In a far-off plain, two women stood 179 metres from each other, silently observing each other. Prana continued to accumulate within them as they munched on a vine, charging up an attack. At the same time, both finished charging up and assumed their Pranic Beast forms.
Beginner Mystic Grade Pranic Beast-Empyrean Boar King!
Primary Nature-Empyrean Boar King Transformation!
Secondary Nature-Voracious Nature!
Tertiary Nature-Astral Chart!
The two Empyrean Boar Kings were within the Spirit Weapon range of each other, opening their mouths simultaneously as a cluster of Prana condensed before blasting off as a corkscrew. Both had launched it onto the other in sync.
State of Harmony-Astral Puncture!
The two corkscrews were unleashed with such precision that they brushed past each other without making contact and slammed into their respective targets. A hole popped open on the heads of both the Empyrean Boar Kings, their physical defences unable to even put up a fight.
"No matter how many times I witness it, there's no helping the goosebumps I feel." The new Blola, now the only one of his kind, said as he rubbed his hands while trying to control his trembling, "It's not called Sumatra's strongest spear for no reason."
"I can't even begin to comprehend how this is possible even when I know all the Natures that fill up Astral Chart to unleash Astral Puncture." He sighed and vanished. A Parute Tree appeared in a straight line, spread two kilometres from each other, forming sequentially.
It was Blola's mode of travel, able to appear as a Parute Tree anywhere in his line of sight. He quickly left the plains and stopped near an expansive sea, "This place seems good enough."
Expert Mystic Grade Pranic Beast-Transcendent Eater!
The roots of the Transcendent Eater began to dig into the shore and absorb minerals at a conservative rate, ensuring to not destroy the local ecosystem. This was why Blola had been travelling from one place to another.
Unlike his previous self who ignored damage done to the terrain and blazed through the Life Stages, Blola was careful, for his purpose was to prepare for the Continental Invasion. Therefore, it was tantamount that he ensured no habitats were disturbed while he did his thing.
It had been seven years since the end of the Third Major Disaster. Until now, he had only reached the 2-Life Stage and hadn't even reached maturity with the second body. Blola had been spending most of his time, attention, and resources on Barla, ensuring she would survive first, "Almost done!"
Once the Transcendent Eater had accumulated enough resources, it grew a sack that began to revive Barla. If the Transcendent Eater were to go all out, Barla would be revived in a matter of minutes. However, the sheer resources necessary to build the Empyrean Boar King's body would destroy the region.
Hence, Blola could only take on a conservative approach and revive Barla slowly. It took close to twenty days to revive Barla and another two to three days to create her second body and equip both Astral Charts with all the necessary Natures.
There was no issue with 99 Natures, since they were common enough and Blola had consumed a few more of the same kind. However, the most difficult one with the Nature of Prana Circuit.
The one being used by Blola was barely at the Body Stage, only having the Nature of Prana Circuit. He hadn't begun building his Human Avatar yet.
He originally had a trace of a mineral in his Human Avatar, which had been removed after he obtained the Primary Nature. His form was unstable; however, the strain had been transferred to his body instead of his Spirit Container.
Therefore, the Free Human was bound to die in a matter of hours. It was how he existed when Inala brought the Free Human for Blola's consumption.
The mineral that granted the Primary Nature of Prana Circuit was unknown. No matter how much the previous Blola had asked about it, Inala didn't reveal an answer. It was guarded as a secret.
As a result, the current Blola couldn't figure out a method to create more Free Humans with the Primary Nature of Prana Circuit. Even if they lose their minds from the influence generated by Prana Circuit, it doesn't matter since Blola could control them, 'Maybe that's why Inala didn't reveal it?'
'I might become too powerful if I manage to get my hands on the method to obtain Prana Circuit.' Blola thought. After all, he had 82 Boar Kings other than the Empyrean Boar King. Even though the Boar Kings were Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beasts, they had Astral Chart.
Even if the overall power and stack wouldn't be as powerful as the Mystic Grade Astral Chart, the resultant State of Harmony-Astral Puncture-produced by the Boar Kings would still
pack a punch.
They could wound even Mystic Grade Pranic beasts.
A Gold Grade Astral Puncture was strong enough to kill an Empyrean Tusk and Empyrean Snapper with one hit. A Mystic Grade Pranic Beast would require more to be killed, which wasn't an issue as Blola would manage to launch 82 of them at a time.
And with enough preparation, he could cause the Boar Kings to progress through the Life Stage. Every progression meant another charge-up for Astral Puncture. With the Transcendent Eater's capabilities, this ultimate spear made it the strongest existence.
Barla's Astral Puncture managed to easily pierce the body of even the Celestial Boar, so the strength of Blola's opponent didn't matter. Even Astral World could be pierced by Astral Puncture if it was supplemented with a Bolt of Transcendence or something with similar destructive might.
If necessary, Blola could sacrifice a body to draw in Bolts of Transcendence, which Astral Puncture could absorb to perfectly destroy their opponent. 'Was Inala worried that I might turn on Sumatra in the future? Is that it?'
He racked his head, unable to come up with an answer. While he was thinking, Barla consumed his branches and used the generated Prana to build a second body. The two stood near the end of their Spirit Weapon range and synchronised themselves.
Once the first body of Barla charged up her Astral Puncture, she transferred the Nature of Prana Circuit to the Astral Chart of her second body. Before the influence of Prana Circuit waned in the first body, the Nature returned.
In this manner, the two bodies switched Prana Stitch until both had stabilised Astral Puncture and could unleash it. Assuming Pranic Beast forms, they targeted each other and collapsed in
response.
'If only I knew what the mineral was, I could absorb it from the ground and use it to build the
Human Avatar. Once the Free Human enters the 2-Life Stage, it would be very easy for both bodies to unleash Astral Puncture.' Blola sighed, 'The current method takes absurdly long to unleash. In a battle, Barla would have to be as a single stack to unleash Astral Puncture fast
enough.'
"Anyway, it's done." Changing places, Blola revived Barla and asked upon observing her, "How do you feel now?"
"I'm no longer dying," Barla observed her Spirit Container and nodded, "All the effects of Unlimited Predator have been flushed out of my body."
"Thank goodness," Blola heaved a sigh in relief, 'I didn't want to lose Barla, since her battle experience in the Third Major Disaster is too valuable.'
Barla fought the Celestial Boar and actually wounded the latter many times. Only she had that experience, which was why Blola didn't want to lose her. If Barla were to die, another Boar king would take her place as the Empyrean Boar King.
Only one can become the Empyrean Boar King through the Boar Kings. Since Barla was alive,
even if another Boar King were to exist, the rule wouldn't take effect. This was even if she was a part of the Transcendent Eater's data. Upon her death, the next Boar King revived by Blola would automatically become the Empyrean Boar King, that was if the wean Clan didn't birth another Boar King.
And even if Blola creates another Empyrean Boar King, it wouldn't be as powerful as Barla, for it didn't have an enemy strong enough to pressure it, which meant most of its strength will remain as untapped potential.
'Thankfully, I didn't lose Barla.' Blola snapped his finger as Barla committed suicide. Her corpse was consumed by the Transcendent Eater. Upon absorbing the nutrients forming her body, Blola reached the peak of the 2-Life Stage.
'It's time to meet him.' Thinking as such, Blola's figure vanished as a flickering line of Parute
Trees appeared and disappeared. Recalling the information given to him, Blola made a
beeline to Grehha's Dungeon.
...
Eight years after the Third Major Disaster had ended, a Parute Tree arrived at the entrance to
Grehha's Dungeon and waited patiently, observing the horde of Pranic Beasts running into the Dungeon, 'This must be his home.'
'What is he doing though?' Reverting to human form, Blola observed while camouflaging
himself amidst the branches of a tree.
[Please enter!]
Faint bone mist gathered on his hand and formed the word as Blola was surprised, looking
around in confusion, 'I can't detect him anywhere nearby. Then, how did he sense me and communicate using his bone mist?'
Thinking as such, Blola sighed and jumped down from the tree branch, intending to enter the Dungeon. However, right as his feet landed on the ground, a hole appeared beneath and caused him to fall inside. Like a trap door, it closed shut immediately after, leaving behind no
traces.
"What's this?" Blola looked around in a fluster upon seeing his figure moving downwards on a slide. Instinctively, he intended to use his Transcendent Eater wines to lodge into the surroundings and arrive at a stop. However, seeing the words on his hand change, he stopped
himself and passively slid down.
[It's me!]
A few minutes of barely enjoyable sliding later, Blola found himself in a large dome-shaped
cavern. It was filled with a blood sea. A thin, stone path traversed from his spot to the island in
the centre.
His eyes spotted Grehha seated on a bone chair at the centre of the island and flashed as a Parute Tree next to the individual. Reverting to human form, Blola winced upon seeing Grehha's appearance, "You look like you've aged a bit."
"Unlimited Predator has been eating at me slowly, but surely." Grehha expressed a strained smile, "Thank you for coming here, Blola. I was worried you might have forgotten."
"I rushed here right after treating Barla." Blola said and eyed Grehha, suggesting after a
dozen seconds of silence, "I can use Astral Puncture on you too. As long as I keep reviving you, it's just a matter of time before you make a full recovery."
"Yes, that'll work. But," Grehha shook his head, "If I manage to complete my work before
Unlimited Predator consumes me, let's do that. But currently, I cannot afford to rest."
He pointed at the Empyrean Incubator nearby, "I have to constantly feed her with Empyrean Tusk influence while also granting her all my research and knowledge."
'And successfully fuse Resha's Spirit Weapon into her skull.' Greha thought, not revealing that
piece of information. Without Gannala at the scene, Grehha had no means to control Blola.
He was aware that the current Blola was created from the original by Sumatra's Transcendent Eater. Therefore, he couldn't fully trust the other party and didn't wish to take risks needlessly. 'I'll only take the risk once it doesn't matter if I'm controlled by the Transcendent
Eater.'
"Don't overwork yourself to death." Blola shook his head and assumed Transcendent Eater
form. His form began to shrivel up a little as a sack began to grow. His roots didn't absorb any minerals from the surroundings to avoid destroying the Dungeon.
Instead, the Transcendent Eater used its own body as a resource to slowly revive the sack. In a
matter of hours, the sack was fully developed.
Right before it could hatch, Blola stared at Grehha to ask, "I can also revive Vhalla and Wrunnala alongside their respective Settlement. What do you want me to do?"
"Don't revive them," Grehha shook his head, "Both of them must have suffered a lot under
Brangara. The hate they're teeming with would only disrupt the peace we have achieved."
"Then, should I ever revive them?" Blola asked, sighing upon seeing Grehha shake his head.
"Unless you're about to die and only they can save you, refrain from reviving them." Grehha stated solemnly, "Consider the old Mammoth Clan as destroyed."
"What about Gannala?" Blola asked, asking in worry upon seeing Grehha's sullen expression,
"Is she dead?"
"How? Who killed her?" He stated in fluster.
"She was hiding within Harrala's stomach when Brangara consumed her." Grehha said,
'That's a lie, but it's better to avoid telling him the truth. Eventually, it'll become the truth anyway once the Fourth Major Disaster starts.'
The Indigo Mystic Path will end up changing Gannala to the extent she'll become unrecognisable. 'Until then, she'll be hiding anyway, busy consoling Harrala's settlement while absorbing them into her hold.'
"How did that happen while Inala was here?" Blola recalled the Royal Zinger and shuddered,
"If he wanted, he could have prevented her death, right?"
"You think we could kill the Celestial Boar without any sacrifices," Grehha snorted, "You
weren't even in the fight, so you don't understand just how absurdly powerful he became towards the end."
"It took us everything and everyone to claim this victory." Grehha refused to speak further
and calmly eyed the sack, "Now, let's get down to business."
"Alright," Blola nodded as the sack fell on the floor and shattered, revealing the figure of a
naked woman inside. Her expression was one of confusion before morphing into disbelief as she stared at Grehha's face, "Whatever I heard just now...tell me you're joking, Grehha."
"Resha," Tears streamed down her eyes the moment she began to speak, "Where is Resha?"
"Where are the others?" She eyed Blola and understood the picture before kneeling in shock upon observing Grehha's somewhat aged figure, "How long...have I been dead for?"
The woman was none other than the Mammoth Clan Heroine, Yahira.