?"Oh, you sweet berry, let big sister pinch you!" The 1st Empyrean Tusk in human form, Vhalla was a giant who surpassed two metres in height. Her ivory hair reached her ankles, appearing like a waterfall, smooth to the touch, enough for the air to glide across and cause ripples.
Her face sported mild wrinkles, especially around the eyes and forehead, showing that she was a middle-aged woman. Currently, this woman had embraced Inala with a bear hug and was tickling the latter nonstop, "Just a little, alright? Just a little."
"You…are already doing it!" Inala shouted, feeling his cheeks getting stretched as Vhalla pulled them, teasing him while enjoying his reactions, akin to an adult having fun with a newborn.
"My, oh my, how are you so cute?" Vhalla squealed as she ruffled his hair.
"Don't hog the cutie all to yourself, Vhalla." The 2nd Empyrean Tusk, Rhanalla interjected and snatched Inala from Vhalla's hold. She then took out a batch of clothes from who knows where and started a fashion show using Inala.
"Cuteee!!!" The 5th Empyrean Tusk, Nitalla cheered upon seeing Inala in the Brimgan Empire's clothing style.
"Do the Rumtara Kingdom's style next." Originally the 1st Empyrean Tusk of their—smaller—herd and now the 10th Empyrean Tusk after the merger, Wrunnala applauded as she brought snacks for the Empyrean Tusks to eat and watch the show.
"I'm telling you, I'm a researcher, not a singer!" On the side, Grehha was in a similar situation, being coerced by a group of Empyrean Tusks that teased him similar to Inala.
"Look at your big muscles!" The 11th Empyrean Tusk, Meshlla dangled from Grehha's outstretched arms and exclaimed, "Aren't you a strong cutie? Sing for big sister!"
'You're like a dozen centuries older than me.' Grehha thought in fluster and faced Inala to ask for help, only to see him being ganged upon by a group of curious Empyrean Tusks that forced him into a fashion show for their entertainment.
It only took Grehha an instant to calculate that his condition was relatively better. And hence, in order to reduce the pressure on him, he had no other choice but to betray Inala, shouting in response, "Inala can paint and sculpt! He's an artist!"
"Ooh, is he?" Meshlla stared at Inala in interest as she took a seat on Grehha's wide shoulders, acting like she was deep in thought before she lost interest and began playing with his hair, "Cutie Grehha, I want to hear you sing! Sing for big sister!"
"Hahaha! Look at this cutie! He dances so well!" The 17th Empyrean Tusk, Fualla patted her thigh aloud as she and a group of Empyrean Tusks took a seat in a circle, at he centre of which was a crying Blola who was forced to dance.
Whatever moves they wanted him to do were fed to him through a Bone Slip. As a result, he couldn't use the excuse of not knowing any steps to flee. Besides, fleeing wasn't an option here.
All Empyrean Tusks had been living as Pranic Beasts, unable to physically do anything other than continue about in their hundred-year path. Despite being capable of everything, they could do nothing, for their actions had serious consequences.
If an Empyrean Tusk were to run, the entire region would experience an earthquake, resulting in the death of tens of thousands of creatures living there. If the Empyrean Tusk were to laugh aloud, the generated thunderclap would cause all living creatures to go deaf in response.
And if any unfortunate soul were too close by, the shockwaves might even rupture their body. As a result of the consequences, all Empyrean Tusks lived their lives while exercising restraint using their Primary Nature as best as they could, trying their best to limit the impact they had on the environment.
All their lives, for countless centuries, from predecessors to successors, all Empyrean Tusks had been living repressed lives. And in their omniscient perspective, they never thought of anything else, for that just didn't seem realistic.
But everything changed once Gannala unleashed the effects of the Nature of Cultivator, allowing the Empyrean Tusks to assume human form, taking on appearances that they had during the few years following their birth.
In their human forms, having sent the entirety of their immune system into their biomes, the omniscient perspective of the Empyrean Tusks was suppressed a little, allowing their true characters to surface.
And now, finally, with a tiny body that didn't destroy the region while moving, they could truly run around and play without worries. Obviously, they wanted to have fun and targeted the individuals who had contributed significantly to the Mammoth Clan.
As Inala's contribution was the highest, he was the most smothered by the Empyrean Tusks, treated as an irresistibly cute baby by these Deities that squealed at every expression he made. To them, he truly was no different from a newborn brat.
And hence, even when Inala shouted in annoyance, they simply laughed in response and continued to do whatever they pleased with him.
Following Inala was Grehha, having the second-largest crowd of Empyrean Tusks playing around with him. In the end, he was forced to sing while cooking up a feast in a set of clothes worn by babies just learning to walk. As to how the situation had progressed to such an extent, he didn't know, performing actions in a daze as his shoes were the squeaky kind, making sounds with every step he took.
"Me! Me! Me! I'm next!" The 8th Empyrean Tusk, Trulla, sporting shoulder-length hair that stood up like spikes snatched Raaha from the 7th Empyrean Tusk and used his body as a dumbbell to exercise, "I can lift up the Chief better than you."
"I…am the Chief!" Raaha protested but his words fell on deaf ears as the Empyrean Tusks fought to grab him and use him as a weight lifting tool.
"Weren't you very authoritative in the past? Here, let me flip you like a leaf." The 8th Empyrean Tusk began to spin Raaha, laughing cheerfully as she watched his face flush red in response to the twirling speed.
The group of Empyrean Tusks surrounding Raaha didn't treat him as a child like they did towards Inala. No, their ages were pretty similar, with some of them actually being younger than Raaha. They were simply venting on him, taking advantage of the moment to mess with him. Basically, they had ganged up to bully him.
"Help me…Aunt!" Raaha shouted at the 1st Empyrean Tusk eventually, unable to handle being turned into a spinning toy.
"Oh, you finally remember that I'm your aunt." The 1st Empyrean Tusk Vhalla stared at Raaha for a moment before choosing to ignore him. Instead, she focused her attention on Inala and sneakily brought out a frock.
Inala's eyes widened in response as he resisted fiercely, "No way! Nope! Don't bring that here!"
"Just once, cutie!" Vhalla pouted, acting like she was hurt as she approached him.
"I'm a man!" Inala roared.
"Gender doesn't matter for newborns. Come, let me dress you up nicely now." Vhalla inched towards him while Rhanalla approached him from behind, taking out a battle armour from some ancient era, intending to make him wear it.
"Seriously? You want him to wear that?" Vhalla glared at Rhanalla, "He's just a child, dumbass! Don't put a freaking armour on him!"
"You're the dumbass!" Rhanalla glared at Vhalla, "He'll obviously look cuter in an armour than that dress. I have cuter dresses in my collection, but you picked the one with the most horrible design and colour."
"You clearly have no idea what you're talking about."
"I do, unlike you. Your brain rotted after carrying the Mammoth Treasury for so long."
"Is that so? Want to check?"
"Who's afraid? Let's go!"
Vhalla and Rhanalla began to fight. Taking advantage of the situation, the 5th Empyrean Tusk, Nitalla draped the clothes of her preference on Inala.
"Hey, not fair. It was my turn now!" Vhalla noticed Nitalla's actions and punched her, resulting in a shockwave.
"It's been a while since we fought." Nitalla grinned as she shrugged off the punch like it was a mere tap and joined the fight too.
"Who's the baddie? You? Me? Hahaha!" At the side, the 62nd Empyrean Tusk was chasing after a Silver Grade Pranic Beast that was fleeing for life, harassing the latter by constantly disappearing and reappearing on its forehead.
"I can juggle this with my toes." Proclaiming as such, the 84th Empyrean Tusk compressed a group of trees into large spheres and kicked them into the air, juggling them expertly.
"Yipeee!" The 99th Empyrean Tusk was simply digging towards the rear, using a tiny shovel made out of wood. She scooped out a pile of mud using the shovel, compressed it into a ball, and slammed it into the face of another Empyrean Tusk who just gained her human form. The latter retaliated promptly.
The Empyrean Tusks were running around the place, out of control, doing everything they wanted to do but couldn't for so long. But forming a sharp contrast, seated behind a tree far away from everything was Yennda, his expression dark, his shoulders slumped.
He hardly reacted to anything the Empyrean Tusks did to him, and as a result, bored them. When their attention shifted to other, interesting things, he slipped away. "Haah…I'm tired."
Right as he exhaled in exhaustion, his body tensed up as he heard the sounds of footsteps, following which a voice resounded from proximity, originating from a woman who seemed to have just crossed her teenage years, "Is that you…"
"Dad?"