Chương 463: Tangled In Her Schemes.

Evangeline, Eryndis, and Vaelin didn't expect to have stepped into a land of horror and tension instead of a World Tree domain. The tactics that Liu Shu used while they approached their objectives were so underhanded and malicious that maintaining any semblance of morale was proving to be as difficult as ascending to the skies! Evangeline looked at the path ahead and started frowning deeply.

"We still have a few hours until we arrive at Fortuna City. Are the artillery okay?" A person at the side was sweating coldly as he spoke carefully.

"T-The stealth strikes from the World Tree have compromised most of them. Even if we want to fire them, we'll need to use a few hours to fix them. Moreover, some of the rune and array masters who can manipulate and fix it have been swallowed by the World Trees. This will probably make it even harder to fix them." Their marching pace had slowed down tremendously after the enemy tactics had changed from targeting the people to targeting the large structures.

With the artillery set around 20 kilometers away from the World Tree cities, constant bombardment was possible. You only needed to defend the artillery for a while or charge right after an attack to throw everything into disarray. Evangeline crossed her arms and looked around with an annoyed expression.

"Am I the only one with a brain around here!? Why have all of you been chosen as my assistant if it is not to give ideas during these times when I can't come up with something to deal with our current predicament?" Her mood was bad when Liu Shu showed powerful anti-corruption capabilities in the Wall Forest. Then, her mood became worse when people in her army behaved like little cowards because the earth swallowed a few hundred.

Now that even the artillery was being implicated, Evangeline could feel it in her bones that people had started thinking about retreating.

'Tianlian Liu Shu is harder to deal with than I expected. While our forces are basically untouched, everything is a mess! They are not in condition to fight at all.' One man spoke up in the heavy silence that was occasionally interrupted by the scream of one of Liu Shu's victims.

"Lady Evangeline, we could fire the artillery from here. The maximum effective range is twenty kilometers. That doesn't mean that they can't fire from further away. Only, they lose strength quite rapidly beyond that point." Evangeline showed a doubtful expression.

"We are around 37 kilometers away from Fortuna City. That's almost double the distance to the city than their effective range. Wouldn't the attack be more than halved in strength? To fight a World Tree, we need the artillery's full strength." The man spoke wryly.

"We understand that. However, Lady Evangeline, are you confident in being able to carry the large structures another 17 kilometers? By the time we reach the firing point, the artillery might be no more. It is better to set them up here, and since their arrays protect them once they are set up, we'll at least have them do something and not go to waste." The silver-haired Sylvan was not the only one who received that suggestion. Their respective experts also told Eryndis and Vaelin similar things.

The three leaders chose a middle point. They would advance as much as possible and, when it was impossible to continue the march with the artillery, do as they said. Liu Shu heard everything, even if somewhat distorted due to all their anti-spying arrays and rune fields.

'Hm… You want to use those things from a distance? Honestly, I don't mind that much.' The artillery was dangerous when operating at full capacity. In the Olive Fortress, the three powerful strikes had damaged the Guardian Trees enough to be somewhat concerned. If instead of three, 15 were fired, resisting would become difficult.

'However… Aren't they forgetting something?' As Liu Shu pondered the level of information the enemies had on her, she never stopped bothering and striking fear in her enemies. While the tactic was similar everywhere, repetitiveness didn't mean ineffectiveness. The experience, no matter how many times you went through it, was not something that you could easily get accustomed to. After all, Liu Shu's attacks were truly random. Who could say that the next victim wouldn't be them?

So, time passed, and afternoon arrived. By then, the four armies were mentally and physically exhausted. Without any obstacles, these massive armies could easily cover dozens of kilometers. Yet, this time around, each kilometer they covered felt like an eternity. Eryndis looked at the artillery and frowned. All 15 of her monoliths were damaged here and there. Although it was just structural and not functional damage, it was a matter of time before the failing structure began affecting the effectiveness.

In the end, the only army that managed to start the siege was Thalric's. And this was because Liu Shu allowed them to approach without many difficulties to test several things. The difficulty of sieging an active World Tree territory with a 100% Energy Cycle Completion Rate was incomparable to any other one. The entire domain felt as if it were the outskirts of Liu Shu's city. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Evangeline saw the encampment they set up and sighed tiredly to herself. Of course, she didn't show that to her army. Instead, she put on a cold and indifferent face as she spread her voice around for everyone to hear.

"Tonight, we'll have the Earth Aethermancers reinforce the ground in turns. Rest well, and don't worry. It will be too difficult for the enemy to do as they've been doing. Tomorrow, we'll cover the last few kilometers and use this encampment as the fallback. Reinforce the surroundings and be attentive for night rides! That's all." With that said, she turned and left for her own tent. Once inside, her body relaxed, and she walked with tired steps to the couch built inside.

Jolie noticed someone sitting by her side, and seeing Evangeline, she smiled.

"Where is your confident expression, Mother? It seems that Tianlian Liu Shu is giving you much more trouble than you ever expected." Evangeline didn't answer and closed her eyes in thought. Then, she asked.

"How are the preparations for the <Corrupt Infection Array> and <Corruption Enhancement Runic Field>?" Jolie spoke lightly.

"They are almost in place. We used defensive formations as coverage to create them. This tent has a special disrupting array as well, so there is absolutely no chance that the World Trees are listening." Evangeline nodded.

"Once those are set, the artillery will be redundant. From this camp, a wave of blight will corrupt everything. Fortuna City is just 28 kilometers away, and once she falls, her roots will provide the railway to the rest of the continent. Tianlian Liu Shu is also just 63 kilometers from here… She will be too busy fighting off the corruption to do her little tricks."

"Speaking of Tianlian Liu Shu…" Jolie asked with some worry.

"Did you… See her?" Evangeline opened her mystical sky-blue eyes and nodded silently. How could they not see the gargantuan World Tree poking from the horizon? Fortuna was visible from where they were, but she was of normal size for a World Tree at her level. On the other hand, Liu Shu didn't look much smaller than Fortuna, and she was more than twice the distance away.

"... As tall as mountains. Her growth is much more accelerated than I expected." Jolie asked once more.

"Then… Aren't the arrays we prepared inadequate? We are betting too much on a single trick."

"It's naturally not a single trick, love," Evangeline explained patiently.

"These arrays' main function is, as you already know, corrupting World Trees. However, there are myriad more arrays whose corrupting power is stronger than ours. The reason I used this one instead of the others is because it enhances Dark Aether Mana, something extremely rare to have on the enemy side." Her gaze then showed some viciousness as she smiled coldly.

"Of course, that might have small side effects on normal people, like amplifying their violent side. But that's naturally not something anyone should know." Jolie looked at her mother and nodded. She wanted to share another worry, but eventually, she didn't. She looked somewhat dazed as she pondered.

'Liu Shu is clearly aiming at our people, but that should be impossible. The stealth fields hide us, but her accuracy is just too perfect. There had never been a time when she had missed a root grab. If she missed even once, people wouldn't be so scared. After all, when a root appears, it means certain death for someone. That's just much scarier than the ability to resist.' There was another matter that worried her.

'Taking into account that she can grab individuals… Why isn't she aiming for higher-ranked people? Why are soldiers the ones being targeted, who are basically expendable resources? Her attacks are only making the morale shaky instead of disrupting the entire army.' Liu Shu observed the four enemy camps with cold, calculating eyes.

"Distance to Evangeline's camp from <Fortuna City>… 28, 350 meters. Distance to Eryndis' camp from <Prarya City>… 29, 950 meters. Distance from <Olive Vine Fortress> to Thalric's camp… 27, 500 meters. Distance from <Dandelion Fortress> to Vaelin's camp… 23, 400 meters." Her lips arched in a faint, icy smile.

"All within range of <Mother Of Thousand Flower Field>." After getting stronger and feeding on Liu Shu's Tier and Level Ups, <Mother of Thousand Flower Field> had an effective range of 34 kilometers or 34, 000 meters.

"I won't fire yet, though… Slowly, gradually, and without you knowing, I'll coil my roots around all your weaknesses. Then, at the right time, you'll suffer from your arrogance. Trying to estimate my strength without any surviving past armies is just guesswork, and yet, you came thinking you understood me. You'll pay dearly for that." Liu Shu's energy started surging inside the city, and then streaked skyward like a pillar.

The light slammed against the sky, bursting space itself, and a green portal appeared above her.

"<World Tree Calling>." Echoing with the strength of Mother Nature herself, her voice called upon massive serpents that surged down in the hundreds. Liu Shu's ability to manifest summons had become ridiculous thanks to her titles, temple, and she herself. Moreover, the Arboreal Winged Serpents she summoned were all B- Tier and above, making each of them a terrifying monster.

"Fly above the clouds and remain unseen." In the darkness of the night, the green light looked especially ominous, and those awake couldn't help but look through their windows at the spectacle of hundreds of winged creatures flying around the vast canopy of their World Tree before soaring up and disappearing into the night sky. It seemed that from tomorrow onward, the invaders would start to understand part of Lady World Tree's true capabilities.