Chương 291: Baron Lorbase's Arrival At Golden Sap Forest.

While the corner cities started their own fight, the rest of the enemy army, nearly 35, 000 people, advanced toward the Golden Sap City. Knowing the numbers that were approaching, Flor couldn't risk keeping the population on the surface. Therefore, she started an evacuation into the ant tunnels.

"Be orderly! Follow our directions, and please follow the orders of the organizers up ahead! We've already planned out where to evacuate each of you, and we made sure not to separate any families!" The soldiers guiding the several dozen thousand people of Golden Sap City shouted words like this constantly. Most people naturally followed the orders, but there were always some troublemakers. Those people had tried staying behind, waiting for everyone to move so that they could loot the now-empty shops.

A group of five, three men and two women of various beastkin groups, hid behind the Tree Houses and smiled. One of the women hugged the leader's arm with a wide smile and whispered.

"We're going to get rich!" The leader scoffed.

"Look at them. They look like little sheep being guided to the slaughterhouse. Obedient and silent, not knowing that they are about to fall into a trap. I wouldn't enter an Ant Nest even if they paid me!" Sadly for this group of people, the one currently overlooking the Golden Sap City was not Liu Shu. It was Wisdom. Wisdom didn't move at first. The group of five, together with a few other similar ones, moved and approached the empty shops.

When they reached the door and tried to push it, though, the door stayed shut.

"Huh?" The leader of the group frowned. One of his subordinates laughed and mocked.

"What's wrong, boss? You can't open these doors? Tsk, tsk, if that's the case, I'll step up and do it for you, Boss." The leader stepped aside and nodded.

"Sure. Go ahead." The subordinate stepped forward and gathered strength on his leg.

"<Leg Slam>!" BANG! [-140]!

"... Huh?" The door in front of him had a simple crack where his foot hit. Yet, even that slight crack healed while he was looking at the door in surprise. Behind him, the rest were also surprised. The man had clearly used his entire strength, and being a Level 19, he expected to do much more damage to a simple door. What they didn't take into account was that it was not a simple door.

Like the rest of things in a Tree House, that door was made out of its bark, which was egregiously reinforced by Liu Shu's passive skills and the runic fields imprinted on them. Forget breaking down the door without weapons. Even if the Level 19 tried to slam the door down with its most powerful attack, he would probably fail. Wisdom looked at how that group and the rest failed to open the doors of the shops and sprung into action, sending a pulse of energy with meaning to all the trees in the city.

[Activating Defensive Orders. All trees are authorized to attack anything that attacks them without holding back.] An ominous wind spread outward from Liu Shu's body, rustling the leaves of all the trees as their defensive nature became completely unrestrained.

"CAREFUL!" The leader shouted as one of the roots at the side surfaced from the dirt and lashed at the man. The Level 19 couldn't even see the attack coming.

"Eh?" BANG! Blood splattered everywhere as the horrifyingly powerful blow from the <Tree House> broke all his bones and made his skin burst into gore.

"Ah!!!" Some of them screamed in fear, while the rest of the group became pale-faced instantly. Without a single moment of hesitation, they all turned around to flee. Sadly for them, it was too late. Wisdom manipulated the complex root network Liu Shu controlled around the entire city, and the land exploded in several parts of the Golden Sap City as the whole place came to life. Flor looked back, hearing the movements. However, her eyes were cold and indifferent. Eila, standing by her side, asked with curiosity.

"What's happening? I think I've heard screams." Flor commented lightly, her tone lacking a shred of empathy.

"It seems that some people thought that empty houses in our city meant unguarded houses. Now, they are going to become fertilizer." Eila paused and turned her gaze toward the moving trees. She squinted, and her gaze finally was able to locate a group of four people being pummeled by roots and branches smashing onto them with terrifying force.

'Aha… Empty but not unguarded, eh? Really, this city is a nightmare for anyone who wants to commit any crime whatsoever.' Flor looked at Eila and said.

"The reason for us to evacuate in the first place is that we won't make our defense on the walls." Eila tilted her head, her eyes becoming slightly confused.

"What do you mean?" Stolen story; please report. Flor looked around her and smiled faintly.

"Our walls are to protect against small armies. Armies that we are completely sure that we can eliminate before they breach through. Do you think the enemy army of 35, 000 is such a force?"

"Not even close," Eila said, assured.

"Their numbers are just too high compared to ours. We have around 4, 000 soldiers who can put up a fight without counting the ants. The mercenaries that came to our aid after your monetary incentive are 500 as well. Everyone is over Level 20, but the enemy is equally strong." Flor smiled and nodded.

"That's right. Therefore, defending the walls is stupid and suicidal. Eila, look around us. What does Golden Sap City remind you of?" Eila paused and looked around. The surroundings had massive trees and other types of wooden structures to accommodate the ever-increasing population. Their canopies were wide, covering large parts of the city with a gentle shadow. The floor, while paved, was nothing more than firm dirt that the strong roots of the hundreds of complex tree structures could easily break.

Eila found the surroundings gorgeous.

"This… Without the people, it really looks like a forest." Flor's lips arched, and she added.

"A forest that listens to our protector: World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu. Let them come. Those walls are not there to bar people from entering…" Flor's tone lowered, sounding somewhat ominous.

"... They are the walls of their graves." Eila's heart tightened for a second.

'If I attacked this place back then, believing in my chances to win… I might've been rudely surprised with this tactic.' Meanwhile, Baron Lorbase was confused.

"Why is no one attacking us anymore?" They had arrived at the edge of the Golden Sap Forest around ten minutes ago. However, instead of being welcomed with a barrage of enemy attacks, silence enveloped them. An ominous lack of sound made it feel like they were walking across a peaceful and welcoming forest. By his side, the substitute commander of Kaedric, named Balaric, spoke aloud.

"My Lord, I believe that they are preparing something big. We need to be careful and keep up our guard." Balaric was a tall and relatively slender man with well-built muscles. He had a handsome and serious countenance, his short brown hair being long enough to be blown by the gentle wind weaving across the forest. Lorbase nodded at his comment.

"Indeed. Tell everyone to keep their guard up. We are lowering our marching speed until the enemy attacks us." Balaric looked at him, his hazel-colored eyes gaining a touch of seriousness.

"My Lord. We are in the World Tree's body already. We have been for a long while. Please try to communicate with the previously agreed upon wording." The baron raised his hand.

"My bad. You are right. She is probably listening to us right at this moment." On the right wing of the army, Elenara was looking around with a deep frown between her eyebrows. She was mounted on a beast that one of her subordinates lent her. After all, they couldn't have their commander running around while the others were galloping on the backs of beasts. A human woman at the side asked, confused.

"What's wrong, Lady Elenara?" Elenara spoke, confused.

"This is very unusual for World Trees. Since their entire being is so large, sacrificing parts of themselves to cripple enemy armies is most common. We should've been attacked by roots all the way until here. And yet… We weren't attacked besides when we were rushing across the Lakeborn Forest." A pig beastkin at the side spoke, his tone serious.

"Lady Elenara, what if they are recovering? She doesn't need to constantly waste her energy, becoming tired by the time we arrive. Perhaps they want to reserve strength so that they can be as explosive as they can when we arrive." Elenara blinked and nodded.

"That's a good guess…" The army continued to advance, eventually arriving at a distance of around two kilometers from the walls. Eila, feeling slightly unsettled because no one was doing anything, suddenly felt a powerful surge of energy gathering behind her. Looking back, she saw the energy around the World Tree gathering in amounts that left even her breathless. Verdantia smiled coldly as she looked over.

"Teacher, we have yet to present Mother to you, right?" Eila blinked twice.

"Mother? Do you mean Lady Verena?" Verdantia chuckled.

"No…" She pointed at the flowers that started moving their bell-like heads and pointing skyward.

"<Mother Of Thousand Flower Field>." Then, it fired. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Eila's eyes widened when the entire sky darkened as thousands of explosive seeds soared. She followed them with her gaze and muttered.

"This… Will hurt them." On the other side, a faint explosive sound reached them, confusing them. Then, a whistling sound echoed around. Elenara's heart tightened, and she quickly looked upward. The previous clear sky was now darker, and it was clearly not because of an environmental effect. She shouted, her voice booming outward and spreading as far as she could.

"DEFEND THE SKY!" The hell let loose around them. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"ARGH!"

"NOO!"

"HELP!" The terrifying effect of the defensive structure's bombardment was as brutal as ever. Several hundred people were instantly killed, with the heavy bombardment injuring many others. Elenara, who had created a large earth shield above her, couldn't protect as many people as she had with the explosion back then. As a Sylvan with Earth Affinity, wide-area defense from sky attacks was not really her forte. Wisdom was unlike Liu Shu when aiming with the <Mother Of Thousand Flower>, though.

Liu Shu aimed at the weak groups, trying to kill as many as she could. Meanwhile, Wisdom did the opposite; it focused the bombardment on the most critical targets. Baron Lorbase was on the ground, his ears ringing and his body hurting terribly. One second, he was slowly advancing through a silent forest, and the next instant, his surroundings blew up. [-2, 540]! [-4, 129]! [-3, 945]! Numbers of that magnitude constantly flashed in his eyes as bombs rained around him.

"PROTECT THE BARON!"

"DEFENSIVE SHIELDS! QUICKLY!"

"Dera has been killed! We need to reinforce the- ARGH!" Thankfully, his armor and stats were powerful, so the attacks didn't hurt him as much. Soon, he was able to secure his surroundings and stand up, although the same couldn't be said for his mount. Baron Lorbase looked at his headless mount and gritted his teeth.

'These bastards!...'

"CHARGE FORWARD! KILL THEM ALL! BURN THE WORLD TREE DOWN!"