Stretching endlessly in the Guna Caves was a tunnel, with the majority of its route horizontal in nature, when viewed from the sky. But for the person within, it seemed like a long, vertical fall, down, and down, and down they go.
An unconscious figure of Asaeya was currently falling through the tunnel, her body mildly spinning in place. Peeking through holes in the tunnel walls were Shifting Ants, observing her falling figure.
Upon noticing her defenceless state, they judged it wasn't necessary to wait until she splattered at the end of the tunnel. She could be killed right away.
With that thought in mind, a group of Shifting Ants leapt out of the holes and began to fall through the tunnel. They angled their bodies during the fall, taking advantage of their aerodynamic proportions and accelerated towards Asaeya, soon approaching within arm's reach of her.
A Shifting Ant flashed its mandibles, intending to clamp apart Asaeya's neck. But there was a sudden shadowy flash, following which the Shifting Ant screeched in pain. Blood jutted out of its carapace as its Spirit Container had been stolen.
Revolving around Asaeya, with its tail tied to her hip was a Mystic Eater, acting as her protector. Unlike the ones used on her before, this Mystic Eater was strong, created using at least a few hundred Prana.
Hence, it was powerful enough to kill a Shifting Ant in one blow. With its Spirit Container forcefully consumed, the Shifting Ant's heart exploded, resulting in its death.
By activating Mystic Bone Art, the Mystic Eater digested the Spirit Container and generated enough Prana to maintain its body. This way, it could keep fighting, beginning to deal with the Shifting Ants that approached Asaeya.
Orakha had a very simple goal in approaching Gannala and Asaeya. By trapping them in the Guna Caves, he would force Inala to focus on saving them.
As a result, Inala would spend valuable time and resources to keep Gannala and Asaeya safe. And the longer he spent here implied the shorter the duration he would have at the Brimgan Empire. That worked in Orakha's favour.
Before he left the Mammoth Clan, he observed the status of all his competitors. Resha was currently treated with the utmost respect in the Mammoth Clan, for he was the sole individual titled the Empyrean Tusk King by the Boar King.
Hence, they were nurturing him with all their might, allowing his strength to bloom by leaps and bounds. Of course, it wasn't as if they were doing this unanimously. They had other intentions too.
And the topmost intention of that was to wed their daughters to him. Currently, Resha was the Mammoth Clansman with the greatest prospects. And the fact that he had succeeded in injuring the terrifying Boar King spoke volumes of his strength.
He was someone who would stand at the very peak of Sumatra Continent in the near future. Therefore, every single Mammoth Clan master with a talented daughter tried their best to match their daughter to Resha.
It was a mess, especially since after the merger, the strength of the Mammoth Clan had risen to a whole new level. With the number of Empyrean Tusks reaching 102, they began to release a formless pressure on their surroundings, incapacitating most Pranic Beasts.
As a result, the Mammoth Clan had an easier time gathering precious resources, including eggs of Silver Grade Pranic Beasts. Due to that, the Academy of Refinement graduates for the past three years were significantly stronger than in the past batches.
And in the centre of all such changes was Resha, who took the helm in guiding their growth. His status spiked to its zenith when Raaha, the Mammoth Clan Chief, the sole cultivator with the strength of a Gold Grade Pranic Beast took in Resha as his disciple.
Because of all these changes, Resha currently had his hands full navigating through the political sphere, caught up in its centre. As a result, he didn't have the time to actively prepare for ownership of the Major Treasure of Attribute.
Yennda was still at the peak of the Spirit Stage and hadn't displayed any development yet. The Mammoth Clan used him as an experimental piece, sending him first into every danger they encountered.
Yennda continued to die at least once a week. His life was pitiful, and he had no option but to remain subservient to the higher-ups.
Blola wasn't any better, used as a revival device for Yennda. After he gained the power of a Transcendent Eater, Blola was busy with his mental battle. He was trying his best to not succumb to the Transcendent Eater's will. Hence, he didn't have the means to prepare for the Attribute.
Grehha was busy nurturing baby Harrala who hadn't hatched from the Empyrean Incubator yet. Therefore, he couldn't do anything else.
Blola, Grehha, Resha, and Yennda currently didn't have the means to contest for the Attribute. That left Inala, Virala, and Orakha.
Based on what he gained from the memories stored in the Transcendent Eater, Orakha realised that the plans of both Inala and Virala ran deep, especially since their progression paths were accumulative in nature.
It meant that the longer the time they were given to develop, the more robust their plans, schemes, and foundation got.
Orakha made some preparations in the background and ensured the hatred behind Resha and Virala deepened. Moreover, he made Grehha, Blola, and Yennda develop feelings of envy towards Virala.
After all, Virala was the sole reincarnate who was comfortably developing and was the only one who had safely and securely managed to realise all his plans.
Orakha made it seem that with the current rate of development, Virala would gain possession of the remaining four Major Treasures. As a result, the reincarnates were trying their best to hinder Virala.
Thanks to their chaotic schemes, Virala's development had slowed down a bit. Therefore, the only other threat Orakha had to majorly guard against was Inala.
Since Inala was away from the Mammoth Clan, Orakha had to personally take on the job of disrupting Inala's growth. Of course, he was aware of their end goal, which was to grow strong enough to kill the Boar King.
That meant the hatred between them shouldn't cross a certain level where all logic flies out the window and they'll treat each other as an enemy that must be vanquished, barring no cost.
Hence, even though he intended to use Gannala and Asaeya to delay Inala's plans, he didn't want them to die as a result of his actions. Hence, it led to the current result where the Mystic Eater actively protected Asaeya.
It had two tasks. The first was to ensure Asaeya remained helpless but safe. The Second was to carry her and remain on the run to ensure Inala's Zingers wouldn't be able to save her. And by the time they reach her, they would be stuck deep within Guna Caves, as a result requiring ample time to make their way out.
Ideally, this process would transpire for a few years. By then, Orakha would have created a solid foundation in the Brimgan Empire.
'And to increase my success rate and delay Inala to the limit, I need to create two targets of worry for him.' Thinking as such, Orakha gathered Prana to his eyes, activating his Human Avatar on the organ alone and observed Gannala's figure from far away, 'I need to trap her in the Guna Caves too.'
After some thought, he began to move once again.