The battlefield's situation quickly degenerated. With Liu Shu's buffs, her time domain skills, and the 53 World Trees led by Warlya, the other side was quickly overwhelmed.
Their numbers were still high, a war of around 18 million against 2.1 million. Even then, each World Tree was a force strong enough to overwhelm thousands.
Warlya's giant sword flashed with speed unfit for her size, her body moving through the battlefield and crushing everything. She, with height enough to dwarf mountains and even some starships, was like an invincible war goddess.
What was worse was that Warlya's defenses had reached ridiculous levels thanks to the Darkness Chaos Titles. Moreover, Verdantia was following closely behind her, healing energies pouring onto the core 153 individuals: The World Trees and Arboreal Winged Serpents.
The enemy general looked across the few battle fronts he had divided his people into, his face pale. The deaths were racking at a few hundred to a few thousand per second. Even if he had over 18 million people, it would disappear within hours!
What was worse was that the other side had, for some reason, become absolute monsters. This was the result of one of Liu Shu's many blessings: the
Among its many effects, there was one the soldiers were prohibited from using unless it was a matter of life and death. This blessing could only be activated when Verdantia, the leader, gave the go-ahead.
Verdantia's voice boomed across the entire battlefield. "Oh, Eternal Heavenly Willow. Look over us and give us strength."
Liu Shu answered her prayer.
The void shook and Liu Shu's phantom figure manifested in the middle of the void. Their simultaneous use of the blessing's skill managed to create an image of Liu Shu's World Tree body overlooking the entire battlefield.
Her figure, much larger than even her main body, seemed to look down from above like a divine being glancing at mortals. Then, from her all-encompassing branches, light fell and settled within the army, World Trees, and Arboreal Winged Serpents.
***
Once a month, you can call forth the spirit of 'Him/Her' whom you worship. All
***
So, how many stats were 20% of Liu Shu's current numerical values? Rounding it, each individual gained 23,000,000 stats in each of their three main stats, and around 9,140,000 Willpower. Of course, very, very few managed to receive the whole amount; most got from five to ten million stats. Even then, that was more than enough.
In a matter of seconds, the army of over 2 million transformed, no, ascended.
It was only one minute, but during this minute, Liu Shu's army changed from 2 million soldiers to an equivalent of 2 million Star Emperors.
In that minute, absolute hell was unleashed. Verdantia included, everyone rushed forward as if they had infinite lives.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Space rippled, elemental, soul, and summoning spells blooming one after another. Those physical rushed forward like meteors, and together with Liu Shu's
18 million… 17 million… 15 million… 13 million…
Death, after death, after death. Swords sliced through armor, spears destroyed shields, elemental spells scorched and froze the battlefield.
Even in the void, where no sound should've been able to transmit, everyone had the illusion of being deafened by a myriad of catastrophic attacks.
The general screamed, his eyes almost bulging out of his eye sockets. "W-What!? WHAT IS HAPPENING! STOP THEM! WHY IS EVERYONE DYING!? STOP THEM!"
Over two million Star Emperors crushed the battlefield, each of them taking a life every few seconds on average.
11 million… 9.5 million… 8.3 million…
"STOP THEM! I SAID STOP THEM!"
Composure? Would anyone be able to stay calm in their current situation? Be it the World Trees, Arboreal Winged Serpents, or the Soldiers, each one of them was steamrolling absolutely everything in their path with no signs of slowing down.
7.7 million… 6.8 million… 6.4 million…
After one minute, due to distance issues, everyone felt their strength return to "normal," the high of that moment still pumping through their blood. The enemies remaining after their rampage were a little over 6 million.
When their armies differed 10 to 1, it was difficult for the Nexus to keep the status quo; with their current numbers, the only choice was pure demise.
If the battlefield had been more compact, that one minute might've been enough to annihilate the entire enemy army.
Liu Shu had observed everything with a faint smile on her lips. Even after the effects were gone, the morale and momentum had not stopped in the slightest. For the Nexus, the current Golden Sap Empire soldiers and ants were devils. Absolutely terrifying individuals whom they dared not fight.
"E-Escape!"
"I can't do this! What kind of monsters are they!?"
"D-Dont kill me! Sob, please don't kill me!"
"AHHH!!! GET AWAY FROM ME!"
There was no mercy, though. Verdantia, having used the complete buff from the
BOOM!!
The general turned around because of the loud sound. There, where a large, reinforced door should've been, was an over three meter tall Sylvan with vines, plants, and flowers moving around her. The incredibly tall Sylvan looked at them, her green eyes flowing with life and ruthlessness.
"Surrender or die."
The only reason for those words was the very low chance of getting more starships out of the deal. Killing these people was not as profitable as that. Moreover, her soldiers were still rampaging outside.
The general was terrified. He had been to many battlefields. He had even seen Balaya's roots and fought in wars close by. So, he had thought that he would not be intimidated by a Sylvan.
However, the individual whose height forced him to look straight up just to meet her eyes caused his legs to tremble and lose strength.
Even as a Level 275 powerhouse, he felt powerless. "Y-You… Are you a
His voice was trembling badly. Verdantia frowned for a second. "Ah… You are asking if I am Level 300+? Sadly, that's not the case."
Her staff waved, and every single person was tied down by her vines. "If that were the case..." Verdantia's green eyes glowed frostily. "I would've already barreled into the Nexus's capital to destroy everything."
The general looked at her and laughed hollowly. "Truly… I can't understand it. Why has someone like you and those other monsters appeared so suddenly? Sadly… This is your grave."
"
As he spoke those words with certainty, Liu Shu's voice tore through distance itself and boomed all around the battlefield. Verdantia was not stupid; she quickly attacked with a series of vine lances, whips, and other attacks.
After six seconds passed, Liu Shu spoke again, hammering down the verdict for those who dared to threaten her lover. "
RRIPPP!!
[You've received fatal damage!]
[You've received fatal damage!]
[You've received fatal damage!]
[You've received fatal damage!]
,,,
Everyone in the deck died, their bodies bursting from within. Verdantia spoke with an apologetic expression. "Sorry, love. I got overconfident."
Neither Liu Shu nor Verdantia knew what the man had planned, but they prevented it just in case. As Verdantia searched the place and Liu Shu manifested a few roots to hijack the local network, Liu Shu answered. "Be careful, love. They are tricky opponents until they are completely neutralized. So, do not let your guard down again… Found it."
Seeing the information, Liu Shu sighed with a frown. "As expected, he was talking about self-destruction. The thing is, the self-destruction for World-Type Motherships is much more brutal and powerful. Even with your current stats, you would've had a hard time escaping unscathed."
Verdantia joked a little to ease the mood. "As long as I am not dead, I can heal myself back to perfection~."
A root smacked her forehead.
"Ouch!"
"Don't be silly. Think how you would feel if I were to take something like this head on and then speak."
Verdantia nodded, rubbing her forehead. "You are right, love. Sorry for that."
Liu Shu spoke softly. "I've managed to take over a few, but around 90% of the starships have self-destructed during our one-minute advance. Either way, clean up the place and leave the starships alone. I will gather them myself with my roots later. Instead, move quickly. I have prevented some information from leaking after hijacking this network."
"Some…" Verdantia frowned. "That means that he managed to send something?"
Liu Shu nodded. "It's admirable. Even when he was panicking, he sent a small message. It reads: The enemy has a collective berserker power-up. Be careful."
Nothing extra was sent, but this information was enough for the other sides to prepare. How do you prepare for a short-term, intense power-up? Space your army. Even if the other side uses it, they can't do much if they are unable to reach their objectives within the stipulated time.
Moreover, since Verdantia arrived right after the skill wore off, the general couldn't send any extra information. Usually, collective berserker skills left you weakened after use. So, in a way, it was something they could use to their advantage.
Verdantia asked, worried. "Love. How are you doing against the Corrupted Church?"
Liu Shu answered her. Even if she couldn't check the entire battlefield, she had left part of her focus with each important person. As long as those few spoke to her, Liu Shu was able to answer them instantly.
Liu Shu glanced at those annoying people. "I've killed around 17% of them. However, they are annoying. The number of large-scale arrays they have is not few, and they are grinding down my defenses through them. If it were a frontal assault, I would've crushed them already, but there are far too many battle fronts I am keeping track of."
Verdantia chuckled. "Your Ascension is doing good work, isn't it?"
"It really is."
Liu Shu had to admit that the Eternal Axis path was playing an incredibly important part in this war. Without it, her roots would've been unearthed plenty of times, and her domain's integrity would've been in danger as well.
While she still had some lingering regrets about the Etheral Ascension path, her heart felt more at ease with her choice.
"Alright, love. I'll leave these ghost starships to you. I will go clean up, reorganize, and move to the nearest battlefield, which is…"
Liu Shu answered. "Seraphina's battlefield."
"Understood."