Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.
Chapter 447. Warlya vs Nexus.

Evangeline observed from a relatively safe distance how her troops dealt with the defensive measures around Warlya’s large city. Her numerous soldiers far outclassed the ones defending the World Tree because, unlike the other world powers, the Nexus actually sent some resources. This made her somewhat uneasy, though. “Why would they utterly ignore everything to this extent? I understand if they don’t react or bother without a place to send their allied forces safely. Still, don’t they have Tianlian Liu Shu’s domain?”

The floor cracked in the distance, the vibrations almost making Evangeline lose her balance. Right after, a surge of dirt and dust flew into the sky as a few gargantuan roots soared into the sky. Evangeline’s mind refocused on the threat ahead. “So, you’ve finally decided to react, Warlya.” Her lips arched, and she shouted. “Retreat!”

The army instantly changed its movements and spell choice, focusing only on defense. With a highly coordinated and clearly practiced routine, the army was able to retreat with little to no deaths outside of the massive roots' range. Evangeline chuckled as the roots slammed around the place, only to stop a few short minutes later. “Waste energy like that. In a few months, I want to see if you are able to lift a single branch.”

Jolie, standing by her side, asked lightly. “Wasn’t our plan excommunicating her, Mother? Why are you trying to invade her?”

Evangeline answered lightly. “But that’s what I am trying to do. If you think that tiring her down is enough to deal with Warlya, you are still underestimating her, love. Warlya is an ancient World Tree, one with a will to live much higher than usual. It is rare for heavily injured World Trees that can’t recover to continue living for long. Yet, here she is, gripping to life for all that’s worth. Fighting her would cripple our army. Just her giant body falling on our army can flatten a quarter of all of us.” 

Jolie looked up at the gargantuan tree and imagined the thing falling down on top of her. “Yeah, that’d be quite bad. So, are you tiring her out because you want the Celestial Lotus Empire to deem her not worth aiding?” 

Evangeline nodded. “Yes. Once they do that, I am sure that Warlya will ignore their calls for help when we are having trouble with Tianlian Liu Shu. Remember, while the land Warlya covers is extensive, the only locations where we are at risk are her surroundings. Warlya is a <Physique> focused World Tree, so close-range combat is her specialty.”

Jolie tilted her head. “Why don’t we use those long-range artillery weapons that you spoke about before then?”

Evangeline smiled wryly, using her hand to caress her side-braid. “Warlya’s body is too tough for those shells. That artillery is effective only on Second Energy Cycle World Trees and some weaker Third Energy Cycle ones. Tianlian Liu Shu only qualifies because she is C- Tier.”

Her mother's words made Jolie feel a sense of incongruity. “But… Are we sure that she is still a C- Tier World Tree? What if she has elevated her Tier?”

Evangeline heard her daughter and found that unlikely. Increasing <Tier> for World Trees was not something easy to do. Over 99% of World Trees were born and died at the same tier. “There have been quite a lot of things happening over there. So, I can’t blame you for thinking like that. Either way, if the artillery worked, Tianlian Liu Shu would be something quite disappointing. There is no reason as to why dealing with Warlya’s threat would be a main objective, while dealing with Tianlian Liu Shu is an additional one.” 

After she saw Warlya’s roots slowly lower into the cracked ground again, Evangeline shouted. “Charge at a moderate pace! Retreat if Warlya attacks. Rinse and repeat while flattening all towns and small cities around the World Tree! We need to isolate her!”

“You are doing better than I expected.” 

Hearing this woman’s voice, Evangeline’s smile disappeared. She looked behind her and greeted with a formal tone. “Lady Eryndis, Lord Thalric.” 

These two were Level 74s that led the overall efforts in conquering the entirety of the Wild Continent. Thalric was a rather gentle man who thought the Abyssal Void Nexus' actions were justified. For his allies, without considering all the war crimes he had led, he was considered a gentle and understanding man. Talking with him would not make you think that he has killed over ten World Trees and a few dozen Life Trees during his lifetime.  

Meanwhile, Eryndis was the polar opposite. She was a ruthless woman and apathetic toward all nature-related beings. Their death and life didn’t affect her mood in the slightest. Among the plant creatures, she also bore deep hatred for World Trees and Sylvans. If it were up to her, she would swing her sword to behead both Evangeline and Jolie straight away. A mindset that only accepted a few select humans fueled her hatred toward the world, and her strength opened a path for her to take action on her ideals of progress. 

“Is that the strongest World Tree in the Wild Continent?” Eryndis asked with a hum while looking at Warlya in the distance. 

Evangeline answered respectfully. To be honest, she was mildly afraid of this woman. After all, she had a record of spontaneously beheading her subordinates if their answer was unpleasant. “Indeed. Warlya is a millennial World Tree who had Fourth Energy Cycle strength in the past. In her collision against the Ant Queen who appeared in the Wild Continent, her core was hurt and is now stuck forever at the peak of the Third Energy Cycle.” 

Thalric nodded analytically. “Warlya’s power is truly ferocious. There is no one under the Fourth Energy Cycle who can hold a candle to her strength. Rumors say that, after all her buffs, her <Physique> can reach 80,000 stably, while she has other buffs that can push those numbers to over 100,000. Even some Fourth Energy Cycle beings are afraid of bearing Warlya’s wrath.”

“Warlya…” Eryndis muttered. “A name given to her for being a World Tree born from War itself. I admit that, while I dislike it, your plan is our best course of action.” Eryndis glanced at Evangeline, her dark eyes shining with many hidden thoughts that made one’s skin crawl. 

“You told me that you are a bit afraid of Tianlian Liu Shu, right? I’ve dismissed you in the past, but my informants have told me of two other titles similar to <Sprouts Of Chaos> appearing there. It seems that your prediction is bound to come true. Perhaps attacking Tianlian Liu Shu all those years back was not that bad of an idea.” 

Evangeline’s face stiffened a bit, but she just smiled. “We are just analyzing in retrospect. No one could’ve predicted such a thing would happen. Still, I am of the belief that we need some reinforcements if we want to truly take her down securely. Otherwise, our losses will be too many before Corruption seeps into her.” 

Thalric frowned. “I understand that we need to deal with the World Trees. It is a necessary evil in our journey to liberate the intelligent races from their suppression. However, corrupting them feels like falling to their same level. Can’t we just defeat and kill her?”

Evangeline’s eyebrow twitched. ‘This man is a bit touched in the head.’ She mulled internally on how to answer. “Well… Corrupted World Trees are rather easy to deal with. You just seep their corruption away, and their vitality will fall to an all-time low. Once a World Tree is corrupted, its only way to survive is by being reborn.”

“Wrong.” Eryndis smiled. “There have been World Trees in history who were either uncorruptible or had powerful cleansing capabilities.”

Those words made Evangeline twitch a bit. “Right… Those World Trees are now the three major leaders of our opponents. If they didn’t have such strengths, we would’ve defeated them long ago, after all.”

Eryndis laughed wickedly. “Right. If they didn’t have those annoying skills, we could’ve defeated them a long time ago.”

Evangeline didn’t know where that confidence stemmed from. However, she was intelligent enough not to question them. The dark-haired woman asked. “By the way, have you captured the people in the towns you’ve conquered? We need manual labor to rebuild the lands we’ve conquered quickly. Otherwise, more than a conquest, we will just be doing a clean sweep of the continent.”

“Yes. There are not many, though. Moreover, those we’ve left alive are all below Level 25, but because of the resistance and shockwaves from our battles, most with such weak strengths die from stray attacks alone. The corruption mages are also causing a lot of indirect death through the wide area of effect aethermancy and soulmancy.”  

Thalric’s face turned stern. “Evangeline. We’ve let you tag along and do as you pleased because of your results. But if you start being sloppy, don’t think that your previous merits will be able to save you from committing crimes. We are not a group of savages, and we do not tolerate the killing of innocents.”

Eryndis rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so stiff, Thalric. You know that a bit of death here and there is inevitable. I’d rather kill a hundred innocents than have one of my soldiers die trying to protect those useless tree lovers.” She added. “Moreover, it's not like most of those people will be able to integrate. They adore those big trees and consider us cruel creatures that only seek slaughter.” Eryndis giggled. “I can’t help but blush each time I hear it. I feel so happy inside.”

“You are just twisted inside.” Thalric sighed. “If you didn’t have a connection with the higher lords, I would’ve already brought you to justice.”

“So scary~.” Eryndis poked Thalric’s muscular chest. “But, you can do no~thing~ for now. Not unless you reach the Fourth Energy Cycle before me. So, be a good doggy and follow what Eryndis says, okay~?” 

Thalric ignored her and looked at Evangeline and Jolie. “Either way, deal with Warlya within a year. We’ve found a few open passages through the Wall Forest and are working to secure them. The Azure Rose Confederation territory doesn’t have any World Tree nearly as strong as Warlya, so it will be conquered shortly after.”

Evangeline blinked. “Will we send people to conquer the <Wild Lands>?” 

Eryndis snorted. “What for? Those people have holed themselves up in that place for who knows how long. Just let them stay turtled until we can control the rest of the Continent. Once we are sure that only they are left, we can call Headquarters, and one of our big shots can come to clean them up. They are not related to any power, so the other major powers won’t have an excuse to gang up on us.” 

“One year…” Evangeline mentally counted and commented. “By then, it will be the sixth year since the war started.”