Meanwhile, Deadly Petal was struggling quite a bit. As mentioned before, when Liu Shu's war began, she was in the middle of a war when Balaya came and told her to leave everything behind and attack Liu Shu's domain.
Deadly Petal was annoyed at first, but she didn't expect many problems to arise from it. At most, she would need to regain the lost territory again by fighting for a few more centuries. However, one thing went completely against Deadly Petal's expectations.
Her army was annihilated.
The experts and powerful individuals of her army who had been sent to aid the Covenant and follow her lead were crushed by Liu Shu's ruthless tactics, leaving only a few
It was not difficult to know this information because the conflict between the Verdant Sanctity Covenant, Golden Sap Empire, and the Abyssal Void Nexus was one of the freshest dramas going around.
The shock many people received when the Covenant, a World Tree power, joined hands, even if temporarily, with the Nexus to deal with Liu Shu was great. So, it spread like an unchecked bug infestation in an old house.
The empire that had been on the verge of being conquered by Deadly Petal got the news as well.
"That ruthless World Tree lost her army?"
The rulers of the now much smaller empire had been walking around with desperate eyes as defeat approached slowly but surely. However, a new hope suddenly arose. The tired and sluggish people of the
'Thank you, Lady Heavenly Willow! Thank you!'
"Prepare for the counterattack!"
It was during the time when the Nexus and Covenant began fighting again that the
Even when Deadly Petal was there holding the line, her powers were not as absurd as Liu Shu's. So, a few dozen
So, Deadly Petal was pushed back. One Solar System after another, her territory shrank until only 11 Solar Systems remained. Compared to the more than two dozen she had previously conquered, it was less than half.
Because the Covenant was entangled with the Nexus… and because Balaya had honestly felt that Deadly Petal was disposable, the Covenant had no leisure to send reinforcements. So, Deadly Petal could only watch helplessly as her roots were destroyed and her Solar Systems were stolen one by one.
'...Is this as far as I go?'
Deadly Petal sighed softly. She felt somewhat melancholic. Her journey since birth had always been fraught with danger. Still, because she was near the Covenant territory and Balaya didn't have her roots expanded in this location, she received some help growing, as Skyflower did in the past.
Unlike with Skyflower, though, there was no Nexus to stop her ascension. After she reached Level 99 and killed all the other World Trees and Life Trees on the planet, Deadly Petal learned that the fastest way to grow was to exterminate everyone, take over, and substitute everything with her own ecosystem.
So, in terms of ruthlessness toward those outside of her ecosystem, Deadly Petal was on the extreme side. Even then, as a World Tree, she fulfilled her duty perfectly. Deadly Petal had developed skills, titles, and many more that acted somewhat like necromancy, but not entirely.
Deadly Petal didn't bring the dead back to life. Instead, she used dead organic matter to fertilize and grow environments. The fertility in Deadly Petal's domain was boosted massively compared to other World Trees.
With her powers, she could terraform a desert into a lush rainforest full of life in less than 30 years, as long as there were some corpses in that desert. If anything, Deadly Petal used "Biomancy" instead of "Necromancy."
So, Deadly Petal expanded rather rapidly for a World Tree. Only… Balaya was nearby, so the much stronger World Tree kept Deadly Petal in check. If Balaya had not been around, Deadly Petal might've been close to or at Level 300 already. Her powers were that versatile.
Now, though. Without a proper army and with not much to transform with her Biomancy, Deadly Petal was losing terrain rapidly.
In just 30 years after the war, Deadly Petal found herself with only 7 Solar Systems left under her domain. Moreover, her people were full of fear and anguish as Deadly Petal was continuously pushed back.
The
Not that they were any better. The
Between cosmic empires, there was rarely an evil-and-good force clash, just a clash of perspectives.
As she was losing terrain, Deadly Petal couldn't help but recall Liu Shu. Thirty years were nothing but a blink of an eye for someone like Deadly Petal, so her conversation with her was still fresh in her mind.
'...What if I had agreed to join back then?'
Lately, that question couldn't help but pop into her mind. She was not regretting it because her life was ending. Such a concept was rather foreign in World Trees. Deadly Petal was just honestly curious.
'Still, I won't fall that easily.'
The last seven Solar Systems were different. Unlike in the others, where her roots were weakened, these Solar Systems were close enough that even with her Energy Cycle Completion, she had most of her powers left. Plus, when the army arrived at her home Solar System and faced her true body, they would have to struggle plenty if they wanted to take her down.
A Level 270 World Tree—ten Levels stronger than she had been at the beginning of the war—would not fall that easily. The opponent would need to come with the intent to sacrifice their life.
And so, the final stretch of the war began. Deadly Petal's government had been planning to make their last stand with these seven Solar systems. Over the last 30 years, they trained new soldiers for a final, desperate struggle, gaining resources brought from the Covenant.
Because of the many scandals Liu Shu's controversy caused, the Covenant was forced to supply aid to Deadly Petal, at least overtly. So, the Covenant sent a few starships, weapons, equipment, potions, and other materials for Deadly Petal's last stand.
Deadly Petal didn't expect much more than that, though. She didn't know that Danlier was looking at her situation closely and was even ready to intervene if Deadly Petal was in true danger.
However, that time would not need to come.
In the year 33, outside Liu Shu's domain, after the war, a batch of unique and gorgeous starships crossed the distance between the stars and approached Deadly Petal's domain.
All powers around glanced over at the new arrivals with a confused expression. Were they a mercenary group? Were they a group hired by Deadly Petal's government for the last stand?
However, some information networks managed to get a clear image of the starships and noticed the massive symbol painted across their sides.
A golden-edged lotus framed a majestic willow, its sweeping branches drooping outward in elegant arcs while purplish-blue leaves hung like jewels from their tips.
At the willow's base sat the featureless silhouette of a long-haired woman, her flowing hair merging almost seamlessly with the tree's spreading roots.
Deep blues and purples filled the emblem between its brilliant golden outlines, the symbol of the Eternal Church glowing above like a star and giving the otherwise simple design an almost celestial feel.
The gorgeous yet simple symbol had been unknown until not long ago, but not anymore. This symbol represented only one power: The Golden Sap Empire.
When they saw this symbol, many individuals opened their eyes wide. 'The Golden Sap Empire? How did they even arrive here? Isn't this quite deep within the Covenant Empire's system?'
Even Danlier, who was looking at the situation closely, double-checked the message when she received it. How could it be possible for this army to suddenly appear here? No one had informed her about it beforehand.
That was naturally thanks to some of the Star Reaching Starships that evolved to possess wide-range stealth abilities. One of them was enough to hide a fleet of a hundred from most detection methods that any Star System Empire could possess.
It wasn't only them. Liu Shu was close, arriving together with the 1,000 Star Reaching Starships after sneaking around several Solar Systems.
The mainly white-colored starships opened communications to all nearby spy vessels. Zaros's voice came out as he sat in Sarluce's captain's seat. "The Golden Sap Empire will now participate in the war between the [Sky Meteor Empire] and True World Tree Deadly Petal. Lady Heavenly Willow told us that Deadly Petal is a good friend of hers and can't see her fall so futilely when her destiny doesn't end here."
Zaros's lips arched. "We will immediately move to conquer the nearby Solar System:
The message would take a while to spread, so in the meantime, the 1,000 Star Reaching Starships moved as one toward the
When some of the few
Zaros, wearing the highest commander vestments with the Golden Sap Empire logo on his chest, spoke in a cold, indifferent tone. "In case you didn't get the message, from this moment onward, this Solar System falls under the rule of the Golden Sap Empire. Any resistance is futile."
The leader was slightly scared, but he managed to speak. "This is nonsense! Our Solar System has never involved itself with the Golden Sap Empire."
Zaros smiled coldly and spread out his arms. "Then, do not speak with me. Speak with our Lady."
CRASH!
Space shattered, and from the dark void, hundreds of massive roots with blue glowing veins manifested. Liu Shu spoke, her voice reaching absolutely everywhere in the Solar System. "I welcome you into the Golden Sap Empire. From now on, those worthy will receive my blessings, and those unworthy will be left behind by them."
[Congratulations! You've received a blessing:
The people who read the message went from being scared to stupefied. As for how they could get a Temple buff, the Mothership-Class starships naturally carried one set of temple seeds within them to affect the armies during the war.
Isn't it a matter of course that a starship needs to have 7 temples with monstrous blessings inside?