Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

After that day of conflict, Flor tried to interrogate the Level 15 and two Level 9s with the threat of Liu Shu, but it didn't work in the end. Therefore, other than knowing that there was a threat on the horizon and that there was more than one group aiming at this place, they didn't really know much else. 

Flor sighed as Liu Shu's roots slowly dragged them into the ground, but even while screaming in fear, they didn't bend their loyalty. "You really don't want to talk? I can take you out."

The Level 15 gritted his teeth as Liu Shu's roots dug into his body. "You think I will believe you!? That you are going to let me go after you revealed this monster's real nature as a World Tree!?"

Flor hummed. "Well, you are right. How about telling me the things in exchange for a swift death?"

"You'll be buried together with this entire place when Lord Finnian arrives!"

Flor asked. "What Level is this Finnian guy?"

The Level 15 grinned through the pain. "He is enough for you lot." 

Flor sighed. "Sure." Then, she looked skyward. 'I wonder what will happen.'

Meanwhile, a small army gathered not too far from the Golden Sap Forest. Alaric commented. "There have been three groups that have not returned."

Finnian nodded. "Well, that was expected. It's not like they are all unable to fail. I can guess that most of the groups have returned because the other side left them to return."

Alaric frowned. "What do you mean?"

Finnian looked at Alaric coldly. "A group with a Level 15 was eliminated, or, at least, they haven't returned yet. Do you think that those other groups that have only Level 9s or so would make it back if the other side was hunting them?"

Alaric didn't answer, but he found his logic faulty. 'If the group with Level 15 became too arrogant, it is normal for them to get caught while the others didn't.'

Jolie spoke while sitting on a branch above them. "So, when are we attacking?"

Finnian spoke. "As soon as my subordinates return." 

Jolie blinked. "What did you send them to do?"

Finnian commented. "I created a bit of trouble east from Sirol City, so Wert needs to go check it out himself. Once they return, it will mean that the plan was successful. That's when we attack."

Jolie looked around and commented. "We are quite far away. Why's that?"

Alaric spoke. "We have yet to regroup completely. Once we are regrouped, we'll go and camp around two kilometers away from the town. We've discovered the existence of a few high-level Explorers. However, as long as you can keep the World Tree in check and allow Lord Finnian to run free on the battlefield, the win should be ours."

Jolie snorted. "You still don't think I can hold back a Level 11 or so World Tree? Are you delusional?"

Alaric sighed, but he didn't answer. 'I just feel that Malachai didn't die without a reason, as Eldric said. There were around 1000 people from the sect in the town, and yet, none returned. That's… Unless someone with absolute area control killed everyone, it is basically impossible. And, other than a World Tree, who has so much area control? Even Lord Finnian might let a few people escape in that situation.'

Eldric arrived with a group that looked different from those that had accompanied him before. Looking over, even Finnian had a faint expression change.

Eldric smiled handsomely and said. "I am a bit late; I hope the lords don't mind me."

Alaric asked, curious. "Are those twenty-five people from the actual Stormrider elite group?"

Eldric shook his head. "My father was strangely adamant in not giving me people from the main army." Eldric showed a confused expression and continued. "While those behind me are warriors that have gone through a hundred battles, they are not even the reserves of the main army. However, they are all Level 19, with their mounts being the same."

Jolie blinked a few times. "Level 19? Why didn't your father give you Level 20s? The difference of that one level is massive."

Eldric sighed. "I asked as well, but he said that if I can't fulfill what I want with the help of these people, then I am not worthy of whatever I am searching for." He put on a grimace as he said. "He even said that if I fail, I can consider myself thrown out of the family."

Finnian nodded. "As expected. Lord Stormrider is correct, Eldric Boy. Your platoon is strong enough to fight my elite forces face-to-face. If we really can't conquer the town with the army we have, then…" Finnian said bluntly. "We are not worthy." 

Eldric looked around, but his face was a bit tense. Their army was enormous for this area of the land. There were around 2000 Level 9s and below, around 550 Level 10 to 19 people, and once Finnian's elite force returned, around 50 Level 20 to 24 people. Of course, Finnian was in the lead, as the only Level 25.

Their army was big enough to take over almost any of the surrounding towns, while only cities, like Sirol City and Fortuna City, could resist their siege.

Finnian crossed his arms and got thoughtful. 'World Trees are dangerous. We should use the low levels as cannon fodder and tire out the World Tree's ternary reserves. Then, when the numbers go down to around 1000 people left, the rest of us should charge forward. This will give us an advantage at the cost of a few unimportant people.'

The Level 9s naturally didn't know that they were there as cannon fodder. They thought that they would charge behind the elites, picking up the other party's lower levels. Of course, the reality was far from that.

"Jolie."

The woman wearing a black dress smiled and asked. "Yes, Finnian?"

"How is that Aether curse going?"

Jolie giggled. "Very good~. I just need to sacrifice that while we are 200 meters away from the World Tree, and it will activate."

Finnian looked over and saw a terrified Sylvan child. The blue-haired Sylvan little girl was looking around with a frightened expression, her eyes reddish from having cried for a long time. 

Eldric also looked over and couldn't help but frown. "Lady Jolie, are you sure that's okay? Won't the System… dislike it?"

Jolie waved her hand while laughing. "I already have the title of <Cursed Existence>, so don't worry. It can't really get worse."

Eldric asked, curious. "What does that title do?"

Jolie smirked. "It strengthened my ability to curse while stopping the growth of my <Destiny> stat." 

Eldric hummed. "That doesn't feel like a big drawback."

Jolie shrugged. "I've never really felt like I've had bad luck, so I don't really care as well. I mean, look at me, I am about to conquer a World Tree~. If anything, I am very lucky."

Three hours later, Finnian looked toward the left and saw a group of 8 people arriving. He frowned and asked. "Where are the other two?"

One of them shook his head. "Wert was much more attentive than we thought. They got caught by him to let the rest of us go. If they didn't sacrifice themselves, we would all have been annihilated."

Finnian clicked his tongue. "Wert is really an annoyance…" Then, he asked. "Did you complete the mission?"

The leading man smiled and nodded. "We did! Wert is investigating that small town. He will take at least a day or two to figure out the curse that Miss Jolie gave us and cure it."

Finnian sighed. "At least, their sacrifices were not in vain. Let's set off." 

And so, the army of almost 3000 people moved out toward the Golden Sap Forest. On the way there, a group of scouts moved around 200 meters ahead of the regiment, killing anyone that came within the vicinity to leave no witnesses. 

And so, they advanced at a relatively slow pace. One hour later, they were 3000 meters away from the town, and after 30 more minutes, they were 2500 meters away from them. While advancing, they eventually reached the 2100-meter mark. 

Finnian felt the deep aura of the forest and hummed. "Quite a dense aura of life. It is no wonder the Golden Sap Forest has flourished lately."

What he didn't know was that 2100 meters was Liu Shu's current sight threshold. At 2000 meters away, their entire army left the "fog of war" and blatantly entered Liu Shu's <World Tree Eye> range. 

Liu Shu looked over and was stunned. 'So many… That's… 2599 people? Wow~.' 

The terrifying thing about sieging World Trees was that hiding from them was basically impossible. You had two main methods to sneak up on a World Tree encampment. 

The first one was to possess adequate stealth skills or items that would allow scrutiny from the World Tree. What was notable from these skills was that they had a lot of trouble working for large armies. 

The second option was that the World Tree failed to notify those around them because they cared not about the people living under their canopy.

Sadly, Liu Shu was not a World Tree that didn't care about those around her. Without any kind of delay, she communicated in detail the situation to Flor, Ignatia, the Sylvans, and the human Explorers who knew of her existence. 

Her voice appeared in their minds like a gentle, cool breeze on a hot day. 'An army of 2599 is approaching from the northwest. They are currently at 2054 meters and walking at around 0.5 meters per second. There is a scouting group 197 meters ahead of the army that's eliminating witnesses. The group ahead is formed of 15 first <Sub-Cycle> creatures. The person leading the army… I can't read it well, but it is probably a <Second Energy Cycle> person. Finally, I can see Eldric between the group and several other high levels.'

And just like that, their entire army was revealed to their enemies, and they did not even know that they were literally being looked at. 

Ignatia swiftly moved outside, using her daughters to hide, and climbed on top of the World Tree with incredible agility. Standing inside Liu Shu's canopy, the Ant Queen could now see everything while hiding from everyone's sight. After all, Liu Shu's stealth skill covered everything in a certain area. 

Ignatia commented. "Little One, if you ever feel that it is getting too hard, tell me. I'll come out even if it means I'll be at risk."

Liu Shu looked at the smiling Ant Queen and giggled happily. "Thank you, Ignatia."

Ignatia patted her branches. "Don't worry, love. You are our important little one. If you need help, just ask me."

Liu Shu answered energetically. "Hm! I will!"

Ignatia's aura deepened for a second, and then she opened her mouth, releasing a very high-pitched scream. 

However, nobody heard it, as the frequency was so high that the ears of humans, Sylvans, and other beastkin couldn't catch it. It was an evolutionary feature that True Ant Queens had developed over time to guide their armies in "silence."

With her scream, every ant released a burst of pheromones that alerted every single ant in the surroundings. 

Everyone became confused when the ants began moving around and rushing toward the walls. Moreover, enormous ants well above Level 10 appeared one after another from the ant hole. 

The movement was so sudden that some of the Explorers from the Explorer Association took out their weapons.

Flor shouted, using Wind Aether to carry her voice across the entire town. "An army is coming! Prepare for war!"