Secondary Nature—Internal Inertial Gravity!
Tertiary Nature—Internal Inertial Gravity!
Raaha's figure flickered towards a pile of composite projectiles as he clapped his hands once, unleashing a powerful shockwave that turned them into dust. The trembling in his hands decreased by a notch as a result, allowing him to target the next pile better.
Nature—Rocky Intimidation!
The Rockatrice's Primary Nature was the most annoying when accumulated to a large extent. And here, every single composite projectile carried a portion of it, unleashing a suppressive effect that pervaded the surroundings, coupling atop the presence unleashed by Yarsha Zahara that struck fear in the bodies of the Empyrean Tusks!
Thereby, the longer they allowed Yarsha Zahara to do her thing, the worse their situation would get. Hence, Raaha took action first, as thanks to two Natures of Internal Inertial Gravity, he was the fastest. Besides, as the Mammoth Clan Chief, he had to take the lead in a battle.
When he left the Mammoth Clan's hideout close to the Brimgan Empire, he was at the 9-Life Stage, having given one body to Yahara Tusk for consumption. But by the time he left the Sumatra Continent, he had already entered the 10-Life Stage once again.
Even though he had yet to reach the peak, he was still a powerhouse, one stronger than before when he possessed the power of the Gold Empyrean Tentacle. With a start, he extended his leg and twirled a few times, cranking strength before releasing it into the air to generate powerful shockwaves that sent the composite projectiles flying away, severely damaging them in the process.
The ones impacted at the start crumbled into dust while the trailing ones flew off as large chunks, with a good portion of them flung towards Yarsha Zahara who didn't even bother dodging them. All she did was condense her kite-shaped Spirit Weapon before her, one large enough to cover her body.
The projectiles slammed into the shield and splattered as dust. The momentum behind them didn't even manage to budge her for some reason. And while the kite-shaped Spirit Weapon protected her, Yarsha Zahara continued to launch more composite projectiles into the sky that intended to rain down at the Empyrean Tusks.
"What is she doing?" Raaha was unable to figure out Yarsha Zahara's thought process, wondering why she was wasting so much Prana as if she had an infinite supply. He then turned around and nodded at the Empyrean Tusks, signalling them to flee, 'At our fastest speed, she won't be able to keep up.'
Immediately at his signal, all the Empyrean Tusks turned around and sprinted while activating Internal Inertial Gravity to the limit. Vhalla grabbed Orakha and Maroppa as she kicked the ground and accelerated.
Inhaling a deep breath, she blew through her mouth, unleashing a horizontal tornado that cleared out all composite projectile piles before her, creating a clear path that was almost a kilometre long. As she took the lead, all the Empyrean Tusks followed suit.
Rhanalla brought up the rear, intending to assist Raaha who was constantly launching all the projectiles at her, intending to use the barrage to keep her at bay. "Quick!"
"Go ahead!" Raaha muttered as he sent a long line of composite projectiles flying at Yarsha Zahara, making the line resemble a laser due to how compact it was, completely occupied by flying projectiles.
"Phew!" Bones popped out of his body and melted, transforming into small pellets in whom he infused the power of Internal Inertial Gravity and grunted, hurling them at Yarsha Zahara. The pellets travelled in a straight line, barely curving as each pellet reached a tonne in weight.
He was using two Natures of Internal Inertial Gravity to raise their weight, turning them into a deadly blast. In the fraction of a second, the pellets slammed into the kite-shaped shield, producing a muffled sound at first and then was followed by a sonorous gong.
"Urgh!" Her feet skid from the impact as Yarsha Zahara found herself losing her footing before she was sent flying towards the Sandy-Grey Void. She was unusually calm though, condensing a Comet that she held and poured Prana into.
She pointed it in the direction of Raaha and caused it to fly at him. But as she held it tight, unwilling to let go, her momentum was gradually brought to a standstill. Moreover, before her momentum reached zero, she let go of the Comet and watched it lose power mid-flight and slam into the ground.
Had she been a second slower in releasing her hold, she would have accelerated in the direction of Raaha, which meant she had entered a state of flight. This was exactly how Brangara lost a body during the Second Major Disaster thanks to Resha's scheme.
Her expression turned stoic as Yarsha Zahara flew into the Sandy-Grey Void. But an instant later, a chain attached to a hook flew out from the curtain of night and stabbed into the ground. It had a complex locking mechanism, following the Spirit Weapon creation techniques of the Brimgan Empire.
The locks changed gears as the teeth of the hook expanded and spread further into the ground, anchoring itself tightly. The chain attached to it was elastic, visibly stretching for a few seconds before contracting, bringing Yarsha Zahara back into the Manu Enclave.
She landed on the ground and grunted, not wasting any moment as her body transformed into a golden flash and vanished, accelerating towards Raaha.
"Not on my watch!" Raaha roared and rushed at her after transforming into a Shock Lizard.
Primary Nature—Empyrean 100!
The serpentine tail allowed him to manoeuvre in varied directions swiftly, at speeds faster than human legs, which was efficient in close combat. He clenched his hand into a fist and slammed a punch at Yarsha Zahara, targeting her face.
Boom!
Yarsha Zahara's head cranked to the side a bit before stopping, suddenly becoming as dense as him. Her eyes trailed towards him as her mouth curled up to let out a gleeful smile, breaking out into elation. A moan escaped her lips, "Ah! How long has it been since I felt this power."
"Of Internal Inertial Gravity!" She licked her lips, staring at the paling face of Raaha, "I'll become as strong as you are the moment you touch me."
"Tch!" Raaha felt weaker in his right arm, sensing its density return to normalcy. He retracted his hand in a hurry and noticed two pin-sized holes on his knuckles. His focus darted to the temples of Yarsha Zahara where his punch had connected, noticing Sumatra Gold there.
At the moment he punched her, Yarsha Zahara selectively activated her Human Avatar at the point of contact and slightly morphed it, causing two pin-sized portions to protrude out, which used Raaha's force to pierce into his knuckles, targeting exactly the spot without bones, which was relatively weaker.
The moment they pierced through his skin, they came in contact with the power of Internal Inertial Gravity spread throughout him, absorbing it rapidly, which she applied instantly to raise the density of her head, which was why her head only tilted partway from his punch.
Primary Nature—Incident Nature Reflection!
[Internal Inertial Gravity! I WANT MORE OF IT!]
Brangara's roars resounded in her mind as Yarsha Zahara reached out with her hand and grabbed Raaha's arm. The flesh at the point of contact distorted as blades of wind cut in. Her Sumatra Gold Human Avatar expanded from the tips of her fingers and stabbed into his arm, absorbing his Internal Inertial Gravity.
Accompanying it was her Subtle Terrain Domination, all applied in conjunction with each other as she yanked his arm off, having cleanly severed it with a single touch. Everything had happened in the fraction of a second, leaving Raaha stunned.
But immediately in response, he reacted, transforming into a Millinger as the sheer expansion of his size sent her flying. He reverted to his human form and transformed into a Brully, slamming at her with his hammer right arm.
Boom!
Yarsha Zahara was sent crashing into the ground, forming a crater. But an instant later, she leapt out, not even scratched. The dust hadn't even settled, but Raaha's Prana detection means were sending large danger signals.
'What the fuck is that? How is this possible?' Rhanalla stopped running as she stared in shock, noticing a Sumatra Gold-covered figure walk out of the crater, 'How can she have enough Sumatra Gold to finish her Human Avatar? And even if she did, how could she be so fast?'
"That's the source of your confidence, huh?" Raaha muttered in nervousness, staring at the glinting figure of Yarsha Zahara who appeared to have a different colour with every angle change in his vision.
"Just one of the many." Yarsha Zahara said and dusted herself casually, "You have two Natures of Internal Inertial Gravity. That's why I can feel your punches despite the various defensive measures I've taken. I don't understand how you achieved it, but it's alright."
"I'll figure it out!" Her mouth widened like a beast and drooled, "And then, I'll reclaim it."
"Fuck you, Bitch!" Raaha cursed, "Only an Empyrean Tusk can wield Internal Inertial Gravity. Not you or that bastard hiding in you."
"Wow, what a meagre taunt." Yarsha Zahara burst into laughter, "That doesn't even tickle after everything I've experienced."
She stopped speaking and stared in the direction of the fleeing Empyrean Tusks, "Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you…"
"Hurry!" Vhalla shouted as she ran to the front, "While the Chief buys time, we need to flee far away. Let's keep running for as long as our resources last. I'm sure we can outlast Yarsha Zahara!"
"Yes!" Nitalla, the 5th Empyrean Tusk answered as she cranked her power further, increasing her speed. However, she had taken one more step when the ground parted open, revealing a deep pit, one filled with composite projectiles, "What the…?"
Vhalla's eyes widened in shock as her figure fell into the pit alongside the rest of the Empyrean Tusks. She then noticed that the walls of the pit were covered by composite projectiles while there was a whole sea of them at the bottom.
She then noticed Tangible Natures of Shifting Ants running about on the walls of the pit, and placing the composite projectiles there while there was a group of Tangible Natures of Pranic Beasts at the very bottom who were producing the composite projectiles.
"This is…shit!" Vhalla bellowed as she hurriedly condensed a storage lantern and expanded it to its original size, bellowing with all her might, "Get inside!"
"Okay!" All the Empyrean Tusks grabbed each other and pulled themselves into the storage lantern, not before leaving some outside that exploded immediately after to produce shockwaves that can serve as a layer of defence.
After all, the composite projectiles, numbering in the tens of thousands, launched themselves as comets, targeting the storage lantern.
As the bombardment began, a large horde of Tangible Natures of Mud Vipers gathered around a Tangible Nature of Rockatrice and began to cover up the top of the pit, intending to fill up the space so that even if an Empyrean Tusk were to transform, it would crush everyone else trapped in the pit.
"I was just saying that it was dangerous." Yarsha Zahara muttered as she side-eyed Raaha, "I don't like my prey escaping, you see. But, what should I do now?"
She put on a troubled expression, "I don't like them covered in mud either."