Inero-ie positioned himself such that he would remain hidden even if someone was to look at the aerial vehicle. As it gained height, he opened his senses and a different state of awareness appeared in his mind, one that was different compared to the awareness resulting from the Threads. At the moment he could feel the Qi that was ever present, using it to gain an awareness of an area that was incomparably larger compared to the Threads.

Most of the things distance from him were blurred a signifier of the amount of Qi they possessed, but most did not mean all. Despite being far away, there were things that he could sense, some he could sense in detail but then there were others that had such a gigantic quantity of Qi that it was blinding, such as the Solar Crystal that had lit up the entire Layer then there was also the Central Tower which was even more blinding. It should have been located at the center of the settlement, but that did not make it any less blinding. Other than these, the few castles spread throughout the floor also shined brightly but unlike the aforementioned structures, they were not blinding. Rather, he could make out some details from the near ones.

Once it had reached the height of nearly fifty meters from the ground, the aerial vehicle suddenly accelerated, quickly reaching a very high speed, a speed so fast that a shrill sound should have accompanied it as it tore the air apart. The few formations engraved on it reduced the air friction to a minimum.

As the vehicle left behind the Grave Tower, he kept noting the path being taken so that he could return when the mission was over. In but a few seconds, the vehicle landed on the other side of the settlement. It was landing near one of the massive castles. An imposing, grand structure filled to the brim with formations appeared in his senses. On a cursory glance, he could make out formations that were designed to keep the senses of others out, and any who tried to spy the inside would have a bear collective assault of tremendous pressure.

The vehicle had landed on a mostly empty space where only two other aerial vehicles had landed beforehand. Inero-ie remained hidden processing and creating a path that he would use on his way back.

The scion of the Nyob family came out and a moment later, the pilot. For a moment Inero-ie entertained the idea of capturing this man to extract the information of their leader, Vissbl but decided otherwise soon after. This space was wide open and empty, even more importantly, below the surface were various formations that checked the identities of those that entered this space. With him unable to use darkness Melding, the moment his foot connected with the ground, he would be sensed though there was the option of tweaking with the formations. But that took more effort than it was worth.

So Inero-ie remained hidden, working on containing the voices that filled his mind, trying to reestablish the desolate landscape that would provide him some semblance of relief.

After some time passed, Threads came out in large quantities, as much as he could create, and flooded the whole space making him aware of each and every detail, from the Qi that stealthily moved inside the formations to the smallest of the cracks that were present in this landing area. Even the sound produced by the light swaying of tree leaves, he could hear. A wave of sensory information came crashing like a wave, nubbing his mind. This was inefficient and exhausting but this way he could overwhelm his mind so much that the voices would have no effect.

***

Inero-ie was trying to reform his desolate mental landscape while the constant bombardment of sensory data exhausted his mind while also making him numb to the insidious whispers that filled his mind. During this time, more and more aerial vehicles landed, slowly filling the previously empty space. As the space was filled, the time had also passed by, the Solar Crystal that had been shining brightly was now dim, also on the verge of shutting down.

Having spent a few hours, his mental landscape that had been twisted after performing multiple jumps had now recovered to some extent, and despite an intense wave of exhaust filling him as the Threads came back, he could see the voices becoming distant, their whispers still making their way in but very rarely.

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***

Darkness once again reigned supreme as the Solar Crystal dimmed to such a degree its light was no better than the twinkling lights that shone in the pitch-black sky. While the stars outside were of no actual help, their light illusive, as though it did not actually exist, the light emitted by the Solar Crystal at this moment was bright enough that it could be used to navigation. Still, the patches of darkness were everywhere.

Activating Melding, Inero-ie jumped out, soundlessly landing on the solid ground.

Numerous aerial vehicles that now filled previously empty space cast pitch-black shadows through which he moved, with no chance of detection now that he was in the state of Melding.

Each and every inch of the castle was crammed full of formations, the Threads informed Inero-ie of various formations that reinforced the structure, making it stronger and more durable as well as covering the castle with a shield that would protect the castle. Hidden below were even more formations, some that could detect intruders, others that would then set off various mechanisms upon sensing the said intruders, and many more formations.

'What are they securing against so much?' The thought entered Inero-ie's mind, 'Other nobility?'

He would not be surprised. Considering the acts they could commit to keep their power and prestige, surely they would not hesitate to go against other nobility if doing so could further increase their power.

Exiting the parking space, he jumped, appearing in the giant, twisting shadows of the trees. In between the trees was a path illuminated by lights but while they lit up the path, it made the darkness even more vivid, more dense, more pitch black. Moving through the darkness, he eventually arrived in front of the castle itself. Here too there were many lights causing the surroundings of the castle to be well-lit.

His Threads, bypassing the walls, made him aware of the interior of the castle. It too was well-lit, just like the surroundings of the castle and this also made it impossible for him to directly jump inside. Still, he was not worried, he would find a way inside somehow, For now, he started searching for the target.

The number of Threads started decreasing and with it, their length increased considerably. Soon they were big enough to exit the other side of the castle. Even after this, thousands upon thousands of Threads were inside the castle, sweeping the inside.

There were many people inside, some eating, others chatting. Some were resting, and others conducting experiments in the various labs inside this massive castle. Starting with the youngest, Inero-ie stopped spying on the people inside until only the old ones remained in his awareness. As he followed their every step, their every breath, their every gesture, their every action, Inero-ie absorbed Qi from the Refined Core.

***

It had taken some time, but finally, his target entered his personal room. Still not a bedroom but a private office but the bedroom was attached to it, he could sense a path to it. Sitting on his work table, the man with a youthful appearance started working once more, quickly going through the data that rapidly changed, and changed at a speed that he could not catch up to. This was the difference between those who had undergone Shedding and those who had not. Each Shedding enhanced the human body from its very basic, each shedding creating a butterfly from a caterpillar.

The Threads gathered the data being shown on the holograms, his formations processed it and then sent it to Inero-ie in a format that he could better understand.

Inero-ie was still inside the den of darkness created by the forest, sensing, waiting. Finally, the man stood up, walked into a dark room, rested.

Inero-ie jumped, silently appearing inside the room.

He took out the data stone, leaving it on the table where Vissble had just been working before. His mission complete, he prepared to jump, then stopped. His Threads crawled into the bedroom, coiling around the resting man.

Anger came back, it was sudden, it was explosive. His fingers twitched and he could barely control his killing intent from leaking. That would create a possibility of him being exposed, something that he least desired.

Insidious whispers filled his head, pushing him to act on his desire but he did not. Though the man appeared completely defenseless, that was only physical. He was surrounded by formation upon formation which would protect him in case anything happened. This was the reason he had taken this overly complicated route for revenge. Killing them all by himself and without a commotion was too much for his current self.