Chapter 1159: Names |
The Great Old One understood Khan's stance better than Khan himself. After all, Khan had merely risen to leadership. Meanwhile, the ancient creature was born with it. It was a birthright carved into its genes, carrying a series of instinctive nuances.
Leaders, especially those as strong as the Great Old One, wouldn't share their power. They couldn't since no other being was their match. The action would be akin to charity with creatures no bigger than ants.
Moreover, power was a tricky thing. It begged to be used, and even those who didn't ended up suffering from its consequences. Superior beings couldn't help but dismiss those who could barely breathe in their presence. The Great Old One had known that truth since birth, and Khan had eventually realized it.
It didn't help that there was no turning back. Even someone who had risen to leadership like Khan couldn't give up his power to return to live among inferior beings. That superiority was part of his very existence now, and he also needed it to complete his mission.
Besides, losing power would automatically shrink Khan's perspective. He had seen the superior realm, and abandoning his might wouldn't make him forget it. Khan would be stuck among inferior beings while aware of the brittleness of their reality, living a life that couldn't have any meaning since he had seen the true face of the universe.
Enlightenment came at a cost. Once a mind expanded, it could never shrink to its previous size. Knowledge was a burden, and Khan had been forever changed by it.
Admittedly, Khan's tale was sad. The Great Old One had seen it, and while its different perspective prevented it from accepting it, it didn't stop the ancient creature from understanding it.
Khan had never wanted to be different. He had never asked for his mission, but that curse had forced him to rise far higher than his peers, reaching peaks where no one could follow him.
Once a king, always a king, but that privilege brought its fair share of curses. The highest peaks offered the best views but were also lonely since almost no one could reach them. Khan was exactly there, and his mission compelled him to rise even higher.
The Great Old One feared that its environment was affecting its thoughts, but that hardly mattered anymore. Being inside Khan's mind was probably altering the ancient creature's values, forcing them to resonate with those tragic memories. Still, the snake couldn't do much about it, especially as a mere consciousness.
After all, the Great Old One did indeed lose, and the losers had no rights. The winner took all, and Khan had indeed won. The ancient creature was trying to compromise out of inborn arrogance and survival instincts, but those attempts were pointless with Khan. The Great Old One had seen his memories, so it knew it couldn't succeed.
Khan was an unreasonable being bolstered by an irrational element. He wouldn't give in, especially to a creature that had no interest in protecting those he wanted to protect. Actually, Khan would rather remove himself to save the universe from another potential threat.
So, the Great Old One had to make one last decision. It could struggle until the end, raging inside Khan's mind in the hope of replacing his consciousness or simply accepting its defeat with dignity.
Now, the Great Old One had no interest in dignity. The ancient creature had achieved its current strength through strategy and wisdom, letting its species implode before devouring it to compensate for its inborn weakness.
However, the first option would surely lead to mutual destruction. The Great Old One could still do it out of spite, but all its work would be for naught in that case.
'Heir to the Nak's mana,' The Great Old One called. 'Will you truly dominate the universe?'
'I have no interest in it,' Khan admitted. 'But if there's a life after the Nak's mission, I don't see alternatives.'
Khan was speaking the truth. Unless he went on a willing exile, he would remain attached to his organization and loved ones, and they would never lack enemies. Khan knew how he dealt with those, so his battle wouldn't end until everyone accepted his rule or bowed down to him.
'You now carry our bloodline, Nak's Heir,' The Great Old One declared. 'We demand a greater ambition.'
'Why don't you tell me why my power has no future instead?' Khan questioned. 'I can't dominate anything if I die during the Nak's mission.'
'Puny creature,' The Great Old One hissed inside Khan's mind, seemingly mocking him. 'Your ignorance is insulting, but you remain the last child of our species.'
The Great Old One's brothers and sisters had killed each other over unreasonable drives, but it was wisdom. The ancient creature could prove its superiority by pushing its species onto a different path, even if that meant fulfilling its destiny through someone else and in a vastly changed shape.
'Remember, Chaos' Heir,' The Great Old One continued, pushing against the mental suppression to connect its consciousness with the foreign memories. 'Our place is among the stars as their overlords. Anything less than that is unbefitting of our birthright.'
Khan was almost about to cut off his own neck, but his hand froze when he sensed what the Great Old One was doing. It let the foreign memories in, flooding Khan's brain, but the pressure was only slightly painful. His mind didn't shatter, and he even retained his sense of self since an alien force helped him process that sea of information.
'Our destiny is yours now,' The Great Old One stated as its consciousness quickly shrunk, depleting its power and structural integrity to process the foreign memories and add them to Khan's brain.
'Wait!' Khan shouted inside his mind. 'Did your species have a name?'
'Our species, Heir to the Nak's Chaos,' The Great Old One corrected. 'And Gods are beyond names. Cattle give them to us to try to comprehend our existence, but we are greater.'
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