"Argh, this is stressing me out!" Gannala cursed in response to the situation at hand as she thought of something, sighing for a moment before clearing her voice.
Following that, in the most innocent of tone, similar to the cry she first unleashed after being born, Gannala let out a soft cry, "Dad!"
"Come soon!"
Boom!
There was a rumble in response at a location far away as something gigantic seemed to be heading towards her location at a rapid pace. Gannala focused on her Primary Nature and heaved a sigh in relief upon knowing that the one coming wasn't the Boar King.
When Gannala let out a soft cry, Orakha became serious, having been observing her all along. After a moment of thought, he retracted the Mystic Eaters dispersed to target her, deciding to no longer target her.
Instead, he sent them into the Guna Caves, giving them a command as they made a beeline towards Asaeya and merged into the Mystic Eater fleeing with her. Hearing the following rumble, his body stiffened up as he muttered with a solemn tone, "He's coming."
Sounds akin to large boulders being shredded apart resounded incessantly, mixed amid the fearful cries of Pranic Beasts that sped away. A stampede was created as a result and chaos ensued. Soil splashed while trees were felled as something massive in nature was rapidly speeding in his direction.
Orakha turned in the direction of the sound and could only observe a tsunami of soil approaching him. A jet-black ink spread on the ground as his Mystic Eaters dug a large enough hole for him to escape.
But two hundred metres before him, the soil tsunami stopped. Five seconds later, a figure landed atop the peak formed by the piling soil and stared down at Orakha, "I feared you would be alive, Orakha."
Body Stage Mammoth Clansman—Inala!
Followed by a leap, Inala slid down the soil slope and skipped a few steps to stop five metres before Orakha, his expression one of calm, eerie even, his eyes glinting with a mysterious presence. He stared at the figure of Gannala at the entrance of Guna Caves, beckoning for her with his hand, "Come here, brat."
"Dada!" Behaving as if her earlier mature series of actions never happened, Gannala behaved no different from a four-year-old girl and leapt towards Inala. She crossed the distance in a matter of seconds and latched onto him, "I missed you!"
"Why are you so laateee?" She broke into tears, "It's almost a year since you left us."
"Fine, fine, I'm here now, right?" Inala patted the back of her head with his left hand. His eyes observed Orakha as his right hand subtly pointed towards his Sumatra Canon. It was shaped like a gun, so words needn't be exchanged.
Inala was warning Orakha to stay put. Otherwise, he would be shot down.
"I brought you a lot of good stuff to eat," Inala consoled Gannala until she stopped crying. She remained clung to him like a koala bear, acting like it was naturally where she remained, like a bird in its nest.
She then closed her eyes and focused on going through his memories, understanding everything he had been through.
In the meantime, Inala let out a soft shriek, informing the Empyrean Zingers to continue with their work. He then stared at Orakha and asked, "So, how are you alive, Orakha?"
"Are you not concerned about Asaeya's situation?" Orakha asked, "Her life is at risk, you know?"
"Zingers can transmit large volumes of information with a single shriek," Inala said and smiled, "So, let's talk, Orakha."
It was apparent that Inala was already informed of everything that had transpired by the Empyrean Zingers.
Seeing that he couldn't feed false information to Inala, Orakha took out his Six-Storey Storage Lantern and activated it, watching it assume its original size. He then opened the door to two floors, pointing at the tusk bone powder inside, "This is for you. The Chief told me to give it to you."
"Hmm, tell me everything from the start." Inala frowned in response.
"That's not necessary," Saying so, Orakha threw a bone slip to him. Catching it, Inala accessed its information and learnt about everything that had happened at the Mammoth Clan after his departure.
He learnt of the fight between the Boar King and the Empyrean Tusks, the arrival of the second herd, their eventual merger, Raaha becoming the Mammoth Clan Chief, and finally Blola obtaining the power of a Transcendent Eater.
"Transcendent Eater?" Inala was stunned by this information, thinking, 'So, Renduldu made backup plans in case one of us were to die prematurely.'
"So, that's how you revived." Inala nodded in understanding before asking, "Is it through the Transcendent Eater that you learnt more about my abilities?"
'He figured that out?' It was Orakha's turn to be shocked.
Well, considering the extent of information at Inala's disposal currently, he could come to such a conclusion quickly. After all, Orakha's overbearing strength and actions couldn't be explained otherwise.
Inala wouldn't be able to kill Orakha if the two were to fight now. After all, it was unknown as to where Orakha placed his checkpoint. So, he could always revive there and flee if things went south.
In terms of individual combat strength, Orakha was stronger. But with the Empyrean Zinger army accompanying him, no matter what Orakha were to do, it would be impossible for him to kill Inala. Therefore, the two didn't bother to waste time trying to kill each other when it wasn't possible.
"You want to delay me, right?" Inala then stared at Guna Caves, "But remember that if anything were to happen to Asaeya, I'll be coming at you with the intent to kill."
"No matter where you flee in Sumatra Continent, I'll find you."
"Relax, bud. Aren't I your bestie?" Orakha winked as he put on a playful expression, "I haven't done anything to her. Though, while fleeing with her, my Mystic Eaters noticed that her withdrawal symptoms had progressed to dangerous levels."
"If she doesn't return to the Mammoth Clan, there's a solid chance her mind would get crippled." He concluded.
"Where's the herd now?" Inala asked, not expressing anything other than what was necessary.
"Along the downstream banks of the Red-Draft River," Orakha pointed at the direction where the Red-Draft River flowed, "As long as you sail downstream, you'll be able to reach the herd."
"So," Orakha smiled sheepishly as he asked, "Can you tell me more about what the previous Gannala intended to do with us? Grehha said you're aware of the entire truth."
"You sure you want to know about it?" Inala raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, yeah." Orakha nodded like a chicken, "Tell me. I'm curious."
"Your parents are dead," Inala stated abruptly.
"Why are you telling me that?" Orakha scratched his cheek, "Obviously they are dead. I mean, we're born as orphans in this world. Isn't that established already?"
"What if I were to tell you…" Inala trailed off for two seconds and continued, "Your parents on Earth and here were one and the same."
"Come on, man. Stop trolling me already." Orakha complained, slightly pissed, "Look, I apologise for scheming against Asaeya. But I haven't harmed her or anything. I don't want to harm you too. So, I just used some delay tactics. You don't need to pull my leg…"
A Bone Slip slammed into his face. And when Orakha absorbed its information instinctively, tears streamed down his face. His legs became weak as he slumped on the ground, "This is…impossible."
"No…why…" While Orakha was emotionally distressed, Gannala approached him from behind and patted his shoulder as a means to console him. But in actuality, she was rapidly accessing his memories.
