Chương 652: Despairing Strength.

Helgor was stupefied. He had not expected that he would lose all the combatants inside one of the four Starry Traveler Ships in the first few minutes of the battle. Everyone else was equally stumped, even when they never stopped moving into position. Liu Shu spoke to the serpents.

"The groups have gathered; the only ones still isolated are those from the Starry Phantom Trail. I'll take care of those myself; you just need to hold the others back until I can retaliate in full force. Use my roots as shields whenever possible. Even if I lose all the roots here, it won't affect me that much." One of the most terrifying things about fighting inside a World Tree's domain was that any effort against secondary roots was basically useless.

Even if they cleared all the roots one million kilometers around them, the Floating Starry Mercenary Group would've only done enough damage to count as an annoyance. Usually, clearing the roots would restrict the World Tree's ability to fight back in that area. So, with enough fighting back, the World Tree would end up being unable to attack within the "cleared" zone.

The most widespread method to attack a World Tree was creating "clearings" along the way until they arrived at a close enough distance and started combat with the main body. These "clearings" needed to be strategically planned, and since the strength of a World Tree usually lessened with distance, it was extremely suitable. Sadly for her future opponents, Liu Shu was different. As long as you were inside her domain, she was there with you, ready to unleash hell. And so she did.

"<Elemental Lord Willow Catastrophe: True Sun>." The crew of the Starry Phantom Trail was having trouble with the <Eternal Void>, maintained by the <Eternity Strand>, when light enveloped their figures. [-837, 500, 000!] (8, 375)! [-837, 500, 000!] (8, 375)! [-837, 500, 000!] (8, 375)! Terrifying damage numbers flashed in their eyes as their skin was seared by Liu Shu's <True Sun> combination skill.

"AHH!"

"IT BURNS!"

"MY EYES!" Screams pierced the void, the <Fifth Energy Cycles> with the least resistance being cooked in a matter of seconds. Dolvert took out a large spear and waved it around him.

"<Frost Sky>!" His <Sixth Energy Cycle> strength was not negligible, his attack creating a large freezing wave that fizzled out a large part of <True Sun>. Still, of the 100 <Fifth Energy Cycles> along with him, only 44 survived, while he himself took enough damage to show a hurt expression as well. Liu Shu didn't care about their condition. After casting <True Sun>, she had been concentrating on the subsequent activation and managed to start it right after Dolvert's attempt to stop her massacre.

"<Elemental Lord Willow Catastrophe: Frostfire Hell>." Flames and ice descended upon the world, surrounding not only Dolvert's army but also the entirety of the Starry Phantom Trail. This attack was terrifyingly brutal. The world around them was instantly covered in silver-white flames, which burned with both terrifying heat and a heart-stopping chill. The Starry Phantom Trail's sturdiness finally hit the limit.

It had been around two minutes since it had been captured when all the shields shattered, and the elemental effects around it struck the outside firmly. Spatial cracks, endlessly concentrated light, and the Frostfire Hell descended like a cataclysmic event onto the sleek spaceship and struck it like a hammer would strike glass. BANG! Even when there was no sound, a massive shockwave of elemental energies spread outward terrifyingly quickly.

Everyone looked over and saw the Starry Phantom Trail collapse, crumpled, burnt, frozen, and molten as the elemental attacks tore through everything and slaughtered all life inside the ships.

"NOO!" Dolvert roared with anguish, as some very close people were inside that ship. He had not expected that the ship he thought would last longer would so tragically collapse right before his very eyes. Dolver's Ice Aether Mana surged, eyes bloodshot from anger.

"WORLD TREE! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" A calm yet boundless voice took over his surroundings.

"You won't. <Stop>." Dolver's angry expression and his surging ice elemental mana tragically and ironically froze. Liu Shu's roots then moved, <Accelerate> coating her entire existence as she attacked him with <Elemental Cascade>. In the 1. 5 seconds that he was frozen, he received over a thousand unguarded attacks, with each one carrying Liu Shu's full strength. As time began ticking for Dolvert, Liu Shu's voice clearly yet coldly uttered two words.

"<Temporal Fracture>." RRRIIIIPPPPP!!! [-28, 876, 678, 478!] (288, 766)! (2. 8)! All the remaining <Phoer Body Essence> inside his body burst, plummeting to zero before Dolvert could even make sense of what happened. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. His figure was tragic. His face was still wrapped in righteous fury, ready to avenge those close to him.

Sadly, even before he understood what happened or could change his expression, his body exploded into a gory, blood-red explosion. Everything happened so quickly that the rest couldn't make sense of what had happened. The remaining 44 survivors watched with blank eyes as their leader's body burst. They couldn't believe that a <Sixth Energy Cycle> had died in such a futile manner.

"Begone. <Elemental Lord Willow Catastrophe: Elemental Cascade>." With her words as their judgment, the roots that surrounded the 44 survivors moved violently, their speed far beyond what their eyes could follow. [You've defeated…] [You've defeated…] [You've defeated…] …. Messages were constantly appearing in her eyes as <Fourth Energy Cycles> within the ships died from collateral damage.

Making sure that all the top-tier combatants from the Starry Phantom Trail died, Liu Shu focused on the Starry Traveler Ship that had their top people cleared.

"<Soul Enthralling World Tree>." Her voice gained the ability to damage souls, and she attacked." Die. Die. Die. Die. Die…" Her voice boomed and barreled through the defensive shield of the Starry Traveler Ship, echoing inside like a sonata of death. The <Fourth Energy Cycles> and below inside the ship were unable to resist the words attacking their soul. Screams of agony resounded inside, people ripping their ears off in a futile attempt not to listen to Liu Shu's ominous voice.

Sadly, her voice reached the soul and targeted it, not the ears. [You've defeated…] [You've defeated…] [You've defeated…] Their eyes, mouths, ears, and even lower orifices began bleeding as their internal organs ruptured and flooded their insides with blood. Soon, the actively attacking Starry Traveler Ship stopped firing, becoming eerily still as it floated about without any assistance or direction. Liu Shu ignored the ship; she would come later to retrieve it.

Instead, she glanced over to the battlefield between the Arboreal Winged serpents and the mercenary army, made up of 1, 400 <Fifth Energy Cycles> and 15 <Sixth Energy Cycles>. The 104 serpents were being pushed back. Even when their attributes and defense were ridiculous, they were outnumbered 1 to 10. Even then, none of them had died, their coordination superb at sharing damage among all serpents. Liu Shu focused and cast <Accelerate> on the serpents, casting <Slow> on the enemy army right after.

"<Eternity Strand>." Four beams flew, landing on the four S- Tier serpents. Then, she communicated with them.

"I've cast a full-recovery skill on you that triggers after death. If you trust me, you can go full offensive on them." The four leading Arboreal Winged Serpents were surprised. They had heard of spells that could revive the dead, but not something as powerful as what Liu Shu just described. Liu Shu was surprised when she saw no hesitation flash in their eyes as their bodies rushed straight into the fray, showing reckless abandon as they rampaged and brutally murdered everyone.

Helgor's eyes turned red, and he shouted, his voice booming through the void.

"RUTHLESS CREATURE! ARE YOU SACRIFICING YOUR SUMMONS JUST TO KILL US!?" He was not truly outraged by Liu Shu's actions. Instead, his words had other objectives. First, creatures summoned from other dimensions had a chance to rebel and resist invocation if they were unsatisfied. So, he was trying to trigger the pride inside the Arboreal Winged Serpents and leave Liu Shu without her powerful vanguard. Secondly, he was condemning Liu Shu and trying to boost the morale of his own troops.

They had been pushed back relentlessly, and they needed a "cause" to keep fighting ferociously and fearlessly. Finally, he was attempting to reach Liu Shu's innate gentleness as a World Tree so that she would recall the serpents. This last one was just him hoping for a miracle, but it was worth a try. Liu Shu ignored them and focused on dealing with the remaining spaceships. There were three Starry Traveler Ships and one Starry Carrier Battleship.

Her roots moved, defending the Arboreal Winged Serpents from their cannon attacks. Then, she spent another four <Eternity Strands> and summoned four <Eternal Voids> around each of the ships to chip away at their defenses. To make sure that they didn't escape the influence area, Liu Shu's roots coiled around them and kept them fixed. With her ridiculous residences, it would take a while for the ships to get rid of the roots binding them.

The cannons of the four spaceships fired endlessly, their attacks landing on Liu Shu's gargantuan roots and creating holes everywhere. Her sap flowed freely, her mind constantly receiving the painful experience of having her roots torn into shreds. Even then, Liu Shu's main body didn't even flinch, her gaze fixed into the sky as her body billowed with terrifying energies. Almost everything with a view of Liu Shu's location could see a massive pillar of light piercing the heavens above Liu Shu.

Her ternary essences flowed like rivers, pulsing out and reaching deeply into the endless void almost instantly. Moreover, to make sure that she had enough roots, Liu Shu wasn't just spending Aether Mana and Anima Energy; her Phoer was also freely flowing through her complex root-net.

Level: 101 Aether Mana Stars: 3. 63 / 6. 14 (614, 302) (61, 430, 252, 231) Phoer Body Stars: 5. 04 / 6. 19 (619, 729) (61, 972, 959, 256) Anima Energy Stars: 3. 23 / 6. 11 (611, 597) (61, 159, 761, 905) While she looked effortless in dominating the mercenary group, that was far from the truth. Her energy reserves had already fallen to half, while she lost nearly 20% of her total vitality. Even with her ridiculous regeneration, her fighting style was too violent and swift for her reserves to keep up.

Her recklessness was giving her results, though. So, her consumption kept going without signs of stopping. Liu Shu's lips moved once.

"<Stop>." Together with that word, everyone around Liu Shu noticed her aura ballooning as tens of thousands of <Ternary Essence Cores> slammed into the ground and pulsed skyward. She had used around 15% of her remaining energy reserves for this one spell. The reason for the consumption? In the void, the Arboreal Winged Serpents kept defending while the four leaders attacked recklessly, already having half a wing on death's door.

At that moment, Liu Shu's order boomed into the heads of all the Arboreal Winged Serpents.

"Give up defense for the next two seconds and attack with your strongest spells." Azuremist felt a terrifying premonition, and she shouted.

"DEFEND!" But her hasty expression and gestures came a touch too late. A single word twisted the very fabric of time around the entire area, carrying boundless momentum.

"<Stop>." As Azuremist waved her hand, trying to summon a defensive shield, she froze. It wasn't only her. Everyone around her, each individual, came to an abrupt and unnatural stop. The Arboreal Winged Serpents didn't know what happened, but they didn't lose their chance. Elemental energies manifested in the hundreds, each carrying enough power to level mountains and shift rivers. Everything exploded into the army with brutal violence.

One and a half seconds later, Liu Shu's voice echoed once more, carrying a terrifying chill.

"<Temporal Fracture>." BOOM!!!