Chương 873: Last Stand! World Siege.

World Siege.

The siege started. This was the first time Liu Shu had attacked a fully developed capital world. For this siege, Liu Shu was careful. No matter how strong her people were, having a world provided enough of an anchor for them to build extraordinary weapons, arrays, and runic fields. Zaros communicated with her.

"As Lady Heavenly Willow said, we can't take this battle lightly. The enemy still has 80 million soldiers and all those left behind in the world. Their numbers have probably climbed back to 100 million. Even then, it doesn't make much of a difference. The important Second Ascension powerhouses are missing." As he spoke, Azure Star Capital World appeared in the center of the conference room through hologram technology. Zaros spun the world and pointed at several large satellites orbiting around it.

"Those are fortresses with offensive power beyond a normal World-Type Mothership. Therefore, our objective is to deal with them. For that, we will use Lady Obsidianis, Seraphina, Verdantia, and Harmonixia." Cinderielle, listening from the side, raised her head in confusion. Zaros glanced her way.

"Lady Cinderielle, you are an expert in battlefield control with your wide-area-of-effect skillset. Therefore, you will take the lead against the enemy army and keep them in check until the others dismantle the space fortresses." Liu Shu spoke, her gentle voice filling the room.

"Is it possible to capture them? I doubt even those fortresses had been set up with self-destruct protocols." Zaros answered calmly.

"I have thought of that as well, Lady Heavenly Willow. If we can take over even one of them, it will be a great advancement for us. Nevertheless, we are completely unaware of how strong they truly are. Therefore, we need to destroy the first of the three orbiting fortresses first." Thinking it over, Liu Shu understood the logic. First, see how dangerous they are. Then, if possible, take the others over.

The Azure Star Capital World was orbited by three large-scale stationary fortresses and around 40 small moving fortress-type structures. The starships had been spread out by Carter and were flying around them, prepared for battle. As for defenses on land, it was impossible to check, at least for now. They were far too small and too entangled with the world to be easily detected. Both sides continued their preparations, and after about a month of stalemate, the siege began.

Carter was standing alone in a large control room. This room was peculiar, being somewhat spherical. The walls were covered with arrays and runic fields, and in the middle, an incredibly detailed view of the Azure Star Capital World gently spun in real-time speed. It was a control room created to send, control, count, and see each and every single weapon of war connected to it. A truly magnificent piece of technology, and one of the few remaining in this world after Carter's forceful purge.

Libraries, data centers, and many other non-military complexes had been destroyed by the army during the last month, causing public outrage. It didn't matter to Carter, though. This world had long been isolated, and no news could leave, at least not for now. Therefore, at the cost of economic collapse and societal anarchy, Carter ruthlessly asked everything that could benefit Liu Shu to be burned to the ground. Carter's last stand was fighting in a burning castle and trying to take down as many enemies as possible.

With a cold and detached expression, Carter merged his consciousness with the room's arrays and runic fields, becoming a pseudo-World-Tree-like existence. His Level 290 mind spun rapidly, trying to take in the massive information of the world and every single thing moving around it. The strain was massive, but since this was his dying breath and last stand, it didn't matter. Several AI assistants manifested in his consciousness, and the fortresses became alive, their internal energy cores roaring to life.

The silent satellites that had seen no action in centuries awakened, and the metal that made up their entirety constantly shifted in the silent, oppressive void. Liu Shu's gaze couldn't help but shift toward them.

'Their ternary essence concentration is… impressive.' She compared it to Deadly Petal and realized that these fortresses could probably halt Deadly Petal's advance for a short year or so. That was the three fortresses individually; add the rest, and Deadly Petal alone would've had a lot of trouble taking over this frontier world. That was Deadly Petal, though. Harmonixia, Verdantia, Seraphina, and Obsidianis tore through the void like four beams of light.

Their objective was one of them, and even then, the other three that were on the other side of the planet locked onto them as well. Carter's voice sounded almost mechanical as his consciousness scattered and tried to connect with everything. As a human, trying to imitate a World Tree was nothing but a suicidal act. Even if the burden didn't kill you, you would lose your sense of self and have your consciousness scattered, becoming nothing but an empty husk with a fractured mind.

"Activate anti-World Tree weapons. Core overdrive. Moon Piercer Cannon activate. Open hatch of Quasi-Light Speed Interplanetary Ballistic Missiles. Aim and lock-on… Fire." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The AI assistants answered.

"Understood. Anti-World Tree armament on standby."

"Understood. Core Overdrive is activating. Time until overheating: 9 hours. Time until collapse: 11 hours. Recommended Core Overdrive disengage in 6 hours."

"Understood. Calculating orbital trajectories and anti-friendly fire paths for Moon Piercer Cannon."

"Understood. Ternary Essence sources locked on. 12 seconds remaining for launch. Total: 12, 302 QLS-IBM. First Salvo Quantity: 103 QLS-IBM." The void lit up as the three Large-Scale fortresses shot their first attacks. Verdantia accelerated, her figure overcoming the other four. Her figure, already having entered her Sylvan Transformation mode, emitted outrageous essence fluctuations. Then, with a wave of her hand, countless roots and large summons manifested around them, speeding toward the attacks.

These summons were golem-type summons, so sacrificing them would only make her feel a pinch in terms of resources lost. The impact between the weapons and Verdantia's defenses was breathtakingly violent. Giant explosions evaporating summons, enormous beams carbonizing roots, and several projectiles being blocked by defensive skills. Verdantia was mildly surprised.

'They are a step above a World-Type Mothership's main cannons.' Those cannons were basically the core armament of the World-Type Mothership, so having something even stronger left Verdantia somewhat bewildered. Still, with her current stats, she didn't fear any of this. Carter continued to manipulate the fortresses and his soldiers, creating an advancing army welcome against the four Sylvans. He knew he couldn't devote too many resources to that side. After all, these four were nothing but the vanguard.

Moon-Type and some World-Type starships moved together with over a hundred Second Ascension powerhouses. Their objective was to block and try to take down at least one of the Sylvans. As they approached, Verdantia defended the other three with her skills; Seraphina and Obsidianis took out their weapons. Seraphina's greatsword and Obsidianis's giant war scythe swung, splitting the dimension and creating two giant portals. One of the portals was bright, illuminating the void with its endless light.

The other looked like the open maw of a beast, dark and endlessly terrifying. From them, two types of creatures spewed out in the thousands. The white portal constantly spewed humanoid, armored, and light yellow-colored soldiers. They were disciplined and quickly formed into army formations. Meanwhile, the black maw spewed beastly, dark plant summons. The beasts ranged from wolf-sized to a few that dwarfed even houses. Their forms were not monstrous or hard to the eyes, just beastly.

It felt as if a dark, beast-tide had erupted. Their numbers were almost triple those of the light summons. However, they had no semblance of discipline. Yet, when both armies moved, it felt as if the beasts and armored humanoids were tied to one another. The times Seraphina and Obsidianis had dueled and fought each other were hard to quantify. It was so often that even back in the Covenant, people ignored them. So, as much as they had fought, they understood each other deeply.

"Move out." Obsidianis's summons took the lead, and soon, they collided against the large army on the other side of the receiving end. Before the clash, though, something rang. It was a gorgeous and fast-paced melody. Harmonixia, her fingers flying across her zither, caused ternary essence sound waves to envelop the entire battlefield. All allies were strengthened. All enemies felt sluggish. This change occurred right before making contact with the enemy army, and the result was tragic for the Nexus.

The dark beasts collided like cavalry against foot soldiers, and the armored knights were like tigers among a flock of sheep. Seraphina and Obsidianis rushed in with their summons, greatsword and war scythe flashing and tearing through hundreds of enemies each time. Behind them, Verdantia turned her attention and stabbed her long and intricate staff against the very void, a ripple of life energy covering everything around her and giving out healing and resistance buffs.

"Attack them! Quickly!"

"Help with the core! The summons are taking over far too quickly!"

"Where are the <Second Ascension> leaders!?" The soldiers shouted, but the Second Ascension powerhouses were already participating. The problem was that even they were being pushed back by the special summons who had also reached Level 200+. Obsidianis glanced to the side, her lips arching into a charming, devilish smile. She used a simple displacement skill.

"<Shadow Displacement>." One of the Level 200+ shouted, his face frantic.

"Behind you!" The woman who was cutting down one dark summon tried to turn around, but Obsidianis was quicker. Her scythe, carrying monstrous Darkness Aether mana, sliced vertically. SLASH! A gargantuan dark crescent split the void. Even in the dark space, the darkness was so deep that it was visible. The woman's eyes trembled, reaching out toward her teleportation device. Obsidianis knew and chuckled.

"I've already had far too many fishes escape. You are not one of them. <Sense Devouring>." Dark tendrils drilled into the woman's head, and the woman panicked, flailing around as if she were a child lost in a dark place. During that time, the damage from Obsidianis's attack exploded, making her body burst right down the middle and killing her instantly. The man who saw his companion die shouted angrily.

"You monster! I will take you down!" Obsidianis theatrically opened her arms wide with an evil grin.

"HAHA! Come! <Dark Curtain>!" While Obsidianis was tearing through everything with a grin, Seraphina's face was doing the same with a cold and solemn expression. Her body flashed forward, her greatsword lighting up and flashing far too swiftly for anyone to follow. With a step, her body flashed through space, appearing behind another as she slashed down with brutal strength and speed.

Moreover, with a single slice, the light aura seemed to extend beyond the initial range, reaching unsuspecting enemies and causing blinding numbers of damage. Even with the support of the fortresses, the Heavenly Willow's wives were not individuals that could be taken lightly. Much less when they fought together.