Meanwhile, on the other side of the Forest, the ominous sound of approaching beasts grew louder. Despite the difficulty of hearing in the air, Liu Shu could sense their presence through the vibrations of their heavy steps, transmitted to her through her roots.
Liu Shu understood the meaning of these vibrations mainly because she was accustomed to hearing the forest's sounds through her roots. Remember that while Liu Shu used
Her mind, speaking of normal intelligence, was very immature. However, as a tree, her ability to multitask, absorb, and process several sources of information was unmatched.
The reason for Liu Shu's delayed responses was not her inability to answer quickly. It was because her body, which was gradually transforming into a massive creature, was consuming most of her information-processing capacity.
If a human mind were placed in Liu Shu, it would be overwhelmed by the amount of information coursing through its entire body, leading to the tree wilting and the mind dying with it.
Sensing their approach, Liu Shu looked around the Rose Fairies and saw they were clueless. Most of them were still doing their daily actions, while three of them were flying around her while trimming her branches and cleaning her bark.
Liu Shu felt extremely comfortable, but she couldn't help but worry. 'Hm? They don't know. Should I tell them?'
Liu Shu slowly pondered and finally decided to do so after she saw Flor getting up from a nap. It had been almost one and a half days since Cinderielle arrived. Speaking of the attack, Flor was confused as to why the River Beavers didn't attack with the rest.
If what they wanted was to kill Liu Shu, it would be a very suicidal action, as it proved to be to go alone against her. Even without taking into account Liu Shu's surprising strength, Flor's presence should've been enough of a warning.
However, they still came. The Rose Fairy Queen had discussed this with the new guests, and their best guess was that Liu Shu was such a precious resource for them that they chose to separate and try to take everything before the others arrived.
With a Level 10 in the mix, their ability to trample almost any group in the Golden Sap Forest might've swelled the beast's ego, making them more willing to take risks.
Sadly, those poor creatures met a mighty World Tree.
Flor, who was thinking about these things, suddenly felt an energy pulse of danger coming from Liu Shu. She quickly sat up and flew upward, looking around with sharp eyes. Sadly, the lush forest prevented her from seeing anything that caught her attention. However, this didn't relax her; on the contrary, it made her even more cautious.
After two days of resting and eating Liu Shu's regular fruits, she managed to recover the remaining Phoer Body Shards and most of her Aether Mana Shards. Flor's regeneration allowed her to recover around 300 Phoer Body Shards daily and nearly 1100 Aether Mana daily; adding the 100 extra from 10 berries of each ternary essence, Flor recovered enough Phoer Body Shards to heal and enough Aether Mana Shards to regain more than eighty percent of her Aether Mana.
When she flew down with her regained agility, Flor shouted. "Prepare for combat!"
All Rose Fairies moved into action immediately while Cinderielle and the four humans looked around with confusion. Robert asked. "What's wrong, Fairy Queen?"
During these last two days, they'd become much closer and could talk with each other on a much more casual level. This didn't mean that formalities were thrown out of the window, but at least it was progressing in the right direction.
Flor spoke with a grave tone. "Liu Shu told me there is danger. It must be because the beasts are approaching."
Ariel was surprised. "Does she always inform your people of danger?"
Flor shook her head. "I guess she does it for the times she is also in danger."
Doles frowned. "That sounds a bit ungrateful, no?"
Maley elbowed his side while speaking between his teeth. "You asshole brother, apologize. That a World Tree we are speaking about!"
Doles realized that he had been treating Liu Shu as any other creature, and he realized his mistake. While it was true that Liu Shu's actions feel inconsiderate, she was a creature who, firstly, couldn't move and allowed the Rose Fairies to live together. Secondly, a being whose thinking modus operandi worked much differently. Thirdly and most importantly, a strong being that was acting as a protector, regardless of the reasons behind it.
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When taken into account, the fact that Liu Shu even cared to communicate was already an achievement the Rose Fairies had accomplished through time to gain the World Tree's trust.
Flor looked at Doles with a colder-than-usual look, but she didn't bother answering. Much more pressing situations called for her attention right that they were about to be attacked by the numerous creatures.
Flor spoke flatly. "It's time to fulfill your promise. You will fight alongside the Rose Fairies to repel this beast tide. I'll go call Ignatia as well."
They all nodded, so Flor didn't bother anymore and went to prepare. Cinderielle sighed as she looked at Doles. "I know it is difficult, but please try to avoid commenting about how we, creatures with floral ancestry, treat World Trees."
Ariel scratched her head and looked at him. "Say, couldn't you stay silent?"
Doles coughed and apologized, looking awkward. "Sorry, I just felt like it was as such and commented about it."
After that minor hiccup, one hour went by while Flor and the rest moved around and prepared for battle. While they were ready to fight since minute one, because the enemy wasn't appearing, they took their time to create a proper alerting system.
While the humans didn't want to doubt, how could the world tree tell from that far away? They didn't understand how a Tree's perception or vision worked, but being able to sense from that far away was honestly terrifying. 'Aren't ambushes just worthless with a World Tree around? How many more secrets does a World Tree hold?'
After waiting for around 40 minutes longer, they could finally spot in the distance the cloud created by them. So many beasts moving at once was not something that could go unnoticed.
Just their steps would lift a dust cloud, like what the Rose Fairies and the rest were looking at. Then, inside those groups, there were very motivated beasts who would groan from time to time, creating small echoes.
In short, stealth was not their forte. However, because it was like an avalanche, regardless of how strong or weak it was, a person would not try to stop it by pure will.
Flor flew forward and advanced through the forest with a determined face. After moving far enough that being followed even by higher levels would give her a chance to escape, Flor looked at the approaching group of beasts with a calculating expression. 'Are there 600? No… perhaps more?'
At the helm of the group, she could see the group that probably started this. She couldn't help but get angry. 'You attack us, try to kill Liu Shu, and then blame it on us and do this!?'
"FROORAR!"
On the beast's side, Froorar looked at Flor and spoke. "I know you can escape and probably send your younger ones to feel as well." Then, Froorar sneered. "However, I know why you won't. That tree…. It is special for you. Enough that you will die defending it."
Flor didn't deny it, and Froorar continued. "If there weren't for that tree, I would've never bothered creating this. After all, you can just fly away."
Flor snorted. "I'm here to tell you to back away."
Froorar looked at Flor for a few seconds in pure stupefaction, and then he burst into laughter. "You are not really saying that, are you? Do you think our group will just divide and go away?" Froorar snorted. "No. We won't! We'll continue forward and trample your ground and other creatures until we become too strong to be defended against."
Flor nodded. "Up to you." Then, she turned around and left. She didn't want to bother any other leader who led that army nor ask about the reason why they joined in the first place.
Froorar pointed forward and roared. "forward!"
In the group, there were a total of 654 creatures, some of those being higher-tiered. The numbers were divided like this: 254 Level 5 creatures, 184 Level 6 creatures, 106 Level 7 creatures, 78 Level 8 creatures, 24 Level 9 Creatures, and 5 Level 10, 2 Level 11 creatures, and 1 Level 12 creature.
Faced with such a group, the Rose Fairies had 1 Level 12, 1 Level 9, 5 Level 8s, 25 Level 7s, 65 Level 6s, and 98 Level 5s. They were utterly lacking.
Even when adding Ignatia's 100 extra ants, with 45 Level 5s, 25 Level 6s, 15 Level 7s, 10 Level 8s, and 5 Level 9s. Adding the five "guests" was a reasonable force when combining both of them.
Flor was not sure how much Liu Shu could inflict pain on their enemies. Like other times, they would stay within Liu Shu's range and let them come to them. If they want to attack the World Tree, they need to face the World Tree.
Ariel and company looked over with tense expressions. They had seen Beast Tides before, but from the security of the city walls, a city was being attacked. It was not that uncommon to see them for one reason or another.
The experience was impactful but never too terrifying. After all, you were protected behind thick walls as the soldiers fought for their live.
In actuality, if Liu Shu was unable to beat this beast tide, it could continue onwards by stealing all their deposits and using the experience to become something more substantial. Slowly building up momentum and eventually razing one or two cities wouldn't be that complicated.
Putting that aside, Froorar and the other Level 10s roared, sending their respective creatures to charge at Liu Shu.
On the side of the Rose Fairy Mixed Army, Flor also commanded her group to move. "Use what we've prepared!"
As the beasts approached, several wind blades shot outward in several different directions. These blades targeted vines hidden in the vegetation surrounding them, opening trap doors they dug while waiting.
The beat tide coming from behind didn't care, so while the first line stopped, the second and third lines smashed onto them without caring, pushing them down the holes.
This trap was prepared with Cinderielle's help, and flaming spikes awaited at the bottom of the pits. Cinderielle smiled. "It worked!"
However, Flor cut her enthusiasm short. "Don't get overconfident. Most of them are low-level, and they will fill out these traps. The ones behind will most likely use the corpses of the fallen ones as platforms."