Chương 292: Battle In Golden Sap City (1)

"CHARGE FORWARD! KILL THEM ALL! BURN THE WORLD TREE DOWN!" The sound of Baron Lorbase's shout spread around like a massive wave, full of bloodlust and anger. The people around, who were scared, felt a strange sensation around them that made their fear diminish at a rapid pace, exchanged for a will to fight.

"FIGHT!"

"FIGHT!"

"FIGHT!" While many were injured and healers did their work, the rest stood up and created shields above them to block Mother's bombardment. Wisdom looked at them with an analytical gaze. It's mind spinning with several methods and plans. [Activating flora and fauna. You are allowed to attack all enemy beings below Level 23.] The trees around suddenly felt a pulse of energy envelop them as Liu Shu's aura instantly enveloped them, increasing their strength by a large chunk.

As the enemies charged, one of them suddenly felt a strange shadow above him and looked upward. A massive branch fell on the man and struck him head-on. BANG! The man's eyes widened as the armored plate was deformed by the blow. The strength of the attack forced his feet off the ground and blasted him flying. A person running by his side widened her eyes.

"Wha-GOUGH!?" Another branch sneak-attacked her from the side, sending her flying like her companion. Multiple attacks like these constantly happened, making the army people feel as if the entire world had come to life and become their enemy. Elenara's face changed when she saw that.

'The World tree is actually using the trees of her forest as weapons!? What kind of godly Aether Mana control and influence does it have!?' While forests governed by World Trees weren't safe, the local plant life was never completely subjugated to the World Tree. Hence, forests that fought for their World Tree were rare. They weren't a welcoming place, but describing them as "hostile" would be an overstatement. Sadly, that was not true in Liu Shu's case.

The entire forest had bathed in her blood and improved by leaps and bounds. Tianlian Liu Shu's monstrous influence over the plant beings she governed was profound to a degree that was difficult to comprehend. Baron Lorbase looked around at the attacking trees and gritted his teeth.

'This is madness!' The word of Kaedric flashed in his mind.

'... Was he not overreacting? Is this really a place that we shouldn't have attacked?' Balaric, the second in command, asked in a hurry.

"My Lord! Do we attack the trees!?"

"NO!" Lorbase quickly refuted.

"That will be a waste of Aether Mana and Anima Energy. Push through as fast as we can! I don't believe this low-level forest can cause a big enough disruption to us even if we ignore it!" Balaric frowned. However, Lorbase was right. Ignoring the trees and focusing on defending against Mother, their numbers lowered from 35, 000 to 28, 000. While a 7, 000 loss was significant, it was by no means crippling. As the army of 28, 000 crossed the last stretch of forest, the Golden Sap City revealed itself to them.

The gorgeous and tall walls surrounding the city went beyond their imagination, and the extremely tall Tree buildings towered even above that. Further beyond, behind every single towering building, something so massive that it made the rest look like saplings spread upward. Even when they were more than one-and-a-half kilometers distance, the gargantuan canopy of the World Tree seemed like a beacon of power lording over the entire ecosystem around. Lorbase's heart trembled for a single moment.

'That… That's a Level 25 World Tree?' He would've thought they had been set up if he didn't know in advance! The World Tree that Lorbase could see had the same aura as some Level 35 and even Level 40 World trees!'

"Hm?" Above the World Tree, several lights appeared, as if the World Tree was creating something out of pure light. Then, there was a small glare followed by an object magnifying in size at a tremendous speed.

"BARON!" A man at the side jumped in front of Lorbase out of pure reflex. Lorbase looked at everything in slow motion for just a second. His pupils shrunk to dots, capturing how the object that had rushed straight at him was a massive thorn made out of pure light. Lorbase's heart tensed. This giant thorn, going at insane speeds, pierced through the armor of the man who jumped in front of him and exited from the other side. Luckily for him, its path slightly deviated to the right as it pierced through the man.

Then, the giant thorn grazed his ear and flew past with an explosive sound. BANG! Lorbase followed the path of the thorn and saw how, behind him, another three people were pierced before the thorn lost strength. The scary fact was that, around Lorbase, there were only Level 25s and above.

'... A single attack has killed four <Second Energy Cycle> powerhouses?' If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. A terrible chill rushed up his spine as Liu Shu's, or more precisely, Wisdom showcased its power. Liu Shu's attributes were all above 3, 000, with her Physique stat reaching an absurd 4, 600 points… Those numbers were before any buff was applied to her.

Wisdom looked at the army rushing at the walls and easily commanded the territory's defense. [Guardian Trees. Don't attack unless you are attacked. Let the first and most powerful past first. When half the army has passed through the walls, attack.] The enemy army, being 28, 000 people, was naturally not congregated in a small group. Following the usual army standards, it was stretched wide across a few hundred meters, taking around a quarter of the city's circumference.

Elenara looked at how no attacks were rushing at them from the walls, and her heart became extremely uncomfortable. What she expected was that, the second they approached the walls, another barrage of spells would rain on them until they arrived. And yet, the enemy has given up on that prime opportunity.

'T-This is not right!' Knowing that it was not time to act sulky, she quickly urged her mount to rush toward Lorbase. She arrived when they were around 200 meters away from the walls, just 10 seconds away from reaching.

"My Lord! Something's not right!" Lorbase looked at Elenara and the expression that he had surprised the woman. He didn't see the same fearless expression he had before she left. He was wearing a pale face with trembling eyes and a solemn countenance.

'He is… scared?' Balaric asked quickly, knowing they had not much time left before they collided with the walls.

"What do you mean, Elenara!? Quickly!" Elanara's mind spun, and she answered with a sentence she knew Balaric would understand.

"We are not being attacked!" Balaric paused, and his eyes widened the next second. A terrible feeling filled his body, but shouting at the army to stop weapons-reach from the walls would kill all the momentum and morale they had accumulated. Balaric's mind spun as the surroundings slowed down, trying to think of what to do.

'The enemy probably has traps; once we cross over, we'll be susceptible to it. I need to do something before that!' The tall walls closed in as Baron Lorbase and Elenara looked at him. The time around him seemed as if it had stopped, but so had his mind as well. No answers came to his mind for two seconds.

'When there is no plan or reason… Stir up the feelings of your soldiers.' His face gained a wrathful expression, and then his voice boomed outward with such ferocity that it felt as if the earth was rumbling.

"SOLDIERS! THERE ARE TRAPS AHEAD! HOWEVER, NOT EVEN DEATH WILL STOP BARON LORBASE'S ARMY! DIE FOR OUR VICTORY!" Flor and the others inside Golden Sap City heard the scream, making their faces turn serious. And then, a howl that appeared to come out of enraged beasts shook the earth and sky.

"HURRAAH!" BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Several thousand attacks landed on the walls at the same time, bursting them open in many places at once. While the wall was strong, with no extra reinforcement or defense, 28, 000 people could easily pierce through it. When the army crossed, screaming in anger and determination, Flor appeared in front of the army, pointing forward with her staff. Her face was serious as she shouted.

"Attack!" Her crisp and beautiful voice echoed in the surroundings and activated everything as if a switch had been flipped. Golden Sap City became alive. The guardian trees stopped hiding their auras, and their massive bodies exploded with ternary essences. Every building surrounding the enemy army did the same and with several times more brutality than they experienced in the outer forest. The soldiers' hearts trembled as the deep energy from the Level 25 massive trees crashed on them like waves.

Simultaneously, Liu Shu's Anima Energy Reserves lowered by a startling four Anima Cores, slicing almost a third of her anima reserves. Together with it, the sky opened wide as eight pillars of green light descended from the sky. HISSS! The invading army and the army that was waiting for them to approach the Golden Sap City trees couldn't help but look upward as nine gargantuan flying serpents soared in the sky. Their auras struck fear in many, as those beasts had all reached Level 30.

Eila looked upward with a disbelieving grin.

'Does this place have endless hidden leaves?' Flor shouted once more, her face wrathful as a hurricane of ternary essences surrounded her.

"KILL!" If Flor's first shout was a switch, the second one was the sound of an executioner blade descending. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! All the trees and people hiding in Golden Sap City attacked the enemy army, creating an array of explosions and chaos that caused thousands of deaths in an instant. Lorbase looked around and his face twisted with anger and disbelief. Angered at the number of losses he was suffering, disbelief at what was attacking him.

'The houses in this place can attack!?' By his side, Elenara and Balaric charged forward, shouting. Elenara jumped off her mount and transformed mid-air, her body increasing in size as bark and other vegetation grew around her earthy yellow-colored body. Then, she slammed onto the ground.

"DIE!" BOOM! The floor around her exploded, and the shockwave hit the two Tree Houses nearby, making their barks crack as blueish sap spilled everywhere. Balaric saw a branch from one of the injured tree houses rush at Elenara from behind, and he leaped forward, unsheathing his sword and shield. CLANG! BANG! He perfectly defended the powerful attack from the Tree House, his feet sliding backward slightly. Elenara didn't even look back, as she understood how Balaric fought.

They've been fighting together for years, after all. Elenara rushed forward toward a group of Golden Sap City soldiers, but before she arrived, her danger senses activated, and she jumped sideways.

'What!?' BANG! A massive purple lighting bolt fell right where she previously was. Looking sideways, Elenara saw a gorgeous floating Sylvan, transformed like her. Her body was a mix of gorgeous violet flowers and electric yellow tones accompanied by arcs of lightning dancing around her. Elenara's eyes widened.

"You… Eila! Did you betray the Confederation!?" Eila's lips arched as her floating body and the earth below her got linked by rumbling arcs of electricity. The strength her body emanated was incomparable to the past.

"Betray the confederation? No… I haven't. I've just decided to stop betraying myself. Now, face me, Elenara, Balaric. I am your opponent. <Fulminant Strike>." Elenara's eyes reflected the bright purple light before her surroundings exploded. BOOM!