Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 375. Prey and Predator.

Marlius never expected to be in his current situation. To be completely honest, he was thinking that this trip was going to be a breeze. There were naturally some signs that he ignored. 

For example, the defeat of the <Dark Aether Swamp> when a powerful Corrupted World Tree had lived there uncontested for centuries. 

For example, the fact that Evangeline, one of the proudest and most intelligent people he knew, retreated because they ignored the Golden Sap Province. 

For example, the fact that the first attacks didn’t feel right…

Still, he also had previous experiences that proved he was not in the wrong and that his army was powerful enough. In the end, instead of trusting the signals around him, he chose to trust himself. Now, looking around at the glowing and predatory ant eyes filling the walls and the ceiling, he realized that he made a mistake. The worst part was that he was not going to be able to report back on his findings and that the army above ground was probably not going to understand why or how he was defeated.

A female’s voice reached him, the tone teasing and amused. “Marlius, Marlius… In the end, you are only this much.”

When he saw the origin of the voice, his heart almost stopped. “Humanoid… Ant Queen?”

The terrifying creature’s succulent and beautiful lips arched at the trembling in his voice.

“Welcome to my nest...”

***

A few hours before this, Marlius was advancing with the army. He sat on top of a quadrupedal beast around 3 meters tall, the muscular and durable body of the beast covered in thick armor for extra durability. It was a lion-like battle beast that had accompanied him for many years. 

“Lord Marlius, we are going to leave the Wall Forest in ten minutes. We expect an ambush to have been placed there, so the Lord should lower the marching pace and regroup. 

The advice was sound, so Marlius quickly followed through. “Battle formation! We are only around 20 to 25 kilometers away from Fortuna. At our pace, we should arrive at noon!”

The time was around 6 in the morning. The night before, they had rested in the Wall Forest so that today they could reach Fortuna City invigorated. 

After two more minutes, he began seeing the light shine through the end of the forest. Traversing the Wall Forest was not as dangerous as going into the Dark Aether Swamp due to the flora and monsters not being as bloodthirsty and aggressive. Of course, wild beasts would quickly swarm you the second you went out of the previously laid paths. 

Still, it was not that difficult for an army to advance through as long as the formations and strength were enough.

Once they arrived at the clearing outside of the Wall Forest, the army slowed down and started regrouping. During their traverse through the wild, they had gone in a long line, like a caravan. Now, they needed to form into the original army formation.

Marlius looked into the distance, spotting Fortuna by sight. Fortuna was around 700 meters in height. So, while she wasn’t as massive as Liu Shu, she could be somewhat seen from these distances as a very small figure. What confused them was that there was another silhouette much further away. However, due to the somewhat cloudy conditions, it was impossible to discern what it was.

“Anyone know what is that? Should we be careful about it?”

Marlius's question was answered by a man wearing full-body armor. He looked like a medieval knight, and his bearing was surprisingly upright and noble for someone who was part of the Nexus. “Lord, wouldn’t that silhouette be Tianlian Liu Shu? Information says that Tianlian Liu Shu is quite enormous even when compared to other World Trees.”

Marlius’s gaze was subtle. “Even then… We are around 50 kilometers away from Golden Sap City, right? Wouldn’t she need to be over 1000 meters in height for us to spot her?” 

The armored man spoke. “Tianlian Liu Shu is indeed over 1000 meters tall. Recently, there are new reports that say she is starting to approach 2,000.”

“Huh?” He couldn’t understand. “Why is she suddenly doubling in height?”

A woman on his other side looked at Marlius with a frown. “Lord, I sent you the report about them around 2 months ago. Have you not checked them yet?”

Marlius sighed. “I didn’t have the time because the headquarters have been asking me to make reports one after another.”

The woman’s face became strange. ‘Tianlian Liu Shu’s report was not that long… Around three hours of reading would’ve been enough to at least overview the general information.’

Marlius turned his mount slightly and looked back. Seeing the last few soldiers exiting the forest, he asked. “Did we lose anyone?”

A man wearing elegant clothes answered, his tone was professional and blunt. “There were 74 deaths. They happened when they went to relieve themselves and separated from the group.”

“None of them were <Third Energy Cycles>, right?”

“Rest assured, Lord. There haven’t been any Third Energy Cycle casualties during our travels.”

Marlius smiled faintly. “Great.” Then, he looked around. “Forma, why aren’t we being attacked? Fortuna’s roots should’ve reached this far, right? She should also be listening to us at the moment.”

Forma, the man wearing the elegant clothes, was responsible for primary strategic advice. When Marlius asked him, he answered with an unsure tone. “I am also confused. World Trees are too large, so losing time attacking the roots is never a good idea. Therefore, World Trees can slowly whittle down the approaching armies with root attacks. Usually, losing 10% of the army before even reaching the edge of the city controlled by the World Tree is quite common.”

The armored man spoke aloud. “Fortuna World Tree, if you surrender, we are willing to give you a quick death.”

“…”

No answer came back, giving them even a stranger sense of foreboding. “Since the tree is not attacking, we can take one hour to rest and eat. This area is safe, after all.”

The large carriages that advanced with the army were neatly arranged in a long line. The soldiers lined up, and the people working on those carriages began giving out porridge. The mix had some meat and other plant supplements, and it was easy to eat but very nutritious. The taste was not the greatest, but at least it was filling.

Seeing everyone start eating without a hitch, Marlius and the other high-level people were confused. ‘Isn’t now the best time to attack? Is she really going to ignore us?’

“Lord, what if the roots had not spread until here yet? If that’s the case, we might be speaking to the air instead of the World Tree.”

A soldier at the side chuckled. “That would be quite funny. Especially after Lord Edharen shouted so confidently in the air.”

The armored man didn’t get flustered, sitting on his horse-like mount with a relaxed body.

After everyone had their fill, Marlius started guiding the army forward. He didn’t notice that most of his soldiers had lost all tension, were quite relaxed, and had stopped paying attention to the surroundings.

A gentle breeze surrounded them, the somewhat cloudy sky made some shadows that covered a part of the army, and the lush greenery rustled with the wind's caresses. The temperature was also warm, making the surroundings even more welcoming. If it weren’t for the constant sounds of the army marching forward, they would’ve forgotten that they were on their way to kill a World Tree.

Of course, the peace was bound to be broken. However, it wasn’t in the way that they expected. After crossing the plains leading to the Forest surrounding Fortuna City, an intelligible whisper echoed in everyone’s minds. It was like a woman speaking gently but quite loudly right on the ear.

Marlius paused and looked around, his face gaining a touch of seriousness. That simple whisper had made the entire army be on high alert again. However, such an action was too confusing. 

As they looked around, Marlius ordered them to pause. “Stop! Did anyone else hear the whisper?”

Seeing everyone around them nod, his face became solemn. He quickly asked the Soulmancers in the army to check strange for activity in the Anima Energy surrounding them. However, the second they did so, they were startled. Seeing the face full of surprise and confusion, Marlius quickly asked. “What’s wrong?”

The man he asked shook his head. “I… I don’t know. The Anima Energy around us doesn’t answer my calls. It’s as if everything has become stale.”

Another whisper reached them, this time louder and even hurting their ears. The woman’s intelligible voice was uncomfortable and rang like static in their ears. Marlius grabbed his ears, confused, and asked, “Why are you not stopping it?”

Seeing everyone showing uncomfortable signs, he became even more confused. ‘Impossible, a single World Tree shouldn’t have this amount of control over the ternary essences! There are several hundred Soulmancers over Level 50 here!’

Then, as he was trying to block the sound, he felt his body dropping down. His eyes widened, and he looked down. What he saw made him terribly confused. “T-The ground is disappearing?”

As if a black wave was erasing everything, people, ground, and everything around him started vanishing without a trace. Even his mount disintegrated into a black cloud. “What is going on!?”

BANG!

He hit nothing as he was surrounded by darkness. However, he clearly felt that there was some kind of ground below him. Confused, he unsheathed his double scimitars and observed the dark surroundings. “Is this a mind curse? No… It’s different.”

“Fufufu~.” 

The laughter of a woman reached him, and when he looked over, he saw an enormous, white-colored moth woman looking down at him with a big smile. “You poor little man~. You are nothing but a weak person who tries to appear strong. Shunned by those you trusted, and now, you try to compensate by behaving arrogantly~.”

Marlius’s face twisted as he glared at the giant woman and slashed his swords. “Die!”

BOOM! BOOM!

The area he struck shattered like glass, revealing a rocky surface. He was confused, but thinking that he could escape from this strange place, he started slashing around like a mad person.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

His strength struck the surroundings like a massive hammer repeatedly striking glass, revealing more and more of the cave that was hidden behind the darkness.

A few voices reached him, very faint. 

“...lius.”

“...op.

“Restr..n him…!”

Suddenly a powerful mind attack hit him.

“MARLIUS! STOP!”

Marlius inhaled sharply and opened his eyes wide, looking around him with a confused expression. His surroundings were dark and filled with dust, and instead of being alone, he was surrounded by corpses of people.

He quickly glanced at his system, and his face paled.

[Congratulations on defeating <Ceperet Human Level 43>. You've gained…]

[Congratulations on defeating <Steel Fur Bearkin Level 45>. You've gained…]

[Congratulations on defeating <Flame Curse Boarkin Level 49>. You've gained…]

[Congratulations on defeating <Ceperet Human Level 51>. You've gained…]

“Lord Marlius, you’ve come back to your senses?” Forma sighed and spoke quickly, explaining the situation. “We’ve fallen prey to a wide-scale area illusion array and runic formation! It was set up outside of the forest area, right where we stopped. When everyone was eating, it seemed to have activated! This was only possible due to Fortuna’s powerful <Anima> control. We underestimate her. Still, we need to-.”

As he spoke, a woman’s voice reached them, interrupting his words. “Oho~. As expected for being the first one to notice, you are able to put the events together quite quickly. However, you are still too late; your end is nothing but guaranteed.”

Everyone tensed and quickly readied themselves. The people who were still affected by the illusion were standing there, dazed and unmoving. Marlius looked around as the dust settled, and his heart beat faster. He was currently inside some underground tunnels, and there were no more than 150 <Third Energy Cycles> and over 400 <Second Energy Cycles> around him who were awake.

From the innumerable tunnels, Marlius noticed ants pouring out like a locust. Among them, one of them smiled at him and chuckled.  

“Marlius, Marlius… In the end, you are only this much.”

When he saw the origin of the voice, his heart almost stopped. “Humanoid… Ant Queen?”

The terrifying creature’s succulent and beautiful lips arched at the trembling in his voice. “Welcome to my nest~. Your entire army has been separated around my nest and will be hunted down~. Now, will you be able to survive, Marlius?”