?"Y-You…why are you targeting me?" Yarsha Zahara was no longer able to focus on Virala, the entirety of her attention now trailing upon Orakha. She was too stunned to process her thoughts properly.
Sumatra Gold, the sole Mystic Grade mineral to exist on Sumatra Continent. It was knowledge that hardly anyone other than Mystic Grade Pranic Beasts possessed. Even the Brimgan Empire only had trace records related to it. Other than its name, they didn't have much idea about it either.
The Brimgan Ancestor who fused with the Sumatra Gold only left behind some notes. Whether that was for a reason or not was unknown. It could only be speculated. Though, when she came to learn more about Sumatra Gold, Yarsha Zahara realised with the Brimgan Empire's obsession with recording everything, they wouldn't have forgotten about such a valuable mineral.
Probably after the Brimgan Ancestor died, the Mystic Tentacle of that era or the succeeding era erased all information regarding Sumatra Gold from the Brimgan Empire's records. When she gave such a hypothesis to the Boar King, the latter acknowledged that her chances of being right were close to a guarantee.
Hence, when information about Sumatra Gold was such a closely protected secret, how did Orakha know about it? That wasn't all. He was able to specifically target them from her Minor Treasure of Storage Lantern.
Targeting a Minor Treasure alone was hard, but managing to steal an item stored inside? She was unable to gather her bearings, fully in a state of fluster. In a hurry, she moved her Spirit Weapon close to her body, screaming as a Mystic Eater jumped through her stomach and held another piece of Sumatra Gold in its mouth.
Her Human Avatar only covered her fingers. So, unless she were to touch the Mystic Eaters with her finger, she wouldn't be able to counter them.
For some reason, all the Satellites and Comets she was counting upon failed to activate, deprived of Prana. Yarsha Zahara was forced to use the Satellites and Comets stored in her fourth Minor Treasure of Lunchbox to defend against Orakha.
Only with it was she able to prevent him from stealing all her Sumatra Gold already.
"You're asking his identity?" Virala laughed from the side, clearly enjoying the situation. After all, with Yarsha Zahara kept in check by Orakha, Virala had a rather comfortable time evading the Wean Tribe siblings. They were slower than him.
With his Mystic Grade brain, Virala was easily able to compute their body language, paths, actions, etc., and evade them easily. From time to time, he picked the Satellites on the ground and munched upon them.
Whether it was his Empyrean Boar King body or the Mystic Ewworm body, both were capable of digesting all forms of organic matter, that too in a matter of minutes. As these Satellites were created by Yarsha Zahara, they were highly nutritious and valuable for his growth.
So, he was taking his time to consume them while enraging the six Empyrean Boars before him. He was simply buying time until the raid team arrived here.
Since the Attribute had revealed itself, they no longer had any qualms about killing Yarsha Zahara and her children. After all, they calculated being able to obtain the Attribute within a month. And it took a month for the Boar King to arrive from the Gaja Enclave.
This was information that Brandal Brimgan had extracted from Virala in the Golden Giant. And over the years, they verified it through repeated observations and calculations. The Brimgan Empire wasn't simply leaving everything to chance and going all-in using one source of information.
Virala was aware that other reincarnates would be stirring up their stuff too. And since they all were planning to ensure the Boar King wouldn't arrive on time, whatever information they had leaked to the Brimgan Empire would keep this information untampered.
'They're almost here.' Virala smirked upon sensing powerful presences that even he was threatened by. And obviously, they were equipped with Nature Weapons using his power. So, he was aware of their identities and abilities.
Having comprehended all of Brandal Brimgan's memories, Virala knew what would happen next and hence was simply waiting for it to transpire. Even though he was pressured upon seeing Inala enter the Attributed Region while accompanied by Asaeya and six Empyrean Tusks, he was confident of his plans.
Moreover, upon recalling the gaze directed at him by the six Empyrean Tusks, Virala knew that if he were to follow them now, he'd be ganged upon and destroyed. Not only did he shed his identity as a Mammoth Clansman but had also assumed the Boar King's appearance—even if it was a smaller version of his Empyrean Boar King form.
It was absolutely normal to receive the Empyrean Tusks' wrath. 'Man, so Gannala wasn't simply living in human form to hide. She has the Nature of Cultivator. I wonder what Inala did to help her obtain that. As someone who began to tread the same path, I can't even begin to make sense of what he did to achieve it.'
He was honestly impressed by Inala's actions. But, that was it. He wouldn't allow it to interfere with his choices. Virala was ready to kill Inala with the cruellest methods possible when necessary. And the more he understood Inala's path, the greater he treated the latter as a threat.
"You're here," Virala raised his hand and waved at a group of twenty that landed on the inner rocky pillar in Varahan Mansion. A moment upon their arrival, the rocky pillar crumbled, losing the suppression effect it had been unleashing on all intruders until now.
The raid team was obviously prepared for the situation. Even without Brandal Brimgan to take the lead, they were ready, equipped with at least one Minor Treasure, and armed with three Natures each.
"You…Loot!" The leader of the Raid Team, Fstoll Brimgan glared in shock upon seeing Virala revert to human form, "How the heck did you escape?"
"His Majesty set me here," Virala said and emitted his presence, "Do you feel anything?"
"You…" Fstoll Brimgan was able to sense the presence of a Free Human from Virala, something purer and refined than all Free Humans.
"Anyway, I came here for this child." Virala pointed at the cradle carried by his tail and eyed Yarsha Zahara, "Her latest child isn't an Empyrean Boar but a Free Human. She was born with 100 Prana. And something that I became after countless experiments and with Brandal Brimgan's relentless efforts is what she possesses by birth."
"A Mystic Human." He said with a solemn tone, smirking upon noticing Yarsha Zahara looking at him in shock. He then stared at her and grinned, "You thought she was merely a gifted Free Human, right? But no, she became what you failed to become, the pinnacle of the Free Human race."
"Are you…serious?" Yarsha Zahara said, realising that even if she wanted to refute Virala's claims, she was able to instinctively feel it, 'So this was what husband was going for.'
"We'll need to take you into custody." Fstoll Brimgan said and landed before Virala, "You'll be treated as an enemy if you resist."
"Oh, don't worry, I have no plans to." Virala said casually and then evaded Barla's attack to flee behind Fstoll Brimgan, "Just protect me from them, alright?"
"My only task was to retrieve this child."
"Hmm," Fstoll Brimgan didn't say anything else and took custody of the cradle, nodding upon seeing Virala's lack of resistance. He gave the cradle to two members of his Raid Team, "Bring her to His Majesty the Emperor."
He then glared at Yarsha, "Eighteen of us are too much to handle these kids."
They were all at the 9-Life Stage and had been alive for close to a millennium, with each being the leader of a branch family and a Minister. Now, they had all transferred their position to their kids to be part of the Raid Team.
Fstoll Brimgan alone was more than enough to kill everyone at the scene and still have strength to spare. With a thought, Prana condensed to form heavy bolts that drilled into the bodies of all six Empyrean Boars, stopping them in their tracks.
He then grinned towards Yarsha Zahara, performing the same to her legs, torso, and elbow, "You're able to gain control of my ability only if your Human Avatar comes into contact with it. We've seen it enough times by now. Even if you use that Minor Treasure with the Boar King's power, we can easily neutralise you."
"You'll be interrogated first before being killed. So, prepare yourself mentally. That's the least I can do for you as a fellow Free Human. As for these…" Fstoll glared at Barla and her siblings, gathering Prana in his hand in order to kill them immediately.
As a Free Human supremacist, seeing Ravaged Tribesmen triggered him, for it signalled humans that had submitted to the rule of Pranic Beasts.
'No!' Yarsha Zahara activated all of the Boar King's power in her remaining Minor Treasures of Lunchbox, despairing to see the Raid Team systematically counter them. Desperate, she poured all her Prana into the Minor Treasure of Summoning Bell, shouting, "Please, save us! Dear! Please! Hurry!"
Her eyes suddenly became dazed as she muttered under her breath, experiencing a strange influx of memories, "Help me,"
In response to her shout, time seemed to have halted for a moment, as everyone felt the air becoming still, reverberating an eerie sensation through their spines as everyone at Varahan Mansion froze up for a moment.
"Haha…fuck!" Orakha chuckled nervously upon hearing the name Yarsha Zahara uttered as he stared at the sky, "How the fuck did he come here?"
In the absolute silence, Yarsha Zahara's weak utter resounded in the ears, "Resha!"
Intense gravity slammed into the bodies of everyone. An instant later, like a bolt of lightning, a buff man landed before Yarsha Zahara. Only then did time seem to have resumed for everyone.