Chương 380: Forma's Fate.

Forma felt like he was about to lose his mind. A single attack from the small fairy had created a void in the frontlines of his army, seemingly without an effort. Moreover, Flor was far from looking tired. Her body was still glowing with the same radiance as her ruby-like eyes glowed like gemstones with infinite power. As she raised her arm once more, Forma reacted and shouted.

"Third Defensive group, create a shield! Aethermancers, stop targeting the World Tree and focus fire on that fairy! Kill her quickly!" A myriad of voices echoed with a mocking tone.

"Ignoring us? <Soul Parade>." Incorporeal bodies of countless creatures flew out of the lake, and as they were rushing out, Lakeborn spoke to Alba and the other fairies.

"Attack with us, fairies of the forest." Alba and the rest of the fairies became motivated, and their Wind Aether Mana exploded forward. Forma was becoming more and more sure that he couldn't keep this up.

'We need to retreat from this location and escape the lake! Once we've established a safe distance, the new World Tree won't be able to attack us.' He looked at the Flower Fairy blocking their escape route, and his eyes became fierce.

"Push forward and kill her!" Flor didn't take a single step back, her multi-elemental spells flying forth with as much rage as she was feeling in her heart. When the enemy troops were about to trample Flor by sheer numbers, another red shadow overcame Flor.

"Get away from my wife!" BOOM! A single punch landed on the defensive wall created by the small army, and the effects were unbelievable. The front line came to a stop from the recoil and even took a step back! Ignatia's body was throwing flames around her, and her compound eyes observed the opponents with thick killing intent. Forma's face dropped as he gritted his teeth.

"Ant Queen! What happened to Lord Marlius!?" Ignatia glanced at Forma and smiled savagely.

"I ate him. Now, it is your turn." The armored Ant Queen stepped forward again and threw a barrage of punches against the tall shield. With a <Physique> of over 35 thousand, each of her blows sounded like bombs exploding. That was not all. Right after Ignatia arrived, thousands of other ants and people came with her, finally catching up to the Flower Fairy. Flor didn't look around; her eyes focused on the man at the backline.

'I must kill you. You who forced Amapola to die will have a horrifying end!' With both sides being attacked so brutally, the small army Forma built was culled at an increasing rate. The defenses crumbled like a house made out of flimsy wood in front of the forces of Nature.

'What do I do… Can't I really save anyone from the army?' He looked around and tried to think of ways to escape his current situation. However, nothing came to mind. He was outnumbered, outclassed, and outsmarted. With a sigh, he shook his head and took out a runic talisman.

"It's really a shame." The man glanced at Flor and the others and spoke with an ominous tone.

"The next time we meet, it won't go this easy." The talisman broke, and his body began shifting through space. Flor's eyes widened with surprise and then indignation.

"YOU DARE FLEE!? FORTUNA! WISDOM!" Forma sneered.

"You can't stop this unless you kill my army in just a few seconds. Sadly for you, that's impossible." He laughed once.

"Well, even that wouldn't save you. Goodbye." Then, his body flickered out of existence as if he was never there.

"YOU-!" Flor was about to burst with pure wrath when another fluctuation appeared there. After a few moments, Forma reappeared and fell to the ground quite harshly.

"Ouch! This talisman is working worse and worse, sigh. Where am… I… Eh?" Forma looked around, bewildered and confused. Flor suddenly heard a gentle, motherly, and soothing voice that she instantly recognized.

"Flor, I caught a strange person shifting through space, so I sent them back where they came from. Is that okay? I am sorry if I did something wrong…" Flor blinked twice.

"Tree?" Then, she recalled.

'Right, didn't Tree evolve into a powerful space-attributed Life Tree?' When the pieces of the puzzle clicked together, she burst into laughter.

"Oh, Forma! Hahahaha. To think that your last attempt at fleeing would be thwarted by an evolution your power caused by forcing my little darling to deal with a Corrupted World Tree! Destiny has a way of being funny sometimes." If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Forma looked at Flor with such convoluted feelings that he couldn't even speak coherently anymore.

"You! Fairy! What did you do!? What is this!? Answer!" Flor saw that most of the enemy army was destroyed, and she rushed ahead with Ignatia following right behind her and protecting her.

"Forma, you don't know, but our pretty Liu Shu doesn't have two mothers." She reached in front of him, easily dodged his sword strike, and after one spin, her leg landed on his neck.

"There are three." BANG! Forma's eyes bulged in pain, and his body flew backward, slamming against a nearby wall. Ignatia overcame Flor, her knee flying forward, and landed in the middle of Forma's stomach. BOOM! The cave shook from the Ant Queen's brutal strength, and Forma almost puked out his internal organs. Looking up at the gorgeous Flower Fairy and intimidating Ant Queen, Forma felt a sense of fear invading his entire body.

"Y-You! I am a high executive of the Nexus's branch! If you kill me, the Nexus won't let you rest!" Flor flew down and patted his face with a chilling smile.

"Don't worry. It is I who won't let the Nexus rest. How dare you try to corrupt my beautiful Liu Shu? How dare you force my dear friend into a dead end?" Flor's hand shone with light, and she placed it in front of his mouth. Whooom! A vibrating sound echoed around as the light poured into Forma's throat, burning his vocal cords. The man's eyes became bloodshot due to pain, and he scratched his throat with his nails out of pure agony. Flor chuckled mockingly.

"Now that you can't make any sounds, your future role will be much easier to complete." Flor whispered ominously, her ruby-like eyes swirling as if they were two pools of fresh blood.

"You know. There is one way to die in our domain that's a bit worse than becoming living fertilizer for our beautiful trees." Ignatia, at the side, smirked and patted Forma's head.

"Thank you for your contribution to the future of my children, Forma. You will become excellent nourishment for my cute, plump, and adorable little larvae." After seeing his eyes widen in pure horror, Ignatia laughed and dragged him by the hair.

"Come, come. Some of them must be starving because mommy was forced to come and battle you pests." She hummed, quite happy.

"You made my little wife cry, Forma. So, don't worry. I'll make sure that you'll have one healer with you until your body can't regenerate! After all, high-level nourishment like you is hard to encounter!" Ignatia could hear the legs of the crippled man flailing around as his hands tried to scratch her skin. However, Ignatia's body was too tough for him to damage. Moreover, with his mouth completely burned out, making a single sound was impossible.

While Ignatia carried Forma away so that there wouldn't be any surprises, the rest of the armies buried underground were systematically cleaned up. A few other groups gathered in big groups, it was inevitable. However, with Forma's group as a precedent, Fortuna would guide Flor and other top-tier fighters to disrupt them. Moreover, making them flee to the underground river area where Lakeborn resided became quite a common tactic.

Using all their resources, the powerful army Marlius led was defeated, leaving behind almost no survivors. Those who survived, well, let's say that they hoped they hadn't. Flor flew slowly through the illuminated tunnels of the ant colony. All the ants that saw her would lightly greet her, making the moody Flower Fairy smile a little. One young ant approached, using her antennae to tap Flor's body. The fairy couldn't help but laugh and pat the large ant's head.

"Don't worry, I am okay. Thank you, child." The young ant nodded twice and then continued with her activities. Flor's smile slowly faded as the image she saw on that tunnel flashed in her mind. She rubbed her forehead and sighed. Then, she continued flying forward and finally reached the nesting area. This area was usually off-limits for almost everyone. Of course, Flor was not barred from entering. She turned and went to the room with the highest-level ant larvae and pupae.

Once she arrived, she saw a few massive and powerful ants very carefully and gently moving around, carrying the playful and plump little things around. Flying down, Flor grabbed one of them and squished it in her arms.

'Ah… So calming.' She gave a small kiss to the white and cute larva with two big black eyes.

"You are all so cute, darling. Grow well and strong, okay?" The ant larva bobbed up and down in Flor's arms adorably, making the Flower Fairy's gloomy mood heal quite a lot. She placed the little one on the ground, and it suddenly started making a run for the exit of the room. Flor almost laughed aloud when one of the big ants came and gently carried it up with her frontal legs.

'Hm?' Flor couldn't help but look closely at the ant.

'She is… different?' The aspect was like a normal ant. However, the body structure was altered just enough to make walking on four legs possible.

'Have these children evolved to be specialized caretakers?' Looking around the room, Flor noticed that all the ants here could use their front legs, similar to human arms, to comfortably carry the children around.

"Wow… Did Ignatia's children start to evolve for specialized roles already? If they can use the frontal arms as normal arms, the day the ants start crafting items is not too far." Imagining a fully developed Ant Kingdom made Flor feel a subtle mix of emotions ranging from curiosity about how it would look to awe at the terrifying potential. After all, there was no laziness in the Ant Colony. As things developed, it could only grow stronger. As she continued flying forward, Flor reached the feeding location.

Usually, there would be animal carcasses here, hunted down by soldier ants. However, the "nourishment" in front of Flor's eyes was not that, but the prisoners of war they'd caught in the recent attack of the Nexus. The group of people were lying down like dead fish, their eyes lifeless after much struggle. Flor's lips arched coldly, having zero sympathy for them. Once she stepped in front of one of them, she lowered her head slightly and asked with a chuckle.

"I hope you like your new living quarters, Forma. Every creature you've made suffer during all your life is watching you from the afterlife." The man that was being used as live feed didn't even answer. His mind had long been broken. However, Flor could see a few tears gather in his eyes and flow down. She snorted and turned around.

"Tomorrow is the memorial of the people you've killed. Goodbye forever, Forma."