'Incomplete,' Khan thought when trying to find the right word to describe his technique.
The [Blood Shield] had provided the structural firmness required to prevent his bones from breaking, but his skin and the muscles under it had suffered during the execution of the Divine Reaper. He had salvaged his hand with that adjustment, but he couldn't let go of the knives just yet.
The issue wasn't too important now since Khan could locate his knife from the corner of his eye. The Stal had locked it behind one of the metal lockers that featured small windows that showed what they contained. He would go back to full power soon, but he didn't abandon his new technique completely.
Knives and other weapons were external parts of his strength. Crises could remove them temporarily or forever, depending on how grave they were. Khan acknowledged that it was better to keep as much power on himself to be ready for every situation, and his new technique could help in that matter.
Still, Khan also accepted that he would probably need to be a second or third-level warrior before obtaining the physical resilience required to remove drawbacks. He even guessed that the Divine Reaper would get stronger as his ability with mana and proficiency level increased, but his reasoning became too complicated at that point. It had too many variables that he couldn't calculate to worrying about them right now.
The soldiers stormed inside the hall after the battle ended. Many had watched Khan's incredible battle prowess. He was fast and deadly even against opponents that humans couldn't theoretically overpower at close range.
His strength, coupled with the fact that he was the reason behind the escape, only increased the soldiers' respect. Some of them even started to show signs of reverence. Khan had barely entered the second month of his second year in the Global Army, but he was already leagues beyond their peers.
Most of Khan's companions were even far older than him. They had to overcome problems within their families and the Global Army, which had eventually slowed down their improvements. Yet, those years felt wasted in front of someone who had virtually reached that power on his own.
The Guko didn't need orders to open the lockers. It reached one of the consoles at the center of the hall and tinkered with its menus under Lieutenant Pouille's strict surveillance before all the weapons in the armory became available to the soldiers.
Khan's left hand felt sore and weak, but he still went straight for his knife and tested the power behind his grip. The result felt rather disappointing, so he tore away another piece of his trousers before applying bandages around his fingers. His idea was to tie his weapon to his palm, but Delia promptly came into his aid.
"What are you doing?" Delia chuckled before heaving a helpless sigh when she saw Khan trying to tie bandages with his single usable hand.
"I don't want to drop it," Khan shortly explained while trying to make a knot with a finger and his mouth before giving up and letting Delia take over.
"You know that you can ask for help, right?" Delia scolded. "I believe everyone here would love to give you a hand. Oops, bad choice of words."
"Do you like to tease injured men?" Khan joked while Delia undid the bandages and wrapped them again around his hand without tying the knife inside them.
"Only when they think that they have to do everything on their own," Delia sighed before revealing a cheerful smile. "You are too young to play the broody solitary man. Let big sis take you under her wing."
"I'm not Faith or Milo," Khan rejected the offer while glancing at the siblings who were checking the rifles retrieved from the lockers.
"You definitely aren't," Delia said in a pensive tone while completing the knot, "Which only makes watching you sadder."
Khan revealed a fake smile before recalling something that he had yet to mention. "I'm sorry for Ian. He seemed a good guy."
"We weren't lovers or anything similar," Delia promptly announced before crossing her arms and snorting softly. "He could only dream about that. Still, he has been a good friend. Maybe dying up there has saved him from the anti-mana project."
"Maybe," Khan whispered before trying to stick his knife inside the bandages.
"Don't ruin my masterpiece!" Delia scolded. "Try holding it normally first. It should feel firm enough."
Khan glanced at Delia's slightly annoyed expression before testing her words. It turned out that the bandages helped his tendons and muscles create a firmer grip, allowing him to hold the knife tightly without requiring much strength.
"Told you," Delia announced proudly at the sight of Khan's surprised expression.
The right corner of Khan's mouth inevitably turned upward in front of Delia's earnest approach. Still, Lieutenant Pouille didn't let him appreciate that short peaceful moment for too long.
"Gear up quickly," Lieutenant Pouille ordered. "Get one rifle each and move toward back into the corridor. We have another target to hit before getting into the real mess."
The orders reminded the soldiers about the dangerous part of their mission. Everything was going well and smoothly inside the underground structure due to the Guko and the relative absence of Stal. However, their path would eventually lead to the surface, deep inside the enemy territory.
Khan had only gotten a taste of how battles worked on the surface, but that had been enough to accept the value of weapons. Yet, a problem remained, and he decided to voice it to Delia after picking a rifle from a locker.
"How do you use this thing?" Khan whispered to Delia, who had already turned to sort her things out.
Delia glanced at Khan waving the rifle left and right. She felt the need to laugh at his almost clueless face, but she suppressed that feeling to focus on helping her companion.
"I guess you know how to fire," Delia commented, and Khan promptly nodded. "Everything is a matter of stance then. The butt goes on your shoulder and your other hand on the handguard. This button removes the magazine, but you can refill it by sending mana to the rifle. Still, I suggest you take an additional magazine in case you find yourself empty or tired in the middle of a battle."
"That sounds easy," Khan commented before securing the rifle behind his back through its belt.
"That's how it's meant to be," Delia explained as a tinge of sadness seeped into her voice. "Everyone can fire a weapon. The point is to make even untrained soldiers able to kill."
Khan showed his honest half-smile again in front of Delia's sad comment, but she quickly regained a hint of cheerfulness and nodded before turning again. Khan reminded himself to tie another magazine to the belt with the sheath for the knife before joining the other soldiers.
Lieutenant Pouille let the Guko lead the group into a part of the previously crossed corridor. The alien then tinkered with a wall, and buttons slowly came out of it as it pressed them in seemingly random order.
"I would prepare the rifles," The Guko suggested.
"I thought the place didn't have Stal," Khan complained.
"It doesn't," The Guko explained, "But the other members of my species there might decide to sound the alarm before understanding what's their best chance to survive. A rifle pointed at their heads should solve that."
Khan couldn't argue anymore, and even Lieutenant Pouille felt the Guko's words to be reasonable. A simple gesture with his head made Gloria and other confident marksmen raise their rifles and point them at the wall as they waited for the alien to open the passage.
The Guko pressed one last button, and a whooshing noise resounded in the corridor as the wall started to slide open. The two sides of the metal door moved slowly, but the soldiers quickly noticed three Guko standing on top of narrow staircases that allowed them to oversee a long and bloody metal table.
The Guko immediately stopped what they were doing when the soldiers pointed the rifles at them. Khan couldn't help but notice how those aliens were different from the one leading his group. They had collars around their necks, and they wore dirty and torn rags. Moreover, a few pale bruises tainted their faces, describing how their imprisonment had been far from peaceful.
Khan's eyes soon fell on the table. Blood and other disgusting body parts still occupied its white surface. He even recognized a foot among that mess, and it didn't take him much to connect it to the last soldier taken by from the prison.
"We only vivisect and add information to our register here," The allied Guko explained. "The actual testing workshop is right behind this area."
The allied Guko advanced, and the soldiers followed behind it. Most of them decided to divert their gazes as soon as they understood what the table contained. Some felt angry enough to glare at the aliens on the narrow staircases while moving their hands dangerously close to their rifles, but Lieutenant Pouille made sure to scold everyone with his eyes.
The allied Guko reached the end of that long hall before using some screens to open the wall. Another whooshing noise resounded, and a far different area unfolded in the group's vision.
The second area was big and had a large circular tube that appeared empty at the moment. Yet, a container filled with a dark-blue gas stood at its center and illuminated the entire hall with its dim light.
A series of smaller tubes came out of the circular item and entered the walls before coming out in the first area and going directly at the table's base. The project seemed to have two different phases connected, and the dark-blue gas probably was the product of that study.
"I can give a detailed description of the process," The allied Guko exclaimed. "However, I believe you want to keep these explanations for later. We don't have too much time."
"How much of the anti-mana project is here?" Lieutenant Pouille asked. "You must have other underground labs across the planets."
"There are four more, but they are near the frontlines," The Guko revealed. "As I said before, humans are the best guinea pigs, so the labs have to be close to where they can appear."
"Do these labs share data and updates?" Lieutenant Pouille continued.
"Of course," The Guko declared. "We share information once a day and process everything again to check that no mistakes have happened during the project."
"Can you access the other labs remotely?" Lieutenant Pouille questioned.
"I would need the authorization of the Guko managing them," The alien replied. "I'm afraid that's impossible even if I explain my situation. You can't promise those Guko's safety, so they will never collaborate."
"But you can access this, right?" Lieutenant Pouille asked before continuing without waiting for an answer. "How much would the anti-mana project lose if we wiped this lab clean?"
"Only a day worth of data in terms of immediate loss," The Guko explained. "The greatest loss would be the destruction of valuable equipment that's hard to replace. The project as a whole would take a heavy hit."
Lieutenant Pouille fell silent as he scratched his beard. His underlings could see that he had come inside the lab with a plan, but the last revelations had shattered it.
"I know that you want to stop the anti-mana project," Khan decided to speak, "But we can't remain down here for too long. It's clear that we can't reach the other labs. Let's go back to HQ and regroup before sending forces prepared to study this entire underground structure."
"You really don't get it, do you?" Lieutenant Pouille sighed. "Humans are the best material for this project. What do you think the Global Army will do once it gets its hands on this knowledge?"
A realization abruptly filled Khan's mind. He didn't need to think too much to understand that the Global Army would do everything in its power to obtain the anti-mana energy, even if it meant sacrificing many soldiers in the process.
"Anti-mana can't exist," Lieutenant Pouille stated before a resolute expression appeared on his face. Then, he neared his hand to the allied Guko, and its head exploded after a faint discharge of his vibrations.
****
Author's notes: Okay, I didn't expect chapter 249 to be so long. Let's say that releases will be late again without confirming or denying whether I'll take the partial break on Sunday too.. I honestly want to avoid it, but I don't want the chapters' quality to go down due to my lack of sleep.