457 Virala Gets Tortured
"Grahhh!" Virala screamed in pain as molten metal dripped onto his toes, causing them to burn in response. The pain was unbearable as his body instinctively tried to gather more Prana into the region to heal it.
His Spirit Container had been sealed, but he still had his biomes that were able to generate Prana for a while. There was a dense layer of Spirit Moss growing in his biomes, something he had been working on for a while now.
This Spirit Moss consumed the nutrients in the soil and grew rapidly. During the three years that Blola was trapped in the stomach biome, Virala used the latter's Parute Fruits to grow the Spirit Moss to a greater extent.
And now, when necessary, his stomach biome digested a portion of the Spirit Moss to generate Prana. This, alongside the trees growing in his stomach biome, was what maintained the functionality of the place.
Using Blola, Virala turned the place self-sufficient. But a glance at him, and Brandal Brimgan made the decision, intending to first exhaust the resources in his biomes. This way, Virala would truly be pushed to the extreme.
"Just…ask me something." Virala grunted, unable to bear the pain, "Why are you doing this?"
"Hmm…" Brandal Brimgan simply smiled in response and motioned at the people nearby to continue the torture. Once he brought Virala to the palace, he started the torture, not speaking anything.
He didn't ask Virala the details about anything and simply continued to torture him. Molten metal continued to pour on Virala's regenerating toes, eliciting screams from him as without his Spirit Container, he was unable to control the Prana flowing through his bloodstream.
This meant that whatever Prana his biomes sent into his bloodstream made their way to his toes and regenerated the damage there. This meant that they constantly healed the region, implying a continuous recovery of his sense of pain.
Even if his body tried to dull the sensation or directly cut off the pain receptors, that synaptic response was halted once the Prana healed his toes to a pristine state. Since the toes were no longer wounded, there was no need to cut off the pain receptors in the place.
And right as this happened, molten metal was poured onto the toes. Even if Virala wanted to faint, he couldn't, for his Prana was potent enough to heal all damage in a matter of seconds, keeping him fresh.
'His presence is that of a Mammoth Clansman. There is no doubt about it now.' Brandal Brimgan thought, 'But strangely speaking, he has an Empyrean Tusk's powers. His regenerative capabilities are the strongest at the Gold Grade. Only an Empyrean Tusk is capable of it.'
'Moreover,' He signalled a man nearby with a motion of the eye, watching him lift a hammer and slam Virala's knees caps, cracking them in response, 'Even after sealing his Spirit Container, his biomes are still maintained. They're able to generate Prana using the resources in them and through it, they're generating the effect of Internal Inertial Gravity across his body.'
The power behind the hammer was enough to flatten the bodies of any cultivator, but it only served to crack Virala's kneecaps. That was only possible thanks to Internal Inertial Gravity protecting him.
'They are functioning on their own. As expected of the power of an existence hailed as a Deity. Impressive! Astonishingly impressive!' Brandal Brimgan then focused on the meat of the issue, 'But, he's able to use the Natures of other existences. How is that possible? Unless he's related to the Boar King? But, that doesn't seem likely.'
Brandal Brimgan focused his attention on Virala's Spirit Container through the power he used to seal it, concluding, 'No, the shape, quality, and presence all resemble an Empyrean Tusk. Based on our records, he's a Mammoth Clansman who can transform into an Empyrean Tusk. But the aspect of him being able to use multiple Natures can't be explained.'
He turned to his right and observed four Nature Weapons that had been fished out from Virala's stomach biome until now, 'I can sense the presence of a Nature in each of them.'
He then turned to his left and touched two Nature Weapons that had been brought by the three Royals from before, 'But these…are duds. There's nothing in them.'
'Then,' He stared at Virala, 'Why was he chasing after them with such relentless passion?'
'There's something I need to understand first.' Thinking as such, Brandal Brimgan expanded a stream of Prana through the palace and approached their information treasury. Pillars of Information Slips made out of Rutham filled the place, seemingly endless as they contained the records of information collected across the various eras of the Brimgan Empire since its founding.
To date, the information had been preserved, irrespective of the danger the Brimgan Empire faced. Even during times when it had civil unrest, with multiple Princes fighting for the throne, this information treasury remained safe.
After all, there was a branch of the Brimgan Royal family that had dedicated themselves to the preservation of this place, living for its sole purpose. As his energy stream appeared, a powerful presence blocked it.
But upon sensing that it was from Brandal Brimgan, the presence vanished, allowing him to browse through the place. With his Spirit weapon range, Brandal Brimgan could exert his presence anywhere in the Capital.
In terms of combat strength, he might be a sliver weaker than the Cooter Clan Chief, but in terms of awareness, he was unmatched on Sumatra, boasting the highest Spirit Weapon range.
His Prana flashed across the place and scoured through the registry, soon finding a plausible information pillar. His Prana flowed into the respective pillar and accessed the records left behind by Farja Brimgan.
Farja Brimgan was the Brimgan Empire's Emperor at the start of Renduldu's era. He was also the one who had contact with Mahira Tusk—the Mammoth Ancestor. Back then, they had allied to face the Mudropper race, with the final battle being waged at Karuta Hill.
'It's a sordid twist of fate that the place saved by the Mammoth Ancestor was destroyed by an Empyrean Tusk bearing her power.' He understood upon comprehending the records, 'The Mammoth Ancestor is said to have been able to collect and use multiple Natures.'
He stared at the orbs in his possession, 'So, these must be the infamous Nature Weapons. Nothing about her Nature has been recorded. So, I have no way to find out how these Nature Weapons are created.'
He watched Virala's screams and instructed the torturers, "Tell me once his toes stop regenerating. Don't harm him after that happens."
As the torturers saluted in response, Brandal Brimgan took a seat in the corner and closed his eyes. He expanded his senses and caused a figure of himself to appear in the throne room. It wasn't his body, but a Spirit Weapon created to resemble him.
It appeared no different to his image carved out of Rutham—
the mineral used by the Brimgan Royalty to build their Human Avatars. He seldom used this as he mostly remained at the palace all his life.
But knowing very well that his presence was mandatory to stop Virala in case he tried anything, Brandal Brimgan didn't take any chances. His Spirit Weapon puppet addressed the ministers that had gathered at the throne room, "I'll now be accepting applications to the Task Force that will Raid the Boar King."
"Successful candidates will be equipped with Minor Treasures to counter the target."