Chapter 424. Terragore King.

It was a massacre on both sides. On one side, the summoners were draining their Anima Energy at an unbearable pace, and Liu Shu’s roots were being sliced faster than she could regenerate and bring them in. On the other side of the battlefield, the people fighting the 400 <Terragore> were dying in batches, trying to push them back from reaching the <Terragore King> and help him out of the encirclement. 

After killing the <Terragore Striker>, Edharen fell to his knees, gasping in pain. The teeth had pierced through his armor and left his right shoulder hanging from a few stretched muscles. If it weren’t for the integrity of the armor, his right arm might’ve fallen off his body. 

Still, even with those wounds, he stretched his left hand and gripped his longsword, using it as a support to stand up. Through his impaired sight because of all the blood that had smeared the visor, he could see that they were losing. ‘At this pace, we might get annihilated before the reinforcements arrive in 3 more minutes!’

He took a few steps forward and shouted while charging back into the fray. “FIGHT! IF YOUR ARMS FAIL, FIGHT WITH YOUR LEGS! IF YOUR LEGS FAIL, FIGHT WITH YOUR TEETH! FIGHT!”

Liu Shu looked at them with worry. It’s not that she was not helping on both battlefields. Their current situation was this bad even AFTER her help. ‘<Terragore> were this terrifying?’ She was honestly somewhat intimidated. ‘To think that they’ve driven such terrifying foes onto the defensive… My people are strong.’

She had always taken her inhabitants as “people to be protected.” She knew there were strong people here and there. However, in general, even taking the army into account, Liu Shu never really took them too seriously. 

Now, though, she knew how wrong she was. Her view was still stuck a few decades ago because of her long sleeping periods. She had not adapted to her people being able to help or being on the same standing as herself. But, this fight was completely changing her perspective.

Each of these people, most of whose names she didn’t even know, was giving their life for the Golden Sap Country, for herself. With that in mind, Liu Shu’s aura surged and blasted a powerful wave of energy through her root network into the location. “Everyone step back!”

The voice of the World Tree pounded against their brains, and even before they understood the words, their bodies were already obeying her. 

As everyone took a step back, roots surged from everywhere around the cave and latched onto the living <Terragore>.

“<Root Explosion>!!!”

BOOOM!!!!

The entire cave shook with a powerful aftershock, and thousands of pieces of damage created by the shockwave filled the area. The people who had retreated raised their arms, blocking the dust wave. Then, some Aethermancers used their wind element to move the cloud and reveal the aftershock.

The <Terragore> were all heavily injured, their bodies missing some chunks here and there. While it was not enough to kill them, Liu Shu’s attack had tremendously weakened the small army of <Terragore>. 

Edharen looked at them and shouted. “Don’t engage!”

The people who were about to jump stopped, and Edharen spoke solemnly. “As long as they don’t try to bother the Summoners, don’t go! Our objective is the <Terragore King>! If these flee, so be it!”

Thankfully, Edharen remained rational, and everyone quickly followed his words. They could dive straight in and try to attack the injured monsters. However, even the meekest beast grows claws when cornered, not to speak of a <Terragore>.

A minute passed during that stalemate, and the <Terragore> regrouped while growling at Edharen’s group and looking at their fighting <Terragore King>. The monster was still fighting Liu Shu’s remaining roots and the summons.

However, of the over a hundred summoners, only 30 of them remained who could summon, while the rest had already spent all their Anima Energy. If they spent more, they might hurt their souls, so they were avoiding it until there was no more choice.

Edharen looked between both sides, his restlessness growing. ‘The <Terragore King> is about to escape the encirclement, and the other <Terragore> seem to know it and are waiting for him to escape the entanglement.’

As time passed, Edharen’s face became resolute, and he opened his mouth to push them into battle once more. However, when he was going to shout the order, a multiclored beam shot from the depths of the cave, striking the head of one of the <Terragore> and bursting it like an exploding fruit. 

One person shouted, her voice clearly full of delight. “That’s Lady Flor’s attack!”

“They’ve arrived!”

From the corner, a group of over 1,000 people surged with several elements and looked at the bloody battlefield. Seeing many of their friends and partners lying dead on the ground with incomplete bodies, many of them shouted.

“Death to the monsters!”

“Kill them all!”

Flor’s voice echoed around. “Verdantia! Go heal as many people as you can! We can deal with the rest.”

Edharen frowned and shouted. “Lady Flor! The <Terragore King> is much stronger than it appears! Don’t be overconfident!”

Flor smiled and nodded. “Worry not. We are not alone.”

The ceiling above the Terragore King opened, and a single red-haired beauty dropped through it like a meteor.

The Terragore King felt a threat from above and tried to claw upward, but over a dozen roots coiled around his two arms. This left the Terragore King looking up and seeing a red-haired woman with unfeeling insectoid eyes drop from the sky and punch his face.

BOOM!

[-3,547,500]!

The head of the monster was forcibly slammed down from the sheer strength of the <Ant Queen>’s punch. 

The eyes of the Terragore King showed another emotion other than feral violence for the first time. As he was forced down, his eyes followed the silhouette of the <Ant Queen> with a trace of surprise and… fear.

As a Monster King, he naturally knew about the existence of Ant Queens. It was a fear ingrained deeply in its genetic code, like some humans fear snakes or spiders naturally and without knowledge. 

He also knew that, whenever this creature appeared, she was not alone. 

After Ignatia landed on the ground, hundreds of ants started pouring out of the hole she had fallen through. They were like a mass of creatures that quickly swallowed the ceiling without an end in sight. They all looked at the Terragore King like cold and emotionless machines, their compound eyes fixed on his figure.

Even when they were their allies, Edharen and the others couldn’t help but feel their skin crawl. The sheer pressure of those monsters was too much. 

Ignatia looked at the <Terragore King> and smiled coldly. “Time to catch you, little beast.”

Ignatia boosted her own stats, and soon, her aura skyrocketed. While in terms of sheer presence, she lacked in comparison with the <Terragore King>, it felt as if she was a ball of pure energy about to explode. 

“GRAHHH!”

The Terragore King shouted, shredding all the roots coiling around him. 

Ignatia looked at him coldly and then opened her own mouth widely. 

“SCREEECH!!”

Then, both monsters moved and clashed with each other. 

BOOM!!

The earth shook, and all the dust blew out from their collision point. However, the <Ant Queen> remained rooted on the ground, looking up at the <Terragore King> with a ferocious expression. “Hurting my baby so badly… Look at all these severed roots! You are going to pay! <Blazing Inferno (B- Rank)>!”

WHOSH!

A tornado of fire erupted around them, swallowing their figures. Ignatia was fine, as she was plenty resistant to fire. However, the <Terragore King>, a subterranean monster, was very vulnerable.

“RAH! GRAHHH!!”

He slashed around, creating massive wind slashes to deal with the fire and Ignatia. But Ignatia dodged with surprising speed, and she quickly slipped past the madly swinging monster to punch its gut. “Fly!”

BOOM!

[-2,400,500]!

Sadly, Ignatia overestimated her strength. That strike was terrifying, but 24 Cores of damage to someone with over 3000 was not able to send his body flying.

Now knowing where the Ant Queen was, the Terragore King used its leg and struck Ignatia.

BANG!

[-11,400,455]!

Ignatia’s body flew out and slammed against the wall. “Ugh… This big monster is a bit strong.”

Flor shouted from a distance, “Are you convinced now? You stubborn woman, I am coming to help you! The elites I selected, come with me! Ignatia, order your children to bombard the Terragore King!”

Ignatia jumped from the hole she created and mumbled. “Okay…” Then, she looked up and smiled. “Babies~, come help Mommy!”

The Terragore King was strong. Undoubtedly strong! However, even an elephant could fall under enough ants, more so when the ants were truck-sized magic ants. 

Bombardment after bombardment of spells fell on the tough hide of the Terragore King. With so many attacks, even if each attack did one or two Phoer Cores in damage, the over 3000 vitality of the monster drained like water in a bucket with a hole. 

Eventually, the Terragore King gave out one last shout and fell over, exhausted and with a few dozen of Phoer Body Cores left. Flor looked at the fallen enemy with a solemn expression. “Strong. Truly powerful.”

Ignatia, standing by her side, nodded. “If one <Fourth Energy Cycle> needs this much work. Moreover, one without any treasures on their person… I can already imagine the rest.”

Flor chuckled. “Don’t you have the knowledge in your mind about them?”

“Knowing and seeing for yourself are two very different things.”

Liu Shu looked at the battlefield with a calm expression. ‘In the end, around 96 people died, while the rest were heavily injured. Since they will be sent to Aurelise’s hospital, they will recover completely. That’s good. Still… <Fourth Energy Cycles> are truly strong. My roots were almost useless. I could barely hold him back with the help of hundreds of summons.’

Liu Shu sighed, her gaze landing on her Accumulated Experience. ‘I’ve killed a few of the <Terragore>, so my Experience Points have increased quite a lot. Sadly, it seems that I am earning fewer Experience Points from kills after I Tiered-Up… Ugh, Leveling Up is becoming so complicated. QAQ!’

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