Chapter 263. The Terror of an Adult [Terragore].

Chapter 263. The Terror of an Adult [Terragore].

The conversation between the army people contained less interesting information than Liu Shu expected. It seems that, even though they were talking, they weren't revealing much other than short-term plans, just in case.

"... Regardless, we'll eventually take revenge on the World Tree."

'Revenge?' Liu Shu thought and tried to guess what they were talking about. After a few moments, nothing came to mind.

"Lord, may I ask? Why are you so sure that the World Tree is the culprit of your daughter's death?"

'Daughter...? I've killed many females during the war, so that doesn't really narrow it down.'

Lorbase said with conviction. "It's a matter of dates and guesswork. Everything fits together perfectly if you look at it with the World Tree as the culprit. That's all."

'So... cryptic. Do normal people really talk like this? Tsk, tsk.'

Knowing that the army people were not going to really talk about more interesting matters, she sighed and stopped paying that much attention, leaving behind a trace of her consciousness there, in case anything changed.

In the meantime, Liu Shu decided to do other things.

"Liu'er."

Verdantia's sudden call made her pay attention to her. When she searched for the origin of the call, she saw Verdantia deep underground, near the entrance of the nest of beasts below the mines. "Verdantia? What are you doing here?"

Verdantia heard the touch of worry from Liu Shu and felt her lips curving up. "Hehe, don't worry about me, Liu'er. I have come here a few times in the past! Anyway, I wanted to ask, what are your plans with these beasts?"

Only then did Liu Shu notice a dead <Terragore> lying at Verdantia's feet. "Wow. You are really strong, Verdantia! That looks like a Level 24 creature!"

Verdantia blinked. "Hm? Don't you know that I've reached Level 25?"

"Huh?"

Liu Shu analyzed Verdantia, and she was jumpscared by a somewhat scary status page.

***

Name: Verdantia Liferoot

Level: 26 [0/44,300]

Aether Mana Cores: 5.44/5.44 (544,537)

Phoer Body Cores: 5.52/5.52 (552,736)

Anima Energy Cores: 9.94/9.94 (994,736)

Attributes: Aether 1362 (690+672), Physique 1382 (690+692), Anima 2247 (1022+1225), Willpower 1466 (996+470), Destiny 312 (312)

Affinity Percentage: Aether Resonance (51), Physique Refinement (51), Anima Affinity (67)

Resistance Percentage: Aether Resistance (46), Physique Resistance (46), Spiritual Resistance (51), Mental Resistance (49)

Summoning Affinity: Summon Cost (-39%), Summon Enhancement (+10%), Summoning Invoking Time (-39%), Summon Upkeep (-39%)

***

"Woah!"

Verdantia felt Liu Shu's analyzing gaze all over her body, and she shuddered, smiling quite... interestingly. "Hehehe, Liu Shu is looking at me~. Ha... Ha..."

Liu Shu saw Verdantia's twitchy behavior and asked, curious. "Are you okay, Verdantia?"

Verdantia cleared her throat. "Ahem. Yes. Yes, I am."

One of them leaned down, sniffing the corpse of the dead one, and after that, it howled in anger. "GRAAH!"

The three of them turned their heads in the direction Verdantia left and quickly rushed after her.

Verdantia was somewhat deep into their nest since she had been hunting them for a little while to Level Up to Level 27. Hearing the furious howls, Verdantia's face paled slightly. 'Did I kill someone I shouldn't?'

"Verdantia, it seems that the parent of one of the <Terragore> you killed has taken your trail. It is rushing at you incredibly quickly through the caves and will catch up to you in twenty seconds at most! You need to run faster!"

Verdantia spoke rushedly. "I am going at my top speed, Liu Shu. Can I make it out in time?"

Liu Shu observed the path ahead of Verdantia and felt her core tighten slightly. "No. At this pace, you'll get caught. You need at least two minutes before you can elave the cave system."

"Two minutes!? How deep did I wander off!?" Verdantia looked at her summon with pained eyes and said. "Hold them back for me!"

She didn't only send that one. Slowing down her pace slightly to chant an incantation, two more summons appeared from the void in front of her. "Hold them back!"

The two plant creatures stayed in place and anchored their roots to the walls and hard rock below them, waiting for the creatures to arrive.

The sound of steps was getting closer, echoing together with the growls of the creatures. The plant summons hardened their bodies with skills and prepared to collide.

An instant later, two <Terragore> at least twice as large as the ones Verdantia was hunting appeared and instantly rushed at the plant summons.

BANG! BANG!

[-150,450!]!

[-174,896]!

The strikes on the summons instantly sliced off a large part of their bodies as their Phoer Cores plummeted. Even then, the two plant summons latched onto the <Terragores> that were about to overcome them, making them trip and slam against the hard rocks. Still, the adult <Terragore> received zero damage. The stones below were even softer than the minerals they ate regularly; such an impact crushed the rocks, not their sturdy bodies.

Both Terragores looked back, their drooling and ferocious faces glaring at the plant summons with bestial brutality. "GRAAAH!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Verdantia heard the loud explosive sounds and bit her lip. The summons she had were all hand-grown, so if they died, they died forever. Still, currently, she was really not able to face off against three mature <Terragore>. Even with Liu Shu's help, her chances of survival were small. After all, at this depth, Liu Shu's ability to help was too limited.

The World Tree observed Verdantia's path, and she couldn't help but feel increasingly nervous. 'At this pace, they will catch up! They've already dealt with the plant creatures!'

Calling for her would be too slow; Verdantia was too deep. Calling those nearby was also useless, as there were no Level 25s nearby that could even start facing the three monsters following behind Verdantia.

"Verdantia, you need to sacrifice more summons! You won't make it!"

"More!?" Verdantia felt her heart bleeding when she heard Liu Shu.

Seeing the Sylvan's hesitation, Liu Shu's voice boomed. "VERDANTIA! NOW!"

Verdantia's eyes gained a reddish tint as she shouted, frustrated and angry at herself. "DAMN IT! <Liferoot Creature Invoking>!"

Three more summons appeared around her just as the three mature <Terragore> turned the last corner and got in sight of Verdantia. Looking back at the three giant monstrosities, Verdantia's face paled.

"<LIVING ROOTS>!"

The walls around Verdantia burst as the three <Terragore> rushed forward; Liu Shu joined the defense. While Verdantia fled, she managed to see how an adult <Terragore> swung its powerful claws against Liu Shu's roots and cleanly sliced off one of them, making her heart tremble. Her summons fared much worse, being minced at incredible speeds.

Thankfully, after four more turns, Verdantia saw the exit and rushed out, reaching the highly illuminated area.

When they finished off Liu Shu's roots and the summons, the three mature <Terragore> rushed after Verdantia. However, when they saw the brightly illuminated passages, all three stopped right in their tracks, their eyes squinting as they got somewhat blinded by the flames.

"GRAAAH!!!"

Their angered screams rumbled in the low caverns. However, they didn't continue their chase and retreated back into the dark depths of the cavern.