More tears fell from Khan's eyes. His mana couldn't get rid of all the pollution in the air, and that affected his visions in ways that he couldn't avoid.
Khan's peripheral vision grew unclear as he forced himself to inspect the environment. He couldn't remain blind in that situation. The tall, rectangular items with the broken servers didn't carry mana, so he couldn't retrieve them with his eyes closed.
A second wave of mana shot out of his figure to clean his surroundings. Khan felt slightly relieved, but his eyes continued to burn. Moreover, the monsters saw that new discharge of energy as a threat. They began to turn toward him and release low growls that hinted at their imminent charge.
The monsters had different shapes and features. Khan saw a slightly tall dog with azure fur, a monkey with gruesome claws growing from strange spots, a really huge cat, and a small rat with two sharp fangs that leaked a dense liquid.
Those creatures looked scary and angry. Their eyes and expressions revealed their innate aggression now that they had started to ignore the azure gas flowing out of the pierced containers. However, Khan barely viewed them as worthy opponents.
The structures in the Slums couldn't possibly compare to those in the big cities. Khan felt almost sure that none of those monsters had access to special abilities. Yet, that wouldn't make any difference in his mind.
Khan had survived a proper apocalypse of monsters on Nitis, and he had grown far stronger since then. Four scary-looking creatures were nothing more than sacks of meat in his mind. The only problem was with their size, especially with the oddly big cat, since it could destroy the already broken servers during the fight.
The tears made Khan's vision too cloudy, so he unleashed another wave of mana, but the monsters didn't remain still at that point. They shot forward, and the area suffered due to their reckless charge.
The containers were beyond firm, but that didn't apply to the machines next to them. The servers were even worse, and they fell as the monsters slammed on the various structures or directly jumped over them.
Khan also shot forward to shrink the battlefield. He had to release another wave of mana to reduce the pollution in his new surroundings, but part of his energy remained ready for the imminent battle.
The monkey jumped over a container and pushed the tall structure above it to charge toward Khan. The cat slammed a paw on the smoke machine to dash forward, which also made the servers fall.
Instead, the dog and the rat avoided the structures, but they shared the other monsters' destination. The four creatures were converging toward Khan, but he didn't flinch. A red-purple light had already covered his raised knife, and his feet were only waiting the right moment to unleash mana.
The rat was the first to reach Khan. The creature was incredibly fast, as fast as Khan, but its fangs were the only dangerous part of that tiny body.
Khan calculated the timing perfectly before performing a spin. The rat voiced a high-pitched squeak as it leaped and opened its mouth, but a foot slammed at its side and flung it in the distance.
Cracking noises reached Khan's ears, but he disregarded them. He didn't need to hear or see to know that the rat would die with his attack. His senses were also superfluous there. His knowledge came from sheer battle experience.
The monkey and the dog approached Khan almost at the same time. The monkey had jumped on two more containers to reach him and perform a leap aimed at his right side. Meanwhile, the dog had run in a straight line toward his chest.
Khan took a step forward and let the monkey fall behind him. His knife flashed as he side-stepped the dog and used that short rotation to send power to his left leg.
Khan had merely taken one and a half-step, but the dog lost half of its head, and the monkey found its neck crushed. His fighting style wasn't only deadly. It lacked useless movements and maximized the effects of his terrific techniques.
The cat reached Khan during the instant that he had lost to take care of the last two monsters. The creature stood on its two legs and reached a height of two meters before falling on his figure, but it only found the floor when it landed.
The cat hissed in anger and turned to look at its opponent, but a warm sensation spread from its huge belly when it stood on its legs. The creature's aggression made it ignore that feeling and shoot toward the human silhouette illuminated by the glowing light that had appeared behind it. Yet, its body lost power during the charge.
The monster's legs gave in and stopped supporting its huge figure. The cat fell on the floor, and a warm sensation welcomed it. The creature finally realized that Khan had cut its belly open and that its insides had already left its body.
The cat hissed in anger and tried to crawl in that state, but Khan had already stopped caring about it. He felt the urge to wipe his eyes, but nothing about him was clean. Smoke and blood had tainted his figure, so he would only worsen his situation if he attempted something.
Another wave of mana left his figure, but his eyes didn't benefit too much from it. Khan's vision was deteriorating quickly, but he couldn't leave yet. He simply didn't know where he was.
'Am I underground?' Khan wondered.
The descent through the smoke had made Khan lose track of his position, and the dark cloud above the area didn't help. The sharp membrane around his knife brought some light, but he saw nothing more than metal surfaces.
'I need to get back in the smoke,' Khan concluded as he tried to find something that could work as a staircase.
His search lasted only an instant since the whole area suddenly began to tremble. A proper earthquake unfolded as rumbling noises filled the environment. The event immediately opened cracks on the floor, and Khan felt sure about its artificial nature at that sight.
A curse resounded in Khan's mind, but he didn't remain still. The earthquake made all the servers above the containers fall, so he had to sprint toward the nearest to catch it before it crashed on the floor.
The item was far from light. The four pillars at its edges weren't an issue, but the servers attached to them were heavy. Moreover, the structure was as tall as Khan, which made transporting everything more challenging.
Khan stored the knife and hugged the structure with the servers. He was strong enough to carry it, but the darkness had returned now, and the earthquake made his footing unstable. Still, he waited for something to happen as he focused on reducing the destructive nature of his mana.
A wave of pale red-purple energy shot out of Khan's head and brought some light. His mana rose toward the cloud quickly, and following its trail didn't help his escape.
Khan approached the closest wall and released more mana, but he still couldn't come up with a method to leave that place. However, cracks eventually opened on the surface behind him, and dirt began to come out of them.
'What is even happening?' Khan cursed, but the answer didn't take long to arrive.
The wall grew closer as the cracks multiplied. The whole structure was collapsing on itself in a clear attempt to bury everything it contained.
Khan didn't know how much planning something like that had required. Building a structure capable of self-destructing and destroying every evidence without alerting the Global Army must have taken a long time and a detailed knowledge of the Slums. It also required access to multiple machines and workers, but Khan didn't linger on those thoughts now.
The collapse of the structure opened a path for Khan. He began to release mana like crazy as he dashed toward the center of the area and waited for one of the walls to reach him. As long as the cracks and dirt created vague footholds, he would have a chance to leave.
.
.
.
Grant had shown great leadership abilities. Four hunting groups had come to life in no time under his orders. The two-legged robots had to remain in their spot since they were too slow to catch up, and the same went for a few soldiers. Yet, everyone else had sprinted toward different positions after picking a team.
Ethan had taken a few soldiers with himself before moving to the left side of the smoke. Grant had gone alone on the other side of the area since those weaker than him would only slow him down. Meanwhile, Amber, Cora, and the students had followed Cameron on the right.
Setting a perimeter with such short notice was a messy endeavor. The Slums' citizens had done the soldiers a favor by running away, but someone still occupied the dirty streets and frail houses, and a few required medical attention.
The soldiers had to ignore those in need for now since stopping the Tainted animals came first. The various teams split even further after reaching their appointed position to make sure to cover the entire area around the smoke.
Of course, the perimeter was far from perfect due to the lack of manpower, but those soldiers were enough for the number of Tainted animals spreading in the Slums.
Battles quickly unfolded. Mere Tainted animals couldn't do much against soldiers, but fear and ignorance ran strong in the Slums. Those who had yet to become first-level warriors didn't know how the infections worked, which affected their efficiency.
Luckily for them, Cameron and the other relatively strong soldiers were decent at their job. They also had specialists and knowledgeable people from the city to help them. A few battles lasted more than necessary, but the Tainted animals soon stopped being a threat.
Still, the earthquake arrived at that point. The event involved multiple quarters and made entire houses crumble. Ethan, Grant, and the team from the camp felt the need to prioritize their mission, so they all converged toward the dark cloud that still hovered at the center of the perimeter.
The ground crumbled as the earthquake continued. Rivers of dirt flowed somewhere under the dark cloud and created waves of dust that hindered the inspection. Grant and Ethan didn't know what to do, and Amber's group was equally worried, but they were out of options. They actually had to retreat since the destruction spread.
Then, Grant saw a scene that made his mouth open in surprise. He was retreating while the ground under his feet transformed into rivers of dirt when a dark figure left the cloud and jumped on one of the metal tiles flowing in his direction.
The figure was carrying something almost as big as it, but that didn't seem to affect its movements. Its steps appeared weightless as it jumped on every stable item that the ground carried in its violent flow under the cloud.
'It's not the same,' Khan thought as he performed small jumps whenever something decent appeared in his view.
The ground was too frail and threatened to trap his feet if it failed to move according to Khan's prediction. It was unreliable, so he used only the metal tiles from the broken houses, the rocks, and anything that looked stable enough for his martial art.
The careful approach forced Khan to go up and down those rivers of dirt. Still, the annoyance on his face didn't come from that. His mind was elsewhere as it tried to imprint the feelings experienced during his flight among the smoke in his memory.
Jumping on unstable footholds was incredible, especially since Khan was carrying the heavy servers. Another first-level warrior with a similar martial art might have failed at that, but that wasn't enough anymore for Khan.
Walking, jumping, and running felt limited now that Khan had experienced the freedom of the tridimensional movement. Being in a straight position was only natural, but it had become an annoying restriction now.
The ground eventually stabilized, and Khan had the chance to land.. The first good spot happened to be before Grant, who had remained with his mouth open even during his retreat.
