Chapter 779 Slaughter
The bridge was silent as Khan flew the ship toward the nearby space station. The scanners had already locked onto the structure, and the vehicle's security codes had cleared it for landing. Everything went as smoothly as possible, but the atmosphere remained heavy.
Khan wasn't alone on the ship. Gordon was with him on the bridge, and a small team of soldiers waited in the cargo area. That force wasn't anything significant, but the banner it waved could open any door.
That authority was the only reason behind the team's presence. Khan would have preferred to make the trip alone, but his plan would work better with Gordon taking care of the small details. The noble guard was aware of his role, too, hence the heavy atmosphere.
The ship crossed the space station's mana barrier and landed at the hangar's edge without encountering difficulties. The visit was also unexpected, so Khan and his team crossed the metal ramp without having to deal with any escort. Their arrival attracted the curiosity of a few loitering workers but nothing else.
"With the authority conferred to me by Prince Khan," Gordon announced once enough gazes had fallen on the newcomers, "Prince of the Nognes family, we are isolating this space station."
The few soldiers on Khan's team approached the mana barrier to stand guard. Although they weren't nearly enough to cover the entire membrane, they chose specific locations that could grant a general view of the hangar.
"Remain calm," Gordon continued. "Look away if you aren't involved. Confusion will only breed mistakes."
The workers inevitably started to worry at the second part of the announcement. Being in the middle of noble businesses already made them tense, but Gordon basically told them something bad was about to unfold.
Khan moved after Gordon finished his short speech. He owed the innocent people a warning, but his mercy ended there. His mind grew colder than ever as he dived into the hangar to approach a certain corridor. Khan had memorized the space station's layout, so his steps reeked of confidence.
Gordon didn't follow Khan and joined the soldiers by the mana barrier. He studied him with his gaze before focusing solely on his task. He would feel sorry for anyone who crossed Khan's path if his education had been even slightly flawed.
Khan's arrival had been unexpected, but the presence of a noble remained a big deal. The space station quickly sent proper escorts and welcoming soldiers toward him, but their encounter couldn't happen in a worse location.
Khan wasn't running, but his walking pace remained quick enough to cross a few corridors before the welcoming team could catch up with him. By then, he had reached the entrance to one of the more classified areas of the space station, a place Lieutenant Dyester couldn't cross from his list.
"Prince Khan," The man in charge of the escort team announced while his companions formed an orderly line behind him. Military salutes unfolded, but Khan only cared about the unlucky position.
The escort had arrived from a side passage, stopping before the door Khan intended to cross. He didn't sense any malice from the gesture. Everything had been random, but that couldn't work for Khan anymore.
"You honor us with your presence, Prince Khan," The man continued, also performing a military salute. "What can we do to make your stay more comfortable?"
"Get away from that door," Khan responded, his line sounding like an order.
The soldiers couldn't help but shake under Khan's cold pressure. They were nothing more than first and second-level warriors, so his mere presence threatened to make them faint.
The man in charge was no exception, and glancing at the door put a frown on his face. He knew what was behind the entrance but couldn't understand why Khan would be interested in it. After all, according to his reports, the area only hosted minor experiments on ointments.
"Prince Khan," The man said without hiding his confusion. "If you wish a tour of the lab, it can be arranged."
"I'll say this only once," Khan exclaimed, "And I won't repeat myself afterward. Don't stand in my way."
Khan truly did his best. He sent his killing intent to his aura so ordinary people could understand his intentions. He even put his hand on his knife's handle, hoping a more visible threat could convey the danger of the situation. Yet, the man had to hesitate one time too much.
"Prince, this area could be dangerous," The man warned. "I can't in good faith-."
The man didn't get the chance to finish his line. The soldiers behind him suddenly noticed that Khan had disappeared before a gory scene captured their attention. An oblique cut appeared on their leader's head, and its severed chunk slowly slid off.
The gory chunk of flesh and brain fell to the floor, followed by the man's corpse. Gasps and cries immediately resounded, but incredulity followed when the soldiers noticed Khan behind them. He had reached the door, and his expression appeared even colder than before.
Countless justifications ran through Khan's mind. The man could have been a cog in the system that had planned his assassination. His ignorance didn't necessarily imply innocence.
The man might have also had orders to delay Khan as long as possible. Khan didn't see that malice, but devices that could hinder his senses had already appeared. There was a chance the leader was guilty of something.
However, Khan knew the truth, no matter how much he didn't want to face it. His senses had even improved too much to be tricked by experimental technology. The man was utterly ignorant and innocent. He had died only because Khan needed to send a message.
'[Bloody rivers],' Khan thought. He had warned Jenna about that, and the moment had come. He had become the monster the network chanted about.
That wasn't Khan's first time killing innocents. Still, it was the first time the act wasn't necessary. He wasn't trapped. He wasn't saving anyone from a worse fate. That man had simply been caught in a game far bigger than him, and Khan had taken it upon himself to play the executioner.
The corpse lying on the floor spoke louder than a thousand words. The soldiers stepped away before freezing on the spot. They even held their breath, afraid it would set off Khan again.
Khan ignored the soldiers and placed his hand on the door. The menus refused his genetic signature, so his palm slowly abandoned that metal surface. Only his fingertips remained there, and purple-red mana soon enveloped them to give birth to a sword.
The sword pierced the metal, creating a spiderweb of cracks that expanded until the entrance and part of the nearby wall crumbled. Interactive desks and scientists wearing white medical coats fell into Khan's vision, and his spell vanished to make room for another.
Khan straightened his arm, pointing his palm at the scientists before a conical version of the Wave spell shot forward. The attack destroyed the interactive desk and messed with the various machines in the area. As for the scientists in its range, they died while the chaos element tore their flesh to pieces.
The artificial illumination began going on and off, adding a terrifying vibe to the scene. The first scream triggered a chain reaction, and the soldiers in the escort ran away as soon as Khan entered the new area.
Information ran quickly, especially inside a space station, so chaos soon spread. The seemingly impossible news reached every corner of the structure while mass panic unfolded. Many headed for the hangar, hoping to escape, but Gordon's team had already taken care of everything.
As for Khan, his eyes barely moved while he pointed his hands at any trace of life that touched his senses. Anything past the destroyed door was his target, and his attacks never missed. They also never failed to extinguish lives.
The entire space station only had a handful of third-level warriors, who were no different than flies for Khan. Life lost any meaning in his mind as he advanced through people he could kill with a thought. Even the metal standing in his way was nothing more than rubble before his mana.
It was a slaughter. Khan didn't count, but his mind kept track of the lives he took. Yet, his attacks carried no hesitation. Nothing could stop what he had started, not even himself.
Many scientists in that area didn't even know the place was connected to Khan, but he killed them anyway. It didn't matter why or how. Reasonable and personal motives had no value anymore. Anything even remotely linked to something standing against Khan had to die and disappear.
Screams, pleads, and more reached Khan's ears while blood and gore filled his eyes. His feet never stopped moving, but no one dared follow him to question his actions. Only destruction, corpses, and gore existed behind him. Even the bravest soldiers couldn't muster the courage to step on it.
After carving the path through three similar areas, Khan finally reached the space station's central lab, and everything froze on his arrival. The scientists in the area halted their work when he peeked past the hole dug by his spell. Those people seemed aware of what was happening, and a mixture of duty and helplessness filled their auras.
Khan stopped advancing when he entered the lab. The atmosphere was clearly different, but that wouldn't have been enough to slow him down. Yet, spotting Margaret and one of Baoway's blue bushes on the desk beside her could.