Chapter 925. When Neither Titan Falls.

Chapter 925: Chapter 925. When Neither Titan Falls.

Balaya was... shocked.

Had she expected Liu Shu to be strong? Balaya was not ignorant, so she knew that for a <Second Ascension> World Tree, Liu Shu would probably be at the very top of the food chain.

The way she defended against Deadly Petal, who was already plenty strong, and several other hordes of enemies at the same time was a dead giveaway.

Still, she had never expected that the World Tree, who everyone labeled as long-range elemental catastrophe class, would match her in her preferred fighting style... and even faintly suppress her.

’These are my edge roots, but so are they for the Heavenly Willow. Saying anything about that would be absurd.’

Plus, for some reason, she felt that the fight between them had become even more complicated and precarious after she crossed the distance and started the melee. ’Her roots are sturdy to a ridiculous degree. In raw endurance and resilience, the Heavenly Willow might be above me.’

Resistances, bark durability, defense, regeneration... any defensive stat you could think of, Balaya had the intuition that she was behind the Liu Shu. ’Shamefully... The only thing that is keeping me ahead is the quality of my essence.’

Level 300 was not only the source of the <Third Ascension>, but also when a creature developed the <Eighth Energy Cycle>.

The stat difference between Level 299 and Level 300 was a chasm, mostly unbreachable for the vast majority of people. Even if breached, the quality of essence that a Seventh Cycle and an Eighth Cycle manipulated was fundamentally different.

’And yet, the Heavenly Willow is breaching that chasm, and going further, pushing me back very slightly.’

There was something strange, though. ’Her defense is much, much stronger than her offense.’

The battle was not Balaya constantly attacking and Liu Shu defending. There were times when Liu Shu would gain the advantage and start pushing. When that happened, the war changed from a "defensive battle" to an "offensive battle" because Liu Shu was conquering into Balaya’s territory.

No matter how you stretched the meaning of "defense," the System wouldn’t give her the defensive buff while attacking.

So, during those times, Liu Shu’s stats plummeted by the tens of millions, allowing Balaya to recover and push back again.

This routine created a strange back-and-forth between them. It felt as if Liu Shu was... giving up when attacking. Balaya’s senses weren’t so rotten as to miss that Liu Shu was giving her 100% all the time.

’She has a defensive buff? She must be stronger in defensive battles.’

It was not strange. From what she knew about the Heavenly Willow, she had developed in a situation where threats constantly came her way. Only recently did she start expanding and taking the offensive.

So, Liu Shu having <Titles>, <Talents>, or <Passive Skill> that only activated when defending made sense.

’...Stalemate.’

As she took the offense again and saw her roots being destroyed, Balaya admitted it. ’I alone can’t conquer the Heavenly Willow.’

Balaya felt as if someone punched her core. It was shameful and humiliating that, as a Level 325 True World Tree with immense talent, she was unable to bring down a Level 299 and below creature in a one-on-one.

’If this had been Deadly Petal, forget mounting a defense. That World Tree would break like dry branches being stepped on during autumn days.’

"Balaya."

Liu Shu’s voice no longer targeted the soul. It wasn’t because it lacked effect. On the contrary, those soul attacks probably damaged Balaya the most. The thing was that, after fighting back and forth for a month straight, Liu Shu and Balaya both reached their conclusion.

The battlefield they fought in was filled with their wooden remains. Massive roots floated aimlessly, and several rogue worlds without stars had been shattered into stardust.

The structures between the stars were all broken, and large, bloodsap spheres lay here and there, merging with the rubble.

Neither side could beat the other side.

If Balaya went on the offensive, Liu Shu’s stats became far too monstrous.

If Liu Shu went on the offensive, Balaya also had some defensive buffs that helped her resist the weakened Liu Shu.

It was a matter of tortoise against tortoise, with both tortoises able to aim only for each other’s carapace.

The result was set. A tie.

Liu Shu, for the first time, met her match. This caused her to feel a surge of emotions.

’Strong. Balaya is so incredibly strong.’

She had expected it, of course.

Balaya was a World Tree that stood in the middle of several Globular Star Clusters, fought a force backed by Central Galactic forces, and, to top it off, fought other True World Trees on almost every front except the one facing the outer side of the galaxy.

Liu Shu even heard that Balaya was helping with one front against the Hive Species growing in their galactic sector.

She was a true behemoth that even the Globular Star Cluster civilizations treated with respect and caution.

So, for the first time since Liu Shu breached Level 75... she met her match.

Balaya answered Liu Shu’s call with a cold voice. "...What do you want, Heavenly Willow? Are you going to mock—"

"YOU ARE SO STRONG! WOW!"

Liu Shu’s excited and bubbly voice reached Balaya, stumping the ancient World Tree.

"Your roots go like, like WHOOSH! And then, they go BANG! BANG! They hurt a ton! And even when I destroy them!? You tururururu, and boom, recovered! That strange Ash you control is also super awesome! It corrodes my defenses and increases yours! You can even recover the ash to perfectly heal roots I destroyed with spatial collapses! You are super awesome!"

Balaya looked at the rambling Liu Shu with a strange gaze. "...Um. Thank you."

"That’s not all! Do you know how worried I was about my Serpents all the time? Those strange ash attacks targeted them from time to time, and I had to scurry over quickly to help defend and heal them!"

The Serpents, who had stopped fighting, nodded their heads while hissing in agreement. Balaya’s attacks were slightly dangerous, even for them.

Balaya glanced at the serpents and grumbled. "Your summons are... quite strong as well. They have been hitting me where it hurts all the time. I really, really wanted to get rid of them."

The serpents hissed, raising their proud heads and spreading their wings. It was as if they were saying: "We are Liu Shu’s summons! Of course we are strong!"

Liu Shu giggled and summoned some roots to pat and caress the 100+ serpents. The serpents hissed and began playing a strange form of tag with Liu Shu’s roots.

Balaya stopped her attacks, and Liu Shu did too. Glancing at Liu Shu playing with the Arboreal Winged serpents, Balaya spoke. "You are... different from what I expected."

"Hm?" Liu Shu asked back, confused. "What did you expect from me?"

Balaya, a World Tree, delivered the harsh, straightforward truth without a filter. "A crazy World Tree filled with battlelust that loves conquering everything and refuses to even glance another person’s way."

Liu Shu was shocked. "W-What did I do that you saw me that way!? QAQ!"

Balaya answered with a flat tone. "You came out of nowhere. Grew like crazy, which I assumed was because you were killing everything around you and absorbing the Experience. Then, you gained terrifying strength, which clearly is because you must’ve absorbed or done something with the World Trees you conquered. Plus, from what I’ve heard, you are invading all worlds around you, regardless of value, which I can only guess is because you love to conquer."

"QAQ! WAH! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! EVERYTHING’S WRONG! WAH! I AM NOT THAT WAY! I AM SUPER GENTLE! QAQ!"

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Liu Shu’s roots began slapping Balaya’s roots without much strength, creating ripples in space. "H-How could you say so many hurtful things without changing your tone even once!? Big Sister Balaya... NO! You will be the first World Tree I call Auntie! HMPH!"

So, Liu Shu brought down her root and stamped the seal onto Balaya’s forehead. "From now on, you are Auntie Balaya! You are super old, after all. Hehehehehehe. Serves you right!"

Balaya’s honest thoughts: "...For some reason, that pisses me off."

Liu Shu giggled and relaxed her mood, speaking more softly. "Auntie Balaya..."

"Are you really calling me that way?"

Liu Shu ignored the muttering complaints of a certain someone. "...can you please listen to me for a little bit?"

Balaya hummed.

Honestly, she more or less knew what Liu Shu was about to say. Now that she was close enough to see into Liu Shu’s domain, Balaya noticed Deadly Petal’s roots in the distance. The roots were not around or within a certain boundary... but inside Liu Shu’s domain.

After fighting and interacting with Liu Shu, though, Balaya’s impression of her was very different. Someone ruthless wouldn’t care that much for her summons.

Even if Balaya had killed the summons, she was sure that Liu Shu could summon another batch with much less effort than what she used to protect them. Still, Liu Shu was almost desperate not to let even one of them die.

It wasn’t just that. When Liu Shu advanced on the battlefield, she always did so in a direction where they would not find Solar Systems in their way.

Some World Trees didn’t really care about that. They just pushed through the weakest root link of their opponents, regardless of what lay on the other side.

With those two and a few other small characteristics, Balaya knew that her assumptions about Liu Shu were terribly wrong. Therefore, Balaya sighed and spoke. "Speak. I will listen, at least."

Liu Shu was pleasantly surprised. She giggled and slithered forward with her roots coiling around Balaya’s. "Hehehe. Thank you, Auntie Balaya!"

Balaya gently smacked Liu Shu’s roots. "Get off, Heavenly Willow. I don’t really like contact..."

Although she said it out of reflex, Balaya noticed that when Liu Shu hugged her roots, she felt no discomfort. If any other World Tree did that, Balaya was 100% sure that she would’ve either struck out of reflex or she would’ve destroyed the roots in question.

’I just... tapped them? Me?’

Confusion flickered in Balaya’s powerful mind. What just happened was an oddity, one that was impossible to ignore.

Liu Shu began speaking to Balaya. "Balaya, I will speak honestly. I know that no matter what I say now, accepting my proposal is basically impossible for you. I understand what kind of mentality you have, and I understand that the Verdant Sanctity Covenant is not something you can easily give up."

Balaya didn’t answer, but she was listening attentively.

"I... my objective, at least. It is for us, World Trees, to live together. We will have some conflicts in the future, for sure. I know that, eventually, we might fight a little bit. However, I want these fights to be something that doesn’t end with the death or crippling of the other. That’s why... Please, join me, Balaya."

Balaya sighed and answered with a firm tone. "I can’t, Heavenly Willow. At least, not as we are right now."

Liu Shu hummed as well and nodded. "...Thank you for listening, at least, Balaya. I won’t give up just because you refused once."

Balaya chuckled and slowly retreated her roots. "I know. If you gave up easily, there would be no World Trees in your domain."