Technically, Baoway's ownership had to be renegotiated. The Empire was fine letting Khan handle it while acting as the middle-man between Thilku and humankind, but the Global Army couldn't be okay with that anymore, now more than ever.
Khan had left humankind and had beco a Thilku Lord. Everything had changed, including his authority over Baoway. Of course, chances were the Global Army would leave that planet to him in the end, but Brigadier General Seycomb had to put up a fight. He had to show Khan how things were now.
"Prince Khan, Lord Blue Shaman," Brigadier General Seycomb called, imdiately accepting Khan's new title. "We have been waiting for your return. The Global Army as a whole deserves to hear from you."
Brigadier General Seycomb avoided ntioning specific topics on purpose. He didn't want to steal the nobles' spotlight and establish deals before involving the truly big players. However, his stance spoke for his partial enmity, which was enough for now.
Sadly, Brigadier General Seycomb gravely misunderstood how little Khan cared about that, especially compared to soone trying to restrain his movents in his ho.
Khan's aura had arrived before his words, but the soldiers around Brigadier General Seycomb remained steady. Khan's overbearing presence sent chills down their spines, but the defensive formation didn't break. That spoke for the troops' experience and loyalty. It also condemned them to a terrible fate.
The soldiers weren't extrely strong. They mostly had third-level warriors among their ranks, with occasional team leaders in the fourth level. They also wielded rifles but kept them lowered, awaiting additional orders while performing their job.
Among the four soldiers who had stepped forward to block Khan's path, only one was a fourth-level warrior, but that hardly mattered. Levels didn't matter anymore when Khan lifted his hand.
A wave of purple-red mana erged from Khan's palm, but his energy suddenly transford. Brighter flashes sparkled inside the spell, obscuring the surrounding glow while giving birth to different shapes.
Branches seed to grow inside Khan's conical version of the Wave spell. Except, his mana had nothing to do with plants or wood. Instead, the flashing shapes released thunderous
noises, shooting forward while instantly reaching the four soldiers.
The attack was unavoidable, especially for those weaker warriors, but what followed forced part of the jaded and experienced audience to look away.
The Wave spell's branches were closer to sparks than actual lightning bolts. Hitting the soldiers barely caused minor burns but triggered a chain reaction that left everyone astonished.
The soldiers' bodies simply gave in. Fissures opened everywhere across the four troops' clothes and skin, removing any trace of structural stability before falling apart. Those four n crumbled into gory puddles of flesh and blood before they could utter a single sound, and their intact rifles fell inside them.
Khan didn't have ti for the audience to absorb the scene. He stepped forward, walking where he had initially planned to walk. He stepped into the puddles with his bare feet, barely creating ripples into their bloody surface, before addressing Brigadier General Seycomb directly.
"The trades must resu," Khan ordered. "The Global Army will reopen the trade routes, or I will."
Brigadier General Seycomb struggled to hear Khan's order. His mind was still absorbing the instant death of the four soldiers. Such a gory end had frozen his brain, making him experience actual fear of what Khan could do.
The General wasn't the only stunned party. Khan had actually killed soldiers tasked with Brigadier General Seycomb's security. The situation had escalated, and the existing factions reacted in the only way they knew.
Every soldier, be it human or alien, lifted their weapons or prepared for battle. The Ef'i mainly tried to remain wary of their surroundings, but the humans, Scalqa, and Thilku created explicit factions. They stared at each other coldly, knowing that a battle could explode.
Of course, none of these soldiers had asked for Khan's permission to fight, and he reminded them of that.
A chilling sensation invaded the area. The audience was already tense, but the air suddenly beca harder to breathe. Everything beca heavy and strangely electric, only for a purple- red radiance to follow.
A low, clicking cry spread through the sky, forcing the crowd to lift their heads. Sothing ethereal had appeared above the area, expanding and condensing without assuming a fixed form. That spell was almost invisible and hard to spot, but the light that touched it turned purple-red, confirming its existence.
Khan seed to have summoned a monster and looked ready to unleash it. However, his words hit the audience's eardrums before any spell could.
"Who authorized you to fight on my planet?" Khan asked, his tone oddly similar to the low, -clicking growl from above.
The threat in Khan's words was obvious, but the soldiers couldn't just accept that or shouldn't. The Scalqa and Thilku currently had no greater authority available, so they instantly dropped their weapons and broke their battle stances. The humans were still ready to attack, but the aliens prioritized following Khan's orders.
Luckily for the human soldiers, the partially invisible cloud released another thunderous noise, making a few lower their rifles in fear. Their companions slowly imitated them, forgetting they hadn't received any official order from their superiors. That would usually be a mistake, but it saved their lives in that instance.
The scene was still while the partially invisible cloud raged in the sky. The audience felt observed while that loud spell searched for a suitable target but to no avail. It seed everyone passed that ability's test, even the sole person who had the guts to move under Khan's pressure.
Monica would be lying if she claid she felt no fear. Khan was truly terrifying, and her body reacted on her own. It didn't matter that she consciously realized how safe she was. Monica couldn't control that reaction.
Nevertheless, Monica also chose not to succumb to that instinctive reaction. While everyone was too scared to move or lift their heads, Monica crossed the audience, fearlessly approaching Khan.
Monica would have typically gone for a kiss, but she halted her steps to perform a traditional Thilku bow when Khan's eyes fell on her. She knew the Thilku customs well, and her following words abided by them.
"My Lord," Monica called, "Which guests do you want to address first?"
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