Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Liu Shu had been quite calm during all this time. When Aster arrived and spoke with Clavel about one of the Rose Fairies dying, she didn't feel sad or upset. While she felt it was something she wouldn't like to happen, the intrinsic nature of Tianlian Liu Shu, a World Tree, treated death as something that was natural to happen.

But accepting didn't mean not caring. You can accept someone's death, but you can also retaliate against those who killed them.

From accepting someone's death to forgiving the perpetrator, there was a very big change in mentality that needed to happen.

So, Liu Shu waited. Her <World Tree Eye> was stretched to the limit, which reached 80 meters after she leveled up and expanded her roots.

She had already moved her roots far enough that other trees had become a problem. However, Liu Shu was not hasty in comforting those trees. From what she had learned from the momentary contact with them, they weren't intelligent, and their thoughts were much slower and more superficial than hers. It reminded Liu Shu of how she was before she absorbed that strange leaf.

Regardless, after expanding her reach to 80 meters, Liu Shu waited. Patiently seeing everything around her and trying not to miss a single thing. She could tell from the vibrations of the ground that people were fighting.

Even then, Liu Shu wasn't in a rush. Calmly, patiently, and attentively, the World Tree waited. She waited for her chance to eventually interfere.

This chance arrived not long later. She saw that Amapola left when a Level 5 Rose Fairy arrived, probably because of something the fairy said. Then, about 4 minutes later, Clavel returned, injured, accompanied by the same amount of Rose Fairies as before she left.

It wasn't just Clavel. Every Rose Fairy that had gone out to fight quickly returned, some with wounds, others with a lack of mana.

Liu Shu looked around at the injured bunch with a pondering expression. The rest of the Rose Fairies had gone into hiding inside the <Lignified Vault>. It was probably the safest place around here. Not only was it perfectly hidden underground, but it was also strengthened by Liu Shu's natural defenses.

Liu Shu heard Amapola talk. "Now, we'll fight together with Liu Shu. Queen Flor told me that in case of a situation where we can't push off invaders, it is best to collaborate with her. You should know that while Liu Shu is Level 3, she is really strong and durable. Unless a Level 10 appears, it won't be easy to deal enough damage to her."

While Phoer Body Shars were what showed a creature's vitality, size also mattered. If an ant the size of a thumb bit an elephant, there wasn't actual "minimum" damage one could do.

So, the ant could gnaw at the elephant for all its life, and even then, it wouldn't be able to do anything to it. Even piercing the skin would be challenging.

So, Liu Shu, who had reached 5 meters in height and had a thicker-than-usual trunk, had very strong defenses. There was one thing that she didn't forget, though. Thornstride seemed to have skills to help them reduce the defense of trees.

After Amapola closed the defensive line to ten meters around Liu Shu, they waited. Thornstride swarmed out in droves from all sides, quickly filling the surroundings with their numbers.

If we just counted the fighting fairies, the situation was 23 against 18.

Mraar hissed in annoyance. "I wanted to pick you all one by one, but it seems that it will be impossible."

Amapola snorted. "Are you so eager to die that you've rushed forward until here?"

Mraar shook her head. "You are the ones that will die together with that tree over there. After I eat it, I'm sure I'll have enough experience to become the next Level 10 of our clan!"

Amapola looked around and sneered. "Try it. We are waiting here."

The 18 Thornstride rushed ahead, but Mraar saw something strange. Instead of moving forward, too, they hovered back and prepared spells. 'Do they really think we are slow enough not to be able to dodge that?'

As she expected, the first volley was easy to dodge, and only the lowest-level Thornstrides were hit. Amapola, who was aiming at Mraar, also missed.

Having gained confidence from this, Mraar, who lacked deep planning and intelligence, snorted and decided to roar as a sign of encouragement for the rest of the 18 beasts.

"I don't know what they are doing, but this will make it easier to attack the tree! Go forward!"

The Rose Fairies look at them with a deep look, hiding their expression and waiting patiently. After a few moments, the Thornstrides were finally 20 meters away from Liu Shu, and as if the World Tree had been waiting for a while, it moved with absurd swiftness.

<Willow Strike (F Rank level 1 [0/200])>: 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. Range 20 meters.

A Level 5 Thornstride that had gone ahead of others because of the rush saw something move toward its head before his vision turned black.

If it were able to see the message pop up, it would say something like this.

[A <???> has dealt 345 damage points in a lethal strike!]

Phoer Body Shards 0/345

From the outside, it looked much more gruesome. One moment, the creature was charging forward; the next moment, one of the Tree's branches extended while coated in Anima Energy and Aether Mana and smashed into the skull of the Thornstride, splitting its head open.

Remember that a Level 5 Thornstride had, on average, 6 points of Physique, while Liu Shu had 37. A direct hit from her meant certain death.

Both sides stopped and looked over with wide eyes. Amapola had heard Flor say that Liu Shu was strong below Level 10, but she didn't know how truly strong she was. 'What was that?'

Even Amapola, a Level 9, had trouble following the strike. The sound of air whistling was all that entered her ears before the loud banging sound. The result? Not only was its head split, but Liu Shu's strength smashed the Thornstride face-first into the ground.

The World Tree was not merciful with those who attacked her, so while the Thornstride were distracted, Liu Shu's branches moved without wind and then struck.

<Willow Strike>!

<Willow Strike>!

<Willow Strike>!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The closest three Thornstride were hit, another Level 5, a Level 6, and a Level 7. The results not only horrified the Thornstrides but also stunned the Rose Fairies.

The Level 5 and Level 6 were insta-killed again, their bodies bursting with gore as the thin branch acted like a sword and sliced through.

The Level 7 was lucky and reacted, dodging to the side. Even then, it still struck, slicing off one of its limbs and making the creature scream in pain as it writhed on the ground.

Mraar reacted quickly and roared, fear in her voice. "Retreat!"

In her mind, she was cursing at the Rose Fairies. 'Protect!? You are protecting that thing!? Isn't it all the way around!? That Tree could probably fend all of us off by itself!'

The reason to retreat, as well, was that while Mraar was confident in herself, she didn't think it was worth it to risk her life. While she felt that she might have a chance, seeing three Thornstride get slaughtered, and one of them maimed made her doubtful.

However, it was at this moment that the luck of the Thornstride ran out.

"How dare you come to my territory!?"

Massive pressure fell upon everyone, making them stiff. Mraar turned around and saw a furious Flor looking at them as four thick books floated around her.

Mraar and the rest of Thornstride froze in place out of fear.

The Level 12 Rose Fairy Queen was entirely on another dimension strength-wise. Mraar, who never thought Flor would come back so quickly, stood there, stiff and with her eyes widening.

Flor asked again as she flew in front of her with a cold face. "I asked you, what are you doing here?"

Even when Flor was right before her face, the thought of attacking never crossed Mraar's face. This creature in the shape of a doll-like woman had five digits in her main attribute, a single attack from Flor was enough to slice her body in half.

Flor saw that she had frozen in pure fear and looked around with cold eyes. "Amapola, tell me what happened."

Amapola flew forward respectfully and told her everything that had happened. When Flor learned that there had been deaths and that Mraar's objective was Liu Shu, her lips arched. However, her eyes weren't smiling at all.

"Since that's it." Flor looked at the trembling creatures and then at Liu Shu. A quick analysis told her that Liu Shu had not wasted almost any energy or mana.

After pondering for a few seconds, she flew toward Liu Shu and whispered gently. "Liu Shu, do you want to fight them? I'll tell them a lie, saying that they can fight you to the death to escape. However, if I see that you are in trouble, I'll kill them and help you. What do you think?"

Liu Shu was in a focused state because it was mid-combat, so she answered right away after giving it some thought. A small pulse of aura that meant something akin to "I don't mind" reached Flor.

Flor wanted to train the little one's attacking methods, so she nodded and turned around. "I'll give you all a chance. Attack Liu Shu. If you win the battle, those who survived will be able to leave. If you lose, then you will become her fertilizer. Rose Fairies, move aside!"

Amapola, who hadn't heard Flor's whisper to Liu Shu, spoke. "Q-Queen! We shouldn't do that!"

Flor pinned her down with one look. "That's my decision. Step back."

All Rose Fairies looked at each other in confusion and then moved toward the <Lignified Vault> with Flor. Once there, Flor took the chance to store the four books in it.

Meanwhile, Mraar and the rest looked between the five-meter tall and thick tree and Flor with caution. Mraar asked. "Are you telling the truth?"

Flor looked at her indifferently and spoke. "Does it matter? Your life is in my hands. If I want to, I'll let you live; if I don't want to, I'll kill you. This is your only chance, regardless of whether I'm lying or not."

Mraar became doubtful and then started hissing around, telling the others to fight with her.

Some of them had become so scared that they had trouble moving, but Flor didn't rush it and waited while making sure none escaped.

Her red, ruby-like eyes emitted a cold light as she looked at them as if they were already dead.

'Now, become fertilizer so that Liu Shu can grow faster and stronger.'

***

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