Author Note: Happy New Year! I hope you had lots of fun with my novel this year, and it helped you in your free time. Have fun tonight, and remember to take care of yourselves, dears.
With a lot of love and hugs,
Mortrexo.
***
While Flor and the others fought, Liu Shu took in the entire battlefield and fought Altherion. Altherion's sword was terrifyingly sharp, cutting through her bark rather easily if she was not careful.
When fighting a World Tree in close quarters, Altherion knew that he was at a terrible disadvantage. Therefore, he was trying to close in and attack the body. Otherwise, even if he cut down a thousand branches, he would not go anywhere.
BOOM!
A large explosion entered his ears, and he looked up with a frown. A Moon-Type was falling down, its large hull exploding and breaking down with endless holes. After all,
"You… Do you really want to destroy our escape route!? Do you even understand what killing us all here means!?"
Liu Shu's eyes flashed with many thoughts, but outwardly, she showed nonchalance. "What can happen? Lord Altherion went to explore a remote corner of the galaxy and had an unfortunate accident. All his crew is missing, and no one knows where he is. So, at most, people will be confused and mournful."
Altherion's face turned dark. "Ignorant!" The black mist armor around him became denser, his silver eyes gleaming dangerously. "
A dark cloud burst out, quickly expanding so far that it overshadowed Liu Shu's figure. Our World Tree was surprised, but her eyes didn't show fear. "
One small dot of light appeared in the middle of the dark mist; it was like a firefly in the middle of endless darkness. Yet, a second later, that ball of light burst out with incomparable radiance.
A sun was born in the core of Golden Sap City, trying to scatter the dark mist. Altherion's lips arched in a cold smile. "Thank you for the meal."
The devouring mist, unlike what Liu Shu expected, didn't lose strength but instead grew. "What?"
Altherion waved his hand, the mist that absorbed Liu Shu's attack gathering in front of him and condensing into a massive 10-meter-long sword. "
A black line spread out as Altherion swung the giant sword vertically. The attack power was so large that Liu Shu couldn't block it.
BANG!
[-2,882,533,000!] (28,825)!
"UGH!"
Altherion sneered at Liu Shu. "Those energies are corrupting. Be careful or your
Before he finished, Liu Shu interrupted him.
"
Multicolored lights swept the entire battlefield, all allies feeling warmth coursing through their bodies as any corrupting or decaying effect was cleansed. Altherion was baffled. "What is that skill? Where did you learn any of those skills?"
Liu Shu glanced at the man flying in front of her without answering. "
Liu Shu's attacking skill had two forms. One was the wide-area effects she usually used, while the other focused the elements into her branches to attack at a close range.
Altherion saw a flash of light, branches moving faster than he could perceive, and felt an impact on his body.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
[-382,533,000!] (3,825)!
[-382,533,000!] (3,825)!
[-382,533,000!] (3,825)!
…
Taken by surprise, heavy attacks landed on him almost ten times. While he blocked the grand majority out of instinct, he still lost nearly 30,000
"You are much stronger than I expected." Altherion spoke without feeling surprised. "But you are far from the strongest I've fought."
Liu Shu continued attacking with Radiant Whip, while Altherion flew around and blocked the barrage of attacks. She and Cael had naturally made plans, so she needed to stick to them.
Speaking with this person at his rhythm would be a distraction. Instead, she took the lead and smiled coldly, never stopping her attacks. "You are doing great, but you might want to check on your people."
Altherion glanced around, and his expression sank. 'How is this possible? Even the ships are shooting their secondary cannons, but we are still losing?'
While the now 14 Moon-Types and 2 World-Types attacked, aiding his army, Liu Shu's army had the
Altherion was quick to realize and glanced down for a second. "
The energy he accumulated from Liu Shu's attacks gathered in a seven-meter-long sword this time. Liu Shu prepared to block, but she saw him swinging his sword not at her but toward the city. Her eyes widened in rage. "YOU DARE!"
SLICE!
Messages appeared in Altherion's eyes.
[You've defeated
[You've defeated
[You've defeated
[You've defeated
…
Altheron hummed. "So they are called
As he spoke, a terrifying chill swept his body, all his hairs standing up in fear. He quickly turned around as he saw Liu Shu's face twisting like a demon's, all her branches moving like a mass of menacing tentacles. To his surprise, his heart thumped with pure terror. It was as if he had awakened something he shouldn't have. 'What is this feeling?'
"How dare you…" Liu Shu's voice rumbled throughout the battlefield, pure wrath leaking within each syllable. "...How dare you kill my children!?
Altherion's world slowed down, his perception failing to react to Liu Shu's next move. "
One of her branches moved like lightning, quickly coiling around Altherion's waist and pulling him toward her. The difference in speed and reaction between the two was now ridiculous, leaving Altherion somewhat helpless.
BANG!
As he landed on the ground, Altherion tried to stand up quickly while looking up with cold sweat on his forehead. The endlessly tall figure of the World Tree was right before him, pressure slamming down on his body. "
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Countless branches and roots attacked from above and below, throwing Altherion's body around like a ragdoll. The man couldn't even distinguish up and down as Liu Shu's barrage struck his body like torrential rain.
"AGH! AH! UGH! OOMPH! GUH!"
Vaarn and the other powerhouses looked over, their eyes widening in fear as they saw their leader being pummeled by endless attacks. Moreover, Liu Shu didn't seem to be done yet.
After his body soared up, reaching around Liu Shu's eye height, they saw something that would mark their souls forever.
The World Tree's body moved. One of the thickest branches looked like Liu Shu's arm moving a large chunk of her canopy with it.
"She is… punching?"
Such a simple gesture for humans and other species, but when the gargantuan World Tree did it, carrying millions of tons with her movement, it felt as if the sky was about to collapse.
"DIE!
BOOM!
CRASH!
Reality fractured like fragile glass around the landing point of Liu Shu's punch. The strike landing on Altherion was strong enough to flatten several mountains, its shockwave pushing everyone nearby for hundreds of meters.
A terrifying blood-red number popped up.
[-10,000,000,000]! (100,000)! (1)!
A complete
With the ridiculous momentum and speed he carried, Altherion smashed against a distant mountain.
BOOOM!!
The mountain exploded on impact, as if a volcano had erupted, the clouds above dispersing from the shockwave.
The war stopped at that moment. It was as if someone had hit the pause button. Both allies and enemies were terrified as they saw Liu Shu's figure slowly move her "arm" back and recover her previous stance.
The wrathful and cold face on the World Tree's face sent chills down everyone's spine. Vaarn didn't hesitate; he knew that they had chewed off more than they could swallow. "RETREAT!"
This was the first time he had seen a World Tree "punch" someone, and it made his very soul tremble. He was unsure if Altherion could even survive that. Regardless, he really didn't want to fight against a World Tree that could "punch" people! It was too scary!
What Star Lord? At this moment, he just wanted to flee from the planet. Even if he was hot-headed, he didn't want to be like an egg throwing itself against a rock.
Liu Shu's furious eyes moved toward the Nexus Army, choked-out screams escaping many of them. 'Monster! An absolute monster!'
"Where do you think you are going!?
A pillar of green light soared to the sky, breaking a hole open in space. Then, from the hole, 150
At the very front of the group, two serpents that dwarfed the rest, with terrifying auras, led them. After World Tree calling was upgraded to A Tier, the limit changed to 200 serpents instead of 100. Moreover, the special summons went from +25 Levels and +1 Tier to +30 Levels and +1 Tier.
So, those two at the front were Level 131 and S- Tier. Their strength was nothing but absurd, as their stats, buffed by Liu Shu's enhancements, matched Liu Shu herself.
Vaarn's undead face paled even further when he saw them. "Arboreal Winged Serpents!? How is that possible!? Why are these mythical creatures here!?"
He wasn't the only one; many felt instantly terrified. Arboreal Winged Serpents were well known to be one of the creatures with the most potential. Seeing a group of 152, two of them being S- Tier, they were terrified.
Everyone rushed back to the ships as fast as they could, but Liu Shu was currently furious. She ordered, her own energies gathered in massive quantities. "Destroy those ships!"
HISS!!!
A screeching hiss dominated the entire area, followed by attacks that blotted out the sky, all raining on the 16 ships.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three Moon-Type ships instantly burst into flames, their hulls cracking under pressure and collapsing down. The World-Type ships barely held out, trying to absorb as much of the punishment as possible.
A few seconds later, the ships shot into the sky quickly. It was then that Liu Shu noticed Altherion rushing to the sky from the collapsed mountain, quickly arriving and entering one of the World-Type ships.
Liu Shu noticed, but she didn't do anything to prevent it. She could use
After a few deep breaths, Liu Shu diverted her attention. She stretched her branches, focusing on catching and throwing the large pieces of the ship falling into Golden Sap City beyond her city's boundaries. The last thing she wanted was more of her precious babies dying from collateral damage.
When she dealt with that, she saw the ships escape while being followed by her serpents. Liu Shu snorted. 'Run, let's see how many of you are left by the time you leave my domain.'