Chương 462: Thalric's Strenuous Battle.

When Liu Shu's bombardment and attacks began, there was immediate chaos in Thalric's army. The previous tension building made even those who were trained rigorously panic and behave in a disorderly manner. If the group were not that large, panic wouldn't matter that much. Nevertheless, with a group of nearly 300, 000 people, a cascade effect was created, which made regaining command of the army quite taxing. Even then, Thalric had his elites in the group.

The leaders of the groups and many others, especially those at the <Third Energy Cycle>, were able to regain calm rather quickly. So, once Thalric started giving orders, things began to get better.

"Army reform! High-level commanders attack the roots! Aethermancers, protect the remaining artillery!" His beast moved across the army as he shouted and repeated orders. There was a reason he led this army. So, when he spoke and used his charisma and charm, the army began to reshape itself. Naturally, Liu Shu wouldn't allow his actions to work without setbacks.

"Space Attribute Bullets next. Fire!" The sound of the <Mother Of Thousand Flower Field> flowers firing echoed like muted explosions. From a distance of almost 20 kilometers, those sounds were faint and barely audible due to the loud noise the army was creating. Thalric felt a strange chill on his back and looked skyward. The blue sky and white clouds were there, confusing him.

'The sky is… shimmering? No, it is warping.' He didn't believe that the muted explosive sounds were just his imagination. Somewhat flustered, he ordered aloud.

"Set up a barrier above us! We are going to approach the city and start a close-range siege!" The army group, focused on defense, quickly got to work, reorganizing and getting prepared to deploy an army-wide shield. Seeing that, Thalric's face fell, and he roared.

"Deploy the barrier, NOW!" One official answered with a frown.

"Sir, for the barrier to be more effective—" Shiuuu~. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Seeds fell from the sky. Each one twisted space itself, detonating in warped, silent violence. When a seed impacted someone or something, mangled flesh and armor would fly around as if razor-sharp blades were blending the area of impact. Screams of pain and agony spread in the surroundings.

Thankfully, the defense team reacted by pure instinct, following their previous training, and managed to create a quick cover that protected them from the latter half of the assault. Even then, the first two volleys had claimed more than 10, 000 lives, leaving them with just 3 of the initial 15 artillery monoliths. Thalric was fuming as he glared at the official who spoke back to him in that dire situation.

"This official seems to be knowledgeable of everything and dares to go against orders in the middle of the battlefield! Since you're so eager to speak out of turn, why not earn your keep at the vanguard? The honor and glory of breaching the defenses of the fortress will naturally give you enough merit to perhaps substitute me!" Those words were said in such a cold and ruthless manner that they left the man trembling.

"T-This one doesn't dare. Please reconsider, Lord Thalric. This one was trying to explain—""Explain!?" Thalric pointed toward the fortress embedded in the mountain.

"Explain it to them first! Now, prepare to lead the charge!" Looking back, he bellowed.

"Prepare the artillery as well and fire as soon as possible! Earth Aethermancers, cover the ground below the remaining three artillery! If the World Tree pierces your defenses and breaks those three, you will charge together with them at the front!" Usually, those charging at the front were either individuals seeking merit and glory or those whom the commanders had punished for certain actions. So few people survived such charges that it made it redundant who you sent. Death was the most likely option.

Liu Shu's roots suddenly stiffened under the gigantic pressure of the thousands of Earth Aethermancers.

'Tsk, tsk. Even if I can't aim for the artillery, I can continue reducing your numbers little by little.' And so, the roots would appear in low numbers from time to time, killing around one person every ten seconds, which was equivalent to around 360 per hour. Neither too many to take countermeasures, nor too few to ignore it at a psychological level. Thalric knew about it, but he could only chew the hard root and try to swallow it.

"Lord Thalric, the artillery is ready!" His facial expression instantly shifted from worried to one of delight.

"Aim them at the center of the town!" A sound of gathering Ternary Essences was heard as the wind kicked up. The whirlwind of energies around the three artillery structures was strong enough to make some soldiers lose footing for a few moments, staggering them. Liu Shu's face turned serious as massive runic and array circles appeared on top of the tall pillars. Thalric laughed and spoke with a wide smile.

"Let's see how you handle this, Tianlian Liu Shu! RELEASE!" WHOOOM! If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. A deep pitch made the air tremble, and then three pillars of light shot skyward, reaching the clouds. Liu Shu glanced upward, following the three white pillars of light. Once these pillars reached the necessary height, a circle of runes appeared there and deflected the rays of light, creating an upside-down "L" shape with the beams.

The air ignited in the way of the beams, creating spirals of light that illuminated the sky and made the Sun pale in comparison. Liu Shu's face turned solemn as she ordered.

"Guardian Trees, use <Guardian Tree>, <World Tree Bark>, and <Spiral Aerial Shield>!" During the last years, Liu Shu had changed all walls to the <Lignified Wall> and grew several <Guardian Trees> on them. Each <Guardian Tree> reached over 300 meters in height, with bodies that were on par with her own, but much smaller. Of all the structures, the <Guardian Trees> were perhaps the children that resembled Liu Shu the most.

As soon as Liu Shu ordered them, the gorgeous Guardian Trees surged with energy, and roots burst from the ground in the hundreds. These roots reached for the sky like towering vines, coiling with each other and creating a massive wooden shield above the fortress city. The shadow of the dozens of massive wooden shields suddenly fell over the people living inside. The blinding light of the three new suns disappeared, and with it, their nervousness.

Even the Life Tree, which felt the threat from those three beams, became relaxed. Then, the beams rumbled down the sky like unstoppable meteors carrying man's wrath against nature. At that very instant, the world's light seemed to disappear. Everything but the impact point became a dark shadow, as if its glare was trying to shadow the world's brightness. The air around the impact zone expanded with such pressure that the water vapor instantly sublimated from a gas to a solid and then back to a gas again.

Following that, the sound of a thousand thunderbolts echoed through the valley. BOOOM!!!!! Thalric observed from a distance how a massive dust cloud rose to the sky, his lips arched in mockery.

"Prepare for the shockwave!" Aethermancers stepped forward and deployed a sound barrier. When the expanding shockwave arrived, the thunderclap-like sound shook their chests. Thalric chuckled.

"These are artillery that can even make some Fourth Energy Cycle beings be on guard. Did you think that just because we only had three of them, you'd be able to defend your fortress? Delusional!" Pointing forward, he ordered.

"March! Artillery groups one to three will be left behind to recharge the monoliths. When they are ready, reuse them."

"We will follow the Lord's orders!" Their charge started, not losing sight of the dust-covered fortress in the distance. Everyone in the army was regaining morale as they advanced, their previous fears melting away like dew during a warm winter morning… or so they wanted to believe.

"AHH!"

"NO!"

"HELP!" Liu Shu's attacks became increasingly more abundant as they advanced, incomparable to before. Everyone around who was starting to regain a smile felt their expression falter as they looked around at their companions being either tripped, swallowed down, or directly lunged into the air by roots. The very soil they charged on was wriggling as if alive, and several dozen roots burst out without any consideration, attacking every single being that dared step through them. Thalric, however, didn't care.

"CHARGE FORWARD! This is the World Tree's anger at our imminent victory! Don't let her intimidate you!" As he was screaming, there was a sudden popping sound in the distance. Thalric frowned and looked upward. Straightaway, his face changed to one of disbelief. The soldiers looked up and saw several projectiles bursting from the dust cloud, arching into the sky and clearly aiming at them.

"Slow down! Set up the barriers!" His urgent call, utterly overriding the previous message he was trying to get across, was like a slap in his face. Liu Shu looked with a cold face from above, and, for the first time, she spoke. Her voice, echoing with the voices of nature, enveloped the entire land.

"You think that one attack like that is enough to crumble our defenses? Pathetic creatures of the Abyssal Void Nexus. You don't realize yet that you've come to be our fertilizer. You don't realize, you asinine creatures, that your struggles are all futile, and that your intentions were meant to fail since the beginning. You'll be a precedent, a mark in history for future armies to deeply evaluate their worth before stepping into my domain."

At the end of her words, the bombardment arrived at them, exploding against the shields with terrifying strength. Even when there were no deaths this time around, the Aethermancers defending had ugly expressions. They didn't know how many volleys they'd be able to defend against. While they defended, a torrent of wind energies surged from the fortress, blowing the enormous dust cloud away and revealing an intact fortress.

Thalric and the rest of the army looked with incredulity as Liu Shu's overpowering voice weighed on their shoulders.

"Your siege is bound to last until each and every single one of you gets buried. Compensate for all your destruction through a sacrifice—one of soul and flesh." The ground cracked open in front of the army as Liu Shu's roots rose in giant arcs all the way until the fortress. That gesture felt as if the World Tree was opening her arms and telling them.

"Look, here I am. Come and struggle, for however you resist, your fate is sealed." Thalric's face gained a somber expression. Still, all of them forgot, or more accurately, they didn't want to reach the conclusion. What they were attacking was just a fortress at the edge of Liu Shu's territory. Not her central city. Not even a main city with a World Tree. Just a fortress built to keep the further borders somewhat secure as a first line of defense.

Thalric bit down and clamored, his voice booming like the roar of a beast.

"DESTROY THE WORLD TREE! LIBERATE THE PEOPLE FROM THEIR RUTHLESS DOMINION! STOP THEIR SLAUGHTER! CHARGE!"

"CHARGE!"

"CHARGE!"

"CHARGE!" After reorganizing themselves, cutting them down became harder for our World Tree. But Liu Shu wasn't afraid. Until now, she had fought alone. When they reached the fortress walls, they would learn that the army of her domain had yet to awaken. Moreover, deep inside the soil, pulsing with seemingly endless life, her <Soulseed> glowed with incredible strength, ready to bloom at any moment.

Thus, her gaze moved away from this battlefield and moved toward the second one that was about to reach their objective, the <Dandelion Fortress>.

'Now that I know what your things do thanks to Thalric's preemptive strike, let's see if you can deal with my refined tactics.'