773 Overbearing Armoury
"Correct me if I'm wrong, brother Resha." Having been listening in silence all along, Wally expressed his confusion, "Shouldn't it be a wiser decision to wait until the Fourth Major Disaster?"
"I mean, considering your hypothesis, and the plans made by the Mammoth Ancestor and Renduldu, it feels like an impossible situation. But can't we take complete advantage of it?" He scratched his head, "The Seven Mystic Paths will unleash their effects on your daughters and turn them into Mystic Grade existences."
The sand nearby curled to form seven sticks, "That means the addition of seven Mystic Grade existences on your side, against Brangara. Wouldn't it instantly increase your odds of victory?"
"On paper, yes." Resha smiled wryly, "But they'll all have to attack from afar. If they get close and Brangara manages to devour even one body of theirs, he can use it to build another body."
"He'll endlessly keep spamming new bodies and by the time we kill one body of his, he'll pop out a new one." Resha chuckled despairingly, "The most dangerous ability of Brangara is him being able to eat anything in his sight and use it as fuel to mature his newly condensed body. I'm afraid he's already realised this during the Second Major Disaster."
"So, he'll be spamming this tactic. Moreover," He sighed and stared at Blola, "At some level in the Life Stage, he becomes capable of devouring you and controlling your Primary Nature without issues."
"What?" Blola shouted in shock, "That's impossible! The Transcendent Eater's power will consume him from the inside until only it remains. That's what it had done to my Empyrean Tusk form. And no matter how much I try, the moment I gain a Secondary Nature, it consumes that too."
"The Celestial Boar can pour its influence into the Tangible Natures it creates in the Astral World." Resha shook his head, "At a certain point, maybe at the 7-Life Stage or above, the stacking will strengthen Brangara's influence to the extent it can overpower your Transcendent Eater's power. And that's it."
"Once he has even your power, he'll become unstoppable." Resha sighed, "So, we need to stop him before he unlocks that possibility."
"Just remember this, Blola." Resha uttered coldly, "None of us are confident in facing a full-powered Brangara. So, we need to keep hitting him constantly until he cannot grow too strong."
"I understand," Blola sighed, his shoulders slumped in disappointment, "I was maybe…a bit too hopeful."
"That's why," Resha patted Blola on the shoulder, "We need to hit him where it truly hurts."
"The fuck are you getting at…?" Blola's eyes widened as he stared at Resha's eyes, feeling the familiarity of the gaze, 'That's exactly how his eyes looked before he killed two of Brangara's daughters.'
"It's not my plan." Resha smiled wryly, "Inala is the one who conceptualised it and Virala is the one who added in…details."
He then stared at Wally, "I advise you against hearing it. This plan...may not be something you can stomach."
"Then…" Wally expressed his shock, pointing at Resha's face, "Why are you…excited?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't risk leaking it." Resha stood up slowly and grabbed Blola, "If you manage to enter the Mystic Grade before we begin our plan, I'll let you in on it. But until then, focus on yourself."
Empyrean 100—Transcendent Eater!
Resha transformed into a bony Transcendent Eater and perched its roots deep into the sand, beginning to siphon nutrients accordingly to gradually sprout Parute Fruits. The time taken to sprout the Parute Fruits was slightly longer than Blola, but it was still an impressive speed.\
With it, Resha could gather nutrients to fill up his biomes faster, cherry-picking the minerals through the Transcendent Eater's root system, thereby reducing the necessity of digestion in his stomach biome to protect the resources and transfer them into other biomes.
Basically, it hastened the speed at which he could build bodies naturally, without any maturity acceleration brought about by consuming the Celestial Boar's body.
"Okay…" Wally stated with a sullen tone, biting his lips in anger as he realised he couldn't take revenge on Brangara until he was strong enough. The current him would only end up fuelling Brangara's growth.
'I should hurry!' Thinking as such, he rushed towards the Sandy-Grey Void as a suffocating power enveloped him, one that was already on par with the 1st Empyrean Snapper—who was killed by Brangara.
"Argh!" He leapt into the Sandy-Grey Void as immediately in response, bloodcurdling screams resounded for an instant, immediately drowned out by the silencing characteristics of the Sandy-Grey Void.
"Alright," Resha maintained a Gravity Funnel between him and Wally, ready to pull the latter back into Sumatra Continent the moment Wally gave the signal. They had already done this many times and perfected the cooperation.
Upon judging the Gravity Funnel to be working properly, Resha stared at Blola, "Now, you'll be the key to the upcoming fight, Blola."
"I'll assist you in reaching the 9-Life Stage before the Third Major Disaster begins." He proclaimed, his gaze focused. "We have been competing and growing individually."
"But now, it's time to pool together and consolidate our gains to result in exponential growth."
…
Kalahatra Desert!
The temperature here was extreme, reaching a whopping hundred degrees Celsius even at nighttime. During the daytime, it became hot enough to set anything aflame. The region was an endless desert, with zero moisture or vegetation.
Kalahatra Desert was devoid of life, not because no Pranic Beasts could adapt to its temperature, but because of the existence of a single predator.
"Do you see it?" A 6-Life Stage Zinger Aristocrat used Prana Stitch to extend a string of Prana to reach an altitude of 2160 metres. Each of her strings of Prana could reach a length of 1080 metres currently, thanks to the stacking boost provided by her 6-Life Stage cultivation.
In human form, she could only use one string of Prana as a Spirit Weapon. However, in her Pranic Beast form, she could one simultaneously from each of her two tails. This allowed her to use Prana Stitch and combine the two strings of Prana into a longer one, gaining double the distance.
Attached at the end of the strung of Prana was a Biome Bome given by Inala. Seated within it was a Quip Zinger, staring far into the Kalahatra Desert. When the Quip Zinger spoke, his words reverberated through the Biome Bomb and travelled through the string of Prana as soundwaves.
The Zinger Aristocrat then captured the soundwaves, understanding the message in the same fashion as how string telephones worked.
"Yes," The Quip Zinger's message resounded as it observed the desert.
The Quip Clan's expedition team to the Kalahatra Desert consisted of 2000 Quip Zingers, 80 Zinger Aristocrats, and finally, the expedition leader, the Zinger Princess—Zaihaya.
The group was travelling on a Cloud Ship, which was a series of Biome Bombs in the shape of Lego blocks that were attached to form a large, ship-shaped structure. These Biome Bombs were a series of Influenced Regions of Floating Biome that had been tied to each other.
They formed the base structure, having a certain lift capacity. And accordingly, normal Biome Bombs had been placed within the ship's interior where the Quip Clansmen lived and did their work. Finally, forming the hull of the ship was another layer of Biome Bombs, transparent in nature, and with their landscape filled with clouds only.
Through Perfect Biome Domination, the Biome Bombs forming the hull were shaped so that the resulting ship resembled a natural cloud, giving it the monicker Cloud Ship. Anyone staring at the Cloud Ship will just see it as another naturally occurring cloud in the sky, unaware of its true identity.
Similar to the Quip Clan's Settlement at the Ravaged Federation, the habitable Biome Bombs within the Cloud Ship had interconnecting tunnels, allowing travel between them all. Currently, seated within the Biome Bomb placed at the highest elevation on the Cloud Ship was Zaihaya, her expression composed.
Huddled before her were a group of Zinger Aristocrats in charge of manning the Cloud Ship and relaying orders to the 2000 Quip Zingers.
Through the string of Prana created by one of the Zinger Aristocrats, a Biome Bomb had been raised even higher, giving them a better view of the surroundings. After all, most of the Cloud Ship was layered by the hull, blocking their view.
For both outsiders and insiders, the hull appeared as a cloud. The Quip Clan didn't have any windows on the hull, unwilling to take any chances. There were many races similar to Zingers with keen eyesight.
Inala had stressed innumerous times that the secret of the Quip Clan should never be revealed, for their survival and prosperity depended on it. Even if all bases of the Quip Clan on the ground were to be annihilated, as long as the bases in the sky were safe, the Quip Clan's survival was assured.
They could then bide their time to make a reappearance.
The Biome Bomb lifted up could be moved around using the string of Prana, giving the Quip Zinger—stationed within—various viewing angles above, below, and across all sides of the Cloud Ship.
The Kalahatra Desert was littered with quicksand, making it significantly deadlier than it already was. Hence, travel through this region was impossible. If any creatures from the surrounding regions, while fleeing, by mistake are forced to tread the Kalahatra Desert, then only doom awaits them. And the culprit was the entity that had established itself as the region's ultimate predator.
"It's here!" The Quip Zinger shouted upon noticing a swirling mass of sand gradually come into view.
It reached a height of four kilometres, elliptical in appearance, with a swirling girth similar to a tornado. Like a sandstorm, it moved forth, covering an area of over ten thousand square kilometres.
The sandstorm produced a mildly grating and overly thunderous sound, terrifying any living being that dared roam anywhere close to its vicinity.
"It's approaching us!" The Quip Zinger hollered with a shiver, trembling upon seeing the sandstorm approach their location at a steady pace, one that was too fast for any Iron Grade existence to evade on foot.
Even among Silver Grade existences, only the agile ones could outpace the sandstorm. As a result, even though the Quip Zinger was high above in the air, he was gradually losing his composure.
"Let's confirm if it's the real deal or not." Zaihaya thought for a moment before waving her hand. In response, Zinger Shrieks reverberated across the skies.
Hovering far away was a tiny Cloud Ship, holding a single Biome Bomb within. Upon hearing the Zinger Shriek, the Zinger Aristocrat within created two strings of Prana, extended them outside the Biome Bomb and transformed them into a pair of rotors. They spun and generated a faint force, pushing the Cloud Ship towards the ground.
The Biome Bomb opened up and poured out all the Pranic Beasts stored within, their bodies paralysed using Prana Stitch. As their bodies fell on the ground, the strings of Prana incapacitating them vanished, allowing them to quickly regain their bearings.
They stared at the Cloud Ship that was fleeing away in anger and roared, one that became a whimper immediately upon hearing the sandstorm's approach.
The Pranic Beasts squealed in fright as they dispersed across the sand, shielding their burning skin with Prana as they scurried at their fastest, hoping to make it out of the Kalahatra Desert in one piece.
However, as if it had sensed them, the sandstorm turned in their direction and sped faster, spiking the fear in their hearts. And then, spewing out of the sandstorm in the hundreds, glinting dangerously was something the Pranic Beasts noticed with familiarity.
Spirit Weapons!
The Spirit Weapons blotted out the sky and rained down on them, each exhibiting a different Nature. And then, they struck everywhere, no different from a carpet bombing.
"Aiee!" A canine Pranic Beast shrieked as a Spirit Weapon severed its body in half and began to spread a rotting effect across its two halves. It hoped to survive but had zero confidence in doing so.
And as if to confirm its despair, a Spirit Weapon in the shape of a chain jutted out of the sandstorm and pierced its body, causing it to shriek as a certain mineral was violently extracted from its body.
The chain coiled around the mineral lump and retreated into the sandstorm, repeating the same across every target it had killed. The attacks targeted all the released Pranic Beasts and killed them in a matter of seconds.
"That's indeed the real deal." Zaihaya nodded, commanding the lone Cloud Ship to hurry towards their location, "It's the Influenced Region of Armoury…"
"Kyak!" There was a shrill scream from the Zinger Aristocrat as a golden flash penetrated her Cloud Ship and diced it into pieces, causing her to fall out, barely managing to avoid getting severed. But she had just assumed her Pranic Beast form, intending to glide farther away when the golden flash zig-zagged across her body, severing her into pieces.
"It's a Rutham Spirit Weapon!" Zaihaya's expression was solemn as she watched the Zinger Aristocrat lose her four lives in a matter of seconds, unable to resist in the slightest.
As if that wasn't enough, the sandstorm turned to face the large Cloud Ship where the Quip Clan's expedition army was situated, aiming for them.
As if that wasn't enough, the sandstorm turned to face the large Cloud Ship where the Quip Clan's expedition army was situated, aiming for them.