Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos-Chapter 374. March of the Doomed.

Eila explained the strategy for defending Fortuna City to the leaders in detail. It was very different from defending Golden Sap City due to the lack of strong ranged support from the World Tree. Of course, Fortuna wasn't an easy-to-bully World Tree, much less after her Tier Ups.

"Fortuna's way of attacking is strictly through Anima Energy. Unlike Liu Shu, though, she doesn't have summoning. Her specialization is direct disruption in the enemy's souls. When they reach around 10 kilometers from us, Fortuna's attack will be able to be unleashed as if they were by her side."

The leaders listened closely and nodded. Eila continued. "Therefore, unlike when defending Liu Shu, our objective is to keep them at bay from approaching Fortuna. Fortuna's melee capabilities are not weak because of her naturally strong body. However, she is far from being powerful. Ten people are probably able to overwhelm her at a close range."

Galia sighed softly, and Eila glanced over. "Is there something wrong?"

Galia blinked and smiled. "Nothing. I was just thinking how strange it feels to hear common facts about World Trees after defending Lady Liu Shu for a while."

Eila smiled faintly. "Indeed." Then, she looked at the rest and stated earnestly. "Fortuna is not weak, but she is far from being as overwhelming as Liu Shu. Please help me defend her through this crisis. Fortuna is in real danger of being defeated."

While Eila prepared the forces, Marlius crossed more than half of the Wall Forest and decided to rest for a moment with his army. While he was arrogant, he wasn't stupid. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to retreat safely after being defeated in the past. "We should conquer Fortuna City during the first week. Then, after gathering our forces and recovering to our peak, we shall march toward Golden Sap City."

One of the military planners spoke with uncertainty. "Lord Marlius, aren't we being too rushed? Fortuna City has a World Tree. Even if we are able to defeat it, won't we lose too many people? This World Tree has a strong soul control, so weaker soldiers will probably fall in large numbers relatively quickly."

Marlius agreed. "You are right. However, this part of the continent doesn't have 2000 Third Energy Cycles, even if you combine all their forces together. Therefore, we should be able to cleave through their defenses quickly. Even in the worst-case scenario, can they amass 500 of them in a short amount of time? Our elites outnumber them 10 to 1."

The news of the mass level-ups didn't spread because everyone who participated was "tied down" with the title. In short, Marlius' confidence was logical based on the information they currently had. Sadly, as many others did in the past, they were evaluating the Golden Sap Province with the standards of a few years ago. Usually, that wouldn't be a problem, but there was a ridiculous existence that broke all developing pace standards right at the center of everything.

After discussing for a while, they decided that attacking frontally was still the best tactic. Even if the Level 50 World Tree was able to cause some deaths from time to time, the final result would be worth it.

Marlius led the march, and he shouted aloud. "We'll be besieging the city for a week. Tomorrow, before the sun rises, we'll do our first coordinated attack. Use your ternary essence reserves until they are half empty, and then attack normally. Once we see that the enemies are recovering from our barrage, we'll retreat and do the same the following day." Marlius continued, his tone inspiring. "The city's defenses will fall quickly, and after a few days of bombardment, they will be unable to stop us. We'll barrel into the city when they show weakness and topple down the World Tree!"

A Sylvan by Marlius' side suddenly realized something and brought it up. "Lord Marlius, wouldn't World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu be able to help? The World Trees in Golden Sap Province appear to have become allies."

Marlius complained slightly. "Only now you bring this up? I already know this."

The Sylvan added. "I know, Lord Marlius. However, won't World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu interfere? Even if our army is strong, dealing with two World Trees simultaneously will end with our forces suffering a heavy loss to achieve victory."

He sighed and pondered. 'She is right that facing two World Trees simultaneously might be too much. Even if Tianlian Liu Shu is not yet a World Tree, her strength is not worse than one. After all, she had managed to defeat the Dark Aether Swamp's Corrupted World Tree at the cost of being grievously injured.'

Thinking as such, Marlius asked. "Can World Trees share root nets? Meaning, if we are in a location, can the roots of more than one World Tree attack us?"

Fighting a World Tree meant fighting the world around them, making even the soil they walked on something to be cautious about. The Sylvan was a bit unsure about the answer to that question. "It is difficult to say, Lord. A World Tree's territorial nature is not something we can even understand. I've seen World Trees tearing each other to shreds because one of the two didn't keep the promise and advanced a few hundred meters more than what they agreed upon. In terms of territory, that small distance is not even 0.1 percent of their territory. Yet, many World Trees killed each other for those small distances."

Marlius understood what she was trying to share. With such a radical territorial nature, sharing soil between them was nothing but a pipe dream – Like seeing a predator taking care of their usual prey.

"Hm... Tianlian Liu Shu has shown behavior exceeding the norm. So, we should take the possibility into account at the very least. If we encounter a time when both World Trees attack us simultaneously, we should think of retreating. Our main objective is the Covenant. Remember that we are attacking here on the pretense of these World Trees being easy prey and a quick way to strengthen our army."

The people around Marlius nodded seriously. Their leader was always very arrogant and feared doing nothing. However, just being arrogant wouldn't have taken him so far. He naturally had his own thoughts, and he knew when to advance and retreat. Not going through what he had promised and fleeing didn't break Marlius' confidence; instead, it strengthened it because he understood that he had made the correct decision.

What they completely miscalculated was that Liu Shu's roots had already spread somewhat profoundly embedded into the Wall Forest. The place where they currently traversed was also a part Liu Shu already controlled.

Wisdom, far from acting passively like in the past, didn't even lose a single second before communicating their conversation to Eila, Fortuna, and the others.

Thalgryn crossed her muscular arms and smirked. "Ignorant people. They are walking straight into our trap." Still, she was clear headed, asking the others. "Do you think we should not face them? If we showed them a big and imposing showcase of strength, Marlius won't hesitate for a single second before retreating."

They were all standing on the walls of the city while speaking, looking to the distance. Flor commented with a worried tone. "If we show too much, the next time we are attacked, their strength won't be something easy to overcome. Marlius sounds like someone who likes to attack only when there is a decisive chance of stomping his enemies."

Galia snorted. "He is indeed like that. Many World Trees have fallen to him because of that. Therefore, I would like to give him a crippling blow before he goes."

Eila looked at Galia and asked, curious. "Why don't we try to kill him? If we get rid of him, the next leader might be more cautious, but at least he won't be as problematic as Marlius, right?"

"Wrong." Galia shook her head. "The leaders the Nexus has sent to the Wild Continent are not weak. However, they are far from being their best generals. Most of the Nexus' main generals have abilities related to corruption. They are like walking plagues. If Marlius is killed, the Nexus will probably send those our way."

Thalgryn commented. "That's good, actually."

Galia glanced at the bear woman with confusion. "What do you mean?"

Thalgryn commented with a smile. "Will their ability to corrupt be as powerful as the Corrupted World Tree we've faced?"

Galia denied it without hesitation. "Impossible. Only Fourth Energy Cycle monsters have stronger corrupting capabilities compared to a Corrupted World Tree."

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Thalgryn nodded and spoke. "Liu Shu was not only able to resist the corruption, but she managed to purify it and force a new pure World Tree to be reborn. Her ability to deal with corruption is ridiculous. After reaching Level 50, I believe that the enemies will only be at a disadvantage. After all, most of the buffs those people use are related to them being on infected land."

Thalgryn's eyes flashed coldly. "If we push the Nexus to send those people, I can contact the Celestial Lotus Empire as well, and we'll have a chance of slowly weeding out those abominations. Our strength will also skyrocket."

Everyone stayed silent for a little while. Eventually, Flor spoke. "But that means that Liu Shu will be shouldering incredible pressure. Once her abilities and strengths become public, she will pop into the Nexus' main force's radar like a brilliant and menacing star."

Thalgryn agreed, but she added another detail. "She won't appear just on the Nexus' radar, but onto the entire world's radar. The other three major powers won't be able to ignore Liu Shu once the public understands her importance in battling the common enemy of the World." Thalgryn's eyes glowed with ambition. "Once they can't ignore us, Liu Shu will only receive benefits and support. Then, the Wild Continent will be ours for the taking."

Flor looked at Thalgryn for a few seconds and felt conflicted. She knew that Thalgryn's words were correct. However, she was still hesitant. Eila spoke at this time. "Flor, Liu Shu can't reach the top without taking risky steps. She must swallow everything and become an insurmountable existence before people find out about her and try to squash her."

Flor looked into Eila's deep purple eyes. This woman was one of the people who had the ability in the past to do as she just said. It was by pure chance that it didn't develop as such. She took a deep breath and steeled her sigh. "Wisdom, prepare to entrap Marlius' group and swallow them into the ant nest. Once there, help Ignatia get rid of him. We'll push the rest back on the surface." Her voice sounded fierce and unyielding. "Tomorrow, Marlius will become nothing more than fertilizer."

[Wisdom: Developing a plan to entrap Marlius perfectly...]

Everyone held their breaths. Then, a few moments later, Wisdom answered with a single word.

[Completed.]

That single word felt like an inescapable death sentence, making everyone feel a chill running down their spine.