451 To the Capital
As the Boar King mourned the death of his family, a hole parted open on the ground a couple hundred metres, stunning him. His head swerved in the direction spontaneously as he watched a group of people come up, moved upwards by a block of earth under Wittral's control.
There, hidden behind Wittral were the uninjured figures of Yarsha Zahara and his six children. The moment he noticed them, his figure flickered before pulling his wife and children into his embrace, "Thank…goodness!"
"You're all alive!"
"Yes, thanks to Wittral." Yarsha Zahara pointed at Wittral before whispering in concern, "But is it alright to come out now? What about your…"
"That's not a concern," The Boar King patted her cheek, "I'm simply grateful that everyone's alive."
He then hugged Wittral and patted the latter's back with a bit of force, "Thank you, my man! I'm grateful for your existence. You've done exceptionally well."
"It's Loot." Being thanked by the Boar King was supposed to be a monumental moment. But Wittral didn't mind that. Instead, he pointed towards Karuta Hill, "He unleashed an artillery strike infused with Internal Inertial Gravity from Karuta Hill. I almost failed to protect everyone now, as the spikes were too heavy to handle in my human form."
"A few hours ago, he barged into our study and accessed all the data stored there." Yarsha Zahara too chimed in.
"Loot…huh?" The Boar King nodded without a change in expression as he stared at Wittral, "Do you mind protecting my family for a bit longer?"
"I'll do it without hesitation." Wittral gritted his teeth, "Loot is a menace. Please kill him."
"I can only try." The Boar King said, for the first time a statement without confidence, "This body…isn't as strong as my usual body. I don't have any Natures in my Astral Chart too."
"Then, let me help." Wittral offered his assistance, "I can face him!"
"Loot was in that way, right?" The Boar King didn't give weight to Wittral's statement and instead began to run towards Karuta Hill.
Seeing his running figure, Wittral expressed his confusion, "Is this truly the Boar King? He's too different from the one I saw before. And also…"
He muttered in shock, "His strength is declining rapidly."
'It's a sacrificial body after all.' Yarsha Zahara thought as she grabbed a Life Bomb created by Amita Brimgan—one containing Prana resembling Virala's Prana signature. She unleashed fluctuations through it and began to detect Loot's presence, muttering, "Can you carry my kids and fight?"
"I'll be forced to divert part of my attention to them. Besides, they can be taken hostage." Wittral said.
"It'll be alright." Yarsha Zahara grabbed a few Satellites and Comets, "Just form attacks as I state. Leave the rest to me."
"Now, let's go." She said as a cloud formed nearby. She placed her kids on it and boarded it in the end, watching Wittral helm it. Upon seeing it accelerate quickly, she expressed interest, "Is this how the Cooter Clansmen travel?"
She peered down and watched the cloud skidding on the ground without generating any friction. If Wittral wanted, he could raise the cloud's altitude. It would be no different from flight as long as the cloud remained within 180 metres from the ground.
That would be within the range of his Subtle Terrain Domination where Wittral could exert psychokinesis on the ground to keep the cloud afloat and moving. It was his fastest manner of movement.
Most of the people in Fentan City were dead thanks to the Boar King's presence. As a result, Wittral could use his abilities freely. In this situation where people were mourning their dead families, they wouldn't have the presence of mind to see what he was doing.
The cloudy platform swerved through the streets once Wittral raised its altitude to eight metres, avoiding the corpses littered on the street. It moved past the marriages that had crashed into the walls and other obstacles and headed in the direction of the Northern Lakes.
In the meantime, skipping past the houses filled with corpses were Empyrean Zingers in their miniature forms. They were stealthy in their action, trying their best to avoid detection. Some of them trailed after the Boar King, some shadowed Yarsha Zahara's group.
Most of them were currently at the Northern Lakes adjacent to Fentan City, preparing something as they constantly shrieked to communicate with each other at frequencies only audible to them.
As things became chaotic, the group led by the Fentan City Lord arrived at the city, observing the state of things. Blood trailed on the roads, corpses were strewn all over the place. Even children weren't spared. And unfortunately, they formed the majority of the corpses.
"Huff…puff!" His breathing grew hot enough to form vapours as the Fentan City Lord was unable to control his anger. He wasn't alone though as everyone part of his group were the same.
Loot destroyed Karuta Hill, killing thousands that lived there. And then, the Boar King resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands. Fentan City was dead except for the elites and masters with Silver Grade Human Avatars.
"M-My son! MY SON! Arrghh!"
"Someone! Anyone! Save my wife! I beg you! Please!"
The shrieks of the survivors resounded in his ears as the Fentan City Lord wanted nothing more than to head to their rescue. But upon seeing the Boar King make a move, he was forced to react in response. "Goddammit! This is why I wanted to lure him outside and deal with him. See what happened now!"
The Fentan City Lord belonged to the faction that intended to lure the Boar King outside the Brimgan Empire and kill him. It was because the Boar King was too much of a threat, as evidenced by the deaths resulting from his presence alone.
He hadn't even activated a Nature but ended up wiping out a city.
He felt difficulty in controlling his anger but had no other choice but to exercise patience. If they were to fight here, even more people will die. 'I need to lure him away. Besides, without the Emperor, we don't stand a chance against him!'
Upon seeing that Yarsha Zahara was alive, he nodded towards other Royals, "At least it's not the worst-case scenario."
He then dispatched two Royals towards the group, "Guard them from afar. Ensure they aren't targeted by Loot again. And if possible, escort them out of the Empire."
"Yes," The two Royals saluted in response and used a Spirit Weapon in the form of a skateboard to travel quickly. Soon, they caught up to the cloudy platform and kept watch from two kilometres away. This was well within their range.
If viewed from the sky, one would notice the figure of Virala rapidly travelling across the Northern Lakes forty kilometres from Fentan City, heading in the direction of the Capital while chasing after a railway speeding through one of the Southern Veins.
He was seated in a boat of bone, unleashing rapid thrusts of air to propel forward. His boat was aerodynamically designed, capable of travelling stably at speeds close to eighty kilometres an hour without issues. And from time to time, it accelerated further, gradually getting closer to the railway that was speeding along the coastline.
Having latched onto the underside of the boat at some point in time was a Prana Bomb. And seated securely inside it was an Empyrean Zinger in miniature form.
Chasing after the boat while spread out were a group of Empyrean Zingers in miniature forms, gliding across the sky. A couple of them had landed on the railway and kept track of Virala's movements, guiding the rest in the vicinity.
Thirty kilometres away, closing in steadily was the figure of the Boar King in human form. He neither desired nor expressed the drive to catch Loot, for some reason keeping pace from afar. Had he taken on his Pranic Beast form, he would have reached Virala pretty soon. But for some reason, he didn't do so.
Chasing after him from five kilometres away, having just left Fentan City was the group lead by the Fentan City Lord. And a kilometre behind them was Yarsha Zahara's group, travelling on a cloudy platform.
Two Royals shadowed them while a group of Empyrean Zingers kept watch. Finally, observing everything from afar was a Pranic Beast that gradually took on a human form, sporting a foreign look.
Tertiary Nature—Cultivator!
When Gannala activated it, the effect churned out of the Pranic Beast's Secondary Nature—that she had occupied in her Nature Weapon form. As a result, the effects of Cultivator caused the creature to assume a human form.
This was merely a one-time form—similar to Empyrean Tusks at birth that are in human form. When it wants, it could revert to its Pranic Beast form, but once it does so, it could never assume human form ever again, unless Gannala continued to occupy its Nature slot.
Now, as the Pranic Beast took on the form of a male youth, with appearance foreign to the Brimgan Empire, Gannala controlled his body by coursing the effects of Internal Inertial Gravity in his body.
'Something's different with this Boar King. Had it been his usual self, he would have captured Virala by now. Even Yarsha Zahara is behaving strangely and hasn't done anything after surviving the artillery strike. Something is odd here.' Frowning in response, Gannala made the youth run across the water surface and chase after the group.
They were all making their way to the Capital.
