Nippe 2's atmosphere fought against Khan's acceleration. The metal carried by the sand and soft winds transformed into sharp blades due to his high speed, and scratches soon covered his exposed skin.
Nevertheless, Khan only cared about going faster. The symphony and his senses worked together to make his steps more efficient, bringing him to levels of speed he had never touched before. His sprint left proper sandstorms behind him, but his eyes looked forward, toward the departing ships.
Khan didn't have a plan, only problems to overcome. Jack and Ron had killed many attackers, but the ships still had almost twenty of them. Moreover, those vehicles were in the air outside Khan's jumping range. The canyon was also getting close, and Khan couldn't win against that.
Nippe 2's atmosphere was Khan's sole advantage. The cargo ships definitely had scanners capable of piercing that heavy air, but Khan was alone, and his sprint was causing a mess of sand and gales. He could go unnoticed if he were lucky enough.
'I can't stay hidden, can I?' Khan cursed in his mind.
A surprise attack would work in Khan's favor. However, he needed to reach the ships first. Flying wasn't an option, so he had to create a passage.
'Fuck,' Khan cursed again while accelerating even more to catch up with the ships. The Princess was on the second-last, and he waited until he was right below it to summon his mana.
The soldiers on the ship were mainly thinking about leaving the area. The factory had vehicles that could intercept them, so they had to put as much distance as possible from the battlefield before moving on with their plan.
The casualties suffered during the assault also left the attackers without enough manpower to perform every duty. A small squad was surveilling the Princess. Another was checking the path ahead and the factory, while a third was tending to the injured. No one was scanning the road behind since the presence of threats sounded unreal.
That changed when an explosion unfolded under the second-last ship. The attack didn't touch the vehicle, but the purple-red pillar that followed was too eye-catching to miss. Also, the chaos element's annoying properties messed up part of the equipment, forcing the soldiers to scan the area.
The attackers quickly found Khan, but a second chaos spear flew their way and replicated the previous offensive. The spell couldn't reach the ships, but its explosion was violent enough to give birth to worry, which triggered a response.
The symphony confirmed that Khan's plan had succeeded. He sensed a series of figures peeking past the ships' doors, and their magazines full of synthetic mana told him what was about to arrive.
Azure lights flashed among Nippe 2's orange air. Bullets rained toward Khan, with many aiming directly at him. Those shots even tried to predict his advance, which blocked the path ahead, but he had no intention of going forward.
When the bullets entered Khan's range, he jumped and used his light steps to leap from one mass of mana to the other. The attackers realized what was happening soon enough, but they stopped firing when it was already too late. Khan had his path now.
Khan had plenty of options. Enemies from all the ships had fired at him multiple times, creating a series of azure platforms he could use to go wherever he wanted. The doors of the second-last vehicle soon entered his vision, and surprise filled the symphony due to the emotions leaked by his enemies.
'Six,' Khan counted while another part of his mind remained immersed in the symphony. 'Two third-level warriors and four second-level warriors.'
The enemies couldn't help but lift their rifles to aim at Khan, but he used the last bullet in his range to leap toward the ship. To the soldiers' surprise, he didn't target the empty areas. Instead, he charged directly at the left side, where two third-level warriors were guarding the Princess.
The trip to Nippe 2's was part of the lessons, so Khan didn't have his damaged knife with him. Part of his fighting style was unavailable, and he couldn't go crazy either due to the Princess' presence. Still, no hesitation appeared in his moves.
Three purple-red needles grew from Khan's right hand while he flew toward the ship. He threw the spell at the four second-level warriors right before his left foot touched the ship's metal floor, but bullets also came in his direction.
Explosions resounded on Khan's right when the needles met the bullets. Only the shots fired by the third-level warriors remained, and one of them scratched his cheek when he dodged to the left. His sprint brought him onto the metal wall, which he used to fling himself toward the two enemies next to the Princess.
Khan was faster than average third-level warriors, but the two enemies next to the Princess had protective gear and weapons. Their visors allowed them to keep up with Khan and made them lift their rifles to counter his incoming assault.
Truth be told, Khan had no special interest in the Princess. He had gotten to know her better, but they weren't actually friends, not yet, at least. He would have normally let her go to prioritize George and Monica.
Yet, different emotions appeared now that Khan was deep into that reckless mission. The blood, the injuries, and Monica's suffering face flashed in his vision, and his mana boiled. Since he had decided to save the Princess, he would go all out.
Dots connected inside Khan's mind without ever turning into proper thoughts. He had no real plan, but his thoughts were one with the symphony, and that gave birth to a tactic.
The third-level warrior targeted by Khan lifted the rifle to use it as a shield. The weapon was sturdy enough to be a reliable defense. However, a purple-red light pierced its metal and flew toward the visor. The soldier only had the time to recognize fingers enveloped in clotted blood vessels before his vision went dark.
A cracking noise resounded when Khan stabbed his right hand in the man's head, and sharp pain followed. Something had broken, but that only made his mana rage louder.
The intense emotions allowed Khan to ignore his injury and land safely on the metal floor. The second third-level warrior pointed the rifle at him, but he did the same with the hand inside the enemy's head, and his Wave spell ended up being faster.
The straight version of the Wave spell destroyed the pierced head and flew toward the third-level warrior, engulfing the upper part of his body in its violent power. The rifle and the body armor gave the enemy enough time to retreat, leaving Khan alone with the fainted Princess.
"Shoot him!" The third-level warrior shouted while pieces of his body armor fell off.
Khan couldn't help but be surprised when the second-level warriors fired their guns. He was standing right next to the defenseless Princess. Bullets could easily kill her, but those soldiers had attacked anyway.
Time wasn't on Khan's side. He could dodge, but that would leave the Princess exposed, so he crossed his arms to protect his head and chest and summoned the [Blood Shield].
The alien technique covered Khan's arms and the exposed parts of his torso before the bullets could crash on him. His skin shattered under the attacks, but the [Blood Shield] endured. Still, the enemies kept firing, locking him in his position.
The third-level warrior didn't stay still. Khan's attack had broken his rifle, but he had spells. His mana started to move while Khan remained under fire. It really seemed that those enemies were willing to sacrifice the Princess if necessary.
Thoughts were a luxury Khan couldn't afford. Developing plans wasn't an option when a spell was about to fly at him, so he pointed his right arm at the metal floor and released another straight version of the Wave spell.
The gesture left Khan exposed for an instant, and a bullet flew through his right shoulder before the [Blood Shield] could protect it. More pain joined his thoughts, but his emotions continued to cover it, allowing a perfect execution of the spell.
The purple-red light crashed on the metal floor and dug through it until a proper hole appeared. Khan didn't stop there. He expanded the range of the spell until the entire surface risked falling apart.
The soldiers kept firing while retreating, and the third-level warrior unleashed his spell. A first-sized, dark-green sphere flew toward Khan, carrying enough mana to alert him. The [Blood Shield] would probably break under that attack, so he ducked and interrupted his offensive.
The spell flew past Khan and hit the wall behind him, piercing the metal and advancing toward the pilot's cabin. Smoke also came from the melted edges, and a sizzling noise joined it. The attack was still corroding those surfaces, and an explosion soon resounded.
The soldiers couldn't sense it, but Khan only needed his ears to know that the engine had gone dark. Another explosion even resounded behind him, and the ship suddenly spun to its right, turning its open doors into the new floor.
The sudden turn didn't give Khan a chance to react. He lost his foothold and fell through the open door. He ended up in the orange air, but no sand stood under him. The ships had already reached the canyon.
Something touched Khan's senses before he could think about his situation. He turned his head only to see the Princess jumping from the broken floor to fly in his direction. She fell into his arms, and her calm face filled his vision.
"What are you doing?!" Khan cursed.
"Leaving my kidnappers," Princess Edna calmly replied before glancing at the bottomless canyon. "Are we going to die, Captain?"
Khan didn't answer. His thoughts ran at full speed to find a solution, but the situation seemed hopeless. Nippe 2's air was quite dense, but it still couldn't enable Khan's flight.
Requesting the mana's help sounded like Khan's only option, but another presence touched his senses before he could attempt that technique. He glanced at the canyon's edge and found Jack staring at him, but the latter diverted his gaze after a few seconds.
'Isn't he worried about the Princess?' Khan wondered.
Khan was close enough to see Jack, but that wasn't a distance people could jump. Even Jack's monstrous physical prowess couldn't cover that space, let alone reach the other side of the canyon.
Still, a complete lack of interest sounded wrong. There had to be something else to Jack's gesture, and Khan soon found an answer.
'He doesn't see death,' Khan guessed as his eyes fell on the canyon's depths once again.
Khan was sure that no one could survive that fall. The canyon probably was kilometers deep. His transformation was incredible, but that was simply too much.
The fumes coming out of the canyon couldn't help either. They were too soft for Khan's Lightning-demon style. The gales at Nippe 2's edges could have worked, but the air past them was too thin.
'Will I succeed through the Nele's arts?' Khan wondered as his study of his surroundings went deeper.
The symphony was everywhere. Khan could feel it, hear it, and even see it. He recognized every strand of mana running through the air. That energy was so real that being unable to touch it almost felt impossible.
'It's right here,' Khan exclaimed as his thoughts grew silent. 'It has always been here.'
A tinge of Khan's mana left his body and fused with the environment. He didn't voice any request, but the energy around him began to move in his direction.
Nothing special happened. Some gales grew denser but still failed to meet Khan's requirements. Yet, he lowered his right foot anyway, and something solid eventually arrived.
The Princess had to cling to Khan's neck due to the sudden upward acceleration. He rose through the orange air before kicking a soft wind under him to repeat the process.
A mocking laugh escaped Khan's mouth when he pushed himself upward a third time. He couldn't believe that the solution had always been in front of his eyes. He had simply been unable to recognize and seize it until now.
"It has always been here," Khan laughed as he stomped both feet on the air to push himself even higher. A sense of freedom enveloped him, and the desire to test himself showed its presence, but the Princess distracted him.
"Good job, Captain," Princess Edna exclaimed. "Now, go after my kidnappers."
"What?" Khan almost shouted.
"That's an order," Princess Edna declared.
