In the main battlefield, the number of deaths was skyrocketing each passing minute. To fight in large numbers, armies had shared skills that could help when taking damage, increasing survivability, and making healing more effective.

However, even with these abilities, the Nexus’s army was at an extreme disadvantage. The reason was that each Golden Sap Empire Soldier could unleash a strange ability before their death.

This ability was the <Faith Blessing>. Over 99.99% of the army believed in Liu Shu as their deity. Therefore, they could use the <Faith Blessing>’s monthly ability to gain 20% of Liu Shu’s stats before they died, increasing their strength to be comparable with that of an average Star Lord.

This created a strange scene on the battlefield that Rhazor found hard to accept. The Golden Sap Empire soldiers, already powerful enough to suppress Nexus soldiers in individual ability, exploded with ridiculous strength one after another, gaining over 1 million stats in <Aether>, <Physique>, and <Anima> before death. That was not all. Even their <Destiny> number skyrocketed, which, coupled with the <Fatebrushing Blessing>, would result in miraculous events.

Sometimes, the Nexus soldiers would charge and collide. Other times, the Nexus soldiers’ abilities would clash and cancel each other out. In another situation, a failed attack from a Golden Sap Empire soldier would, in turn, pass right through the location of a distracted Nexus soldier.

Rhazor was honestly feeling incredulous as the battle proceeded. It had been around an hour since the clash started, and the Nexus army had been reduced from around 9 million to less than 6 million. Meanwhile, the total 5 million in the army of the Golden Sap Empire had only been reduced to a little over 4 million.

Some battlefronts collapsed, while others surged forward. Across the void, the battlefield writhed like two giant living organisms trying to devour one another.

Even then, the casualties on both sides were just not comparable. Moreover, as the number of deaths increased and the starships on the Nexus exploded, the Golden Sap Empire’s losses were slowing down drastically, while the deaths on the Nexus side were only accelerating.

Rhazor even noted that over 80% of the Golden Sap Empire’s losses only occurred after the first collision. After the battlefields stabilized, these losses seemingly halted as if someone had put in a plug.

’At this place, we might get defeated by the army instead of the World Tree!’

This was a fact he very much hated to admit. Thankfully... Rhazor looked at Xakira’s panting figure, and his eyes sharpened. ’I’ll be done here soon, and I can reverse the situation.’

Xakira looked at Rhazor’s figure, and her heart felt a touch bitter. ’I am being buffed by Liu Shu, and I even had the initial advantage thanks to Liu Shu’s time manipulation... How come I can’t beat him?’

This was not her fault. It was just that her means of fighting were not as good as Rhazor’s. For example, Xakira’s skills were mostly Level 1 or Level 2. Then, her armor and weapon were strong, but it was still only World Rank. Compared to Rhazor’s Core Rank armor and weapons, she was truly lacking.

Then, Rhazor was not weak himself. Unlike other Level 200s who were in powers where they were more common, Rhazor had been constantly nurtured and cultivated by the Abyssal Void Nexus as if he were a precious resource. So, even when compared to other Level 230s from stronger powers, Rhazor was just stronger.

So, overall, Rhazor’s combat power suppressed Xakira’s, even when Xakira was an extremely talented being herself.

To summarize, one side fought with copper swords and armor, and the other with curated, personalized steel-plated armor and weapons.

Xakira finally decided to speak, moving back as she dodged the relentless pursuit of Rhazor’s edge. "Rhazor, you are admirable. I admit that as I am now, I am inferior to you."

Rhazor frowned, confused. However, his blade didn’t stop. "Why are you speaking nonsense?"

Xakira sighed. "I just wanted to acknowledge you. Compared to the <Second Ascension> bandits I fought when I was at Level 199, you are on a whole other level."

Rhazor’s body shifted, appearing behind Xakira as he swung his sword almost twenty times in an instant. Xakira was barely able to block as she lost over 3 Phoer Star Essence of vitality. "If you continue to chit-chat, you’ll be in trouble."

Xakira chuckled. The healing Liu Shu attached to her healed her injuries extremely quickly. "That attack right now... it would’ve killed me. You’ve officially done as much damage as I have Phoer Star Essence. Truly worthy of the title Star Emperor."

Those words confused the Star Emperor. After all, he could tell that Xakira’s vitality was over 60% and constantly healing. The only reason he was confident in her defeat was that her massive Aether Mana and Anima Energy pulls were about to run dry, not because he was about to kill her.

"Whatever that spell you have is..." Rhazor swung his sword again, his body flashing incredibly quickly. "...It makes you resilient, but it does not help you with your Aether and Anima essence reserves."

Xakira nodded, but she was not worried. She could still fight for a long time. She smiled at him. "Come. Let’s see if you can defeat me before the inevitable reversal."

"Reversal?"

Rhazor frowned deeply. He had been feeling odd since Xakira had never shown haste or anxiousness. Even when her defeat was a matter of time, Rhazor could feel a sense of tranquility within her.

What made him feel odd was that this sense of peace was not acceptance. She was not accepting her defeat. She was just waiting for something else. ’What is wrong? What have I missed? The assassins are on their way, she is about to lose, and the corruption is in place and spreading. Even if my army is losing, that’s the only front that’s on the losing side. Once the top powerhouses are done, the result of the army won’t be important as long as the Nexus still has numbers to fight with. I alone am enough to tip the scales.’

He didn’t believe that Xakira was unaware of this fact. So, her calmness grew increasingly eerie. It truly made him think that some kind of deep plot was underway beneath his eyes, where he could not see even when it should be easily discernible.

After a while, Rhazor slowed down a touch and decided to give Xakira a bit of breathing room to confirm a few things. ’Just a few seconds. She doesn’t have a way to flip the battle results as long as I continue keeping her busy.’

"...Velmira. Report your current progress."

The assassins sent toward Ceperet answered quickly. "Progressing steadily. We are currently advancing quickly, and we should arrive at Ceperet in around 2 hours."

"Nysera. Report your current progress."

He expected to hear good news, but after asking the High Bishop, he was met with silence. His heart instantly skipped a beat, his sword becoming half a beat slower and allowing a small counterattack from Xakira.

"Nysera, report at this instant!"

Meanwhile, Nysera was currently not in the mental state to answer him. Her eyes were frantic, her voice hoarse from giving orders. "Stop the 12th Node from collapsing! What are you doing over there!? How did you lose that node with over 100 people protecting it!?"

Her mind was a mess. This chaotic situation began just a few minutes ago. Everything had been progressing slowly, but progressing. Their initial corruption had spread to some degree, occupying around 0.1% of Liu Shu’s entire Root Network. It was not much for almost an hour of work, but this type of thing escalated exponentially. So, Nysera calculated that at their pace, it would take no longer than 1 day to make the other side fall.

Yet, that wasn’t what happened. While the S Rank Corruption Of Stars field was incredibly potent, Liu Shu had borne its burn for an hour while cracking its runes. During this time, she couldn’t focus on counterattacking much, so her root network slowly collapsed under pressure.

’This corruption is like an invasion of Dark Aether Mana, but also mixed with something else. It makes the Dark Aether Mana gain some sort of... devouring nature. Like a virus.’

While Liu Shu, by pure definition of her <Eternal> element, was "incorruptible," this Dark Aether Mana was not true "corruption." It was more like tinting her existence. It didn’t twist it; it just overlaid something that disrupted her, like painting black over a painting. The painting still existed below that black paint—it was not corrupted.

After finding this oddity, Liu Shu’s way of seeing the Nexus’s corruption also changed. ’This seems... like a watered-down version of something far more insidious.’

However, what was most important for her current situation was that Liu Shu was dealing with Aether elemental energies, not some sort of unknown essence. ’Since that’s the case...’

After Liu Shu encountered the communication link in the runes, she never stopped following that vine. However, she also didn’t stop analyzing the <Corruption Of Stars> runic field.

When around one hour had passed, she found what she wanted. ’Here are the elemental and corruption runes... those unknown links I didn’t understand before. Now that I know part of the source of the Nexus’s corruption, they are much clearer.’

Her mind simulated various reactions, and her eyes quickly brightened. "I need to destroy these few nodes where the unknown element is the most prominent... Then..."

With that in mind, she stopped defending all the nodes with only dark elements, and she poured her efforts into those 32 nodes. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

It was at this moment that Nysera’s calm and satisfied face, as she saw the corruption spread, suddenly stiffened.

BOOM!

One red light, as if struck by a terrifying force, suddenly shattered. The few dozen clergy members around it were blasted back, coughing a mouthful of dark blood from the backlash. Their skins quickly turned blackish, pulsing grey veins wriggling under their skin.

Nysera spoke coldly. "A bunch of useless people. Kill them before corruption takes hold."

She was not done speaking when another node trembled, and the people in that node barely managed to fight back the powerful World Tree’s attack. Her cold eyes shifted, becoming a touch serious.

’Wait...’ Scanning the Solar System hologram, she suddenly understood. Her eyes widened. ’Is that World Tree crazy? She is giving up defense to start attacking!’

"Reinforce that node—!"

BANG!

Another one in another corner also trembled. Nysera’s face tightening even more. "What is she—"

BANG!

It was here that Rhazor’s call arrived, but naturally, Nysera was not free to answer!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

One attack after another sent the Corruption Church members into disarray. Liu Shu, naturally, was not silly enough to tell them exactly which node she wanted to destroy. So, she began an indiscriminate attack, subtly ignoring some of those nodes she truly wanted to destroy while gathering her strength.

Nysera, unaware, thought that Liu Shu was trying a maniacal "last-ditch" effort to destroy everything, not knowing that Liu Shu’s roots were coiling up their tree silently, like predatory snakes, and reaching up to their ankles.

"Five destroyed, 27 to go."