Chaos' Heir

Khan was no stranger to having foreign wills inside his mind. His first experience was in Nitis when he established a mental connection with Snow. The current iteration was simply more intense and dependent on his energy to survive.

The bloodthirsty will inside the cursed knife had switched containers, relying on Khan's body and mana to express its influence. It also required a proper channel, and the Divine Reaper had already shown its suitability.

The fanged canvas hummed some more before retreating toward Khan's hand. Thicker and bigger scarlet sparks hovered around his fingers, conveying the Divine Reaper's destructive sharpness and the knife's bloodthirst. His martial art had undergone a qualitative change, and it desired nothing more than to cut down that seemingly immortal opponent.

Meanwhile, the crackling bolt in Khan's right hand expressed the depths of his element. It didn't have the same amount of energy accumulated during the sparring with Lord Mighty but still carried its destructive essence.

The epitome of Khan's desperation and newfound bloodthirst stood before Miss Christen, and an uncomfortable thought crept into her mind when facing them. As impossible as it sounded, the possibility of her death had appeared.

"You," Miss Christen muttered. "How can you host such cursed wills without going mad?"

The Nognes family knew about the cursed knife's properties. It had to pay a hefty price to acquire the information from the Rassec family, but the expense was worth it when it involved Khan's abilities.

The Excellencies had updated Miss Christen about the matter, so she knew what Khan had absorbed, and the event sounded impossible. An ordinary, rational mind couldn't welcome such intense, bloodthirsty feelings on the spot, especially not without specific mental techniques to contain them.

Khan didn't reply but did something far more shocking. His cold, emotionless expression broke, revealing a sad, helpless smile.

Miss Christen almost felt pity at that sight. Khan's smile spoke to something deep inside her, conveying emotions that tried to stir her heart. Part of her started to believe his extreme behavior was justified, but she killed those thoughts to restore her resolve. Explore hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

"One more proof that your existence is a mistake," Miss Christen snorted, spreading her arms. "You are life's enemy."

The grass and trees around Miss Christen started to wither. The ground lost vitality, turning barren, dry, and brittle. That strange behavior gradually expanded, increasing its reach and affecting more of the forest.

Miss Christen had granted the forest more vitality but could also take it away to increase her own. In a way, she ruled life itself, and the surrounding vegetation couldn't oppose her technique.

"Chaos is death," Khan agreed, "But chaos is also life."

Miss Christen saw Khan wave his left hand, but no slashes shot out. She expected crackling, fanged attacks to fly at her, but nothing arrived. Yet, Khan did release energy. His target simply didn't involve anything physical.

Miss Christen felt it inside her before perceiving it through her senses. An invisible sharp force had exploded around her, severing her connection with the forest. She couldn't absorb the surrounding vitality anymore, but her body was charged up enough to deal with the incoming attack.

Khan materialized before Miss Christen, and her glowing palms converged toward his stretched leg to disperse its momentum. However, Khan's kick didn't carry any of its previous destructive force. It simply aimed to push Miss Christen away.

That caught Miss Christen unprepared. She successfully dispersed the attack's momentum, but Khan added more strength to his push, flying forward. His leg eventually hit Miss Christen's abdomen, and her feet left the ground.

Miss Christen didn't suffer any injury, but the scenery in her vision instantly transformed. The forest disappeared, replaced by a barren landscape that had no footholds. She was in the air above an empty area outside the woods, and Khan floated mere meters from her.

Khan had already lifted his right arm, which he flung forward to launch the lightning bolt. Miss Christen couldn't dodge the spell from her position, so she pushed her glowing palms at it, summoning all her vitality to absorb and disperse its power.

The lightning bolt clashed with Miss Christen's glowing palms, stopping. Sparks flew everywhere as the spell tried to pierce the barrier before it, but Miss Christen held strong, also relying on the just-absorbed energy to keep her defenses high.

Then, a cut opened on Miss Christen's left palm, and ten more followed. A hundred appeared in the next second, and Miss Christen's hands crumbled into dust.

Miss Christen's arms were next. The lightning bolt shredded her limbs into nothingness before hitting the center of her chest, impaling her from front to back.

The lightning bolt's momentum pushed Miss Christen down, impaling her to the ground before releasing its power. The spell exploded into a spherical mass of crackling energy. Purple-red sparks enveloped Miss Christen, ravaging her body and anything else in their reach.

Miss Christen couldn't move inside that array of thunderous destruction. Her body didn't answer to her, forcing her to engage in a pure battle of energy. Her sheer, seemingly boundless vitality fought against the ravaging spell, depleting its power and attempting to oppose it, but her element fell short.

Khan's element wasn't life's mortal enemy but could uncover a secret that shocked Miss Christen. She felt as if her vitality wanted to fall apart under that destructive energy. The sparks spoke to something deep inside her existence, making it less effective against their power.

Nevertheless, the sparks had only been part of one spell, while Miss Christen was a whole evolved warrior. Even while at a disadvantage, she contained far more energy. The exchange didn't favor her, but she eventually survived long enough for Khan's attack to start to vanish.

The sparks grew dimmer, and their thunderous noises disappeared. Miss Christen's fuming and ravaged figure fell on the ground, deep inside the uneven half-spherical hole created during the exchange.

Miss Christen felt exhausted, but a sliver of vitality still existed inside her and quickly grew stronger, sending life to her charred and torn tissues. Her body started to heal, and the process picked up speed with each passing second.

Eventually, Miss Christen became able to see again. Her face had mostly healed, and the same went for her eyes, but opening them put her before an intense blue light. Khan was staring down at her, his chilling face matching the following words.

"Thank you for restoring your head," Khan said before waving his hand at Miss Christen.