421 Virala Gets Captured
"They are calling it the Parute Tree King. Can you imagine it? One Parute King Fruit can grant us a unit of Prana."
"It feels like the Royals will monopolise it."
"You're right, but they say just this Parute Tree King can produce enough for the needs of all the Royals. It would imply more Parute Fruit supply for the masses. We too would benefit from this."
A trio of men walked on a street, conversing as they carried large bags filled with their purchase of a bunch of necessities. They weren't alone as many others in Fentan City were doing the same.
"See that guy," One of the trios pointed at a stunned man standing rooted to the spot at a corner in shock, "Dude's probably too afraid of a war."
"He's a weak-willed idiot. There are some of them in every city."
"Let's hope they get wiped out in this war. It's embarrassing that these idiots are part of our Empire too."
Despite hearing their insults, the stunned man remained motionless, too shocked to react. Slowly, he regained his bearings before his face scrunched up in response, "Blola, that fucker."
Having taken refuge in the man's Secondary Nature slot was Virala. Upon entering the Brimgan Empire the previous day, Virala didn't waste time and instead switched bodies until he entered the body of the current individual who was bound to Fentan City through the railway.
He wanted to reach his destination as soon as possible, scout out the place first and only then take action. He had just begun to look around Fentan City, intending to slowly make his way to Arlfarah Mansion when news of the Parute Tree King reached here.
After his initial shock, Virala calmed down, 'Well, it doesn't matter. Blola's being obvious of his intentions.'
'You want the Brimgan Empire's stash of Minor Treasures, huh?' Virala muttered, smirking, 'To think we had similar intentions. Too bad, your actions are too high profile.'
The man—that Virala had taken refuge inside—leapt to the top of the building and jumped from one terrace to another, looking around before he soon landed on the tallest building in the city, 'Others will definitely react in response.'
"This is the best moment to detect them." Virala decided to use this chance to survey the positions of Orakha and Inala, confident that the two would take action, 'Blola's actions will mess up all your plans. So, you're forced to deal with him.'
As he looked around, he noticed the figure of Orakha make a beeline towards the Brimgan Empire's exit, using a slithering Mystic Eater as a boat to travel across the Northern Lakes. "There's one."
"Hey, who are you? This is the private property of the City Lord…" A guard noticed his figure and rushed towards him in anger, intending to deal with him. Suddenly, all the blood in his body oozed out in an instant as his withered corpse collapsed to the ground.
"I'm busy here, don't disturb me," The man muttered as all the blood gushed down his throat, "Bah, this blood is nasty."
"Nothing compares to the taste of an Empyrean Tusk's blood." The man spoke as he continued to observe, "Hmm, where is Inala? How come I don't see him?"
'As always, he's a trickier guy.' Thinking as such, Virala influenced the man he inhabited to roam the city, keeping track of anyone who entered or left the city. But despite being at it for hours, he failed to detect any traces of Inala, 'Did he not arrive at the Brimgan Empire yet? How's that possible?'
"Was Blola spewing crap about Inala all along?" He grumbled, feeling bouts of suspicion. But without much choice, he decided to keep watch, thinking that Inala might be employing a variety of methods to remain hidden, 'The Boar King has been visiting this place from time to time. Since Inala is still alive, he probably has some means to avoid being detected as a Mammoth Clansman similar to Orakha.'
'I should broaden my search.' Thinking as such, Virala made the man run, not caring in the least if the man drew attention to himself or died from overexertion. If any problem crops up, he could always switch to the body of another individual. It was as simple as that.
It was almost evening as the man continued to run. But suddenly, his heart rate increased, thumping to an alarming extent, 'Did he go bonkers?'
'No, this is because of me!' Virala realised that he was the reason for the sudden spike in the man's heart rate. He looked around, identifying the cause to be something or someone within a carriage nearby.
'What…is this feeling?' Virala felt odd, enveloped by a strange sensation where he was lured towards the carriage. His thoughts affected the influence he was generating on the man, who ended up walking into the carriage and ended up being run over it.
"Ahh!" The carriage driver shouted in a hurry, applying the brakes in a fluster when it was too late already. The victim was under the wheels.
"What happened?" A voice came from inside the carriage as Asaeya peeked out from the window.
"I…I ran over someone." The driver spoke in fear.
Asaeya jumped out in a hurry, hoping to save the victim. She looked under the carriage and shouted, "Move it forward!"
"Y-Yes," The driver said and moved the carriage following her instructions.
Asaeya approached the victim in a hurry, intending to save him, only to see that he was already dead. His head had been crushed when it was run over by the carriage wheels.
Within the victim's Spirit Container, Virala grunted in alarm as the Spirit Container began to shatter at the owner's death, leaking out all the Prana within it. If he were to stay inside anymore, he would suffer damage when the Spirit Container ruptures.
'I'll enter this woman.' Thinking as such, Virala ejected himself out of the man's body, appearing as an orb outside.
"Hmm? What's this?" Asaeya frowned at the orb that appeared mysteriously. Suddenly, a pair of moustaches jutted out of the orb and slapped the ground, using it to propel the orb towards her. "Aaah!"
Asaeya reacted promptly, evading the orb when the moustache coiled around her arm and pulled itself towards her. But it simply slammed into her body and remained in place, causing Virala to break into a fluster as he observed by seeping Prana through his moustache and remaining in contact with her body, 'She has three Natures? What in the tarnation is she? It's impossible for Free Humans at this point in time to have more than one Nature, since Yarsha Zahara hasn't begun her Free Human development journey yet.'
"Hmph!" Asaeya attacked instinctively, trying to blind the orb while transferring the side effect to the driver, surprised to see that it was effective, 'This orb is a living being?'
'What the fuck? This is the Grim Knell's power!' Virala quickly realised what was happening as he hurriedly took on his human form and leapt back by activating Internal Inertial Gravity, "No wonder you have three natures."
"You're Asaeya!"
"Where are you going?" Suddenly, a cold, omniscient voice resounded behind him as all his senses were cut off. Following that, a powerful punch slammed into him, as if a hill fell on him, sending him crashing into the ground to form a crater.
Gannala landed on his back and crushed his spine, taking the opportunity upon crippling him to read his memories, "No wonder I was feeling a part of my immune system approaching me all along."
"So, this is how you hide, Virala."