There was a thunderclap, followed by a rumble as a humanoid figure landed at the foot of a mountain, making a fifty-metre-wide crater. Half a second later, the figure vanished, leaping for over two hundred metres casually.
Depending on the terrain, the jumping distance increased.
Kriek!
"Is that him?" A Quip Zinger part of an arrow formation in the sky asked, continuing to glide in unison with his team.
"You haven’t seen the Third Major Disaster, right?" One of the oldest Zinger Aristocrats at the scene commented, fully relaxed now. Seeing the expressions of confusion on the faces of the quip Zingers, she chuckled, "Then you’ll be in for a treat."
"That existence is our trump card, one so strong he can take care of any situation," The Zinger Aristocrat announced, "One so powerful only our Deity can command."
"One that stands at the pinnacle of Sumatra, acting as our Clan’s greatest spear and shield," Her voice oozed pride as her eyes locked on the jumping figure, "That’s the existence we’re witnessing now."
"The Quip Guardian!"
The figure arrived at a stop at the peak of a mountain and stared into its crater, the voice casual, tinged with mild curiosity and moody irritation, "Is this the place?"
Root stood without a semblance of worry, his stance that of someone who didn’t have a predator. After all, he was the ultimate predator of Sumatra, capable of eating even the Transcendent Eater. Casually, he surveyed the corpses that littered the place and then lifted his head to stare at the closest Zinger Aristocrat, "Is he inside this place?"
"Yes," The Zinger Aristocrat instinctively felt gliding in the sky was dangerous and hence landed on the ground. Taking on a crouched stance in her human form, she bowed, "He’s fled into the Mrutch Sea."
"Anything special about this place?" Root asked.
"It reacts with the Stromar Cliff to produce Krave Fil..." The Zinger Aristocrat shut up when Root’s breath grew a notch stronger.
"I meant," Root rolled his eyes, "Is there anything special about the region that I need to guard against?"
"No," The Zinger Aristocrat burst into laughter.
"I expected as such," Root patted the other party on the head and jumped into the crater. "Then, let me deal with our deity’s unofficial reincarnation."
Mystic Royal Art—Piezo Resonance!
A shockwave rippled through the Mrutch Sea, with Root as the centre, spreading far and wide at speeds around 1.4 times the speed of sound. Root casually slithered through the water, waiting for a response.
A few minutes later, there was a trigger, causing his expression to light up, "There you are."
Zinger World—Homing Satellite!
Zinger World—Perfect Biome Domination!
A Homing Satellite was created using the localised water, which was then reshaped into a fish using Perfect Biome Domination. And then, hovering in its centre, Root completely hid his presence, perfectly blending into the surroundings.
The fist then slithered forward, quickly accelerating to its top speed, pulsating with shockwaves from time to time in an effort to sense the target’s position, ’Oh?’
Root raised an eyebrow, "He’s fast. Well, I expected at least this much. Otherwise, I would have been offended to have been sent to hunt a weak prey."
The fish continued to swim through the waters as one after another, Root released Homing Satellites made using localised water. This helped them camouflage in the region, from where they moved slowly, hoping to hold Inala back for as long as possible.
In the meantime, the Quip Zingers had positioned at least one of them in every crater of the Stromar Cliff. This way, if Inala were to come out of any of them, they would spontaneously release a Zinger Shriek, which would alert the rest of the Quip Clan.
The chase lasted for two hours, following which Root realised that he wasn’t going to catch up to Inala anytime soon, ’He knows I have land superiority. I’m not as fast underwater, so he can buy time here.’
’It’s a good plan,’ Root left the Mrutch Sea and walked on a mountain, releasing a Zinger Shriek.
[Send all the stored Prana Bombs to me!]
Immediately in response, Zinger Aristocrats launched themselves into the sky using the Quip Towers, carrying with each a pile of Prana Bombs. These Prana Bombs had been collected by the Quip Zingers who had targeted the Rascls with them.
"Yumm!"
Expert Mystic Grade Pranic Beast—Quip Guardian!
Reverting to his Pranic Beast form, Root opened his mouth and watched the Prana Bombs land accurately in his mouth. He casually crunched and swallowed them all, displaying a voracious appetite.
A stream of Prana Bombs meandered through the sky, launched using the Nature of Accel Hurl with the aid of Prana Stitch by the Zinger Aristocrats. This stream sunk into the quip Guardian’s mouth as none in the region dared interrupt the process.
Even though Root hadn’t released his presence, the Rascls nearby had already fainted, instinctively able to perceive the ultimate predator before them that triggered the worst of their panic response.
"That’s enough." A few minutes later, Root closed his mouth, crunched a few times and swallowed for the last time. He patted his stomach and reverted to human form, "Be on the alert. I’ll make him surface soon."
During his feasting process, Root had already been given all the information about the region through Piezo Slips. That was enough for him to formulate a plan.
Upon plunging into the Mrutch Sea, Root circulated the water in his Spirit Weapon Range after making the boundary layer of his Biome similar to the surrounding water.
Zinger World—Perfect Biome Domination!
He was just using one, but slowly, he generated a water current that aligned with the currents of the Mrutch Sea. He was merely giving the currents a suggestion through the external force he had added, causing a pressure difference to eventually form in a certain section.
And then...there was a rumble, resulting in another flash flood.
Swimming at a location over a hundred kilometres away was Inala, comfortably riding the two Muscls who took turns moving through the water like a bullet. He went through his reserve of Spirit Weapons, categorising most of them as useless against the Quip Guardian, ’It’s not much of a question, huh?’
Rutham, Billakin, Millanir, and Shield of Thorns, they were all Inala could rely upon in this situation. Millanir and Shield of Thorns were a necessity to counter Perfect Biome Domination. Billakin and Rutham were what would allow him to hold his ground.
"There is plenty I could do, but nothing will work long-term against him." Inala muttered as one of the Muscls moved deeper into the Mrutch Sea, "His recovery means far outpaces me."
Root didn’t need a Biome Bomb to replenish his Prana. He could simply eat stuff and recover at a similar pace. Therefore, a protracted battle meant shit against him.
On ground, he had enough speed to catch up to Inala even after resting for a couple of days. ’If I have to survive, there’s only one way in the present scenario.’
It was to escape to a place that the Quip Guardian wouldn’t be able to find or reach, at least in the short term. With it, Inala hoped to buy enough time to reach the Mystic Grade.
The Ravaged Federation was actually a good place to flee to. Inala was currently trying to find a path for it at the Mrutch Sea.
Mysterious ripples would form in water bodies that would suck in Ravaged Tribesmen and transport them to the Ravaged Federation. This arrangement had been done across all the water bodies on Sumatra Continent. They would only appear in the presence of a Ravaged Tribesman.
As long as Inala reveals the presence of a Ravaged Tribesman, he would be sucked by it. It was dangerous being dropped to the Ravaged Tribe, as its ocean was currently under the Quip Clan’s control.
However, Inala had the means to flee from there and eventually escape into the territory of either the Mystic Humans or the Brimgan Empire. He knew what he had to give up to be sheltered by these two forces, even against the Quip Clan.
’It must be somewhere around here!’ He thought as the Muscl carried by while he released the presence of a Ravaged Tribesman. As long as he manages to trigger it, he will be carried by a secret water channel.
An hour’s search later, his eyes lit up as a ripple formed in the water around him that soon turned into a whirlpool.
As if it were completely natural, the whirlpool separated Inala from the two Muscls, for they had the presence of a Pranic Beast. The whirlpool wrapped around him and formed a bubble, which forced him into a state of sleep.
Inala was able to resist it. However, the whirlpool got violent, like a storm, rattling him. It only seemed intent to carry him once he was unconscious. And until he falls unconscious, the whirlpool would play with him.
’Fine!’ Inala raised his fist and aimed at his jaw, about to knock himself unconscious when the whirlpool vanished, "Urk!"
He felt the pressure spike around him, and suddenly, the volume of water in the entire region around him began to be forced up, ’This place shouldn’t be part of a flash flood.’
He had purposefully moved deep enough to avoid them, but somehow, he was still caught up in one, ’Did Root generate new water currents to manipulate this? He’s capable of it, if he has Perfect Biome Domination and the knowledge of the water currents of the Mrutch Sea.’
’But how did the Quip Clan gather all these details in such a short while?’ He clicked his tongue as the water carried him into a mountain and ejected him into the sky through a geyser. "Shit!"
Kriek!
Inala glared from the sky, hearing a Zinger Shriek go off in the distance. And in response, a figure hopped over the mountain peaks and approached him, "Fine!"
"If I can’t avoid you, I’ll fight!"