Prana pulsed out of Virala's fists and transformed into the force of psychokinesis that violently gushed into Brangara's mouth and caused fragments of his teeth to fly out at supersonic speeds.
"I…have been…training!" Brangara grunted as he swerved his body, spun once, and unleashed a backhanded hook onto Virala's face, the impact minimised as a powerful repulsive force decelerated his fists.
"Well, congratulations!" A second body of Virala appeared, covered by Tratham armour as it grabbed Brangara's hands, holding it steady while the first body kneeled the latter's face, causing blood to spurt out.
"Argh!" Brangara roared, for a moment almost blacking out as he had been repeatedly targeted in the face, tethering him on the verge of unconsciousness. Prana billowed out of him as the two bodies of Virala were sent flying. Now standing amidst a tornado was the Celestial Boar, letting out a powerful scream when suddenly, hundreds of projectiles slammed into its face, craning its body sideways.
"Thanks for making yourself a large target." Hovering high up in the sky while clapping excitedly like a cheerleader was Amita Brimgan, transforming into the Royal Zinger whenever necessary.
A string of Prana stitched to its maximum length through the Tertiary Nature of Prana Stitch extended from her body and coiled around a lump of sand. A Biome Bomb appeared and grabbed a large amount of desert sand, following which Perfect Biome Domination was activated to melt and compress it into solidified glass.
The glass was then shaped into a Prana, for that was the most natural projectile a Zinger could hurl with the greatest momentum. With a start, the Royal Zinger spun as a Biome Bomb spat out Prana Bomb-shaped glass that it grabbed and threw.
The projectiles shone brightly, concentrating light towards their tip to unleash a faint laser that simply pointed at the impact spot, landing squarely on it a fraction of a second later.
"Whoa!" The Royal Zinger reverted to Inala's human form and flew around, dodging the spikes hurled his way through Bone-Melting Artillery. A spherical dome of air surrounded him, Perfect Biome Domination activated within.
Any spikes he couldn't dodge on time were swatted away through this. And the moment he dodged them, he assumed Royal Zinger form to chuck another volley at the Celestial Boar. Every single throw resulted in a thunderclap, making it seem like he was chucking suns as the compressed glass emitted heat and light sharply due to the sheer friction it experienced.
'What the fuck is this?' The Celestial Boar grunted, noticing small, half-a-metre holes litter his body, a result of the projectiles. It noticed its body trembling faintly, a result of shockwaves coursing through its body, 'Every single projectile not just packs a punch, the aftereffects are equally worse.'
"Tch!" The Celestial Boar reverted to human form, for that way, Brangara could at least avoid Inala's projectiles, staring at the sky to glare at the culprit casually spinning circles way beyond his reach. 'I can't reach him.'
"Don't interfere, Inala." Virala muttered as the desert sand around him erupted with waves as his figure rushed Brangara with raging momentum, "This bitch is mine!"
Astral World—Prana Shock x10!
Astral World—Eddy Blade x10!
"The same combination?" Virala snorted in disdain, "Do you never learn?"
"Of course I do," Brangara grunted as suddenly, the shockwaves he was about to unleash were concentrated upon the Eddy Blade, transforming into a sword that nicked the side of Virala's shoulder who dodged last minute.
Mystic Sumatra Art—Nature Stack!
Since the Wean Clan carried a bunch of Natures on their being all the time, the strongest way to strengthen themselves was through a signature Skill that could allow them to stack the effects of a Nature onto another Nature.
Nature Stack was exactly that, allowing Brangara to superimpose the effects of Prana Shock onto Eddy Blade to result in an effect on par with a Silver Grade Nature. And of course, twenty such Natures are being stacked atop each other, with each Nature elevated to the 10-Life Stage.
The result? There was a soft wave of energy as a portion of Virala's arm got vaporised.
A glare later, Virala unleashed a force of psychokinesis to push himself away from Brangara, grunting to see the latter similarly stack Prana Shock onto Shredded Lunge to instantaneously close in upon him, 'Seriously? Are they only Iron Grade Natures?'
'This fucker is indeed a broken existence!' His body weaved in a hurry, evading the humming energy sword flashing his way, avoiding contact. There was a series of thrusts and evasions between the two as they attacked in a flurry.
Depending on one's cultivation technique and set of power, certain Skills were overpowered. One example of it was the Brimgan Empire's Spirit Weapon Switch, a Skill with infinite growth potential.
Brandal Brimgan was capable of using it to control a hundred Spirit Weapons, and even he hadn't attained a limit for the Skill. It was one Skill that even a long-lived existence like a Brimgan Royal, even after training for over a millennium, could not master.
And having faced its power firsthand, Brangara wanted something similar for the Wean Clan. After all, they had to invest their time, effort, and energy strategically. Having a hundred Skills was of no use since Mystic Sumatra Art was pretty much a universal cultivation technique.
The Boar Kings had Astral Chart while he had Astral World, allowing them to truly unleash the stacking characteristics of this Nature and impose it upon two different Natures. This allowed them to use two powerful Iron Grade Natures and attain power on the level of a Silver Grade Nature.
With them having a large batch of Natures, the Wean Clansmen became extremely versatile. However, this prevented them from finalising a direction of strength accumulation. Hence, Brangara worked with Yarsha Zahara, Yamahara, and the rest of the Boar Kings to create this Skill.
The Boar Kings had Astral Chart while he had Astral World, allowing them to truly unleash the stacking characteristics of this Nature and impose it upon two different Natures. This allowed them to use two powerful Iron Grade Natures and attain power on the level of a Silver Grade Nature.
Of course, in Brangara's hand, thanks to him having the Primary Nature of Voracious Cultivator, he could attain power on a whole other level from elevating every single Nature to the 10-Life Stage.
"Die!" Brangara roared as he continued to hack away at Virala, from time to time nicking the latter, blowing up body parts in response. With this power, the moment Virala assumes Pranic Beast form, he paints himself as a bigger target.
Therefore, Virala too was forced to remain in human form and fight while relying on Tratham armour alone.
Bang!
A second body of Virala appeared behind Brangara and grabbed his arm which carried the humming energy sword. Immediately in response, the first body of Virala kicked him in the groin, forcing him to howl in pain.
However, a layer of dust covered the knee thanks to the power of Imprison, allowing Brangara to pour psychokinesis through it as if it were his Spirit Weapon. Veins popped on his forehead under the exertion as he ripped apart the Tratham armour covering Virala's knee. And then, his hand came in contact with the latter.
"Shit!" Resha realised Brangara's plan and rushed into the fight in a hurry, no longer remaining a bystander. However, it was too late.
"Thanks for that." Brangara cackled as a stream of blood flowed out of Virala from the knee and flooded down his throat.
Astral World—Bloody Affection x4!
This was followed by Yamahara's power, causing the blood to show no signs of stopping once it started leaking. Immediately in response, Virala's body began to shrivel up before collapsing like a withered husk.
"Dammit!" Resha grunted, feeling that they had been too overconfident as there were four of them and only one body of Brangara, 'I should have taken centre stage…'
But then, he stopped, sighing upon seeing that Inala remained hovering in the air with zero change in expression, not in the least concerned about Virala's plight. It wasn't that Inala didn't care about Virala, but just that…
There was no need for concern.
'So, that's why.' Resha watched in surprise as spikes of blood jutted out of Brangara's body like a rainforest, resulting in horrid screams from both Brangara and Yamahara. The spikes of blood curved around like serpents and drilled in and out of Brangara's body.
Two seconds later, the stream of blood gushed out of his body and poured into Virala's withered body, rapidly causing it to regain its virality as he stood up, anew. His other body recombined, allowing him to resume a 2-Life Stage cultivation once again.
Moreover, the volume of blood flowing into him was way more than what Brangara had absorbed. The excess blood condensed into a massive sphere next to him as Virala chuckled, "Thanks for absorbing and storing my blood over the days, Yamahara."
"You've given me lots of ammo." He walked casually as a new layer of Tratham armour covered his body. It morphed to sprout an ice skate as Virala stomped hard on Brangara's hand, severing it at the wrist. He then kicked it away, watching the humming energy sword dissipate in response.
"Damn you!" Brangara grunted and fused with Virala's body when the two made contact, using his power as a Major Treasure to enter the latter's body. He planned to destroy Virala from the inside. But an instant later, he jumped outside as both Virala and Brangara let out bloodcurdling screams.
'What the fuck was that?' Cold sweat dripped down his forehead as Brangara was in a state of shock, 'Why couldn't I do anything to him?'
"This…this at least proves that my immunity is strong enough to resist your powers as a Major Treasure." Virala gasped as he reeled on the sand, trembling nonstop as he focused on healing the crack that had appeared on his Spirit Container.
He gasped a little before roaring aloud, "The powers of the both of you can do shit to me now!"
[Are you alright, son?] Brangara communicated with Yamahara in concern, realising clearly that he wasn't walking out of this alive. Forget killing all four Mystic Paths. He wasn't even confident about killing Virala for the time being, 'That bastard is treating this fight as an experiment. He knows that the others can come to his rescue, so he can fight without worries.'
If Virala was truly in danger, either Inala or Resha would have interfered with the fight.
[I'm sorry, Father. I didn't even notice that Virala's blood could act upon his command even when it's in my storage.]
[That's alright, at least we know it now. I'm almost done healing. Prepare to use your mother's blood! I'll create an opportunity.]
The wounds on his body healed as Brangara lifted his head, only to notice a towering individual stand before him, 'What the fuck?'
'Was he always this huge?'
It was Resha, currently reaching a height that slightly exceeded three meters. His expression was incredibly steady, a sharp contrast to what Brangara had seen from him during the few times they fought each other.
"I believe it's my turn now," Resha said, his voice booming with power as he stared at Virala.
"…Fine," Virala exhaled slowly as sand churned under him, pulling him a fair distance away, "I noticed plenty of issues with my fighting style. So I'm going to think of some solutions. I might become a bit slow in response as a result, so don't be careless, alright?"
"It's…alright." Resha said, his gaze unflinching from Brangara, looking down on the latter, "Get up, Brangara."
He then stared at Inala and pointed at Brangara, "Supply him with Prana until he's at full capacity."
"Alright," Inala controlled himself from smiling as he threw a Biome Bomb toward Brangara, uttering casually, "It's not dangerous."
"You looking down on me, fucker?" Brangara could sense that the Biome Bomb falling towards him didn't have anything malicious in it. To ensure he wouldn't avoid it, Inala ensured the Biome Bomb was transparent, and even made it porous to ensure Brangara's Prana detection means could easily see through it.
"Use it, Brangara." Resha uttered as he slowly burst his knuckles, "I truly am curious,"
"Curious of how strong I am currently."
"What the…" Brangara's expression widened in shock as Resha's body began to grow, in a fraction of a second transforming into a bony version of the very existence he was on guard against all along.
"I'll be damned!" Virala exclaimed in shock before subconsciously clapping his hands, excited as he heard Resha's voice resound with imposing confidence.
"No one else will interfere, Brangara. Come at me in your Celestial Boar form!"
There was a storm as Brangara assumed Celestial Boar form, but still paled in height as compared to the bipedal existence towering over him, its each arm spanning his height. Moreover, unlike the original, this one was heavy, insanely heavy.
Empyrean 100—Royal Zinger!