For a second, Khan lost himself in his suffering. Violent mana still enveloped him, digging through his flesh in countless spots. His mind tried to go blank from the pain, but his urges didn't let it.
Still, the spell soon lost its power, and its mana began to disperse in random directions, leaving Khan alone. He ended up in a relatively harmless purple-red cloud, and gravity tried to bring him into the waters below.
Khan grunted, forcefully stomping his left leg to continue flying. The gesture lacked Khan's usual grace but conveyed its strength, dispersing the cloud without sending him upward.
The almost-failed kick said a lot about Khan's condition. His senses were also partially off. His ears buzzed, and his eyes hurt, but his perception still worked at full speed, warning him about the incoming boulders.
The rain was still going, and Khan wasn't safe in his position. A big rock was ready to smash his head, and more were in line to accomplish a similar feat. He needed to leave that danger zone, but a pressing matter delayed that goal.
The knife had severed the mutated Thilku's nape, cutting its spine and killing it on the spot. The alien had fallen backward, slamming into the solid lake without lifting any wave.
The blue aliens were still solidifying the lake's surface, but that could change once boulders started crashing into it. The corpse would drown at that point, taking the knife with it, and Khan couldn't allow it for multiple reasons.
When the first boulder was about to touch the top of Khan's head, he dashed forward, slowly sliding around that huge rock to get closer to the Thilku.
Another boulder arrived in the new position, threatening to hit Khan and the Thilku. However, Khan teleported before it and slightly pushed it, changing its trajectory.
Khan grabbed an intact part of the Thilku's cape, but a third boulder was above him. Yet, by the time the rock touched his hair, he had already disappeared, taking the corpse with him.
Boulders filled the path toward the ceiling, but Khan gracefully flew among them, using only slight movements and little strength. Each dash was better than the previous, and his breath gradually stabilized, restoring his senses' full power.
By the time Khan reached the ceiling, his ears and eyes had recovered. The rain had also slowed down, and only a few boulders fell before stopping completely. The area stabilized, and Khan had already studied its properties.
The lake had almost disappeared. Boulders had covered it, hiding its solid surface and bright blue glow. A few blue aliens had also died during the rain, but no one seemed to care. Even the elder ignored her dead companions and focused on Khan or the waters.
As for Khan, he was in a sorry state. Exposed flesh covered his torso and face. Their right sides had lost patches of skin, leaving bleeding and sizzling injuries behind. His right leg was worse since it had dug deeper into the Wave spell, suffering a more serious version of those wounds.
Nevertheless, the right arm was even worse. It didn't only suffer from the effects of the Wave spell. The mutated Thilku had also fractured some of its bones, and Khan delivered the finishing blow when he used it to perform the Divine Reaper.
Khan looked at his poor state before lifting his right arm. He could move something, but the process was torture. The whole forearm was probably broken, and his hand was no better.
The additional pain from the rest of Khan's body fueled some annoyance. He cared about his injuries only because of Monica, but something else crossed his mind while the weight of the Thilku in his left hand grew clearer.
'I'm not good enough,' Khan cursed.
Khan had clearly won the fight. He had defeated a fourth-level warrior enhanced by mutations, which was incredible for someone at his level. Yet, he couldn't feel superior or stronger.
Except for the outcome, Khan knew he was inferior in every aspect. He had to use his full power, strategies, and the environment to deliver a deadly blow, but that had worked due to the surprise effect. The mutated Thilku had to have more in store. Khan simply didn't give it a chance to show it.
Of course, a victory was a victory, but Khan was insatiable. His body had paid a steep price to win, but he barely acknowledged it. He would have lost in a different environment or against someone with a better mind.
'I'm not there yet,' Khan thought, glaring at the elder. He didn't forget where he was, and his annoyance changed target. He had one last matter to handle.
The elder remained silent. Even the death of its strongest puppet didn't make her flinch. She merely watched as Khan slowly rose toward the broken ceiling and placed the corpse into a hole.
The hole was far from perfect, but Khan still found a way to stuff the corpse inside and prevent it from falling. Then, he went for its half-severed neck and retrieved his knife before leaving the ceiling.
Khan stopped descending as soon as his eyes pointed at the lake. His left arm didn't hurt too much, and his grip on the knife was firm. His legs were in hell, but he could move them. In theory, Khan could fight, but the scenery in his vision told him he wouldn't need to.
Khan let gravity do its job, softly tapping on the air to slow down his descent. He was getting closer to the lake but stopped halfway through. There was no need for him to advance any further.
"[I]," Khan began to speak, but his hoarse voice forced him to clear his throat before resuming. "[I believe you won't cause problems for me anymore]."
The elder didn't initially reply, but the flowers around and inside her eventually lit up. "[You made your decision]."
"[I did]," Khan confirmed, opting for a far calmer approach since everything was over. "[I'll find the Nak myself, without losing my mind]."
"[The answers are below you]," The elder stated, trying to convince Khan once again.
"[No]," Khan refused. "[This is my mission, not the Nak's]."
Khan stored his knife in what had remained of his pants before lifting his left hand. Chaos filled the area, and his influence brought that element to his side, creating waves of mana that gathered on the ceiling.
The process was slow and methodical. Khan didn't hurry and focused on stabilizing each spell that formed above him. The elder could easily tell the lake to disperse that mana, but no soundwave shot forward.
Little by little, an array of chaos spears amassed below the ceiling. Khan had started with ten of them before increasing their number, multiplying it a few times.
The symphony stopped creating spells only when thirty chaos spears had formed. Khan's order was complete now, and those deadly attacks were only waiting for him to give the last directive.
Khan knew the elder wouldn't say anything else. He couldn't get more information from that cursed species, so he didn't even try to question her.
However, that blank look and helpless state made room for some of Khan's positive sides. He didn't hate Cegnore's natives. He didn't blame them for what had happened to the planet. That species had simply ended up in the middle of a grand conspiracy, losing their minds in the process.
"[For what it's worth]," Khan announced, surprised about the fact that he was wasting time, "[I promise I won't forget you]."
The elder appeared curious about those words, but Khan didn't waste time explaining himself. He wasn't trying to be listened to anyway. He knew the natives couldn't.
"[They'll pay for what they did to your species]," Khan continued. "[Even if their motives are good, I'll make them pay]."
The elder didn't answer, but the flowers inside and around her flickered. The event barely lasted a second, and Khan could see she didn't mean it. Her reaction had been instinctive, as if part of her mind still escaped the Nak's control.
That reaction didn't mean that the elder could be saved. Khan didn't kid himself at all. Yet, seeing that he wasn't the only cursed being in the universe felt nice. The blue aliens were in the same situation, and he was in a position to show mercy, mercy for their entire species.
"[Thank you for your answers]," Khan announced, looking at the ceiling and rising slowly, walking through the air to cross the array of chaos spears.
Khan didn't look at the lake anymore. He pulled the corpse out of the hole before sending mana to his right arm. The effort was hellish, but a glowing sword still emerged from his broken hand, creating the drill he needed to leave that underground area.
"Fall," Khan ordered, stabbing his glowing broken arm into the rocky surface above him. Meanwhile, behind him, the spears began to fall. It didn't take long before an earthquake took control of the entire area.
