While Ignatia and Evangeline battled, the rest of the battlefield was engulfed in the flames of war. Death was around every corner, as both sides had casualties. Even with Fortuna and Liu Shu's protection, they could do nothing about people dying straight away. Thankfully, with the combination of the ants, serpents, reinforcements, and other armies, both sides were rather equal in numbers, with Liu Shu's side having an overwhelming edge in soldier quality.
The
Liu Shu spoke to a blue-haired Sylvan with carefulness. "Delia, you are not even Level 50. Jolie can literally one-hit-kill you if you are not careful."
"I have to see her death with my very own eyes for what she did to my child those decades ago!" Delia was firm in this regard, and Liu Shu couldn't move her heart. If she disagreed, she feared that the woman would charge into the battlefield by herself.
Looking around, she sent a few messages. "Flor, Eila, Edharen, can you come and help me escort someone? You three are not that busy now that everything is on track, right?"
As leaders, their participation in battle was rather limited. Of course, that didn't mean that they weren't fighting, but more so that they were focusing their efforts on commanding their armies.
When they heard Liu Shu's call, the three of them answered and moved toward where she guided them. There, Eila and Flor were surprised to see the elegant woman leading Mareful City. Edharen spoke with surprise. "Lady Delia, what are you doing here? You were not called to battle."
Delia spoke with a frown. "I need to see Jolie die with my own eyes, or I won't be satisfied! That corrupted, rotten plant must die an ignoble death!"
Liu Shu spoke to them at this time. "Jolie needs to die either way. So, instead of waiting, I asked you three to go and hunt her down. Mommy Ignatia is already dealing with Evangeline, so there is nothing to worry about on that side~."
Hearing her Ant Queen Wife's name, Flor asked worriedly. "How is she doing? Is that woman able to corrupt her?"
"Hehe~. Don't worry about that, Mom! Either way, go and fight Jolie. I'll mark her location~."
Eila blinked, confused. "How would you…"
C-Crack… BANG!
The floor in the distance exploded as a massive root rose into the air. The four people observed how that root twisted and then, breaking its majesty, poked in one direction adorably. It felt as if it were saying. "Hey! Over there! Follow my pokey root!"
The four people opened and closed their mouths. Looking at each other, they read into their gazes not to comment on their big lady's antics. So, quickly following the massive root that shifted around, they finally spotted the gorgeous silver-haired young Sylvan.
The woman was wearing a gorgeous long black dress, holding a staff similar to that of her mother. It was a deep purple with a black gem at the top emitting an ominous light. As Jolie moved around, hundreds of bolts of fire and lightning rained among the soldiers. She was harvesting several low-level lives with each attack.
Edharen's expression below his silver helmet turned serious. "Let's go.
The knight then stomped the ground and shot through the battlefield like an arrow released from a longbow. Flor followed behind him without a word, while Eila grabbed Delia's shoulder. "I know you hate her. However, you've already been selfish enough coming this far. If it were not because Liu Shu told me to allow it, I would have kicked your butt back to Mareful City." Eila reprimanded her friend. "You've disregarded your safety and the consequences that your death would carry. What if you die and leave Aria behind? Wouldn't the poor girl become even more depressed after losing her loving mother?"
Delia opened and closed her mouth, unable to answer. "Still…" Eila sighed. "I can understand how much hatred against this person you must have." The black-haired, purple-eyed woman spoke. "I hope this is the first and only time, or our friendship will end."
Then, not waiting for Delia's answer, Eila turned into a bolt of purple lightning and rushed toward the battlefield. Eila's words pierced like a sword into Delia's heart. Still, her eyes didn't move away from the battlefield.
Jolie was moving around with an indifferent face, her spells blasting everyone that entered her sight without any mercy. Nevertheless, as she cast her spells, she felt a sensation of danger crawl up her spine and quickly looked in the direction of the threat.
There, a silver-armored man was charging at her with a longsword in his hands. "You… Edharen?" Jolie's eyebrow jumped. "You betrayed the Abyssal Void Nexus?"
Edharen snorted and waved his sword, creating a powerful ternary essence cutting wave. "Die, evil witch's child."
Jolie quickly accelerated sideways with one spell, her lips arching in a mocking laugh as she dodged. "You actually are him! Who knew that you'd run away from the master who fed you? Not even dogs would bite the hand of the person who fed them!"
As Edharen pursued and Jolie dodged, the knight spoke with a calm tone. "Your words are nothing but the wails of the defeated. You, being a Sylvan, do not understand the atrocities that the Abyssal Void Nexus commits. That's a pitiful thing, but not pardonable. Now, we are giving a mother of the many you've hurt her resolution."
"A mother?" Jolie raised her beautiful brow and looked around. She quickly spotted Delia in the distance, and her lips arched widely in a weird smile. "Hahaha! That lucky woman! If it weren't because Tianlian Liu Shu trapped me and stole that pretty tool, things wouldn't have gone this awry."
"Using another person's child as blackmail is something I will never pardon."
The voice of a mature woman came from above her, and looking up, she saw a gorgeous red-haired fairy surrounded by multicolored lights. Jolie frowned and quickly raised her staff. "
Black bolts of lightning rose from the ground and clashed against the many projectiles the Flower Fairy delivered toward her. The result made Jolie's heart skip a beat. Flor had overpowered her spell, and now the remains were coming straight at her.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
[-887,500]! [-947,500]! [-789,000]!
Jolie frowned as she flew back from the shockwave, and parts of her body tingled with pain. "Two on one? Quite a loser behavior."
"It's three against one, child.
Jolie failed to react as Eila's sword slammed against her back and cut deeply.
BANG!
[-27,800,900]!
"AHH!"
Jolie flew off like a kite whose strings had been cut off. Flor quickly caught up and dove from the sky, elemental energies gathering in her foot. "Stop flying like an annoying fly."
BOOM!
"GAH!"
In just a few exchanges, the Sylvan was pinned down under Floor's foot and vomiting blood. Jolie groaned and shouted. "
Flor's lips arched mockingly. "You won't." Her hand moved quickly as she pierced it down like a spear. Spatial Aether surrounded her hand as she landed her fist onto her chest before she transformed.
BOOM!!!
[-35,590,754]!
Jolie's eyes bulged as her legs bounced up from the sheer power behind the strike. Looking down with incredulous eyes, she saw a massive hole in her chest and Flor's mangled hand. "You… crazy… woman…"
Ignoring her own destroyed hand, Flor snorted. "Better to put you down quickly before you cause any stir. In the end, you are just a stone on our long road. A kick to put you out of our way is all the attention you deserve."
Edharen and Eila looked at each other and gulped. This fairy was ruthless toward herself as much as she was toward her enemies. 'No wonder she had the guts to mother a World Tree. What a woman.'
Grabbing Jolie's half-dead body, she threw her upward and spoke faintly. "Liu Shu, love, carry her to Delia."
"Yes, Mom!"
Flor then flew upward and spoke to Edharen and Eila. "Go back to your posts. If our absence causes the death of anyone, I'll make sure to punish you both severely..." Looking at them from the sky with her ruby-like eyes, she clearly enunciated. "... Personally administered punishment."
Then, she flew off, leaving two shivering people. Edharen and Eila quickly turned and sped toward their posts. They didn't want to be punished by Flor!
Meanwhile, Delia was looking at the half-dead woman sprawled in front of her, whose breathing was barely audible, with a dark look. Jolie glanced at Delia and smiled weakly with a mocking expression. "A weak… mother and weak… Sylvan." Taking shallow breaths to try and fill her broken lungs with air, Jolie continued. "Until the end… Haaa… you needed others to… save you and… take revenge for you."
Delia answered her with an indifferent tone. "You are right. But so what? In the end, you are now dying at my feet, and my daughter is growing away from the wounds you inflicted on her."
"Sadly…" Jolie laughed softly. "Wounds that deep leave… scars…"
Delia's face twisted, and she summoned a water spear above Jolie's head. "I won't torture you, Jolie. Just hearing your voice sickens me. Just die and join the land you've tried to hurt. I hope that beautiful flowers grow from your corpse."
Jolie opened her mouth right before she was stabbed to death. "Weakling."
STAB!
[Calculating participation and level to experience ratio…]
[4% participation.]
[Congratulations on defeating
Liu Shu looked at Delia with satisfaction. If, after being given the mangled, half-dead body of her enemy, she started going crazy on it, it would signal that Delia's mental health was far from recovering from past scars. She wouldn't be disappointed, but she would probably not trust her with some important matters in the future. 'She just killed her enemy and got done with it when she had the chance. Decisive and resolute. That's a good way to finish past enemies after you've overcome their influence on you.'
Delia stood on top of Jolie's corpse for a few moments, looking down at it with a dark expression. However, as time passed, her heart knot slowly unraveled. 'Finally, there is no Jolie in this world.' She looked at the colossal and beautiful World Tree, and her heart was filled with gratitude. "Thank you. From a once-helpless mother and the bottom of my heart, thank you, Liu Shu. As long as I live, Mareful City will always be loyal to you."
Tianlian Liu Shu answered cheekily. "What about after, eh? You need to teach future generations as well!"
Delia's numb face gained a faint smile as a light laugh escaped her. "Sure, sure. I'll do as you say." Taking a deep breath before exhaling, Delia now looked much less burdened. Then she asked Liu Shu softly. "When you can, please help me go back. I need to start helping plan your future steps."
"Sure, sure~, Liu Shu air transportations are engaging~."
"Air?" Delia felt a root coil around her waist and raised her upward. Seeing that she was constantly elevated up and up, her face turned as pale as a sheet of paper. "W-Wait! Water Sylvans are not supposed to—"
"Fly, little Water Sylvan~!"
"Liu ShuuuuUUUAAAH!!!"