Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 117. Out of the frying pan into the fire.

Verdantia looked at the battlefield situation and was optimistic. With the Level 10s holding back the enemies and the sub-Level-10s harassing the enemies with their attacks, the battle looked like it would continue to go in their favor. 

The ones suffering the most were the three Level 10 <Fire Ants> fighting the four <Stormbirds>. While <Fire Ants> were strong, they were much more adept at fighting within groups. Hence, being outnumbered was not something they really knew how to deal with. 

Other than that, Flor's and Ignatia's battlefields were controlled and in a stalemate. Each of them was fighting three mounted Stormbird Riders while being supported by their race.

Being weaker than Flor, Ignatia had the help of Zinia, Clavel, and Thallus, in addition to her army of 300 ants.

Flor, on the other side, had Amapola with her, together with the 150 Rose Fairies and 80% of the Myconids.

Thanks to the Rose Fairies maneuverability, they could stall those three Stormbird Riders and block them from joining others. Of course, defeating them was another matter altogether. Even when Flor's stats were astoundingly high against 6 Level 10 plus creatures, she was having trouble with just Amapola's help.

The only battlefield that was going in their favor was the Sylvan battlefield.

Fighting just 4 of the riders, Cinderielle, Verdantia, and Tempestria, were doing quick work on them. Their attacks were incredibly ruthless, trying to finish the fight as soon as possible.

Of course, the female captain and the three other humans fighting with her understood their current perilous situation. Without their mounts, escaping was nothing but a pipe dream, so all this time, they had been trying to call their mounts, which were being stalled by the three resilient Level 10 ants.

'What do we do? What do we do? What do we do!?' The female Captain barely blocked Tempestria's swift sword, being pushed back several steps while her armor gained new lacerations. "SYLVAN! WE ARE PART OF THE STORMRIDER FAMILY! CEASE THIS ATTACK!"

Verdantia's anima energy sank into the trees and vegetation around the female captain, making them attack and latch around her. Then, using her staff and pointing at her, an illusory vine-like whip shot forward. Her cold voice accompanied the whistling sound of her attack. "I refuse." 

This was Verdantia's primary way of attacking other than her summons, and it was called <Soul Root Strike>. 

<Soul Root Strike (E Rank Level 3 [28,000/248900]): Summons an ethereal whip-like vine made out of pure Anima Energy to attack people's souls and damage their minds and bodies. It also steals a small part of the struck person's Anima Energy Shards, which depends on the difference between stats.

With this attack, she could continuously damage her enemies, and if she hit them enough times, forcing their Anima Energy to reach zero was not completely out of the question. When Anima Energy Shards reached zero, a person's core being could be damaged, and fighting beyond that point was almost impossible.

Anima Energy was the Soul's energy and vitality. It was expendable and fully recoverable, like Aether Mana, but like with the other two general stats, if it reached zero, it was very dangerous.

Losing stats or levels when dealt further damage was not uncommon. Moreover, the shock to the body was big enough that dying was much more common than any significant Level drop or stat drop.

When her illusory green whip landed on her body, a system message that gave her chills appeared. 

[You've been struck by <Soul Root Strike>. -430 Anima Energy Shards. -860 Phoer Body Shards.]

'Soul Root Strike!? Isn't this…' 

"You are from the Liferoot family!?"

Cinderielle stomped the ground, and a geyser of flames burst below her, sending her body flying upward.

[-941]!

The woman looked at her remaining Phoer Body Shards and saw that she only had 11 thousand left. She glared at the three transformed Sylvans and gritted her teeth. 'These ugly and brainless plants! Why is someone as noble as Sir Eldric even interested in them!?'

"We need to retreat!"

When her shout echoed around, all the Stormbird Riders felt like a weight lifted from their shoulders. However, one of the people fighting by her side asked. "What about our mounts!?"

The female captain looked over and saw that the ants were in much worse shape than their mounts. Even then, she was not happy. 'How is a creature nurtured by a powerful family having so much trouble killing three wild insects!?'

Of course, her shout was heard by Flor and the rest as well. Still, they couldn't do much to stop their retreat attempts without risking the lives of many. 

Hence, as they retreated, Flor and the others increased the intensity of their attacks. The former Captain shouted. "Captain, we are going deeper into the grove! We need to circle around them!" 

The female captain's group of four was the slowest one at retreating because their mounts were constantly being held back. However, to her surprise, her own mount managed to avoid the mandibles of one of the ants and managed to come rushing in her direction.

The ants didn't pursue and focused on the three remaining ones in front of them. The loss of one fighting companion for the ostrich-like birds was instantly felt, as the ants fighting on the defensive started counterattacking with quick melee fights and fire attacks.

Temepstria saw the bird coming their way, and her mind flashed with many options. Eventually, she said. "Let that one be and retrieve the woman! Finish the other three off!"

Cinderielle and Verdantia knew that Tempestria had quite a lot of fighting experience, so they agreed, and their firepower quickly overwhelmed the other three. 

Meanwhile, as the ants and Sylvans finished off those three people, Flor and the others continued following behind the remaining seven Stormbird Riders. 

While retreating, all seven could join and gather. Other than the female captain and her mount, who looked horrible with her body filled with burns and cuts, the rest were filled with light and some heavy injuries.

The former captain asked. "Do we need to circle this area? I don't feel like we can lose them."

The female captain coughed a few times, feeling difficulty in breathing because of all her wounds, and spoke hoarsely. "You take the lead; I am half dead. My Phoer Body Shards are constantly dropping, and the same goes for my little Gem."

The others knew that "Gem" was the Stormbird she was mounted on; almost all Stormriders had a habit of naming their mounts.

The former captain looked over and analyzed her. To his surprise, he found that Gem had around 5,000 Phoer Body Shards out of 14,000, while the female captain had below 8,000 out of 23,000. 

That was a critical condition for both of them

The other six, himself included, were still at around 60%, while their mounts were at a similar mark.

"Deputy Captain, there is something suspicious ahead!"

He looked forward, and after squinting to see through his helmet's limited vision, he realized that there was something like a wooden wall in the distance. 'A town deep in the forest?'

They were moving quickly because they had the entire forest following right behind them, so he didn't have much time to think about anything before they entered open terrain. "Stop!"

Using the distance that they've built between their pursuers, he took his time to look around and think about what to do. "Deputy Captain, do we fly over this? Our Stormbirds should be able to clear this wall with ease."

"A town in the middle of the forest is worth investigating. However, since we are being pursued, we have no time for that. Even after fighting for so long, we've only managed to kill a few low-level enemy creatures. If we continue to fight them, we will be eventually defeated. Our priority is leaving this place with the information we've collected. Circle around it!"

They all nodded and urged their mounts to move. Right as they moved, they heard the sound of creatures appearing from behind, so they looked over. 

The Rose Fairy, who was taller than the rest, spoke with a cold tone: "Since you've trespassed until here, it is the end."

The former captain spoke as he retreated and walked closer to the wall with the rest, ready to run at the smallest rush from the forest creatures. "Rose Fairy, you'll regret this. Behind us, there is a power you can't imagine. Once we return, this forest will be purged."

Flor smiled mockingly when she felt the World Tree's energy going into the walls and feeding the three trees behind them. "Regret what? You are exactly where we wanted."

The seven people frowned and heard the Rose Fairy Queen speak. "Liu Shu, they are enemies. Attack at will."

The female captain was confused and asked. "Do we run? I think we need to move away as far as possible."

The former captain agreed. "My <Danger Sense> is constantly going off, but I can't pinpoint the source. It feels as if there is danger all around us."

The female captain frowned. "All around us, I don't understand. Has that happened before?"

The former captain shook his head. "No, it didn't… Wait…" He frowned and remembered. "Right, when I was in Fortuna City with Sir Eldric, my <Danger Sense> was always active because of the World Tree."

The sound of air being pierced was heard, along with many popping sounds. Confused, they prepared to counterattack, not expecting three enormous roots to slam down from behind them.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The former captain and another three managed to dodge and quickly examined the origin of the attacks, which stunned them.

The towering trees that were attached to the wall had attacked them! Moreover, the strength behind them was strong enough that even the mounts of the three targeted Stormbird Riders were slammed into the ground.

One of those people was the female captain and her mount. However, that was not all.

From the ground, several roots burst out and tangled around the legs of all <Stormbirds>. Scared, the Stormbirds flapped their wings, not caring about their rider. However, the solid roots didn't break and instead tightened around their legs.

The man finally realized why his <Danger Sense> was acting as such, and once he recognized the danger, the ability sent a message.

[<Danger Sense> activated! Flee! You are being attacked by a <World Tree>.]

His entire body felt as if it had fallen into a chilling tundra as his heart dropped and his stomach churned. He shouted in an instant. "RUN! THESE ATTACKS ARE FROM A WORLD TREE!"

His shout made those that could react almost piss their pants. World Trees were similar to deities for most people. Provoking one was taught to be a death sentence and with a reason. Hence, knowing that the origin of these attacks was a World Tree, all of them were terrified. 

Out of pure instinct, the former captain looked skyward, and his face paled as a barrage of projectiles rained upon them. Only then did he realize what that faint and constant "popping" sound was, but it was too late for him and his companions. 

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Flor looked on coldly at the complete chaos that happened in an instant and shouted. "Attack!"

She led the charge herself, using her skills to swiftly fly in position and release a barrage of wind attacks. 

The rest of the creatures followed her example, and soon, the area was bombarded without any mercy.

Several messages appeared in Flor's eyes. 

[Congratulations on defeating <Stormbird Level 10>. You've gained 12 Experience Points.]

[Congratulations on defeating <Ceperet Human Level 12> You've gained 87 Experience Points.]

[Congratulations on defeating...

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