Chaos' Heir

Chapter 958: Groups



Soon, everyone became able to see what Khan had already sensed.

An earthquake raged through the area, growing more violent with each passing second. The white horizon also dimmed, covered by a rising cloud of dust and soil that expanded as far as eyes could see.

The cloud threatened to hide its insides, but the enemy was too numerous for simple smoke to cover its presence. A vast tide of four-legged furred bodies appeared at its base, promising to stretch far deeper into the distance.

More details became evident as the pack grew closer. The soldiers couldn't differentiate between levels without scanners, but something instinctive spoke to them. The experience amassed in the past months also helped evaluate that final enemy, bringing a fearsome realization.

The pack had no weaklings. Its weakest specimens were in the third level, and its strongest at the fifth. Moreover, the latter weren't Generals. The alphas were using such strong monsters as cannon fodder, with some in the frontline to deal a heavy blow to the army's defensive perimeter.

People unaware of the monsters' characteristics wouldn't think much about that arrangement. After all, those creatures were driven by hunger and retained a certain individuality even while serving an alpha.

It stood to reason that the strongest monsters would rush toward the battlefield, relying on their superior physical abilities to claim the first food sources. However, the army knew better. The packs' best specimens rarely engaged in the initial clashes, so the current arrangement had to be intentional.

The fearsome sight and those unknown intentions could demoralize the army, but a living deterrent sat before the first trench. Khan's calm presence reassured the Scalqa, dispersing any dark feelings and replacing them with confidence. He would fight with them, so defeat wasn't possible.

Khan's seemingly emotionless gaze also scoured the incoming pack. Its size was imposing, but mere monsters couldn't make his heart skip a beat. They were inferior to him in every conceivable way, so his attention shifted elsewhere.

The presence of so many monsters as strong as fifth-level warriors hindered Khan's inspection. He could spot and isolate the pack's strongest specimens, but even his incredible senses couldn't instantly highlight the alphas.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

However, the pack's layout gave hints about the alphas' possible locations. The symphony granted Khan a bird's eye view, updating him on the assault's strategy. He could clearly spot two different groups, but the third escaped his senses, or rather, he failed to give it a specific purpose.

The pack's frontline was the first group, which stretched for multiple rows of monsters. A taller, stronger creature stood at their center, leading the charge of hungry beasts. The first leader commanded the cannon fodder, and its mana, size, and role probably hinted at mutations that enhanced its physical prowess.

The second group occupied the pack's right side, running behind the first and seemingly controlling its speed. The monsters there were smaller and leaner but no less powerful. A similarly shaped creature stood at their center, radiating an uncommonly sharp aura.

'A flanking formation?' Khan wondered. That wasn't the first time the army had faced a pack with a similar battle strategy, but the current enemy could pour far more bodies into it. Both groups were manageable and nothing the army hadn't faced before. However, Khan's interest was in the third, seemingly unassuming group.

The central and bottom-left areas of the pack had a relatively random assortment of monsters. Creatures from the third to the fifth level lingered there, rushing forward without creating any notable disturbance in the symphony.

Theoretically, the third alpha had to be near the center of that area, but Khan failed to spot anything noteworthy. Even the fifth-level creatures in the group were nothing special. They actually resembled cannon fodder more than those in the frontline.

However, something strange happened during Khan's inspection. A whirlpool formed in the symphony among the third group, gathering energy toward its central areas. That zone became blinding in Khan's senses, hindering deeper inspections before shooting upward.

Khan didn't need to rely on his heightened senses to study the scene. A pitch-black mass of energy shot from the pack's center, piercing the cloud and flying through the sky. Its momentum was great, and its trajectory revealed only one possible target.

'What is that?' Khan wondered while restlessness invaded the trench behind him. Many understood that the spell would land there, but Khan only focused on its structure.

The pitch-black mass was far from stable or solid. Its surface simultaneously bulged and shrunk, and its color was simply a result of the partial fusion of different energy. The spell could trick ordinary eyes, but Khan saw the many strands of mana clustered inside the attack.

That lacking stability didn't imply low destructive power. Stronger soldiers could probably endure the spell's explosion, but its destruction range was bound to be massive. The attack would probably blow up the first two trenches, opening a path for the first monster group.

Khan's inspection went beyond the spell's texture and composition. The pack was still outside the turrets' range, but the monsters had launched something beyond that. The feat was incredible and impossible, forcing Khan to find unorthodox explanations.

'That vortex,' Khan thought before slowly standing up, making sure that all the Scalqa in the first trenches could see his movement.

Needless to say, Khan's action dispersed the panic that had invaded the trenches. As fearsome as the strange spell was, the Scalqa's faith in Khan was unfathomable. As long as he stepped forward, every problem would disappear.

Lieutenant Dyester tried to say something, but Khan disappeared before he could utter a single word. Khan reappeared in the sky, standing in the black spell's trajectory before lifting his right arm. His influence spread, diving into the attack's structure, and an explosion unfolded before the two forces' direct clash.

The black mass detonated into a dark cloud that spread through the sky, separating the battlefield from the white light above. Khan's body temporarily blocked that gas' advance, but darkness eventually submerged him, hiding his blue light.

The army grew still, staring motionlessly at the black cloud. Some soldiers held their breath, amazed by that breathtaking scene and frozen in worry. Khan had literally faced something that could cover the sky head-on, and the clash's unclear resolution tried to make the Scalqa's faith waver.

Nevertheless, gales soon blew through the cloud, dispersing part of its energy while amassing the rest toward a specific point. A black vortex appeared in the sky, quickly receding to reveal the white light above. Khan's perfectly intact figure also became visible, and wild cheers invaded the battlefield.

Khan ignored the army's excitement and focused on his open palm. A cluster of black energy had gathered there, creating a hoovering sphere. Its total mana was incomparable to the previous spell, but its structure was far stabler and denser.

'Quite rudimentary,' Khan thought, waving his hand to let that black energy disperse, 'But

effective.'

At that point, Khan's bright gaze fell to the pack, targeting the unassuming third group. The monsters were focusing on the charge, but one specimen with odd white shades looked back at him, almost conveying human emotions.

'Found you,' Khan exclaimed in his mind, his right hand creating a mana sling while his left gave birth to a spear.