Chapter 195. Liu Shu's Struggle. Making a decision. [AotSC] (Patreon)

The battle had been quite a shock for Wert. When he saw Liu Shu attacking Delia, his heart had jumped in fear. After all, a Level 28 Sylvan was not a joke. Even if he used his entire strength, he was doubtful about his ability to stop Delia from causing heavy damage to the surroundings. 

Yet, the first attack from the giant tree left him speechless. A Level 28 Sylvan was blasted flying by a Level 19 creature. ‘I’ve grossly underestimated Tianlian Liu Shu. No, even calling it an underestimation is wrong. I wasn’t even considering her as a potential threat for another few years.’

Wert eyes scanned the large tree’s body. ‘Life Tree… Heh. This little Rose Fairy Queen has really managed to convince me into quite a dangerous situation. I wonder if the Ant Queen she showed us in the past is the real one at all.’ 

With those thoughts in mind, he approached the faint dust cloud remaining from the attacks. ‘Fortuna or Liu Shu, it is all about choosing a side. Fortuna’s side has the most advantages, plus Eila Neoflora is there with them. This place has Verdantia, though, Verena’s only daughter. Delia could be a great ally to have. If we isolate Fortuna, taking her down shouldn’t be a complete dream… Ugh, my old back will suffer from all of this.’

Wert approached the dust cloud with a cautious gait. He spoke as he approached to test the waters and avoid agitating Delia. “Delia. It is me, Wert. I’ve convinced the Life Tree to let you go for now so that we can talk about what’s troubling you. This is completely unlike you, so I know that the circumstances must be more complicated than you machinating to hurt the new popular town..”

Delia’s distorted voice from her transformation reached Wert. “You can do nothing about it. Not you, not that Life Tree.” Delia laughed bleakly. “As the Little Tree said, it’s none of her business.”

Wert answered. “It might not be none of her business, but it is mine. You helped me in the past, I owe you this favor.”

Delia spoke. “The favor I did to you is not big enough, Wert. As long as the Life Tree gives me the chance, I’ll just leave here and then disappear.” 

Wert sighed. “Delia, the agreement I reached with the Life Tree is to let you go if you tell us what is happening. I can’t let you go without you telling us about it, sorry.”

She scoffed. “What good can it do if you know about it?”

Wert looked inside the crater, where the injured water and wood Sylvan was standing still as her wounds recovered at a visible pace. “You are an intelligent woman, Delia. You don’t need me to answer that question.”

Delia looked up at Wert and then behind him at the massive tree that was flowing with energy. She could feel its gaze on her skin. “Your fate is a dead end, Life Tree. You can’t rival Fortuna’s expansion rate as a Life Tree. You won’t get support from superpowers because regardless of your buffs, a World Tree is always more useful to claim terrain. Eventually, you’ll be in Fortuna’s way, and she will decide to uproot you.” 

Wert raised his arm, signifying them to wait and let Delia speak. Her words were really provocative, making some people almost react to them. 

Delia looked at Wert and sighed. “The Nexus people are involved. Even if they are lower branches, they have someone who is a very big problem, and they…” Delia looked at Liu Shu and said, her voice choking. “They took my little seedling. I can’t even save her because I don’t know where they are…” 

Everyone looked at Delia with surprise in their eyes. It was at this time that Liu Shu remembered seeing the little, blue-haired Sylvan child. ‘Hm? Was that child this woman’s seedling?’

Taking a deep breath to calm her roiling emotions, Delia spoke. “Now, I failed. I don’t know how that doll is connected to my child, but I know that they are connected one way or another by Jolie.” 

‘Jolie…’ Liu Shu remembered that it was the common-looking woman who led one of the Nexus groups. Curious, she expanded her sight outward and looked at everything in the forest. ‘Hm…?’ 

Around one kilometer away from the town, behind a group of densely accumulated bushes hidden from sight, she could see two people: a woman and a small girl.

Looking at them, she was confused. ‘The child is the same I saw, but… Who is that Sylvan?’

Unlike Jolie, who looked average at best, this Sylvan was gorgeous with a touch of evil seductiveness and charismatic eyes that gleamed like moonlit dewdrops. Her air of elusiveness would dazzle anyone looking at her.

The Sylvan was watching a doll with a confused expression. After pondering for a few seconds, she shook her head and stood up. “Let’s go.”

The blue-haired child stood up tremblingly, and Jolie sighed. “Really, how useless can you be? The doll activated, so I rushed over as fast as I could, even needing to carry you, disgusting child.” The child trembled and looked down, not crying as she had already wept too many tears. 

Jolie sighed. “You really smell terrible; I should ask some people to at least keep you clean when we come back later.” 

Back in the town, Wert was asking for more details when Liu Shu suddenly asked Delia. “Is your sapling blue-haired?” 

Delia looked at Liu Shu with a confused gaze and cautiously nodded. “She is.”

Liu Shu hummed and asked again. “Describe Jolie for me.”

Delia was confused about the questions, so she was going to question Liu Shu’s intentions. However, Flor was quicker. “Delia, quickly. This will help you, I promise.”

Delia looked at Flor’s eagerness and answered, her heart beating strangely fast. “She is a mysteriously beautiful Sylvan. Gleaming black hair, and it feels like a mysterious breeze is always flowing around her.”

Liu Shu looked at Jolie and felt she fit that description quite nicely. ‘Hm… What do I do? Delia attacked me, so I should’ve killed her. Is it different when circumstances change? Do I need to be understanding and forgive?’

She felt a soft hand on her trunk, and looking down, she spotted Cinderielle looking up at her. “Help her if you can. She will be grateful. This time, being forgiving is not wrong.”

Liu Shu looked as Jolie slowly approached her vision limit, so she needed to make a decision soon. She quickly asked. “Delia is a <Second Energy Cycle> expert. She is stronger than Jolie. Isn’t she more of a threat?”

Tempestria spoke. “Remember the doll. What was the feeling when it approached you? What did you feel when Delia faced you? Compare those feelings and measure which one is scarier. Then, act upon it. Don’t worry, Shu’er. Even if you choose not to help, I will continue being your ally.”

Liu Shu remembered her body entering into panic when the doll rushed at her. However, when fighting Delia, she was strangely calm in her anger, as if she knew that she had a great chance of winning.

Mariane spoke. “Liu Shu, you have an answer.” The mothkin shook the box she had and smirked. “Do you prefer if I let this thing free or if we left Delia free?”

With an answer coming to her, Liu Shu looked toward Jolie. She was just 200 meters short of exiting her domain. A few meters behind, the blue haired child was running toward Jolie, sometimes tripping over. Still, as if the falls were much less scary than keeping up with Jolie, she kept standing up and running forward with scratch marks and blood all over her body. 

Liu Shu struggled. Her World Tree self was telling her that getting involved was not wise. That keeping her identity as secret as possible would lead to a better outcome. However, as her gaze followed the struggling child, a hint of something came from deep within. Somehow, she was feeling a bit of empathy for the blue-haired Sylvan child. 

Eventually, Liu Shu spoke. “Your child is two thousand one hundred meters to the northwest of this town. Jolie is alone with her.” 

Wert’s eyes flashed with surprise as he gazed at the “Life Tree” deeply.

Meanwhile, Delia was confused. “How do you know? Only World Trees would be able to look that far, you are a Life…” Delia paused and looked at Liu Shu with slowly widening eyes. “You are not-!”

Liu Shu interrupted. “They are about to exit my detection range.” 

Flor and the rest looked at Liu Shu with surprise, but then, they all smiled and Flor shouted. “Prepare the army! We are departing!”

Delia snapped out of her daze and felt a surge of hope and determination. She looked at Liu Shu and spoke deeply. “I will never forget this debt, regardless of the outcome.” 

Then, she accelerated in that direction at a terrifying speed, benignly following Wert and the Arboreal Winged Serpent. Even then, those two could not keep up at all, as a Sylvan’s transformed speed was terrifyingly high, and she flashed through the forest like an agile jaguar.

Liu Shu looked at the child again and finally decided to involve herself, fighting off her instincts as a World Tree. ‘Sigh... <Land Modifying>.’ 

Slowly, Liu Shu opened a hole in the child’s path, around twenty meters ahead, and created a slide that would hide her underground from Jolie. 

The process was not slow nor fast. Then, just as Jolie paused, Liu Shu opened a hole below the child’s feet. Numb from all the falling, the child didn’t even react as she tumbled into the hole. 

Jolie turned around, and her face instantly twisted like a demon’s when she failed to see the child. “Trying to run away again!? It seems you didn’t learn your lesson enough the last time!” 

However, before she started searching, her spine chilled, and she instantly turned around and ran. Five seconds later, Delia appeared and looked around. “Liu Shu? Where is she?”

“Jolie fled northwest. Your child is underground. I buried her.”

Delia looked northwest and wanted to run after her as wrath and vengeance swallowed her mind. Still, over those feelings, her desire to see her child overcame everything. So, she called Liu Shu even though she was flinching, as her body wanted the hunt to happen. “Please, let me see her!”

The ground opened with her plea, and she saw a hole big enough for a normal human to pass. In her transformed state, Delia couldn’t pass through. So, instead, she called her. “Little Seedling! Aria!? Can you hear Mom!?”

Still, no answer came, so she was nervous and asked. “Why isn’t she answering!? Liu Shu!?”

The World Tree spoke faintly. “She is trembling and very still. Just trembling and breathing. She looks scared. Let me open the ground-”

However, before she finished the sentence, Delia’s aura surged, and pressurized water slammed into the ground, lifting the dirt as if it were sand being blown by air. 

Delia opened the hole wide enough to see Aria with incredible precision. Once her sight landed on the injured and malnourished child, her heart almost broke into pieces. She quickly dug down and picked her up, hugging her tightly into her body. “Aria! It’s okay. It’s okay. Mom is here! Mom won’t ever let you go again!”

Sadly, the child just kept still and trembling, her eyes not recognizing or processing the situation.