Inside the tower, at a height where it was possible to see the ceiling of the tower was a garden was floating in the center, without support, all alone. It was filled with flowers and trees along with a serene melody. The melody was generated by the colossal waterfalls that cascaded down the tower walls, carrying with them an overwhelming might with the potential to crush anything within their path but also to nurture life. By the time these thundering sounds reached the floating garden, they lost their furiosity, instead becoming a symphony that put one at ease.

The tower wall was a blend of white and green. White represented the cascading waterfalls, while green parts were filled with trees and flowers of all kinds that grew horizontally on its walls, unimpeded by gravity.

If one could come up here, it was possible to see birds of all songs and colors flying through the air, it contributed to making this place even more magical capable of casting a spell on anyone that came in here. Currently, that serenity had been disturbed.

Two individuals were sitting in the garden. One listened intently, somewhat enjoying seeing his wife expressing emotions, something that was rarely seen. He had been waiting for this moment knowing it would coming since the incident occurred. Though not as detached as their daughter, she too did not feel anything most of the time but the birth of their child had been the first time emotions had been potent enough to bypass her emotional barrier that was much much higher than a normal human's.

“If any harm befalls my precious daughter, you will have to pay,” her voice was soft, detached even still as though she did not mean what she had just said. But for the listener, having spent more than a hundred cycles with her, he could sense the emotions that had spilled into her normally dull voice. Ever since their daughter had been ‘kidnapped’, worry and anxiety had slowly bubbled inside her, something she may not even have been aware of but it was now that it had gotten intense enough to start making her feel uncomfortable.

“Would I have allowed her to go out if there had been danger? You do not need to worry, she is on her way back. You can see her in a few months.”

“Why not now? Tell me where she is, and I will go get her myself.”

“Unfortunately, no. She has to experience this journey herself.”

“Where is she?”

“Journeying through mountains at the moment.”

“Where are these mountains?”

“Here,” he points at a place in the map he created out of illusion.

“She never stepped outside the Core Barrier but you are not suddenly allowing her to wander out there?"

“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to her.”

“If you say so but if my daughter even a single scratch…”

***

"Synchronize."

The command reverberated through the ranks of pilots surrounding the convoy, and in an instant, a palpable tension and an almost tangible pressure enveloped the surroundings. Towering metallic giants, standing several meters tall, poised their blades, awaiting the command that would unleash a merciless onslaught.

As the rumbling intensified, waves of monsters of varying shapes and sizes drew near. Yet, these seasoned harvesters stood as still as statues, their bodies unmoving like ice sculptures that dotted the settlements despite sensing the wave of attacks, from gaping maws filled with razor sharp needles, to spear-like appendages thrust in their directions. They remained unfazed, awaiting the command. That same composure, however, could not be found among those who had been kidnapped.

These privileged children had been sheltered and indulged throughout their life. As they stared at the wireframe hologram displaying what was happening outside, their hearts could do nothing but beat faster seeing the horde of gargantuan monsters approaching. They gashed their teeth and would have screamed out and cursed at those harvesters like they did the first time this situation had occurred but by now all had learned their lesson.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Despite seeing such a situation many times in these past few cycles, they still felt restless, their hearts still raced uncontrolled. Still, there was a silence as none of them uttered a single breath, careful to even breathe loudly. The first time had been a harsh lesson, but most had learned from that lesson. When this same situation had played out the first time, all of them had cursed and screamed, then they were promptly beaten to the point it became difficult to breathe.

Suddenly, the wireframe hologram burst into motion. The metallic giants sprang into action, blades released simultaneously while not letting their formation be disturbed. Destruction. The devastation had been inevitable. Anything that came within their reach was swiftly bisected but that was not all. With the formation synchronizing and strengthening their collective Qi, a shimmering blade of Qi wave was left in the wake of their strikes. While the front line of monsters fell victim to the metallic blades, those in the back were cut in half by the Qi blades that followed.

Viewed from a bird’s eye perspective, an oval shaped wave of destruction could be seen spreading outward with the convey at the center, cutting through multiple layers of monsters. The battle raged on, with monsters advancing relentlessly, but they were like well-oiled machines acting without error, repeatedly cutting wave after wave of monster without letting even a single one through.

"Specters will be arriving anytime now, stay alert," Revensol told others inside besides him. They were all currently inside the vehicle that acted as the command center of the convoy as it traversed the hostile environment.

"First one located, it's approaching from the left side."

"A duo have Shed their appendages and have attached themselves to a monster."

Revensol focused on the reports detailing the movements of Specters while Harlev gave out commands to the harvester outside. They were all cogs inside a well oiled machine, a machine that had endured much to keep moving towards its goal.

Many of their comrades had died while trying to find physical routes to various settlements but they never had shortage of recruits. Even the smallest and newest settlements boasted populations no lesser than four and five hundred thousand humans. With so many people, those who had been abused were many and those who wanted revenge, never difficult to find.

He had to sweep aside these wandering thoughts and focus fully on dealing with the Specters. They were fully used to dealing with them but that did not reduce the danger posed by these alien beings. Their abilities made them a terror in close fights. Despite fighting them regularly even they could not deal with them if they were allowed to get near. The formations being maintained by the harvester would be disrupted and that would mark an end for them all.

"Sir, we are ready."

"Go ahead."

Roof of the vehicles opened revealing mechanical contraptions that slowly became long nozzles. At that same moment, discordant sounds echoed, their intensity such that it drowned the intensity of the battle, even the constant cacophony of furious winds could no longer be heard. As the sound waves bounced about and eventually returned, even the smallest cracks were mapped out.

The Specters all moved having sensed the abnormality but by that time, projectiles that were created especially for them fired out of the nozzles, curving by the obstacles and penetrating through their main bodies, the spherical cores.

Having been critically damaged all of a sudden, the Specters tried to retreat but Harlev was ready,

"Eliminate them,"

As though waiting for command, half of the giant armor suits activated all their thrusters at full, tearing through the walking mixture of ice, metals. As they cut deeper into the sea of monsters, some stopped at regular intervals, keeping the monsters at bay with the fire support from the back.

Having achieved their main purpose, the rifles had once again changed and now condensed beams of Qi, refined to maximize their destructive power, were fired, keeping the monsters at bay.

They all moved with practiced ease, having gone through these situations countless times before. There was no sudden surprise and once the Specters were destroyed, remaining monsters were quickly cleaned up.

"What's their condition?" Asked Revensol his chin pointing towards the wireframe hologram that showed some armor suits pushing aside the corpses to make way for the vehicles while others extracted cores.

"Not as good as the results we got during the testing but these new formations are better than the previous version. It will be a few days before the corrosion on the outer layer becomes critical. We will have to swap them on our next stop," replied Harlev while he organized the harvesters outside to quickly clear the area. Within a few minutes, they were out of the area, speeding away at full speed. The fight did not end just because they killed everything, the disturbance created during the fight would attract everything in the surroundings and they needed to get away before that.

Once they had created sufficient distance from the place where they had fought, their speed slowed down to reduce their presence. Soon they arrived at the designated place and there were four armor suits waiting for them.

"Is the path clear?" Inquired Revensol, addressing the scout that had left for reconnaissance operation.

"Yes, sir. The path is clear and the few stragglers were disposed of. It will take at least a week to reach the Grand Formation at regular speed. Harlidz was sent to inform those at the base of our arrival."

"Good, good. What we all so desperately wanted to do is starting. Make sure everyone gives it their all."