"Where are they?" Appearing beside a Quip Clan outpost was a Biome Bomb containing a Bolt of Transcendence inside. It had enough of Inala's mind to operate no different than the
original.
And contained at the centre of the Biome Bomb was the Major Treasure of Flight, allowing the Biome Bomb to move from one place to another similar to the Royal Zinger. The Major Treasure of Flight could perform its duties on its own, similar to the Influenced Region of Hidden Eye.
However, as it was a Major Treasure, it would be unleashing its pillar of light everywhere it moved. Hence, Inala prepared Biome Bombs to handle it, one of which was the current one. Loaded with a Bolt of Transcendence, it could control the Major Treasure of Flight as if it were Inala.
This ensured that the Major Treasure of Flight didn't automatically eliminate all the entities in a state of flight, since a good majority of them were Quip Clansmen acting as beacons for the Royal Zinger.
The Biome Bomb had used Perfect Biome Domination to perfectly outline Inala's shape and appearance. And as it was a Mystic Grade Biome Bomb, it was capable of birthing Quip Clansmen and create the trees that appear at the Dieng Canyon.
This was used to make it seem as if it were Inala, with a flesh body. It didn't wear Inala's skin, for that could be damaged. The current method had been refined to the limit that only a Zinger Representative could tell the Biome Bomb and Inala apart.
Upon its arrival, the Zinger Aristocrat at the outpost kneeled in a hurry, "We have begun their relocation."
"Point me towards their location." The Biome Bomb acting as Inala asked. The Zinger Aristocrat took out a Piezo Slip and made an estimate, "With their travel speed, they're currently near the outpost of this region..."
She didn't even finish the sentence when the puppet of Inala threw a Prana Bomb containing a string of wool. Every outpost had dozens of them. It had been created in such a way that once thrown after being activated, the wool within would assume a state of flight for a whole second.
And as it was a Prana Bomb, it absorbed Prana. Depending on how this was fed, there could be a time delay for the activation of the wool inside. The Balghat's wool would only be activated after the delay, by which the Prana Bomb would have travelled a long distance.
Towards the end of its travel path, right as the wool within assumed a state of flight, the Inala puppet appeared beside it and grabbed the Prana Bomb, destroying it to avoid it falling into a region like a stray and offending some entity living there.
The Quip Clan was in a trade agreement with countless powers, so it was wise to now throw any stray Prana Bombs across the place. That was why the Inala puppet destroyed the Prana Bomb once it had served its use.
It carried a bunch more Prana Bombs, which it threw one after another. This way, instead of travelling by flight, it was travelling at hypersonic speeds, even faster than Boul Brimgan.
After close to fifty throws, the Inala puppet appeared in the air next to a Prana Bomb and destroyed it, now noticing a caravan proceeding slowly, escorted by an army of Quip Clansmen. Secured within the sole carriage in the caravan were the figures of Gannala and Harrala.
Chirp!
The Inala puppet let out a Zinger Shriek, causing the Quip Clansmen to disperse. Their actions confused the seated duo inside, who immediately expanded their Prana detection means to notice the Inala puppet.
'Why is he here?' Gannala was confused for a moment, getting on guard as the situation seemed amiss, 'Is it truly Inala?'
Right as the thought appeared in her mind, a tiny hole appeared in the carriage as a faint spark had punctured through it to target her, "Wha..."
"Gah!" Gannala spasmed as the spark was extracted from a Bolt of Transcendence. Even though it wasn't at a level of concentration that could kill her, it had been maintained at a level enough to paralyse her for at least a few seconds.
Prana stagnated in her body, trying to circulate and mend the damage as Gannala was unable to move for the time being. The same happened to Harrala too. Of course, the spark targeting her was significantly weaker, as her defences paled in comparison to Gannala.
When both Empyrean Tusks were incapacitated, the Inala puppet shredded apart the carriage and landed between the duo. It extracted thousand units of Prana from its body, which automatically turned into a Biome Bomb.
With the activation of Perfect Biome Domination, the Biome Bomb enveloped Gannala, following which its interior was flooded by Prana that turned into the Attributed Region.
The Inala puppet had used half of its reserve to create a sturdy enough cage of Attributed Region water, successfully trapping Gannala within.
"Inala! What are you doing?" Gannala roared as she recovered faster than expectations, having turned into a Nature Weapon to equip herself onto a Mammoth Clansman with the Secondary Nature of Perfect Biome Domination.
His Primary Nature had been removed, and in the empty slot, another Nature Weapon of Subtle Terrain Domination had been equipped. Gannala appeared within the Tertiary Nature slot and controlled the body, transforming her Primary and Secondary Natures into Internal Inertial Gravity, a Gold and Mystic Grade Nature respectively.
She craned strength in her arm and punched the Attributed Region cage, forming ripples across it as Subtle Terrain Domination tried to puncture through using the force generated by Internal Inertial Gravity.
Secondary Nature-Perfect Biome Domination!
The damage began to recover immediately, thwarting Gannala's attempts for the time being. However, it was just a matter of time before she manages to break free, since the Inala puppet wasn't the actual person.
Its computing capabilities were limited by the mind aspect of the Prana in its storage. It would reveal flaws eventually since the tug-of-war between it and Gannala was a constant contest between Perfect Biome Domination and Subtle Terrain Domination.
Both would be actively attacking and countering the latter, requiring dynamic changes every instant. The Inala puppet wasn't focused on holding Gannala at bay for long, as its target was someone else.
"Why...are you doing this?" Harrala asked as she recovered, healing the burn marks across her body as she got up and stared at Inala with a sombre expression, realising something was amiss as she wasn't attacked after the first time, "Do you...simply wish to talk to me without Gannala to interfere?"
"I'm sorry," The Inala puppet uttered in sadness, "I had hoped to never have to resort to this plan. Unfortunately, I'm not smart enough to think of a better plan."
"I see..." Harrala didn't take more than a couple of seconds before she understood what Inala's thoughts were, "Are we losing that badly?"
"...Yeah," The Inala puppet let out a forlorn sigh, "Even at my peak, I can only deal crippling
damage on Brangara. However, if I can't kill him, it's just a matter of time before he
recovers."
"I see..." Harrala stumbled, lacking the strength to stand for a moment. She plopped to the ground as her eyes turned teary, "Do I...have to die?"
"I'm sorry," The Inala puppet bowed its head in shame, "It's because I've run out of
options."
"You know...that idiot father of mine is a hopeless fool," Tears streamed out of her eyes as
she stared weakly at the Inala puppet, "He's hopeless to the extent he thinks I'm only using
him for his abilities. And once I've exhausted his usefulness, I'll stop seeing that. That...
dumbass..."
She choked on her voice, "Even after being with me for so long, he doesn't understand me, understand that I've simply been creates excuses for him to stay with me, in any form that his despairing head could comprehend."
"But..." She placed her hand on her face and chuckled in despair, "My death will absolutely mess him up. The cruellest action a daughter can do is die before her parent."
"I...my death will end up placing a curse on him for the rest of his life." Harrala's body trembled as she stared at the Inala puppet, "Do you...truly have no other choice, Uncle?"
"You're the smartest existence I've ever encountered in my life. Can even someone of your calibre not figure out a solution without having to plunge my father to a fate a million times worse than death?" She pleaded.
"I..." The Inala puppet let out a long sigh and took a seat on a tree stump. It felled the trunk and created a wide enough seat for both to sit, patting beside it to beckon for Harrala to sit beside, "I tried everything."
"Astral Puncture is the strongest attack on Sumatra currently. None of the other attacks even
come close to a tenth of its sheer destructive power." Inala puppet began speaking once Harrala sat beside it, resigning herself to her fate, "We spammed it nonstop. And all we managed to do was poke a small hole in Astral World. This was after we damaged Brangara's mind to the absolute limit."
"I hoped to find an opportunity to split Astral World, but as long as Unlimited Predator is protecting it passively, my Royal Split is useless." The Inala puppet raised a hand and gently patted the back of a crying Harrala, "That's why...I'm sorry."
"I'm a mere puppet, so all I can do is this." Extending its hands, it enveloped Harrala in a
gentle hug, "My main body is fighting Brangara as we speak and...is getting beaten up. Once the time is right, my main body will sacrifice himself to pave way a chance for Yennda."
"His abilities aren't invincible." Harrala hugged the Inala puppet, 'This is the first time I've been given a proper hug, and it's from a puppet.'
"My dad cannot target the Celestial Boar and succeed. Every individual's body resists his ability the highest. And even if it works temporarily, the Celestial Boar's Prana will heal the mutated flesh back to normal. The moment it succeeds even the slightest, its body will rapidly build up resistance to mutation." Harrala expressed her concern.
"It won't be an issue." Inala puppet patted itself, "If Yennda mutates himself using the
bodies of both myself and Blola, his capabilities will reach the Mystic Grade. And as long as he
fuses with the Major Treasure my main body leaves behind post death, he'll have enough power to destroy the Celestial Boar."
"Are you...not scared, Uncle?" Harrala asked, "Isn't death...scary?"
"Yes, it is." The Inala puppet nodded, "However, one who lost his dream is a walking corpse. I
am merely one with death, so it's not scary."
"The Royal Zinger will appear again, right?" Harrala was silent for a minute before asking,
noticing the expression of surprise on the face of the Inala puppet, "I have been observing the actions of the Quip Clan."
"They act as if the Royal Zinger can never disappear, as if their Deity dwells in them and can
walk amongst them any time they wish for." She made eye contact and asked, "Is that true?"
"...Yes," The Inala puppet nodded.
"Then...promise me, Uncle." Harrala pleaded desperately, "When you're revived in the future, please promise me you'll save my dad. I don't care whether you have to manipulate him or not, but please, make him happy for even a moment in his life."
"Unfortunately, I can't promise that." The Inala puppet sighed.
"Why?" Harrala roared, "Shouldn't that be easy for you, Uncle?"
"It's because..." After a moment's hesitation, the Inala puppet responded, "The newborn
Inala won't be your Uncle, but a Deity that moves solely for the Quip Clan's benefit. And
depending on the Quip Clan's accumulation of Royal Zinger genes, my successor will be way stronger than me."
"Every generation, they'll continue to grow stronger until one of them gets the Celestial
title." The Inala puppet shook its head, "Unfortunately, none of them will do anything that
doesn't benefit the Quip Clan."
"So, I'm sorry." The Inala puppet extended its hand and grabbed Harrala's weakly, "I can do
nothing but apologise, Harrala."
"I'm truly sorry..." By the time Gannala broke free of her Attributed Region cage, Harrala had vanished, taken away by the Inala puppet and placed in the core of Armoury.