"Oh, they are all leaving!" Inala said and controlled the body of the Empyrean Zinger King in its miniature form as a Spirit Weapon and made it hover high up in the sky.
Through its exceptional sight and thanks to its altitude, it could see their figures from far away. And by reading its mind, he knew what was happening.
To avoid becoming the focus of the female Centingers, he had fled before in such a hurry. He was already informed of their march towards the city by two Empyrean Zinger scouts placed closer to the camping locations of the female Centingers.
As he hadn't heard from the scouts after their shrieks, he knew they had been destroyed by the female Centingers right after their locations were revealed. Even in miniature forms, as long as they were exposed to a Centinger's Prana, they would register in the latter's senses.
Escape was impossible, no matter their speed. Besides, the ones used in such dangerous missions were young Empyrean Zingers, barely a month or two old. So, they didn't have the strength to survive a confrontation.
Inala wanted to kill Gudora and obtain his skull before that, but he didn't intend to subject himself to needless risks. Gudora was still at the 2-Life Stage. Meaning, he had some contingency plans.
Even in the worst-case scenario, Gudora could eat his second body, replenish some Prana and escape. There was enough debris within the pit for him to avoid contact with the floor.
Inala was strong, but he dared not be arrogant and place himself in compromising situations. Moreover, thanks to his realistic Inala puppet, Gudora thought he had killed Inala. Which meant that his hatred was resolved. Therefore, his only thought would be to wait for his son.
Inala had no reason to change Gudora's thoughts. After all, the longer Gudora waited in that pit, the weaker he got. He wouldn't have sensed it, but there was a tinge of Life Bombs mixed into the pit walls.
The amount was so faint one wouldn't even feel pain. But their Lifeforce was definitely being consumed, albeit at a snail's pace, unnoticeable. As to how he knew? He tested it using an Empyrean Zinger.
Practical data trumped everything. And he had enough immune system to overcome all trial and error.
After some time passed, Inala approached Ellora City. He grabbed the Empyrean Zinger King in its miniature form and threw with all his strength, causing it to reach an altitude close to six hundred metres.
It glided at that height. And due to its size, even he had a hard time making it out. If not for the fact that he knew where he threw it and was actively looking for it, he wouldn't have been able to spot it.
The Empyrean Zinger King flew over the pit and observed that Gudora was alive. It circled and returned, informing Inala as it landed on his head.
'He's alive and well.' Inala nodded and observed the flat plains that Ellora City had been transformed into. To avoid the Slump Lizards from wandering into the pit and helping Gudora make his escape, Inala made a ring around the pit using a layer of Prana Bombs and Life Bombs.
The distance between the inner circle of the ring and the pit was six hundred metres, existing right outside Gudora's Spirit Weapon range. After all, this range was within which he could spread his Prana around.
It was best to be cautious against such an expert with a wealth of experience under his belt, 'Soon, that treasure trove of knowledge would be mine!'
Leaving behind a single Empyrean Zinger Scout to keep watch and ensure Gudora's suffering wasn't interrupted, Inala left the place, making a beeline to the Rooster Tribe Settlement.
People were still funnelling into the settlement, thanks to the efforts of the armoured puppets. Arriving at the peak of the walls, he looked around, noticing the Prana Bombs were functioning well by absorbing all traces of Prana emitted by the dense number of people within.
A trained cultivator could rein in all his Prana without emitting any. But an untrained individual would subconsciously emit Prana from time to time, depending on their emotional state.
And with such a large number of people, adding to the strained situation where they didn't know whether or not their city was safe, the Prana being emitted was very high.
These Prana Bombs absorbed the ambient Prana, ensuring nothing spread out. Of course, they didn't absorb all the Prana, just the ones that came into contact with them.
But since Prana couldn't permeate through solid objects, the walls of the settlement blocked everything. And the ones trying to move perpendicularly outside from the top were absorbed by the Prana Bombs.
Inala didn't bother with the Prana that moved vertically up, since there was no entity there. It was beyond the range of the Centingers.
Of course, if the Centingers were to unleash their Prana into the settlement, they might catch traces of Prana moving up in the air. It was why Empyrean Zingers remained sentry on the walls.
The moment any Centinger were to approach the place, they—the armoured puppets—were instructed to send the people into the tunnel with the railway line. There was the best place to avoid detection.
Thankfully, it hadn't happened until now. As long as Inala remains attentive once the mating season ends—when the male Centingers that weren't the top scorer desperately scoured through the entire hunting grounds searching for prey—the people he had rescued would survive.
Once all the refugees enter the settlement, the number of people within would amount to forty thousand. That was the limit to Inala's plans. He didn't intend to bring in people from other areas.
First of all, it was risky. Second, with too many people, it would be hard to hide them all. Third, the area within the settlement wasn't enough for so many people.
Currently, there were food grains gathered by the Rooster Tribesmen in the settlement. Inala had also raided one of Ellora City's granaries, storing them in his biome. He intended to transport it later.
That was enough for the refugees to survive until the mating season ended in two months. With that thought in mind, he leapt from the top of the settlement walls and gently landed on the ground, falling no different from a fluttering leaf, surprising the refugees.
To them, he seemed no different from a Deity that had landed from the sky. If his landing didn't impress them, his subsequent action did.
"Phew!" Inala blew gently as a torrent of grains poured out of his mouth like a waterfall and made a large pile on the ground, stunning the people who had never seen anything like it.
To the ignorant masses who had lost all support and were feeling helpless, he became their spiritual pillar, instantly being referred to as the Grain Deity.
