Chương 865: Covenant's First Clash With The Golden Sap Army.

Deadly Petal's and Liu Shu's fight, looked from outside, was truly breathtaking. Across massive distances, roots could be seen moving and entangling, their collisions causing the very dimension to ripple. Violent ternary essence areas appeared as well, elemental maelstroms appearing in many different locations. Deadly Petal's attack methods were mostly physical, though.

Her roots were coated with sharp auras, giving them a rare cutting power over their bludgeon damage that worked perfectly against other World Trees. Even then, Liu Shu didn't look as if she was being pushed back. On the contrary, the way she defended caused Deadly Petal's advance to come to a complete halt. The Covenant's army was not that surprised. If Liu Shu could resist the Nexus's offensive by herself for so long, clearly, her strength was bound to be above Deadly Petal's.

Nevertheless, the initial plan had never been to rely only on Deadly Petal. Her strength, coupled with their own army and the Nexus's offensive, was bound to be enough to pierce through Liu Shu's defenses and reach Ceperet… Or so they believed. Namue, the commander in the same position as Carter, but for the Covenant, spoke through the communication channels.

"Advance. Make sure to circle around the collision areas." The massive army of the Covenant and Deadly Petal, reaching around 170 million in size, began its advance. The thousands of starships moving forward were an imposing sight that would leave most Star System Empires reeling. In truth, in terms of army size, it didn't get that much larger. Of course, full offensives that stretched for several light years had many more individuals participating.

Nevertheless, on a single battlefield, it was rare to surpass a hundred million forces. After all, the army's numbers were not that important. If there were no elites to protect those large groups of individuals, it was hard to resist or even attack different areas. For instance, the Covenant's army had around 2, 000 <Second Ascension> powerhouses participating. Less than what the Nexus had at first, but the Covenant had Deadly Petal to help. If you compared them, their overall strength was not that different.

As they advanced, Liu Shu used her roots to block them and attack them. Even when Deadly Petal was clashing with her, she didn't feel that much strain.

'In terms of numbers, Deadly Petal should have around 14 or so million overall stats. Perhaps a bit more through buffs and such.' It was a large number. Remember that Liu Shu, prior to applying any buff, had around 19 million overall stats. She had her SS- Tier, her Ternary Essence Branches, and even her Eternal Core to support that number of base stats. So, Deadly Petal reaching around 14 was quite powerful. The problem was Liu Shu's self-buffs.

After everything was applied, her stats would skyrocket to around 115 million. This number was not as simple as ten times as strong. Someone with 100 overall stats and someone with 10 overall stats were quite far apart in strength. Either way, if Liu Shu wanted, she would be more than able to counterattack and tear Deadly Petal's roots to pieces. If she did that, though, the enemy would not dive deep into her domain. The tactic was the same one she used with the Nexus. If it worked, why change it?

So, for the next two months or so, Liu Shu was slowly being "pushed back" by the Covenant. Deadly Petal felt… odd.

'How are we pushing her back?' These two months of clashing had been quite… revealing for Deadly Petal. The amount of essence she felt from Liu Shu's bloodsap whenever one root broke was absurd. The concentration made even she feel a touch of greed for it. Clearly, Liu Shu was a being with strength much deeper than what she was showing.

'Is it because of the Nexus?' Deadly Petal heard Liu Shu speaking about the attack. Therefore, even if she was strong, her domain was far too cramped and was being attacked by two large forces from two frontlines. So, she rationalized that Liu Shu was just far too spread out to bring out her true strength. Only… Deadly Petal felt uneasy. There was an incongruity with this logic that she couldn't really put into words.

'Hm… Sigh. Why is fighting the Heavenly Willow so complicated mentally?' Deadly Petal felt a bit annoyed, and one of her roots shot forward with all her strength, no plans at all, as if she was venting. Liu Shu noticed that root and blocked it with one of her own. BOOM!! Space rippled like water. Liu Shu asked, confused.

"What's wrong? That attack felt different." Deadly Petal answered, annoyed.

"Fighting you is… troublesome. I don't like it." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Pfft…" Liu Shu laughed and answered with a smile.

"It is annoying. How about retreating?"

"No." Liu Shu laughed again.

"Hahaha. You're so firm~. Also, Deadly Petal, let's move the battlefield slightly further in this direction." Deadly Petal asked back, confused.

"Why should I listen?" Liu Shu answered gently.

"I just don't want you to be hurt excessively. Trust me this once. Our battle shouldn't be meddled with by others, right?" Deadly Petal pondered and eventually harrumphed.

"Whatever. Always making me think. You are so annoying." Even as she said that, Deadly Petal's offensive shifted a few million kilometers away. As she did that, Namue noticed a small army approaching from the distance. Their numbers were less than 10 million, so it looked quite pitiful compared to their own fleet. Even then, no one lowered their guard. One army had done the same against a pitiful 121 individuals, and suffered for it. So, Namue spoke loudly.

"Prepare main cannons! Secondary cannons start attacking when in range! Deploy the army as well; we are crushing them before they can do anything strange." On the other side, Flor and Ignatia looked at the massive army in front of them with calm eyes. Flor stood up from her seat, her wings flapping lightly.

"Let's show them what it means to attack our Liu Shu." Ignatia donned herself in full-body red, elegant armor, her armored fingers stretching into pointy claws. Her throat clicked, creating a silent resonance that spread out into the void. All ants, who had been silent, felt their antennae twitch. The soldiers resting against the ants' bodies and playing some tabletop games felt their movement and looked at them.

"Hm? Did Lady Ignatia call you?" The truck-sized ant looked down and nodded, making the soldier smile.

"Alright then, let's go. Today as well, I leave my back to you." The ant clicked her mandibles a few times. After patting their legs, the soldiers prepared for battle. A few moments later, Flor's voice spread out.

"Prepare for battle. We will use <Faith Blessing> straight away. The first clash will be decisive. Let's try to reduce their numbers by half. Fight for Lady Heavenly Willow!"

"FIGHT!"

"FIGHT!"

"FIGHT!" Namue noticed the enemy soldiers leaving and arranging into different formations, so he also gave orders. Looking from a distance, it was truly daunting for the Golden Sap Army. They looked like a platoon facing an entire battalion. Even then, no one flinched. Flor and Ignatia stood at the very front, and then, Liu Shu's voice echoed throughout the void.

"<World Tree Calling>." A gaping green maw tore space open, 121 Arboreal Winged Serpents flowing down the green portal and standing right behind Flor and Ignatia. Glancing at the red-striped, white serpent, Flor nodded faintly.

"We will be under your care."

"Hiss~." Flor grabbed her complex elemental wand. At the very top, the wand she held had a rainbow-colored crystal with swirling and ever-changing colors above it. Due to Flor's nature as a mythical <Flower Fairy>, the number of elements she could manipulate was ridiculous. So, her equipment was always crafted by Liu Shu herself, using her most precious bark near her core. Feeling the warm bloodsap flowing within the wand, Flor's hand gently traced the edges and blue-glowing veins coursing through it.

Her ruby-like eyes lost all emotion, and her eyes traced all Aether Mana lines around her.

"Charge." With a single flap, Flor used wind and light, becoming a beam of light that tore through the void at ridiculous speed. Her figure was so fast that only the white-colored Serpent could match her. As her figure approached the enemy frontline, tens of thousands of attacks moved her way. Flor flicked her wand, space-attributed Aether Mana twisting to her whims. Then, both she and the white-colored serpent disappeared and reappeared close to the enemy army. Two individuals in front of millions.

Flor raised her wand, and then, as her voice boomed out with endless majesty, she brought it down and activated <Faith Blessing>.

"<Bloom: Cataclysm Flower>." BOOM!! Her strength skyrocketed as Liu Shu's <Acceleration Domain> fell onto her together with all her other buffs. Her stats soared by the tens of millions, and in front of Flor, a single gargantuan lotus manifested. The lotus flower, with hundreds of petals colored in a rainbow gradient, opened and revealed what it hid inside: pure and unadulterated destruction. Elemental Aether Mana churned and exploded, covering tens of thousands of kilometers at once.

Several hundreds of thousands of people could only see blinding, multicolored light before darkness took them. Behind Flor, the white serpent spread its wings right after Flor's attack. A white Sun bloomed together with the Cataclysm Flower, causing equal if not superior destruction. The enemy didn't stay still. Sensing their threat, hundreds of main cannons and several thousand other attacks flashed their way. It was at this point that the second legendary being arrived.

The Humanoid Ant Queen, who chose the path of a War Ant Queen, arrived and punched forward. Phoer Body Stars coiled around her fist, creating both an offensive and defensive attack.

"<War Queen Aegis>." A gargantuan phantom manifested in the form of Ignatia's armored form. The phantom, larger than even the white serpent, held a heavy shield and placed it in the way of all the attacks. BOOM!!! The world turned white, but Ignatia's phantom only cracked slightly, showing durability that didn't lose to most World Trees. Her cold, insectoid black eyes observed the battlefield, and the phantom moved the shield toward the densest spot.

"<War Queen's Annihilation>." A second later, Ignatia unleashed all the retaliatory damage it had accumulated, causing a massive flash of light no less imposing than what the shield had blocked. In Flor's, Ignatia's, and the White Serpent's eyes, hundreds of thousands of messages flashed one after another, informing them of how many people they had slaughtered with their first clash. While the entire Covenant's army was struck with both terror and shock, the Golden Sap Empire's army arrived.

With millions of individuals buffed by <Faith Blessing>, their momentum was truly terrifying. The battle against the Covenant had begun, and, looking at the reports, Namue felt a sudden urge to retreat and leave this place.