Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 290. The Enemy Attacks The Cities!

In Sirol City, Taro couldn’t help but feel a sense of pressure. Even when the enemy army approaching his walls was much smaller than the one Eila led a few years ago, the sheer pressure of their uniform steps and strength could be felt from a distance. ‘Over fifteen thousand enemy troops, all above Level 20… This will be difficult.’

Even then, he didn’t let his doubts show on his face. There were 20,000 people ready to battle around him, waiting for his commands. His voice boomed outward with solemnity. “Fight for survival. Fight to defend our city. We need not eliminate our enemies but bar them from approaching our house!”

His voice spread far enough that even the enemies heard him thanks to the use of Aether Mana. 

Jolie looked into the distance, her lips arched faintly. ‘This is my first time commanding an army. I wonder how well I can do?’ 

A little laugh full of anticipation escaped her lips, making the commanders around look at Jolie strangely. Jolie spoke softly, her tone seemingly not loud enough to reach across a single room. And yet, everyone, allies and enemies alike could hear the voice as if she was whispering right in their ear. “Great speech, City Lord Taro. Words are powerful. Yet, you are failing to use words as they are meant to be used… A channel to make our strength reverberate with the world.”

Jolie raised her arm, her attractive and slender figure gaining a touch of ethereal gracefulness. Anima Energy and Aether Mana rushed at her, raising an ominous black wind around her. “My blood, my legacy. Spread as the spores in Spring and make my enemies wilt away as the trees in Autumn. <Whisperwind Curse>.”

A black-colored hurricane rushed forward, and while some on Taro’s side put up defenses, the wind spread through without a problem. A system message appeared in their sights. 

[Enemy title <Cursed Blood> is enhanced by <Nature's Corrupt One>. Your attempts to defend her first curse will always fail.]

[You’ve been cursed by the <Whisperwind Curse>!]

[Your stats have been reduced by 5%. Your ability to manipulate your own energy has fallen by 5%. The Curse lasts 3 hours.]

Taro’s lips arched, but his pupils were trembling. ‘... An army-wide curse? What kind of monster is she?’

Jolie chuckled and waved her hand, manipulating the black wind to turn around and cover her own army.  “Now, let’s become a little bit more… feral~.”

The people were surprised that their commander suddenly attacked them, but they couldn’t really react before the expansive black wind swallowed them. 

[Allied title <Cursed Blood> is enhanced by <Nature’s Corrupt One>. Your attempts to defend her first curse will always fail.]

[You’ve been cursed by the <Whisperwind Berserk Curse>!]

[Your ability to feel fear has been greatly dampened. Your stats increase by 10%. Your passive regeneration increases by 500%. Your energy consumption increases by 10%. The Curse lasts 1 hour.]

“GRAAAH!”

Howls exploded from the army Jolie commanded as some people became blinded. Their bodies felt on fire and cold at the same time, and inside of them, they felt that battle was the only way to quench this uncomfortable feeling that covered their bodies. 

Jolia laughed and raised both her arms, her tone having a touch of amusement. “Charge. Fight. Kill. Conquer.”

“CHARGE!”

“FIGHT!”

“KILL!”

“CONQUER!”

The army soldiers shouted like enraged beasts, their bloodthirsty voices echoing in dissonance like the howls of wild beasts. 

Jolie’s hair and clothes blew forward as the army people rushed ahead, caring for nothing other than reaching the enemy as fast as they could. Taro muttered, his heart somewhat trembling. “This crazy woman… She actually cursed her own army.”

Looking at the approaching enemy army, he raised his voice. “Catapults! Ready!”

A man answered his call back. “READY!”

Taro’s eyes squinted, and he spat. “Fire.”

“FIRE!”

“FIRE!”

“FIRE!”

Whoosh!

Several giant rocks flew across the sky, approaching the ten thousand people group. 

A few high-level people on the enemy army looked up, and three of them actually jumped into the sky with terrifying strength. The second they jumped, the sound created by their stomp was like a bomb exploding.

Taro observed how those three people streaked toward the approaching giant boulders and swung their weapons.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The rocks exploded mid-air, scattering in debris that did nothing when they landed on the berserk army. Taro hummed. “So… you won’t stop regardless of what I put in front of you? Sure. Light up the oil.”

The assistant was confused, but she quickly echoed his command, looking down the wall toward a location where a man with a torch stood by an oil tank. “Light up the oil!”

The man holding the torch was a bit confused. ‘Isn’t it a bit early?’ However, he was not one to question orders. Hence, he did so. 

He lowered his torch on the oil, and it soon caught on fire. The fire didn’t stop at the barrel, though. There was a trail of oil flowing down a trench, guiding the flames toward the approaching enemy army.

The enhanced oil lit on fire so fast that in just ten seconds, a wall of fire appeared between the enemy army and the city. 

Jolie looked at what was happening from a distance. She was not going to participate in the siege personally. Seeing the wall of fire, a small frown appeared between her gorgeous eyebrows. ‘As the report said, Sirol City fights with quite a few outdated tactics. This one will be quite useful against my army… Tsk, tsk. Annoying.’

When the enemies reached the wall of fire, Taro shouted. “Wind Aethermancers! Fire Aethermancers! Attack without a single moment of rest!”

Wind and fire streaked across the sky, impacting the location just as the enemy army was passing through. 

BOOM!

The reaction of the multiple fire and wind spells created a giant explosion, causing a lot of damage to the enemy army. Taro was not too satsified, though. ‘Many of them have failed… The curse must’ve affected them.’ 

The enemies were Level 20 and above. This kind of attack damaged only those closest to the explosion, and since some failed to land it, the damage was much less heavy than Taro expected. 

Even then, he didn’t lose focus. Taro raised his voice and right arm once more. “Aethermancers stop! Physical ranged attacks… Ready!” 

“READY!”

Taro lowered his arm and ordered with ferocity in his tone. “KILL!”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Hundreds of attacks flew across the sky, landing on the enemy army and creating instant casualties. The enemy army was not one that would care about such things, though. Taro shook his head with a sigh. “They really are unstoppable…”

He raised his voice, unsheathing his weapon. “Prepare for melee combat! All ranged units will follow their group’s commander's orders! All melee soldiers will follow Zoria’s orders! FOR SIROL CITY!” 

“FOR SIROL CITY!”

The enemy army crossed the distance quickly, and soon, a brutal melee started between both armies. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

A few moments earlier, in Mareful City, Delia had been slightly confused looking at the enemy army. “Hm… Why are they not charging ahead?”

A man at the side, wearing fancy armor, answered her with a formal tone. “We don’t know, City Lord.” 

A tall and burly man commented with a grin. “Perhaps they are afraid? Hahaha!”

Delia rolled her eyes, looking sideways at the man. “Kael, I am grateful that you’ve come to help. However, can you be slightly more serious?”

Kael scratched his head and asked, his tone confused. “How am I not serious?”

A red-haired woman at the side giggled. “You are really that desperate to impress her, eh? Is Delia your type, Kael?”

The man deadpanned. “Thalia, Lady Delia has a daughter. She is a woman with a husband. What do you take me for!?”

Thalia and Kael were people who had helped defend Golden Sap City in the past. They came from a power of the Covenant and Empire, respectively. However, their links with the major powers were faint. 

Suddenly, a man with a tool to look into the distance spoke loudly. “City Lord! I’ve seen movement!”

Delia and the rest stopped bantering and looked toward that place. They saw a single woman with silver hair and a fan walking forward, separating fron the main army group. Kael blinked and asked, confused. “Who is that…?”

Meanwhile, at the side, they heard Thalia gasp. When they looked, they saw her face was slightly pale. “W-What is that woman doing here!?”

Delia asked quickly, her heart becoming heavy. “Who is that? Why are you so afraid of her?”

Thalia said with fear in her voice. “That woman is Evangeline! She is a person from the Nexus! I know her by chance from a mission I did in the past. The first action I saw her do was burn down an entire city by herself!”

Delia’s face dropped as she looked over, her heart starting to tremble when a strange black fire began appearing around Evangeline. “She is casting a spell! We need to stop her-”

“Don’t worry~.”

The voice of an elegant woman reached them, and when they looked sideways, they saw a green-haired, voluptuous, and mature beauty walking toward them. Delia frowned for a second before her mind recognized her. “You… Lady Verena!”

Kael blinked and asked, confused. “Verena? Who is that?”

Thalia kicked him. “Be respectful! She is the head of the Liferoot family! Little Verdantia’s mother.”

Verena looked toward Evangeline and hummed. “I guess we did well coming here, just in case.”

Delia was still confused. “Lady Verena… Why are you here and not in Golden Sap City?”

“Hm?” Verena rubbed her chin. “Little Liu Shu is quite strong. However, she can’t expand without nodes at the edge of her territory that defend her domain. Sirol City and Mareful City are those nodes for now, so if your city falls, it will be slightly inconvenient.”

Seeing the black flames in the distance gaining strength as they started swirling around Evangeline, Delia gulped and asked. “L-Lady Verena, shouldn’t we do something about that?”

Verena waved her hand with a smile. “As I said. Don’t worry. <Liferoot Creature Invoking (C- Rank)>.”

A terrifying wave of Anima Energy pulsed out of Verena, and then the ground in front of the city walls parted. Several large vines and roots coiled upward, creating a massive thirty-meter-tall humanoid plant creature with a female body. 

The body of the creature was an ashen grey, while the red leaves that made up its hair dropped lushly. The figure had a sap-like substance hardened to become a dress covering its body. 

Evangeline looked at the massive creature that appeared and frowned. ‘Huh? Who has summoned that powerful creature? Is it a hidden ace of Mareful City?’

Verena jumped off the wall, gracefully landing on the creature's shoulder. “Hey, Evangeline. Poking your finger in their business is a bit disrespectful for an old hag like you, don’t you think?”

Evangeline’s confused face crumpled as she looked toward the creature's shoulder. She gritted her teeth as she basically hissed her name. “Verena…” 

Verena smiled faintly. “Oho~ I am honored that you know my name!”

Evangeline smiled sarcastically, her tone derisive. “How could I not know you after you annihilated one of my power’s branches, eh?”

Verena sighed dramatically. “Ah… Did I do something like that? Sorry, I’ve cut off so many Nexus branches that I can’t really remember them individually anymore. Now, tell your army to stay or charge. I don’t care. However, if you intervene in the war personally, I will too~.”

Evangeline clenched her fists, but eventually, the black fire gathering around her simmered down and disappeared. Then, she spat. “Charge and kill everyone! She won’t step up unless I do.”

The second in command nodded solemnly and pointed forward. “Charge!”

Verena’s lips arched. “Wise decision.” She patted the large creature’s cheek and spoke softly. “Move to the side, dear. If you see her make any strange moves, we’ll attack her.”

The summon nodded obediently and moved, her steps quite brisk after Verena patted her. Verena looked toward Delia and waved her hand. “I am cheering for you! I can’t interfere, though. So, if you lose, you are dead! Good luck~.”

Delia and the others blinked a few times, feeling baffled. Still, they really didn’t have time to ask as a massive army of fifteen thousand was rushing their way. Even without Evangeline, their strength was tremendously high. Delia shouted. “Prepare to defend!”