Before the crowd could even process what had occurred, the circular area housing all of the lifts was surrounded and cordoned off with none able to enter. Those present were quickly escorted out and suddenly the operations that had never stopped even once since the settlement had been created were forced to stop. In but a moment, the warehouses were filled to the brim because though the lifts had stopped, the underground cargo trains had not. The supervisors knew not what to do, panic spread but then disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, an order from the Overseer calming them.

With one of them acting as the Overseer of all Lift Stations, Revensol’s forces were daring, and holograms suddenly appeared around the area, warning and stopping the people from entering. The intruders had, without any difficulty, carved out space for themselves. There was no danger, with the Overseer being one of his people, Revensol had no fear of the information about their actions being leaked, and with the way all of the families were acting up top, they had no time to take care of whatever was happening in the lower Layer. Even if they somehow learned of it all, it would be too late as by then, his men would all have spread all across the different Layers.

Each step, each movement synchronized, with Harlev in lead, a group fully equipped with weapons entered the same lift that Vissbl had taken to come down. Once they were all in, the metallic walls of the column rippled and then closed. A blink of an eye, from the ground to the top, was all the time it had taken.

More and more men, flames of revenge raging within them, got onto the lifts, spread through every layer, and under the command of Arv, quickly and swiftly took the lift under control making it impossible for any to move in between the layers without their knowledge and permission.

‘Such ease and just because I decided to amuse someone,’ once again Revensol had no choice but to acknowledge this fact, not that he had ever denied it before. Only, with each passing moment, it became even clearer. Though they had plans that would have allowed them to achieve these same results, it would have taken much longer and each passing moment only increased the number of variables that would be introduced. Then there was also Knrama, with whom he had a deal. A deal that allowed him to get his revenge without any fear. A deal that would be even more robust now that he had provided such good results.

‘Inero-ie. He must be taken into the group, no matter how,’ as he reaffirmed his decision, Revensol quickly processed and filtered the information being sent to him from each Layer, afterward he issued the orders. His orders, were sometimes abstract, leaving it to his men how they would proceed to implement them while at other times they were concrete, describing in detail each and every step that had to be taken.

Their takeover was unstoppable, all the obstacles like twigs when faced against the furious storm that was Revensol's men.

Never before had settlement faced such danger, especially when the families that had the most power had been in a state of equilibrium. On the other hand, there had never been a danger of monsters forcing their way inside and that was due to the Grand Formation. Even in the Core barrier, they were forcefully restricted by the massive formation, leaving them but a husk of their actual powers but when they entered the Habitable zone, the effect was much much greater. Something that had been made clear when harvesters were tasked to bring back live monsters.

***

"Let's go back, it's not safe anymore. What if we encounter a member of other families," said the wife to her husband whose head kept moving on the lookout for anything dangerous.

"I too know that but it's not like it is safe there. Everyone has already started fighting without any care and it is only a matter of time before the castles are attacked," the man said, letting out a large breath that he had been holding onto for quite a while. Despite slipping away from the castle boundary, others could still hear the noise from fighting and they were not just from the castle. Though almost inaudible, both could hear the noise carried by the wind. The previously paradise-like place was no longer, now it was the most dangerous place in the whole settlement.

Both of them entered into the inky darkness that was the forest, using it to hide themselves as the man led the way.

"Stop. Now tell me where we are going otherwise I won't go anywhere," the woman forcefully pulled her hand from her husband's grasp and moved back, arms crossed.

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"Why are you acting like this now? Have I done anything that wronged you?" The man asked all while keeping an eye on the surroundings. Just because they had entered the darkness did not mean they were safe. He would rather not meet anyone.

"You have been acting strange for the past few days. Not focusing on the project, instead going outside repeatedly. What have you been doing?" The woman asked.

"Noil, this is no time to act like that, please. We have to get away from here," the man said, hoping she would follow. It seemed he had been careless or he had underestimated his wife.

"Why do we have to get away? Where are we even going when a war has started? What do you think will happen to us once this war is over? We will be hunted down so let's go back while we still can."

"No, we will not. Just don't worry about it all and come," The man said but Noil showed no sign of giving in. As so started a back and forth that rarely happened before and slowly it grew in intensity.

"None of them are going to survive, alright!"

Eyes wide, she questioned, "Sabus, what did you just say?"

"None of them are going to survive. Now come, we have to get going before it gets too late."

"No! If you don't explain–"

An explosion threw them both off and while she was still dazed, the man picked her up and started running, not responding in the least to her struggling. The violence had made its way to them, the forest around them exploded and the few lucky trees that survived were not lucky for long as they burst into first as the fiery inferno caught up with the aftermath of the shockwaves.

Sabus, all his Qi focused on two things, one to protect his wife and the other to run as fast as possible, coughed out blood. But he ran and ran without stopping, no matter his worsening condition. Noil was shouting, he could hear but he decided not to, to just filter it out. There was no time to take it slow.

The fires became intense and smoke was everywhere he could see, once again he controlled a whisp of his Qi, willing it to filter the air for both of them. Still, though he was able to breathe, the air started becoming hotter and hotter. While half of his Qi protected Noil from everything, whether it be the hot, sweltering air, or the shockwaves that constantly erupted around them, he had to hope his body would survive.

Soon, he was dripping with sweat but after a moment even that evaporated, leaving him with an intense desire to scratch his skin then it worsened as the hair on his skin started burning, not fully igniting into a fire but rolling and then eventually falling off. The air he breathed burnt his inside, his lungs but feeling the weight in his arms he carried on.

***

Unlike the lower Layer where the lift columns rose from the floor to the ceiling, the top Layer was different. Columns rose still out of the floor but not till the ceiling as there was nothing further above. Instead, depending upon the height of the lift, the length of the lift columns pocking out of the floor was different but rather than being offputting, it was pleasant to look at.

Suddenly, one of the smaller columns lit up and the the metallic wall rippled, opening the next moment and exited Harlev followed by his subordinates who, without giving any chances to those operating them, quickly took over control. By the time they did so, many more lift columns started shining, and out came from each even more of his subordinates fully equipped for war, if it could be called so.

But how could those constantly fighting for their lives be compared to these people who had spent their lives in luxury?

“I want to know the current situation, you have 10 minutes.”

“Yes, commander,” Acknowledging the command, one among the group of men trailing after Harlev broke off from the group, barking out orders to the units under his command who quickly spread towards different directions as he had commanded.

As Harlev kept on issuing the commands, the number of men following him started decreasing until he was left with but a few, each of whom he had trained himself, and though worse than Arv, his second in command, they too were battle-hardened warriors who had survived fighting against both the mindless monsters and the horrors that were the Specters.

As they were discussing their plans, one of the surveillance squads suddenly returned, carrying two people. Harlev, seeing that got up.

“Who are they?”

“Unknown but look at this sir,” the man pointed at the scar that had been carved on the man's skin. Though his skin had been burnt, it was still possible to make out its shape.

“He is most like one of our sleeper agents. We found him passed out in the burning forest, unconscious with the woman in his embrace so we bought them here.”

“Good job, hand them over to the medic unit and then return to your mission,” Harlev ordered.