'Everything's proceeding just like Sumatra Chronicles.' Virala thought as he observed their progress, 'Even after the herd became a lot bigger, some things remain the same.'
His moustache began to grow longer as it coiled around his three One-Storey Storage Lanterns, gripping them tighter while a dense amount of Prana condensed in them. His body tensed up in response as Virala began to emit Prana, intending to keep track of his surroundings. He became alert.
Exactly at the same moment, all the reincarnates too tensed up in response, displaying utmost nervousness.
Resha calmly approached baby Harrala and stood next to her, intending to give his everything to protect her.
"Is something about to happen?" Zahaella asked upon seeing his actions.
"The Chief told me to be alert." Resha casually pinned the blame on Raaha, "I'm just taking action accordingly. Please begin accumulating Prana in your body and be ready to transform at a moment's notice."
"Alright," Zahaella didn't waste time asking questions as a greater amount of Prana flowed into her bloodstream from her Spirit Container. She split her body into two. The 1-Life Stage Zahaella carried baby Harrala while her 6-Life Stage self stood guard nearby, ready to transform into the Rockatrice.
In a room situated on the rear end of the 1st Empyrean Tusk's tusk was Blola, confined to this place ever since Raaha began abusing his abilities for the Mammoth Clan's benefit.
His eyes glinted once as he observed a layer of algae move across the Sticky-Slip Plateau like a tidal wave and approach the crater-filled path, 'It's starting!'
He observed the perimeter of his house, spotting six elites posted guard with the intent of protecting him. All were at the peak of the Body Stage, possessing restraining abilities, meant to constrict Blola if he were to ever do anything that went against Raaha's plans.
Blola casually took out a vial from his Storage Lantern and began to sprinkle its contents across the house's inner edges, 'Virala is amazing to have procured such a strong Centinger toxin.'
He obviously purchased this for a certain purpose, brisking himself in response upon seeing the toxin take action. The walls of the house began to soften as he peered out and counted down for the algae tidal wave to approach the herd.
Grehha appeared on the terrace of his vibrating house and calmly encased himself within an Empyrean Incubator. He activated the ability multiple times, stacking the bubbles until the layers combined to form a tough bubble.
He activated his Secondary Nature and filled the interior of the Empyrean Incubator with Internal Inertial Gravity, 'Hope I don't get stomped to death. I don't want to be revived by Blola and become his slave.'
At the rear end of the caravan was an old, dilapidated building, constructed like a warehouse, filled with many mechanical tools. Strewn amid a pile of bone bits was Yennda, his expression dull, almost lifeless.
He observed the algae tidal wave, sighing in response, "It's time for that shit already?"
He calmly took out a helmet with spikes covering its inner surface, able to be actuated through psychokinesis. He wore it and seeped his Prana through it, ready to activate it at a moment's notice. He was ready to kill himself at the earliest, unwilling to suffer through the crap that would happen next, 'Death is a million times better than to futilely suffer.'
In Sumatra Chronicles, in three months following the First Major Disaster, three Minor Crises would happen, back-to-back. It was damn horrible.
Thankfully in this lifetime, they had a relatively better time thanks to the passive suppression released by the merged herd. It was during this time that Yennda was thrown to the Ennoudu Plains alongside a bunch of Mammoth Clansmen. So, he avoided the three Minor Crises.
Invasive type Minor Crises were no longer as effective as in Sumatra Chronicles, weakened thanks to the passive suppression unleashed by the Empyrean Tusks once they crossed a hundred in number. The Second, Third, and Fourth Minor Crises were invasive in nature and hence were weaker than the original.
But the shit about to strike them now wasn't like that. It didn't matter whether there were forty or a hundred Empyrean Tusks. They'll face the full brunt of the impact as depicted in Sumatra Chronicles.
The 1st Empyrean Tusk marched through the crater-filled path at Raaha's orders, resulting in rumbling quakes as the Empyrean Tusks moved rhythmically, stepping foot in the craters formed by the stomps of preceding Empyrean Tusks.
Boom!
The 1st Empyrean Tusk had barely covered forty kilometres when the path before it was covered by algae already. It unleashed a shockwave to clear a path. There was no longer abundant soil in its vicinity to unleash another meteor strike.
The only way to do so would be to use the soil in its biomes, but the 1st Empyrean Tusk was unwilling to waste the soil it refined and enriched using its Prana. It would use them only in a dire situation, which hadn't happened yet.
Thud! Thump! Thud!
Its footsteps were loud, releasing shockwaves upon every movement, repeatedly clearing the path before it that was rapidly closing up in response. Moreover, it purposefully increased its weight to make larger quakes through the ground, knowing very well the entity hidden there, ready to spring forth upon it.
All Empyrean Tusks made harder stomps in order to use the shockwaves to kill as many of these mysterious creatures as possible. After all, it was impossible for them to detect these creatures that released no presence, moved through the ground in absolute silence, and never caused the smallest of disturbances in their surroundings while on the move.
A tiny hole barely ten centimetres wide opened and shooting out of it like a parachute from its bag was a certain living entity. It rushed out with force, starting as a thin, cylindrical block. It turned conical in shape as it shot upwards like a bullet.
The farther it travelled, the wider its conical base became until soon, it unfurled like a flower to become a gelatinous sheet circular in shape with a radius of four metres, spanning a mere thickness of two centimetres.
Extending out of its circular ends like the tail of a kite were tendrils, each reaching a length of thirty metres, numbering ten in total. These tendrils were shaped similar to a helicopter's rotor blades, aerodynamic in nature—like an aerofoil.
The creature was shaped in such a way that as it leapt upward, wind was directed across its body and caused these tendrils to rotate, as a result generating lift. Due to its thin, almost weightless body, it appeared no different to a spinning copter rotor as it made a beeline towards the 1st Empyrean Tusk's trunk and latched onto it.
Its tendrils had suction pods similar to an octopus that allowed it to remain stuck to any surface it landed on. Like algae, its tendrils extended to cover more area on the trunk as tiny, hair-like needles jutted out of its body, numbering in the tens of thousands.
They acted like a magnet attracting iron filings, but their target was blood. Immediately in response, many blood vessels coursing through the Empyrean Tusk's trunk exploded and gushed out blood, allowing this creature to absorb it and grow in size, pulsing to resemble a beating heart, with its tendrils the veins.
Shockingly, despite everything that happened, the 1st Empyrean Tusk remained unaware, not feeling a thing, all thanks to this dangerous creature.
Intermediate Silver Grade Pranic Beast—Decaleech!