A massive heap of earth, compressed to become stone, reaching as high as two kilometres. Its peak and base were more or less similar in breadth, like a pillar, but mountainous in size. Such mountains littered the area, each with steep cliffs, causing the narrow gaps between each to become ravines.
Due to the arrangement of the mountains, the ravines formed a sprawling maze covering millions of square kilometres in area. Some of these ravines became canyons due to the many rivers entering the region, as a result causing its monicker—Dieng Canyon! 𝓞𝑽𝗅xt.𝒸𝚘𝔪
The peak of one such mountain was littered with Baobab Trees. Sporting thick stems filled with water, they were a special variety among trees. Scuttling between the trees like squirrels were Zingers, numbering in the thousands.
A Zinger leapt onto a Baobab Tree and pierced its claws through the stem, poking a wide hole. It opened its mouth and galloped the water that gushed out. Once it had its fill, Prana gushed to its palms and condensed an egg-like sphere that it used to cork the hole.
Many Zingers did the same, drinking water from the trees and corking the poked holes following that. Usually, a Zinger didn’t use a hole created by another Zinger, usually.
But because of their high death rate, once the Zinger dies, its imprint on the egg-shaped cork vanishes. And when that happens, another Zinger makes an imprint on it and uses it to satisfy its thirst.
“Kekeke!”
“Kakaka!” A horde of Zingers let out various cries as they rushed towards the edge of the mountain and crawled towards the cliff walls.
Strong winds were blowing through the ravine, fluttering the fur that covered their bodies. One such Zinger was slightly more developed than the rest of its brethren. Its eyes glistened with sentience as it hung on the cliff.
The claws in its legs lodged into the cliff walls, anchoring itself to the place. Its left hand held the dangling roots of a Baobab Tree while it placed its right hand over its eyes, like an umbrella, mimicking humans when they wished to observe things afar.
This ravine spanned a width of five kilometres, one of the widest in the Dieng Canyon, forming one of the major roads of entry into the region, frequented by many, especially Empyrean Tusk herds.
And currently, one such herd entered. As the majestic Empyrean Tusks walked into the ravine, they slowed down. The Empyrean Tusk at the very front, the leader of the herd stopped, observing the tens of thousands of Zingers waiting on the cliff walls.
It raised its trunk high up in the air, seemingly sucking in the air. Even though it was only inhaling slowly, the direction of wind in the ravine changed.
“Kieek!” A group of Zingers close by shrieked in fluster as lumps of rock in the cliff wall broke around the locations their claws were lodged in. They were being pulled in by the suction force.
The Zingers hurriedly bit onto the Baobab Tree roots while their claws repeatedly dug into the cliff walls, barely staying rooted. Some feeble ones were unfortunately sucked into the trunk.
The Empyrean Tusk soon finished inhaling as its eyes shot to the side and glared at the cliff walls covered by Zingers. Its trunk calmly faced in the direction where the Zingers were the most concentrated and unleashed a powerful trumpet, exhaling all the air to further escalate its might.
“Krrr-Rahhh-Laaaa!” Shockwaves blasted throughout the ravine, echoing off the cliff walls as a thick layer of compressed air, visible to the naked eye blasted for hundreds of kilometres.
“Kieee!” The Zingers shrieked as their eardrums ruptured from the shockwaves. Large pieces of the cliff walls collapsed as the bodies of the Zingers and any other Pranic Beast within a ten-kilometre vicinity of the Empyrean Tusk were smashed into pulp.
The ones further back lost consciousness. Their grips loosened in response as they fell from their spots on the cliff, making a beeline towards the ground.
But partway through the freefall, their bodies, along with the large broken pieces of the cliff walls stopped. Intense winds blew otherwise, preventing them from reaching the ground.
The Empyrean Tusk had begun inhaling through its trunk, using its Primary Nature to suck in air hundreds of times the volume of its body. As a result, the suction force was tremendous.
Tens of thousands of Zingers, along with trees, rocks, mud, water, etc. flew into the Empyrean Tusk’s trunk. The unfortunate Zingers that didn’t die until now were subjected to true hell.
Primary Nature—Internal Inertial Gravity!
Divergent gravitational fields acted on them from all sides, shredding everything apart. Convergent gravitational fields followed suit, compressing everything into solid spheres. Moreover, the gravity seemed to have a mind of its own, segregating everything into smaller clumps.
A minute later, the Empyrean Tusk opened its mouth. It pointed the top of its trunk into its mouth and shot out compressed balls that were a mixture of plant, meat, and earth.
It didn’t matter what they were. The Empyrean Tusk consumed them all. After all, it itself was a biome. It could sustain itself just by consuming the earth. Plants grew in its body, transforming the minerals into various products.
The Mammoth Clansmen further broke those products through their consumption. Thanks to the influence of the Mystic Bone Art, even the excreta they produced was a medicine that regulated the Empyrean Tusk’s bodily function.
Of course, it still consumed plants and Pranic Beasts. After all, that was the fastest and most efficient mode of accumulating Prana.
It might not seem much, but an Empyrean Tusk’s Prana consumption was tremendous. Its Primary Nature was always active and at full blast, bending space within its body. It was burning up hundreds of Prana every second.
The thousands of Zingers were merely a snack to the Empyrean Tusk. All it did was clear the path for its herd. As the leader and the strongest Empyrean Tusk, it was in charge of snuffing out any annoyances for the herd.
Moreover, its attack was a display of might, a preventive measure to thwart the Zingers from attacking them. But of course, even it knew that this wouldn’t matter.
For every swarm-type Pranic Beast, Empyrean Tusks were the pinnacle of delicacies. Devouring one was usually enough to double or triple their numbers overnight.
“Kiek!”
“Kekeke!”
“Kukuku!”
“Kukugugugagaaa!” As more and more Zingers filled up the empty space, the Empyrean Tusk’s eyes calmly observed them. Following that, it raised its trunk and released a gentle trumpet.
Immediately in response, the single-file formation in the herd changed as another Empyrean Tusk walked to the right of the leader. Quickly in response, the Empyrean Tusks began to gather in two files. Following that, the herd moved.
44 Empyrean Tusks in two files, forming 22 rows in total. The herd officially ventured into the Dieng Canyon, with the mass slaughter announcing their arrival.