Chaos' Heir - Chapter 1552

Chapter 1552: Monsters

That universal clash was about fundamentally opposite energies. The mana and the True Chaos were similar to a certain extent, sharing the same roots and ideology, making their coexistence impossible.

However, the clash was also about something more basic, which the two fighting sides perfectly embodied. It was about two different ways of life that went far beyond the biological differences the species in the regulated universe featured.

The Scarlet Eyes were children of an energy. They possessed certain individualities and humanoid shapes, but there was nothing human in their psychology.

Concepts like love, family, offspring, and more were foreign to the Scarlet Eyes. They used similar words, but their meaning was irreconcilable with how the people in the regulated universe understood them.

That was because the Scarlet Eyes weren’t born. They were created. They didn’t procreate, either. Their God made them.

That arrangement also prevented the appearance of internal divisions. The Scarlet Eyes were united under a single banner, featuring no in-species conflicts.

Meanwhile, most of the regulated universe was built around families and personal interests. It was flooded by division and driven by basic emotions. It was well-meaning and resolute, but also frail and narrow-minded.

From a purely evolutionary standpoint, the Scarlet Eyes were the superior species. They had surpassed primitive necessities, achieving a state of life leagues above what the regulated universe held.

Staleness could be that superior state’s only real drawback. After all, complete unity also meant a lack of diversity and conflict, which were necessary for further evolution.

However, the presence of a God removed that drawback, preventing any staleness, making the regulated universe’s way of life outclassed on every front.

Still, there was undeniable value in the regulated universe’s inferior way of life. The sole fact that Khan and his allies had gotten that far in the conflict proved that.

The exact primitive necessities that the Scarlet Eyes were free from acted as a fuel for the regulated universe’s resolve. Everyone in the allied front had something or someone they cared about, making them willing to fight to their last breath to protect them.

Khan was no exception. Actually, he probably was the best example of that fundamental drive the Scarlet Eyes couldn’t experience or relate to. So much weighed on his shoulders in the form of uplifting responsibilities, and things didn’t end there for him.

Khan’s weight wasn’t only external. It didn’t only come from his responsibility toward his family, his friends, his allies, and the regulated universe as a whole.

The truth was, Khan had suffered too much. He had struggled against the nightmares since he was five, only to engage in an endless series of painful compromises and losses after enlisting in the Global Army.

That was simply unfair. No one deserved that kind of life, but Khan had been forced to navigate it anyway, struggling to reach its end, only to discover that a bigger monster stood beyond that point.

The discovery was utterly maddening. Succeeding at the impossible Nak’s mission had awarded Khan with a universal war. He had only wanted peaceful, nightmare-less nights, but his struggles seemed to have amounted to the greatest battle of his time.

That created a furious baggage, a weight that could fuel the most pristine resolve and turn it into actual strength. It was like a profound thickness added to Khan’s martial arts and spells, which the Maker couldn’t even begin to understand.

However, Khan could show it. He actually couldn’t help but do that. All his suffering was part of him, and his element reflected it.

The Maker felt an unavoidable interest in the existence that was Khan, leading him to seemingly pointless conversations.

Yet, something else suddenly attracted the Maker’s attention, distracting him from the previous discussion and bringing his scarlet eyes back to the layer of purple-red clouds.

The tainted ground and electric air were mere consequences of the previous clash, but the layer of clouds acted as a bigger version of Khan’s spell. It was still thundering and alive, just far vaster.

Nevertheless, a new trace of life appeared in that strange living being, sharing many of its properties, but also being undeniably separate.

Vast chunks of the layer of clouds moved and caved in, as if something immense was crawling through its fabric. That vague figure coiled itself among the sparks above Khan before finally peeking down.

A giant reptilian head several times Khan’s size slithered down the clouds, its crackling fabric seemingly being part of that thundering layer.

More of that huge creature left the clouds, revealing part of its scaled body while running circles around Khan, partially enveloping him in a protective stance.

Where the cloud was unrestrained and violent, the snake reeked of a distinctive, proud hunger, which its strangely detailed reptilian eyes exuded while staring at the Maker.

And that wasn’t the end. A humming noise joined the thunderstorm when a third, distinct trace of life manifested itself inside the layer of clouds.

That third lifeform didn’t take over any of the crackling fabric. Instead, a redder, darker purple-red light shone from a piece of the clouds, tainting the electric air to create an ethereal but visible shape.

A bright but darker patch of light formed mid-air, looking like nothing more than a clump of humming energy that featured a strange, maw-shaped opening at its center, pure bloodlust accompanying its sounds.

“You were created to be great,” Khan eventually declared, “And I can respect your God to a certain extent.”

The layer of clouds released a louder thunder at that point, unleashing pillar-like lightning bolts that connected the sky to the tainted ground, remaining in their place instead of disappearing.

“But I had to accept so many monsters to get where I am,” Khan continued. “You might be strong, but you lack the power that only true struggle can create.”

“[Can’t you see]?” The Maker asked, his amused smile growing brighter. “[You are my struggle, the one who will push me closer to my dear Father].”

Khan heaved a helpless sigh and shook his head, finding the strength to add some pity to his expression.

“I was just like you,” Khan admitted. “I hope you’ll understand before the end.”