Chapter 124. Losing Battle.

Chapter 124. Losing Battle. Flor's face was tight as she looked beyond the wall. Ignatia said, "Flor, you can do nothing about that. There are too many. If Liu Shu was awake, I would fight with you until the end. However, she is sleeping. We are defenseless!" Flor's face became peaceful, and her eyes remained determined. "I promised I would be her protector until I was useless. After Liu Shu finally levels up, she will become incredibly strong." Ignatia understood Flor's heart, but she was highly anxious. As an Ant Queen, a creature that was hunted down by almost every other being in the World, her danger senses were incredibly sharp. The feeling that was currently attacking her brain constantly was to "RUN!". A loud exclamation from her most primal part to flee as far as she can. Abandoning her colony to rebuild it far away was also flashing in her mind; that's how much danger she could sense from that approaching group. Ignatia, who loved her children dearly, was considering fleeing to rebuild a new colony. When Flor flew upward, Ignatia felt restlessness and fear accumulating, making her lose her patience. She screamed a plea. "FLOR! PLEASE LISTEN TO ME THIS TIME! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU!" Flor paused her ascension and looked back. Even with emotionless compound eyes, Flor could clearly feel Ignatia's distress and fear. Looking further behind, she saw the large World Tree gathering energy. 'Liu Shu... My little Liu Shu... Will you wake up? Will you save us from this situation? Nobody came to report, which means that at least 30 Rose Fairies have been lost even before the fight started.' Flor knew that the day she was too weak to protect would eventually arrive. But it was way too early. 'Everything is moving so fast.' The Rose Fairy Queen looked at her titles and then at Amapola and Clavel. 'Is it the correct choice to flee? Perhaps, but... can I really abandon her?' Flor remembered all the times the little World Tree would call her sweetly, mischievously send a barrage of messages, or the times she fought for the Rose Fairies. The more she thought of the young World Tree, the more her heart softened, and the more her determination grew. 'As a tree, the option to flee just doesn't exist for her. She is rooted here, helpless if a powerful enough enemy comes.' Flor remembered the joy she felt when Liu Shu talked to her with actual words for the first time, as well as the laughter and peace her canopy's shadow gave her. Flor's lips arched, 'Can I really run and leave her? I can't.' "FLOR!" Flor looked at Ignatia again and smiled. "Ignatia, in truth, I understand what is going on between us a bit." Ignatia looked at Flor with a surprised expression. Flor laughed. "I know that you have affection toward me. I don't really know what kind of why, but I know you don't treat me like others." When those words reached her, Ignatia felt as if her heart was going to rip apart into pieces. Flor continued softly. "But..." Ignatia shook her head. "Please, Flor." Flor looked at the beautiful and growing Willow Tree and smiled softly. "How can I face Liu Shu later if I don't fight?" Ignatia, although incapable of shedding tears, felt as if her eyesight was blurring. Flor looked over and saw the trees on the walls starting to attack the approaching enemies to defend Liu Shu. "They are here. Ignatia, take the low-level Rose Fairies and Clavel and guide them away." Flor looked at the Level 10 Rose Fairy and smiled. "You discovered Liu Shu and always got along with her. Be sure to continue doing so. Clavel understood Flor's intentions, so she didn't complain. She nodded firmly and started guiding all the low-level fairies toward the tunnel after having gathered the Rose Fairy Seeds. Cinderielle, Verdantia, and Tempestria walked forward, and energy started gathering toward their bodies as their bodies transformed. Ignatia constantly looked between Flor, who flew closer to the wall, and the escape tunnel she had secretly crafted during the last months. Her mind was locked in a battle of instinct against will. BOOM! A giant explosion opened a massive hole in the walls, catching everyone's attention. Then, hundreds of people rushed through the hole. Soon, Ignatia could see the all-out war starting. 'What do I do?' Her instincts told her to run. She had been subconsciously walking backward this whole time, and the ants felt her hesitation, so they were all ready to flee at the slightest sign of Ignatia's retreat. The Ant Queen looked at her <Sylvan Quest> and gritted her teeth. 'I am also close to completing my quest! If I complete it, I will become much stronger. I could've probably pulled a defensive stance right now! But I need to either befriend or kill a Level 10+ beastkin.' Ignatia saw Flor flying through the hordes of Level 9s, slaughtering everyone as her wind blades sliced through the bodies of those who approached. Her figure was valiant and elegant as the mighty Rose Fairy Queen fought with seemingly no rival. The three Sylvans fighting around her were also incredibly powerful, not allowing a single enemy to cross over. [-2700]! His body was sent flying for several meters, stupefying Malachai. 'A Humanoid Ant Queen!?' Flipping mid-air and using his hand to push against the ground, Malachai did a few acrobatic maneuvers to land on his feet. Without a moment to lose, Malachai analyzed Ignatia. His anxious heart relaxed. 'Level 14! Thankfully, she is still low-leveled, or we might've needed to retreat.' While this happened, Ignatia hastily hugged Flor into her arms and looked around. To her surprise, she saw the three Sylvans being sieged by the 15 <Stormriders> while a man mounted on one looked on from a distance with a grin. While she wanted to help, as the three Sylvans were clearly dying, she didn't have time to do so. 'I need to carry Flor to safety!' Without a moment of hesitation, she screeched again, telling all her children to cover her retreat. The mass of ants that had been attacking the humans with terrifying savagism rushed toward Ignatia. Malachai laughed. "Oh, you are not getting away!" He was about to push against the ground and rush to kill them when an incredibly profound aura swallowed everything around them. Malachai's body burst into chills and quickly looked over. "Eldric, I am taking my child away before you kill her, if you don't mind." Eldric looked skyward with an utterly terrified yet resentful face. "L-Lady Verena!" Verena landed on the ground and tapped the ground with her foot. Before anyone could react, the ground burst apart as several Level 20 and above plant creatures appeared. There were even Second Cycle summons between those. Malachai didn't dare move an inch, and the same was true for the rest of the humans. This woman was more than capable of sending everyone here to hell with just a single word. Looking at the situation, all the remaining Ants, Myconids, and Rose Fairies followed Ignatia and Flor, escaping through the underground tunnels as they collapsed them. Eldric shouted. "Lady Verena, if you let those creatures flee, they will-." "Child. Shut up." Verena looked at the Leveling Up World Tree, and then her gaze landed on Malachai. "Had you attacked the World Tree, I would have got an excuse to exterminate your little group. Sadly, that has not been the case, so I can't stop you from what you will do." Malachai didn't dare say a single word, just in case this woman came up with a ridiculous excuse to attack. Verena looked at Verdantia and the other sylvans, who were on the ground, full of wounds. "You failed, Verdantia." Verdantia looked up at her mother, her green eyes dim and tired. Verena commented. "If I didn't intervene, you, your friends, and even the World Tree you adore so much would've ended up quite badly." Verdantia muttered, exhausted beyond words and with her entire body almost unable to move. "I... Did, huh, my... best." Verena smiled and shook her head. "If you had done your best, you and your friends would've been Level 10, and perhaps, you could've done better." Verdantia's nails dug into the ground as she clenched her bloody fist. Verena looked at Eldric and said. "If you or anyone present reveals the existence of the World Tree to your family, I will reveal to your father the relationship with the Void Witherwood Exarchs. Do we have a deal?" Eldric looked at Cinderielle with greed, but thinking of what his father might do to him, he nodded. "Understood, Lady Verena." Verena looked at Malachai and said. "If you attack her before she attacks you, I will uproot your power. If words of the existence of this World Tree spread, I will uproot your power. Don't try to find a loophole in my words, as you are well aware of what I mean with them." Then, a giant bird with leaf-like feathers appeared below Verena. Its back was wide enough to carry Verdantia, Cinderielle, and Tempestria. With a flap of its wings, it took to the sky and disappeared. As Verena flew away, all the summoned creatures returned to the earth. Eldric gritted his teeth, looking at the bird getting smaller in the sky. 'Eventually... I will make even you kneel before me!' Malachai pointed at the <Mother of Thousand Flower Field>, who has taken quite a few lives already and ordered. "Cut it down and clean this place! We are securing this place as our next main base!"