Initially, Khan believed that reaction to be one of the Nakâs tests, a final trial challengers had to overcome to prove themselves worthy of inheriting the mana.
However, Khan quickly dismissed that idea. He had Liiza would have sensed a deep-seated will in that pure energy. That reaction had to originate from something else, which wasnât hard to find with the coupleâs incredible perception.
Those dragon-like creatures were more than simple masses of mana that had taken a specific shape. They werenât like Khanâs cloud spell or the strange lifeforms he had fought on Chuwei.
The mana didnât just gather and condense. It built muscles, organs, joints, tendons, bones, and blood vessels, perfectly recreating actual living beings. Everything was still made of that energy, but each fake tissue performed a specific function.
That showed how flexible the mana could be. It wasnât limited to imitations of air, ground, and mountains. It could give birth to actual life, albeit with apparent limitations.
All the dragons had four thick legs and two vast wings. All six of those reptilian heads featured two curved horns that pointed their sharp tips forward. Those mana beasts were also identical in size, being close to three-story tall.
Those identical details stretched to the dragonsâ claws, eyes, facial features, and scales. They were individual mana beasts but were also perfect copies of each other, as if coming out from the same mold.
The dragons breathed, waved, and moved independently from each other, boasting individuality, but their will was identical, coming from the very energy that had birthed them. They reeked of a primordial hunger that only the most basic and profound survival instincts could generate, drawing a clear picture for the married couple.
That instinctive hunger and the desolate state of the secluded environment inside the arrangement of asteroids were probably connected. It was the exact reason why the supposed solar system was no more, only having its central planet left.
That place was dying and would seize any opportunity to restore some energy.
As for how the mana could create such lifelike creatures, Khan and Liiza couldnât know for sure, but a reasonable hypothesis was easy enough to find.
The Nak had launched genocidal attacks far and wide, and the energy they had spread had probably committed those fearsome beasts to memory, allowing the mana to rebuild them when necessary.
The dragonsâ level was unclear. After all, they were mana beasts. They had no attunement to fill, and their energy reserves could very well be endless since the entire azure planet could probably refill them.
Nevertheless, Khan and Liiza didnât experience an ounce of fear. They both existed beyond what sheer power could achieve. Their energy had surpassed the basic manaâs limits and carried wills that vastly outclassed that instinctive hunger.
The dragonsâ artificial brains carried a version of their original survival instincts, making them wary of the two far smaller figures. The six mana beasts hesitated, but their hunger was too great, making one of them pounce forward.
The symphony moved alongside the pouncing dragon. Its vast wings and massive body displaced the azure air, reaching the couple in a single leap as its maw snapped downward.
The mana beast planned to end the fight in a single bite, wanting to crush both Khan and Liiza with its long, sharp teeth, but its figure slowed down when its head was about to reach its targets.
That unnatural slow motion intensified until the dragon crawled to a halt, stopping with its open maw right above the couple. Liiza only had to raise her hand to touch one of its teeth, which instantly froze, spreading its ice all over and inside the creature.
Everything from the dragonâs scaled skin, fake blood, organs, and its existence froze. The fearsome azure creature became a white ice statue, which stood above the married couple with its maw open.
Liizaâs swift disposal of that threat didnât scare away the other dragons. Two more pounced forward, one from before Khan and another from behind him. Yet, he didnât even look at them.
Khan raised his hands as soon as the two dragons showed any intention to move. Trails of purple-red mana escaped from his fingers as he casually pointed them at the incoming beasts. The latter were already upon him, merely a fraction of a second away from crashing on the couple, when a blinding light flashed in the area.
Vast black gaps had replaced the two dragons when the flash dispersed, and two joint thundering noises followed. Khanâs spells hadnât only obliterated the mana beasts. They had also eradicated the surrounding air, removing its azure pollution in those areas.
That overwhelming show of strength didnât discourage the remaining three dragons, which attacked together, forsaking any attempted cooperation to crush those tiny figures.
However, Liiza grew annoyed with those creaturesâ inability to understand their position in the food chain despite the latest demonstrations. Her expression grew colder as she tapped her foot on the blue ground, unleashing a vast but instantaneous spell.
The world turned white. The surrounding azure color abruptly disappeared as ice covered the ground, creating a pure, cold landmass.
The spell didnât only affect the ground, or rather, it didnât stop at creating a new surface. Tall, sharp spikes had grown out of the ice, impaling the three dragons and spreading their life-extinguishing, freezing effects on them.
The dragonsâ assault ended as quickly as it had begun, leaving them in the shape of white statues in the middle of their pouncing motions. Four of those now surrounded the married couple, but the latter didnât even bother to inspect them.
Instead, Liiza glanced at Khan, and he nodded in a seemingly random direction. Of course, there was a clear purpose behind both of their gestures. The two were technically lost and stranded, but Khan still heard the Nakâs call, so he knew exactly where to go.
Liiza followed Khanâs gaze and tried to spot something in the seemingly ordinary horizon, but her senses failed her. Whatever Khan was perceiving, it stood beyond her range, meaning that they had a long way to go.
That wasnât exactly a problem, but both Khan and Liiza found it annoying, especially since stepping out of the frozen area triggered the surrounding manaâs hunger again, making it give birth to more replicas of grand beasts.