From the very beginning, upon observing that he was losing out on technique in comparison to KalTara, Narkahamy concocted a scheme. When he was exchanging boulder throws, he set aside a portion of his strength.
Blessed Influence—Stealth!
It was one of the first Blessed Influences he had created, when he acted as Lord Nay, leader of Talamas, a terrorist group. Upon activation, this Blessed Influence completely camouflaged the target, making sight the only possibility of detecting.
Normally employing this Blessed Influence made it useless, since everyone had a pair of eyes. Hence, the user had to be strategic and activate it while in cover and take advantage of the environment to move about.
This way, as long as they remain in hiding and avoid the line of sight of their target, they can approach the latter without being detected.
When Narkahamy used shockwaves to propel a boulder into the air, he split his stack.
Blessed Influence—False Presence!
It spiked his presence, making his 9-Life Stage appear as if he had a 10-Life Stage cultivation. It wasn't just that though. His power, thought speed, etc. had all dropped by a level with the loss of a body, which KalTara could have easily detected.
False Presence overclocked his body, mind, and soul, straining his 9-Life Stage stack to unleash power at the 10-Life Stage temporarily. When this was activated, the split body appeared underneath him.
Narkahamy had timed it perfectly in such a way that the split body appeared within the crater. Moreover, the crater also had a tunnel entrance, created when he unleashed shockwaves into it.
Blessed Influence—Rushed Tunnel!
With the Nature of Drifting Tunnel at the centre, five Natures of Prana Shock and four Natures of Shredded Lunge were grouped up to create this Blessed Influence. Its sole function was to rapidly cause a tunnel to appear in the ground and enter it.
This was executed in the blink of an eye, making it easy to miss.
Blessed Influence—Astral Stack!
Thanks to this, the split body employed the two Blessed Influences simultaneously, entered the tunnel in the crater, and vanished. As it was performed right as a boulder was lifted, everyone missed it.
Narkahamy had employed a classic magician's misdirection while also ensuring to use the boulder as a cover.
Once the split body entered the ground, it maintained its Blessed Influence of Stealth and waited for an opportunity by creating a pinhole in the ground. He waited until the 9-Life Stage Narkahamy expressed shock, making KalTara think he had gained an advantage over the enemy.
Using the Blessed Influence of Rushed Tunnel, he moved through the ground and leapt out. Right as he had done so, he swapped the set of Blessed Influence in his Astral Stack. Originally, it was Stealth and Rushed tunnel.
The moment he emerged, he changed it to Stealth and Ring Blade, watching the Ring Blade form around him and expand radially with his body at the centre.
He had aimed it perfectly and watched the Ring Blade sever KalTara's head. Upon success, he hurriedly retreated into the ground and rejoined his stack.
"Now, there's a difference in our strength." Narkahamy let out a breath in relief as he stared at the figure of KalTara who had fallen to the 9-Life Stage. "I have the advantage of an extra body over you."
There was pin-drop silence in the Empyrean Colosseum as no one had predicted such a series of events. Upon seeing KalTara constantly maintain pressure on Narkahamy, they had already formed an opinion of their difference in power.
However, Narkahamy had been injured twice, but the first to lose a life was KalTara instead.
"Your Majesty! Long Live!" Mesupoh was the first to regain his composure as he roared, "Long Live! Long Live!"
The Free Humans quickly joined the chant as many chuckled in glee at the horrified expressions of the Wean Clansmen who looked like they were about to puke.
The Wean Clansmen were horrified, the Free Humans were in a state of absolute high due to the unexpected counterattack by their Emperor, the Clansmen and Tribesmen were busy taking notes while the Pranic Beasts gawked in wonder. While everyone had their respective thoughts, Inala was the only one to let out a smile, 'He took a page from me.'
Of the information he shared to Narkahamy, there were also his thoughts about schemes. Narkahamy couldn't comprehend it entirely, but he understood whatever he could make sense of and turned it his.
He then made a plan and put it in action, which brought about such a result. Now, he was at the 10-Life Stage while his opponent had fallen to the 9-Life Stage.
Technically, even if Inala had never acknowledged or announced it, whether to the world or the concerned person himself, Narkahamy could technically be considered his disciple, his second disciple in fact.
'However, you must always go all in or never target them in the first place.' Inala thought as he observed the battlefield, 'Upon becoming the Boar King, he has tapped into a fraction of Brangara's absurdity.'
KalTara was stupefied, having never expected such an outcome. However, he was only in such a state for three seconds and gathered his bearings upon seeing Prana leak out of his corpse. It was a sign that the Spirit Container in his corpse had begun to crack. It would soon shatter and leak out everything.
"You're strong, Emperor of the Varahan Empire. Until now, your actions were perfect. Even your so-called mistakes were all part of the plan. In this fight, you have to win, and hence, you cannot afford to make a mistake." KalTara acknowledged as he bent down to pick up his corpse, holding the body on the left and the head on the right, "But I…can afford to make a few."
He opened his mouth and chomped upon his corpse, displaying a tremendous eating capability as he consumed his entire corpse in exactly two seconds, significantly faster than the time it took him to gather his bearings after the loss.
He had done so in human form, the bloody sight of which caused many Free Humans to belch in horror amidst rancid disgust. Blood dripped from his mouth and covered his body. However, with a swipe of his hand, he perfectly wiped everything clean and accumulated the blood on his fingers, following which he licked them, not wasting even a single droplet.
And the moment he licked clean the last droplet, his presence spiked.
10-Life Stage!
He had recovered his cultivation as his tenth body had already matured halfway in a matter of seconds. It was a drop from the tenth body's maturity, but reaching even half maturity meant it regaining half the body's Prana capacity.
KalTara's losses were limited. Or rather, from a mathematical point, Narkahamy had used more Prana through the ordeal to set up and execute such an elaborate scheme.
'Voracious fucking Nature!' A vein popped on Inala's forehead as Brangara's appearance flashed in his mind. An Empyrean Boar's Voracious Nature wasn't that strong. Therefore, its characteristic of maturing its body by consuming Gold Grade Pranic Beasts and above had limited effectiveness.
With the prefix of Empyrean, its build had already reached its limit.
It might seem like the Boar King was no different, as it was still a Gold Grade Pranic Beast and had the same Nature of Voracious Nature as the Empyrean Boar. However, there were pretty much different variants.
Genetically, the Boar King was closer to the Empyrean Boar King than the Empyrean Boar. It was pretty much a diluted version of the Empyrean Boar King that could exist in the Gold Grade.
What Yamahara wanted was the strength of the Empyrean Boar King that could be birthed naturally on Sumatra. And this was the answer he had arrived at, moments after birth.
Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beast—Boar King!
Whatever Brangara could unleash as the Empyrean Boar King, KalTara could replicate the same at a lower power level as the Boar King. 'It's the same case as Blola's diluted Transcendent Eater form. It remained in the Gold Grade when its actual strength was at the Mystic Grade.'
Expert Mystic Grade Pranic Beast—Transcendent Eater!
That was its actual strength, but when Blola obtained its power, it had been severely diluted.
Beginner Gold Grade Pranic Beast—Transcendent Eater!
Functionality-wise, it was the damn same as the original, just diluted. Boar Kings were no different. 'They are just diluted Empyrean Boar Kings roaming around on Sumatra.'
That was why Inala simply captured Yamahara and sealed him away. There was a reason his existence caused despair to both Orakha and the Mammoth Clan, despite their strength. Because his existence alone made a frightening scenario, of baby versions of Brangara, scuttling about on Sumatra, a reality.
'Shit!' Narkahamy truly was perplexed now, as he couldn't replicate what KalTara had done, even if he could transform into a Boar King. Even though he had Voracious Nature as the Secondary Nature, it was an upgrade of an Empyrean Boar's Voracious Nature, reaching Expert Gold in terms of potency.
But functionality-wise, it wasn't a Boar King's Voracious Nature.
He understood the difference immediately, 'I never noticed this from YoriBunatara.'
As she had never been in a proper, life-threatening battle, she hadn't expressed such a characteristic, even though she was capable of it after becoming the Boar King. Hence, Narkahamy hadn't discovered such a trait.
"You're truly a worthy opponent." Narkahamy broke into laughter, actually brimming in excitement as many ideas churned in his mind, "That's why everything has been damn interesting these days."
"Here he is," He pointed respectfully at KalTara, "A peer that can challenge and make me embrace death."
"Citizens!" His voice boomed suddenly, causing the Empyrean Boar aurora in the sky to grow a tad larger in response. With regal authority, he announced, "In this war against the Wean Clan, we have suffered, experienced the loss of our loved ones, and most of all, witnessed first-hand the individual superiority of the Wean Clansmen."
"Even now, I concede this fact," Saying so, he pointed at KalTara, "The Wean Clan Leader is stronger than me. I know for a fact that he can steal all my abilities too, since the Vara Human Avatar, the source of my power, originated from the Empyrean Boar Race."
"We gained our power from the Empyrean Boars. This is a fact." He bellowed, "So, as long as we tread this path, we'll always feel an individual inferiority towards a Wean Clansman who's the source of this build's power."
'What is he planning now?' KalTara felt his confidence shake, feeling nervous for some reason, 'Why is he openly acknowledging his inferiority?'
"However! Growth originates once we accept our inferiority. We Free Humans have never stood at the peak of Sumatra, not once in history. Every elder in the Varahan Empire has been a product of this fact. And I too," He announced with a hint of helplessness, "Am a part of it."
"Your Majesty…" Mesupoh muttered as even without his awareness, a tear drop trickled down his eyes.
The Free Humans had complex gazes as they stared at the strongest of their kind, their Emperor, expressing that he was in fact weaker. Some were angry, some trembled in fear, and some felt determined to become stronger.
"It's the truth!" Narkahamy turned around and began to walk towards the stands, his hands wide as he helplessly showed himself, "But that's not something we must despair."
"After all," He slowly turned around upon creating a distance of a kilometre from KalTara, "Since I have stolen their power and made it an exclusive of Free Humans."
"Witness this, my Citizens!" As he bellowed, Prana burst out of his being as Narkahamy assumed his Human Avatar form in the shape of a Boar King, "This is something you'll all be able to unleash in the future,"
"The future reality of Free Humans!"