Chapter 60. Wave of Beasts.

The traps, though effective, were not numerous. It wasn't due to a lack of time, as news of the invasion had reached them days ago. The challenging terrain was the culprit, making the construction of these tools a laborious task.

Even then, they managed to cut down the numbers a bit, killing around 40 creatures, a mix of low-level creatures. While it wasn't much, every point of Aether Mana counted in a battle of this scale.

Flor's voice boomed with urgency. "Prepare the spells! Remember the training and target each creature with precision! If you don't have Aether Mana, retreat and try to recover as much as possible with the berries and other items in the storage!"

Flor looked at Cinderielle and asked her. "Do a starting blow. When you transform, your Aether Mana recovery is incredibly high, right? You have leeway to waste a bit right now on low-level mobs."

Cinderielle didn't hesitate much. She lifted her staff and concentrated on the energy filling her body. Like a snake coiling upward, it gathered in the tip of her staff, and then she launched a concentrated sphere of Fire Aether Mana.

The sphere hurtled forward, its path marked by a trail of destruction, until it collided with the enemy a bit further than a hundred meters away, causing a terrifying explosion.

BOOM!

The explosive Aether Mana ignited a large area in an instant, getting Cinderielle's mind to ring with notifications. Of course, she quickly ignored them, like everyone was used to do during battle. Only on close one-against-one was it useful to follow the notifications closely to see where the enemy was weak and where they were strong.

Following the powerful attack, Flor shouted. "Attack!"

Ignatia at her side created a vibrating sound with her throat that sounded like the clicking of mandibles while her body spread pheromones around to command the 100 ants.

All of them came from her as their mother, so they had similar attack methods. The one hundred ants and the Rose Fairies charged their attack, creating a barrage of projectiles that quickly crossed the distance between both armies. 

However, while doing so, Level 10s suddenly rushed forward and used their attacks against the barrage.

BOOM!

A large part of the attacks were blocked by the Level 10s, leaving behind several marks on their bodies that reduced their hp by a small part. Still, for the damage that it would've caused otherwise, it was a cheap price to pay.

Flor saw a few ants about to charge forward and shouted hurriedly. "Ignatia, hold! Let them get closer to Liu Shu!"

Ignatia quickly created more piercing clicking sounds and the 100 ants moved backward together with the Rose Fairies.

Flor's eyes focused on the level 10s at the helm and she muttered. "A little bit more, a little bit closer…"

Her senses sharpened, her body tensed, and the second she saw the Earth move slightly, her pupils constricted, and her voice boomed. "NOW!"

Right in that instant, the land below many creatures burst into a dirt explosion as powerful roots raised and impaled several creatures. One of the Level 10s, a snake-like being, managed to dodge the surprise attack. However, the roots were much more agile than they appeared to be and quickly coiled around its body.

The Level 10's body was sturdy, so the constricting strength of Liu Shu was clearly not enough. However, as he struggled, he felt his spine shuddering and quickly looked sideways, only to see a pair of red eyes looking at him with a terrifyingly cold expression. Moreover, these pair of murderuous eyes were right by his side as a tender and slim petite hand reached out for his neck.

With incredible reflexes, he moved backward. However, as if the snake was Flor's hand and not himself, she managed to follow his dodging path and land her hand with a dry sound of skin colliding.

[-100]

The snake was confused. 'So weak-'

WHOOSH!

SLASH!

The head of the Level 10 flew high up, and Flor's Aether Mana plummeted by 1500 points, infused in a massively strong wind blade that shot ahead and killed three more creatures before it deviated, of course, into the sky.

The other Level 10s were stunned as they saw one of them die as soon as the battle started. Before, when protecting their army from the massive rain of attacks, not all of them had rushed forward—only three of them: one snake-like being, a bear-like creature, and a feline creature.

Wasting no time, those two rushed toward Flor with the intention of fighting them when they heard a loud roar. "FLOR! FIGHT ME!"

However, the Rose Fairy Queen ignored Froorar, who was charging toward her and retreated backward at the same speed she rushed forward.

The humans had not expected their strongest combatant to suddenly rush head-first into the middle of an army of enemy creatures and decapitate one of their strongest combatants. However, that made a rush of adrenaline and excitement rush up their bodies. Not only them but also the rest of them were boosted in their morale as Flor perfectly took advantage of the opportunity created by Liu Shu's attack.

Right then, the battlefield was suddenly submerged in an ancient and heavy aura as the World Tree stopped hiding her nature.

Tianlian Liu Shu was angry. Extremely so. From her birth, while there have been people attacking her from time to time, she always knew that it was a coincidence to cross paths and, therefore, be attacked. While annoying, that was life. She wanted those people, and if they ignored her warning, she would kill them.

However, this was the first time that she was personally targeted. She could feel deep inside that they were targeting her.

The River beavers were as such, and Liu Shu slaughtered them all for that reason. This time, it wasn't just one race but a coalition of races guided by several leaders.

The significance of a single race being pushed by their leader and a group of creatures deciding that she was to be killed was different.

As a World Tree, a creature bound to be an overlord, the thing that she hated the most instinctually was when other creatures did not respect her existence.

World Trees, peaceful creatures for all but other aggressive flora in their domain, wished to spread their branches and evolve with the world around them. They wanted to become one with everything and overlook and guard their domains.

Her voice, cold and sounding much more mature than usual, uttered with terrifying coldness. 'You want to kill me so badly? Good. I'm going to inject fear into your veins.'

[Do you want to use 326 Experience Points to Increase <Willow Strike (F Rank Max Level)> to <Willow Strike (F+ Rank Level 1)>?]

'Yes.'

[Congratulations! You've successfully strengthened <Willow Strike>!]

<Willow 1 Strike (F+ Rank level [0 1200])>: The World Tree is from a willow family, with characteristic long but thin branches. She can use Aether Mana to move them and strike a target with tremendous force. Range from 25-->35 meters.

The creatures, who had already closed in enough to enter her increased attack range, didn't expect the tree's branches to come alive and extend the range suddenly.

However, the attacks weren't done entirely with her physical branch; an ethereal extension of her branch with the same hardness and strength as the actual branch was created with superb Aether Mana and Anima Energy control, extending far the range of whatever her branches should be able to hit.

BANG!

The Level 9 bear hit by the branch was instantly killed as its head shattered like a watermelon being hit by a metal bat.

However, that was just the beginning.

<Willow strike>!

BANG!

'Die and become my fertilizers.'

<Willow strike>!

BANG!

'Your attempts at killing me..'

<Willow strike>!

BANG!

'… will only make me grow.'

<Willow strike>!

BANG!

'Stronger.'

<Willow strike>!

BANG!

'Faster.'

<Willow strike>!

BANG!

'Taller.'

<Willow strike>!

BANG!

'Sturdier.'

Sacrifice after sacrifice, the Beast Tide closed the distance between them. At the same time, the high-level beings and the Level 9 humans fought together in another part of the field, not much further away than the place where the ants and rose fairies held off the Beast Tide inside Liu Shu's attack range.

Cinderielle, while transformed, fought off the two Level 11s, one of them being Froorar, while Flor exchanged blows with the enemy Level 12.

Froorar very much wanted to fight Flor and kill her, but Cinderielle was holding him off with her brutal firepower. He had a sizeable charred part on his chest because he had become distracted for a second, allowing Cinderielle a clean hit that sliced almost half of his Phoer Body Shards. 

The remaining 4 Level 10s were fighting against the four Level 9 humans and Ignatia.

The Level 10s were much stronger at a raw level. However, Ignatia, Robert, and the others were ordinary humans; they had equipment. Even if it was low level and the stats weren't really enough to completely breach the distance, holding them back was not much of a problem. This gave Ignatia breathing room to whittle them down slowly.

While the Level 10s fought, Liu Shu aimed for all the Level 9s that entered her attack range, killing them all with one hit, one after another.

These creatures had no chance of retaliating as Liu Shu slaughtered them one after another. The death of the powerful enemies was a massive relief for the top-level Rose Fairies and ants.

Moreover, some beasts that managed to kill their ant enemies by pure number advantage managed to get much closer. However, getting closer to the World Tree was not as good of an idea as they thought.

Aether Mana and Anima Energy rushed along her body as she activated her every attack skill without caring about the consumption.

Pure anger was expelled outward in the shape of a storm of branch attacks and roots entangling left and right. Moreover, the World Tree was using its advantage of analyzing the enemies to aim for all the high levels.

Level 9s and Level 8s were slaughtered one after another as the branches wildly danced around Liu Shu's imposing body.

Inside Liu Shu's mind, only cold indifference remained as some creatures managed to reach her trunk and attack her.

What these beasts didn't know was that Liu Shu's body was even sturdier than the average Level 10. Her Physique stat might've not been as high, but her Physique Resistance was 42%. That meant that almost half of the attack's strength was virtually cut in half by her powerful bark as long as they weren't too high level.

Some Level 6s that attacked her even damaged themselves while attacking her, dealing more damage to themselves than they did to her.