Granny Oyo was dead. Inala’s eyes were red, not from sadness but from anger. Moments before she breathed her last, he used a combination of Prana Domination and Mystic Skill Creator to capture the traces of Prana in her body.
Using that, he jolted awake his erased memories, able to observe the entirety of the event that transpired that night, “Fucking Demoness!”
He raised his leg and activated his Secondary Nature in full swing, bringing his foot down with force to crush her skull into a paste. He then kicked the wall, bringing down the ceiling to bury her under the rubble. ‘In the novel, her obsessive character was interesting to read about, enough to become a fan. But in real life, she’s disgusting.’
His anger wasn’t in the least satiated, but he had to put up with that. Time was running short as Inala rushed out of her house. His two Empyrean Zinger Scouts climbed over his head in their miniature forms as they observed the sky and communicated with him about the attacks, allowing him to react early.
Prime Skill—Empyrean Slip!
Through it, he could read their thoughts in real-time, just as Gannala did to him. This was no different from getting two more pairs of sensory organs, allowing him to be more aware of his surroundings. This would only increase in the future as more and more miniature Empyrean Zingers lived on him.
“Uwaa!” The baby in his arms continued to cry as he pulled out a piece of cloth from his Storage Lantern, using some of his reserve water to wipe the blood off the baby. She would die if she wasn’t cleaned of the blood.
“Shut up!” He growled when the baby continued to cry. But a moment later, he mentally chided himself, ‘She’s innocent. Let’s not display my anger towards Oyo on her. I haven’t become blinded with rage yet.’
Inala rushed into the channel and made way to Instructor Mandu’s house, barging in through the channel that connected directly to his living room. All masters had access to a personal channel. Instructor Mandu was no exception, saving Inala a lot of time and effort.
“Inala?” Instructor Mandu detected his Prana signature and stopped fighting outside, returning to the living room. “Wait, whose baby is that?”
“Mine, supposedly.” Inala grumbled for a moment before stating in seriousness, “Sir, I need your protection. I need to go far away from the Settlement immediately.”
“Where will you go?” Instructor Mandu motioned for his family to take shelter for the time being and treat their injuries. “We cannot survive outside the Settlement.”
“Gannala will die any minute.” Inala said and pointed at the baby, “And she’s the successor.” 𝓞𝑽𝑙xt.𝒸𝑜𝕞
“What nonsense…” Instructor Mandu intended to chide Inala for his nonsense. But a steady glance at the baby and his Mystic Bone Art flared up, urging him to protect her to the extent he almost lost his mind.
“I see…” By the time he came to his senses, Instructor Mandu was on the floor, prostrating towards the baby. He stared at Inala, determined to sacrifice his life, “Why do you need to run?”
“Her cries will lure the Boar King towards us. To avoid our annihilation, I must run away and direct his attention towards me.” Inala stated in a hurry.
“You’ll die!” Instructor Mandu said and stared at the baby reflexively, “As Mammoth Clansmen, it’s my duty to die for the Empyrean Tusk. But we can’t endanger her life.”
“I have a plan. Trust me!” Inala said, “That’s why Gannala left things in my hand.”
Inala would have been more comfortable had Grehha been around. His Tertiary Nature of Empyrean Incubator would have been perfect to protect the baby and prevent her cries from alerting the Empyrean Tusks.
Moreover, the Empyrean Incubator’s nature was nurturing towards the baby’s well-being. As Inala accessed part of the memories he obtained from Gannala, he understood the primary reason Grehha was granted the Empyrean Incubator was for this very purpose.
But along the way to Instructor Mandu’s house, he visited Grehha’s house, staring at a heap of Mud Viper corpses. Grehha seemed to have disappeared. Therefore, Inala had to change his plans and approach Instructor Mandu instead.
“Gannala…as in the 44th Empyrean Tusk?” Instructor Mandu wondered how Inala was able to find out their Deity’s name. But as the situation seemed urgent, he avoided wasting time with questions, “What do I need to do?”
“Please bring me to the tip of the trunk.” Inala said as he rushed out, able to feel a faint sense of fear through his Secondary Nature, ‘Shit! The Boar King’s already on his way here.’
His Secondary Nature was an Empyrean Tusk’s Primary Nature, inherited from Gannala. The fact that it reacted with fear was a direct indicator of the Boar King’s arrival. And the stronger the sense of fear stemming from it, the closer the Boar King had approached.
“Sir! We need to hurry!” Inala shouted.
“Everyone, follow me out. Protect Inala.” Instructor Mandu said as his family formed a hexagon-shaped formation around Inala. Everyone was familiar with Inala since carved pretty much every single portrait in their house.
As their Mystic Bone Art reacted to Inala’s daughter, they unhesitantly protected him.
“Inala!” Asaeya shouted upon seeing his group. Right as the First Major Disaster started, the guest room was destroyed. Protected by her four bodyguards, Asaeya fought her way towards Instructor Mandu’s house, worried about Inala.
As she was from the 43rd Settlement, she couldn’t enter the channel, for that would cause Gannala a rash immediately. It was too risky. The gravitational flux in the channels might even mistakenly kill her as they were flaring up all over the place, causing the buildings to collapse due to the Zinger attacks.
Hence, they had to fight their way on the surface, taking a lot of time. Upon seeing Inala rush out of Instructor Mandu’s house, she was relieved.
“You’re here.” Inala felt assured by her presence, “Follow me. I’ll explain things later.”
“Okay!” Asaeya nodded and clapped once, causing two nearby Zingers to plummet to their deaths, having lost their sight. And with every clap from her, two Zingers lost balance.
‘Grim Knell! She obtained it on time!’ He felt a bit more assured now and could focus on the baby. The group would do their best to protect him. Inala seeped Prana from his palms that wrapped around the baby, hardening into an egg, beginning to comfort her.
He was protecting her by placing her within a Life Egg, expending his lifeforce in the process. As long as there was sufficient lifeforce in the egg, she would be safe and nurtured. Moreover, the fluid within was filled with the property of Internal Inertial Gravity.
Therefore, no matter how much he shakes up the egg, the baby within wouldn’t even feel a thing.
“Your face!” Asaeya exclaimed upon seeing Inala age by four decades in a matter of seconds.
“Ignore it!” Inala said and increased his running speed, feeling the fear relayed by his Secondary Nature grow rapidly, ‘He’s closer now! Fuck!’
The group soon reached the head, now able to stare forward. But when they did so, everyone instinctively stopped, forgetting to breathe. After all, the world before them seemed to be tilting.
Thanks to Gannala’s Primary Nature, they didn’t notice it. But from a bird’s eye point of view, it was clear. Her eyes closed shut as Gannala lost control of her body, leaning to the side before falling.
“Shit!” Inala cursed as the ground rapidly approached his face.