"Steady," Inala said as he carefully took baby Gannala from Asaeya. She was exhausted, having had to constantly take care of baby Gannala's needs.
The baby was an Empyrean Tusk, despite her human appearance. As a result, her appetite was voracious. Of course, her waste products were equally terrifying.
Once Asaeya walked out of the biggest Prana Bomb through the entrance that had been cracked, Inala shut the entrance, intending to later dump it in the river. All the Prana Bombs and Life Bombs preserved in it had already been consumed.
Holding the baby Gannala, he observed her, sighing upon sensing an instinct envelop him, making him feel warmth towards her. 'Haah!'
He sighed once and then took out a vial from his pocket. That was something he created after purchasing the necessary ingredients from Ellora City. It was a sleep-inducing agent.
Inala made the baby Gannala inhale it, putting her in a state of deep sleep. He then took out a syringe that he had personally refined, using it to extract her blood, little by little.
While doing so, he also fed her the fluid in a Life Bomb, replenishing her lost blood without harming her baby body.
Once he had collected enough blood, he returned her to Asaeya, "Alert me if she's about to wake up."
"Okay," Asaeya said and stared at Inala, worried. His current condition wasn't in the least optimal.
Reddish eyes, dark circles reaching his cheeks, blood dripping out of his orifices, and an overall weak presence, as if he was on the verge of death. Inala was in a sickly state, having pushed himself repeatedly to use the Blood Prana Skill without healing from its side effects.
"You should rest." Asaeya expressed her worry. "At this rate, you'll die."
"I won't die," Inala said, serious, "I have no plans on dying so soon. So, you needn't worry."
"I know my limits."
"If you say so," Even though Asaeya acted convinced, she was worried about his condition. 'I can't do anything to him.'
She was strong, yes. But outside battles, she was of no help to him. 'No, I should make myself more useful.'
"It's fine. I'm almost done anyway." It seemed Inala was aware of her thoughts based on her body language as he consoled her.
After consuming the contents of four Life Bombs, he waited a couple of minutes before chopping off his legs.
"Inala!" Asaeya shouted in a fluster.
"Quiet," Inala said, not even flinching at the pain. Or rather, he was numb. Not numb to pain, but in his severely exhausted state, his brain couldn't even process the pain. "Don't do anything that'll wake baby Gannala."
Mystic Bone Art—Puppetry!
He refined his legs to a form that was an exact replica of baby Gannala. He then created a Life Bomb and made it gently touch baby Gannala, retracting it a second later.
Present in it was a tinge of her lifeforce and Prana. Inala shrunk the Life Bomb and placed it in the location where the heart ought to exist. He then began to insert various organs into the puppet, all extracted from his body after he turned himself young to the limit after becoming a female.
Baby Gannala's blood, lifeforce, and Prana; since she was his daughter, once he turned himself into a woman and used his organs to create the puppet's body, the end result was a puppet with baby Gannala's presence.
For the final act, he took baby Gannala and erected a Prana Bomb around them. He waited patiently until the effects of the sleep-inducing agent wore off, watching baby Gannala wake up.
"Gua!" She let out a smile and stared at him, excited, "Dada!"
"Dada!"
"I'm sorry," Inala felt his heart lurch upon seeing the baby's excitement at his presence. He pinched her sensitive thigh, watching baby Gannala cry in pain. Seeing her crying expression felt like his heart was being slammed repeatedly by a hammer. "Sorry!"
"Don't dry, don't cry. There, there!" A minute later, he began to console her, not even realising since when, but tears were streaming out of his eyes too. He had yet to come to terms with her existence. But things were forcing his hand, burdening his emotional state even further.
It took him close to an hour before he managed to console baby Gannala. Upon noticing that she was hungry, he fed her the fluid from a lifeforce-rich Life Bomb. After having her fill, baby Gannala fell asleep.
Since she was regularly consuming lifeforce-rich fluid, her development was pretty much the strongest among all Empyrean Tusks. Any defects she might have gained after being birthed by a lacking human were all taken care of by the rich lifeforce she constantly consumed.
In terms of Empyrean Tusks, she was the healthiest. Inala stared at her sleeping face in a daze for a couple of hours, his mind a mess. In the end, he shattered the Prana Bomb and walked out, giving her back to Asaeya. "I need a bit of your blood now."
"Take as much as you need," Asaeya said and used her Prana to grab hold of one of Inala's prepared syringes and extracted her blood.
"That's enough." Inala created a puppet of her next. He had already created his own puppet.
After placing the three puppets in the cave, he took out a part from his pocket. It was his throat—from his female form—that he had extracted and refined. Using the Bone Slip Skill in conjunction with Mystic Skill Creator, he recorded baby Gannala's crying voice in it.
And now, he inserted it into the puppet resembling baby Gannala, watching a realistic result. "It's done."
Taking in a deep breath, he activated the three puppets. Immediately in response, the heads of the Inala puppet and Asaeya puppet flew off and slammed into the cave walls, coming to a stop as blood leaked out of their bodies.
The blood splattered throughout the cave. And in response, the baby Gannala puppet opened its mouth and unleashed its cries.
"Uwaa!"
"Uwa!"
Hearing the voice, Inala felt his heart lurch, sighing in relief, "It's working."
Immediately in response, his Internal Inertial Gravity flared up, feeling a mild sense of fear. That was a sign of the Boar King rushing in his direction.
Inala closed his eyes and felt the rate at which the source of fear drew near, 'He's at least twenty times slower than before. It seems I failed to lure him properly. As a result, he fought the herd. I hope damage has been kept to a minimum.'
After observing for an hour in a meditative state, Inala's eyes shot open as he muttered, "He'll arrive in four days."
"Do we wait until then?" Asaeya asked.
"Nope, we're fleeing immediately." Inala got up, ready to act.