Torran looked around her, and she saw the total collapse of the army in front of her eyes as the World Tree's roots destroyed everything. She couldn't help but sigh while looking at the three Sylvan and one Rose Fairy Queen fighting her. "You've won."
Verdantia spoke softly, commanding her several plant summons to attack Torran. "It was clear the moment you tried attacking a World Tree."
Torran shook her head. "No. It wasn't clear. This World Tree is a bit special. Usually, I am able to lower their influence enough to reduce the threat against us until we are able to pierce through their domain. While we do have losses, we've conquered a Level 21 World Tree's land before and only lost 300 people in that battle."
Verdantia shook her head. "Why are you telling us this?"
Torran shrugged. "I am about to die, and after seeing this place, I kind of feel that this World Tree is different." She smiled and stopped attacking. "Well, I could at least live for a little over a hundred years. I was never a talented person, but I lived my life quite fully."
Cinderielle and the other three paused, and Torran turned to look at Tharn. She turned just at the right instant to see Wert cleaving his head off. "Goodnight, General."
Then, she looked over toward Vaya and saw Ophion opening his mouth wide and chomping down on the archer. She nodded. "Goodnight, Vaya."
Finally, she looked at Rhen, who was still sleeping while being under the control of the mothkin, and laughed. "Greth is probably done, so It seems that the brute will be the last of us to go. Quite ironic, I always thought he would be the first."
Tempestria spoke while waving her sword, looking at Torran with a neutral expression. "Do you think we will pity you if you act like this?"
Torran looked back at her and smiled. "You won't. But the fact that you allowed me to say goodbye shows that you are not feeling nothing." Her transformation disappeared, returning her to her usual shape, and she commented. "Well, go on."
Flor gathered her Aether Mana and created a powerful and lethal wind blade. "If you don't defend, this will be enough to decapitate you."
Torran nodded, and Flor shot her attack. The wind blade whistled and cleanly cut off the Sylvan's neck.
[Congratulations on defeating <Level 27 Vinelorn Greenbloom Sylvan (E+ Rank)>. You've gained 2235 Experience Points.]
Flor blinked. 'Wow, 2000 Experience Points. That's quite crazy.'
[Congratulations on satisfying a hidden condition. Would you like for your title, <Rose Fairy Monarch>, to evolve to <Flower Fairy Monarch>?]
Flor blinked a few times, looking at that message a few times over. 'This is not time-limited or something, right System?'
[It is not time-limited. You will have the option to change the title as long as you don't Level Up. You will lose the chance when you Level Up.]
"Great. I'll ask what the hidden condition is later."
With that sorted out, she looked around and checked the battlefield. Seeing that everyone was almost done and that Rhen was about to be woken up surrounded by Ophion, Mariane, Wert, Verdantia, Cinderielle, Tempestria, and Liu Shu, she approached them. Wert looked over and saw Flor approaching. Seeing the blood on her clothes, he smirked. "Doing well, aren't we, Queen Flor?"
Flor looked at Wert up and down and smirked. "Better than you, at least. Look at all that blood over there! Are you going to faint soon? "
Wert snorted. "I can lose another liter of blood before I even start to feel it!"
Flor rolled her eyes. "Braggart." Then, she looked at Mariane and asked. "So, what now?"
Mariane smiled. "Well, when he wakes up, he will go on a rampage with a lot of strength. His stats will probably increase by 50 percent for a short fifteen seconds before they go back to normal."
Liu Shu spoke softly. "If it is just fifteen seconds, I can keep him in check until then. I mean, he has around 1000 <Physique > points, but I have nearly 2000. He can't resist if I completely tie him down."
Mariane shrugged. "Up to you. You can do that whenever you want. We'll be here just in case."
Liu Shu's roots coiled around Rhen, and she squeezed hard. Rhen's eyes snapped open, and a massive roar escaped his mouth. "RELEASE ME!"
His strength skyrocketed as a consequence of Mariane's spell. However, when he pulled, trying to unlatch from the roots coiling around him, it was his body that came to a stop. Liu Shu hummed. "Not that strong! That's nice. Now, while he struggles there, do any of you want him for anything?"
Seeing Rhen's figure, which looked like an animal chained down by indestructible ropes, they couldn't help but sigh. Wert commented. "I don't think we need anything, right? We got all the information we needed as they came here. Just put him out of his misery."
Mariane giggled as she flew up. "Quite a sad way to go for a warrior like him. Completely immobilized and bound to become the prey of the World Tree~."
Seeing the mothkin leave, they all decided to ignore Rhen and start doing other things, like tidying up the battlefield.
Wert gave Rhen one last look as Liu Shu spoke. "Okay, then I will eat him!"
He shook his head and sighed. The land around Rhen moved, and he was buried alive, his roars and grunts becoming muffled and eventually disappearing.
Wert looked around the battlefield and spotted the injured Explorers. He approached and asked, "How's the situation? Are there any dead?"
The main healer, a middle-aged man, answered. "Yes, sir, we lost three people. However, the rest have barely received any injuries worth mentioning. With enough time, everyone will be back to normal."
Wert looked at the three people who died, confused. With how controlled the battlefield was, even if the frontlines were dangerous, there shouldn't have been any deaths. "How did they die?"
The healer approached the corpses of the two men and one woman and lifted the clothes covering them. Wert sighed. "It was that woman named Vaya, no?"
The healer nodded. "She is the one that took the most lives, a total of 27. Between her victims, there are 4 Rose Fairies, 8 Myconids, 12 Fire ants, and these three."
Wert crossed his arms and commented. "To be honest, that's much better than I expected. A Second Energy Cycle archer can make a slaughterhouse out of any army without Second Energy Cycle defenders."
The healer agreed. "These three were instant deaths, similar to all other of her victims."
Wert asked. "Anyone important between the victims of the other races?"
The healer shook his head. "No one remarkable… Well, between the Myconids, one of them seemed to have been a pregnant female."
Hearing the news, Wert was more flabbergasted than sad. He asked, baffled. "Ha? Why was she on the battlefield in the first place? Don't they know not to send pregnant women and children to fight?"
The healer shook his head. "They actually didn't know. They just sent everyone that could fight to an extent. While they don't speak much, they are a very loyal race, sir. When they heard that people were attacking the World Tree, every single adult over Level 10 came to the battlefield."
Wert rubbed his forehead and sighed. "A bunch of adorable fools, sigh."
The healer smiled faintly. "Agreed, sir. When they don't use those dangerous spores to attack you, they are, as sir said, a bunch of cute but foolish beings."
Wert pointed at the healer and stated, carrying a severe expression. "Remember to teach them to protect their own kind, okay? If they insist, use Liu Shu in one way or another to make them stop."
The healer nodded thoughtfully. "I will ask the clan's leader, Thallus, to have a meeting and teach them. Leave this to me, sir. They have actually saved our brothers and sisters more than once during this battle, so I am sure I can find many people to accompany me and convince them."
Meanwhile, Flor arrived at the place where the Rose Fairies had gathered and asked about similar things, receiving similar answers. Knowing that four Rose Fairies died, she couldn't help but sigh. "Remember to bury them in the Rose Fairy Garden so that our future generations can grow from them."
Amapola smiled. "That will be their honor, Queen."
Flor nodded and then looked at the notification from the system. "Amapola, do you know anything about a Flower Fairy Monarch?"
Amapola blinked and shook her head. "No, Queen. Why'd you ask?"
Flor scratched her head. "The system gave me a strange message. If you don't know anything, then don't worry. I'll go to ask Verdantia and the other Sylvans."
Amapola tilted her head. "Why not ask Liu Shu, Queen? She has gathered a lot of information, right?"
"You called me~?"
Flor couldn't even answer before she heard Liu Shu's voice. The Rose Fairy Queen laughed. "Yes, Liu Shu. Actually, do you know anything about a so-called <Flower Fairy Queen>?"
Liu Shu answered immediately. "Of course, I know! That would be your Queen, Flor!"
Flor blinked a few times, confused. "What do you mean?"
Liu Shu explained. "Rose Fairy Queen is just one of the many flower-based fairies. There are Poppy Fairies, Lily Fairies, Chrysanthemum Fairies, and many more! The <Flower Fairy Queen> is the Queen above all of them. But, well, it is somewhat of a legendary existence. No one has spotted one in almost all recorded history. The only reason people have her registered is because of system information."
Flor looked at the message again and muttered. "Wow. That's quite… Nice. I just got a message that I can have my title changed from <Rose Fairy Monarch> to <Flower Fairy Monarch>. Do I accept?"
"YES!"
Liu Shu answered enthusiastically. "That's one of the requisites to become a Flower Fairy Queen!"
Flor asked, curious. "What are the other ones?"
Liu Shu answered happily. "I don't know!"
Flor sighed. "Why do you sound happy when you don't know?"
Amapola laughed a little. "Cute."
"Hehehe. I am happy that you got that title! I heard that it can provoke a <Tier Up>! So, come here before you accept anything; I'll protect you."
Flor rubbed her chin and asked. "Liu Shu, is this title hereditary like my Rose Fairy Queen title?"
Liu Shu paused and commented. "Well… I don't know. The only things I know are the things I've told you. As I said, the Flower Fairy Queen is a legend. No one has ever seen one."
Flor pondered after hearing those words. "Hm… What if accepting this dooms the Rose Fairies to lose their queen? I managed to become the Rose Fairy Queen after so many generations. Losing that title now would be devastating for my race."
Liu Shu looked at Flor and couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed. "Your race won't change. You will still be the Rose Fairy Queen. After all, just a title is not enough to change your race."
Flor snorted. "You don't know that. I got my race changed before because of a title!"
Liu Shu answered with a little snort. "No! You got it changed because you discovered my identity as a World Tree."
Flor crossed her arms and sighed. "Let me think about it."
Liu Shu looked at Flor's face and decided to relent. She could sense that many things were going through the Rose Fairy Queen's head right now.