[How is it going? How much time will you still need?]
[It will take a while, sir. We have been trying to start the brainwashing process but it seems to be unaffected so we keep messing with it to make it go on a rampage. Once it becomes exhausts itself, getting it fully under control will be easy. Hopefully.]
[Humm… Okay. Isoluid will be one of the central pieces in the upcoming operation so failure is not acceptable. Remember that.]
[Understood, sir]
Only the two harvesters were left behind once their superior left and once again they started working on their mission.
There were devices around them, monitoring the movements of the hill-sized being that was still charging through the wide plans, and along the way, it kept absorbing the ice to regenerate the torn and tattered shells that should have been covering its body. Suddenly the Qi in the air rushed towards the Isoluid with furious speed, making the area in its surroundings increasingly colder while increasing its recovery speed. As time passed, its aura kept becoming stronger, more violent.
[Let’s start.]
[Starting the device… it’s ready.]
[Wait… Do it.]
A pulse spread out from the device, merging with the Qi that was being absorbed by the Isoluid and once it was absorbed by the hill-sized monster, the pulse tried to worm its way into its mind, trying to bring it under control. Once again it had no effect other than further aggravating the massive monster.
Aagggggggggggggg!!!
[Stop.]
They packed everything and once again ran away. The ground trembled furiously as the Isoluid became berserk, once again rampaging through the vast and expansive plain.
[Let’s go.]
They started following the Isoluid as it unleashed its anger, and each time it would start to slow down they would try again making it go berserk.
[This is not looking good. Will it ever tire down? If it goes on like this we will not succeed before the appointed time.]
[Let’s increase the number of pulses, we will just have to be careful about it.]
Instead of waiting for it to tire out, the moment they found an opportunity, they would unleash the pulse making it more and more furious. It still appeared to have no effect as the hill-sized monster resisted their efforts and this created a problem. Now that they were firing pulses even before Isoluid became fully exhausted, it had an easier time pinpointing their locations, making their lives hellish as had to put full effort into running away.
It was a constant cycle of trying to brainwash it and then running away from its ire, a cycle that quickly made them tired.
Both of them felt exhausted down to their bones and on top of that they felt depressed. All other groups had been showing results but both of them had been assigned to this mission since the start and had been unable to bring just one single monster under their control.
***
The capital was constructed on a massive plateau but the further he got, the more treacherous the terrain became going from a wide open plain to rugged mountains that were extremely difficult to pass through. There were official paths that he could take but they were all needlessly long. He moved slowly as he made his way up the rugged but slippery mountain with a steep slope, all the while doing his best to be as quick as possible.
Winds got stronger the higher he climbed and the razor-sharp ice fragments flying in the air constantly shattered into pieces after colliding with his armor. His brain automatically filtered out these sounds having gotten used to them making the world absolutely silent, a silence that filled him with comfort. The world around him was silent as was his head, there were no thoughts in there as he was fully focused on climbing.
He did not encounter as many monsters as he had expected even after passing through the Core Barrier.
‘Is it because of the massive numbers of harvesters or is it due to the long time it has existed for?’
The capital had a massive population that allowed it to sustain a few million harvesters at all times and it had also remained standing despite the passing of more than a thousand cycles.
‘That should be why the Core Barrier was so tame.’
Cold intensified the moment he crossed the Core Barrier, the temperature abruptly becoming multiple times colder. He started checking the armor, making sure it was working well.
He climbed the mountain ranges and traversed through the wide plain and along the way, occasionally came across man-made structures. He had come across many in the Core Barrier but seeing them present even in the Mid Barreir once again told him of how ancient and powerful the capital was.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
‘How much did it cost to construct those and how much do they spend to maintain them?’
Through mountains and valleys, through wide plains, through plateaus and deep canyons, he traveled through them slowly while killing any monster that he came across, harvesting their corpses and storing the harvest inside his storage.
***
He kept monitoring the temperature which was lower than the limit of the Outer Barrier and then his attention shifted toward the destruction that spread all around him. The ground was filled with massive craters as though something powerful had smashed into it and surrounding the craters were cracks that opened gaping maws of the frozen ground. Threads crawled down the cracks and even though he extended them to his current limit, he could not feel the end.
He followed the trail of destruction that started from where the Isoluid was spotted, it was chaotic, without any pattern as though it was moving randomly, without any destination, just leveling everything to the ground wherever it passed. Debris was everywhere, as were the craters left behind by its steps.
Days passed, then became weeks, then became months but he still had not caught up the with monster he had to kill and harvest. Still, with each passing moment, he became familiar with the monster as he observed the destruction left behind in its wake.
***
A presence. It was tangible and filled the air. He still could not see the being which was radiating this intense aura but just being able to feel it meant he was finally approaching the monstrous entity that had caused so much destruction. Each step brought him closer but it also made the surroundings colder as the temperature fell the closer he got to the Isoluid. Qi was also moving in the same direction, slowly becoming denser as he got closer to the hill-sized monster.
He kept advancing, his pace deliberately slows as he focused on hiding his presence. As he got closer, he started feeling the impact of its movement as the ground trembled repeatedly.
Cold. He could feel it seeping inside and around him the poisonous gases started solidifying, joining the sea of frozen fragments that already filled the air. Soon what he had felt became reality as the warnings were triggered.
[Warning! Temperature dropping below operational threshold! User advised to leave the area before permanent damage!]
The artificial spirit inhabiting the armor suit warned, turning his fear into reality. He could not advance any further.
‘Is it because it is a prototype?’
The armor stopped moving forward and Inero-ie started running diagnostic tests to check the condition of the armor, nothing each and everything so that he could give this data to Frial-al. Soon his attention shifted back towards the hulking being that was still far away.
‘At least 2 to 3 kilometers away.’
He started closing his remaining senses and started using the other technique he had learned from the specters and suddenly the void that had momentarily been created was swept away and his head started hurting. He quickly started using the spell formula that cut away the useless noise from what he observed allowing him to pinpoint the location of the Isoluid.
Thread allowed him to observe his immediate surroundings with an incredible level of detail but this technique allowed him to view a massive amount of area even though the details were blurry. It was like using echolocation but instead of using sound, this technique used the Qi to map out a massive area with him at the center. Combined, these two techniques had allowed him to survive despite his lacking cultivation and it was also the reason that specters were so dangerous.
[Warning! Malfunction eminent! User advised to leave this area!]
Even though the Isoluid was far away, he could accurately grasp its location. It was massive in size and was surrounded by a dense Qi that shined like a bright light to his senses. It was so dense that he wondered if the Qi around it had liquefied, something that he had read was possible only after undergoing multiple Sheddings.
The warnings kept flooding in and he had no choice but to retreat. The temperature was already reaching a point that should only be present outside the Grand Formation so even though the objective was in front of him, he started moving back.
Even though she had made it, it still just was a prototype in the end, rather he was amazed it had survived and was working until now. Even though this new alloy she had created was still not comparable to what she made his armors with, it was many times cheaper, and for most of the harvesters, it was more than enough.
‘There are not many that go outside the Grand Formation after all.’
His focus again shifted towards the massive entity.
‘This is its weakened state? How did this thing even get inside the Grand Formation?’
The Grand Formation had many functions. From controlling the temperature to purifying the air and the Qi to creating an environment that made it possible for humans to live in this world. It also controlled the type of monsters that could enter. Filtering the monsters according to their strength made it impossible for a such strong monster to enter the Grand Formation.
‘Was there some problem with the Grand Formation? Impossible.’
Why would such a problem occur now when it had not for thousands of cycles before?
‘The Grand Formation also covers the forbidden zone so can it be that it did not enter but was born inside there?’
He once again observed the hill-sized being while wondering how he would kill it. At the moment he was handicapped, he could not use his core asides from performing some minuscule tasks and the prototype was unable to even get close to the Isoluid while the rifle he had brought with him was just useless. Even if the bullets somehow penetrated through the thick layer of Qi that surrounded the monster, what could a bullet a few centimeters in size do against a hill-sized monster?
Once again he started scouting the area around the Isoluid while it wreaked havoc as it advanced.
***
‘Bomb it is then.’
He finally stopped thinking. Thanks to the Isoluid, there were no other monsters nearby as all had fled after sensing its aura, it had made it possible for him to focus most of his energy on thinking.
The only thing that had enough firepower to make a dent in something as massive in size as the Isoluid were the bombs that he made, especially in his current state where he could not act recklessly otherwise he would risk disrupting the recovery process.
‘Shedding can’t be delayed otherwise my plan to access the Frozen Sea will be delayed.’
‘What type of bomb should I make?’
Unlike the simple and crude bomb he had made inside the tunnel, this would need to be a more complex setup so that he would be able to trigger it and he would also need to make sure the Isoluid came where he had set up the bomb.