"You're late," Brangara grinned as he noticed a golden flash high up in the sky, observing the ashen faces of Boul Brimgan and Harla Brimgan, "Had you arrived a few hours earlier, things might have turned out different."
He extended his hand, carrying a tiny, broken shell of an Empyrean Snapper filled with blood and pieces of its flesh, "Want some?"
"That's a pity," He muttered after two minutes, seeing the golden flash return the way it came from.
"But," His expression turned serious as he stared at Boul Brimgan, 'This guy dared to come here after knowing that I was fighting the Cooter Clan? Does this mean he's confident of facing me when assisted by the Empyrean Snappers?'
For a moment, Brangara wanted to take advantage of the chance to kill Boul Brimgan, 'Since my eight Natures of Subtle Terrain Domination are still active, there isn't a better opportunity than this.'
"Wait!" He put on a calm tone and shouted, unleashing a shockwave that approached the duo, carrying his voice, "Let's talk."
"Maybe we can even forge a trade relationship."
'Good, they stopped.' His smile widened faintly upon seeing the golden chakram pause in the sky.
Harla Brimgan stared at Boul Brimgan, asking, "Do you have an idea of his plan?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Considering the speed at which he slaughtered them all, he definitely used Subtle Terrain Domination." Boul Brimgan said and stared at the Transcendent Worlds, "He has also unleashed that pillar of light for a couple of seconds. The reaction from the Transcendent Worlds confirms it."
Boul Brimgan stared at Brangara and said, "Currently, he hasn't deactivated however many Natures of Subtle Terrain Domination he had used in his fight against the Empyrean Snappers. He intends to lure us within striking range. Once we're killed, our Empire wouldn't fare well against his onslaught."
"What do we do then? Ignore him?" Harla Brimgan frowned, "Doing that would instigate him. There's no guarantee that he wouldn't come after us next. Our preparations aren't enough to fight him at present."
"It's alright." Boul Brimgan said as he observed the entire scene, focusing on every single detail present in the bowl that had formed in the Dralh Sea, "This image alone will serve us."
In the bowl were dismembered carcasses of Empyrean Snappers, the state of their severed heads pictured their mental states moments before death—one of shock, despair, unwillingness to resign themselves to fate, etc.
Their blood filled the bowl as their carcasses formed a massive pile. Seated within it, treating the bowl as his private swimming pool was the Celestial Boar, gorging upon the Empyrean Snapper flesh.
Boul Brimgan condensed a Spirit Weapon out of Rutham and turned it into an Information Slip, recording everything he felt and observed. Once there was enough footage of the Celestial Boar's eating session, the duo headed to the Brimgan Trade Wall.
"The Cooter Clan isn't based on the Dralh Sea alone." Boul Brimgan said right after the duo arrived at the Brimgan Trade Wall, "There's even more Empyrean Snappers out there. I'll give them this information."
"Carry on to the Brimgan Empire, Mother." Boul Brimgan said and brought out a golden feline, "I'll make a diplomatic visit to the other Cooter Clan branches."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Be safe." Harla Brimgan expressed her worry.
"I'll be fine." Boul Brimgan stared at her in seriousness, "Please raise our defensive net so that we'll be able to detect Brangara if he ever dares approach us."
"But I'm not leaving immediately." Boul Brimgan said, "Let us stay here for the time being and observe his actions. It's not too late to start our plan after that."
"After all, we need to defend our home if he ever shows an intention to target the Brimgan Empire."
Left alone at the Dralh Sea, Brangara was disappointed by the lack of company upon seeing Boul Brimgan refrain from talking to him and just retreated. 'He didn't take the bait. It's as I expected, but it's still a bit disappointing.'
In the end, as there didn't seem to be any other existences in the Dralh Sea that could threaten him, he digested the eight Tangible Natures of Empyrean Snappers that he had activated and generated Prana to nurture a Tangible Nature of Decaleech.
"All these resources are being spent just to create a Minor Treasure." Brangara sighed, "Well, this is the fastest option. And I need this strength desperately to contend against my enemies."
They didn't make contact, but Brangara could feel that Boul Brimgan had grown vastly stronger in the past three years, "A Free Human with endless potential."
For a moment, the image of his wife appeared in his mind, 'He doesn't strike as someone like her, but his speciality must be geared towards something other than dominating Prana. He's definitely close to or in the same realm of existence as Yarsha.'
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Though he won a brutal war against 52 Empyrean Snappers, Brangara couldn't relish the victory. Instead, his worries continued to increase. He wouldn't worry if existences on the level of Boul Brimgan targeted him alone.
But now, he had a growing family to protect. And other than Yarsha Zahara, no one had enough strength to contend against even a Second Major Disaster version of Boul Brimgan, not to mention his current self.
Barla, Brana, Braga, and Baga, his four Wean Clan children combined wouldn't be able to tank a single hit from Boul Brimgan. The power gap was too much, 'I need to focus on strengthening them first!'
With this thought, he continued to consume and digest everything in the bowl, little by little, unaware of the fact that his actions were the signal for other forces to move.
Boul Brimgan intended to use the scene of him eating Empyrean Snappers to rally the other Empyrean Snappers to the side of the Brimgan Empire.
At the Brimgan Sea, a certain Pranic Beast noticed the pillar of light unleashed by Brangara when he erupted with his full strength.
Mutated Beginner Gold Grade Pranic Beast—Raikk!
Externally, this Pranic Beast had submitted to the Brimgan Empire's rule during the water crisis. That was how it and its brethren survived. But internally, it had another identity.
Minor Treasure—Orakha's Checkpoint!
It had fused with one of the pieces, serving as one of Orakha's checkpoints. It was also the one who carried all the Sumatra Gold he had stolen from Yarsha Zahara. As it lived in the Brimgan Sea, its life was the safest after it had submitted to the Brimgan Empire's rule.
No existence could target it without having to deal with the Brimgan Empire first. Immediately after it noticed the pillar of light, Orakha sensed the disturbance in its mental state through his Minor Treasure and revived next to it spontaneously.
"This is…?" He managed to spot the pillar of light for one second before it vanished, understanding what was happening, "In that direction is the Dralh Sea."
'Is he targeting the Empyrean Snappers?' His mood became solemn, 'Right now, the Mammoth Clan has gone into hiding, so Brangara doesn't know where they are. Considering his obsession with Internal Inertial Gravity and Subtle Terrain Domination, it makes sense that he's targeting the Empyrean Snappers once he's done with preparations.'
Even during his past as the Empyrean Boar King, Brangara had killed two Empyrean Snappers just to hoard their Natures. He did not intend to use them, but because they were one of the literal best among the Gold Grade Natures, he obtained two, unnecessarily antagonising the Cooter Clan.
He didn't store anymore since he already had twenty-plus Natures of Internal Inertial Gravity. That was his source of confidence. Irrespective of the threat he might face, he only needed to activate a certain number of them to deal with the problem.
Internal Inertial Gravity and Subtle Terrain Domination weren't just overpowered Natures but were also perfectly in tune with his Nature of Astral Chart and Astral World. They could be perfectly stacked to unleash even greater destructive power.
That was why he was obsessed with it. This was precisely why Raaha hid the Mammoth Clan once the Second Major Disaster was completed.
Without any Expert Gold Grade Nature in his reserve, Brangara would be subconsciously feeling an itch or even a lack of confidence. Hence, he'd be preparing to target them.
If he could find the Mammoth Clan, he would obviously target them, as he hated their existence, which was another major reason to kill Empyrean Tusks. But since no one had an idea of where the Mammoth Clan had hidden themselves, the one struck by Brangara's obsession ended up being the Cooter Clan.
His mind whirred as Orakha pieced together the details, condensed a Mystic Eater, and leapt into the Cooter-Brimgan Channel, intending to race to the Dralh Sea to observe the scene himself.
The Mystic Eater grew fins once he modified his Human Avatar accordingly, making aquatic travel feasible. He sat within it as the Mystic Eater sped faster, moving close to the floor to avoid detection from the tower forts stationed along the way.
On the second day, he sent a body to revive in Gannala's stomach biome and relayed the information, alerting her of what had happened.
On the third day, the body communicating with Gannala revived at the Mammoth Clan to inform Raaha.
Around the same time, his 1-Life Stage body that was travelling through the Cooter-Brimgan Channel arrived close to the Brimgan Trade Wall, halting abruptly upon seeing two golden flashes atop the wall. Unfortunately, it was already too late by the time he spotted them.
Gently floating in the water on his right was a golden feline. And on his left was a spinning chakram, 'Shit! If I were to be trapped here, I wouldn't be able to spy on Brangara's actions and plan countermeasures!'
"I remember you." A golden chakram hovered on the water surface as Boul Brimgan stood atop it, staring at the Mystic Eater, "Come out when I'm being nice. I know you're inside."
His expression was cold as followed by a golden flash, the Mystic Eater was diced into a dozen fragments, all while the figure of Orakha within remained perfectly unharmed, "Did you think I cannot sense my father's presence when you're blatantly dangling it before me?"
