Chương 464: Arboreal Winged Serpent Sky Assault.

While not as many as on the previous nights, the screams of their people were still easy to hear. This made it impossible for a large part of the less trained army people to rest. Even those with experience had some trouble resting! Eryndis and the other leaders looked at the clearly tired army and couldn't help but feel their stomachs sink. The enemy tactics were crude, and everyone could easily tell what she was trying to do.

However, knowing that something was made to scare you didn't make it less scary if it kept happening either way. What use was knowing that the World Tree was using scare tactics when the next one involved in those tactics could be you?

"The two fortresses have started the siege. However, both Thalric and Vaelin have come with a big obstacle." Eryndis read the report slowly while moving forward to the location from which she decided to fire her artillery.

"When they were about to fire their artillery, the World Tree attacked without reservations and managed to destroy a large part of the artillery structures. In the Olive Vine Fortress, there are only 2 of them remaining. Moreover, these two have been damaged to the point that they can only fire once every 3 hours." The woman was stunned.

'Three hours? They usually have the ability to fire every 30 minutes! How damaged are they to be six times slower?' Then, with a sigh, she read the rest of the report.

"... Meanwhile, in the Dandelion Fortress, there are four artillery pieces remaining, but their state is no better than those in Olive Vine Fortress. These can fire every 4 hours, and since they are somewhat further from their effective range, their combat effectiveness is not much better than the combined strength of those in Olive Vine Fortress…" Eryndis looked behind her with a frown.

"We've lost three of the fifteen. So, we should be relatively okay as long as we don't lose many more… We are still 27, 000 meters away, though. We need to reach 24 or 23 thousand so that they can hit at least 80% firepower. Where we are, their attacking power is 60% of their original values."

"Lady Eryndis, Prarya is not a powerful or terrifying World Tree. I would suggest that we start attacking from here. Even if we are unable to deliver decisive blows, we have enough resources to keep firing for weeks at a normal rate. Eventually, Prarya will become tired and that will be our chance to give the finishing blow." Another general spoke with a frown.

"That's true. However, once we plant the artillery, we can't really retrieve it. They need to connect deeply with the land to gather energy and use the defense mechanisms. I can bet that if we decide to move them mid-war, the enemy World Tree will immediately sense the difference below them and destroy all of them. It is better to advance as much as we can, and if we sense too much danger, we will plant them there." Both pieces of advice had their pros and cons.

"I prefer to be secure. Steady is the way. We've already encountered enough unexpected variables fighting these people, and I refuse to encounter some that make it impossible to use them. We have 12 of them as well, which is triple the amount in the Dandelion Fortress battlefield." Some people didn't really agree. However, since the army commander had spoken, they needed to follow through with her orders. Our World Tree was observing the entire battlefield.

Therefore, she easily noticed when one of the four armies stopped advancing. Thalric's army had already set a route of attack and was clashing against the Fortress defenses. Meanwhile, Vaelin's army was still probing the fortress defenses with their artillery and long-range attacks. Naturally, the Guardian Trees were able to soak up all the damage, while the Life Trees set up in the middle of those forests healed them.

Guardian Trees' attacking capabilities were not that high, but their defense was not worse than Liu Shu's main body, making them perfect shields. Without losing a single second, the World Tree guided part of her army to Prarya city. This moving army consisted of none other than the Arboreal Winged Serpents and the Ants. When taking into account army numbers, Liu Shu didn't usually take the ants into account. Otherwise, the numbers she would be speaking of would be 70% ants and 30% non-ant fighters.

In terms of numbers, Arboreal Winged Serpents were somewhat pitiful. Regardless, no one dared to underestimate them. These monsters had some innate <Titles>, <Passives>, and <Talents> that made other creatures look miserable. Tianlian Liu Shu looked at Ignatia and spoke aloud.

"Mom! Eryndis is our first target! Let's go north and fight on Prarya's front." Ignatia was calmly sitting on the head of the largest ant. It was a rare ant that had grown into a true behemoth, five meters tall and over twenty meters long. Around it, wind Aether Mana swirled as if alive. It was, without a doubt, Ignatia's strongest child after receiving all of Liu Shu's and Ignatia's buffs.

"Child, you heard your eldest sister." Ignatia stood up while speaking.

"Move to the tunnels. We'll make sure those artillery things don't fire too many rounds." The ants didn't do any large movements; they were silent and efficient, like always. The second Ignatia gave the order, all of them marched forward. Oppressive silence that would make anyone hold their breath surrounded the army of over 400, 000 ants. Then, as if the ground were made of water, the giant sea of ants slid into the complex tunnel system below through the myriad hidden entrances strewn across the domain.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Looking from above, Ophion and the other Arboreal Winged Serpents felt a crawling in their skin.

"Liu Shu's Ant Queen Mother is truly dangerous. In just a few decades, her numbers have become several orders of magnitude larger. Moreover, with the Experience Farms and the <Dungeons> that appeared, they have not fallen that far behind on levels despite their numbers." Hearing Ophion's words, Ruby smiled silently. She was one of the Arboreal Winged Serpents Liu Shu summoned in the past, a true terror who mastered area-of-effect fire attacks. Another older Arboreal Winged Serpent spoke excitedly.

"Now that Liu Shu can summon B and A rank Serpents, most of the young ones are able to participate in her defense without holding back our tiers! I wonder when the adolescent Sisters and Brothers will be able to join us!" Ophion nodded.

"I also recovered my <Tier> as well. Being able to exert the full extent of my A+ Tier is quite nice." Stat-wise, the Arboreal Winged Serpents were terrifying. Their numbers were closer to those of a World Tree of the same level than normal monsters. This was due to their powerful bloodline and progenitor. Even at birth, an Arboreal Winged Serpent would be, at the very least, B- Rank. By the time they were Level 30 or 40, through hunts, treasures of their natal plane, etc., 90% reached A- Tier.

But that was just their young form. Only when one reached the <Fifth Energy Cycle> would their potential be unleashed, and their strength would similarly surge. Liu Shu couldn't summon too many of them, though, or her energy would be drained like crazy. So, she chose a small elite group of 200 <Third Energy Cycle> Arboreal Winged Serpents.

Of course, if anyone knew that a single being had summoned 200 <Third Energy Cycle> creatures and, to top it off, could maintain them indefinitely, they would choke to death on their own saliva.

"Big Brother Ophion! I see the things Liu Shu asked us to destroy!" Ophion glanced down, his green snake eyes squinting.

"Those things… look quite fragile. Don't attack yet. Ruby, order your long-range Aethermancer group to start gathering ternary essences. Once Liu Shu fires the first bombardment, we'll dive from the sky and release a volley. This will distract them from the true threat." The gentle and soothing voice of Ruby reached Ophion.

"Understood." Then, she hissed once, and nearly 45 serpents separated from the group and gathered ternary essences around them. Ruby looked at Liu Shu's titles and temple blessings and felt proud.

'Our little World Tree is growing beautifully.' To be honest, most Winged Serpents were still doubtful of their God Ancestor's decision. They just couldn't understand how a World Tree that had not even conquered several Solar Systems could help them in the future. However, Ruby and the other children who saw Liu Shu could feel it. Through their connection, the endless potential that Liu Shu exuded made them feel unwavering in their devotion, even when serving or contemplating death for her.

For them, Liu Shu was like a small star gathering energy and slowly approaching that breaking point that would create a supernova of influence. Meanwhile, Eryndis looked around with some unease.

"How much longer until the artillery is ready?" The people setting it up looked at her with puzzled expressions.

"What's the rush? We are so far away that even Prarya feels reluctant to attack. Being a World Tree from the countryside, her Energy Cycle Completion Rate must not reach 70%. With those low numbers, the strength they can deploy at these distances is something we can easily deal with." Eryndis glared at that person.

"Do you like running your mouth so much? Why, after all those words, have you still not answered my question? Be concise and blunt and tell me the time you need!" The man didn't show a dissatisfied expression, but internally, he was endlessly complaining.

"We are outside the effective range. So, we will need a bit of extra time to adjust some runic parameters and array alignments. There are 12 artillery monoliths, so we should take around two and a half hours more. Still, once we have them up and running, their reinforcement arrays—""I know! There is no need to repeat the same thing so many times." Annoyed, Eryndis snapped at him.

"Couldn't you answer 'two and a half hours' when I asked? Next time, be even more concise. I want to hear what I asked and then explanations!" She was feeling extremely bad vibes. Even if they didn't have much reach where they were, it was not normal for the World Trees to just pick some people here and there. Yes, the constant screams for help from some people were unnerving, creating quite an overwhelmingly intimidating aura around them. However, their forces were mostly intact even after so many attacks.

The second they attacked and charged, the tables would reverse, and all that fear would become rage. No one wanted to provoke an enraged army! It was at that moment that Eryndis and Evangeline's armies heard for the first time a popping sound in the distance. The sound was faint, as if some small explosions had gone off, and only those perceptive to sound heard them.

"Is that… a cloud?" Eryndis heard the murmurs and looked up. She was confused only for a moment before she realized what that was. Her face changed, and she roared.

"Barriers UP!" Eryndis' charisma and influence were leagues apart from the others, so the second her order boomed, all Aethermancers didn't even hesitate before casting defensive spells above them. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Like that, when the barrage fell, the damage was reduced to nothing. Even then, everyone was startled.

"Didn't Thalric say that their long-range artillery barely reached 20 kilometers!? Why are we being accurately targeted over 6 kilometers from that mark?" However, that was not the end of the attack. From beyond the clouds, elemental energies gathered in a rainbow of pure destruction. Then, it fell down like a judgment from above. Eryndis looked back with widened eyes as the myriad of attacks from the Arboreal Winged Serpents collided right above the artillery defense and collapsed a large chunk of it. BOOM!

2 of the 12 remaining artillery monoliths were blown to pieces, just like that.