140 kilometres from the Brimgan Empire was a group moving about in a hurry, with the majority of the members sporting expressions of doom and despair.
Leading the group was Raaha, his expression fierce as he glared at Asaeya, "You never knew about his plan?"
"I didn't know he would become a Pranic Beast." Asaeya bowed her head in response, her gaze heavy, "I…don't understand why Inala did that."
"Is she telling the truth?" Raaha stared at the crying figure of Harrala.
"Yes, she's not lying. But does that matter?" Harrala screamed shrilly, "We don't have a future anymore! There's no way to survive after the Boar King's evolution. He was already an absurd existence, but now, even Mystic Grade Pranic Beasts might not be his opponent!"
"There, there." Rhanalla consoled Harrala while trying her best to stop herself from despairing. As the second strongest Empyrean Tusk, she had to take the lead in comforting their youngest, "We'll think of a solution. There's always a solution."
"Do we leave?" She stared at Raaha, "The Mammoth Clan's ultimate goal is to enter the Mystic Grade. Gannala and Harrala would be able to accomplish that eventually. There's no purpose in remaining on Sumatra anymore."
"Don't we have the information necessary to head towards another continent? Best of all, we'll be assisted by a Mudropper. Our chances of success are higher than in the past."
"Let's wait for the time being," Raaha said as the group arrived at a halt, waiting patiently as ten minutes later, a tunnel entrance opened on the ground as Gannala leaped out, accompanied by Vhalla and the remaining Empyrean Tusks.
Gannala's expression was complex as she stared at Raaha, "We have a problem, Chief."
"Blola is unable to revive Grehha and Yennda. I'm afraid they've been captured by Yarsha Zahara."
"Dammit!" Raaha cursed in anger as the trees in his vicinity withered in response to his emission of Prana. "The revival process was interrupted?"
"I'm afraid she captured the fruits of the two that were forming on the Transcendent Eater." Gannala said as she accessed the memories of Blola who was currently in her biome, "Blola is now at the 1-Life Stage. So, his other body must have been compromised. He tried to revive the two but the revival process hasn't started. Moreover, his two slots are empty now. This can only mean that Grehha and Yennda have been compromised."
The mood turned a notch worse at the news. Yennda being compromised was already an issue, since if he remains idle, the Yellow Mystic Path in Harrala would never be filled. This meant that one of the paths was compromised, preventing Harrala from ever attaining Mystic Grade status.
Yennda only had Iron Grade strength. Therefore, he would only be living for a few more decades. The timeframe was already too short to fill up the Mystic Path in Harrala, but if he was held captive by Yarsha Zahara, then Harrala's potential was as good as dead.
But the bigger problem was Grehha getting compromised. He was the creator of the Bone Vipers. This meant that details regarding one of the Mammoth Clan's valuable trump cards would be leaked to Brangara. It would allow the latter to make preparations accordingly.
Grehha was aware of the Mammoth Treasury's existence. The moment Brangara realises that the Mammoth Clan owns a Major Treasure, he would target it first.
Without the Mammoth Treasury, once Raaha dies, the Mammoth Clan would no longer be able to wield the power of the Gold Empyrean Tentacle. This was no different from crippling the line of Mammoth Chiefs.
The data leak was still a secondary issue. The primary issue was that Grehha didn't have a child yet. This meant that the Green Mystc Path was still in his possession. And through the Transcendent Eater's power in her possession, Yarsha Zahara could control Grehha and make him cough up everything related to the Mystic Paths.
And when she becomes aware of it, she'd immediately take advantage of it to obtain the Green Mystic Path. She was such an individual.
Their defences were compromised, the Yellow Mystic Path was pretty much crippled and the Green Mystic Path was in the enemy's possession. All this was happening in a situation where Brangara became the Celestial Boar.
In a situation where the combined might of all seven Mystic Paths still couldn't guarantee victory against the Celestial Boar, two had fallen into the enemy's hands and would next plunge their fangs into the Mammoth Clan.
"There's no need to despair." Gannala was still going strong as he scanned the group, "Dad can think up a plan easily…where's he?"
She stared at Asaeya, her expression turning a tad fierce upon seeing that she was alone, "Asaeya…? Where's my father?"
"He betrayed us." Raaha sighed in defeat, "After everything we did to support him, he became a Pranic Beast."
"What…are you talking about?" Gannala stammered as she observed the disappointed expressions of all Empyrean Tusks, "Is this the truth? Chief, please tell me you're lying!"
"Beginner Mystic Grade Pranic Beast, Royal Zinger." Rhanalla said in a tone of sadness, "That was what Inala had become when I last saw him. Even though he's your father, you're still his Deity, Gannala. Did you truly not detect anything from his memories?"
"Becoming a Mystic Grade Pranic Beast isn't as simple as buying a Parute Fruit from a store. To achieve in a mere two decades something the Mammoth Clan has been aiming for thousands of years means the extent of his preparation must have been enormous." Rhanalla glared at Gannala, "Are you telling me you couldn't detect preparations on such a vast scale? Or…"
"Mammoth Clan Male and Cooter Clan Female, this was what Inala had achieved using the Boar King's Prana." Asaeya began to speak, "For the past thirteen years, half of him was a Cooter Clansman. The heart thumping in his chest currently is that of an Empyrean Snapper."
She stared at Gannala, "Gannala could only access Inala's memories when he's in his male form. So half the time, she was blind to his thoughts. If he stored everything in his female form somehow…"
"Stop!" Gannala glared at Asaeya, "Are you hearing what you're talking about? After everything he did for us, you dare talk shit about him?"
"I'm talking shit about him?" Asaeya roared in retaliation, "I'm fucking hurt! I've been with him from the start and now what? I gave my everything to him and he's not even a Mammoth Clansman now! You weren't there when he evolved."
Asaeya collapsed to the ground, shedding tears, "When he became the Royal Zinger, Inala changed. Even though he seemed like he was the same individual as before, when I saw him from close up, I couldn't recognise him anymore. His eyes, they were completely different!"
"That bastard isn't Inala!"
"Stop it!" Gannala shouted at Asaeya, her expression in denial, also addressing the Empyrean Tusks who seemed to have become antagonistic towards Inala, "Dad might be suffering now. Is it not our job to cure whatever is plaguing him? We need to save him. Something might have gone wrong when he obtained the Attribute."
"He needs our help!"
"Something might have gone wrong?" Asaeya laughed self-
deprecatingly, losing the will to argue, "You've been reading his memories constantly. You know the extent to which he prepares for even the simplest situation. Nothing went against his plans until the end, even when he obtained the Attribute. Whatever he did, he had planned to do so since the very beginning."
"No…this isn't true…" Gannala collapsed helplessly as she stared at the sky with a vacant gaze, "I must be dreaming. Oh, right, there was a term for this on Earth. Hallucination! Was that what it was called? Yeah, I must be hallucinating."
"Did…did he abandon me?" Her tears flowed nonstop as Gannala was unable to bear this messed up situation. Her dad being part of her immune system was her common sense, the fundamental aspect with which she was born and lived.
And now, she was denied her birthright, "Why? Dad, why?"
The Mammoth Clan was in a broken state. Even now, they were sensing the screams from the Natures of Internal Inertial Gravity in Brangara, one that was urging them to escape from Sumatra. They were all in an overwhelming state of helplessness, in despair.
Piling further upon it was the chaos resulting from the loss of Yennda, Grehha, and worst of all, Inala's betrayal. Gannala felt it hard to even breathe, suffocated by the tumultuous emotions she was experiencing.
She stared at Raaha and uttered weakly, "There's nothing we can do in Sumatra, Chief."
"Let's leave this fucking continent!"
"What are your thoughts on this?" Raaha stared at Vhalla after eyeing the silent Maroppa, "You're the one with all the necessary information."
"I have been talking with her all along." Vhalla nudged Maroppa and continued, "We'll have an easier time travelling through the Sandy-Grey Void using her help as long as we remain in our human forms. But we need to make some preparations first."
"She's able to build a ship capable of sailing through the Sandy-
Grey Void, but the resource requirement is pretty significant." She concluded.
"We also need to prepare for the dangers present in the Sandy-
Grey Void." Maroppa said, clutching her head as she felt a migraine all of a sudden, "It's not just the environment we have to guard against. But once we're far away, we'll lose Sumatra's protection too. That's when the Sandy-Grey Void becomes truly treacherous…"
"Fuck!" She screamed all of a sudden and crouched low, observing that her fingers were trembling. This phenomenon was the same as what an Empyrean Tusk felt towards Brangara, confusing her, "Something terrifying is approaching us!"
"What?" Raaha became alert upon seeing Maroppa's reaction, "Is Brangara returning?"
"No, he's heading towards the Dieng Canyon without any changes." Vhalla stared at Maroppa in confusion, "Her reaction is the same as us, but the cause seems to be something else."
"It's here!" Maroppa shrilled at the sky as everyone stared in the direction reflexively. There was nothing there for a few seconds, following which a dot appeared, gradually growing bigger before suddenly, it vanished.
Gently landing at a spot on the ground nearby, lithe like a butterfly was a winged humanoid who retracted his wings and turned around to face the group of Empyrean Tusks, emanating the presence of a Silver Grade Pranic Beast, "Thank goodness you were on the surface. I was finally able to spot you."
It was Inala!
