The bolt files were specially designed and created by Revensol for his men. While making them he pursued one single goal, power. The power that would allow them to overcome any and all challenges that were thrown towards them when they ventured outside the Grand Formation, a power that would ultimately allow them to achieve their desires.
Powered by separate Refined Cores, these weapons fired sludge of dense Qi that was filled to the brim with formations upon formations, filling the sludge with a destructive power that had surpassed anything that was available to other harvesters. And that power was currently up to use.
As the muddled monsters were herded toward them by the forest, the sludge of Qi killed most of them before
they could close in and the few that were able to do so were taken care of by other harvesters surrounding the caravan.
The long line of vehicles, surrounded by the harvesters, traversed the straight path that had been blasted through the forest. It was a simple method, overly simplistic compared to what Inero-ie was doing, not requiring complex maneuvers or mastery of multitudes of skills. It came with a cost.
Their sensors picked up the sea of monsters that had been made aware of their presence the moment the cannon had been fired, waiting to tear them apart.
Awaiting outside the forest was the true difficulty for them because while they could simply blast through the unmoving forest, the same was not possible with these monsters. The monsters, even if affected by the Grand Formation, even if affected by the unending anger and hatred, would not sit still and let the cannon fire hit them.
“Shield bearers, arrow formation at the front, and rectangular encirclement around rest of the caravan. Remaining men adapt accordingly,” Commanded Harlev as they approached the exit of the forest. “Arv, to the right, I will take the left,” Harlev said to his second in command as he made his way toward the left side of the still-firing cannon.
The sea of monsters became restless as the mass of humans approached them. Some unable to endure, rushed out only to be put down before they could even come close. The numbers who lost themselves to hatred and anger increased with each step the humans got close, and in the end, the sea of monsters rushed towards the caravan, wanting to drown them, kill them, tear them, anything else that could be done until they got their sanity back.
As the waves of monsters charged towards them, almost upon them, the cannon that was firing at a consistent power suddenly exploded in intensity, puncturing a hole through the incoming wave. Then, both sides clashed.
Harlev and Arv standing at the forefront cut through the incoming monsters, their blades swinging from one side to the other, tearing open gaping holes through the meters-thick icy outer shells, followed by a blast from their bolt rifles- two simple actions ending any monsters that had the misfortune of rushing towards them. The shield bearers had spread out in an arrow shape, pushed aside the monsters, their thrusters operating at full capacity allowing them to push back the monsters and move forward at the same time.
The caravan progressed slowly, surrounded from all sides by shield bearers, their shields combining to create a barrier that kept the monsters at bay, the only thing that ensured their safety.
Directly behind the shield bearers were armor suits welding massive spears, constantly stabbing through the small passage between each shield bearer, stabbing at anything that came close. The spears, too, were personally designed by Revensol, and just like everything else, were powered by separate Refine Cores that allowed them to be unimpeded while penetrating into the bodies of monsters.
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Further behind were armor suits armed with bolt rifles, mainly those whose armor suits were damaged to the extent that they could no longer fight in the front lines. But they were not useless, the muzzles of bolt rifles were constantly firing sludge of Qi that was filled to the brim with formations that pushed their destructive abilities to the maximum.
The firing from bolt rifles and smaller cannons, that had emerged from all sides of the vehicles, combined to produce a hail of destructive sludge of Qi that heavily rained down on the monsters.
Operated by the artificial spirits, the cannons especially targeted the spaces that required immediate help, allowing the exhausted and weary harvester, still piloting to the best of their abilities to hold up by allowing them small moments of respite. There were just too many monsters, and even though the armor suits enhanced the battle capabilities of even normal harvesters to match that of 2nd Shedding cultivation, that was nothing in comparison to the unending sea of monsters they were forcefully making their way through.
To exit or enter the Grand Formation, there were two main obstacles. The forest and this hoard of monsters that was located in the space between the Grand Formation and the forest. Passing through this hoard was difficult even when they were at their full capacity but they had to unexpectedly fight a hoard of monsters near the entrance of the forest resulting in much damage to the armor suits that they were unable to repair.
“Left side what are you doing? The defensive formation is on the verge of breaking!” roared Harlev but despite the situation, he did not stop cutting and killing the monster. The cannon could not be damaged under any circumstances.
“My leg just malfunctions, sir!”
“Useless kid, didn’t you check the status of your armor beforehand!”
“I–”
The voice was cut off. The monsters, as though sensing the weakness, had become even more vigorous with their assault pushing the shield bearers back. The shield bearers had no choice but to step back so as to maintain the barrier. Suddenly, one of the shield bearers was sent crashing back, the spearman behind him jumping over to avoid the crash, throwing back the spear, both arms changing into bolt rifles, firing at maximum power. The sludge of Qi hit the monster's legs, shattering them and the monster tumbled down, blocking its companions for a moment, a moment that was enough for cannons to change the direction of their firing.
The barrier flickered dangerously, on the verge of shatter so the former spearman turned, grabbing the shield from the shield bearer that was trying to get up. Thrusters operated at full force, accelerating the new shield bearer forward. The shield bashed into the monster's maw, pushing it back.
With the emergency handled, the automated cannons turned back to the rest of the field.
“Everyone check their armor status and swap accordingly. If this happens again, I will have to train you from the start again!”
Hearing that roar, all of the harvesters shivered, suddenly exploding forth with a vigor that did not match their exhausted state.
***
The opposite side of the Grand Formation.
A blast erupted due to the high speed at which Inero-ie was running but by the time it took for the sound to spread, he was long gone. The monsters, as a result, were attracted to completely different directions as they could only sense the sudden eruption of sound due to the Melding hiding the presence of both Inero-ie and the Cile who he was still carrying.
Unlink the caravan on the opposite side which had attracted the attention of all, making their way relying on their numbers, powerful equipment, and skilled harvesters, Inero-ie passed in a completely different way.
Relying upon his absurd control over the destructive, raging current of Qi, depending upon his equally impressive skills, Inero-ie made his way through the gigantic monsters that were gathered in this place.
The density of the monster was unlike any other palace. Even in the sea below the ground, the Under Dark, Inero-ie had never encountered such numbers of monsters gathered together in one place.
Cile carefully observed the monsters who were not blinded by the unending, unreasonable hatred and anger that usually overtook them whenever they saw a human. Many were fighting, others she could see wandering about all alone, some moving around in groups. Just like the forest, she could see these monsters also absorbed the discarded Qi raining from the sky.