Liu Shu's attack was ruthless and efficient. The number of survivors was limited to those who stayed on the platform above the water and a few lucky ones who had a strong affinity with Water Aether Mana. Even then, having an affinity with metal wouldn't save you from a giant ball of pure iron crashing down on your head, and the same could be said for someone attuned to water when an entire ocean collapsed on them.
Of the tens of thousands of people living in the small underwater city, only a few dozen survived. It was an absolute annihilation that left no room for recovery. Not only that, everything stored in the city—all the resources and equipment—was considered lost.
The people above were utterly confused as they heard what happened from the few survivors. "What did you say? The city collapsed?"
A Sylvan nodded, her face pale and bloodless, as she had suffered heavy injuries from the events. "I don't know how or why, since I was lucky enough to be inside a fortified structure. Still, even my structure couldn't really bear the pressure and quickly broke down. If it were not for my title,
Remembering those moments of confusion and what she saw shortly after, her face flashed with fear as she trembled and hugged herself. "I also don't understand why." Her voice trembled. "But the ocean lifeforms became quite crazy and rushed in after the ocean became relatively calm. They were attacking and devouring everything they considered food as if they hadn't eaten in years." She warned sternly, swallowing back her lingering fear. "If you dare go down to retrieve anything, you'll end up in the stomach of an ocean monster."
The other people glanced at each other with eyes full of disbelief. How dangerous could it really be to fight a few ocean monsters? But they failed to realize that the woman's words were not in the slightest bit wrong. When the ocean impacted, it also crushed Liu Shu's roots. This spread her sap all around the area, which attracted powerful predators.
Liu Shu observed the area to locate survivors, and didn't sense anything moving other than the fish. Her roots were harshly damaged, so her sensing range had been limited. Still, it was not to the point that she was blind. If anything, her vision became blurred, but good enough to distinguish what she focused on.
"With this, one of the major threats is gone. I wonder how the enemy will react. Will they continue their offensive when the information about their people's demise reaches them?" A chuckle escaped her mouth. "I wish I could see their expression when they hear about it. Flor and the others made faces worth preserving in paint, haha."
She told them the news not long after she had collapsed the city. After all, the effects were rather immediate. With so many people being instantly flattened, Liu Shu would call it a success even if everyone who was not straight up crushed survived. Naturally, that was not the case at all.
Flor and Ignatia were together in the town hall's main room, their expressions showing different emotions. Ignatia, like always, looked relaxed and with a smile on her face. Meanwhile, Flor was somewhat worried. "Ignatia, I understand that you are proud of Liu Shu's ability to accomplish such a feat. Still, I think we should be careful. The other party might increase their carefulness once the information reaches them." She added. "Stopping it from spreading is also impossible. They are traveling through the sea to the other side of the Wall Forest, which makes it almost impossible for us to intercept."
Ignatia chuckled lightly. "So what if they know? Can they even deduce that the Wall Forest is under Liu Shu's influence after that happens? At most, they might think that…"
***
Evangeline spoke solemnly. "Tianlian Liu Shu has probably expanded across the entirety of the eastern part of the continent. We've underestimated her… Once again."
Thalric was not convinced. "Reaching the ocean base does not directly translate to that worst-case scenario. You are jumping to conclusions."
Jolie interrupted at this time. "What Mother says is not ridiculous. Tianlian Liu Shu has always shown great potential for growth, even among similar World Trees. Her hastened expansion always took her enemies by surprise in every fight she's fought… Well, that must be the case since all those times, the enemy was eventually annihilated. The information on previous battles is limited."
Seeing her daughter speak so confidently made Evangeline feel gratified. Without waiting for Thalric to answer Jolie, she looked at Eryndis intensely. "Don't make the same mistake one more time. We must never underestimate Tianlian Liu Shu."
Eryndis snorted twice. "Do you think I didn't plan on doing that from the very beginning? She can be considered the last obstacle to our dominance over the Wild Continent. Failing here would mean that the Abyssal Void Nexus had invested so many resources for nothing."
Eryndis stood up and spoke. "Prepare the artillery. Forget about the distraction plan. We will also forget about corrupting Tianlian Liu Shu. From now on, it is extermination that we aim for." She added, her eyes fixed on Evangeline. "Naturally, corruption will still be used to weaken the World Tree."
Then, the woman walked toward a large map of the Wild Continent, and she slapped one part near the Golden Sap City. "Our first target will be Fortuna City, Prarya City, and these two Fortress cities near the mountain ranges."
She glanced at everyone and spoke solemnly. "I will lead the army to Prarya City. Evangeline will lead the one for Fortuna City. Thalric will lead the army to
The handsome man who had been quiet looked up with surprise. "Excuse me, Lady Eryndis, are you speaking about me?"
Eryndis almost rolled her eyes. She sighed. "Yes. Marlius' failure is not completely your fault. After all, without that man's arrogance and urge to do something that he wasn't asked to do, you wouldn't have lost a large part of your army in vain."
Vaelin's face turned serious as he stood up and bowed solemnly. "Many thanks. I will make sure to take over
After a simple nod, Eryndis looked at the others and started assigning positions in the four respective armies. She also spoke about what paths to take through the Wall Forest, etc.
Finally, she spoke to a lanky woman at the side who had dark patches under her eyes. Her attitude was that of someone about to fall asleep, while her long, dark hair and black eyes made her somewhat hard to read. "Vashara. Since you wanted to authorize that stupid journey to the Wall Forest, it is time for your
When the woman heard those cold words, she was startled awake. Her dark eyes looked into Eryndis' orbs, and she nodded hastily. "L-Lady Eryndis need not worry! I'll make sure to take over the Wall Forest as quickly as someone tames a puppy!"
Not wanting to hear her words anymore, Eryndis waved her hand. "Set off. There are no more reasons to delay our advancement. If anyone needs reinforcements, remember to send a message back. Those we left behind to hold Warlya and the other new zones will become available to you."
"Yes, Lady Eryndis!"
After she left the room, Eryndis sighed and rubbed her forehead. 'What a bunch of useless people. This expedition should've been smooth sailing, but I've lost almost half of my initial army already. Now, I have to fight another powerful World Tree with a scattered and mentally tired army.'
She was really upset with many of her subordinates. 'That stupid sister of mine also managed to lose a fifth of our remaining army because she didn't bother managing the underwater city, and it collapsed! Collapsed! If she were alive, I would've killed her myself!'
Her anger was so powerful that the aura of malevolence around her forced some plants to wither. "Useless! Everyone is useless! I swear that if they can't take over the locations I've pointed at… I'll throw their children to feed a Corrupted World Tree!"
One hour later, she was sitting on the back of a powerful-looking beast and looked at the sea of people. "Prarya is a recently upgraded Third Energy Cycle. So my army of 35,000 Third Energy Cycles and 300,000 Second Energy Cycles should be enough to handle it, even if it is the smallest one among all armies."
In her mind, she placed Fortuna a notch higher than Prarya because of her closeness to Tianlian Liu Shu. 'Tianlian Liu Shu must have some ability to benefit the World Trees close to her. Otherwise, Fortuna would not have gone from a Level 30 World Tree to a Level 60 one in a time frame slightly longer than a decade.'
"Set off!" Her shout prompted the army to move, making the land tremble with their organized steps. The rest of the armies set off at the same time. At the back of each one of the four armies, tall structures with glowing white and red runes were pulled by large monsters. These structures looked like wooden pillars, but they were the artillery that the Abyssal Void Nexus had used to conquer quite a few cities.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the Wall Forest. Seeing the tall tree line blocking her view, Eryndis was not at all flustered and shouted valiantly. "Push forward! Whoever dies in this forest will be later killed by me!"
Eryndis stepped into the forest first, and then her body felt a strange chill rush down her spine. Her eyebrows quickly scrunched as she looked around strangely. It was as if the world was observing her, making her feel a very light sense of suffocation. "... Activate the
While she doubted Tianlian Liu Shu's roots had reached this far, it was better to prevent than to heal. Hence, even if they consumed quite a few resources when hiding a large army like hers, she gave the order. 'Either way, once we get hold of the land on the other side, such small resource consumption will be like plucking a leaf from a tree.'
Eryndis was not the only one who gave out the order. Evangeline and Vaelin did the same. The only army that didn't activate it straight away was Thalric's.
Tianlian Liu Shu observed everything with a calm gaze, and even when the large armies vanished, she didn't panic. Instead, her lips arched mockingly, and a set of runes formed with her roots. "
A pulse of energy struck the ground as thousands of roots interlocked into complex runic formations. Then, her gaze cleared around 70%, allowing the World Tree to see enough. While not perfect, Liu Shu now had a large blur as a target.
She ordered the few people under her direct command. "Send my
Glancing at the armies, Liu Shu spoke to herself. "Nexus, I'll make sure to give you the first blow that makes you truly hurt here. Wherever my roots reach, there is no space for you to remain."