Chapter 1354: Right
The married couple continued their advance through the planet, fending off pack after pack in an opposition that truly felt endless.
Khan kept testing and fine-tuning different spells, while Liiza continued to offer her guidance. She also fended off her fair share of mana beasts, too, not wanting to leave that burden to her husband alone.
Nevertheless, there was a limit to how much Khan could improve in a short amount of time. Also, the mana beasts were too weak to offer any challenge, failing to corner the couple in any meaningful way, never applying the pressure often necessary for enlightenment.
Moreover, despite hearing the Nakās call, Khan didnāt know how distant that destination was, and a planet remained a planet. No matter how quickly Khan and Liiza advanced, they might be looking at weeks or even months of travel in the middle of endless battles.
Clearly, Khan and Liiza had to stop wasting time at some point, and that moment eventually arrived. The couple didnāt need to exchange words. They merely had to consider that idea before Liiza leaned on Khan, clinging to his neck while he shot into the air.
A pack of lizard-like mana beasts had begun to form on the ground, but the couple ignored it. Khan unleashed his true speed, relying on his elementās nature to diminish the friction force, vanishing from the quadrant in no time.
The planet tried to react to Khanās speed but to no avail. The air condensed multiple times, attempting to hinder his flight, but he was too fast, always disappearing far away while the new packs of mana beasts had yet to start forming.
Khan and Liiza were too superior for that mana to have any chance to defeat them or even hinder their advance. They were existences that stood beyond that mystical energy, and their abilities stretched farther than what a planet could accomplish.
At least, Khan and Liiza were too superior to an immense amount of energy that could only imitate mere beasts while driven by such instinctive hunger.
Still, the planet didnāt give up. It couldnāt. The secluded environment inside the arrangement of asteroids was dying, and the mana wouldnāt surrender to death just yet. It probably didnāt even know how to.
The planet realized that Khan and Liiza were too fast to stop. Even intercepting them seemed impossible, but their destination was clear, and the mana reacted accordingly once it understood it.
Khan was in the sky, with Liiza secured in one arm while various environments replaced themselves in their vision. The two crossed plains, mountain ranges, rivers, and more in no time without ever losing track of the surrounding manaās behavior.
That awareness told the couple that the mana had stopped throwing random packs at them. For a while, it almost looked as if it had given up on hindering their path, but that belief crumbled when a tall mountain on the horizon started moving.
Of course, the mountain wasnāt an actual mountain. Its terrain was mana that had taken that shape, which could change depending on its needs.
The mana now needed something that could hope to stop Khan and Liiza, so it summoned its greatest weapon yet, the mightiest adversary it had faced in its expansion, and that it could replicate.
To Khanās surprise, the mountain morphed into something he recognized. Boulders rose from its tall base, thinning it to add proper flesh to its body.
Meanwhile, the mountainās tip expanded, growing larger and triangular, gaining an immense maw and two sharp fangs.
The mountain as a whole stretched toward the sky. Marks appeared on its surface, almost cutting it to create a scaled flesh. Its base became a huge tail, and the triangular head gained two massive reptilian eyes.
Khan had kept advancing during the transformation but dispersed his momentum upon recognizing the gargantuan creature, stopping mid-air.
The mountain had become a monstrous snake far bigger than what Khan had fought on Coravis, but belonging to the same species. The planetās mana had taken the shape of one of the Great Old Oneās brothers and sisters, and its massive frame now hindered the coupleās advance, almost acting as a wall that connected heaven and earth.
Truth be told, Khan didnāt need to stop. He could have easily crossed the snake with his speed, dodging whatever attack it threw at him before continuing to advance toward his real destination.
That massive showcase of the manaās replicating power would have been pointless in that case. It would have been a waste of resources from an opponent powerless to affect those superior beings.
However, Khan stopped himself anyway.
āYou have no right to take that shape,ā Khan announced, emotions mixing with his voice to convey meanings according to the Nakās language.
Khan knew that mana was only abiding by instinctive drives. That energy was merely trying to survive, only displaying basic levels of intelligence common among monsters and Tainted animals.
Actually, Khan had seen smarter monsters in his travels. The last pack-leader on Senerth had been leagues above craftier and wiser.
The manaās apparent intelligence level made any attempt at conversations pointless, but Khan felt the need to announce his intentions anyway. He shared no friendliness with the Great Old Oneās species but knew about its pride and had accepted its birthright.
Khan had inherited the genes of a species that could dominate the universe, so he couldnāt let the mana imitate it, especially when it had lost.
āYou didnāt win against those beings,ā Khan stated. āYou are not mighty.ā
Liiza understood Khanās mindset and let go of his neck, ice crystals forming under her feet so that she could stand in the air.
Meanwhile, Khan advanced, floating forward as his cells came alive, devouring his mana to amass unfathomable physical strength.
The gargantuan snake didnāt just stand in the sky. When Khan moved, its massive body sprang forward, its fearsome momentum generating a shockwave that threatened to squash anything to a pulp before its head could even reach him.
Yet, Khan simply shot upward, his body piercing through the shockwave while he raised his leg. His knee ended up slamming on the tip of the giant snakeās head, stopping it while the ground under the clash opened, shattering and splitting to create a vast canyon.