"Hmmm…hm…mmhmm!" Whistling a tune while returning to the palace was Yarsha Zahara, accompanying her four children. She seemed to be the only individual relaxed in this situation. Her children were alert, almost to the level of being paranoid, looking around for enemies.
"You know, to fool your enemy, you need to fool yourself first." She said while continuing to whistle, "Act like you're oblivious to everything. Only then there's a chance you can make your enemy let down their guard."
"Your current selves aren't fooling anyone." She chuckled.
"It's easier said than done, mother." Brana grumbled, failing to tone down the killing intent displayed in his eyes, "How can you expect me to remain cool when the killer of my sisters is out there?"
"Well, you won't be able to catch your killer otherwise." Yarsha Zahara's tone turned mildly serious, "Having strength alone is insufficient. You also need a flexible mind to act upon a variety of situations. Moreover, you need to have the guts to dare do whatever you want."
'Like Inala, Virala, and Resha.' She thought, but didn't say it out loud.
Inala lived a double life right in front of her and Brangara and used their help to further his plans. Virala barged into her home and stole all her accumulations and the second time he did it, the result was the birth of Ruvva. Finally, Resha dared kill two of Brangara's children in front of his eyes.
Unless one had absolute guts, they wouldn't dare scheme against the supreme existence of Sumatra. Of course, among them, the one Yarsha Zahara hated the most was currently Resha. After all, that bastard killed two of her children.
Her second target was Virala, for he was currently in custody of her seventh child, Ruvva. Finally, her third target was to eliminate the Royal Zinger, someone whom even the Celestial Boar deemed a threat.
Of course, she seethed in rage because of this, and not a moment passed by when she wished to do nothing but kill them all. But she had to hold it all inside, knowing very well that when ill-prepared, the one losing would be her side.
Their carriage was controlled by a driver who had built it out of his Human Avatar. This cultivation technique was stolen from the Brimgan Empire, amongst various techniques that Yarsha Zahara had gained access to when she had a high status in Fentan City.
Among them, she selected the cultivation techniques whose minerals were available in their region. The result of that was the appearance of psychokinesis-driven carriages similar to the Brimgan Empire.
In terms of strength or development, Zahara Kingdom was no different from a dilapidated village when compared to a futuristic metropolitan like the Brimgan Empire. Having lived there for some time, Yarsha Zahara felt out of touch when she returned home.
There was…nothing here. The cultivation techniques were horrible at best, the mining practices were minimal at best and the refineries for purifying minerals from the ore were horrendous beyond measure.
It made her wonder how the Zahara Kingdom stood tall for as long as it did. Hence, whenever she had time, Yarsha Zahara worked on developing her Kingdom. The psychokinesis-driven carriages were just one such technology.
A few hours of travel later, the carriage arrived at the palace. Upon seeing the time it took to travel from the entrance to the palace which was situated in the centre of the Zahara Kingdom, Yarsha Zahara sighed once again, 'The entire Zahara Kingdom is as big as three cities of the Brimgan Empire combined.'
The reason she constantly made constant comparisons with the Brimgan Empire was to face it in the future. After all, Brangara had erased a sizeable chunk of the Brimgan Empire's population from existence. Therefore, once the Brimgan Empire recovers from the damage, they'll wage a war.
And the one leading them would be none other than Boul Brimgan, 'He didn't exist in my previous life. But the strength he displayed during the Second Major Disaster was unreal. If left unchecked, he'll grow to become even more terrifying.'
She closed her eyes and observed the golden feline stuck in her Minor Treasure of Lunchbox. Its eyes shot open upon feeling her gaze, glaring at her, 'It's getting harder and harder to control it. I don't think I'll be able to take advantage of its power for long.'
She sighed at the thought. The golden feline was something she had been using as a mount for the past three years. Not only did it have a mind of its own, its senses were sharper than hers. Moreover, it also acted as a reserve of Prana for her.
With a thought, she could absorb all the Prana from its body, which made it very valuable. Forget everything, just the sheer speed at which it could run made it in a class of its own. When she tested its speed, she was shocked to see that it could break through the sound barrier.
Of course, going at that speed was immensely draining on its Prana reserves, but the fact that it could go at those speeds itself was terrifying. 'If possible, I would love to retain it. But as Boul Brimgan grows in strength, this will continue to wrestle out of my control.'
The day it breaks free of Yarsha Zahara's control is the day Boul Brimgan's Secondary Nature harmonised perfectly with the Major Treasure of Deity, resulting in a power capable of wrestling free from her Mystic Grade Nature of Incident Nature Reflection.
"Go and train." Yarsha Zahara nudged at her children and stared at the figure of Brangara who had remained silent throughout the journey, "Shall we head inside."
Brangara nodded as the duo entered her private chambers, following which he collapsed to the ground.
"You're not very obedient, huh?" Yarsha Zahara stared at the figure on the floor and kicked it, "You've managed to not leak out a cry all along,"
"Yennda!"
The one acting as Brangara all along was Yennda. She was actively controlling his actions. Even the time when 'Brangara' helped Shuwrak Zahara in the colosseum was just an act in front of the Zahara King to make it seem the real Brangara was there all along.
Brangara's arms had been grafted onto Yennda's, allowing the latter to emit Brangara's presence. Of course, this was achieved through Yennda's power. Yarsha Zahara had stolen his power to create a skin that Yennda could wear and resemble Brangara.
As she was the one to create it, she made it as such the skin had an affinity to her Prana, which made it easier for her to exert her will on Yennda. Using this, she roamed around with a fake Brangara while the real one was out in the wilds sneakily accumulating power.
Moreover, as long as Brangara remained next to her, her enemies wouldn't target her or her children. Thanks to this, the Wean Clan could grow without needing Brangara to remain at their side. Now, his growth too won't be halted.
Moreover, they had powerful Tangible Natures to protect them during a dangerous situation. It would be enough until Brangara returned.
"This trash…" Yarsha Zahara cursed upon seeing Yennda remain on the ground as an unresponsive carpet, "Why don't you show some dignity?"
Yennda refused to do anything unless he was controlled to do so. This also included simple activities like eating or sleeping. If she didn't force him, he would be happy to die from hunger or experience a brain-cell deterioration from a lack of sleep.
He also went out of his way to stop breathing so that he would die from suffocation, whatever works to kill him. Hence, Yarsha Zahara had to actively control him to breathe, eat, shit, sleep, and behave as Brangara.
The moment she retracted her control over him, he'd try his best to not breathe and suffocate to death. "Bastard!"
She kicked him in anger and watched him cough out blood in response, "Shit!"
She commanded him to focus on healing from the wound and asked, "Say, why don't you cooperate with me voluntarily? If you do, I promise to not torture you. There's even a chance you could live freely here."
"Torture? Did you do that?" Yennda tilted his head in confusion, "When did this happen? And how come I'm only hearing this for the first time?"
"Is that so?" She grumbled and ripped the nail from his index finger, which only served to further her frustration as Yennda stared at her nonchalantly, "Did you lose all sense of pain?"
"I've just learnt to ignore it." Yennda shrugged casually, "Also, you seem to be under the impression that you've been torturing me. But in truth, I feel like I'm on vacation. I don't have to do anything consciously but all my needs are taken care of by you. And I'm even provided ample entertainment. Honestly, it feels like I'm a pampered baby…"
Yarsha Zahara kicked him in the face and dislocated his jaw, "Don't prattle like a…"
She stopped speaking and noticed that all along, while Yennda was talking to her, he wasn't actually breathing. And now, using her kick to the face, he managed to twist his windpipe, successfully choking as a result, "Fuck!"
She hurriedly controlled him to focus on healing and operated on his neck, "Breathe, dammit!"
"Fucking breathe!"