Towards the edge of the Tsloch Sea, a horde of Nirclick corpses lay drifting on the water surface. There were even more of them in the region, despite their sheer numbers, were all fleeing in panic.
Dense arcs of lightning rained down from the sky, every strike singeing a Nirclick, upon which a vortex formed in the water and shredded the respective Nirclick into meat paste.
[Run!]
[Run fast!]
The Nirclicks released a dense pollen cloud, trying their best to feel their surroundings as they crashed into each other in their attempt to flee. Chasing them, slowly but with enough momentum to warrant their deaths, was a typhoon.
Thunder crackled across the skies, sounding as if the sky itself had been rendered apart. Each clap of thunder shattered the eardrums of those in the region. And preceding the thunderclaps were lightning strikes.
A thick layer of thunderclouds had formed in the sky, starting from an altitude of a kilometre and stretching to over ten kilometres. A sheer volume of energy brimmed within it, pouring down torrential rain amidst fierce gales.
The waves of the sea seemed to have been disrupted, growing chaotic as multiple waves directly crashed upon each other.
In every area occupied by the fleeing Nirclicks, two opposing waves crashed,followed by another two, and then another, and so on, until the bodies of the Nirclicks were crushed to paste.
"Ha...haha...hahaha!" Standing on the Tsloch Sea’s border was a Narlakk, its fighting spirit nil as it weakly stared at the approaching typhoon, "I’ll be damned!"
Its body shivered like a thin, fragile blade of grass, appearing no different from an ant before the force of nature that approached it. "Gold Grade...my tendril!"
"This far outclasses that..." With a resigned tone, it watched the storm passively, until the head of an Empyrean Snapper appeared in its vision, from afar, and then in a flash, making contact with it, and...
Absolutely vaporising it in the process.
Like a whip, the neck of the Empyrean Snapper lashed upon the Tsloch Sea, creating a wall of water that reached over two hundred metres in height. Across every twenty metres, the crest of the wall of water elongated to become spikes as the wall of water crashed down upon the Nirclicks, impaling them.
In a matter of hours, an army of Nirclicks, alongside four Narlakks, had been annihilated singlehandedly.
The typhoon subsided, revealing the figure of an angry Empyrean Snapper that proceeded to halt at a place. And then, multiple streaks of mist exited the mountain on its back, as teams of Cooter Clansmen dispersed across the region to hunt the stragglers that survived the typhoon.
This was the Empyrean Snapper in charge of protecting Runthral until he reached maturity. While chasing after a group of Nirclicks, it came across an island that had been destroyed by a Narlakk.
The Cooter Clan had multiple Academies across the Tsloch Sea to cater to its growing population. This island had one of those Academies, which had been annihilated.
One of the students there had enough potential to become a Settlement Leader, its Settlement Leader.
Hic!
Shedding tears on the peak of the mountain on the Empyrean Snapper’s back was a middle-aged bald man, "My...son!"
His son, one bearing potential greater than his own, had become a victim to the Narlakk. His son’s corpse was wholly intact, sporting not a single scratch. However, there was no life in him.
Like a doll, he remained unmoving, while cuddled by his father mournfully. The head of the Empyrean Snapper hovered nearby, watching him with sadness.
And then, it lashed out, splashing on the sea once again, turning another group of Nirclicks into bloodmist.
"It’s not enough!" The Settlement Leader uttered as a thundercloud gathered around him, flickering with lightning bolts. Seething in rage, he commented, "They need to be annihilated."
"Every last Nirclick!"
The Empyrean Snapper eyed him in silence and then, subtly wobbled its head up and down, accepting his proposition. Its head then pierced through the cloud and released a scream, which couldn’t be heard by even the Cooter Clansmen, as it was beyond their ear’s frequency range.
However, beings on the same level could perceive the scream, which formed shockwaves and echoed at a high altitude, pulsing across the Tsloch Sea.
The Empyrean Snapper kept screeching nonstop, empowering the waves until the message could reach the nearest Empyrean Snapper, from where it could circulate across the entirety of the Cooter Clan.
Deep inland, having mimicked itself to resemble a tree while situated within a forest, was a Narlakk. It observed the Empyrean Snapper’s actions, ’Even from that far away, I can still feel its terrifying presence.’
’However,’ It grinned in excitement, ’Even though it was a one-sided slaughter, the plan’s a success.’
In the Empyrean Snapper’s belly was a hill of Nirclick corpses, many of whom had been killed while still in transformed forms, resembling stones, corals, and other inanimate objects. It was why one of the objects managed to avoid detection.
Even though it was a Nirclick, as it had been in hiding, its presence was nonexistent. That was why its presence hadn’t been registered in the Empyrean Snapper’s senses. Otherwise, it would have been approached with caution while being dealt with by the Empyrean Snapper.
Nirclicks were Silver Grade Pranic Beasts. This one, however, contained Gold Grade presence. Just like the rest of its kind among the corpse hill, it was dead. All its cores had been crushed from excessive usage of shockwaves.
To the Empyrean Snapper, it mattered naught if the Nirclick had Silver or Gold Grade strength. Once discovered, it was prey either way.
However, the reason it had Gold Grade strength was thanks to one object: The Quill.
Slowly, as the Empyrean Snapper’s stomach acids acted upon the Nirclick corpses and the digestion process began in full swing, the quill revealed itself. Before it could even emit its presence, since it was already in contact with the stomach acids, which in extension was the Empyrean Snapper’s body part, it fused into the latter.
There was no change in its strength, as the Empyrean Snapper was already a pinnacle existence and far outclassed the quill in terms of power.
The point to focus here wasn’t the quill’s power, but rather its influence.
The tree camouflaged deep in the forest wriggled for an instant, expressing its excitement, ’One is probably not enough to control it. However, it will make opportunities to feed more Quills to the Empyrean Snapper.’
’Once there are three or four Quills in its body...’ Its form trembled despite its best urges to control its laughter, ’Soon! We’ll have an Empyrean Snapper working for us!’
The moment they could control an Empyrean Snapper, it granted the Narlakks direct entry to the core of the Cooter Clan, from where they could destroy the entire Clan.
’Glory!’ The Narlakk raised its tree branches, ’Glory to the Celestial!’
’Everything is proceeding as dictated!’