Internal Inertial Gravity had been used to bend space within the bone sphere, enough to house at least a thousand Bone Vipers within. Safely tucked away in the meteors were many such bone spheres, strategically placed after careful consideration.
Gannala had been spying and keeping track of the changes in the Zahara Kingdom for close to four years. During this time, she had been making preparations.
As the bone sphere shattered, the Bone Vipers rushed out in large numbers, flooding the streets. It had only been a minute since the meteors had begun bombarding the Zahara Kingdom, so it wasn't enough time for the citizens to evacuate.
"Help!"
"Save us!"
The people screamed in fright, scurrying away. They were unable to handle the Bone Vipers that were not only fast but also annoyingly resilient. They might be Iron Grade Pranic Beasts, but each Bone Viper had three Natures.
In comparison, the majority of the Free Humans had Iron Grade Human Avatar and hadn't even reached the peak of the Body Stage, not to mention entering the Life Stage. They also had one Nature, not to mention having varying strengths along the Iron Grade.
As Expert Iron Grade Pranic Beasts, Bone Vipers moved as a collective unit, spreading out a bone vapour around them that doubled down as offence and defence. They collectively defended against the Free Humans and moved through the streets with unabated momentum.
They ignored the Free Humans and headed in the direction of the palace, having an objective.
"This is where you'll stop!" Bunakin Vara bellowed as he activated dozens of Natures.
Primary Nature--Blessed Inheritance!
Ten Tangible Natures condensed around him, granted to him by Brangara. He was ready to stop the Bone Vipers on their tracks, unwilling to allow them anywhere near Yarsha Zahara.
He glared at the cloud of bone vapour approaching him and erupted with all his strength, killing no more than twenty Bone Vipers when he found himself trapped within a wall of bone that was three metres thick.
Boom!
He punched it, causing a portion of the bone wall to crack and collapse, grunting as its thickness seemed endless. "Dammit! Move!"
'I can't believe I was trapped so easily!' He used Drifting Tunnel and Shredded Lunge, taking five seconds to emerge out of the wall, only to stare at a second wall. He bellowed in anger and tunnelled his way out, alarmed to see the group of Bone Vipers had gone past him.
"Don't you dare head that way!" He spanned Shredded Lunge and targeted the rear end of the bone vapour, killing a few Bone Vipers with every attack.
"Leader! There's more of them!" Katal Vara, one of the five Royal Guards shrilled as he pointed in another direction, "There's a thousand of them here!"
"There's another!"
"One more here!"
The Royal Guards leapt onto the terrace of the closest buildings and observed many bone spheres piercing the barrier to land and release a swarm of Bone Vipers. And without missing a beat, all the Bone Vipers headed towards the Wean Clan's second generation, ignoring everything else in their path.
They didn't care even when a group of them were killed by the soldiers, Royal Guards, etc.
"What...the fuck is that?" Bunakin Vara stared at the carnivorous mouth farther away. All the Bone Vipers were being lured in its direction, "Is that a...Transcendent Eater?"
He gulped subconsciously, pressured by the situation, "That's one of our Empire's enemies!"
"Leader! We need to support Her Majesty!" Shael Vara shouted and skipped along the roofs of the houses through Shredded Lunge, racing past the Bone Vipers.
Her shout brought him to his senses as Bunakin Vara joined the Royal Guards to rush towards Yarsha Zahara while continuing to attack the Bone Vipers along the way.
The meteor strike appeared right as the Royal Guards were in a meeting, away from Yarsha Zahara and her children. The timing was uncanny.
"Faster!" Bunakin Vara shouted as he observed the number of branches carrying carnivorous mouths increase rapidly, forming a forest as they reached the three digits.
"You should know what they are." One of the carnivorous mouths along the outer edge of the forest opened its mouth to speak, staring at Yarsha Zahara, "I'm sure you extracted that information out of Grehha."
"Bone Vipers!" Yarsha Zahara gritted her teeth, observing bone spheres penetrate her barrier from time to time and hatch a thousand Bone Vipers each. They all hatched far away before heading in her direction.
She could use a Centinger's Artillery Strike to target them, but doing so would disrupt the biome within the bone sphere, resulting in an explosion. That would cause more damage than if the Bone Vipers were to hatch normally, since the bone sphere lightened its weight to the limit when it impacted the ground.
She could also use the golden feline to unleash a beam of Prana and destroy the bone spheres. But that was a Prana-intensive attack. She would run out of Prana quickly upon using it, which would only place everyone at risk.
Using such a powerful attack was a waste, as there were multiple bone spheres to target. 'Then, there's only one option.'
Yarsha Zahara approached Brana and reclaimed the golden feline, controlling it herself as her son was barely able to handle himself, not to mention giving the golden feline orders.
With a thought from her, the golden feline turned into a golden flash and rushed through the streets. It leapt into an approaching bone vapour and emerged ten seconds later, having shredded through all the Bone Vipers.
After dealing with a group, it sprinted towards a second group. It was capable of conscious thought, able to fight on its own. Yarsha Zahara relayed to it information regarding the approaching groups, allowing it to efficiently deal with them.
'That one existence massively reduces the threat posed by the Bone Vipers.' Blola thought as he observed the golden feline casually shred through the Bone Vipers. It was an existence that survived after facing the Boar King. Mere Iron Grade Pranic Beasts weren't its match, especially considering its speed and agility.
Kiek! Kuak!
Wormy, humanoid fission beings drilled out of the ground, breaking out of containers filled with a viscous fluid. They were Pranic Beasts grossly mutated by Yarsha Zahara through the usage of Yennda's powers.
They were significantly weaker than their original counterpart, but they obeyed her orders, which was to her benefit. Due to the gross mutation, their bodies rejected the changes, able to survive for a few hours at most before dying.
Hence, Yarsha Zahara stored them in solutions that maintained them in a state of stasis, almost akin to suspended animation. When required, she would bring them out of the container, such as the current situation.
Their bodies began to break down immediately after leaving their containers. One of the Fission Beings lost a leg within seconds, unable to walk. It dragged itself to face a group of Bone Vipers rushing its way and activated its Primary Nature, resulting in a hail of thorns before its body exploded from the pressure.
It leaked turbid blood from the explosion and caused a nauseous stench, enough to make most Pranic Beasts instinctively shy away from the place.
Of course, the Bone Vipers didn't care about that, having a one-track mind. Their bone vapour defended against the attack as they destroyed the fission beings along their path. As they fought their way through, their numbers began to dwindle gradually.
"Seems this isn't enough to pressure you," Blola muttered as he stopped holding back. His roots extended rapidly and caused a branch to jut out of the ground a kilometre away. Its carnivorous mouth grabbed a group of fission beings and threw them towards Yarsha Zahara's grandchildren.
Ripples formed in the air thanks to Prana Shock as the fission beings splattered mid-flight. Yarsha Zahara flickered nonstop as she not only fought the Transcendent Eater but also defended the group encased in Empyrean Incubators.
"Stay still!" She grunted, having slung both Yennda and Grehha on her back, for only in this way could she keep them within her Spirit Weapon range while darting around all over the place. Moreover, she was using them like batteries, causing them to produce the effects of their Natures that she absorbed and used as she pleased.
Every second, a Transcendent Eater branch was cut up, resulting in a thunderous thud. The carnivorous mouths extended towards the newborn Wean Clansmen, intending to gobble them up, only to be severed by Yarsha at the last moment possible.
She infused the Empyrean Incubators with Internal Inertial Gravity and kicked them away, gradually increasing the distance between them and Blola. She intended to increase the distance until she could unleash a powerful attack without worries, such as a Centinger's artillery strike.
Swoosh!
She stomped upon a severed Transcendent Eater branch and used the last of her stored reserve of Bloody Affection. The blood from the severed branch flowed into her mouth and was rapidly digested in her stomach.
Yarsha Zahara activated a bunch of Natures to improve her speed of digestion, generating Prana to keep fighting in such a manner. She made both Yennda and Grehha consume pieces of the Transcendent Eater's body and forced them to continue using Mystic Bone Art to digest the food faster.
This way, they could generate power for her to absorb. A stomp of her legs and the severed branches sprouted fission beings. They rushed the Transcendent Eater and kept as many branches as possible in check.
Whenever a carnivorous mouth approached an Empyrean Incubator, bone vapour slammed into it and petrified it, constricting its movements until Yarsha Zahara could deal with it.
She ran at rapid speeds through Internal Inertial Gravity, constantly absorbing it from Grehha. From time to time, when she didn't have enough rotary momentum to condense an Eddy Blade, she resorted to punches and kicks.
Facing a hundred branches wasn't each, even for her, especially while focusing on protecting her people. Her children too supported her, alleviating some pressure on her. But just as she was getting a hang of dealing with the Transcendent Eater, a gelatinous substance dripped from the carnivorous mouth in the centre.
"That's mine!" Immediately in response, the quartet of Brana, Braga, Baga, and Barla lost their minds and rushed into the thicket of branches that parted way, allowing them entry.
"Dammit!" Yarsha Zahara hesitated for a moment and alternated her gaze between her children and grandchildren. She then made up her mind and chased after her children, prioritising them, 'Always forced to make choices. The Mammoth Clan truly lives up to their title of being a wretched scum!'
"I'll kill you, Blola!" She roared and rushed into the thicket of branches, spinning like a beyblade as Eddy Blades flashed nonstop. Her motion and actions were no different from a Bludder's as Yarsha Zahara hacked multiple branches and chased after her children who sprinted in their Empyrean Boar forms.
Boom!
Right as she barged into the centre, a carnivorous mouth jutted out of the ground and spat a geyser of water at Brana, intending to kill him. She had no choice but to come in its way, using her kite-shaped Spirit Weapon as a shield.
The gelatinous substance dripped behind her as her four children jumped upon it, devouring the substance voraciously. The geyser was aimed at them. If she were to let go in the slightest, they'd be impacted and wounded severely.
The one in the direct line of sight was Barla, pregnant with a significantly talented Wean Clansman. Even if she survives the geyser, her child won't.
Grunting in rage, Yarsha Zahara pulled a greater volume of Internal Inertial Gravity and Spirit Bone from Grehha, using it to erect a layer of defence. Dozens of geysers impacted her, forcing her to use her everything on defence, making her draw even more of Grehha's strength.
"Did you forget something?" Suddenly, Blola's menacing voice resounded, immediately causing Yarsha Zahara to realise her mistake. At that moment, when she gave it her all to defend her children, she focused all her control on Grehha to make him churn power on her behalf and assist her.
In that instant, she wasn't controlling Yennda anymore, as his powers weren't suitable for defensive purposes.
"Oh…fuck!" Grehha's face paled in response as he resigned himself to fate, "This will traumatise me for life."
The Transcendent Eater branches wilted as Blola's body appeared deep underground, hiding there for the time being, having zero intentions to witness the shit that would happen next.
'I should stop him before he activates his Pranic Beast form!' Yarsha Zahara willed with all her might, intending to suppress Yennda. But unfortunately for her, it was too late, since he already activated the transformation in the instant he was freed.
Yennda's figure ballooned into an absolutely disgusting existence, unlike anything Sumatra had ever witnessed, grotesque beyond imagination. A mere glance at it and over a dozen phobias afflicted her, starting from trypophobia.
She didn't know what happened next, only that she was on the ground, vomiting her guts out.