Chương 849: Grand Commander Zaros.

Liu Shu mobilized her army. The numbers had been growing as time passed, and now, she supported around 20 million Level 150+ fighters and 500+ <Second Ascension> powerhouses. Of these powerhouses, her lovers and mothers stood at the very top. However, they were not completely unmatched. Ignatia, Flor, Verdantia, and the others were influenced by Liu Shu's growth. Therefore, their strength being high was normal. Liu Shu had, after all, reached SS- Tier and leaped in strength.

Among the 500 <Second Ascension> individuals, though, there were five who had the <Ascension Berry> activated during the <Second Ascension>, and among those five, one of them had a massive jackpot. This individual was a human male named Zaros, an S+ Tier talent who had his evolution touched by Liu Shu and Apothea's grace. In terms of combat power, he was only slightly weaker than Flor, but not to the point that he wouldn't be able to fight.

A human being able to fight the <Flower Fairy>, that legendary creature who was further enhanced by her connection with Liu Shu, could only be described as monstrous. Moreover, fighting was not his only talent. Zaros could be considered an all-rounder who, instead of being average at everything, just… excelled. So, after several tests and challenges, Zaros managed to claw up to the very top as the Grand Commander of Liu Shu's army. When it came to the military, he was only below Liu Shu and above everyone else.

Liu Shu glanced at him. He was a tall man with a perfectly built body and an incredibly handsome face. His chestnut-colored hair and light olive-colored eyes made his stare feel profound. He was also tall enough that even someone like Seraphina had to slightly glance up when talking to him. In a way, he was a perfect human specimen who didn't lack even when it came to the personality department. A human with basically no flaws. Cinderielle glanced at him and asked.

"Grand Commander Zaros, what do you think about Liu Shu's report?" Zaros was glancing at the starmap, seeing the real-time coordinates of Carter's army and its predicted paths.

"It is complicated. While we have 20 million soldiers and 15 million ants to fight, we would be stretched far too thin if we want to prevent all of their attacks. Clearly, Carter wants our forces to divide and deal with those heading toward our frontier Solar Systems." The girls around him nodded. Zaros's olive-colored eyes glinted as he spoke.

"Lady Heavenly Willow, may I ask you something?" Liu Shu's voice gently reverberated in the strategic meeting room.

"What is it, Zaros?" Zaros made a few lines in the starmap and asked.

"Can you deviate their paths like this?" Liu Shu glanced at the deviations Zaros wanted and hummed.

"I can. What's your plan?" Zaros explained.

"Currently, we can divide the Nexus army into eleven groups. There are five of them who are heading toward our frontier Solar Systems, while the other six groups are spreading out to attack the Ceperet Solar System from different fronts. Their tactic is simple but effective. Divide and conquer. It is a tactic I would've also taken were I in Carter's situation. But there is a flaw born from ignorance." Ignatia swung her long leg over the other and asked, curious.

"Ignorance?" Zaros nodded.

"They are unaware of our top-tier personnel strength. Be it Lady Heavenly Willow, the Madams, or even Lady Flor or Lady Ignatia, all of you are terrifying individuals who can cover fronts with little support." Liu Shu chuckled.

"Don't push yourself down too much. Evaluate things objectively." Zaros smiled faintly.

"I am, Lady Heavenly Willow. While my strength is indeed high, I need to stay back most of the time, so I am not counting myself. There are also the generals, who, while not at my strength level, can crush <Star Emperors> rather easily." Liu Shu was also not bad at strategizing, so as she glanced back at the lines Zaros wanted her to deviate, her eyes flickered.

"You want to merge fronts until there are only eight left instead of eleven and send our monster-class powerhouses to prevent the unbalanced situation." Zaros smiled.

"As expected of Lady Heavenly Willow. I am still a bit confused as to why you delegated your position as the highest command to me. I believe you would do better than me."

"Spare the flattery." Zaros laughed good-naturedly. Then, he returned to his charming, serious expression and refocused.

"Lady Heavenly Willow has planned to share the Chaos titles with more of our soldiers during this war, right? All the ants are also fully equipped with them."

"That's right. I've been observing during the last few years and have already selected around 13% of our 20 million individuals to bear these titles. The list you gave me made things much easier." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Thirteen percent is higher than I expected." Zaros nodded.

"If that's the case, we have over two and a half million individuals whose strength will overpower enemies to a high degree." With those words, Zaros explained to Liu Shu how he wanted her to converge Carter's army's paths and where to cause problems. The lengthy explanation was supplemented by many others in the room. After all, Zaros was not the only talent in Liu Shu's army. The discussion moved quickly, the initial tactics evolving and maturing in real time. Zaros was both patient yet also curt.

When someone made a proper proposal, he would evaluate and discuss it, but those that were too far-fetched were dismissed with few words. This kept the conversation flowing and centered around Zaros's judgment. For large groups, there was a need to have one functioning brain and many agreeable limbs. Otherwise, problems would arise everywhere due to disagreements. During the discussion, Flor spoke up.

"What about the Covenant? Won't they act when they notice the Nexus's movements?" Zaros shook his head.

"They won't. Not until Deadly Petal arrives. Until she is here, they have no justification." What allowed a World Tree power to kill other World Trees? The answer was simply their respective World Trees. If two World Trees clashed for dominance, the two sides would gain a perfect casus belli.

"Our World Trees are fighting, so we naturally need to support them." The brutal enmity and competition between True World Trees was neither a secret nor a taboo. So, any World Tree power had the ability to attack others as long as their World Tree acted on it. Of course, that single clause was as hard to fill as a list of normal ones. A World Tree acted in self-interest. Listening to the creatures living in their domain, even if they were leaders, was rare.

Balaya and even Deadly Petal were perfect examples of that. As the conversation approached its end, Zaros spoke to Liu Shu.

"Lady Heavenly Willow, our objective is to cast a net. However, isn't the fish too large?" This question arose from Zaros's lack of detailed knowledge of Liu Shu's strength. Liu Shu answered gently.

"It is a large fish, but our net is sturdy. It won't be easy, but I believe we can do it." Harmonixia asked.

"By the way, do we have an estimate of enemy numbers? It has been far too unclear until now." Liu Shu hummed.

"If I had to say, their army is between 250 and 300 million. The small groups that separated from the main army are almost as large as our total army. It is a one-to-ten situation… except when it comes to our top-tier powerhouses; we are only outnumbered one to five when it comes to top-tier powerhouses."

"Only…" Harmonixia chuckled.

"So, they have around 2, 500 <Second Ascension> powerhouses."

"Yes, but their strength is very different from ours. Also, among those, there are fewer than 300 <Star Emperor> level powerhouses." They knew that the <Stats> from a <Star Emperor> to a normal <Second Ascension> individual varied by more than 30%. On average, a Level 250 <Star Emperor> would have, counting all buffs and armor, around 9 to 11 million in their strongest stat and around 6 to 7 million in their weakest one, not counting willpower, which barely reached 2 million even in the highest cases.

Meanwhile, average <Second Ascension> individuals at Level 250 would have 6 to 8 million in their main <Stat> and 4 to 6 million in their secondary values. Meanwhile, Liu Shu's normal <Second Ascension> individuals after all her buffs had two to three times more raw <Stats> than their <Star Emperors>. The numbers were truly outrageous once Liu Shu's buffs were applied in full. Not to mention buffs to their hidden numbers like damage, defense, range, attack speed, and movement speed.

So, while they were outnumbered one to five, Liu Shu didn't feel that she was at a disadvantage in the slightest. On the contrary, she firmly believed that her people could crush the enemy with raw quality. With the tactics developed, Liu Shu didn't take long to start moving.

'Alright, it is time to stop self-combusting and start putting my ternary essences to better use.' Liu Shu had felt very strained during these last years, using almost 20% of her attention and resources just to make sure all her roots combusted into flames when they were "defeated." Now, she was about to liberate that locked effort and pour it into offense and tactics. What if they got her roots? Well, would it matter when these ships were bound to never return or be able to carry back her roots?

It was not like they could use her materials in the middle of the war. Even if it lasted for a few years, carrying back World Tree chunks that could dwarf moons and worlds was a monumental task.

'Well, the data that I am an SS- Rank World Tree will become known, but there is nothing I can do to hide that. If used well, this information can become a positive leak instead of a negative one.' Meanwhile, Carter was observing the battlefield in front when, suddenly, one of the roots they destroyed didn't combust. He blinked, then blinked again.

"Huh…?"

"Lord Carter! Messages are arriving from most vessels that the Heavenly Willow's roots have stopped immolating themselves!" Carter's mind quickly churned. His face became serious.

"Tighten up defenses! If the roots were not self-combusting by nature, it means the World Tree has been doing it on purpose. The fact that she has stopped now means that they are preparing something. Scatter the starships, make sure the damage-sharing groups keep each other close, and prepare for impact everywhere! The enemy's counterattack is around the corner." His quick judgment was truly impressive. While he delivered those orders, Liu Shu had focused and closed her eyes.

Her SS- Tier Aether and Anima talents covered incredible distances, tightly gripping the flow of ternary essences all over her domain. Then, even when the enemies separated and used the space's inherently large distances, Liu Shu's attack unleashed true to its name.

"<Aetherlord's Elemental Catastrophe: Abyssal Catastrophe>." Darkness essence churned violently everywhere, all alarms blaring in sensor cabins and programs. The world churned, and soon voracious darkness energy surged, enveloping several starship groups. Carter saw in real time as several lights in the starmap flickered out of existence. His countenance turned solemn as his fingers began adjusting army paths.

'If we are too scattered, not even the damage-sharing arrays will be able to stop such catastrophic firepower. I need to rethink our army's layout…'