The scenery that unfolded in Khan's vision was hard to describe with a single adjective, but "messy" was the most suitable word his brain could find.
An immense and bright environment expanded from the hole and stretched way past the range of Khan's vision. Countless different types of mana also hit his senses and made it hard for him to rely on them. He could only use his eyes to study everything while he was busy running.
The area was mostly open. Khan saw buildings in the distance, but they were too far away to inspect them properly. The ceiling was flat and illuminated everything with Milia 222's iconic pale-blue light, but the smooth grey floor didn't send back any reflection or glow.
Khan could see multiple vehicles from his position. They were nothing more than small cars that hovered slightly above the floor while moving at high speed through that vast area.
The largest vehicles mostly consisted of small trucks with goods attached to their back. They flew farther away from the floor, but they remained dangerously close to it. There seemed to be some regulations at work there, but Khan couldn't be sure.
The vehicles appeared out of place in that crowded environment. They flew without caring about the many people on their way, and it seemed that the latter didn't mind them either.
The crowd was up to different tasks. The area was only a small fraction of the city above, but it remained vast enough to contain hundreds of people. Multiple groups occupied the floor, and most of them were pretty loud about their arguments.
Khan was in a hurry, but he still noticed a few peculiar situations. He saw a group of Orlats shouting at each other while standing next to three large metal boxes. They were arguing about the price of those goods, and they sounded unable to reach an agreement.
Another peculiar situation involved a proper fistfight. A human and a Fuveall were punching each other with a diverse crowd in a half-circle around them. An Orlats moved among them while waving her phone and shouting odds. She was taking bets that the bystanders didn't hesitate to place.
Another loud group involved a series of humans, Fuveall, and Orlats completely wasted. They chanted and hugged each other while waving their cups left and right, uncaring that booze poured on the floor.
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The area was full of those messy events, and Khan couldn't find a single soldier or guard. Complete anarchy seemed to reign, and a smile inevitably appeared on Khan's face once he realized where he had ended. He felt the urge to laugh at those chaotic and funny sights.
Of course, the situation didn't allow Khan to lose himself in that mess. His senses had yet to get used to that new environment, but he didn't lose track of the enemies behind him.
Strangely enough, Joel had jumped through the hole and had started to chase after Khan and Jenna. Some of the first-level warriors in the previous room had even followed him, but Khan couldn't explain that behavior.
Khan and Jenna were in the open, and the area didn't lack witnesses. In theory, the plan of kidnapping Khan and having fun with Jenna secretly had already failed, but Joel and the others didn't give up on it just yet.
The fact that the pursuing group had no chance to reach Khan and Jenna didn't seem to be an issue either. Joel appeared almost desperate to catch up, even if his unresponsive left arm made him slower than the couple.
The chaos in the area didn't make Khan and Jenna pass unnoticed. Many glanced in the two's direction and even eyed the large hole in the building behind them. Yet, no one seemed to care. Everyone simply went on with their business.
'What is happening?' Khan couldn't help but wonder as he kept inspecting the area.
Hypotheses flowed through Khan's mind as details became clear in his vision. Soon, a few reasonable explanations survived among his jumbled thoughts, and all of them involved the absence of Nele in his immediate surroundings.
The crowd was diverse, but Khan mostly saw humans, Fuveall, and Orlats. He spotted a few tall silhouettes belonging to the Bise among that mess, but he failed to find his main target. Luckily for him, the Nele were too prideful to hide when dealing with other species.
'Do they hope to capture us before the Nele understand what's happening?' Khan wondered as he pointed with his head at the source of a purple glow partially hidden by the crowd and the ceiling's light.
The Nele were famous for their punishments toward those who tried to mistreat them. The desperation in Joel's face felt understandable now that Khan realized what would happen once Jenna spoke to her peers.
Nevertheless, Khan couldn't help but see Joel's efforts as pointless. The man was doomed. His desperation wouldn't make him faster.
"Ten thousand Credits if you catch these fugitives!" Joel suddenly shouted.
The mess in the area dampened Joel's voice, but his cry remained quite loud. Many heard it, and murmurs immediately started. It didn't take long before Khan and Jenna found a series of greedy eyes pointed in their direction.
"[We must hurry]," Jenna whispered as she tightened her grasp on Khan's hand.
Khan glanced at Jenna, and his mind went blank. The time spent with her allowed him to see past her cold face. He could see fear in her beautiful eyes, and that was enough to force his hand.
Khan abruptly halted his steps. Jenna didn't know what he had in mind, but she trusted him enough to stop next to him. The two had already crossed multiple groups, which put them in the middle of the crowd, and the few interested in the bounty didn't refrain from moving toward them.
'Even that Bise wants a piece,' Khan sighed in his mind when he noticed a tall figure making its way among the various group to approach his position.
"[Hop on me]," Khan ordered. "[Hide your face and protect your arms]."
Most of the people close to Khan had no interest in the bounty. Still, many remained in their position to observe the scene. Some placed bets, while a few decided to retreat to avoid getting caught in the mess.
A few words tried to reach Khan's ears. A human, two Orlats, and a Fuveall were already around him, and they tried to make him surrender peacefully, but his brain didn't hear anything.
One of the Orlats was so wary about the competition that he left his companion and tried to step forward, but the appearance of a purple-red glow forced him to give up on that idea.
Khan had joined his hands, and mana had started to leak out of his palms. The sight of the chaos element made many think twice about attacking him without a plan, and what followed only intensified their worries.
Khan separated his hands to create a long spear that brimmed with mana. The bright weapon shook violently as if it was about to explode, and many among the groups around Khan instantly retreated while voicing worried cries. Some even tried to reason with him, but he ignored those words.
Jenna was the only one not scared of Khan in that situation. She disregarded the violent mana between his palms and jumped on his back before adjusting her position.
The scene was quite incredible from the crowds' perspective. Khan had summoned enough mana to blow up a relatively large area. The groups near him knew that an eventual explosion would engulf them.
However, Jenna snuggled on Khan's back as if it was the safest place in the entire world. She wrapped her arms around his neck, uncaring that the glowing spear was close to them.
"[Your legs too]," Khan ordered when Jenna wrapped her legs around his waist.
Jenna nodded by rubbing her cheek on the back of Khan's head before hiding her face behind his neck. The synthetic mana in the area flowed toward her arms and legs, where it mixed with her skin and created a transparent membrane that resembled sweat.
Khan's senses still struggled to get a complete understanding of the area, but he could check his surroundings and the places slightly past them. He couldn't find any third-level warrior, and that filled him with confidence.
Jenna was ready, and the various groups were retreating, so Khan didn't hesitate. The glowing spear shattered and filled the crowd with intense panic. Screams resounded as people jumped to the floor in a desperate attempt to avoid the imminent explosion, but nothing similar happened.
The spear dispersed into a harmless purple-red cloud, and Khan sprinted right through it. He had yet to test the full potential of his body, but he didn't hold back a single whiff of mana in that situation.
The edges of Khan's vision became foggy. He couldn't express his peak speed with all those people around him, so he jumped to use heads and shoulders as footholds.
The high speed and the light steps made Khan's passage almost impossible to track by the first-level warriors. Only the second-level warriors noticed something, but Khan had already disappeared by the time they turned or lifted their heads.
The source of the purple glow grew closer as Khan advanced. Soon, he became able to recognize green figures among the sea of heads. He had finally found his target, and his eyes shone when he saw a vehicle floating on his path.
Khan put more strength on his right leg as he stepped on a Fuveall's shoulder. He performed a long leap before landing on the metal roof of the rectangular vehicle standing in his way.
The vehicle's windows went down, and two humans peeked out of them to check what had landed above them. However, the whole car shook as Khan jumped and flew above the crowd before landing in front of a green figure.
'I might have pushed myself farther away if I had more confidence in the Nele's arts,' Khan thought as he straightened his position and glanced at the vehicle behind him.
The space crossed with the last jump was by no means short, but Khan felt that he could do better. Yet, he had spent too little training with the Nele's arts to add them to his techniques. He had ideas, but he had never tested them out.
Khan didn't turn only to study his performance. The gesture allowed him to check Jenna's condition. The membrane on her arms and legs had dried up during the sprint, but she was fine. Her right forearm had a small dark patch that resembled a burn, but the injury was superficial.
On the contrary, Khan was far worse off, even if his condition remained quite healthy. The corners of his eyes, ears, nose, and the back of his hands itched. His skin had yet to get used to that speed, so burns had appeared on his extremities. Yet, they would all heal in a matter of hours.
Of course, the sprint had made most pursuers lose track of Khan and Jenna. Only the landing had brought the attention back to them, but those interested in the bounty were nowhere close.
"[Are you okay]?" Khan asked since Jenna had yet to leave his neck.
"[No, I'm deeply hurt]," Jenna complained as she tightened her embrace.
"[You are impossible]," Khan sighed and began to turn toward the green figure, but the arrival of a powerful presence forced both him and Jenna to look past it.
Khan had landed in front of a Nele, but the latter was only a first-level warrior. The abrupt arrival had actually scared the alien, who had taken a step back to rejoin the companions standing behind.
Ten Nele equipped with pendants, bracelets, or clips that emitted purple light stood in front of Khan. There were two second-level warriors in that group, but Khan and Jenna couldn't focus on them. Something stronger was about to show its face.
A tall and handsome Nele walked past the two second-level warriors and crossed their companions to reach a spot right in front of Khan. His dark-green hair fluttered with each step he took, and his piercing purple eyes showed nothing but coldness as they remained fixed on Khan.
The Nele didn't look older than thirty. His delicate facial features fought against the anger that tried to make its way into his expression, but Khan couldn't focus on any of that. The alien was a third-level warrior, and his intentions appeared far from friendly.
"[Maban]!" Jenna shouted, but her voice failed to spread since the Nele spoke in an even louder tone.
"[Filthy human]!" Maban exclaimed as his right arm performed a sharp movement. It moved behind his back to take something from his black jumper before snapping toward Khan.
Everything happened in an instant. Khan couldn't follow that gesture properly, but his pupils shrunk when he noticed something flying toward him.
The item moved too quickly. Khan didn't have the time to identify it, but he could see where it was going to land. His abdomen was the target, so he activated the [Blood Shield] to prepare for the worst.
Khan felt a hammer slamming on his abdomen and trying to pierce the thick layer of muscles that protected his internal organs. However, the array of clotted blood held strong, so the item ended up flinging him away.
The drawbacks of the [Blood Shield] hit Khan while he was still mid-air. He partially lost control of his body, and his chest grew heavy, but he forced himself to remain focused on his defensive technique.
The item eventually lost its momentum. Khan fell with his butt on the floor and felt the urge to lie down completely. Yet, he recalled Jenna at the last second, so he forced himself to keep his back straight.
His chest didn't like that effort. Khan felt unable to breathe, but he still saved Jenna from that fall. She wouldn't have had any problem dealing with it, but Khan's protective side was too powerful to suppress.
Jenna didn't hesitate to jump off Khan and step in front of him. She crouched toward him to check his condition, but he managed to muster a nod before a violent cough took control of his movements.
Jenna reached for Khan's abdomen and seized the sharp root stabbed in his clothes. She saw some blood on its tip, but the spot appeared insignificant. Yet, she still grabbed Khan's pullover and ripped it apart.
Khan was in no condition to stop Jenna. She quickly exposed his upper body and inspected his abdomen. She could find the injury opened by the root, but she couldn't sense any infection or trace of foreign mana when she passed her fingers over it.
Jenna sighed deeply after confirming that Khan was okay. His condition had yet to stabilize, but he didn't suffer any severe wounds. Still, that calm moment didn't last long. Anger soon took over her mind and made her snap back to her feet.
"[What are you even doing]?!" Jenna shouted as she turned toward Maban.
Maban didn't know how to take that scene. He had acted according to the Nele's customs, but he had left some room for his doubts. He only wanted to make Khan unable to fight, but the latter had come out of the exchange with a mere scratch. Moreover, Jenna appeared beyond livid now.
"[You can't let a human touch you so casually]," Maban scolded, but his cold expression wavered a bit.
"[He can do whatever he wants with me]," Jenna stated. "[Also, he was saving me from the real threats. Is that how we act toward those who help us]?"
"[Real threats]?" Maban asked while his expression regained utmost coldness. Even Jenna had to put aside her anger at that sight since the matter involved her whole species.
"[Some humans wanted to take me]," Jenna explained while pointing in the direction of the hole in the wall.
Maban seemed to teleport next to Jenna. His footwork was interesting, but Khan was in no condition to study it. The Nele showed his palm, and Jenna scoffed while placing the root at its center.
Maban didn't use any technique as he walked past Jenna. He shot a curious glance at Khan before moving his attention to the crowd. Everyone in that area had taken an interest in the event, but the change in the atmosphere made them retreat and pretend to have nothing to do with the matter.
The various groups retreated as the purple light released by Maban's bracelet advanced toward them. The Nele inspected every face that appeared in his vision until he found a suitable target.
Some of the pursuers had caught up with Khan during that time, and Maban only needed a glance to recognize those vile intentions. The Nele performed his sprint again, and Khan lost track of him.
The Nele left behind by Maban stepped forward to encircle Khan and Jenna. They glared at the people trying to look past them, but Jenna ignored all of that as she crouched toward Khan again.
"[I'm okay]," Khan reassured while Jenna reached for his cheeks.
The intimate interaction attracted the attention of the Nele around Jenna and Khan, but none of them spoke. They limited themselves to random peeks and suppressed gasps, but they tried their best to continue their silent guard.
It didn't take long before Khan could stand up. The drawbacks of the [Blood Shield] had intensified after reaching the third checkpoint, but Khan had also become a second-level warrior. Recovering after that short use wasn't a problem, and he even believed that he could get used to it with some training.
"[He shouldn't have attacked you]," Jenna exclaimed as her sad eyes fell on the shallow hole in Khan's abdomen.
The azure scar was in plain sight now, and many noticed it. Murmurs spread among the crowd, and even the Nele couldn't help but peek at Khan more often.
"[I got to see you angry at least]," Khan joked before wearing a guilty expression. "[I never thought things could be so bad down here. You might have-]."
"[Don't even say it]," Jenna scolded while taking Khan's hands. "[It was my choice. You couldn't stop me. You know it]."
Khan sighed before wearing a faint smile. It had felt good to fight after so long. He took no joy in putting Jenna in danger, but having her at his side during a battle was nice. They made a good team.
"[You will use this to blackmail me later, won't you]?" Khan teased.
"[Obviously]," Jenna proudly announced.
"[You are im-]," Khan said, but the return of the strong presence interrupted his line and made him turn toward the crowd.
Jenna and the other Nele also turned in that direction. The crowd there opened to create a path where Maban walked while dragging a pleading Joel from his leg. The human had a root stabbed on his right shoulder, which made him almost unable to use his upper body.
"[Is he the one who tried to take you]?" Maban asked while throwing Joel forward.
The Nele broke the encirclement before reforming it around Joel. The man remained on the floor and used his legs to turn belly-up. Tears fell from his eyes as he inspected the cold faces of the aliens.
"[He is one of them]," Jenna stated.
'Will they interrogate him now?' Khan wondered.
"[I understand]," Maban declared before bending forward to grab Joel from his neck.
Maban lifted Joel above his head before looking left and right. He didn't need to say anything to convey his intentions. That was a warning to all the people watching the scene.
Then, Maban reached the root inside Joel's shoulder and took it out before stabbing it at the center of his chest. The human could only muster a weak "wait" before life abandoned his eyes.
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Author's notes: Shoutout to IndraDeus for the Golden Gachapon. Thank you to all the others giving gifts too. I check all the notifications, and I'm grateful for them.
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