachable, even by someone at Khan’s level.

It didn’t help that the Maker had detonated his miniature stars, basically unleashing the entirety of their breathtaking might into a single, obliterating attack.

That burst of piercing light, scorching heat, and unstoppable force was several times deadlier than a standing star, but it ended up working in Khan’s favor.

Despite everything, destruction was Khan’s comfort zone, and that was even more true for the crackling cloud.

While more violent, those bursts of light, heat, and force were also more brittle than a solid star. They were energy rather than matter, so they were easier to break even further.

And the cloud did exactly that, standing before Khan while acting both as a shield and his best offensive asset. Its thundering cries roared to no end while its sparks kept flickering, unleashing something that went beyond mere destruction.

The light, heat, and sheer force vanished upon touching the cloud’s crackling radiance, seemingly unable to pierce its natural aura.

Of course, that wasn’t exactly the case. The exploding stars could indeed overwhelm the cloud. They just never had the chance to, since nothing could exist around the spell.

Khan had learned to attune his destruction to specific materials to limit its effects, but the situation didn’t need anything of the sort. The cloud only had to break everything and everyone, forsaking any possible distinction.

The light cracked and shattered, replaced by darkness. The energy affected by that unbearable kinetic energy split and vanished, and the expanding force’s very momentum yielded to the cloud’s influence, choosing stillness and death.

That wasn’t mere entropy anymore. Just like Khan had learned from the mana’s heart, so did his element, touching upon what could only be described as the very essence of destruction.

The very fabric of reality seemed at risk of falling prey to the cloud, creating a dimensional rift no different from the elliptical portals. Yet, those barriers held strong, and the pocket universe’s structure remained intact.

But that wasn’t the end of the cloud’s power. Its obliterating advance turned the incoming attack into raw energy, which the sparks greedily devoured to add fuel to the spell.

It was as if Khan had applied his [Blood Vortex] to the cloud. Except that his mind and mana had nothing to do with it. He knew that technique, so his spell knew it, too, and could use it as part of its existence.

After all, the cloud wasn’t a mere spell. It was a living being and, as such, it could feed itself with whatever it deemed suitable.

The absorption, or feeding, of the raw energy generated through the destruction of what the exploding stars had released changed the cloud.

The spell never stopped advancing, but crackling protuberances grew from its thundering fabric, as if they were tentacles or arms meant to extend the range of its unstoppable destruction.

The cloud’s main body also grew in size, condensing on top of that. Its cries started to pierce the deafening roars that had taken control of the area, too, almost announcing that a new ruler had descended.

Meanwhile, Khan was behind the cloud, crossing the path it cleared, but experiencing some leftover heat, force, and piercing light nonetheless.

There was little to be done about that. Completely defending against an exploding star was simply impossible, and the energy it unleashed was literally everywhere in no time.

The cloud could clear a path through that scorching force, but Khan remained surrounded in it, so he burned. His trousers and cape took fire and disappeared. Charred patches formed on his layer of clotted blood vessels, and even his resilient blue hair burned, its tips releasing sizzling sounds that the apocalyptic event suppressed.

Still, Khan’s advance never stopped. His mana flew forward, and he followed it until the blinding scenery finally receded.

Truth be told, Khan could hardly see at that point. No matter how much he empowered his cells, his eyes were unable to inspect anything with all that blinding light around him.

The surrounding mess also tried to hinder Khan’s senses, but the cloud acted as his guide, and its clash with something relatively solid snapped him into action.

The spell had reached the Maker, only to find his arm stretched, wielding another miniature star that made the two start fighting to devour each other.

The miniature star trapped the cloud in its gravitational, scorching force, while the latter unleashed the full extent of its destructive power on the condensed celestial body, unable to get rid of it quickly.

The two attacks ended in a stalemate, but Khan had already moved, some of the mana contained inside his body fueling his techniques.

Khan remained behind the cloud and its expanding tendrils, but a second Khan also appeared behind the Maker, his leg already descending toward his head.

The leg obliterated anything on its path, cutting through the light and scorching air that separated the second Khan and the Maker. The attack even landed on his head, pushing his long hair away, only for gales to blow from the opposite direction.

That wasn’t a counterattack. It simply was a natural reaction to the clash between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. Khan’s Pierce did hit the Maker. His head merely endured it, sending back part of its force.

And, as the wind blew on Khan’s face, a strange whisper that his brain automatically translated reached his ears. "[Our dear Father made us quite sturdy]."

Then, a miniature star quickly formed right before Khan’s face, exploding on the spot.