The moment Virala purposefully moved in the direction opposite to the 102nd Empyrean Tusk, Gannala became aware that he could sense the existence of his other body. Hence, in accordance to their plan, the 102nd Empyrean Tusk grabbed the Mammoth Clansman Virala's Nature Weapon form that popped out of her Tertiary Nature slot and threw it into the tunnel at her feet with all her might.
The Nature Weapon flew through the tunnel while Gannala purposefully moved underground with enough activity that Virala would be able to sense her approach through the senses of his Mystic Ewworm and evade.
To avoid getting unnecessarily close to the Empyrean Tusks, Virala could only evade towards a safer spot. Gannala's direction of approach narrowed down the spot Virala would flee towards, making it easier to target the tunnel's exit accordingly.
The fastest way to neutralise a weasel-like Virala was to unleash his Mammoth Clan body on him. Once the distance between the two reduces below 180 metres, their minds would synchronise. In the worst-case scenario, it would cause an implosion.
But considering the robustness of Virala's body, there was a higher chance he would live and only have a destroyed mind. Hence it was a solid gamble.
It was too late to evade as the minds of the two began to synchronise. But right as it started, it stopped, not because some mysterious ability took effect, but because there were no longer two minds to synchronise.
Mystic Nature Art!
"Tch!" Gannala stared at the ground splashed with brain matter and observed the tiny hole beside it. She stared at the figure of the Mammoth Clansman Virala who assumed human form, "Did it work?"
"No…!" The Mammoth Clansman Virala grunted in pain before clutching his head as he collapsed to the ground, "He shattered his brain in the instant a connection formed, as if he'd prepared for the possibility already. The trigger to his brain's explosion was the formation of a connection with me."
The greatest function of Mystic Nature Art was the fusion of the heart and Spirit Container, transforming it into a sentient organ capable of wielding Prana. As it could function as a secondary brain, it remained as Virala's backup.
It already had all of Virala's memories. But as it was a secondary brain, it couldn't handle the information load as his primary brain, making it impossible to fight as usual. It was why Virala enacted a planned escape response, heading deep underground in his Mystic Ewworm form.
While waiting for the Mammoth Clan to arrive, Virala prepared for twenty possibilities, out of which Gannala using his other body was the most obvious scenario. In preparation for that, Virala placed a bunch of Spirit Containers in his brain, assembling them in such a way that the moment a connection forms between the two bodies, they would explode and turn the brain into mush.
This way, the connection would be destroyed, since the mind was no more. And at that moment spanning a fraction of an instant when the connection formed, a certain piece of information flowed into the Mammoth Clan Virala's mind.
Virala hid deep underground by taking advantage of his Mystic Ewworm's capability of hiding all traces of itself. Using that opportunity, Prana surged into his destroyed head and began to rebuild it.
In the meantime, the Mammoth Clan Virala clutched his head and roared, following which he unleashed Prana, assuming a certain pose.
"Dammit!" Gannala became alarmed upon seeing his pose as she unleashed a gust of air at him and sent him flying away. She then chased after him and seeped her influence into him, forcefully reverted him to Nature Weapon form and swallowed it.
"Arkk!"
"Gah!"
"Ugh!"
The bodies of all the Empyrean Tusks were in pain as an irresistible feeling overcame them, urging them to break into a set of dance moves. The weaker and younger they were, the lower their resistance to it.
Harrala was the first as her skin began to crack in response. She took a step forward and raised her leg while her hands moved horizontally, assuming a pose. Her hands moved in a clockwise position while her lifted leg moved backward.
As her limbs moved, the cracks on her skin increased, but a couple seconds later, she paused, followed by Gannala's bellow, "Stop!"
Dance of Annihilation!
Gannala activated hers in response and used it to counter the effects unleashed by the Mammoth Clan Virala. Thankfully, all the Empyrean Tusks had two Natures. It was why they could resist the effects and weren't reduced into Natures Weapons.
"Are you alright?" Gannala landed on the ground after swallowing Virala's Nature Weapon form and rushed towards Harrala to inspect the latter's condition, "Breathe in, slowly. Don't use Internal Inertial Gravity. That would only exuberate your condition."
"What…was that?" Harrala muttered in fear, "I felt like I wasn't myself for a moment."
"One of the strongest abilities to have appeared on Sumatra, invented by a power-hungry maniac who thirsted for pinnacle power." Virala's voice resounded as he jutted out of the ground in his Mystic Ewworm form after regenerating his brain. Reverting to human form, he stood at a distance of 200 metres from Gannala and said, "This is the power that singlehandedly made countless races become terrified of the Mammoth Clan for generations, even after information about the power disappeared from all records."
"The Dance of Annihilation!"
He grinned and stared at Gannala, "The moment you use my other body against me, I'll influence it to perform the dance. That body isn't even aware of the Dance of Annihilation's existence. So, it's easy to control it, no matter how much you brainwash its mind."
"That was indeed a mistake on my part, but brainwash?" Gannala revealed a mild smile and spat out the Nature Weapon form of Virala, "I never did that though?"
"What?" Virala was stunned by her words as he stared at his Mammoth Clan self, realising immediately after, "So it's an untampered mind of mine."
"I was stitched back together the moment Gannala brought back Ruvva." The Mammoth Clan Virala said as he recovered from his headache, "It is my duty to take care of my daughter, you see. After all, she's mine."
"Wow, did no one tell you that you're an absolute scum?" Virala laughed.
"All the mirrors did, but," The Mammoth Clan Virala chuckled with a tone of ridicule, "But did that ever matter to us to date?"
'You were a step further in this matter, Gannala.' Virala thought as he stared at his Mammoth Clan self, 'Indeed, with Mystic Grade Weaponisation, that body of mine is a sponge of your influence. So, after it had marinated in your influence for a while now, you've decided to use it.'
The product of Gannala's actions was a Virala in all his capabilities but one the most loyal to Gannala. Similar to how Inala took advantage of the extreme state of living without a Spirit Weapon, Gannala did the same to drown the Mammoth Clan Virala's body with her influence.
After giving him his Spirit Container and his extracted memories, Gannala continued to do the same, resulting in Virala changing at the fundamental level to be the strongest unit of her immune system.
Back at Fentan City, despite his powerful abilities, just being in Gannala's vicinity caused his Nature of Weaponisation to flare up and influence him strongly to protect Gannala. It was to such an extent he was unable to do anything against her and was even temporarily captured by her.
He had to embarrassingly escape after that by using a chance window.
But after living in her biome for years, the Mammoth Clansman Virala had zero chances of ever breaking free from her control. Rather, he was the strongest, most loyal, and most devoted immune system an Empyrean Tusk could possess.
He was Gannala's trump card.
"Chief, I'll deal with him." Saying so, Gannala assumed Nature Weapon form and equipped herself into the Mammoth Clan Virala's Primary Nature, instantly making him immune to the other Virala's antics.
Atop that, the Mystic Nature Weapon of Tunnel was equipped onto the Tertiary Slot as the body Gannala was using before was placed in Raaha's custody.
"Now, shall we go for a round two?" The Mammoth Clan Virala grinned as a voracious amount of Prana billowed out of his being, continuing to spike in intensity, "It'll be interesting to beat up another version of myself."
"Man, this is the problem with the idiots of Sumatra. You all are fucking averse to the notion of communication." Virala sighed as he stared at Raaha, "It seems the lot of you don't wish to recover Grehha and Yennda. Such a pity. And here I thought I could save them for your sake."
"If this is another scheme of yours…" Raaha frowned, intending to take action.
"Seriously, whether you like it or not, Brangara hates me probably only a tad less than Gannala. Or maybe we're even equally detestable in his eyes." Virala shrugged, "Well, not that it matters much to me. But, I thought it was a good opportunity to extort some resources from the Mammoth Clan."
He then pointed at Orakha, "That bastard's revival mechanism has been fused into my ribcage. Even if I were to rip out the part and chuck it out, it'll reappear a day later. So, you can use this turd to keep an eye on me. A new body can revive next to me, observe my actions, and revive back at the Mammoth Clan to report to Gannala about whatever I'm doing."
"At present, I'm the only one with the capability to infiltrate Brangara's home and assassinate Yennda and Grehha right as they are revived by Yarsha Zahara."
"Extort?" Raaha felt displeased about how Virala blatantly revealed his desires, as if he cared naught about the Mammoth Clan's opinion towards him, "What do you want?"
"Nature Weapons," Virala winked at his Mammoth Clan body, "I'll give you a list of the Pranic Beasts whose Nature Weapons I want. That's my payment for cleaning up after Resha's mistakes."
