"He's a God!"
"The Deity of Grains!" The people muttered as they stared at him, naturally drawn to him, despite not seeing his visage.
Looking at their shabby appearances, Inala proclaimed, aloud, "The Ganrimb Kingdom has fallen."
"What?"
"How?"
"That makes no sense!"
"Impossible!"
"Does anyone want proof?" Inala asked calmly as he looked around and eyed the people, "I don't mind bringing you over to witness. Those that are brave enough, step forward."
"I can't believe you." One of the people stepped forward. His appearance was the least haggard among the refugees. His clothes too were the most luxurious. He was the scion of a powerful family within Ellora City, with his father at the 3-Life Stage.
His family produced multiple experts in all fields, existing since the beginning of Ellora City. Hence, his words did have some credibility, even though he was just thirteen years old. With Prana reaching fifty at such a young age, he was pretty talented.
"Sure, I'll bring you to Ellora City to look around." Inala nodded casually and looked around, "Anyone else?"
Everyone else hesitated. Of course, if Inala waited for some more time, two or three more might step up. But he didn't want that, as it was more effective with a single person. So, after ten seconds, said, "Just one, then."
"Come with me, kid." His voice and body language oozed authority as he picked up the boy and placed him over his shoulder, "Hold tight!"
"W-Wait…uwahh!" The kid shouted as Inala's figure flickered and made long leaps, with each covering around ten to fifteen metres. He scaled up the walls by running along the vertical surface, shocking the people who gawked at his speed.
The armour was made using Prana Bombs. So, every time he set foot on the wall, he made the foot surface of the armour stick to the wall, as a result latching onto it like a gecko. Besides, with Internal Inertial Gravity, he wasn't affected by the gravity acting on his upper body like a lever.
As a result, he could scale up the wall by running over it, a feat impossible for other Free Humans. Since he was running on the surface, many Slump Lizards detected him and unleashed their Primary Nature on him.
But, to avoid destroying his imposing presence, Inala exercised Internal Inertial Gravity to full.
When the ability activated on him and caused him to fall, he used his Secondary Nature to maintain balance like a gyroscope. His body bent alarmingly, almost touching the ground, but his feet remained planted firmly on the ground.
His hand slammed into the ground and used the force to bounce back up, calmly treating the attack as an excuse to do a push-up once. Not for a moment did his speed reduce. Of course, this was grandly inefficient, since he used five Prana for that one stunt.
Falling on the ground would have consumed less Prana. As long as he reduced his body's gravity to the minimum, the fall would hardly have any impact due to the lack of weight. He would barely sustain any damage.
Inala had fallen enough times to get the hang of it by now, able to habitually ensure he wasn't in the least injured by it. But as that wasn't imposing enough for his current image, he took on such a wasteful approach.
The kid on his shoulders gawked at the scene. His parents had brought him to the walls of Ellora City during the night and made him witness their defensive battle against the Slump Lizards. Many soldiers kissed the floors hard and sustained repeated injuries.
Even his father wasn't immune to that ability, as the greater the number of Slump Lizards that stacked the ability on the target, the greater its potency, capable of affecting even someone at the Life Stage.
But not once did Inala touch the ground, a feat he never thought was attainable. 'Even the City Lord is not capable of this. W-Who is this person?'
After two hours, they arrived at the edge of Ellora City. Inala placed the boy on the ground, "We're here."
"This…are you sure…" The boy felt disbelief. But he could still see the familiar route that led to Ellora City, the same surrounding forest and terrain.
A thick slab of a mysterious material, reaching a couple metres in height was all that existed in the place of Ellora City, covering the city's area. He slumped on the floor, tearing up in despair, "No…this isn't happening!"
"This is impossible!"
"How? How can this be happening? My parents said they would emerge victorious!"
The kid then stared at Inala, "Why didn't you protect them?"
"Didn't I?" Inala said and pointed at the kid, "Forty thousand of you are alive. That's thanks to me. Had you remained behind, you would have been annihilated too."
His emotionless tone caused the boy to cry harder. The boy fell unconscious from the emotional shock as Inala carried him back to the Rooster Tribe settlement.
"H-How is it?" A hopeful refugee asked right after Inala arrived.
"Ask him yourself," Saying so, Inala dropped the kid and calmly walked to the side, leaning on a rock to remain still.
"Boy! Get up!" A middle-aged woman woke up the kid and asked in a hurry, "Tell me we won, okay? Did we? Is everyone safe?"
"…" The boy stared in a daze once he woke up before breaking into a crying fit, shouting, "There was nothing there!"
"Ellora City was wiped off clean. Not even a building stands there now!" His cries alarmed the people. And the more he explained what he saw, the more they despaired.
The emotional shock for the families that had a soldier was many times worse, as they mentally collapsed. Some rushed towards Inala and fell at his feet, "M-My family! Please save them!"
"My son is a filial child who strived to protect justice. H-He can't die like this!"
"My daughter wanted to be a singer when she grew up. But she was drafted as part of the reserve force."
"Please, save them! Please!" The number of people requesting his help increased. Thankfully for Inala, he covered his face, because it would be a lie to say he wasn't affected by their emotions.
He became emotional too, but controlled himself. Rather, he didn't express anything, hence hiding the fact that he was teary-eyed. In the end, he spoke after the trembling in his voice had subsided, having calmed down enough, "I cannot revive the dead."
"I'm not from your Kingdom. But in the past, your City Lord saved my child. I owe him a favour." His booming words reached the ears of every refugee, "I saved as many as I could to repay what I owed him."
"B-But, you are powerful!" Someone from the crowd said, "If you joined forces with the soldiers…"
"Nothing would have changed." Inala said, "I could kill one Gold Grade Pranic Beast, but not twelve, especially ones that had mutated."
"Millingers," He said, "No human civilisation could withstand twelve of them."
