?445 Fooling Everyone
"STOP!" Virala roared in rage as he pointed his hand towards Inala and was about to unleash an artillery strike, one that was strong enough to shred apart Inala.
But knowing his intentions, Inala's two strings of Prana—that were holding a Nature Weapon each—coiled before him to form a protective shield. Upon seeing his actions, Virala could only grit his teeth and avoid unleashing an artillery strike.
After all, if it were to hit the Nature Weapons, they would be destroyed. The Nature Weapons were a product of Weaponisation, a Nature of Mammoth Clansmen. Therefore, even though all Nature Weapons had different colours and patterns, they were, at the end of the day, a condensed form of the source body—flesh, blood, and bones.
Due to the effects of Weaponisation, they had a bony exterior, which only made them more vulnerable to a Centinger's power. As a result, there was a good chance the Nature Weapons would become unusable if even a single spike from the artillery strike touched it.
Had it been any other Nature Weapon, Virala wouldn't have minded it and simply attacked Inala. But the two in his possession were valuable Nature Weapons. He wouldn't have cared much about the Mystic Nature Weapon of Tunnel. Its source was Shifting Ants, weaklings present in large numbers at the Guna Caves.
By equipping the Nature Weapon of Tusk, Virala could employ Internal Inertial Gravity to freely hunt in the Guna Caves. Therefore, creating another Mystic Nature Weapon of Tunnel wasn't impossible. It would take some time, yes, but that's it.
However, the case was different for the Gold Nature Weapon of Leech. This was sourced from the Decaleeches present in the Sticky-Slip Plateau. Normally, Decaleeches remained in hiding and were difficult, if not impossible to detect.
Only thanks to the Mammoth Clan's rampage were they lured out, drawn by the ocean of blood present in the bodies of every single Empyrean Tusk. And as the Mammoth Clan retaliated, many Decaleeches were critically injured.
Only by taking advantage of that situation was Virala able to hunt enough Decaleeches to upgrade his Nature Weapon of Leech to Gold Grade. Even that was very hard and he barely managed to succeed.
Getting another Gold Nature Weapon of Leech was impossible if he were to try to hunt on his own. Forget creating one quickly, even if he were to camp at the Sticky-Slip Plateau, it would take him decades to make another one like it.
Virala didn't have the freedom of time on his hands to focus on obtaining a single Gold Grade Nature Weapon. What was even more frustrating was the fact that the Nature Weapon of Leech was the core of his skillset. It was what he relied upon to remain undetectable while he hid in the bodies of others.
Without it, the moment he enters the Nature Slot of someone, they'll sense his presence and actions. It meant that they could actively guard against his influence. Iron Grade Pranic Beasts or their human equivalent wouldn't be capable of resisting his influence, but the same cannot be said about Advance or Expert Silver Grade Pranic Beasts and their mutant variety, not to mention Gold Grade Pranic Beasts.
His range of actions would be severely limited. As a result, no matter what happened, Virala couldn't afford to lose the Nature Weapon of Leech.
Of course, Inala knew his thoughts, thanks to the memories about Virala that were fed to him by Gannala. By referencing them, he recognised the Nature Weapons of Leech and Tunnel by their appearance.
The Nature Weapon of Tunnel was reddish-black in colour, with a crimson pattern resembling a Shifting Ant's mandibles. The Nature Weapon of Leech was a semi-transparent shade of blue with ten, partially-transparent tentacle patterns covering it.
He paid extra attention to the Nature Weapon of Leech, knowing that just by possessing it, he would be able to seriously mess up Virala's plans. Virala had three Nature Weapons of Leech in total. Among them, two were Silver Grade while the last was Gold Grade.
The two Silver Nature Weapons of Leech were in the possession of the Virala at the Mammoth Clan. Therefore, the Virala at the Brimgan Empire no longer had a Nature Weapon of Leech to rely upon. Inala knew this fact based on Virala's memories that Gannala had accessed.
While two of his strings of Prana used the two Nature Weapons as a shield to prevent Virala from unleashing an artillery strike, the other two strings of Prana acted like elastic legs that carried him and covered large distances at a rapid pace.
"Dammit, stop!" Virala chased after him and leapt from one spot to another, covering tens of metres with every jump. But Inala evaded three-dimensionally, taking advantage of the length—
180 metres—of his strings of Prana to wobble all over the place.
Moreover, whenever Virala used a Spirit Weapon to sneak attack Inala, one of the strings of Prana thwarted it. His control in this regard was vastly superior to Virala and was easily able to stop his Spirit Weapon.
Mystic Bone Art—Sculptor!
While Virala chased after him while evading the Spirit Weapons of the Brimgan Royals, two strings of Prana protruded out of Inala's back and gathered a clump of pieces of Virala's exoskeleton. He was still running around while carrying them all.
The appearance of the fifth and sixth string of Prana rapidly increased his Prana consumption while reducing the efficiency. But he had stolen enough Prana from Virala before. And currently, the excess was circulating in his body thanks to the Prana Blood Skill.
The side effects would be tremendous once he deactivates the Skill, but it was currently necessary to handle and process the amount of Prana he had stolen. It was why he was able to fight without trouble.
Unlike the body of Amita Brimgan that was at the peak of the Body Stage, Inala's body had just begun to develop. His reserve of Prana was very limited. It was why he had to take such a risk.
Thankfully, he only needed eight seconds to turn a clump of Virala's exoskeleton fragments into an orb that was an exact replica of the Nature Weapon of Leech. The surface finish was done using pressure and friction.
By adjusting the molecular structure, Inala was able to bring out the colours. This was derived from his experience in using Subtle Terrain Domination. Besides, as the exoskeleton pieces resembled an Empyrean Tusk's, they were the easiest to remodel using Mystic Bone Art.
It was the material he knew best to modify. Hence, the produced replica was perfect. Only Virala would be able to tell that it was a counterfeit, and only when he touches it with his Prana. Otherwise, it could very well be taken to be real.
Ten seconds later, he made a counterfeit for the Nature Weapon of Tunnel and whistled, signalling that he was ready. Immediately in response, there was a golden flash between Inala and Virala as a chakram appeared between the two.
As if performing a magic trick, Inala instantly switched the real with their counterfeits and attached them to the chakram whose surface had been coated with an adhesive.
When he sent a rock flying at the Fentan City Lord, he had carved a message on it.
[Catch the Orb!]
It only consisted of three words. But someone that climbed to the position of a City Lord would be spart. Moreover, with his Gold Grade strength, his mind would be on the level of a Gold Grade Pranic Beast, able to process a large volume of information.
When Inala stripped the front half of Virala's exoskeleton and revealed the two orbs, the Fentan City Lord understood the assignment and was ready to act. Inala's whistle was the signal as he sent his chakram between the two and retracted it in a flash, noticing the two orbs stuck to it.
"You destroyed my Karuta Hill. So, I've taken my revenge." Inala revealed a smile suddenly and began to escape faster, "It's impossible for you to face the Brimgan Royalty on your own. Surrender, Loot."
"This is the end of your path." He grinned and revealed his empty strings of Prana, "I don't know what they are, but they seemed to be of absolute importance to you. So, have fun!"
"Where did you…" Virala stopped upon seeing that Inala was fleeing farther from the Brimgan Royals. He then turned around to notice the Fentan City Lord giving the two Nature Weapons to one of his comrades and sending him far away. Based on the direction, it seemed the Royal was taking the two Nature Weapons towards the capital, intending to present them to the Brimgan Emperor.
If that happens, Virala could forget recovering them ever. It would be forever before he could become strong enough to face the Brimgan Emperor. And until then, he could bode farewell to his two greatest treasures.
"You…Bastard!" Blood dripped out of his eyes in absolute rage as Virala alternated gazes between Inala and the fleeing Royal before chasing after the latter.