The Unlimited Predator Sword lashed at the Royal Zinger, only to be deflected to the side, after which a section was consumed. Following that, two swords hacked at it, only to repeat the same.
"There's more!" The Celestial Boar bellowed and condensed eight Unlimited Predator Swords this time and lashed with them simultaneously. They had all been turned into Satellites, so infusing Prana into them was enough. He didn't need to control it, so attacking with eight at the same time was possible.
The Royal Zinger's hands struck the sides of the first two and swerved them away. its fingers expanded and grabbed onto the second batch of swords and dissipated them. The third batch struck the palm and caused a stalemate for an instant.
But before they were dissipated, the final batch swerved around the palms and hacked into the rear section of the arm, stabbing into them, "That's it!"
The Celestial Boar chuckled, uncaring about the swords getting consumed by the Royal Zinger. Even though the Royal Zinger's ability was powerful, it had its limitations. And as long as the Celestial Boar could capitalise on those limitations, it would win.
'My biggest advantage here is the amount of time I can afford to be in this state.' Its lips curled up to reveal a cruel smile, watching the Royal Zinger collapse to the sand suddenly, 'This bastard's state isn't stable. A battle of attrition is enough to guarantee my victory!'
"Hah...gah...grahhh..." Guttural screams echoed from the Royal Zinger's mouth, following which it reverted to human form. In human form, Inala's body wasn't the same as before. It was more robust, bursting with strength. However, it wasn't stable.
Patches of skin fell off while new layers grew underneath. Unleashing his State of Unity meant his death had begun. Inala was simply relying on his vast reserves of Prana and Lifespan stored as Bolts of Transcendence to heal himself long enough to fight.
"A powerful State of Unity, but you can't even maintain it for long." Reverting to human form, Brangara casually stood a kilometre away from Inala, "Do you have any excuses now? You claimed the last time to be a trial run. And now what? Were you distracted?"
He did not need to trash-talk Inala. However, he could clearly perceive the latter's condition. Time was his ultimate weapon here. 'Inala will self-destruct on his own in due time. Whether by fighting or by engaging in a conversation, I simply need to buy time.'
'The question is...' He frowned upon seeing Inala's lack of response, 'This guy won't bother responding unless I truly taunt him. How do I do that...?'
'Right!' He thought of a figure and grinned, uttering in confidence, "Say, even if you manage to succeed in killing me, do you think I'll truly be dead?"
"What?" Controlling his ragged breathing, Inala lifted his head, wiped the blood bursting out of his face and stared at Brangara.
"My Life Stage stack," Brangara laughed, "If you truly wanted to kill me, you should have gone all the way during the creation of the Quip Guardian. But to you, he wasn't a fighting force, but merely a chess piece,"
"Meant to prevent me from reaching the 10-Life Stage, at which point nothing will work against me, even if my Astral World is empty."
"It's ironic, isn't it?" He cracked his knuckles and began to warm up for the upcoming fight, "You're doing everything here to kill me, but my tenth body is Turnip. You've only changed it enough so that it's not me, but at the end of the day, it's still recognised as part of my stack."
"So, it's just a matter of time." A pillar of light faintly shimmered out of his body, "Even now, the power of Unlimited Predator is filling up my body, mind, and soul. Therefore, it's just a matter of time before your changes on my tenth body get undone. It'll revert to becoming the Celestial Boar soon enough."
"Indeed, you're at your smartest during a battle." Inala chuckled, "You're right, the Quip Guardian is merely a tool meant to prevent you from reaching the 10-Life Stage. In the future, Turnip will revert into the Astral World and you'll be reborn through it."
"But so what?" Inala chuckled as he got up slowly. The peeling patches on his skin disintegrated as Prana circulated through his body at greater rates, minimising his self- destruction, "Your Unlimited Predator cannot hinder my revival mechanism."
Seeing Brangara's eyes widen in response, Inala chuckled, "Did you seriously consider me as your greatest threat? Oh, please! In Sumatra's history, I'll be the remembered as the first and the weakest Royal Zinger."
"Every successive version of me will be a tad stronger as compared to their predecessor. And eventually," Inala entered a fighting stance once again, "The Royal Zinger will reach Expert Mystic status...without attaining the Empyrean prefix."
"Celestial..." Brangara's expression twisted in absolute horror. Only an existence that hadn't hit its limit even after reaching Expert Mystic Grade had the prefix of Celestial. Every Expert Mystic Grade Pranic Beast, including the Transcendent Eater, had the prefix of Empyrean. 'He's saying the Royal Zinger will reach that point? Impossible!'
"I don't intend to reveal my methods, but that future is guaranteed to happen, even if other Continents were to invade Sumatra." Inala's smile widened, mimicking Brangara's prior expression, "I've created bases for the Quip Clan in places you wouldn't even know existed. Each of these bases would develop on their own, without knowledge of the other bases. Depending on their efforts, they'll enjoy the birth of the Royal Zinger amongst them and result in their prosperity."
"This will keep happening across the eras until the endpoint." Inala stated in confidence, "The Quip Guardian is merely a tool to help them reach that point. By the time Turnip reverts into the Astral World, the Celestial variant of the Royal Zinger will appear."
"Even if I don't know how much other Continents have developed their State of Unity, I don't think anything comes close to Unlimited Predator in the sheer ways it could be used. Everything you gained till now in using Unlimited Predator will be attained by your final body." Inala laughed, "And similarly, across the eras, all Royal Zinger accumulations will be gathered in my final version."
"That's when we'll decide, Brangara." Inala declared, "The strongest Celestial of the past and the strongest Celestial of the future. Which will win?"
"That's in hopes you defeat me here." Brangara harrumphed and raised his fists, emitting a pillar of light from his body, "I merely need a century or two to recover completely. Once I'm fully healed, I'll be hitting the Quip Clan with Unlimited Predator. Your Clan doesn't have a future."
'He's probably counting on Sumatra's Transcendent Eater to assist in locating the Quip Clan. Well, he can do that since if he survives this, he'll be strong enough to walk out of the Continent and approach the Transcendents even without reaching the Transcendence Stage.' Inala thought and smirked as a pillar of light radiated out of him, "That so? Shall we put it to
the test?"
There was silence between the two for a total of three seconds. And then, intense power blasted off into the skies, the pillars of light emitted by the duo growing thicker and denser
with every passing moment.
State of Unity-Unlimited Predator!
Brangara was the first to finish his activation. His pillar of light enveloped his Spirit Weapon range, which included Inala and sought to consume the latter. Though a tad late, Inala's too
activated.
State of Unity-Four Steps To Nullity!
Step One-Sound!
The pillar of light Inala released occupied his Spirit Weapon range and combated Unlimited Predator. Both were pretty similar and hence conflicted with each other tremendously.
Unlimited Predator consumed chunks of Inala's body. In response, he healed them by consuming the power fuelling Unlimited Predator.
Opening his mouth, Inala roared, causing Biome Bombs to sprout out of Brangara's body and
rapidly fuel his State of Unity. Using this, he managed to somehow keep up with Unlimited Predator's power.
There was a stalemate for a dozen seconds, following which both the combatants decided on
it simultaneously, assuming their Pranic Beast forms.
Expert Mystic Grade Pranic Beast-Celestial Boar!
Mutated Beginner Mystic Grade Pranic Beast-Royal Zinger!
The Royal Zinger's larger body, coupled with its 10-Life Stage cultivation granted it a larger Spirit Weapon range, strengthening its State of Unity against the Celestial Boar's. However, the moment it gained the advantage, the latter changed plans.
Unlimited Predator-Counterbalance!
"Gah!" The Royal Zinger was overwhelmed as Unlimited Predator's power was concentrated
solely on its head, rapidly eating through it at rates surpassing its recovery. This was despite its body currently at the same level as a Transcendent. 'I...need to go above!'
He momentarily blanked out as the pain he felt spiked to an unimaginable level. It no longer
stemmed from his body alone. He was also feeling the pain in his mind and somehow...even though he couldn't understand it fully, he knew that his soul was in pain too.
'I need to climb until the end!' He roared right before the Royal Zinger's head was consumed
and unleashed a stronger pillar of light.
Step Two-Water!
"What the..." The Celestial Boar let out a confused shriek upon seeing the Royal Zinger's body
vanish, quickly focusing on the place where the body used to be to notice a strange entity, "What the fuck is that?"
It was the Royal Zinger's head, reaching a size of 150 metres, attached to a neck that spanned a length of 200 metres. Somewhere along its length was the throat, attached to the Spirit Container. The limbs, stomach, organs, etc. seemed to have disappeared. No, it had been converted into dense water that artificially performed all the functions.
At places, the water condensed to resemble Biome Bombs, within each was a unique terrain of
vegetation meant to take the place of an organ. The water was like the flow of life, circulating from one Biome Bomb to another.
The physique change was truly change. But the strangest was what appeared externally. One...
two...four...eight!
'No wonder you're prepared for death.' The Celestial Boar observed the Royal Zinger's appearance and commented, "No living being could survive evolving four times sequentially. The sheer strain of the process would kill you with absolute guarantee."
"This isn't something you can do more than once, huh?" The Celestial Boar cackled, "Truly, a
waste of power!"
"Not me, not my immediate successor, or even the first group of them." The Royal Zinger muttered as eight Attributed Water arms hovered around its body, capable of separating from the body to its maximum Spirit Weapon range, "But one day, this will merely become a part
of my arsenal."
The eight Attributed Water arms clenched and unfurled their respective fingers freely, as if
part of the body. They didn't even have to extend forward much to reach the Celestial Boar.
The two sides paused for a second before the eight Attributed Water arms rained down punches at the Celestial Boar. "Try to survive until the end, Brangara."
"You'll be able to witness power surpassing a Silver Grade Transcendent once I take my fourth
step!"