Back in Ceperet, Liu Shu stood like a beacon of ternary essence. Her massive body was enveloped in radiant lights, her gorgeous long green hair fluttering as her branches danced with the wind. Her face was more serious than ever, glowing green eyes fixed firmly on the sky.
Seen from below, the spectacle was breathtaking. The gargantuan World Tree manipulated the world's energies with effortless authority, revealing a divinity that transcended mere strength.
Elyne clasped her hands together, her gaze filled with reverence and awe as she looked up. This time, even Lysara and the other envoys found no words to criticize her behavior.
They had encountered other World Trees before, some far stronger than Liu Shu in raw power, yet none had ever stirred the soul quite like this.
Liu Shu's serene expression, her flowing hair, and the graceful movement of her branches came together in a sight that could only be described as a goddess of nature having manifested.
Galen, the leader of Skyflower City, spoke with a frown. "Isn't her energy release too aggressive? Usually, she hides it, right?"
He was speaking with other leaders of his same rank. Hana, Celestial Empire Capital's current leader, flapped her white wings gently. "I think it is purposeful. She is telling the Nexus Ships that she is here."
Valkan, the Azure Confederation's Main City Lord, nodded. "I also think so."
Galen hummed. "So, the final fight will happen in the Golden Sap City."
Meanwhile, Liu Shu was constantly harassing them. After the initial free attacks and elimination of three Moon-Types, they all entered a defensive formation. The World-Types were truly terrifying, their power enough to blow her roots into pieces every time they appeared.
'I've been attacking them for almost twenty hours now. I've kept my energy reserves at 80% all the time, using my recovery to constantly accumulate and attack them. With different tactics, I've managed to bring down another 4 Moon-Types, but it's too difficult to do anything more. There is only one last of the fragile Moon-Types, but I will just be wasting time and effort trying to eliminate them.
Liu Shu glanced at thousands of System Messages and asked the System to summarize them, quickly excluding those defeated in Nualis.
[Compiling messages…]
[You've killed 29,190
[You've killed 18,901
[You've killed 367
'As expected, they've gathered most of the
If this were a war between equals, the other side would've retreated a long time ago. The only reason Altherion was charging forward recklessly was that he needed to kill her to maneuver his political situation back at home.
If he returned without any results, it would be a catastrophe. So, he could only grit his teeth and charge.
'But that will be your undoing. The more you struggle forward, the tighter you'll be entangled in my roots.'
Her green eyes were indifferent, full of cold calculations. Even those glancing at her from below felt a chill run down their spines. They just couldn't relate the usual soft, gentle, and happy World Tree to her current self.
"One hour until arrival. Prepare yourselves. Those non-combatants loitering around, if you can hear my voice clearly, leave immediately. This place is not secure."
Liu Shu's imposing voice enveloped Golden Sap City and beyond. Any creature within 300 kilometers could easily hear her voice.
After that warning, Liu Shu no longer cared about the people. If they so badly wanted to die from the aftershocks of the battle, it was up to their own free will.
Her cold gaze looked down, and it softened slightly. "Babies, sorry, but Mommy can't protect you fully this time around. Fight well and survive as best as you can, okay?"
The Lignified Trees around the city moved, their leaves rustling and their branches waving. They were all comforting Liu Shu, telling her not to worry and to focus on her battle.
This made Liu Shu feel somewhat stifled, her nose souring slightly, but she nodded firmly. "I will. I love you, babies."
Elyne, Cael, and the others flew up to Liu Shu's head level. At over 10,000 meters from the ground, the air felt thin, and the wind picked up. Temperatures also plummeted, while the sunrays tingled their skin.
Even then, the army Liu Shu gathered stood strong.
Those on her side numbered as such, without counting the Lignified Trees. There were over 200,000
The highest Level was Galen, the leader of Skyflower City, who had been accumulating Experience for a long time. After breaching through into Level 100, he used over a hundred and fifty million experience points to reach Level 134.
But people like him were few; most were between Levels 100 and 110.
Besides the regular army, there were the five main envoys, with Cael being at the Star Lord level. He was going to fight Vaarn and keep that undead in check. It was not the first time they met in the battlefield, so Cael was confident that he could suppress him and leave him helpless. After all, unlike usual, his body was coated by Liu Shu's endless buffs.
His strength was ridiculous compared to those times when he struggled.
Besides them, Flor, Ignatia, Verdantia, Cinderielle, Tempestria, and Harmonixia would join and fight against the other
That left Liu Shu with the responsibility to fight Altherion, arguably the strongest individual on the other side. She would also be responsible for blocking the World-Type Ship's attacks for the most part.
Ignatia felt slightly useless during this fight. After all, her ant army was large, but a bit too weak to be of influence. Liu Shu didn't want a large-scale massacre to occur through her cute little ant sister's sacrifice. Hence, she told Ignatia to allow only the
A truly terrifying figure for how young the colony was.
Liu Shu breathed in the world's energy, mixing it with her existence and becoming one with it. In a flash, her presence manifested everywhere. Like an omnipresent existence, all creatures of the world could feel Liu Shu's profound existence.
"Ten minutes until arrival."
Energies gathered, rushing toward all the
"Seven minutes until arrival."
The drooping flowers gently raised their bell-shaped heads, looking up at the sky with perfect synchronization.
"Five minutes until arrival."
All the
This effect repeated everywhere, every hectare of flowers transforming into a single flower. Even then, the number was overwhelming.
"Three minutes until arrival."
They could see a few dots appearing far in the distance with their powerful eyesight. Due to Liu Shu's attacks, their shields were bright and in full power, making them look like twinkling stars appearing in the morning sky.
Two of the seventeen dots suddenly brightened up, and Liu Shu snorted.
"Block."
A massive coil of roots manifested above the city. It was made of Liu Shu's roots, which pierced through the void to create the gargantuan shield that could cover most of the city.
"
Time stopped for the coil of roots, and a second later, two beams carrying terrifying energy descended from heaven like the judging light of a god.
BOOOOM!!!!
The world shook, the atmosphere twisted, and the mountains in the distance crumbled as the beams' scattered light struck them.
Everyone standing behind the sky root shield felt their souls shiver. The raw energy each of those beams carried was probably enough to create a crater larger than Golden Sap City.
Cael was not surprised. "That's around 10% output of the World-Type's main cannon. As we expected, they have not lost their minds and tried to blast the entire planet into smithereens."
Liu Shu nodded. When
With a single thought, she undid the root coil and revealed the skies once more. She announced it together with her actions. "They are here."
A second later, seventeen massive ships appeared above Golden Sap City. All the seventeen ships were pointing at them with their main cannons, energy swirling around them.
Liu Shu's lips arched coldly. "Fire."
The world around Liu Shu twisted as a pulse of ternary essence struck and moved through the ground at ridiculous speed.
All the
As the seeds traveled, the other
Inside the ships, Altherion noticed the alarms for incoming projectiles blaring, but he didn't say anything. The shields were still up, so he just needed to wait for the attack to land.
A few seconds later, the flowers around Liu Shu gathered energy and finally shot, synchronizing with the barrage of seeds descending from heaven.
CRRRACK!
BOOM!
The sky twisted, each seed linking with another to make the space above Golden Sap City bend and twist as if Liu Shu had unleashed a critically powerful Space Collapse.
The shields of most Moon-Types, damaged through the attrition war with Liu Shu, broke down and barely held on by tanking the hits with their main hulls. Only the World-Types were standing tall and strong, like two massive, unbending pieces of metal.
After the bombardment ended, Altherion looked down at Liu Shu's giant figure with cold eyes. "That's all?"
Liu Shu smiled back, cold light flashing in her eyes. "It is enough to destroy your pathetic shields, so I think it's not bad at all. Were it not for your two World-Type ships, do you think anyone could've made it alive to Ceperet?"
Altherion snorted. "Overestimating yourself. Just because you blocked a preemptive strike, you are already full of yourself."
The whirring of machines and circuits started sounding, and Liu Shu squinted, a sense of danger appearing from the bottom of her heart.
Altherion's cold voice boomed in the sky. "All ships, flatten this city. The World Tree so kindly cleared it up of dregs, so there are no risks of collateral damage."
The front of all ships ignited, and then, a blinding light descended upon the World Tree.
BOOM!!!