"No...Impossible!" Vice Captain Quoquo uttered in disbelief, watching the collapse of his Deity. He screamed and rushed at the cause, harnessing every trace of Prana existing in his stack to unleash a 3-layer vapour cone.
Splash!
His attack failed to even scratch the other party, ’How? Even though they splashed before too, they at least scorched the previous Narlakk slightly.’
In alarm, he lifted his head and eyed the towering Narlakk, which seemed to be looking down on him, "H-How is this...?"
"Don’t strain your pretty head," The Narlakk brought down its large hands and pinched Vice Captain Quoquo’s head. And just like that, splattered it.
"I am Tirrferryorr," It grinned while watching a 4-Life Stage Quoquo appear beside his headless corpse and pinched once again, splattering another head.
3-Life Stage!
2-Life Stage!
"Y-Y-You..." Gripped by fear, Vice Captain Quoquo staggered, now down to the Body Stage. Having expended his Prana reserves, he was helpless to eye the Narlakk’s thumb and index finger approach his dull head and grip it gently.
’My...Deity!’ He stared at Runthral with regret as his head splattered once again, ’Forgive me for failing to protect you!’
"Quoquo..." Captain Trotro clenched his hand into a fist, mourning the loss of the comrade he spent the most time with on the sea and most of all, his closest friend. He was on the floor now, all his bodies beaten and battered.
He was harnessing his remaining reserves to heal at least one body so that he could get up and fight once again. However, it was taking time, as he too had expended everything he had in order to take down the Narlakk.
"Fucking coward," He cursed aloud, "Come here if you dare."
"That I will," Narlakk Tirrferryorr nodded and grabbed Runthral with its left hand, "But first, there’s something I need to do."
With a flick of its hand, the five corpses of Vice Captain Quoquo visibly shrunk until it vanished. It seemed to have evaporated. However, the truth was that it had been wholly transformed into pollen.
’Shouldn’t that only be limited to fat reserves?’ Captain Trotro was stunned by its display of power, "It DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!"
"Obviously, it shouldn’t." Narlakk Tirrferryorr chuckled, "If it did, there would be no point to my existence then."
Narlakk Tirrferryorr eyed the powerless Cooter Clansmen who were trying to gather strength and face it. In a matter of seconds, they dropped dead as their forms vaporised, turning into a pollen cloud visible to the naked eye.
It gathered upon the Narlakk’s palm as it walked towards the corpse of Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr. Its eyes shot to the figure of Runthral, "You regained consciousness already?"
"Don’t be arrogant," Runthral spat out blood, "If you have the guts, fight me fair and square, once I recover."
"A Deity, huh?" Narlakk Tirrferryorr observed Runthral and increased the strength in its hold, causing the other party to scream, "Even though I have more than enough power to kill you at your best, I’ll refrain from taking needless risks."
"If anything, it’s a testament to the existence of danger you possess." It ignored Runthral’s cries of pain and arrived before the collapsed corpse of Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr and inspected the other party.
"Good, a few cores have survived. That’s enough." It surged all the pollen into the body through the tendrils, watching the surviving cores regain a semblance of activity once again.
"Is it despairing?" Narlakk Tirrferryorr eyed Captain Trotro while the pollen in its palm surged into the body of Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr, which began to twitch, slowing growing alive, "You need to destroy all cores of a Nirclick to kill it."
"I’m sure you’re aware, since you killed my brethren with scary efficiency." It continued, "However, to kill a Narlakk, you have to grind every single core to dust."
"Otherwise," It pointed at the corpse of Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr, "With external assistance, once all the broken cores, like in this case, are gathered together..."
Whirr!
A sign of life appeared in the corpse of Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr once again, "It is possible to revive us."
As more and more of the pollen surged into the body, the shattered cores consumed each other until enough mass had been amassed to form a single, fully intact core. This core used the surging pollen as food to gradually rebuild the body.
In a matter of seconds, multiple new cores appeared, which was consumed by the main core to birth a Spirit Container, "It consumes too much resources to reach this point."
"However," Narlakk Tirrferryorr eyed Captain Trotro, chuckling upon seeing the other party’s despair, "Despite only being a Silver Grade existence, you are strong. And the experience gained by fighting against someone of your level is too valuable."
"Now, my brethren is alive." It laughed, seeing Captain Trotro scream in despair, "Yes, I spared you to see that."
"So, even someone as strong and headstrong as you can show despair..." Narlakk Tirrferryorr stopped speaking, taking a few seconds of observation to understand the situation better, "It’s not this situation that has caused you despair."
"I see..." Only then did it notice that Runthral’s body was growing cold from excessive bloodloss, "Your Deity is on the verge of death. That’s the cause, huh?"
"Truly," It revealed a mild sigh in admiration, "Even though you’re my enemy, you have my respect. The Cooter Clan is strong."
"Right?" Another voice resounded, stunning Narlakk Tirrferryorr that expanded its Prana detection means but failed to find anyone. Then, it felt something behind it, emanating a suffocating presence, as if having unleashed an attack powerful enough to damage it.
Narlakk Tirrferryorr instinctively raised its arms up in defence, ignoring the slippery sensation it felt in its palms. However, its priority was to protect itself first, which is why it harnessed all its strength in terms of defence.
However, nothing stood behind it. There was no attack either, ’Just a presence?’
’It felt...strong!’ It recalled the presence released by one of the strongest Empyrean Snappers when in hiding. The presence was so strong, it didn’t even dare reveal itself, knowing only death awaited it.
A moment’s shock later, it stared at its empty palms, which had slippery strains due to a white liquid. A second later, it hardened into coral. A clench later, the coral shattered.
Narlakk Tirrferryorr turned around once again, eyeing the third party that had barged into the situation, now holding Runthral, "No...wait!"
"Runthral?" It frowned, "There are two of you?"
"My...Deity?" Captain Trotro stared in shock, unable to understand as he eyed two of the same individuals before him.
"Get some sleep," It was Torq, having assumed Runthral’s appearance. A thin layer of mist gathered around his palm and entered Captain Trotro’s nostrils, knocking the other party unconscious.
"Why...are you here?" Runthral gasped weakly, whispering in defeat, "Steal my identity and run away."
"Take my place, as the Clan’s Deity." He gritted desperately, "Run...away..."
"Do you recall the question I asked you back at the Academy?" Torq calmly placed Runthral on the floor and used a Skill to clot the latter’s wounds, "Of all the worlds out there, which one do you think is the most beautiful?"
"Do you remember it?" Torq smiled upon seeing Runthral seriously ponder the question, but failed to come up with an answer, just like before, "You can’t answer, since you’ve never experienced them."
"But I’ll tell you the answer." Torq roared, "It’s Sumatra!"
"I don’t understand how there’s two of you..." Narlakk Tirrferryorr frowned, "But no matter, the situation doesn’t change, since you too are merely a baby Empyrean Snapper."
"Well, in comparison to the monsters out there, I might be a mere baby." Torq nodded and then huffed, "However, this baby has already screwed the pinnacle existence you worship,"
"And will continue to do so in the future!"
’This bastard...’ Narlakk Tirrferryorr grew serious upon the words, ’How does he know...did a Cooter Clan Transcendent inform him? No, even they shouldn’t be aware of our activities yet!’
"Don’t strain our ugly head," Promptly, Torq brought his hands together and clapped gently, "Just be aware that you’re within my range."
This time, he didn’t say it out loud, having already finished the preparations beforehand. However, since he seriously unleashed it, for full, this time, his voice reverberated in a radius of 180 metres around him.
[Sumatra, your Blessed One seeks,]
’What? Where’s this voice coming from?’ Narlakk Tirrferryorr looked around in confusion, ’There doesn’t seem to be a source. No, it’s...I-It’s as if...’
It thought in terrifying realisation, ’It’s as if Sumatra itself is uttering these words.’
It was a single statement, which cut off the region–in a radius of 180 metres around Torq–from the rest of the Continent. And towards the corner, a silver humanoid rapidly manifested, generating a suffocating presence.
"My unfortunate brother," Torq addressed a stunned Runthral as the remainder of the chant manifested, "To have been born alongside me, is your fortune."
[Sumatra, your Blessed One seeks, the Silver’s Influence!]
A figure bearing Torq’s original appearance, sporting an appearance of silver, appeared within the monochromatic space. Its eyes shot open, emanating a dense killing intent that locked upon its target, the Narlakk.
And then, it vaporised the other party.