Expert Iron Grade Pranic Beast—Bludder!
These little spinning balls of death were a happy bunch, content to annihilate Pranic Beasts in their vicinity and consume their corpses. As an Iron Grade Pranic Beast, Bludders had powerful fertility rates, able to balloon their population easily.
In the Guna Caves, they were typically kept in check by the Shifting Ants. A Bludder was easily capable of killing dozens of Shifting Ants before succumbing to one.
Until now, the population of Shifting Ants dwarfed the Bludders. As a result, there was balance in the Guna Caves. But all that changed when the Attributed Region revealed itself a month in advance. Due to this, the various water bodies in the region dried up, including the Dralh Sea.
Bludders invaded the Dralh Sea once every day in search of prey. It was also their best choice to fight against a group of enemies and flex their muscles. Oftentimes, Ewworms would latch onto their rectum and behave as their defensive partners.
The older a Bludder gets, the more sophisticated its Primary Nature becomes. Not only could it be unleashed faster, but also required less rotation than the young ones to unleash an Eddy Blade.
Generally due to their repeated invasions, the majority of the Bludders never lived long enough to attain old age. Dralh Sea had a lot of powerful Pranic Beasts that kept their numbers in check. But once the Dralh Sea dried up, all the native Pranic Beasts were busy protecting themselves, trying not to shrivel up and die of dehydration.
When the Bludders invaded, the resistance offered wasn't even a tenth as usual, allowing their harvest to balloon. This was maintained for months as the population of the Bludders kept increasing.
Guna Caves was no longer enough for them as they spilt out to all the surrounding regions.
At present, these Bludders charged at an Empyrean Snapper, appearing no different from rotating spheres as their figures skid across the water surface and targeted the Cooter Clan.
Fuooh!
The moment a Bludder moved within 180 metres from the Empyrean Snapper, the water and wind changed. There was a fluctuation before its body was shredded apart. Its death made no difference though as thousands of Bludders were targeting the Empyrean Snapper.
A tornado formed, acting as a layer of defence to prevent the Bludders from getting close. After all, even the Empyrean Snapper couldn't unleash multiple targeted attacks on the Bludders every second. The tornado was there to buy time.
A Bludder jumped into the tornado when it was carried by the winds and hurled far away into the Dralh Sea. A group observed this and stopped spinning, revealing their semi-serpentine bodies.
Six Bludders crawled towards each other and coiled to become a larger sphere. Their legs held onto each other to keep the combined sphere stable. Slowly, their bodies wriggled, causing the combined sphere to begin rotating.
It took a few seconds of correction before the combined sphere was able to stably spin about its axis. Once the Bludders were ready, the combined sphere rushed towards the tornado, accelerating in its approach.
When it neared the tornado, six Eddy Blades were unleashed at the same time, forming the shape of a hexagon. This hexagon formed a blur as it cut through the air forming the tornado right through its axis of rotation and casually passed through without facing the slightest resistance.
They had aligned their axis perfectly with the tornado and hence could cut through easily. Followed by a flicker, they arrived before the Empyrean Snapper as their Eddy Blades elongated in length.
Boom!
There was a thunderous sound as the flesh of the Empyrean Snapper resisted the blades, but in response, the combined sphere of Bludders increased their spin, transforming into a saw that actually began to cut into the Empyrean Snapper's flesh.
Water jutted out, sharpening like a needle to pierce through the combined sphere from an axis perpendicular to their spin. It punctured through the group and separated them. The needle of water split into six and accurately plunged into the six Bludders, killing them.
At the same time, three more combined spheres entered the tornado and targeted the Empyrean Snapper. Similarly to before, the Empyrean Snapper caused water to jut out abruptly and pierce through the combined sphere.
But the Bludders were wiser this time, having learnt from their fallen comrades. The hexagon being generated by the combined group changed its orientation as each Eddy Blade faced a certain axis. They were all positioned perpendicular to each other.
Now, when the combined sphere spun, it shred apart the water needle that targeted them. These Eddy Blades cut through things in every which way, perfect for defence as the combined sphere only needed to spin across a varying axis.
Immediately upon succeeding in the defence, the Eddy Blades changed forms, assuming the hexagon shape once again as they began to saw into the Empyrean Snapper.
A mist cloud condensed in the shape of a hand punched them, disrupting their actions. More and more mist hands bombarded them, intending to protect the Empyrean Snapper.
"Kill the Bludders!" The Cooter Clansmen had arrived to protect their Deity and kill the invaders.
Pillars of water jutted out like blades to pierce dozens of Bludders. Blades of wind were generated. A wall of mist was erected to block the eyesight of the Bludders. And there finally existed a tornado protecting the Empyrean Snapper.
The scene was no different from a cataclysm as the 38 Empyrean Snappers generated a fierce storm. But the number of Bludders targeting them showed no signs of reducing. There were just too many.
The culprit behind their spike in population was none other than Geugeu. After all, he mobilised the Empyrean Snappers from the Abyss Ring. Without the Empyrean Snappers to block them, millions of Phells invaded the Dralh Sea from the Abyss Fall.
Unsurprisingly, they were feasted upon by the Bludders. Phells were bladed fish with a needle nose. They exploded upon piercing a target to release spores, which germinated upon contact with blood and began growing.
As long as the larvae form successfully, they can continue to grow by absorbing minerals from the water. In eight months, they reach maturity. A single Phell succeeding in piercing a target was enough to birth thousands of Phells.
Hence, they were the most dangerous species that could easily destroy any ecosystem they were introduced to. The Cooter Clan had taken it upon themselves to stop the Phells at the Abyss Fall.
First was to protect the Dralh Sea. But the second reason was the most important. Phells were Expert Iron Grade Pranic Beasts. they were rich with nutrients, especially for the voracious appetite of an Empyrean Snapper.
Thanks to the nonstop invasion of the Phells, the Cooter Clan at the Dralh Sea had a surplus of food, which allowed them to focus on creating medicines by using the excess resources.
But when they left for the Brimgan Empire, there was no one left to keep the Phells in check. The region within the Abyss Ring still had water, as it was quickly filled up from the geyser at the centre.
So, all the Pranic Beasts native to Dralh Sea gathered within the cramped Abyss Ring, causing repeated massacres as the space was too small for all of them to seek refuge. This crowded scenario created a breeding ground for the Phells.
And as water filled the Abyss Ring and spilt into the Dralh Sea, so did the fertilised spores of the Phells. By absorbing nutrients from the water, they quickly began to grow in numbers, resulting in them occupying the entirety of the Dralh Sea.
Even now, the water was shallow, barely reaching a metre at the highest spots on the Dralh Sea. In such areas, the Bludders had a field day.
A Phell's Primary Nature of Needle Mine took effect only when its needle nose pierced a target. Unfortunately for it, the spinning balls of death were too fast. The Phells missed their target all the time, as the bodies of Bludders were small, only reaching the size of a football when curled up.
Once they evade, the Bludders would continue to spin around the area, gathering more and more Phells to target it, all while evading their needle noses. And when enough had gathered, it would activate its Primary Nature. The Eddy Blades would sever through them all.
Even though it had used up 300 units of Prana for that one attack, the Bludder made a resounding profit. After all, Phells were Expert Iron Grade Pranic Beasts. they were nutrition-rich enough for the Bludder to not only recover its Prana expenditure but also obtain an excess, allowing its Ewworm to also grow significantly.
Bludders hunted Phells in excess of their needs. And even then, the population of Phells didn't show a decline. Since there was a surplus of food, the Bludders mated fiercely and spawned offspring like crazy, proving that they were Iron Grade Pranic Beasts.
That resulted in the current scene where even Empyrean Snappers were struggling to survive. Each Empyrean Snapper killed hundreds of Bludders every second, but there was no change in the numbers targeting them.
The Bludders seemed infinite.
Arriving at a spot in the Dralh Sea that was the farthest from the group of Empyrean Snappers, Inala commented as he stared at Wittral, "The Dralh Sea has been taken over by the Bludders. They're the dominant force now."
"Sweet!" Instead of expressing worry, Wittral was all smiles, "Expert Iron Grade Pranic Beasts. each Bludder has more than a thousand units of Prana."
"Yes," Inala grinned at his words, "You've read my mind perfectly."
An endless stream of Bludders? That was terrifying to others, but not him. After all, the Royal Zinger was capable of stealing both the Prana and Lifespan of its target. And thanks to the effects of the Major Treasure of Attribute that had been fused into his genetics, Inala didn't even need to use his Primary Nature.
As long as the target comes into contact with his Prana, he'd be able to steal their Prana and Lifespan. "This is a good opportunity to accumulate some battle experience before entering Abyss Fall."
"Quip Clan," Inala addressed the 43 Clansmen before him, "March out!"