C413 Crumbling
Rodney couldn't keep his thoughts straight. He had initially seen the Nak's hand as nothing more than a valuable body part, but the current state of the lab depicted a very different truth.
The hand shone with azure light while floating at the center of the broken machine. The glass shards on the floor reflected that halo, almost encircling the body part into a bright crown, and smoke came out of the spots where the lightning-like flares had landed.
The hand wasn't a piece of merchandising that Rodney could sell anymore. It had transformed into an alien threat brimming with enough power to kill him on the spot. Retreating was the only option, but his companion had different ideas.
Khan inevitably saw more than Rodney. His sensitivity played a big part in the matter, but his mutations added a deeper layer of understanding to the situation as a whole.
The hand was definitely a threat, but not only for those inside the hidden lab. Its hunger wouldn't stop anywhere soon. That feeling was bound to push the body part far past the intermediate floor, and even Khan didn't know if that would be enough to satisfy it.
'Imminent chaos,' Khan thought as his mind transformed into an icy environment that didn't allow distractions.
The entire fourth asteroid was at risk, and the celebrations worsened the situation. The body count could be terrible if the hand reached the surface, but Khan didn't even get to those topics. He had only one goal, and he was willing to go to any lengths to accomplish it.
Khan joined his palms as he straightened his position. Purple-red mana accumulated between his hands faster than ever, and he separated them when the spear was ready to take life.
The Nak's hand had stopped moving after the last deep noise, but its glow grew even brighter during that stillness. It was sorting out its mana to prepare for the next move, but the appearance of the chaos spear attracted its attention.
Heavy pressure fell on Khan, and a mixture of curiosity, hunger, and confusion spread through the synthetic mana. The hand didn't have eyes or a brain, but it looked at Khan while adding its emotions to the environment.
Khan didn't miss any of that, but his course of action didn't change. He lifted the glowing spear with his free hand, and he threw it without showing any hesitation.
The Nak's hand was relatively close, so missing it was simply impossible. The spear flew in a straight line and pierced the azure halo to land on that bright body part, but no explosions followed.
Sizzling noises filled the room when the spear's tip touched the Nak's hand. Sparks came out of the alien body part and created circular structures around the glowing weapon that interrupted its momentum and prevented it from detonating.
Khan could only watch as the spear dimmed. The sparks around the weapon were suppressing its unstable nature, and mana seeped out of it whenever the sizzling noises intensified.
The spear leaked mana that the circular structures pushed toward their source. The Nak's hand absorbed that energy inside its flesh, and the purple-red light soon vanished from the lab, leaving only the azure color in its place.
The desperation that Khan knew far too well managed to pierce through the coldness of his mind and show its presence. The same powerlessness of his nightmares invaded him. The chaos spear had failed. The arsenal accumulated in the past years seemed useless before a mere piece of a Nak.
"No!" Khan shouted as he joined his palms again. He couldn't believe that his training had been for naught. He would show his desperation that he could vanquish it.
Rodney watched everything from the sidelines. He had long since abandoned any plan that involved selling or exploiting his findings. He only wanted to leave, but seeing Khan set on attacking the hand forced him to act.
The Nak's hand had grown brighter after absorbing the chaos spear, allowing even those without great sensitivity to mana to understand that its power had increased. Rodney knew what would happen if Khan used his spells again, so stopping him came before running away.
Rodney used his mana to release a high-pitched noise that filled the room and continued to echo. The loud attack made the azure halo tremble and Khan frown. The latter even struggled to remain on his feet, and Rodney used that chance to run toward him.
However, Khan pushed against the noise assaulting his ears to regain control over his body. Blood flowed out of his nose as he struggled to remain on his feet and add fuel to his spell. His hands soon separated to give birth to the spear, but someone suddenly bumped into him.
Khan had been in a frenzy. His eyes and senses had been on the Nak's hand, severing his connection with the rest of the world. His incredible concentration had allowed him to resist Rodney's spell but also left him open to other attacks.
The chaos spear shook to no end when Khan fell to the floor. The outside world returned, forcing him to realize where he was. Rodney was lying on him, and his angry face hinted at the incoming scolding.
"Get a grip on yourself!" Rodney scolded. "You'll only make it stronger with that!"
The chaos spear flickered, forcing both men to look at it. The spell was reaching the critical point, threatening to explode while it was still between Khan's hands. Its state filled Rodney with fear, but something even more dangerous distracted him.
Rodney's spell exhausted its energy when both men hit the floor, and the Nak's hand took only one second to recover. The azure halo stabilized and brightened even more, transforming into a blinding glow that overcame the flickering light radiated by the chaos spear.
The Nak's hand released another deep noise filled with pure rage. Even Rodney understood that his recent attack didn't please it, and the sizzling sounds coming out of the blinding halo made his heart plummet.
Twenty or so lightning bolts left the azure halo and flew in different directions, with at least three of them targeting the area where Khan and Rodney were. The two men were still on the floor, so running away wasn't an option, but Khan couldn't be taken by surprise in his current state.
Khan threw the unstable spear toward the incoming lightning bolts, and an explosion happened when the attacks touched. A purple-red pillar expanded in the room and connected the floor to the ceiling, creating enough pressure to send the two men rolling away.
Rodney stopped rolling when he slammed on the metal wall, and his eyes widened when he found Khan half-crouching before him. Khan didn't lose his balance even after the recent explosion, and he had even managed to retain his grip on his knife.
Khan was still in a frenzy, even if a more controlled one. His desperation had almost made him lose control of his actions before, but Rodney's intrusion and the result of the previous clash had brought new calm to his mind.
The Nak's hand didn't absorb the second spear. Instead, Khan's spell had managed to stop the incoming lightning bolts. He had a chance to win. He only had to find weaknesses to exploit.
"Khan, stop it!" Rodney shouted since he understood what Khan had in mind. "We have to run!"
Khan heard Rodney but didn't address him. The hand couldn't be allowed to reach the surface, and Khan couldn't ignore a Nak standing in front of him.
The grip on the knife tightened as Khan closed his eyes and sprinted forward. The azure halo made his sight useless, but it contained so much mana that his sensitivity was more than enough to gain a clear image of the room.
Khan instantly pierced through the blinding halo and jumped when he felt the Nak's hand growing close. His knife descended as he fell toward that alien body part, but violent sizzling noises resounded when his weapon touched the azure skin.
The light in the environment would normally prevent any inspection, but Khan was close enough to sense everything clearly. His knife's tip was on the Nak's hand, but a dense membrane prevented him from piercing it.
Khan disregarded his techniques and grabbed the knife with both hands to force it through the membrane. The entirety of his physical prowess and body weight fused to add power to his attack, and the defensive layer bent under it.
Nevertheless, as the knife dug through the membrane, a series of sparks shot wildly through that gap. Marks appeared on the weapon, and holes opened in Khan's arms. He lost his grip for an instant, but the [Blood Shield] activated to cover his limbs and bring new stability to his offensive.
Khan and the Nak's hand seemed to have reached a stalemate that no one could witness. The halo was so bright that Rodney had to cover his eyes while standing up. Truth be told, he was ready to leave, but he couldn't see the exit due to that blinding light.
As for Khan, he knew that the stalemate was only a temporary situation. The limits of the [Blood Shield] were an issue he couldn't ignore, and the Nak's hand had also started to prepare another attack.
Masses of mana gathered all over the Nak's hand. Khan had already sensed a similar reaction. New lightning bolts were about to shoot in every direction, but he remained in his position and waited for his chance to attack.
Khan didn't know why the hand didn't absorb the second spear. The distance could explain the event, but the same went for the previous energy discharge.
The Nak's hand might be unable to absorb and release energy at the same time, and Khan wanted to test that out. Usually, he wouldn't take those risks, but his physical strength had proven itself unable to pierce through the sizzling barrier. He needed his mana, so he decided to use it when it was less likely to fall under his opponent's control.
Only one second had to pass for the lightning-like flares to shoot out. A mess of violent mana threatened to dig holes in the entirety of the hidden lab, but Khan promptly released a spherical version of the Wave spell while covering his knife in the purple-red membrane.
The Wave spell crashed on the lightning bolts and made them explode. Of course, it didn't reach all of them, but it created a safe area for Khan.
Meanwhile, the arrival of the sharp mana allowed the knife to pierce the sizzling membrane and reach the hand. The latter was nothing more than exposed flesh without its defenses, so the glowing weapon easily cut through it.
Everything suddenly went silent and still. The azure halo stopped its seemingly endless brightening, and the sizzling noises also vanished.
Khan wouldn't let any second go to waste. His attack had only cut through a quarter of the hand, which wasn't enough to kill it, so he swung his knife upward with the intention of severing a chunk of flesh away.
However, the Nak's hand suddenly became the source of an intense pulling force that lasted for less than a second. Khan's feet slid over the floor, making him lose his balance and miss the hand with his slash. He quickly stabilized himself to prepare for another attack, but a terrifying realization put an end to his offensive.
The short burst of the pulling force had affected Khan, but he had never been its target. After stabilizing his footing, he realized that all the mana in the hidden lab had disappeared. Even the azure halo had vanished.
Khan's sensitivity promptly provided answers. All the energy in the room had entered the Nak's hand, which had grown dimmer after the process. Still, its current darkened state didn't reflect its power. The alien body part had actually never been stronger.
The mana absorbed from the environment wasn't healing the new injury or spreading through the flesh. The hand had accumulated it into a single spot at the center of its structure. Through the symphony, Khan could sense a blinding dot existing in almost complete darkness.
It didn't take an expert to understand what was happening. Condensing so much mana in so little space could only lead to one outcome, and Khan didn't have the power to withstand it.
Rodney had started to move toward the exit after the unbearable illumination left the room, but a figure ran past him before he could reach the opening. Khan had actually beaten him in the escape, but that merely put him one step farther from the incoming catastrophe.
An almost imperceptible whooshing noise shot out of the Nak's hand, carrying all the mana absorbed previously. The alien body part even used most of the energy inside its flesh during the attack, but Khan and Rodney only felt a faint gust of wind hitting their backs.
Khan ran even faster than before when he sensed where all the mana had gone, but an earthquake suddenly took control of the hidden area and forced him to slow down. He even completely stopped at some point, which called for another scolding.
"Get out of the way!" Rodney shouted as he caught up with Khan, but his foot ended up piercing the floor when he stopped before his companion.
Rodney glanced at his foot in disbelief. The hidden area didn't have the latest technology, but its structure remained firm. However, part of the floor had given in under his weight, and the hole he created even opened cracks that spread in multiple directions.
The cracks seemed to spread randomly, but Khan knew that they followed precise marks left by the previous attack. The Nak's hand had targeted the hidden area, and the consequences were about to reveal themselves.
More and more cracks opened as the earthquake grew violent. The whole area past the lab transformed into a mess of fissures that covered the floor, walls, and ceiling. Khan even knew that the damage spread outside the building, so he prepared himself for the inevitable destruction.
Rodney only had the time to shoot a desperate glance at Khan before the floor under him gave in. The walls and ceiling followed the same fate until the entire hidden lab crumbled.
To be continued