"Uncle, is that you this time?" Ruvva asked, hesitant and expectant. She was tired, with her eyes red from having to pummel her uncle so many times, nonstop.
She wouldn’t even bat an eye if she had to kill a number of enemies a thousand times such. However, being forced to attack her uncle, who was pretty much her father figure, and one of the few people she cherished, was heart-wrenching.
"I...am," Orakha nodded, "This time, it’s really me."
"However," Tears streamed down his eyes and he sobbed, "What use is in my return?"
"Everyone is dead."
Orakha gritted his teeth so hard they began to crack, raging, "They...she...everyone is dead. DEAD!"
"I’m alive!" Ruvva used her Skill of Prana Flash to appear before Orakha and hugged him, "I am still alive. You’re not alone."
"You have me here." She then pointed at Moihala, "You have her too."
"You..." Orakha frowned as he stared at Ruvva, "Why do you look so old?"
"And," He eyed Moihala and expressed confusion, "Who are you?"
"Give me a moment." He said and lifted his hand towards the suitcase and caused the remaining six Minor Treasures of Orakha’s Checkpoint to fly into his body. He then closed his eyes and waited until his mindspace was whole.
Now, as he opened them, he was fully aware of everything as he smiled gently towards Moihala, "I apologise for not recognising you before, my Granddaughter."
"My memories are split between the Minor Treasures." As he spoke, he noticed his hand begin to crumble away.
"Why is this happening now?" Ruvva shouted in a fluster, losing her cool, "Uncle, please tell me you’re playing a prank on me! PLEASE!"
"It’s not an issue," Orakha lifted his other hand and patted Ruvva on the head, "I have revived through your puppet, so it’s crumbling away from my Minor Treasure’s influence. There won’t be much of an issue once you fuse them in a new body."
"I will do it right away!" Ruvva got up, intending to capture a Free Human from the Brimgan Empire. Even if they weren’t a citizen, there were prisoners and others whom she could select to temporarily form Orakha’s body.
"Relax," Orakha said and held her hand, "Now that I’m here, it doesn’t matter even if this body crumbles. My mindspace has mostly finished rebuilding and my ten Minor Treasures have already formed. So, unless they are destroyed, you only need to fuse them into another puppet of yours to make me reappear."
"But first," Orakha turned his head towards the Influenced Region of Golden Deity and stared at the figure of Boul Brimgan in his mouth, "It has been a while, Your Majesty."
Followed by a golden flash, Boul Brimgan, in his Human Avatar form, appeared before Orakha, extending his hand for a shake, "Indeed, it has been a while."
"We had to pay a steep price, but we won the war." As he shook hands, Boul Brimgan smiled, "I applaud you for killing Yarsha Zahara. That raised our chances by a lot in the Third Major Disaster."
"I’m sorry," Orakha sighed in a sombre tone, "If it wasn’t for my screwup, Brangara wouldn’t have grown so strong."
"You know how he was like during the Third Major Disaster?" Boul Brimgan asked.
"No," Orakha shook his head, "But as my Minor Treasures rebuilt themselves, they heard bits and pieces from the Forest Boars. I’m not aware of the actual picture?"
He ripped out his ribcage and seeped them into another puppet Ruvva created. Once the influence permeated the puppet, he reappeared and continued the conversation, asking Boul Brimgan, "Do you mind telling me all about it?"
"Sure," Boul Brimgan nodded and began recounting everything, "And towards the end, the Royal Zinger and the Celestial Boar fought an entire day while unleashing their State of Unity. It was insane, to be very frank with you. Their calibre was in a whole other dimension."
"All that happened, huh?" Orakha sighed and grew silent upon recalling the fact that Yarsha Zahara had been using Maroppa’s body. And during the fight, the body was crushed to death.
Sumatra’s Transcendent Eater had already been blocked from the Kalahatra Desert to prevent any unexpected variables. And Blola hadn’t consumed her body either. This meant that there was no way to revive Maroppa.
’She would have lived a better life if she hadn’t encountered me.’ Orakha sighed, trying to control himself, but failed, as tears continued to stream down his face, "I’m sorry."
"Uncle..." Ruvva sat beside him and placed her hand on his back as a form of consolation. She silently offered her support as Orakha continued to cry for a while.
"Hah!" An entire hour of weeping later, after switching over multiple bodies, Orakha stopped crying. He faced Ruvva gratefully, "Thank you."
"You’ve grown to be an exceptional leader, and most of all, a wonderful individual." He said and hugged her, "Thank you for not losing your kindness, no matter how messed up this world is."
Orakha then got up and shook hands with Boul Brimgan once again, "State of Harmony, huh? That’s the pinnacle of this path."
"Did you know about it already?" Boul Brimgan asked.
"No," Orakha shook his head, "I just had an inkling. But there was so much on my mind that I could never think of it fully."
"But now," He pointed at the Golden Giant, "That makes perfect sense."
"It exists to combat Transcendent and Cosmic powers that invade Sumatra." Orakha said, "Your ancestors didn’t know about a State of Unity, but they were concerned about the Transcendents."
"So, they made this arrangement."
Upon reaching the 10-Life Stage, a Brimgan Royal will eventually gain the Secondary Nature of Minor Treasure upon refining their Spirit Weapon to the limit. This was almost impossible with Gold Kinesis Art, but after it was elevated to Mystic Kinesis Art, it became realistic.
Given enough Prana and time, a Brimgan Royal will eventually have ten Minor Treasures. To accelerate this process, they could bask in the influence of the Golden Deity’s stomach. Gaining the Secondary Nature and having at least one Minor Treasure gave them the means to endure and benefit from the influence.
Originally, there were twelve Minor Treasures in the Golden Deity’s eyes, whose influence was mixed into the Major Treasure of Deity’s influence at the stomach. Orakha added Brandal Brimgan’s eight Minor Treasures into it and strengthened the influence and turned it more harmonious.
It was both more destructive and more nurturing.
With that influence, a Brimgan Royal will gain ten Minor Treasures, at which point they could fuse with the Major Treasure of Deity to gain the Tertiary Nature of Deity Fusion.
This will complete their build. From there, they will have to train repeatedly to increase the time they can spend in their Deity Fusion state. Boul Brimgan could accelerate through this process thanks to the Celestial Boar’s lifespan.
But even without it, the influence in the Golden Deity’s stomach could assist with the process. Of course, in comparison, this was hundreds of times slower. If one of them reaches the end, they’ll attain the State of Harmony.
State of Harmony—Brimgan Deity!
"I think there is a level past that." Orakha said, stunning Boul Brimgan, "And you’re trying to reach it."
"There is?" Even Boul Brimgan was surprised by this, "How? What is it?"
"Well, think about it." Orakha pointed at himself, "When that Cosmic Being controlled me, it harnessed my past powers through my Minor Treasures. It used the influence generated by the Minor Treasures as fuel to unleash its attacks."
"Didn’t you say Brangara did something similar?" Orakha said.
"Right," Boul Brimgan nodded, "His Astral World’s influence built his body. But that was only because his body was Astral World’s Influenced Region."
"I don’t have a Major Treasure."
"You don’t, but you have the next best thing." The more he spoke, the more Orakha felt inspired, "You’ve been hit brutally by Unlimited Predator. But somehow, you’re still alive."
"That’s because Unlimited Predator is only effective against flesh and blood. I’m in my Human avatar form..." Boul Brimgan explained.
"But it’s a State of Unity," Orakha interjected, "And it influences the terrain too, right?"
The radiation released by a State of Unity was similar to the pillar of light released by a Major Treasure. It would alter the terrain similar to how the Major Treasure created an Influenced Region, "Kalahatra Desert changed completely because of the fight between the Royal Zinger and the Celestial Boar. Towards the end, they suppressed the destructive aspects of their State of Unities and turned the entire region into a blessed land."
"So," Orakha pointed at Boul Brimgan, "Unlimited Predator should have destroyed your Human Avatar by now or changed its inherent makeup. The fact that you’re still alive is due to two reasons."
First, Mystic Kinesis Art was stealing the mental aspects of Unlimited Predator and refining the Kinesis Felines with it. That was how Boul Brimgan was able to release traces of Unlimited Predator’s effects through the Kinesis Feline’s destructive beam.
Second, "In your State of Harmony, you are pretty close to a Major Treasure in terms of existence. That’s why you are alive and why you’ve been able to refine the characteristics of Unlimited Predator in your destructive beam."
"I think even though your ancestors neither knew nor thought this far ahead or even be aware of such a possibility, but thanks to Rirenal, this is possible." Orakha said, "You won’t have to die, Your Majesty."
"Or rather, instead of just leaving behind your build, you can exist as your build and protect the Brimgan Empire through the ages."