"You smell like my kin. Who are you exactly?" Brangara’s words resounded casually in the council, but caused the Councilmen to shudder in response.
"Impossible! You...were supposed to be dead!" One of the Councilmen gasped in shock as he blinked and found himself held in a chokehold by Brangara.
"It’s our previous Chief’s Partial Transformation," Councilman Hyak shouted in a hurry and rallied the rest of the Councilmen. It seems his madness progressed in a specific direction, allowing him to break free from his imprisonment."
"I’m afraid he considers himself as Brangara at the moment." By then, all the Councilmen except Yoribu had assumed Pranic Beast forms.
Yoribu hesitated for an instant before assuming Boar King form, flinching when Brangara’s attention fell back to her spontaneously in response.
"Oh, a Boar King." His face beamed with a faint smile as Brangara let go of his grip on the Councilman’s neck. He ignored the other party that leapt back to assume Pranic Beast form and instead flickered before Yoribu, "You are indeed my kin."
"Now, answer my question. Who are you?" He asked with interest.
"My father was named ParuBuntara, son of Brana. My mother is NualBuntara, daughter of Braga." Yoribu said, instinctively kneeling before Brangara, "We’re based in the Terkuton District, and I was granted the name of YoriBuntara at birth."
"After becoming a Mystic Human, I assumed the name of Yoribu."
[I’m not detecting any madness in his behaviour. He truly seemed to have recovered. His presence is showing obvious signs of Mystic Nature Art being active.]
[That means during the recovery process, there was an identity mishap.]
[Our Chief indeed mentioned about risks in using Pranic Beasts with the Nature of Cultivator in them. But it couldn’t be verified, since such examples can be counted in one hand.]
[One of my subordinates has sent a message to the Brimgan Empire. It might take a couple of days before the Chief returns.]
[Until then, let’s just treat the previous Chief amicably. He’s simply too strong for us to face. Even during his madness, he could easily defeat all of us, not to mention when he’s completely sane now.]
[Alright, we’ve reached a consensus then!]
While Yoribu introduced herself, the rest of the Councilmen rapidly discussed using Information Slips. By extending their Prana within their Spirit Weapon range, each Councilman condensed Spirit Containers in the mouths of the receiver, using them as an Information Slip.
The receiver swallowed the Spirit Container to gain access to the information in the Information Slip. To facilitate this process, they all kept their mouths slightly open, ever so little, not obvious to the sight, but open enough for a stream of Prana to enter the mouth and condense a Spirit Container.
"Terkuton District? Oh, I remember now. You were just a baby when I last saw you." Brangara’s eyes widened in remembrance, "Your parents were pretty talented. I was looking forward to their contribution. But..."
"You changed your name? Why?" Brangara frowned, eyeing Yoribu, "What is wrong with YoriBuntara?"
"That’s because she is the ruler of the second greatest Empire of Free Humans." Councilman Hyak reverted to human form and walked forward to address Brangara, "She’s the Varahan Empress."
"Varahan...Empress?" Brangara felt a mild migraine as he extended his hand towards Yoribu, "I need an explanation."
He demanded an Information Slip, as hearing about whatever had happened would only spoil his mood over time. It was best to take in everything at once and then come to terms with it.
"Of course," Yoribu subtly eyed Councilman Hyak and brought out a Spirit Container cluster upon seeing the other party nod to show the response of all the Councilmen. She used psychokinesis to extend the Spirit Container cluster to Brangara and watched the other party swallow it instantly, ’This insane eating speed...it’s great-grandfather, alright.’
’I...the Celestial Boar is dead? Yarsha is dead? How? Barla became an Empyrean Boar King? Astral Puncture? What the fuck is that?’ Brangara grabbed his forehead in pain. "The civil war split the Varahan Empire between the Wean Clansmen and the Free Humans?"
"And worst of all..." Brangara grumbled, ’The Quip Clan came to protect the Varahan Empire against the Cooter Clan?’
"Wow, I feel completely lost here." Brangara groaned and slumped on the chief’s chair, being silent for a few minutes. He then stared at the faces of all the Councilmen, able to perceive their mental states even if he didn’t want to, ’So, this is Virala’s mind. A mere glance, and I can see that they intend to accommodate me until the person they are waiting for arrives.’
"So," He stared at his seat, which sported the most decoration of all, "Who is your leader now?"
Seeing the Councilmen hesitate, Brangara stared at Yoribu, "Tell me, child."
"It’s Ruvva," Yoribu answered after a mild hesitation, "She’s the Chief of the Mystic Human Council."
"Ruvva?" At the mention of the name, every related memory went off in his mindspace, which wasn’t much, as Virala only had a few, short interactions with Ruvva. And upon recalling her appearance, Brangara involuntarily revealed a wide smile, ’Technically, she’s your daughter, Virala. However, her face makes you shit bricks.’
He recalled the time at the Varahan Mansion when Virala just gained his Tertiary Body by consuming Brangara’s body. At that moment, Virala was filled with Brangara’s presence, no different from the original, which was how he managed to fool Yarsha Zahara’s senses.
’Biologically speaking, Ruvva not only looks like me, but is also genetically close to me, since when they did the deed, Virala was in a state that was a mirror to my self in all parameters.’ He analysed, ’Basically, she’s more of my daughter than Virala’s. Oh...wait! In my current state, aren’t I fully her father?’
"Why is the Chief not present in her territory?" Brangara eyed the Councilmen, "Aren’t you treating her safety with absolute carelessness?"
"There isn’t anything out there that can harm her." Councilman Hyak muttered under his breath.
"You sure?" Brangara picked up his statement and pressed further, "Are you absolutely sure there isn’t anyone on Sumatra who can harm her?"
"Even if there is, no one has a reason to target her, and suffer the consequences for doing so." Yoribu answered.
"Why is that the case?" Brangara was puzzled. "And for what reason does she even need to leave this place?"
"You...I mean, your Celestial Boar self met her in the past and didn’t even lift a hand against her." Yoribu said, "You know the reason, since she..."
"Looks just like me, I got that part." Brangara nodded, "But is that all? The Celestial Boar is dead, right? So, who’s to say my old enemies won’t try to take revenge on..."
"There’s none," Yoribu expressed confidently.
"Really?" It came as a surprise to Brangara, "What about the Mammoth Clan? The Cooter Clan?"
"You destroyed the Mammoth Clan," Yoribu explained, "We haven’t seen any Mammoth Clansman after that. As for the Cooter Clan..."
She scoffed, "They don’t dare make the Brimgan Empire their enemy."
"..." Brangara nodded casually, felt as if his hearing was an issue, and then shouted a few seconds later, "What?"
"Ruvva is pretty much the ruling authority of the Brimgan Empire, and the mother of their next Brimgan Emperor, who will inherit Boul Brimgan’s Mystic Grade build." Yoribu pointed at herself next, "Through me and Ruvva, the Mystic Humans are now backed by both the Varahan and Brimgan Empires. And in the future, more Free Human Kingdoms and Empires would follow suit..."
"Alright," Brangara waved his hand and then demanded an Information Slip, "Tell me everything I’ve missed out on."
One after another, the Councilmen gave Brangara one Information Slip after another, until Brangara was up to date with all the major events and relationships on Sumatra, ’So, as a result of my Celestial Boar self’s fight, beings from other Continents are about to invade soon. As a result, all the major forces are busy making preparations, and anyone who moves against this is seen as a common threat and is swiftly destroyed.’
It allowed him to understand why the Quip Clan moved to protect both the Wean Clan and the Varahan Empire, ’They’ll be the first line of defence against the invaders.’
He was then given the complete Varahan Challenge by Councilman Hyak, which made him gasp in amazement at the degree of development both KalTara and Narkahamy had displayed.
And most of all, seeing the earth-shattering fight during the Third Major Disaster turned him silent, ’After Virala died, the battle only grew more intense, huh?’
"The lot of you can resume your work. Treat it as if I’m not here." Saying so, Brangara closed his eyes, "I’ll wait until Ruvva arrives. Until then,"
"I need time to think."
With that, his body refused to budge as Brangara had a lot to think about and analyse. His brain pretty much operated as Virala’s, which gave him a new perspective on things. He wanted to fully integrate the beneficial traits of this brain into his thought process, ’I might be strong, but Astral Puncture can casually one-shot me. And I can’t seem to enter the 2-Life Stage.’
’Oh, seems Ruvva has my second body, probably as insurance. In my Ewworm form, I can be stored easily.’ He continued to think, ’She has distributed my Minor Treasures between herself and the Mystic Human Council. I need them, but let’s wait and see first.’
Since the Councilmen don’t dare harm him, Brangara could freely take his time to think. After all, when comparing just one body alone, his current self was stronger than Virala from the Third Major Disaster.
’The amount of strength I can harness in my arms and legs through psychokinesis...is a level higher than Virala.’ The Empyrean Boar King’s body was his originally, to begin with. For Virala, it was a transformation. But for Brangara, it was his own body. And he could use his power the best.
Silently, Brangara listened to the discussion among the Councilmen, oftentimes feeling lost. It was like in mathematics, he knew about addition and subtraction. But now, multiplication and division had been introduced in his absence.
So, even regular conversations took him some time to analyse, ’A lot of things have developed and become more complex.’
He then went through Kvirala’s memories to get an in-depth perspective of the Varahan Empire from the ground up, and also understood how terrifying the duo of Kvirala and Binala were. From his perspective, which had stopped at the Varahan Mansion, the duo were still ants.
’But now, they are giants.’ Reaching this point in thought, Brangara continued to analyse the rest of his memories to fully become aware of everything he possibly could. Did he wish to take revenge? Not really, since his enemies were either dead or on the verge of dying.
Did he intend to reunite with his family? That wasn’t it either. In his perspective, his family only consisted of Yarsha Zahara and their six children. Of them, only Barla was alive, who was the only individual he intended to meet.
For a moment, he was saddened by the fact that she had become the Empyrean Boar King, especially after going through everything Virala and the rest of Mystic Seven had done to her to turn her against the Celestial Boar.
’If there’s anything I want, it’s to help her and give her salvation.’ Subtly, he clenched his hand into a fist, ’She’s not a weapon for your use.’
Two days later, Ruvva arrived at the Abode of the Mystics.