One hour earlier, right after Inala left Sumatra!
Standing alone on the ivory sands of the Kalahatra Desert was Brangara, taking the time to think now that he was free. He turned around and stared at the Infinite Divine Soldier for a moment before closing his eyes and plopping on the ground.
"What a drag..." He muttered, watching the figure of Inala vanish from his view, 'What the heck is this bastard doing? I thought he was in a hurry to kill me.'
"Say, Yahard. "After a minute, he opened his mouth and stared at the Infinite Divine Soldier standing nearby. What do you think Inala is doing now?"
"Does he seek to borrow power from somewhere or something?"
"Why do you care?" An angry voice resounded from the Infinite Divine Soldier, "Walk in and face me!"
"Yeah, I will, once I kill Inala." Brangara said and calmly observed the Infinite Divine Soldier, "It's not like you have anywhere else to be in the meantime. You're stuck there for an entire day."
'And even if I keep killing you once every second, I still wouldn't have killed you enough to exhaust your lifespan.' He thought, smiling upon seeing an expression of surprise appear on the other party, "What? You think that's a secret?"
"All those Bolts of Transcendence that slammed into me..." Brangara relaxed as his limbs flailed around, imprinting his figure on the ivory sand, "You think I didn't learn anything from it?"
"Every gap in my knowledge," He tapped his head, "Has been filled up."
'Well, only for the known stuff.' He thought and gazed in the direction of the Transcendent Worlds, 'These Bolts of Transcendence are generated by the Transcendent Worlds created by the Transcendent Mystic Tentacles. But even they are simply following the rules set by Sumatra.'
'The information in these bolts is a reward from Sumatra.' He smiled, 'And similarly, if it's something even Sumatra doesn't know, then I won't receive anything from that field. That explains why I didn't get anything special regarding Astral World.'
The Celestial Boar was an existence that surpassed Sumatra's understanding. That was what it meant to bear the prefix of Celestial, to be an existence that hadn't reached its limit even after hitting the ceiling of power.
'I haven't even explored all the possibilities of my build.' He stared at the Infinite Divine Soldier, "So, tell me your thoughts, Yahard. What do you think is Inala planning now?"
"Why are you asking me that?" The Infinite Divine Soldier grunted.
"Man, you really are a disappointment for a Mystic Tentacle." Brangara grumbled in mockery, "Of the ruins that I have visited were murals showing the feats of the Mystic Tentacles."
He stared at the Infinite Divine Soldier, "When I came to know you gained the power of a Mystic Tentacle with your Primary Nature originating from a Silver Empyrean Tentacle, I was nervous. They were few in number, but the feats recorded of a proper Infinite Divine Soldier were...terrifying."
"It's not creating a soldier using the strongest mineral." Brangara expressed his disdain as he stared at the Infinite Divine Soldier, "Do you know what you look like now?"
"What are you getting at?" The Infinite Divine Soldier calmed down, controlling its anxiety amidst rage and inquired. It had nothing else to do since Brangara refused to step within its range.
"Human Avatar," Brangara stated solemnly, "It's the Human Avatar form of the Free Humans, an unkillable Human Avatar that could revive infinitely."
Seeing the expression of realisation on the Infinite Divine Soldier, Brangara's laughter resounded across the region, "If you had planned to use Boul Brimgan's mineral, you should have learnt all his skill and Prime Skills."
"Or rather, you should have first learnt Gold Kinesis Art and every single Skill associated with it from the arsenal of the Brimgan Empire." Brangara pointed at the Infinite Divine Soldier, "That's when the true might of the Infinite Divine Soldier could be displayed."
"Had you learnt Gold Kinesis Art...oh wait, it should be Mystic Kinesis Art now," Brangara flicked his head once and grinned as he stared at the Infinite Divine Soldier's range, "That wouldn't have been 1.8 kilometres but 180 kilometres."
"W-What?" The Infinite Divine Soldier stuttered in shock.
"Yeah, it's a wasted potential. That's why I don't consider you a threat, since you cannot unleash the full might of a Mysti Tentacle. You see," He pointed at the sky, "Every single Mystic Tentacle prepares intensively before taking action. The greater their preparation, the stronger they become."
"If someone like Inala had your power, it would have been my end ages ago." Brangara stared at the sky and let out a long exhale, asking after a few more seconds, "Which is why I wish to ask you, again and again, Yahard."
"What is Inala's motive?" His head turned slowly as he faced a certain direction along the Kalahatra Desert, "That monster I'm sensing there...does Inala not care if Sumatra gets destroyed in the process of killing me?"
"What...what are you talking about?" The Infinite Divine Soldier stammered.
"Seems you know nothing," Brangara exhaled as he lifted his left hand and stared at the skin prickle that formed on his elbow, watching it explode an instant later, 'An existence so dangerous that my Prana detection means is going haywire.'
Minor Treasure-Prana Shock x2!
Minor Treasure-Drifting Tunnel!
Major Treasure-Internal Inertial Gravity!
Major Treasure-Subtle Terrain Domination!
Brangara's figure vanished and gently hovered at an altitude of 400 metres from the ground, noticing at a distance of 20 kilometres was a shrub. A moment later, the shrub wilted as a new shrub appeared a few hundred metres away, atop a sand dune.
Another moment later, it appeared at the farthest possible spot in its line of sight. The Kalahatra Desert was riddled with giant sand dunes and a constantly changing terrain due to the fierce winds wrecking the place.
As a result, not only was the visibility limited, but the dunes were constantly changing shapes, making the shrub not get a clear line of sight, 'That's the Transcendent Eater's mode
of travel. But it's not Blola.'
He stared at his thigh, noticing a spot explode, confirming the exact spot the shrub had appeared at, 'What is this monster?'
Screeee!
A beastly screech resembling a mosquito reverberated across the region, giving Brangara the creeps, "I feel I shouldn't let it get close to me, no matter what."
State of Unity-Unlimited Predator!
Brangara unleashed a pillar of light at the shrub, watching it wilt before the pillar of light
landed on it. However, unlike before when it was moving in Brangara's direction, it fled in the
opposite direction. "I see..."
"It wishes to kill me but at the same time, is also afraid of me. But overall," Brangara observed small explosions across his skin in accordance to the spots the shrub took in its motion, "It's infinitely more dangerous than Yahard."
Brangara blasted a few more pillars of light, but missed the target, stopping once the shrub had fled too far away, "I don't think it'll be safe letting that thing leave Kalahatra Desert."
'Since it wants to kill me, I wait until it gets close enough. I should keep it close and wait for
an opportunity to kill it.' He thought, because one good hit from Unlimited Predator was enough to kill the creature.
The Brood Mother was indeed a dangerous existence, but it didn't have a State of Unity. Meaning, it would die from Unlimited Predator. Moreover, it was just a newborn and didn't have anything on its arsenal other than what it had been born with.
"Heuk...ugh..." A shrub appeared next to a small crater and reverted into a human girl, a baby.
Though she wasn't old enough to crawl, much less walk, she was currently standing, eyes clutched by her baby hands to wail, "Waaaahh!"
Guided by instinct, she had rushed to kill the Celestial Boar. But making contact with the
latter terrified her, due to which she fled. And now, unable to understand the emotions churning within her, she began crying. "Uwaaa!"
Tears streamed out of her eyes and dripped onto the ivory sand. Suddenly, the sand wriggled
and clumped to form a baby Bone Viper. It glanced at the girl once and drilled into the sand,
speeding away.
Every tear droplet resulted in the birth of a Bone Viper when it came into contact with the
ivory sand. In the crater was water. When her tears touched the water, an aquatic Pranic Beast
was born.
Her tears, her voice, the air she exhaled, everything birthed a Pranic Beast depending on the substance it came in contact with. Ignorant, the baby continued to cry, only stopping upon noticing her Prana reserves had dried up.
"Gueee..." She stopped crying upon feeling hungry and looked around. Noticing a dense forest
nearby, she slowly walked in the direction, baby steps to her destination. Grabbing a twig from the ground, she munched upon it.
At first, her gums hurt since she didn't have teeth. A droplet of blood dripped out and transformed into a centipede-like Pranic Beast. It grabbed the twig and chewed on it, casually turning it into a milk-like substance before pouring it down the girl's throat.
"Uwee!" The girl seemed curious about the baby centipede and watched the latter gush a
stream of fluid nutrients into her mouth. She turned her head a little while drinking and caused a few drops to spill out from her mouth.
These drops were mixed with her saliva and quickly birthed a cluster of insect-like Pranic
Beasts that dug into the forest ground. Some of them ran up the trees and hid themselves. The girl continued to eat what the centipede-like Pranic Beast fed her, oblivious to the nightmarish region she was creating in the process.
Hiding his presence and observing from afar in the sky was Brangara, his expression was foul,
'That monster will destroy everything. Is this what you wanted, Inala?'
"Or," He clenched his hand into a fist and stared at it, "Is this what you think is the price
necessary to kill me?"
'Though she's a mere baby, her senses are sharp. No, it's more like an instinct, similar to how
my Empyrean Boar King version was able to hear the cries of a newborn Empyrean Tusk.' He thought, 'She'll be able to detect my approach if I were to get anywhere closer.'
'If I were to kill her, it should be once she's within my Spirit Weapon range. Then, I can trap
her within Unlimited Predator and prevent her escape.' Thinking as such, Brangara turned around and flew away, ensuring to not reveal traces of his presence in the slightest.
He arrived at the edge of the Kalahatra Desert, camouflaging himself using Subtle Terrain
Domination high up in the sky, noticing the ivory wall, 'A two-kilometre-tall wall meant to separate Kalahatra Desert from the rest of Sumatra.'
He then observed the Quip Clansmen that were steadily gathering in the place, fully geared
up, 'It's like they are preparing for war.'
He then spotted the Mystic Humans at discrete spots, meant to supply them with Parute Fruits if necessary while also acting as a passive turret towards the enemies, 'They're not guarding out. No, they're guarding to face whatever will approach them from the Kalahatra Desert.'
'Those are Homing Satellites in hiding.' Brangara observed the ivory sands near the wall, tracing his sight from one side to the other across the infinitely stretching wall, 'They're meant to be the final shield if the enemies prove to be too overwhelming.'
'There's these critters to maintain the wall.' He thought while observing the Bone Vipers on the ivory wall, frowning upon seeing groups of Pranic Beasts beginning to gather, 'Large groups of Silver Grade Pranic Beasts. There are even small teams of Gold Grade Pranic Beasts.'
Upon arrival, they huddled in the settlements erected by the Quip Clansmen who were
hurrying across the place nonstop. There was a massive swarm gliding in the sky.
Tall towers had been erected across the place to provide the altitude necessary to glide afar. Each tower reached a height of two kilometres. At the bottom of each tower was a Biome Bomb. It opened an entrance as a group of Quip Clansmen streamed in.
Two strings of Prana jutted out of the Biome Bomb and latched onto a pile of Prana Bombs,
absorbing the Prana within. Now that it had enough reserves, the strings of Prana behaved like arms to drag the Biome Bomb to the top after it had shrunk itself.
The top of the tower was a circle with a radius of 180 metres. The Biome Bomb reverted to its
actual size and created an entrance, out of which a large number of Quip Zingers glided out.
These were primarily meant for the Quip Zingers. The Zinger Aristocrats could rely on their strings of Prana to catapult themselves into the air and then glide along the respective heights.
In silence, Brangara counted their numbers, 'There's more than four million of them in my
range of sight alone.'
For a moment, Brangara thought of the Brood Mother and then the army that was being
gathered along the walls bordering the Kalahatra Desert, 'Seems Inala truly is confident of killing me. And this army is being assembled to handle the consequences.'
Calmly, Brangara flew out of the Kalahatra Desert, not being spotted by any detection means
and landed on a vacant spot. He then began to bring out his Minor Treasures one by one, staring at them after all of them had been taken out, "I think it's time I treat this with the intent that I'll be dying soon."