Liu Shu observed the battle with an anxious heart. She had not expected her <Soulseed> to be so useless. Since she couldn't properly fight, she used that time to pierce through Kaelis' soul defense and analyze her <System Page>. After trying throughout the entirety of that first exchange, Kaelis' main attributes popped up before her.

***

Name: Kaelis Nalur

Level: 83

Overall Stars: 15 (A- Tier)

Aether Mana Cores: 4,105/4,533

Phoer Body Cores: 4,882/6,367

Anima Energy Cores: 2,750/3,080

Attributes: Aether 83,128; Physique 105,482; Anima 63,392; Willpower 31,448; Destiny 332

Affinity Percentage: Aether Resonance (423), Physique Refinement (502), Anima Affinity (343), Mental Palace (0)

Resistance Percentage: Aether Resistance (65), Physique Resistance (69), Spiritual Resistance (61), Mental Resistance (58)

***

Liu Shu's heart jumped when she saw those numbers. After all, what her system was telling her was the "before buff" numbers and added equipment. If Kaelis used some skill to boost her stats, these numbers would skyrocket to heights she found hard to match. 'No wonder her arrows can destroy most of my defense; her numbers are quite insane…'

Ignatia and Melody suddenly received Liu Shu's message, a copy of Kaelis' stat window. When both women looked at it, their bearing remained steady. Melody smiled faintly. "That's great to see. Thank you, Little Lian'er. Knowing that her numbers are such… she can't defeat us."

Ignatia even chuckled mockingly. "Just that? I was being careful, thinking that she would be much stronger. It seems that her Completion Rate is only around 70 percent." Then, she waved her hand and a status page appeared in front of Liu Shu.

***

Name: Ignatia

Level 76

Overall Stars: 15

Aether Mana Cores: 2,533/3,533

Phoer Body Cores: 6,230/6,440

Anima Energy Cores: 3,147/3,147

Attributes: Aether 36,344; Physique 117,155; Anima 51,000; Willpower 23,393; Destiny 2,216

Affinity Percentage: Aether Resonance (228), Physique Refinement (579), Anima Affinity (250), Mental Palace (15)

Resistance Percentage: Aether Resistance (35), Physique Resistance (60), Spiritual Resistance (39), Mental Resistance (34)

***

Liu Shu was impressed, but she didn't feel like it was too much. Not enough to compel Ignatia to look down on Kaelis. "Mommy, are you sure you are okay?"

Ignatia looked at Kaelis, who flew up from the debris, enveloped in flames, and answered Liu Shu before starting to fight again. "Those numbers are raw numbers. Meaning, none of my or your buffs have been applied."

Liu Shu's core jumped. 'What? How high are her numbers now, then?'

The Humanoid Ant Queen stomped the ground, and the entire place collapsed inward as her body shot toward Kaelis at ridiculous speed.

Melody's fingers gently caressed the stringed instrument, and <Songtree War Song> enveloped the Ant Queen's body, further boosting her already ridiculously high <Physique>.

Kaelis glared at Ignatia and drew her bow into a full moon. "Die, monster! <Mountain Bursting Shot>!"

Ignatia was about to snort when her insectoid eyes caught a strange twitch from Kaelis's waist muscles. Her vision sharpened to an incredible degree, and her face changed when she realized the reason behind the oddity. "Liu Shu! Careful!"

Liu Shu was confused but quickly raised up her ternary essence to defend her <Soulseed>. Roots and branches formed shields just as Kaelis suddenly turned sideways and shot the arrow straight at Liu Shu.

THUMP!

The dull sound of the bow's string releasing the terrifying projectile echoed outwards, followed by a thunderous explosion against the <Soulseed>'s body.

BOOM!!!

Liu Shu's mind was engulfed in pain as a massive damage number popped in her vision.

[-54,392,707]!

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More than 500 Phoer Body Cores of damage exploded against her body after being reduced by all her defensive layers. Liu Shu was enveloped by Melody's War song, increasing her defense by 50%. Additionally, her own percentage had reached 87% damage reduction. Then, added to <Embers Of Chaos>, which added 20% damage reduction to whatever damage managed to make it through, the attack reaching her bark was but a fraction of the initial burst.

Therefore, even as a <Soulseed>, her body's toughness was on par with the average, defense-focused <Fourth Energy Cycle>. This was also the reason why she could spawn in front of the Nexus army back then and hold them back. Damaging her was just too complicated.

Yet, a single arrow from Kaelis striking her body blew a massive hole in her chest area. Moreover, this was after the arrow pierced through her attempt at defending herself. The crater on her body looked so large that it appeared as if someone had taken a bite out of her body.

Kaelis didn't have time to assess the damage done to Liu Shu, though. Right as her arrow exploded against Liu Shu's <Soulseed>, a presence enveloped in a storm of murderous intent appeared by her side.

"I'LL DEVOUR YOU, HUMAN!! <ELEMENTAL AETHER FEAST>!"

A sense of death enveloped Kaelis's body, her face changing to one of dread. Around her, countless elemental ants made out of several different types of Aether Mana manifested and then rushed into Ignatia's body.

RUMBLE!

The world rumbled in the wake of Ignatia's strike, pressure like no other grazing Kaelis' body. Thankfully, Kaelis was barely able to avoid a direct hit.

BANG!

Even when she avoided it, the shockwave from the blow felt like a steel wall smacking her at high speed, blowing her body away as she lost dozens of Phoer Cores. "What is this strength!? Is this the true power of a legendary Humanoid Ant Queen?"

After fighting for a short while, Kaelis had already seen through Ignatia's true identity. While she was confused as to why a being focused on destruction would ally with a World Tree, her priorities right now were surviving and dealing with the damaged World Tree. 'Her stats are much higher than mine. After whatever ability she used now, the distance between us has become a chasm. Is this a berserk skill that lasts for a while? Or a permanent buff?'

Her mind processed things quickly, trying to find a way out of the mess she was thrown into. Nevertheless, while her attention was completely grabbed by the Ant Queen surrounded in elemental energies, a pleasant yet unwelcome voice reached her.

"Am I that easy to ignore? <Subito Cresendo>, <Sharp Soundwave Melody>."

Razor-sharp sound waves surrounded her position, forcing Kaelis to use a life-saving artifact. A sphere surrounded in purplish-white runes appeared in her hand, creating a sphere around her.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The rain of attacks from the Sound Sylvan struck like droplets of water during a storm. Kaelis snorted. "You two are annoying."

Ignatia's freezing voice reached her as an answer. "Come out of your shell! I want to devour your flesh!"

Kaelis was about to mock when Ignatia's punch landed against the spherical shield.

BOOM!!!!

Her mocking smirk quickly turned into a stunned expression as cracks quickly spread around the purple sphere protecting her. "Ha!? How!? That's impossible! This shield can absorb tens of thousands of <Phoer Body Cores> of damage! Not even a Level 99 powerhouse would be able to create cracks in a single blow!"

Ignatia didn't care about that, though. "An eggshell is easy to break as long as the rock is hard enough. <Ant Queen's Ire>."

Somehow, Kaelis felt Ignatia's strength skyrocketing once more as her stats made another giant leap. By now, her stats had passed 200,000 <Physique> and were nearing 250,000. Moreover, thanks to <Elemental Aether Feast>, her physical strikes carried Aether Mana with all her elemental affinities. The stronger the affinity, the more powerful the mix of Aether Mana would be.

"Burst!"

Ignatia's arms almost blurred as her punches rained on the protective sphere without a single moment of rest.

Melody was pushed back and quickly shielded herself as Ignatia's attack blasted the atmosphere with each punch, creating voids around her.

Kaelis's face paled as cracks quickly spread all around the protective shield and the item in her hand. The shield that she thought would last for a few minutes was going to break in just a few seconds! "Crazy monster!"

While Kaelis was arrogant, she knew better than to fight the rampaging Ant Queen. At her current state, Kaelis feared that one punch from the Ant Queen would shatter all her organs as if they were marble being struck by a hammer. "This is not over, monster! Tianlian Liu Shu will eventually fall!"

A disc appeared in Kaelis's hand. Melody's face changed as she shouted. "Ignatia, attack faster! That's a <Space Breaching Rune Disk>! Once she uses it, she will be teleported 100 kilometers in a single direction! Catching up after that will be impossible!"

Ignatia's face became serious as her body exploded with even more energy. By now, the aura around Ignatia was so powerful that even the <Soulseed> was wobbling back and forth from the hurricane-like winds. "Burst! Open! <Elemental Burst Wave>!"

Countless colors flashed around Ignatia's fist as her arm flashed like a streaking meteor.

However, Kaelis was smiling even as Ignatia's attack would rupture her shield. "Too late. Open!"

BOOM!!!

Ignatia blasted the shield open, and the shockwave struck Kaelis right before she disappeared from her standing place.

"Argh!"

[-34,988,000]!

Just the shockwave almost sliced over 350 Phoer Cores of vitality, a testament to the powerful strength that the attack carried.

"Mom!"

Liu Shu's voice echoed around. Ignatia was about to sigh and answer when another presence descended. The ancient yet gentle presence spoke softly. "Don't worry, my little seedling. She won't escape. <Space Collapse>."

CRASH!

Reality seemed to crack for an instant, followed by Kaelis's anguished scream. "AHHH!"

A body appeared seven kilometers away from Ignatia and Melody, blood bursting around her as red lines filled her body and dripped from her body. Her eyes were both filled with confusion and fear. "What happened!? Why did the space channel collapse and try to crush me inside of it?"

What answered the woman was Ignatia's terrifyingly cold void. "I almost forgot that she is always watching. Playing with space around her is asking to be humiliated."

Kaelis turned around, and her eyes were almost blinded by the multicolored light streaking toward her. "Wait—!"

"<Elemental Burst Wave>."

"<Sharp Soundwave Melody>."

BOOM!!

Kaelis's body broke down when both attacks landed on her. Ignatia's punch pierced through her leather armor, blasting her muscles, bones, and organs as if she were a clay figurine. Meanwhile, all her flesh was cut into pieces by Melody's sharp sound waves.

[-234,000,000]!

[-15,000,000]! [-15,000,000]! [-15,000,000]!...

[Congratulations on defeating <Vesial Human Level 83>! You've earned 34,560 Experience Points!]

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