Layer 0!
It was a Hexadecagon situated in the centre of the Attributed Region, spanning a length of 16 kilometres from the gate to the Major Treasure of Attribute in the centre.
Unlike the previous Layers which were filled with water splashes from a variety of effects, Layer 0 was peaceful. There were no traps here. One didn't need to follow any rule or travel path to obtain the Attribute.
The sole treasure available in this place was the Major Treasure of Attribute. It was just lying there, peacefully, not protected by any Attributed Creature.
The ten Layers until now were the test. If one made their way to Layer 0, they were eligible to obtain the Major Treasure of Attribute. Hence, there were no obstacles in Inala's path.
All he would have to do is walk to the shining brain and touch it, which would cause it to fuse with him, giving him the power of the Major Treasure of Attribute.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do that, for he had to wait for Amita's arrival. If his goal was to simply obtain Attribute, he could claim it already. But he wanted to use the Major Treasure of Attribute as a catalyst for evolution and become a Pranic Beast—Zinger.
Hence, he could only wait. He wasn't planning to sit still though and instead began to make preparations. First was to bring out a series of rock pillars from his stomach biome and fill up the place. These obstacles would prevent anyone else from getting the Attribute easily.
Second, Inala brought a stone cage in the shape of a dome and covered the Attribute with it. The cage didn't seem like it was anything special. But contained within them were six Sandy-Grey Bombs, the last of his reserve.
He had reclaimed them from Leh Island during his return journey. Now, they have been implanted in such a way that the moment anyone was to touch the cage, the closest Sandy-Grey Bomb would explode and spill all its contents on the target.
He avoided using anything made out of bone, for they were vulnerable against his Mammoth Clan competitors. Hence, Inala patiently extracted large boulders from mountains that he had come across to make everything.
To morph their shape, he only used Internal Inertial Gravity, compressing them until they formed the respective shape. Hence, they maintained their structural composition and remained sturdy enough.
'This is…Asaeya?' Resha was stunned once he entered Compartment 1-A to see Asaeya standing right before the gate leading to the centre. His mind whirred in thought as he judged that since Asaeya was already there, it meant that Inala had entered the centre.
'I wanted to kill the Boar King using the dangers at Layer 1.' Resha thought, sighing upon seeing the Boar King continuing to endure the attacks while constantly summoning Bolts of Transcendence. 'It would take some more time to kill him like this. What do I do?'
Does he focus on killing the Boar King and forget about the Major Treasure of Attribute? Or does he lead the Boar King to the centre and thwart Inala from obtaining the Attribute?
'That'll be foolish.' Resha shook his head, unwilling to take the risk. For with the slightest misstep, the Boar King could obtain Attribute and mess up everything. Worst of all, there were no dangers in the centre that Resha could use against the Boar King.
The spinning tops in Layer 1 had the highest power and were able to wound the Boar King the greatest. If Resha couldn't kill him here, then he wouldn't be able to kill him anywhere else.
'I'll kill him first!' Resha made a spontaneous decision. Killing the Boar King took the utmost priority.
"Come, face your death!" Resha roared as he sent Brana and Baga flying in opposite directions while bombarding the Boar King with a flurry of projectiles.
"Dad! Centre!" Brana seemed to have been waiting for a chance all along as he hurriedly stressed his Spirit Container and transformed into an Empyrean Boar. He swerved his body and barely evaded a spinning top to land on the ground. with a kick of his hooves, he sprinted towards the corner, sustaining serious injuries but didn't stop, shouting nonstop, "Centre! Dad! Go to the centre!"
In an instant, the Boar King changed his action and harnessed multiple Bolts of Transcendence towards the gate leading to the centre. He was aware that Resha was leading him to his death. Even at his full power, he was unable to do anything.
Therefore, the only way to change this situation was to obtain the Major Treasure. The boost in strength it granted would be enough for the Boar King to change the situation. Otherwise, it was just a matter of time before they were all killed.
To avoid that future, Brana took the risk as the oldest sibling, intending to divert part of Resha's attention and give enough room for his dad to enter the centre.
But suddenly, his Prana began to drain at a rapid pace as Brana lost his sight, followed by hearing, sense of smell, touch, and taste. In the end, even his Prana detection means were lost as he was unable to feel any sense of prickling on his skin.
Using him as the base, the Boar King's senses too were taken away. As Brana had reached maturity, he had as much Prana as an Empyrean Boar, which was enough to steal the Boar King's senses for a few seconds.
Asaeya nodded at Resha as she shot all the needles in her arsenal. They had been charged fully with the pain she had inflicted upon herself. They landed on him but failed to pierce his body, even when they spun with all their strength.
Resha took out Barla too, for she was valuable enough to buy a few more seconds. Barla, Brana, and Baga would be used for Asaeya's Akashic Transfer and keep the Boar King bereft of all senses for a few seconds.
His External Inertial Gravity acted upon the rotating needles and increased their density, causing them to gradually pierce skin deep into the Boar King's body. It was enough though, for their purpose was only to transfer the pain stored in them into the Boar King.
Resha assumed his Empyrean Tusk form and activated its battle state to slam the Boar King with his trunk and send him in the direction of a spinning top. The top slammed into the Boar King and began to cut through his body like a saw.
Bereft of all senses, the Boar King was unable to react. Upon realising that the situation was dangerous, he could only do one thing to survive this. Immediately in response, intense Prana formed a cluster in his Spirit Container and caused it to multiply into two.
"It's done!" Asaeya shouted as she rushed away from the gate to avoid being touched by a Bolt of Transcendence.
"Keuk!" Resha grunted as his trunk slammed into a spinning top and was shredded in response. Thankfully, the top's direction changed in response and moved towards the Boar King to slam at him.
He flew across the place to send more spinning tops towards the Boar King, ignoring the damage sustained by the action. And then, the first sense regained by the Boar King was his sense of touch, thanks to Asaeya's machinations.
Immediately in response, all the needles pierced in his skin injected the stored pain into his body, overwhelming his nervous system, "Argh!"
The Boar King's nervous system shut down in response naturally as a defensive mechanism to avoid short-circuiting his brain. In this situation though, that was dangerous as the tops slammed into him more and more.
"Die! Die! Die!" Resha roared as he unleashed External Inertial Gravity to its limit to ensure the spinning tops remained in contact with the Boar King's body. And then, through his Major Treasure of Cure, he unleashed a pulse, for a moment suppressing the effects of Internal Inertial Gravity in the Boar King.
As it had been used enough times, the Boar King was already prepared to defend it. And even in his powerless state, the suppression effect on his twenty-plus Natures of Internal Inertial Gravity lasted barely a tenth of the first time Resha used it.
It was enough for this situation though as in that instant, the density of the Boar King's body reduced rapidly, causing the spinning tops to shred him apart.
The colour of the three spinning tops turned crimson for an instant before they began to extract the substances to form a layer of outgrowth on their forms.
The Boar King's presence vanished!
"Dad!" Barla shouted mournfully right as she recovered her senses, unable to sense her father's presence anymore. Deprived of all Prana, she was unable to do anything, collapsing on the floor as she watched a spinning top heading her way.
"He's…dead." Resha felt all his tension leave as he felt relief. The Boar King was dead. Even though there was another body, the one he killed was the stronger one who held all the Natures of Internal Inertial Gravity.
But suddenly, his gaze flickered towards the gate and ceiling, watching the Bolts of Transcendence continue to be summoned, "Impossible!"
The Boar King was at the 3-Life Stage when he arrived at the Brimgan Empire. When the eye targeted him, the body he sacrificed was his third body, one that was still developing—
early phase of the Body Stage.
Therefore, the remaining two bodies were at the peak of the Body Stage respectively. When necessary, he could condense a new body to gain another life, which was his trump card.
And once Asaeya robbed him of his senses, the Boar King condensed a second body and swapped bodies. As a result, the one that died was his newly formed body. Using the Bolts of Transcendence as cover at the moment when Resha relaxed, and when the suppression effect was still active, the Boar King slid out of the cluster of spinning tops and hurriedly grabbed Barla and swallowed her upon assuming his Empyrean Boar King form.
"You're not getting them all!" Resha reacted promptly and used external Inertial Gravity to pull Brana and Baga towards himself, only to see that he had been fooled.
The Boar King swerved all of a sudden and made a beeline towards the gate and jumped through the hole opened by the Bolts of Transcendence, his cold voice echoing behind, "It's set in stone."
"The Mammoth Clan will be annihilated by me! I assure you of this fact!"
