An existence that had been alive for two millennia, braving through countless dangers to prove her existence as an apex entity, that was Gannala.
Having killed countless dangerous existences, including Gold Grade Pranic Beasts, the one that resulted in her collapse was a single, tiny egg.
The Zinger Queen required at least a century's worth of Empyrean Tusk lifeforce to hatch successfully. And depending on her potential, the quantity only increased.
Gannala was old but thanks to the Mammoth Clan taking ample care of her wellbeing, she would have lasted another century. Of course, that was only in terms of lifeforce. She would become incapable of supporting the Mammoth Clan in a year. That much was certain.
If she wanted to live even after that, she could roam Sumatra alone and find a spot for her weary body to hibernate. No Empyrean Tusk ever got such an end, for they were killed before reaching such a state.
Gannala was no different. As all her lifeforce was stolen, she couldn't even walk. Followed by a flicker, her Primary Nature shrunk, retreating towards her heart. The result of that was first felt in her legs which were no longer able to bear her body mass.
Just its body mass alone equalled a mountain. But the resources stored in the vast spaces formed in her organs added to a few dozen mountains. Without Internal Inertial Gravity, that wasn't a mass that any living creature could endure.
In an instant, the legs that lost the Primary Nature's effects turned into dust, tilting Gannala to the side.
[Move!]
Gannala shouted in a frequency audible only to Empyrean Tusks. The shout was directed to the 43rd Empyrean Tusk that jumped to the side, creating enough space for Gannala to collapse sideways.
[Everyone! Run! He'll be satisfied as long as he gets to kill me!]
Boom!
The ground ruptured upon the impact, unleashing a quake that travelled throughout Dieng Canyon, raising a dust cloud that reached dozens of kilometres into the sky.
Cough! Cough!
Inala grunted in pain as he instinctively observed the egg in his hand, relieved upon seeing the baby Empyrean Tusk remain safe. Thanks to the effects of Internal Inertial Gravity in the egg, she didn't even feel the slightest disturbance.
"Inala! Are you okay?" Asaeya's shout resounded from behind him.
Inala looked around, only seeing dust and smoke everywhere. He was stunned to notice he was hovering in the air for some reason. "I'm fine."
At his shout, a bone hand approached him and held his clothes, tugging. Asaeya floated towards him and expressed her surprise, "What's happening?"
A shockwave billowed at this moment and pushed the dust cloud away, revealing an Empyrean Tusk snout. It then gently touched him as his Mystic Bone Art activated in reflex, prompting him to activate his Empyrean Slip Prime Skill.
Inala floated in the void, able to see massive clusters of information. A tiny cluster hovered before him and seeped into him. As the information surged into his mind, Inala was able to understand what had happened.
When they were about to fall, the 43rd Empyrean Tusk inhaled air and used that to delicately keep them afloat in the air. It had taken action thanks to Gannala's request. Moreover, Gannala communicated Inala's plan to the 43rd Empyrean Tusk.
The memories told Inala that the 43rd Empyrean Tusk would take Gannala's place to send him flying away.
Immediately after that, Inala returned to reality and stared at a second snout nearby. That was Gannala's. And oozing out from it was a stream of essence—her Inheritance.
[Henceforth, you're Gannala!]
Gannala announced to the herd as she transferred her everything to the newborn and breathed her last. Her trunk collapsed to the ground and caused another rumble.
Inala didn't even have enough time to process things as he took action in a hurry. All the Prana Bombs stored in his Storage Lantern flew out as he consumed them all and created a giant Prana Bomb that enveloped him and Asaeya.
Inala wasn't sure where Instructor Mandu was. The 43rd Empyrean Tusk only saved him and Asaeya, leaving him with no other choice, 'I wanted to flee with a large group as it was safer. Dammit! Nothing goes completely as planned here!'
The giant Prana Bomb finished forming as his two Prana Hands and Life Hands latched onto its outer surface, merging into it.
The 43rd Empyrean Tusk inhaled air as the giant Prana Bomb flew into the trunk. Suddenly, a dense amount of Prana surged into it, filling it with more than enough effect of Internal Inertial Gravity.
The air was compressed to the limit as the 43rd Empyrean Tusk pointed the trunk at the sky, aiming in a certain direction before releasing the compressed air. Like a bullet, the giant Prana Bomb shot out at hypersonic speeds.
Despite the intense speed, Inala didn't even feel the slightest of jerks within, capable of seeing the herd once he turned the giant Prana Bomb translucent. Thanks to the 43rd Empyrean Tusk reinforcing the giant Prana Bomb's exterior, it didn't crack even while travelling at such speeds.
"He's here!" Inala muttered as the fear he was feeling reached its zenith. He stared in its respective direction, noticing a dot that made a beeline towards the herd. The mountains in its wake crumbled in response.
After a moment of hesitation, Inala revealed a faint crack on the baby Empyrean Tusk's egg, causing a faint cry to leak out. Immediately in response, the dot curved its path and turned his way. The mountain beneath it turned to dust as the dot jumped into the sky, travelling a notch faster than the giant Prana Bomb.
The dot gradually increased in size, revealing a humanoid individual that unleashed a ravenous roar. His body ballooned in size to become a massive boar that approached him even faster.
Mystic Grade Pranic Beast—Empyrean Boar King!
"Fuck!" Inala closed the crack on the baby Empyrean Tusk's egg as his heart palpitated upon seeing the Boar King up close. He burned up his Prana to barely reinforce his body through his Primary Nature. Only then could he endure the sheer pressure exuded by the Boar King.
His plan was simple. Using the baby Empyrean Tusk's cries, he would lure the Boar King while flying away. Thereby, he would prevent the Boar King from finding the Empyrean Tusk herd. Of course, he wasn't a martyr. He intended to flee successfully.
"Don't faint!" He shouted at Asaeya, using pain to keep her awake. "At my signal, use the Grim Knell's power on his eyes!"
"O-Okay!" Asaeya trembled in fright, using pain to stay sane as the Boar King approached closer and closer.
When there was less than ten kilometres between the two, Inala shouted, "Now!"
Primary Nature—Linked Rupture!
Asaeya lost sight in her eyes, linking it to the Boar King who also became blind…for an instant.
At that moment, the two Prana Hands and Life Hands attached to the giant Prana Bomb's outer surface morphed in shape, transforming into curved wings—tiny in size, shaped like shark fins—as they caused the giant Prana Bomb to spin in response, assuming a helical pattern. At hypersonic speeds, even a small change in shape would result in completely different motion paths.
The abrupt change caused the Boar King to miss as he moved straight while the giant Prana Bomb swerved in its helical pattern and brushed past him. Due to his superior speed, he moved past them.
Inala faintly changed the lengths of the four tiny wings, causing the giant Prana Bomb to curve faintly and move in another direction. There was an angle of thirty degrees between the path taken by the giant Prana Bomb and the Boar King.
For an instant, the Boar King lost his sight. And when he regained them, the Prana Bomb was no longer before him. He stared to his side, watching his target going farther and farther away in another direction.
As he couldn't fly, it would take him a while before he reached the ground. Even if he were to leap that, his target would have vanished by then. After all, both were travelling at hypersonic speeds, 'Using my speed against me, that's a first.'
Reverting to his human form, the Boar King gently landed on a mountain, impressed, "The baby Empyrean Tusk's cries were revealed only for an instant to lure me this way. And the moment I missed my target, her cries have been masked."
"Moreover, there was someone with the power of a Grim Knell within that Prana Bomb. That's a solid scheme to escape from my sights." Muttering as such, he stretched his limbs and turned around, "Anyway, I finally found the herd."
He kicked the mountain, crushing it into dust as his figure flew out, making a beeline towards the Empyrean Tusk herd, "I'll annihilate them this time."