To say that he was baffled was an understatement. Carter had been looking at all the battlefields when suddenly, one of them started flashing rapidly. These flashes occurred when a 200+ powerhouse either died or used their life-saving dimensional teleportation device.
His eyes moved over. "This is where the enemy life-related Sylvan general is participating… What's happening here?"
He was muttering when he noticed lights going out one after another. Starships were destroyed, enemy signals inflated as if they wanted to become stars, and the estimate of how many soldiers remained on that battlefield began plummeting into free fall.
"...Urgently contact General Pardlon. Something has gone wrong on their front."
They quickly followed Carter's orders, but the only thing they received was one sentence.
"Berserker skill?"
Carter had seen it in the past. When some of the Golden Sap Empire soldiers were about to die, they would suddenly burst forth with tremendous strength for around one minute.
That was one of the reasons why it took so much effort to shave off their army numbers. The soldiers were just too resilient and powerful.
Defense, damage reduction, elemental resistance, soul protection… Each soldier seemed to be coated in those, and a small percentage, around 10%, were wrapped in a much sturdier aura.
"Troublesome…"
"Lord, General Pardlon's life signal has been cut. It seems that Strategic Class Sylvan: Life was the one who took his life."
Carter asked, confused. "He didn't activate his life-saving device?"
"He didn't. There are also no signals of the World-Type Mothership activating the self-destruct command."
Carter glanced at all the data with a heavy heart. "We've used so many resources, and we have only advanced to the very edge of the Ceperet Solar System. Moreover, none of the secondary Solar Systems have been captured… Now, one of them has been annihilated."
There were still survivors, but the remaining number was so pitiful that it could be marked as annihilation in a military report. Moreover, even as he thought, the survivors were further dropping at a vertiginous speed. 'At least, all the remaining 200+ powerhouses have left the area.'
Carter didn't blame them for fleeing. The situation on that side had clearly become unsalvageable.
"No victories yet…"
That was Carter's army's current state. They have been pushing Liu Shu's roots back, and they have advanced in terrain while taking enemy lives. Moreover, the people on his side were developing potions and other recovery agents and other items with the sap collected from Liu Shu's dead roots.
Nevertheless, there was no situation Carter could confidently say they had won. Even as they advanced, there was a sense of unease and incongruity he couldn't really put into words. It nagged at the back of his mind, but he just couldn't see anything wrong.
Shaking his head from distracting thoughts, Carter refocused on the matter at hand. "We completely lost that battlefront. What is the Covenant even doing?"
He had heard that Deadly Petal arrived. However, the World Tree stood still and did not attack. So, the Nexus was still bearing the full weight of the Golden Sap Empire's army.
"Lord, it seems that Deadly Petal and the Covenant are on a wait-and-see approach. Our spies will return in around two weeks and inform us of the current state."
"Two weeks…" A wry smile appeared at the edge of his lips. "To think I'd be waiting for the Covenant… What has become of me?"
But he had to admit, they needed the Golden Sap Empire to be distracted. Otherwise, their side would bear many more losses. Looking at the map, he pondered the Golden Sap Empire's next steps. 'Since they've achieved victory here, they will move to aid the nearest battlefield. That's… the one with the Strategic Class Sylvan: Light.'
Could he do something about it? Glancing at the main battlefield and the Corrupt Church's movements, Carter marked a few World-Type Motherships and moved them. It was an army of around 10 million combined. He even sent one of the three Silver Corrupt Elders.
"With this, they should manage to hold them back at least. Otherwise, they will snowball and cause even more damage than the absence of those groups."
Previously, it was not advisable to send people to help. While slowly being whittled down, Carter's army was undeniably advancing and approaching their objectives. So, creating imbalances just to tackle a secondary Solar System was stupid.
Now, though, things had changed. If he didn't react, they would be inevitably flanked as the Golden Sap Empire's outer armies gathered.
"Also, we need to spread out."
His fingers gently traced through the battlefield, sending visual commands to the generals on how to move.
They needed to divide the main battlefield into many more fronts. The side battlefields should also be separated into rotation-type battles to avoid the utility of the enemy's berserk skill.
'Something that increases strength by so much should, without a doubt, cause strain. I should consider that the Strategic Class Sylvan: Life can't use it again.'
Carter's battlefield awareness was high, and with his commands, the Nexus's army moved like a living creature, taking new shapes and causing Zaros quite a few headaches.
Meanwhile, Zaros sat in one of the control rooms within the Mothership-class starship, observing Carter's movements. "...He acted exactly as Lady Heavenly Willow predicted."
Zaros had an inkling, but his foresight was not as good as Liu Shu's. After all, Liu Shu was a World Tree who could observe everything with her own eyes, not through screens.
"Commander Zaros, what should we do? At this pace, we might create weak battlefronts."
An advisor asked, and Zaros pondered. The reason their battlefronts were so easily controlled was that they had strategic-class powerhouses acting as spearheads.
"We must move the elite Arboreal Serpent armies to meet them. Since they are spreading out, the burden on our strategic-class powerhouses will lessen. The Arboreal Winged Serpents can fill out their vacancies in the new battlefronts."
"Zaros, I have a suggestion."
The gentle yet ethereal voice of the World Tree resonated in the room, acting as a source of tranquility. Just hearing that sentence made some people gently squint their eyes in comfort.
"How about I send the World Legion instead of the Arboreal Winged Serpents?"
Zaros pondered and asked. "What's your reason?"
"The Corrupt Church is far too preoccupied with me. However, when they appear, their presence will cause a stir. Carter will probably think…"
***
Carter looked at the report coming from one of the new battlefronts he created and then looked up at the person who delivered it. "...Are you trying to mess with me, Lady Satlina?"
Satlina answered with a serious expression, even though her back was soaked in cold sweat. "I-I am not, Lord Carter."
Carter glanced at the report again and repeated the specific words that startled him. "Four Legions of thirteen to fourteen World Trees have appeared in the new battlefronts and completely halted the army… is that correct?"
Even as he asked, there was a trace of confusion and also fear in his words. What he just read felt as if it came from one of the reports he once read from higher-level civilizations.
While higher-level civilizations had their own Main World Trees, their overwhelming strength allowed them to keep a few lower-level World Trees to help them. It was like how Balaya acted, but on a much larger scale.
So, in higher-level battlefields, both sides having several World Trees to support the front lines was not an out-of-the-ordinary event.
But the problem was that this wasn't a high-level battlefield that stretched for several dozen to hundreds of light-years. It was a rather small battlefield that barely stretched for three to four light-years.
In such a small battlefield, the presence of more than three or four World Trees could be considered a cluttered space. Yet, now the report was telling Carter that there were over 50 World Trees fighting together with the Golden Sap Empire.
"...How?"
This was as ordinary as seeing two magnets' south poles touching without external force intervention. It was basically an impossible event.
His mind hurt for a second, but he couldn't wail or break here. So, even when the report spoke of an impossibility, he swallowed his doubts and began ordering people what to do next.
"First, contact the Corrupt Church. Tell them to send 20% of their remaining numbers and one Silver Corrupt Elder to any of those battlefields. If this is true, then it is also a chance for us. I refuse to believe that each and every World Tree in this report has outrageous resistances comparable to the Heavenly Willow. If we can corrupt a few of them, we can flip the battlefield around."
"Lord Carter, wouldn't the enemy have anticipated this move?"
Carter nodded. "They will, but what else can we do? Our only option is to bite and react to whatever they are planning."
Truly and honestly, Carter had no other option. The enemy had basically stuck out their cheek and asked to be hit. Otherwise, they were going to strike first. Even if the provocation was straightforward, you had no other option but to strike the offered cheek and hope for the best.
"Have the Arboreal Winged Serpents reappeared?"
This was something that happened around a week or two ago. The Arboreal Winged Serpents, as if recalled by something, had been struck simultaneously by a green beam and absorbed back.
According to experts, the time-limit for summoning those monsters had run out. Carter was not too surprised. To summon 500 of such elite monsters for over a year was, honestly, beyond any summoning spell Carter had seen in his life.
Even if the spell allowed it, the anima-consumption to keep the summons anchored to their dimension should've been far too straining for any being, World Trees included.
What Carter didn't know was that Liu Shu's summoning consumption reduction, after her Willpower reached almost 50 million through buffs, became 99%. In short, Liu Shu's strain was comparable to that of summoning 5 Arboreal Winged Serpents, not 500.
Meanwhile, the female Silver Corrupt Elder was moving while reading the reports. The handsome and short Corrupt Elder had gone to stop Verdantia and Seraphina, while the elderly one was leading the Corrupt Church against Liu Shu.
"...So many pests."
The woman's face was crumpled in disgust. For her, World Trees were even more disgusting than insects. Upon receiving a report of so many gathered in one place, she got goosebumps.
"Once I cleanse them, they will return to normal."
Her face was cold as she stood up and moved toward a ritual area. "Is everything building up well?"
"Yes, Lady Corrupt Elder. Once we arrive, we will be able to release the
The female Silver Corrupt Elder nodded indifferently. She already knew perfectly what kind of effect that array had. It was very situational, but at the same time, very powerful. An array that spread small bundles of corruption to all nearby World Trees, but with a catch.
Each of those bundles was different and reacted like volatile chemical ingredients if the presence of another bundle was nearby. It was an array created for battlefields where several World Trees battled each other, and once used, all of them would either become corrupted or be heavily injured.
As the woman's lips arched in delight, imagining what was about to happen, someone shouted.
"Large energy signal ahead!"
Looking at the screens, the female Silver Corrupt Elder noticed a gaping, green maw opening and spewing not 500, but 121 Arboreal Winged Serpents. Among them was a white-and-red serpent, its glowing green snake eyes gleaming coldly, and its massive wings spreading out.