Boom! Boom! B-Boom!
Her each step quaked the land, akin to the sprint of an Empyrean Tusk. And as she drew closer, her hair trailed in the wind behind her, gradually spiking in response to resemble a geyser in appearance.
The old man—Empyrean Snapper in human form—snorted upon seeing her blatant arrogance and raised an eyebrow, controlling the air in the region the moment the woman stepped within his Spirit Weapon range.
The air spontaneously moved to latch onto the woman in an effort to constrict her. However, as if she could see its movement, the woman twisted her body and jumped to the avoid, perfectly avoiding it. That wasn't all. Her body was able to move fast enough to make the evasion possible.
Of course, in response to her evasion, the old man simply cranked up the speed of his Subtle Terrain Domination and ended up constricting the woman, "Futile resistance…"
Boom!
The air constricting the woman shattered as a storm appeared in her spot for a second before it was snuffed out by Empyrean Snappers. However, in that duration, the woman had somehow freed Kenzar and brought him outside the range.
The range…she wasn't supposed to know about it, but the fact that she stepped right outside the region under their control caused the Empyrean Snappers to frown, "Who the heck are you?"
"Stand back," The woman muttered to Kenzar, "I'll handle this."
"You…you're here," Kenzar expressed his shock and calmed down. However, he still expressed his worry, "Is it alright to reveal your power here, Zhya?"
"No, my power doesn't matter here." The woman was the one who was currently in charge of the Quip Clan, the Zinger Representative, Zhya Echo. With a shake of her head, she muttered, "Even I cannot win against this group. But that's not necessary."
"After all," She stared at the group of 216 Empyrean Snappers, "I won't be needing to use my strength here."
"What do you mean…by that?" Kenzar asked when Zhya waved her hand, telling him to leave.
"Run along now. You'll only hold me back by being here." Zhya said and maintained her silence until Kenzar was out of sight. Now, she was the only Quip Clansman in the region. Only then did she stare at the Empyrean Snappers to ask in concern, "Have you been well?"
"What?" The Empyrean Snappers were clearly confused by her tone. The old man in the lead bellowed, "Who are you? And how do you know about us?"
"Subtle Terrain Domination," Zhya simply uttered in response to the shout, "That's your Primary Nature, with an effective range of 180 metres. However, it can be increased to 540 metres with the help of the Secondary Nature of Empyrean Mist Deity,"
Seeing the group shudder in shock, Zhya smirked, "Which is what the lot of you are employing currently. However, the range is twice that, which can only be possible if you're at the 2-Life Stage."
"So," She eyed the group and shook her head, "Seems you have the Tertiary Nature of Cultivator."
"I'll ask for the final time!" The old man at the lead bellowed as the entire space in his range twisted to his will, expressing sheer fury capable of harming even Mystic Grade existence, "Reveal yourself!"
"I'm the one who formed Empyrean Mist Deity the first time." Zhya said and calmly seated herself on a boulder, resting her head arrogantly on her hand as she eyed the group to ask, "You want to know my identity that badly? Sure, I'll tell you."
"Currently, I'm the representative of the Quip Clan, Zhya Echo. "In the absence of the Royal Zinger, I wield complete authority over the Quip Clansmen." She announced with grandeur, "It was my heart that created the Royal Zinger."
"And even before that," She calmly eyed the group and dropped a fact that stunned them into absolute silence, "I was your hope."
"T-That is…impossible." The old man stared at the woman's facial features and finally understood where that strange sense of familiarity originated, "Wittral?"
"But how? Brangara clearly consumed you. Many witnessed that sight."
"Oftentimes, the truth you perceive is far away from the universal truth." Zhya shrugged as she got up, "At the Dralh Sea, after I was written off as worthless by your guys, Brangara approached me and participated in our experiment."
"Yes," She continued, further deepening their shock, "The main element behind the Royal Zinger's birth was Brangara who unwittingly played into Inala's scheme."
"Are you…really Wittral?" One of the Empyrean Snappers asked, still finding it hard to accept the truth.
"I'm Zhya, the Zinger Representative." Zhya snorted, "That's all you need to know about me now."
"On that note," She stepped forward and stopped a metre before the absolute domain's range, "With what dignity are the lot of you trying to destroy the Varahan Empire?"
"How dare you? You don't even know what had transpired at the Dralh Sea!" One of the Empyrean Snappers bellowed and took a step forward, intending to bring Zhya within range. However, the latter calmly took a step back and casually glared at him.
"If you had thought about strengthening the Cooter Clan, you would have selected the Tertiary Nature of Subtle Imprison. That was my build, and as long as you had enough competence with that build, you'd have attained a State of Harmony." Zhya commented, snuffing out the anger of the Empyrean Snappers, "But no, you all chose Cultivator instead."
"I can't even fathom the price you paid to get it, all 216 of you. It's a fucking waste of resources," She glared at the old men among the group, "Especially for the lot of you that only have a century or two left to live."
"Cultivator is strong, but the sheer amount of resources you need to reach the 10-Life Stage is something even the Brimgan Empire might struggle to produce." She grumbled in anger, "Instead, if you had chosen Subtle Imprison, you would have attained a State of Harmony, which would exhibit a level of power pretty close to your 10-Life Stage build. Anyone with half a brain would know which option to pick."
"We have our reasons." The old man at the lead argued, "Cultivator is absolutely necessary for our plans."
"Oh please," Zhya rolled her eyes, "Even if you have children with Cooter Clansmen, it doesn't mean anything when you cannot condense powerful Spirit Pools."
"That was the reason." The old man interjected as he clenched his hand into a fist, "Thanks to Cultivator and Empyrean Mist Deity, we are able to stably create Gold Spirit Pools. This will elevate the strength of the Cooter Clansmen as a whole."
"You're not getting my point." Zhya snorted as she stared at the Empyrean Snappers with disdain clearly evident in her eyes, "I was able to make stronger Gold Spirit Pools with my build. And this was without even attaining a State of Harmony."
She snorted, "All three Natures in my build were naturally in harmony with each other. I didn't reach it before I became my current self, but if I had attained the State of Harmony, I could have created the Lightning Plasma Spirit Pool without issues at the Dralh Sea."
"Return!" She said upon seeing their silence, "Return to the Cooter Clan and figure out ways for future generations of Empyrean Snappers to obtain the Secondary Nature of Empyrean Mist Deity and the Tertiary Nature of Subtle Imprison on their own."
"It'll be shameful if you had to beg for Gannala's help each time." She then continued, "Besides, if you were to head to the Varahan Empire with the goal of revenge, you'd die futile deaths."
"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should talk shit!" The old man grumbled in anger, finding it hard to control himself. He was on the verge of attacking Zhya, despite knowing her past as Wittral. "What does a brat like you even know of our combined strength?"
"Haaah!" Zhya stared at the sky and let out an exasperated shout, following which she replied snarkily, "Fine, go ahead!"
"You'll only end up feeding Barla."
"What?" The group stared at Zhya in confusion.
"As I suspected, you're not fully informed of everything." Zhya shook her head and then chuckled since the Quip Clan was in charge of peddling information. 'Just for past relations, I'll do this for free. And then, I won't even care if they are wiped out or not.'
"The Transcendent Eater is alive, and in his control is Barla, the current generation Empyrean Boar King." Zhya uttered, "She can unleash a State of Harmony called Astral Puncture, which had been created specifically to counter the Empyrean Snapper's absolute domain."
"Oh, it will!" She bellowed upon seeing the doubts of the Empyrean Snappers, "It doesn't matter how strong your defence is. Astral Puncture will penetrate your absolute domain, whether it's created by eight Empyrean Snappers or 216."
"She doesn't reveal herself, but Barla will hunt you down the moment you target the Wean Clan or Varahan Empire. After all, the Transcendent Eater considers them important for the Continental Invasion that'll happen next." She waved her hand, turned around, and began to walk away, stopping upon seeing a rock crash into the ground next to her.
In anger, she turned around and glared at the group, "Do the lot of you idiots still not understand?"
She pointed at the Empyrean Snapper who had attacked her, "The next time you do that, I'll beat you up."
"You're only at the Gold Grade." The Empyrean Snapper she pointed at harrumphed coldly, "Do you believe you can fight me one-on-one?"
"You have three Natures now and have reached the 2-Life Stage." Zhya rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! I got all that crap."
She beckoned for the Empyrean Snapper to face her, "If you are foolish enough to think you can fight me alone, I'll give you a reality check."
"Don't interfere!" The Empyrean Snapper who went by the name of Nancral said to his brethren and walked out of the absolute domain. He then glared at Zhya, "You'll regret underestimating me."
"Brother, I used to be the strongest of your kind." Zhya let out an insult, "If anything, I know your strength better than you."
"Come at me!" She bellowed and watched a storm erupt from the man before her, following which a humanoid giant spanning a height of 1200 metres appeared. Mist clouds covered the body, forming a ginormous thundercloud at the top as extending from the body was a neck that stretched to a length of two kilometres.
The neck and head were covered by the thundercloud as the humanoid body rippled with strength, fully covered by the shell that existed on the back of an Empyrean Snapper.
Secondary Nature—Empyrean Mist Deity!
Nancral assumed his Empyrean Snapper form and turned it into a humanoid version through his Secondary Nature. He extended his right hand as lava spurted out of the ground and condensed to form a spear.
Similarly, thunderclouds condensed on his left hand to form a shield, rippling with lightning and sounds of thunder constantly. A second later, he assumed a battle stance and charged at Zhya, letting out a thunderous roar that rattled the region, "Take this!"
Watching the lava spear approach her, Zhya stared in nostalgia, 'I never got to use that power fully, since I lived in hiding.'
"Well, I don't have to hold back now." Stating as such, Zhya raised her hand towards the spear tip and smiled, "I'll let you understand why Inala could freely die as he pleased without worrying about the Quip Clan's fate."
Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beast—Zinger Representative!
There was a loud clang as the lava spear was stopped by the palm extended by Zhya's Pranic Beast form, "It's because I'm here."