C179 - Panic
Everything was still. The grasshoppers had stopped moving. Rodney didn't look at Khan, but his arms were in the air as he continued to wield the rock firmly. The cave was the embodiment of death and gore.
Khan didn't move. He preferred everything to remain still to hold on to the faint hope that he had imagined those scenes. Yet, a third humanoid figure suddenly entered his vision and forced him to think about his next move.
Asyat was sitting on the ground. Her eyes didn't move, which confirmed how she was under the effects of hypnosis. The monster was probably waiting for Rodney to finish with the other Niqols before moving to her.
Khan's eyes darted through the cavity. The grasshoppers barely showed differences among each other, but one of them was slightly bigger than the others. Moreover, a faint pressure came out of it and tried to reach his mind, but the mental shield prepared beforehand blocked it.
The monster was at the bottom of the cave, on the other side of the corpses. Khan could reach it in less than two seconds. He even had enough room to kill it with a single blow, but he needed a little longer to accept the scene completely.
Khan's figure slowly bent forward, but that slight movement made the entire room come back to life. The monster showed its wings and released the buzzing sound before every other grasshopper in the underground canyon did the same. The rocky surfaces started to tremble as the noise became deafening, and every insect in the cavity shot toward the exit.
A series of black figures filled Khan's vision. They weren't trying to attack him, but their escape made him lose track of the monster. Of course, that only involved his eyes. His sensitivity to mana didn't manage to reach the end of the cave in its current state, but it could fill the entirety of the exit.
Khan let the grasshoppers fly past him until a slightly different figure entered the range of his senses. His leg shot upward at that point, and rocks fell from the wall when his foot slammed on that surface.
The grasshopper grew more chaotic. Their flight became messy and panicked, and the same went for their buzzing noise. Their cry lost the synchrony shown before and turned into a loud but and chaotic series of sounds.
Khan's leg remained on the wall until all the grasshoppers had left the cavity. His foot slowly left those rocks once everything was clear, and the squashed corpse of the monster appeared under his sole. A single kick had been enough to kill it.
The pressure on his mental shield was no more, and his two companions inside the cavity also started to regain control over their movements. Asyat bent to her side before voicing a series of deep breaths while Rodney threw the rock behind him before jumping off the corpse and planting his back on the wall.
Khan didn't need to question Mikail to understand that the hypnosis didn't make you forget what you did. The boy recalled everything that had happened while he was under the monster's control, so Khan felt sure that the same had happened to his companions.
"[Eset]," Asyat sobbed while covering her mouth.
Her exclamation made Khan aware of the corpse's identity. Eset was a girl in the second year of the academy. She even had a boyfriend among the Niqols, but Rodney had transformed her head into a bloody pulp. Khan would have never recognized her if it weren't for Asyat.
"Khan," Asyat whimpered, and Khan checked the state of the underground gorge before walking toward the girl.
The grasshoppers had lost their cool after the monster died. They were flying up and down the canyon without an apparent destination, and their buzzing noise filled the area. Still, they were virtually harmless, so Khan could ignore them.
Khan crouched in front of Asyat, and the girl jumped in his arms. Her hands clutched his robe as she dug her face on his chest and started sobbing loudly. She had seen ugly stuff against the [Silent Groundsuckers], but the latest event had been too much for her.
"Rodney," Khan whispered while caressing Asyat's hair in the hope that it could help her calm down.
The boy was trying to retreat even if his back had long since hit the wall. Rodney continued to push himself backward as his eyes remained fixed on Eset's corpse.
Rodney remained in that condition until retches climbed his throat. The boy turned to his right to puke, and Khan heaved a helpless sigh. He couldn't even imagine what the two had to experience under the control of the monster. Rodney had seen his hands killing his own companion. He had to hear and feel the sounds and sensations that crushing a head with a rock caused. That event could break even the most stable minds.
"It wasn't your fault," Khan stated while Rodney wiped his mouth clean with his sleeve. "No one has trained against mental abilities."
Rodney didn't answer nor turn, but he seemed calmer after those words. Khan could turn toward Asyat. She was still sobbing on his chest, but she had also started to breathe regularly after his caresses.
"[We have to leave this place]," Khan whispered while reaching the side of Asyat's head and lifting it toward him.
Asyat's teary glowing eyes soon shone on Khan's face. He could see her transparent tears running down her cheeks. The girl had even left a wet patch on his robe, but he didn't care. He only wanted to return to the surface and make sure to handle the situation correctly.
The Niqols nodded weakly, and Khan helped her standing up. Asyat continued to cling to his robe, and he couldn't find any reason to make her leave him. Even Liiza would understand her behavior in that situation.
"Rodney?" Khan called while moving toward the exit.
Asyat hid her face on his chest again when they walked over Eset's corpse. Instead, Rodney remained crouched toward his puke. He appeared unable to look away from that disgusting spot on the ground.
"Rodney!" Khan shouted while grabbing the boy's shoulder, and the latter finally straightened his back to move his eyes on him.
Rodney appeared in a daze. Complicated thoughts filled his mind, and Khan didn't even try to guess them. He didn't have time to give him emotional support now. His hands were literally full with Asyat already.
"Let's go," Rodney eventually said in a weak voice. "We must report this."
Khan could only nod before exiting the cavity. Asyat voiced a high-pitched cry when she found herself in the middle of the swarm of grasshoppers. She directly hugged Khan and let him lead her.
Rodney followed closely behind. He appeared fine among the grasshoppers, but the same lost expression filled his face while he reached his two companions.
Khan led the two through the passage, ignoring how Rodney got closer to his shoulder after each step. Asyat, the grasshoppers, and the vivid images of the previous scene made him fail to consider what the boy could think or try to do.
Everything happened quickly. Rodney suddenly jumped in front of Khan and pushed Asyat. The girl was basically lying on Khan, so she didn't oppose the attack at all. She flew backward, and her feet went past the passage's edges in no time. She started to fall inside the canyon, but her hands were still clinging to Khan's robe, so she dragged him with her.
Khan saw the darkness of the canyon becoming dangerously close. He almost lost the grip on his cube as Asyat's weight threatened to make him fall inside that deep hole.
"What are you even doing?!" Khan angrily shouted while grabbing Asyat's forearm and making sure that she didn't fall.
The mental barrier still covered his brain, but he couldn't fail to sense Rodney getting closer again. The boy seemed willing to push him too now, but he didn't plan to stay still.
The Lightning-demon style had turned Khan's legs into proper weapons capable of discharging inhuman strength. The Niqols were also generally light, and Asyat wasn't an exception. He could put everything he had on jumping backward and pulling both of them out of that dangerous situation.
Rodney almost fell from the cliff when Khan's figure disappeared from its edges. The grasshoppers tried to make him lose his balance, but he remained on the passage. However, a kick landed on his side as soon as he managed to turn.
The attack flung Rodney on the right and made him crash on the rocky ground. The boy rolled on himself before slamming on the wall. He tried to stand up, but a shadow reached him and made him stop.
"What the fuck did you try to do?" Khan asked angrily while planting his foot at the center of Rodney's chest.
Asyat had crouched next to the wall behind Khan. She was hugging her knees as pure disbelief filled her expression. She had gone from watching Eset dying to almost falling inside the canyon, and Rodney had been significant in both events. Also, the grasshoppers were still flying around her, which only made her mental situation worse.
"I'm protecting my position on Nitis!" Rodney explained while trying to straighten his back, but Khan only intensified his pressure and made him hit the ground again.
"Protecting what?" Khan scolded. "You were under the effects of a monster. What's there to protect?"
"You are so na?ve," Rodney scoffed. "Do you think the army will let me stay here after learning what I did?"
"So, you thought that killing her was the right call?" Khan shouted while applying even more pressure on his chest. "Why did you try to push me too then? Was that about your position too?"
"I panicked," Rodney justified himself while diverting his gaze, but Khan suddenly kicked his face and made him faint.
Blood came out of Rodney's nose, but Khan didn't care. He felt angry beyond reason. He was in the middle of a worldwide crisis, he had just added another gruesome scene to his memories, and his companion had even tried to kill him.
'Why do they try so hard to make me hate humans?' Khan cursed in his mind before turning to reach Asyat.
The girl was traumatized, but Khan wasn't in the right mindset to show compassion. He put an arm under her armpit and forced her to stand up. Asyat instinctively clung to his neck and hugged him tightly.
Khan could sense her cold tears wetting his neck, but he ignored them. He wrapped his arm around her back and partially lifted her to lead her toward the tunnel. Rodney began to regain his senses when Khan reached him, but a second kick aimed at his face put him to sleep again.
Khan then crouched to grab the boy's collar and drag him through the hole. He had his hands full with Asyat and Rodney, but he barely felt their weight. He could march through the underground structure and cross every narrow area without facing great problems.
Asyat even helped Khan with the fainted Rodney when one of the narrow areas appeared, but she immediately returned into his arms once they reached a larger path. That would probably make Liiza reach her limits, but Khan couldn't do much about that. He would gladly let her freeze him as long as he could get out of that structure.
Light eventually shone on his face. Khan exited the tunnel while holding Asyat in his right arm and dragging Rodney with his left. Mikail couldn't help but show a confused expression at that scene, but he refrained from asking questions when he noticed how pissed Khan appeared.
"[You have to leave me now]," Khan whispered in Asyat's ear once they reached Mikail.
The girl glanced at Mikail before moving her eyes back on Khan. She nodded and hugged him tightly again. He even felt her dry lips leaving a kiss on his neck before she left him to sit next to the Niqols.
"[Tie him up or something]," Khan vaguely ordered while taking out his cube. "[I have to report something]."
To be continued