?442 How Long Can You Endure?
Originally, Inala had no idea about the Dance of Annihilation's function. Hence, he didn't intend to steal all the Dance of Annihilations from the Mammoth Ancestor's severed tusk. It was a valuable relic from the past, the only one of its kind.
If it has any significant uses, destroying it by stealing all the Dance of Annihilations from it would be the epitome of foolishness. Besides, it seemed like the severed tusk would replenish the number of Dance of Annihilations in it over time, even if probably required a millennium to generate a new Dance of Annihilation.
Hence, Inala stopped upon gaining three Dance of Annihilations, content since he, Asaeya, and Gannala had one each. That was enough for their needs. And in the future, he planned to understand it better and use it for their benefit.
But once Gannala obtained Virala's memories, they realised that the Dance of Annihilation was an ability that was unleashed through the Nature of Weaponisation. If Virala were to obtain it, the Mammoth Clan would face a risk of annihilation.
As a result, Inala decided to gather the rest of the Dance of Annihilations. Once he recovered from the side effects of using his stomach biome and managed to suppress his male side's influence through Gannala, Inala hurried towards Karuta Hill.
It would be risky to create a biome in his stomach once again, as he had just managed to suppress its influence. Hence, he simply carried six Empyrean Zingers in their miniature forms. They were placed in a Prana Bomb that he carried in a bag.
Without direct physical contact, and as he didn't unleash any Prana into it, his Tertiary Nature of Spatial Immune System wasn't activated. Hence, Inala didn't have to worry about his influence growing once again.
Upon arriving at the scenic restaurant that showcased a breathtaking view into the valley with the Mammoth Ancestor's severed tusk, Inala casually sipped tea while he sent the six Empyrean Zingers down the cliff.
Through their shrieks at a frequency inaudible to others, the Empyrean Zingers communicated with Inala, informing him every time they gained a Dance of Annihilation. There were four left in the severed tusk. They had already gained two.
But while in the process of getting a third Dance of Annihilation, Virala targeted them. And shockingly, his Nature of Weaponisation caused the Dance of Annihilations to react and synchronise, following which they flowed out of the Empyrean Zingers and entered his body.
Before they committed suicide, the Empyrean Zingers transmitted all the relevant information to Inala through their shrieks. Immediately, he became aware that not only did Virala gain the third and fourth Dance of Annihilation from the severed tusk, but he also managed to instantly extract it from the bodies of the two Empyrean Zingers that had become grains.
'Should I run? Or should I strike?' He had the thought. But upon seeing that Virala had revealed his Empyrean Tusk form in a rush, Inala instantly thought up a scheme to make Virala suffer some losses. Otherwise, as someone who gained four Dance of Annihilations to do who knows what, his growth was bound to accelerate further.
'The Brimgan Royals would be arriving soon to target him. As long as I keep his mind occupied until then, my task will become easy.' Upon arriving at this thought, Inala put on a show where he remained unaffected by Virala's actions and calmly gazed at the latter.
In his high of superiority, Virala felt triggered by Inala's actions and glared at the latter. Since Inala's appearance and presence were different from his original self, Virala was unable to recognise him. Hence, while he glared at Inala, he didn't keep track of the ticking time, giving more than enough time for the attacks from the Brimgan Royals to reach him.
Once their attacks struck him, Inala took the chance to slip away from Virala's line of sight and appeared at his back, launching his attacks.
His Prana Bomb could absorb ten units of Prana every second. When turned into a Prana Hand, its efficiency dropped further. But that was in the past.
During his time at the Dralh Sea, his Prana Blood Skill had been improved drastically by the Empyrean Zingers, improving the rate at which he could absorb Prana through his Prana Hands.
Moreover, once the stream of Prana trailing between him and the Prana Hands was replaced by the Prana string created using the Minor Treasure of Tangible Psychokinesis, Inala became able to absorb a whopping 15 units of Prana through a single Prana Hand.
This was an exorbitant increase in strength, something only he could unleash thanks to the aid of his Minor Treasure. With four Prana Hands in action, he managed to steal 60 units of Prana every second from Virala.
As he didn't have any Empyrean Zingers to assist him, Inala had to fight on his own. But that wasn't a worry, as the Brimgan Royalty were on their way to the place. Once they were within visible range, Inala would have to retract his Prana Hands to avoid revealing his power.
He will be behaving as if the power of his Human Avatar was Tangible Psychokinesis. And using this opportunity by bravely facing an Empyrean Tusk, Inala would get closer to the Brimgan Royals. That wasn't originally in his plans, but since a chance presented itself, he hurriedly came up with a plan of action to benefit from it.
The Skill of Puppetry only allowed him to control four Spirit Weapons without a loss in efficiency. But that didn't mean he couldn't control more. Every cultivator could control more than one Spirit Weapon, but the exponential drop in efficiency was the reason they refrained from using multiple Spirit Weapons.
In Inala's case, the drop in efficiency started from a fifth Spirit Weapon. Usually, he refrained from using it as it wasn't worth it. But in the current situation where he was getting 60 Prana every second, he had a surplus to use a fifth Spirit Weapon, despite the loss in efficiency.
He was currently using this fifth as a string of Prana to hop around like a grasshopper to scuttle around and evade Virala's Empyrean Tusk attacks.
In the current situation, reverting to a human form was risky for Virala, for the Spirit Weapons of the Brimgan Royals would be able to sever his body easily. Only in his Empyrean Tusk form could he tank them without much issues.
Even when his eyes were gouged out by the Fentan City Lord, he only spent a few seconds to regenerate the organ. Moreover, his exoskeleton was robust enough to tank the strongest of their attacks, preventing them from actually reaching the muscles inside.
Kurr-alalala!
Unleashing a trumpet, Virala inhaled copious amounts of air, compressed them in his trunk, and blasted forth an explosive gust towards the ground, intending to use the shockwave to send the bug stealing his Prana flying away.
But as the gust of wind slammed into Inala, he protected himself with a Prana Bomb armour and raised his density to the limit. Moreover, using the five strings of Tangible Psychokinesis, he tethered himself to Virala's proximity.
Suddenly, his blood broiled and intended to escape his body. Inala realised that Virala had used the Nature Weapon of Leech. Since he knew the ability's effect, he had a counter prepared in advance.
The Prana Bomb layer on his body covered him fully, preventing any gaps. Hence, the effect of the Nature Weapon of Leech failed to penetrate him, for the Prana in it was absorbed by the Prana Bomb armour when it slammed into Inala.
As a result, blood resumed its flow in his body, unaffected by Virala's Nature Weapon of Leech. He then tugged a string of Prana, cranked himself closer to the latter, and activated his Skill of Prana Claw to form a gash.
"Hmph!" He activated Internal Inertial Gravity in his claws to strengthen them, following which he swiped once again and carved out a large piece of exoskeleton from Virala's Empyrean Tusk form, 'Let's see how long you can endure this.'
'The moment you assume human form to make an escape is when I'll capture you.' He thought and intensified his attacks, watching a group of Brimgan Royals in the sky brought over by a Spirit Weapon, rapidly approaching the location. 'They're almost here!'