With its appendages being cut off, the massive body of the centipede monster tilted to that side but before it could actually get affected by it, the cut-off appendages moved slightly under the monster’s control, once again merged with its body. With the outer shell being made of mostly ice, these types of injuries seldom made any difference for the monsters. That was what made roaming outside the Grand Formation so dangerous.
Inside they would be restricted so they lost many such abilities but outside they were like fish in water, able to make use of their troublesome abilities.
Thousands of thin tendrils had tightly warped around its head, the muddling effect increasing to an even greater extent, then vines followed next, piercing through the ice and searching for the Qi circuits to drain the captured monster of its Qi.
While it had been resisting a moment before, once its appendages had been cut off it stopped doing so, then without any prior indication, the parts that had been captured by the tendrils suddenly separated to escape the crystalline plants. It shifted its full attention towards Inero-ie and Cile, controlling the appendages to stab through both of them.
The Threads had been constantly monitoring the situation and the moment he sensed the Qi retracting from its head, the blade returned to his side.
While his speed allowed him to bypass most of the attacks, one of the appendages was shot at the correct time, and its trajectory headed towards Inero-ie. The blade moved under his command, its movement as dextrous as his finger, cutting through the massive, sharp, and spear-like appendage.
Before it could fall off, a few of the Threads latched onto it, flooding it with Qi, forcefully morphing it, fashioning it into a blade, sharper, harder, more deadly.
Despite his speed, he suddenly jumped aside, the centipede’s underbelly above him rippling, a jaw formed there, and then bit down on his position, failing. Soon the deformity spread all across its underbelly. Massive jaw appeared all around while the appendages constantly rained down, stabbing holes into the solid ground but failing to so much as graze either Inero-ie or Cile.
Once more Inero-ie strengthened the appendage now fashioned into a blade, then it stabbed upward with full force the moment another massive maw opened, trying to bite him and the princess with the massive needle-like teeth. Shattering the teeth, the appendage stabbed through the maw, the formations he had carved upon it coming alive, further amplifying its destructive power.
The monster, its mind was already muddled due to the forest, then a wave of all-consuming anger and hatred was further added to the mix the moment it sensed Inero-ie and Cile. It cared not for the danger it was in. It cared not for the tendrils that had once again started warping around its body. It cared not for its own appendage that had been stabbed into its body. It just had to do anything and get rid of the invaders.
An upward kick thrust it deeper inside, and then he continued running, the appendage dragged along, tearing into the body a massive wound that exposed its flesh hidden deep inside the body. The cold rushed inside, draining the little bit of heat that existed inside, carefully nurtured since this monster had been born.
From the moment they came across the centipede monster to now, having carved a deadly wound throughout its body, now even a blink’s worth of time had passed. Then a blink's worth of time passed, and he was already far away, deeper inside the forest while the forest regenerated, vines making their way directly to its core, sucking the dead corpse dry.
***
“How much longer?” Revensol asked while looking at the hologram displaying the forest that blocked their path. They had passed through these forests many times but it had never gotten any less dangerous, a small mistake and they would all be dead. But precisely due to that, he had created and refined the process to reach this stage, a stage where they could take such massive numbers along with them and still have no casualties. An achievement that had required much sacrifice.
“Engines at full power, sir. We can accelerate to full speed the instant it is required,” reported one of his men as he tweaked the holographic display, trying to fine-tune the operations to the maximum. An extra bit of effort which would result in an extra bit of security.
"The cannon is currently in the process of assembly. Then we will further require some time to charge it," reported another man who, alongside his companions, was furiously working. Their hands create after images due to their speed.
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Outside, the caravan of vehicles now stood in a single line, each connected to one another, the armor suits surrounding them for protection. Many of the armor suits now supported damage, even the lightest of them was a massive scar left behind by the hoard they had encountered just before reaching this forest.
"Defensive formation," a commanding voice spread to all harvesters who were currently piloting the armor suits. A change rippled through the group.
Nearly half of the armor suits took out shields that matched their sizes along with equally massive blades while the other half moved back, their arms changing into bolt rifles.
Most of the armor suits were positioned towards the front, keeping the creeping forest at bay while the preparations were being completed. The whole formation took shape without any problem, it was something they had repeated many times.
The scanners worked at full, holographic wireframes recreating the surroundings with clarity incomparable to long-distance scanners. From the small bumps and cracks in the ground, to the blade of crystalline grass, to the tendrils, and vines crawling through the frozen ground, as well as the small pieces of ice ever present in the air, everything was crystal clear.
Close-distance scanners were different from long-distance ones, the latter had a greater emphasis on stealth thus sacrificing the quality of scans but close-distance scanners had one goal, to heighten the combat capabilities.
The ceiling of the vehicles opened simultaneously, out came various equipment that started assembling, and the crude shape of massive cannon, its length equaling that of the caravan, quickly appeared. More and more equipment was attached to the cannon, few of the attachments visible from the outside but many hidden inside. A weak glow shined from the cannon once it finished assembling.
A dim glow spread atop the train of vehicles, as the cannon started charging and the forest came alive as the number of tendrils and vines advancing increased from thousands to tens of thousands. The ground rippled like water, up and down, constantly, on the holographic models.
The shield bearers had slammed their shields into the ice, creating a fortress as the formations engraved on the shields combined, forming a barrier. Their blades constantly swinging, cutting crawlers from coming closer. The firing started as soon as the forest had become hyper-aggressive, helping the vanguard, taking some load off them.
As the beams of Qi hit them, the vines absorbed them instinctively, absorbing the Qi that had been processed to maximize the lethality. The next moment they exploded as the plant-like crystalline organisms stopped the spread of this destructive Qi that was like poison to them.
***
The vines constantly sucked Qi from the defensive barrier, eroding it, allowing the tendrils passage to the shield where they tried to find a foothold to wrap around. Before it could happen though, the blades would swing, cutting both the tendrils and the vines. Still, despite their constant efforts, the number was just too overwhelming, seemingly endless. It had only been a few minutes since the cannon started charging but they were always on the verge of getting overwhelmed.
Along with the sound of moving mechanisms, the muzzle suddenly widened, blooming like a flower with its brightness intensifying. For a moment, the wireframe holograms blurred only to snap back a moment later as the artificial spirit of the armor suits automatically got rid of the noise scanners picked up.
"Clear in… 3… 2… 1!"
The shield bearers leapt aside, barely saving themselves from the destructive beam that expanded even further, a massive beam tearing anything in its path, whether it be these alien organisms that sprang around the Grand Formations or the monsters stuck inside. The result was a straight line void of everything.
"Return to formation," once again Harlev commanded another harvester while controlling his armor suit to join those at the front. The formation was different this time, the shield bearers were in the outer layer, behind them were armor suits equipped with massive spears, and only then were the armor suits with custom-made bolt rifles standing.
The cannon was still emitting the beam, though much less powerful, making sure the path remained clear.
As the vehicles had their engines running at full, a few moments was all it took to reach full speed. The ground trembled as such massive weight passed through it, resulting in deep cracks and marks on the frozen surface.
***
"Incoming from top left, waiting for it to come into range," one of the group leaders communicated.
"Acknowledged, you are free to act according to the situation."
"Right mid, the monster almost in range. Bolt rifles ready, scanning for its core."
"Acknowledged. Dispose of it."
Revensol watched his men, his companions, each performing within their capacity. Each and every one of them was bound by the mutual bond of hatred that they had kept kindling, never letting it burn out. Waiting. Waiting for this moment. Now they could finally start their revenge.