Red-Draft River!
It was a river that spanned through a quarter of the Sumatra Continent, being one of the largest water bodies to exist on the continent. It also had a large number of tributaries connecting it to all regions on the continent.
The Empyrean Snapper group was currently at a depth of a kilometre, moving about like a bullet at sonic speeds. They had combined their strengths and were propelling themselves using their absolute domain.
Any Pranic Beasts on the way had to move about in a hurry the moment they spotted the approaching bullet. Otherwise...
A Gold Grade Pranic Beast that ruled over a region in the waters glared at the incoming opponent, having never been challenged until now. It revealed its teeth and clattered with its pincers, unleashing its attack at the opponent.
The Empyrean Snappers were in human forms. And hence, their group, as a collective, was smaller than the Gold Grade Pranic Beast, which was why it didn’t consider them a threat, but merely a fast-moving prey.
However, the bullet didn’t even flinch at the slightest upon receiving the attack. It was like pouring a droplet of ink in a pond. There was no change. And then, without any disturbance, the bullet made contact with the Gold Grade Pranic Beast and simply moved past.
As for its survival? Like a piece of apple pot in a grinder, the Gold Grade Pranic Beast’s body was ground to the smallest bits and made its way into the mouths of every Empyrean Snapper. They gulped the compressed contents and felt their Prana recovering by a tad amount.
The bullet curved when necessary, consuming powerful prey to replenish the Prana of the Empyrean Snappers. And with this pace, it moved through the Dralh Sea.
Soon, it came across an upstream, swerving into the narrow tributary to progress further. This tributary made way to a region very close to the Varahan Empire.
Ever since the Empyrean Boar King’s era began on Sumatra Continent, the Cooter Clan expanded their aquatic influence to create a map leading to the Varahan Enclave, the birth place of Brangara. They were curious about this Mystic Grade existence that was the first of its kind, and also the first on Sumatra to begin its own era.
Until then, every single era was named after a Mystic Tentacle.
The group now was relying on that map to reach the Varahan Enclave. The Varahan Empire bordered the Varahan Enclave, so they would be reaching their destination either way.
Comically, the Pranic Beast groups that worked under the Cooter Clan’s influence were discovered by Brangara in the past, which was how he learnt about the existence of the Cooter Clan. Eventually, that brought him to the Cooter Clan where he ended up consuming two Empyrean Snappers.
The Cooter Clan’s curiosity brought Sumatra’s top predator to their home.
"How far are we?" The current generation 1st Empyrean Snapper, Danhral asked. He took the position after achieving a growth spurt during their encounter with Zhya. There was a shuffle with the rankings following suit as the young ones took the top spots while the old ones were pushed back.
"A few hours and we’ll reach the end of the aquatic path. From there, we need to travel on land for close to a day." Nancral responded. After the shuffle, he was ranked 98th. His strength actually improved thanks to his experience in facing Zhya.
Even though he was beaten up throughout the fight, he had never been in a proper fight until then. Hence, the battle allowed him to understand his abilities further, which made him stronger and brought him to the top 100 rankings of the current generation of Empyrean Snappers.
"That’s good," Danhral nodded and commanded, "Group two will take control in an hour. We will hunt for some rations before reaching land."
The Empyrean Snappers had divided themselves into four groups, each in charge of controlling the bullet in cycle. This way, they could rest and recover in the meantime, ensuring most of them remained in an optimal state during their attack on the Varahan Empire.
Danhral didn’t have much strength in the past, but in terms of influence, his Settlement was the most influential. After all, Wittral and Wally’s parents were from his Settlement.
During their confrontation against Zhya, he never opened his mouth, simply because he had nothing to say. He was currently a bit older than a millennium and his granddaughter was Wittral’s mother. In terms of relations, he was the most related to Wally.
But that was it. He wasn’t anything special, despite the fact that Wittral and Wally were both on his Settlement. That was entirely thanks to their parents, who despite being born with the Buoyant Disease, not only managed to reach the 10-Life Stage, but had such immense accumulations of the Cooter Clan genetics that they birthed the perfect Empyrean Snapper not once, but twice.
No other Cooter Clansman had managed to achieve such a feat, for every couple with the Buoyant Disease barely managed to birth one Empyrean Snapper. Most of them failed and died during pregnancy, since the Empyrean Snapper sucked the entirety of its parents’ essence.
’Relevancy, huh?’ Danhral thought of Zhya’s words, ’Indeed, it might have been better if we simply focused on our Clan and patiently waited for Wally’s return with Mystic Grade strength.’
’But our dissociation with everything on Sumatra was what caused our strength to stagnate. We haven’t innovated anything beyond the basic necessity.’ He focused on the journey ahead, ’So, it’s a necessity we lash out once. Otherwise,’
He eyed the Empyrean Snappers, ’We will no longer be confident in doing anything.’
The moment the Celestial Boar wiped out the Cooter Clan’s branch at the Dralh Sea, the rest of the Empyrean Snappers went into hiding thanks to Gannala’s assistance. Going into hiding seemed to be the best choice at the moment. However, it hammered their cowardice into their minds.
This was the second time the Cooter Clan didn’t do anything after their kind was killed and consumed by Brangara. It made them seem like pushovers. So, even though they had done the smart thing, which was the only reason they didn’t become Brangara’s dinner, they still considered themselves cowards.
And hence, they had to display something before returning to the Cooter Clan. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to forgive themselves for the rest of their lives. ’Hypocritical, I know. We’re only showing ourselves after all threats are gone. But it’s a necessity, for our future.’
Soon, the Empyrean Snapper group reached the end of their aquatic path. After stopping to stockpile on rations—Pranic Beast bodies compressed to the limit for ease of carrying—and resting for a short while, the group arrived on land.
Two Empyrean Snappers began to generate a region of mist around the group. The earth underneath them elevated into a platform and moved forward, reaching speeds as high as 400 kilometres per hour.
It was damn slow as compared to their sonic speeds underwater, but they were preparing for war. And hence, they didn’t wish to waste their Prana as much. Moreover, only eight Empyrean Snappers were using Subtle Terrain Domination while the rest of the group sat in silence, eyes closed, their breathing stable, their mouth munching on rations.
Chirp!
The moment they appeared on land, the Quip Clansmen in the vicinity spotted the region of mist moving at breakneck speeds and quickly transmitted the message using Zinger Shrieks.
"They’re coming!" Kenka Echo was the first to hear as he had almost reached the Varahan Empire’s border. He had been travelling nonstop for half a day and still hadn’t exited the Varahan Empire. That was a testament to its sheer scale.
It was a lot larger than the Brimgan Empire.
The Zinger Shrieks travelled at speeds six times the speed of sound and soon reached Kenzar Echo and Zhya Echo, both of whom became ready in response.
And simultaneously, they all asked the same question, "Where is Wally?"
The person in question was still being transported by the group of Zinger Aristocrats, his expression calm and collected. He had fully recovered and was inspecting his condition.
And then, he took out a Mid-Grade Elixir and consumed it, spotting faint vapours emanate out of his shoulders, "I knew there was still some corruption left in me. It’s pretty sneaky."
"Thankfully," He patted his shoulders and flexed them, judging that they were not damaged any longer, "Elixirs are extremely useful in recovery."
"Sir," One of the Zinger Aristocrats uttered in concern, "We spotted the Empyrean Snapper group. They had appeared sooner than our prediction."
"How long will they take to arrive at the Varahan Empire?" Wally asked.
"Uh..." The Zinger Aristocrat began to sweat, being bombarded with angry Zinger Shrieks from too many Quip Clansmen, "They’ll be there sooner."
"Sooner than you."
"How soon are we talking?" Wally asked in patience.
"Around ten...fifteen minutes." The Zinger Aristocrat stammered in worry, looking on the verge of crying as her group had delayed in transporting Wally. They were moving at their top speeds, and things were never a smooth journey in the wilds.
They had to resist plenty of attacks, which caused some delays. But even then, they were moving according to schedule. It wasn’t her group’s fault the Empyrean Snappers decided to appear sooner. "...Relax,"
"Don’t worry too much," Wally said as he placed his hand on the Zinger Aristocrat’s head, retracting it promptly upon seeing the latter shudder in fright, "Sorry."
"I thought you would have gotten used to seeing me by now."
’You’re scary!’ The Zinger Aristocrat thought, recalling the moment a team of Zinger Aristocrats had transferred him to her group. At first glance, she felt like prey. And until now, that hadn’t changed.
"Fifteen minutes is enough time for the Empyrean Snappers to cause a lot of destruction." She commented.
"You are right about that." Wally nodded, thinking for a moment before shrugging, "But I can’t help it, since I won’t be able to arrive on time."
"If you..." The Zinger Aristocrat hesitated for a moment before asking, "If you give us a push, we can arrive faster."
"I can do that. However," Wally’s tone suddenly grew solemn, "Does the Quip Clan give me the permission to fly?"
"No?" Wally’s eyes curled upon seeing the Zinger Aristocrat’s expression of horror, "Then we’ll go at our current pace."
’Those stupid uncles of mine need to learn a lesson. But they’ll be more open to listening once they have rampaged a little. Otherwise,’ Wally calmly eyed the Zinger Aristocrat, ’Your leader would have been serious in harming them.’
"Isn’t that right," He mouthed and activated Subtle Terrain Domination, converting his voice into a Zinger Shriek and slammed it into the Quip Tower at a frequency only a Gold Grade Quip Clansman could hear, "Sister?"