The frontlines of the Nexus stopped advancing. They noticed that, while they were hurting the Golden Sap Empire's numbers, they were losing far too many people.
During the first few weeks of combat, they killed about 8% of the enemies but lost about 10% of their own people. The difference didn't look large, but they had to take the raw numbers into account. It was a loss of around 2 million, in exchange for over 25 million on their side. Moreover, since the difference in numbers was high, many from the Golden Sap Empire were Leveling Up as the battle continued, increasing their strength.
If they continued fighting as they were, the Golden Sap Empire would eventually snowball and destroy them.
Carter looked at everything with a cold, calculating gaze. "The problem is not the individuals. It's their top combatants."
He had painfully noticed during the clashes that both sides were using military tactics perfectly. Carter needed to admit that the enemy commander was worthy of recognition. However, that was not enough to breach the gap in their numbers and starships.
So, what kept the Golden Sap Empire from collapsing and being trampled? Their top combatants.
On all fronts, where any of Liu Shu's wives or the Arboreal Winged Serpents appeared, there was bound to be a certain loss. Sometimes a big loss; other times, just being pushed back.
Regardless, the problem remained the same. Wherever they appeared, all chances of victory would disappear. "I've even tried to use separation tactics. However, the moment they are cornered, the Heavenly Willow intervenes. I even asked the Corrupt Church members, and they told me that they had taken advantage during those times. But the price is not worth paying."
In the nine encirclement ambush tactics he successfully launched, Carter had lost over 2 million soldiers each time from Liu Shu's rampage. It was clear that the World Tree's attachment toward her wives was much higher than he expected.
"This is both good and bad news."
The bad news was that the World Tree's action became somewhat unpredictable and less World Tree-like when those people were involved. The good news was that the Heavenly Willow's weakness became apparent.
"...If we could capture even one of them, things might be easier."
But, with their current methods, that wish was nothing but a fantasy. The other side was not stupid. Carter had noticed that the enemy commander was subtly protecting the important people even at the cost of their side's deaths.
It was because of this protection that they managed to rack up as many as 2 million deaths from the enemy. Around 30% of those deaths were caused to subtly protect the core members.
One might think that their methods were not proper and that those members should act more cautiously, but if they did that, the Golden Sap Empire's army would be pushed back instead of them.
Yes, protecting their slightly reckless actions carried a cost. However, the return on investment was far too profitable.
"What's worse is the state of the Corrupt Church members." He opened a few holographic windows in front of him and scanned them quickly, the star map constantly showing the battlefield simulation in real-time.
Glancing back and forth, a sigh escaped him. "How can the Heavenly Willow attack so frequently with large area-of-effect skills?"
It was no joke. Each time the aurora-like radiance bloomed, the whole army's power reserves would plummet for a while. If the Nexus and Corrupt Church didn't have many healing experts, that aurora-like skill alone would've been enough to cause a catastrophe.
Wide-area-of-effect healing and regeneration formations were basic when fighting these large-scale wars. Even if the effect was something as pitiful as 100 cores per minute, that could amount to an army-wide healing of around 1.44 Phoer Stars per day.
This passive regeneration, when multiplied by the millions of individuals in the army, paid off tremendously, lessening the burden on the army's healers.
There was one problem, though. Carter murmured, his brows locking up slightly. "I can't find a breaching point."
The battle had reached a stalemate. Compared to the many deaths that occurred during the first week, both armies had come to understand each other and were now fighting with tactics aimed at preventing casualties. So, around 60% of the deaths occurred during the first week, while the rest occurred over the following few weeks.
"The heaviest casualties have come from the group I least wanted to see deaths from, though."
To say that the Corrupt Church was struggling was a euphemism. Liu Shu's offense against them was brutal enough that Carter always flinched each time he read the reports. For instance, the times a Silver Corrupt Elder had been at the very edge of dying were so numerous that he expected it to appear in the reports one or twice a week.
Those were top-combatants with top equipment and terrifying stats! And yet, if they even did as little as lose concentration, the Heavenly Willow had shown that she had the means to kill them within a few seconds.
The one who came closest to death, the short and handsome Corrupt Elder, had once been reduced to a few tens of Phoer Stars. With his almost 300 stars, his state was nothing less than almost seeing the other side of the river.
"Hm…?"
As he was receiving reports, one of them caught his attention, and his lips arched. "Finally here. I wonder how things will develop now."
***
Liu Shu frowned slightly. Her current strength was high. Extremely high. From the battle against the Nexus, Liu Shu had already assessed her own fighting power, and it was nothing less than terrifying.
But the enemy had also shown that it was not easy to defeat.
At first, she had been holding back slightly. Not much, but just enough to lure them in without startling them. But after the fights started on all fronts and she needed to divide her attention, Liu Shu came to find just how difficult it was to use her strength so widely.
There were arrays that absorbed her damage and spread it out, thinning it to acceptable levels. There was runic equipment that could block damage from specific sources. She even checked and noticed some anti-World Tree equipment. These defensive clothes could reduce damage by percentages from World Tree sources.
"It's bothersome."
As she controlled her roots in one area to open space for her army, she had to use a wide-area-of-effect catastrophe on another battlefield to stabilize it. Then, her attention needed to focus on the Corrupt Church so that their corruption methods would not snowball out of control. On top of all the above, Liu Shu was slowly deciphering the arrays the Nexus was using. And, as if all those things were not enough, Liu Shu made sure that an
Those were the main tasks. Liu Shu was still constantly carrying out many small tasks, her brain burning from effort. It was at this moment that Liu Shu noticed something lacking.
"I am small."
She had never, in her entire life, thought that those words would flash in her mind except when she compared herself with celestial bodies or vast concepts like galaxies or the universe.
"I am too strong for my size."
If she were a World Tree that spanned several dozen stars, Liu Shu would actually have much more leisure acting in different places. It was ironic, but the reason was how a World Tree "thought."
A human used their brain and nervous system to think. It was quite clear that the rest of the body, without being connected to the brain, would just die off, not knowing what to do.
For a World Tree, the "brain and nervous system" was her roots and main body.
Her main body lacked nothing. Even for a Level 300 World Tree, Liu Shu's current height could be considered high. World Trees grew exponentially, but it seemed that the coefficient for Liu Shu and other World Trees was just in another dimension.
For instance, a
Her current height was slightly over 10,000,000 meters. That was 10,000 kilometers (6,200~ miles), larger than most rocky worlds, and almost larger than Ceperet itself.
Her size was large even among
So, in terms of "core processing power," or the main "brain," Liu Shu was more than satisfied. The problem was her roots. They lacked reach to fully utilize Liu Shu's "brainpower."
It was as if her nervous system was overwhelmed by her thinking power. As if her canals of thought were far too thin to process the brutal flow of information her brain could gather.
In the entire history of the Cosmos, Liu Shu was probably one of the first World Trees to experience anything of the like. This stifling feeling was the thing causing Liu Shu the most problems.
Looking at her ternary essence reserves constantly regenerating, Liu Shu took a deep breath and continued focusing. Even if it hurt her mind, she wouldn't stop. Everything could be trained, and Liu Shu also had mind-related
As she was maintaining the balance of the battlefield, Liu Shu's outer roots noticed a vast presence. 'Already here?'
Checking the date, it had been quite a while since she made the last contact with Deadly Petal. 'Time flies when you are busy.'
It had felt like a few weeks, but since the Nexus launched the attack, a few years had passed already. "Even with the time distortion, they are already here…"
Liu Shu looked around and decided to prepare. Depending on how the Covenant reacted, she was about to change tactics, even if it meant letting a few fish slip past her net.
While controlling the battlefield, Liu Shu managed to separate part of her mind to go and welcome the new arrival.
"You've arrived."
Liu Shu's voice carried through the void, reaching Deadly Petal and her army. Combined with the Covenant army residing in the two Covenant Solar Systems, their numbers were only below those of the Nexus, but far above theirs.
Deadly Petal's usual sneering voice reached her. It was not a true sneer; it just sounded like that. "That's right, we are here."
Even when Liu Shu knew that Deadly Petal's tone was just like that when speaking normally, her roots couldn't help but twitch slightly in both annoyance and amusement.
"Deadly Petal, the Nexus is currently attacking me. Are you going to join hands with them to take me down?"
She had used several Aether and Anima essence stars even to make her voice boom in the Covenant's solar systems. It was possible because, since the Covenant couldn't really attack her roots, her domain had encroached slowly but surely to the point that her roots were about to reach their worlds.
Their Solar Systems were Liu Shu's in everything but name. They were just occupying them. Of course, if Liu Shu were to truly reach out, the Covenant would gain a perfectly valid casus belli and start their war against her. So, for now, she was still at a respectful distance away. Yet, making her voice reach them all was not a problem.
When the residents in those worlds heard her, they were confused. No matter what propaganda the Covenant had used to demonize Liu Shu, the fact that the Covenant was even considering taking part in attacking a World Tree together with the Nexus was unthinkable.
Namue and the other leaders of the Covenant were at first bewildered. When it sank in, their expressions crumpled slightly. 'Why was I not told that this World Tree could do political maneuvering!?'