Chapter 425 - Chapter 425. Escaping The Underground.

The groups returned from the expedition right after managing to put the inside his cage. The reason was not because they wanted to rush back up after a harsh fight, but because of what their resident World Tree told them. 

"You might want to leave this place. It seems that the can somehow sense the plight of the and has sent a few thousand to follow after all of you. I don't think you are all prepared enough to face that threat without heavy casualties."

Hearing those words was quite frightening in of itself, but when you added the multidirectional voice that our Liu Shu gained not long ago, it was as if a divine being was telling them about their approaching fate. 

Those who were sprawled on the ground due to tiredness felt as if someone had shot chicken blood inside of them and rushed them to their feet, fleeing the place with all the strength they had left in their bodies. 

Thankfully for them, even when there were many people, Liu Shu was there to guide their group through the shortest path while blocking a few tunnels so that the wouldn't catch up. As Liu Shu observed the chase, she noticed that they'd come quite far above ground, but the army of was not stopping! 

'Hm… There are around 15,000 rushing through the tunnels, with 4,000 of them being . The numbers are not exceptional, but Flor's group has a little over 4,500 people… Moreover, many of them are tired, and if the is freed, it won't matter even if all those 15,000 died. It would be a major loss. After all, that monster won't be caught twice with the same strategy.'

Thinking until this point, Liu Shu's own energy began moving and a green portal appeared above her canopy. "Come forth. ."

From the green portal, hundreds of Arboreal Winged serpents poured down. Most of them being at Level 49 to avoid her Anima Energy Cores consumption. After summoning 180 of them at Level 49 and 20 of them at Level 60, Liu Shu stopped the summoning. 'With this many, I can keep it up for around 17 hours…'

"Ophion! Lead all the serpents to this location and prepare to bombard the entrance when I tell you. Don't hold back at all and pour every single skill!"

Their numbers were not that impressive. However, that didn't mean that they were weak. The 199 serpents besides Ophion were all spellcaster-type Arboreal Winged Serpents. Moreover, unlike in the past, their were ridiculously high. 

Thanks to Liu Shu's new title , plant-related summons could be summoned beyond the skill's . For now, was at the D Tier. Liu Shu didn't give it priority because she wanted to see if she could fuse the skill in the future with her Quest rewards. 

: …You can summon plant-based lifeforms that rank higher than the summoning skill until C Tier…

So, with stats worthy of Elite C Tier monsters, the 200 serpents rushed toward the exit point where the army was going to appear from. Ophion's stats at this moment were truly ridiculous thanks to his racial trait, . This gave him extra attributes comparable to constantly wearing armor equal to his and . 

His was at 37,000, and that was before any buffs. Being a summon, his stats were increased to an absurd number through myriad buffs! First of all, Liu Shu's own buffs totaled around a 40% increase, and the Temple similarly increased by 20%. Raw stats-wise, Ophion could match with a buffed Ignatia!

If only he weren't too big to go through the tunnels, using him to fight the could've eased many of the problems. After all, with his tanky skills, he could've faced the on his own for a while. 

Besides him, all the other Arboreal Winged Serpents had similar skills and stats, but focused on either or . Their numbers were not as exaggerated as Ophion's, since he was slightly stronger than his peers. However, they were not too far behind. Each of them had a similar strength to Flor!

Meanwhile, the army carrying the was becoming somewhat nervous underground. They could hear the myriad roars in the distance, and those roars were getting closer despite Liu Shu's best attempts to slow them down. 

As they moved, Flor saw Ignatia's expression and spoke coldly. "If you dare send these children to hold them back, I'll resent you."

Ignatia's facial expression froze for a second before she sighed. "I won't."

Flor nodded. She was tired of using the Ant Colony in the worst situations as a sacrificial lamb. Flor considered the ants as her children as well. Hence, their loss hurt her heart even more than some intelligent creatures. She would never vocalize it, but Flor might choose to save the life of an ant over the lives of some humans, beastkin, or even Sylvans. 

Therefore, she refused to give Ignatia the role of a martyr once more. "We either make it out together or we don't, and that's that."

Time trickled by slowly, and the hearts of everyone present became increasingly tense as the roars became louder and clearer. Liu Shu's voice reached them. "You are going to make it out if you continue at this pace. I've gathered reinforcements from all cities, and they are rushing here at their top speed! My will arrive first and help you push back the army for a few minutes."

Her voice echoed with the might of the forest, but without losing that intrinsic gentleness within it. Only, with the echoey nature, normal beings found it intimidating regardless of how much gentleness or tenderness it had. It gave them both reassurance and a strange nervousness.

A few minutes later, like Liu Shu said, they arrived at the exit of the tunnels and surfaced at the edge of the . It was relatively close to the Golden Sap City, around 40 kilometers from it. However, that distance that could usually be traversed in just a few hours now seemed infinitely far. 

The entrance they used was rather secretive so that the public wouldn't be bothered. Hence, the defenses outside were almost non-existent. They had a roughly mounted camp, but this place had no defensive measures besides those to keep weak wild beasts from causing a disaster while the army was gone. 

Flor looked around and saw that the time was quite deep into the afternoon. The sky was already a bluish orange, and the sun was slowly hiding on the horizon. "We took longer than expected. Fighting the at night is not the cleverest thing we can do. Darkness is basically their preferred location."

Cinderielle asked while looking up. "Ophion, are you there?"

A sharp hiss reached them, and the figure of the 200 Arboreal Winged serpents became faintly visible in the dusk sky. A person muttered with a frown. "Only 200?"

However, another one by their side elbowed him with a scowl. "All those were summoned by Lady World Tree. Do you know any summoner who can summon 200 beings of that strength!? Be grateful that Lady World Tree is even willing to lend us help beyond what she has been doing!"

Liu Shu spoke at that moment. "Leave. The Arboreal Winged Serpents can fly, so they will have an advantage over the army of . Those monsters have no attacks against flying beings, or at least, I've seen none. They are specialized for underground combat, so aerial combat should be enough to push them back."

Flor nodded and shouted. "Move out!" After that, Verdantia asked. "Liu Shu, where are Lord Stormrider and Tempestria? Their would come in quite handy right now."

Liu Shu answered with a sigh. "They won't be here in time. They've been patrolling the newly controlled while cooperating with me to deal wth any intruding forces. Now that I control the Wall Forest's plant life, I can easily sense all the secret bases strewn around the land."

Verdantia's lips arched in a wry smile. "You are truly everywhere, aren't you? Helping us with this while dealing with many other things… Aren't you tired mentally, Liu'er?"

"Well, I would lie if I said it is easy. However, it's better than when I had to deal with the entire Wall Forest. I guess I've become accustomed to multitasking and using different parts of myself thanks to that experience."

Nearby, Thalgryn commented. "At this pace, you might unlock a Passive called schizophrenia or something. Haha."

"Hmph." Liu Shu harrumphed. "I am perfectly sane and mentally healthy. Thank you very much!" 

As they moved through the darkening lands, they suddenly heard massive explosions. Looking back, those elemental attacks were lighting up where their previous camp was, showing quite an intimidating display of strength. Someone muttered. "They really surfaced… Capturing the will be quite a nightmare, right?"

No one knew who said that, but everyone couldn't help but agree. 

Meanwhile, back at the camp, the army of surfaced on the land for the first time in who knows how long. But what greeted them was not the soft breeze and gentle rustling sound of nature. It was hell.

The two hundred Arboreal Winged Serpent rained elemental and soul attacks on the hole, creating explosions everywhere as hundreds of thousands of damage numbers popped everywhere each second.

Liu Shu was not idle as well. Now that they were on the surface, her biggest roots could finally take part in the brawl. Gargantuan roots surged from the ground, reaching over 40 meters in height, and they all began slamming down onto the monsters, trying to squash all of them.

[Congratulations on defeating …!]

[Congratulations on defeating …!]

[Congratulations on defeating

…

Multiple messages flashed in her mind, which she ignored as she continued slamming her attacks everywhere. 

However, the enemy numbers were just too high. Together with the Arboreal Winged serpents, she managed to kill around 2,100 of them while they surfaced on the ground. However, the rest were able to roam free and follow the trail of their . 

The Arboreal Winged Serpents hovered above them, firing hell down on them. Eventually, a powerful screeching roar came from the depths of the caves.

The screech echoed in the night sky, making all living creatures who heard it shudder. It was the ordering her children to come back. 

So, while they were reluctant, all the monsters began digging down on the spot, quickly escaping the attacks of the Arboreal Winged Serpents. 

Liu Shu sighed in her mind. 'It seems that the extra reinforcements were unnecessary. I should inform everyone… But these are really annoying, can't you dig down without slicing my roots with your sharp claws? Ouch! Hey! I will crush you, you little rock eater!'