Xakira’s mothership led the small starship army of little over 100. Inside these ships, the millions of soldiers were all prepared for battle.

Liu Shu looked at these people and felt a bit tense. ’Many will die.’

It was not a question, but almost a certainty. Even with her buffs, she knew that this battlefield would not be easy. Her soldiers’ armor was not of the same quality as that of the Nexus. From what she experienced, the Nexus could activate small array battle formations with their armors, allowing them to share damage. It was this quality that prevented Liu Shu from completely annihilating the Vanguard back then.

Meanwhile, Rhazor’s army advanced, with the man in question at the front line. His face was stern as she gently rested her hand on the hilt of his sword.

It was a bit later that he saw the enemy fleet in the distance. His eyebrows furrowed. ’Is this an advanced army?’

The ships were not uniform, having come from many different sources. So, compared to the fleet of silver and black of the Nexus, the enemies had a somewhat colorful set of ships, with many different shapes.

Just looking at the appearance, it looked like a bunch of mercenaries about to battle a formal and trained army.

’No,’ Rhazor pondered. ’This World Tree has had little contact with outside forces. So she has yet to have dealings with starship docks and builders. These few ships might truly be all they have.’

His eyes, though, couldn’t help but pause on three types of ships. ’Aren’t those ships from the insectoid empires nearby?’

He knew about these places. The Nexus had ignored them because each of them would need the attendance of one or two Star Emperors and their fleets, a level of army they couldn’t free easily.

’I heard that some Star Emperors tried to attack, but they ended up fleeing because the enemy was quite powerful in their base. While they were random Star Emperors I can easily defeat, this makes me a bit wary.’

After both armies stopped around one million kilometers away from each other, far enough to be able to dodge main cannons without being too far to see the enemy, Rhazor and Liu Shu both gave the same order.

"Leave the starships and spread out."

Rhazor looked at the other side, and his face tightened a little. ’While overwhelming them with starships almost 10 to 1... Their numbers are not low.’

What surprised him the most was not their number, though. It was the sheer variety of creatures. "Humans, beastkin, fairy-kin, insectoids, Sylvans, plant humanoids, and... amphibian humanoids?"

Their numbers were around three million, which, compared to their nine million, didn’t look like too much. However, Rhazor’s sharp senses were making him feel that this was far from their entire army.

The space around him was currently too still, as if unnaturally so. However, before he could pinpoint this source, his senses tingled, and his gaze turned in a certain direction. "...Who is that?"

A tall insectoid woman, with long hornet wings and a plump hornet abdomen, and wearing a red and black striped full-body leather armor, held a spear while looking in his direction with a pair of black compound eyes.

The woman, as if noticing his gaze, smiled.

An advisor by Rhazor’s side looked over, finding a touch of familiarity. "She... I have seen her somewhere in our documents." After racking her brains, that female advisor had an epiphany. "Hornet Queen Xakira. She is the longest-lasting Hornet Queen of the last few thousand years. Her strength is extraordinary."

Rhazor hummed. "Did those reports say anything about her level?"

"Yes. Level 199. Her strength, though, is extraordinary. She can burst forth with enough strength to fight recently upgraded Star Emperors of average aptitude."

Rhazor humphed. "You need to update the database, then. She has gone through her <Second Ascension>."

That advisor paused, and even the generals around him looked over with a surprised look. Rhazor spoke coldly. "Do not worry. Her aura is not that stable. She has probably only been in this level for less than ten years. I can easily defeat her."

"Lord, even then, our plan to attack Ceperet’s star has become unfeasible. We will be heavily wounded if we ignore this army and attack that star."

"It was only a method to avoid fighting the true body of the young World Tree." Rhazor did not mind. "Since it has become unfeasible, then forget about it and begin plan B. Tell High Bishop to start acting as soon as possible."

"Understood."

Liu Shu knew they were talking, but she couldn’t hear their voices. Clearly, they were using some kind of interference. Still, she could discern their lip movements a bit. ’Was that... bishop? There is someone from their church?’

Her gaze swept the battlefield, but she didn’t feel that familiar corrupting aura, leaving her both cautious and confused. She took a deep breath, and then her voice appeared on the battlefield for the first time, reaching everyone.

"Abyssal Void Nexus."

Rhazor and everyone else stopped what they were discussing, looking around as gargantuan roots manifested from the depths of space.

"You have infiltrated my domain time and time again. You think you can bring me down. However, I will stop you here."

Rhazor smiled coldly, his voice boomed through the voice using essence to transmit sound. "Stop us? Did the Covenant promise you something if you could stop us here? Oh, you pitiful World Tree. Don’t you understand you are being used by Flarilia? That old World Tree is cunning, always using you young ones as shields to prevent us from reaching her core." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Liu Shu hummed. ’Flarilia? Is that the name of the Covenant’s World Tree?’

Rhazor laughed. "You, World Trees, can’t even see eye to eye. You destroy everything, including those of your own race, all for expansion. All for your selfish motives. You are a flawed race, World Tree. So, the Nexus and our allies will purge you from our galaxy."

Liu Shu answered calmly. "Flawed rhetoric. Our species is not meant to reproduce and multiply. We are not meant to become rulers. We are life itself, crystallized into a single species. True World Trees search to expand, search to dominate, to bring life to all corners of the galaxy. That’s our path, that’s our role, that’s our existence."

She didn’t add that she was different. That she could admit and assimilate others of her species. However, she did defend the others, as that is truly the most basic desire of most World Trees. Otherwise, their deaths would be tens of thousands of times more calamitous. A True World Tree that has reached into stars, it could very easily bring down everything with itself at the moment of death.

But they didn’t. They just withered away, their roots mixing with the cosmos itself.

Of course, Liu Shu would not stop herself from expanding because of this. She would continue doing things as she has done, hoping to find among those True World Trees the next Warlya, Azure Rose, or someone similar. Someone she could cutely call Big Sister.

Rhazor humphed coldly at her words. "I will give you one last chance, Tianlian Liu Shu. Allow us to conquer you. Allow our church to take over. Only then will you be able to call yourself protector of humanity."

"I am not the protector of humanity, Rhazor." Liu Shu’s voice condensed, and she gathered as much strength as she could into a single <Mountain Soul Root Lance>. "...I am the protector of all life. Go!"

A single root manifested from the void in front of Rhazor, barreling toward him with enough strength to make everyone nearby feel a sense of oppression.

The massive lance reached near Rhazor quickly. However, at this moment, Rhazor swung his sword without a change in his expression.

SLASH!

A vertical white line split the void, and the lance was divided into two. Moreover, the impact from the slash seemed to have caused the lance to lose its momentum, powerlessly slamming against the World Type’s shield and creating no ripples.

"Weak and pathetic. Thank you for letting me see your true strength." Rhazor smiled. "You... have not yet reached the <Second Ascension> realm, have you?"

Liu Shu had already expected this outcome, but seeing it made her feel a touch of unwillingness. Seeing her attack so easily stopped, Liu Shu was slightly distraught. At this moment, Xakira’s voice spread out.

"Good job, Rhazor. You have managed to bully a small child who has just left their home planet. You must be so proud of that accomplishment as someone who is over 8,000 years old and only Level 230, right?"

Rhazor’s calm eyes moved toward Xakira. "Why are you involving yourself in this war, Queen Xakira?"

Xakira chuckled. "How could I not defend such a cute and unique little World Tree? Sadly, someone was a step ahead of me and had already taken our darling as her child. What a shame, what a shame..."

Rhazor frowned, not really understanding Xakira’s words. Xakira didn’t continue her sentence. Instead, she flew up, slowly separating from the battlefield area. "Come, Rhazor. Let me see how strong a Star Emperor of the Nexus truly is."

Rhazor, however, smiled contemptuously. "I refuse."

Xakira paused, and Rhazor’s voice spread out through the battlefield. "You will have to separate me from your army if you don’t want our battle’s shockwaves from disrupting your formation."

His words made the Nexus army laugh. "Does she really think she can force Lord Star Emperor to fight against her? It’s better to ask whether she can slow him down as he slaughters that makeshift army!"

However, as they spoke, they suddenly saw Xakira wave her gauntleted hand. "Recently, I advanced to become a <Calamity Swarm Hornet Queen>."

Her weapons were a pair of metallic magic gloves with an aether gem at the back of the hand, gleaming brightly with yellow, green, and purple lights.

"Let’s try one of my newly ascended skills: <Imperial Calamity Swarm (S+ Rank)>."

Rhazor’s face turned somewhat serious as he felt the ridiculous amount of Aether Mana manifesting in countless small hornets of different colors. The swarm surged forward quickly, attacking before he could react from his relaxed stance.

The next second, the 4 Moon-Types that the swarm enveloped received the Hornet Queen’s wrath.

RUMBLE!

Lightning, wind, and a terrifying, corrosive, and venomous purple mist exploded from each hornet, creating an inescapable net that struck the four Moon-Type Battleships like an absolute catastrophe.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The shields crumbled, and the four Moon-Types exploded. Those inside were unable to bear that Hornet Queen’s attack, annihilated together with Xakira’s first attack.

Rhazor looked at Xakira with a solemn look as the Hornet Queen looked back at him with a queenly smile. "Now, will you play with me up here, or do you want to see who is faster in annihilating each other’s army, Rhazor?"

Rhazor clenched the hilt of his sword, and his voice boomed out. "Attack! I’ll deal with the Hornet Queen!"

With that shout, all the starships gathered energy and shot in the direction of the enemies. Liu Shu’s side did not remain still, moving to dodge as they fired their own.

Then the armies on both sides separated into regiments and rushed at each other, sparking the largest war the Ceperet Solar System has seen.