Liu Shu sighed and observed how people returned to their everyday lives in her town. Flor and others approached Liu Shu, including Wert and Delia. The group was formed by almost everyone who knew about the World Tree's real identity.

Flor looked at the World Tree apologetically and spoke softly. "Liu Shu, I am so sorry that I didn't notice. If I knew…Sigh."

Liu Shu pondered and decided to speak aloud softly. Life Trees could also communicate verbally, so it was not that rare for her to be able to speak after all the other extraordinary feats she had shown. On the contrary, her not being able to speak would look slightly suspicious.

"Don't worry. There was no way you could've noticed."

Wert and Delia felt their hearts tremble at the mesmerizing and gentle voice of the World Tree. It had an undertone of power while also carrying a relaxing feeling with it. That one sentence was enough for almost everyone present to feel calmer.

Wert cleared his throat and spoke. "Life Tree Tianlian Liu Shu, I am Wert, the leader of the Explorer Association in your town. It is a pleasure to meet in a more significant way finally."

Liu Shu looked at Wert, and the man felt the giant tree's gaze descending upon him. This made his body subconsciously tighten, taking her as a threat. 'Strong.'

"I have been looking at you. Thank you for your honest work."

Wert raised an eyebrow and then laughed. "No problem."

Then, the World Tree looked at Delia closely. "Hm… Why is she here?"

Flor blinked twice, confused. "Hm? She is the City Lord of the neighboring city. She has come to give you her regards in order to make a trading relationship possible."

Liu Shu spoke, confused. "I know about Delia. But why is that other presence with her?"

Everyone paused and tensed, several dozens of eyes falling on Delia. Delia also stiffened for a second, not really understanding what the being was referring to. After all, the only thing she had with her other than a few defensive items was that doll Jolie gave her. 'Is that doll detectable by Life Trees? That damned Jolie!'

Delia smiled and asked. "What are you referring to? I am by myself, Life Tree."

Liu Shu looked into the pouch and spoke. "You have a blue-haired doll that has a presence I don't like. It reminds me of…" Liu Shu stopped speaking because the doll in Delia's pouch flew out of it and rushed at her body. An ominous aura surrounded the doll, and everyone tried to stop it without any hesitation.

When the doll shot toward her, the Arboreal Winged Serpent camouflaged in her canopy swooped down swiftly, using its speed burst to try and come in between the doll and Liu Shu.

Flor and the other Sylvans shot several skills that flew through the air and tried to hit it. Simultaneously, Wert jumped at Liu Shu, landing on her trunk and using the rebound to unsheathe a giant war ax and slash at it.

Delia looked at everything with a stunned expression, not expecting the doll to move without her command. She had planned to come nearby to check the surroundings and later come at night to place the doll by Liu Shu's side. However, now that the doll literally flew out of her pouch, everyone would know who was the one who did it. 'Jolie set me up! She knew that the doll would react this way, and she also knew about my carefulness, so she didn't inform me, knowing that when the doll does whatever it does, all the blame will fall on me!'

Her face twisted with hatred while looking at the doll that was about to be besieged.

The first one to arrive was the Arboreal Winged Serpent. It used its tail to slap the doll flying, shooting it toward Wert. Wert had seen the movement of the Serpent and even exchanged glances with it, so he was prepared.

His ax swung as he flew mid-air, striking it dead on.

BANG!

Surprisingly, the doll didn't burst apart like he expected; instead, it just flew off with a horizontal nick on its body. The one that shot toward it next was someone that nobody knew was there.

Mariane streaked through the air and opened a box covered with runes; her speed was high enough that she looked like a blur, even for Wert and Delia.

With incredible accuracy, Mariane caught the doll inside the box. Then, the mothkin muttered something, and the runes lit up, sealing it inside.

Even when the doll was captured, no one relaxed as their gazes went from that doll to Delia. Flor sent a burst of sharp wind blades while asking angrily. "What's the meaning of this!?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Delia took out a sword from her back and slashed toward the wind gales, easily blasting them into pieces. "Queen Flor, please relax."

Wert landed in front of Delia, his face cold, and he spoke. "Explain, Delia. I really don't want our friendship to end in this manner. That was a cursed doll. If it had landed on Liu Shu, who knows what horrible thing would've happened to her?"

Delia looked at Wert with an indifferent and numb face. "It doesn't matter anymore."

Wert frowned when he saw Delia looking as defeated as that. In his memory, this woman had always been a powerful and prideful Sylvan woman who managed to control one of the main cities for over a century.

Even if her level was almost stuck, she didn't need much more personal strength because her ability to negotiate was superb. Thanks to all the deals she made with different people, she could keep her control over the city with an iron grip.

Wert looked at Flor and said. "Queen Flor. This situation is not simple. Can we-."

Liu Shu's branch descended from above with terrifying strength even before Wert could finish his sentence. Delia's indifferent face changed to one of shock as she hastily tried to block her.

BOOM!

[-35,840]!

"ARGH!"

Delia's body ragdolled for several tens of meters, and then, roots appeared from the ground, rushing at her. Recovering her stance, Delia shouted. "Life Tree, wait!"

But Liu Shu didn't wait. "You dare attack me? You should perish. ."

Liu Shu's energy surged, and the soil burst as her roots flew toward Delia. Delia's energy surged, and a water sphere surrounded her, blocking Liu Shu's attacks. "Life Tree, I am being manipulated!"

"Not my problem." Liu Shu's energy surged again, and she commanded the and to join the battle.

Wert looked from the sidelines, stunned at how several hundreds of attacks suddenly rained on Delia while the vine field at the distance moved, creating a large quadrupedal creature. "What is this strength?"

Flor ignored Wert's words and asked. "Liu Shu, do we join the attack?"

Liu Shu answered quite cuttingly. "You'd be in the way. Wait there."

Flor's mouth opened and closed, but remembering how easily Delia blocked her attack, she didn't dare refute it. 'Sigh… It's really this time. Even as a Level 20, I am not helpful when it matters.'

The three Sylvans on the sidelines were observing everything closely. While they weren't too strong, they could help somewhat in their transformed states. Or at least, those were their thoughts before Delia's aura burst out like an explosion. "You've forced my hand, Life Tree!"

Her aura surged like a torrent as her height increased and her body became a mix of nature and water elements. Like a water elemental creature with wooden armor.

Liu Shu frowned, and she analyzed her.

***

Level: 27

Aether Mana Cores: 2.12/4.83 (489,867)

Phoer Body Cores: 2.98/4.03 (403,073)

Anima Energy Cores: 2.16/4.17 (417,293)

Attributes: Aether 1063, Physique 821, Anima 861, Willpower 646, Destiny 162

***

When a Sylvan transforms, they use a large chunk of their energy pools to maintain their transformation for a certain amount of time. In exchange, their regeneration became ridiculously high while their strength skyrocketed. Overall, it was a net positive strength and stamina boost.

Yet, even when transformed, Delia's top attribute was 200 points lower than Liu Shu's physique stat.

The World Tree's energy surged toward her branches, and then, she used to summon several phantasmal branches.

Delia saw them approach quickly while the flowers behind her started shooting powerful seeds, and she powerfully stomped the ground. "."

A wave of water spread around her. Yet, instead of being able to block the attacks without any effort, Liu Shu's attacks smashed on the barrier like hammers would on glass.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

CRASH!

Seeing her protective barrier being smashed, Delia's expression changed from confident to one of stupefaction. Of course, her being surprised didn't hinder her and she was able to swiftly react, using her sword to block the weakened attacks.

However, each time one landed on her, a large chunk of Phoer Body Shards depleted.

[-14,000]! [-24,410]! [-25,020]!

The heavy blows made even her bones tremble, sending the tall and transformed Sylvan tumbling around the place. Delia clicked her tongue and looked around. Her face changed from annoyance to horror when she realized that the vine creature had, at some point, snuck up on her. 'When did it come so close!?'

When the vine creature approached, it collapsed as if the energy holding it was suddenly turned off. This surprised Delia, but she didn't think that something had gone wrong with it. Trusting her instincts, she slashed at the creature horizontally, creating a sharp water crescent that sliced through.

[-2,000]!

'WHAT!?'

The vines overcame the attack by dividing before the arc struck, and then, like thousands of snakes, they coiled around Delia's limbs and a layer of bark appeared around them, solidifying.

Delia's movements were impeded enough that Liu Shu and the had a completely clear shot, which they took.

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

A cacophony of explosions echoed in the surroundings as every single flower with a clear view fired.

A giant cloud of dust appeared as hundreds of numbers ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand flooded her sight. The numbers didn't block her view, though.

Since there was no death notification, so Liu Shu didn't relax. Wert spoke at this moment. "Liu Shu, let me deal with her. I swear that she is not someone who would do something like this without a reason. I put my trustworthiness on the line."

Liu Shu didn't stop looking at Delia's immobile body. She could sense that she had paused when Wert spoke. 'Hm… She is waiting for my answer. Can I say for sure that I can kill her and that she won't escape?'

While fighting a being was proving to be entirely possible, Liu Shu knew that stopping her would be very difficult if Delia focused on fleeing.

Verdantia spoke at this time. "Liu'er, we need to know what is happening. If not, someone else in the future might appear with a similar scheme. We can't leave these people in the shadows."

After pondering for a while, Liu Shu looked at the box Mariane held and agreed. "Okay."