Chapter 939. Danlier Rultorn: Eclipse Sylvan.

Chapter 939: Chapter 939. Danlier Rultorn: Eclipse Sylvan.

While Liu Shu had come across the Hive’s true horrors, the Nexus was in a difficult situation.

For reasons they didn’t understand, Danlier had started another war against them for the third time this century. Though they were enemies, they knew attacking each other too often would only lead to mutual destruction. Resources were not infinite.

Naturally, the Verdant Sanctity Covenant had Balaya and many other <Third Ascension> members, so the Nexus had to answer with its strongest forces.

Thankfully, the Nexus had more <Third Ascensions>, even if their average combat power was weaker. So they still had some leeway in their tactics while maintaining security measures against the Golden Sap Empire.

Artos, though, was suffering. He was on the front line, side by side with Galaya. Behind them, Porle and Asadja stood with their weapons out to support them, together with two more supporting <Third Ascension> powerhouses.

Porle was the Corrupted Church’s current leader in the Abyssal Void Nexus.

Asadja was the Grand Commander of the entire Nexus army.

Both had tremendous strength, comparable to Artos and Galaya, the two leaders considered the strongest in the entire Nexus.

These six gathered because a somewhat disgruntled World Tree decided to vent on their Empire after her last battle.

Danlier kept her lips from curling into a smile because Balaya was acting quite funny and cute. Regardless of her reasoning, Danlier accompanied and helped Balaya in her battles, as always.

Balaya’s voice boomed out. "You bugs have been bothering my frontlines for far too long. It’s time for all of you to go. <Starash Barrage>."

Balaya’s roots, already closing in, bloomed with powerful grey auras, then poured a catastrophic, corroding attack on her enemies. It was an attack she didn’t use against Liu Shu because its range was far too limited for that kind of battle.

Against Intelligent Species, though, it was terrifying.

Porle spoke up, his voice deep and resonant. "You foolish creature. Your very existence is causing our cosmos to die. You should either accept our corruption or disappear. <Moonfrost Corruption>!"

The wide-range frost wave clashed with Balaya’s attack, freezing it and canceling each other out. "Do you think that today I am here to play?"

Balaya’s tone lowered, and her roots descended from the sky. The massive World Tree’s distinctive grey, plated roots blurred and descended on them.

Artos grabbed his axe and sighed. "If killing World Trees didn’t give us negative titles, dealing with these things would not be that much of an annoyance."

Galaya agreed with an indifferent tone. "Even the supposedly emotionless <System> has bias. Heh."

Artos’s eyes flickered to his three negative <Titles>.

***

<Murderer of Interstellar World Trees>:

Damage against any tree-type species -10%. Experience Points earned from any type of flora killings -10%. Long-range skills are 10% less effective against World Trees.

<Destroyer of World Tree Civilizations>:

When fighting a World Tree civilization, you lose 5% <Stats>. Equipment crafted with World Tree materials has its durability reduced by 10%.

<One Who Corrupts World Tree>:

When you are near a <Corrupted World Tree>, your <Stats> increase by 5%. If you are fighting a non-corrupted World Tree, your stats are reduced by 5%. World Trees and other flora will feel deeply uneasy in your presence.

***

They didn’t look as much, but their effects were final calculations. Final Calculations were incredibly powerful because they applied after every other boost, including equipment.

So, if you had 100 <Physique>, and you boosted that to 500 through equipment and other buffs, the 10% stat reduction would reduce your total <Physique> to 450, not 490.

Artos and Galaya glanced at the approaching roots and burst forward with tremendous speed.

"<Firmament Wood Crushing>."

His gigantic double-headed axe flashed forward, a massive burst of Metal Aether Mana and physical strength surging forward like a sharp crescent.

SLICE!

The tip of Balaya’s sturdy root was split in half, missing Artos entirely. He then rushed forward, swinging his axe repeatedly and severing parts of Balaya’s roots.

Meanwhile, Galaya burst with light, her figure blurring as she dodged and danced around Balaya’s roots. Her double-handed giant sword flashed around, Light and Lightning Aether Mana coursing through her limbs.

"<Star Connecting Draconic Barrage>."

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Another of Balaya’s roots was chopped into fine pieces and crumbled. Her draconic eyes showed indifference and contempt, her energy pulsing fiercely.

If Artos was a frontal assault damage dealer, Galaya was a speed-focused monster. Moreover, with Dragon Blood in her veins, she had characteristic skills tied to it, as well as wings that let her fly around agilely.

However, their calm faces tensed when they heard a calm woman’s voice.

"Alright. You two know your opponent isn’t Balaya. It is me. Let Balaya to others, like you usually do. <Eclipse Domain>"

A massive pulse of ternary essence covered the distance between them and Danlier, creating a silent zone that trapped them. The black, starry void as background was superimposed by an aurora-like spectacle.

Artos and Galaya both glared at Danlier, their faces much more serious than when they faced Balaya. Most of their skills had many positive buffs and multiplicative damage amplification against World Trees, which, even with their negative titles, still resulted in a net positive.

The same didn’t apply to Sylvans.

Moreover, Danlier, known as a Sylvan with the strength of a World Tree, was feared not only by them but also by <Star Hollow Monarchs> from Globular Star Cluster Empires.

Even experts from those superpowers would turn down any attempt to face Danlier one-on-one. No one underestimated the pillar that held the entire Covenant together, a power that rose from nothing like the Golden Sap Empire.

Danlier, flipping through a book in her right hand, smiled as her gorgeous, long blonde hair fluttered behind her. Her eyes seemed to hold the very dusk within.

Her petal-like lips moved.

"Now... It seems that Mother is quite eager to get rid of you lot, so I might kill one of you today. What do you two think?"

Artos gripped his double-headed axe tightly, while Galaya glared at Danlier. "Do you think we are easy prey, Danlier?"

Danlier chuckled. "Actually... I do. How many times would each of you have died if you didn’t have those annoying life-saving artifacts?"

Her finger stopped on a page in the open book she held. Danlier chanted calmly. "Let’s start, shall we? <Eclipsebloom Sylvan Sovereign Transformation>."

Artos and Galaya quickly chanted defensive skills.

"<Starforged Executioner Warplate>!"

"<Sunscale Thunder Mantle>!"

If the two Nexus leaders’ auras could crush you with sheer pressure, Danlier felt as if the sky itself was about to collapse under her presence.

Danlier’s body turned half-ethereal, with silver-black, bark-like skin covering her like light armor. In the black places, constellations appeared, glowing with incredible majesty. Above her head, the phantom image of an eclipse crowned her now-incredibly-tall body.

This was the true form of one of the strongest Sylvans in this galactic sector. Someone who, if they fought, would make even Liu Shu’s lovers struggle at the same level.

"Now, dance for me. <Eclipse Severing Lance>."

The sky split, hundreds of eclipses covering the entire place. Those eclipses twisted under Danlier’s hands and soon transformed into gigantic lances.

With a flick of her fingers, Artos and Galaya had to hurry as gigantic lances rained down from the sky under Danlier’s sublime control.

Galaya flashed around, her giant sword crushing the Eclipse Lances. The problem was that when a lance was destroyed, it exploded with Space and Eclipse Aether Mana. The small but constant damage made her bite her lip in frustration.

"Why are you so strong!? Annoying woman!"

Danlier answered nonchalantly. "I am a Sylvan. My mother is a powerful World Tree. Did you expect me to be weak? By default of my existence, I am strong. And since I put in as much effort as even talentless usually do... the result is me, Danlier Rultorn."

"Bullshit!" Galaya shouted back, rushing toward Danlier. "<Ninefold Radiant Dragonclaw>!"

Galaya’s claws flashed nine times, sending the phantom images of nine dragon claws to attack Danlier. Their speed was blinding.

Danlier was unfazed. "<Layered Eclipse Canopy>."

A figure similar to Balaya’s main body manifested in between them, her colors a deep white and black.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The nine attacks struck, destroying part of the phantom; Danlier flipped through her book and stepped sideways. "<Horizon Astral Passage>."

The folds of spatial distance between her and one of the many eclipses she summoned shrank, teleporting her body. Right after, Artos’s axe split space where she had been.

He and Galaya clicked their tongue.

Danlier glanced at them from a vantage point. "Cute. Acting all angry and thinking that would distract me?"

Galaya’s angry expression disappeared as if it had been a lie. She glanced at Danlier and rushed forward. "Your arrogance will one day catch up with you, Sylvan."

Danlier smiled. "Thank you for warning me. I will keep it in mind from now on. Let’s put it into practice and be more serious, shall we?"

Her voice lowered as she flipped through her book and slammed the page shut, causing deep darkness to bloom between her fingers.

"<Black Sun Spatial Collapse (SS- Rank)>."

Galaya and Artos were confused. ’What is this skill? She has never used it before.’

As they thought, all color disappeared around them. They quickly moved toward each other, looking around warily.

Looking from the inside, it looked all dark. However, from the outside, a gargantuan black corona had appeared and swallowed them in the middle.

Danlier looked down at them and clenched her fist.

"Now... Disappear."

Space itself began to fold in on itself, and the two powerhouses realized something was wrong. So, they quickly rushed out and tried to escape.

Sadly for them, that was the wrong move. This wasn’t an attack you could escape once you were inside it. At least not with normal means. Galaya and Artos rushed in one direction, but no matter how much they moved, it was endless.

This was because Danlier’s SS- Rank skill had folded the very space into a circular sphere. So escaping by moving was impossible; you would go from one end of the sphere to the other.

"Defend!"

Artos shouted once he understood that escaping was impossible, at least for now. Galaya tightened her jaw and quickly unfolded a defensive skill together with Artos.

BOOM!!!

[-4,315,100,000,000]!!! (-43,151,000)!!! (-431.51)!!!

[-6,184,400,000,000]!!! (-61,844,000)!!! (-618.44)!!!

Space itself rippled as the Black Sun’s collapse tore the dimensions asunder. The explosion was so large that even those battling outside, and Balaya herself, couldn’t help but turn to look.

From the middle of her attack, Galaya and Artos appeared, their bodies in terrible condition, and their eyes shaking in fear.

Galaya was missing an arm, both wings, and half her leg. Her armor was filled with cracks as well, and blood covered most of her body. Her Phoer Star Essence had taken a horrifying hit.

Artos was in slightly better condition, but his armor was completely shredded. Even so, Artos had many bone-deep wounds visible all over, with half of his face missing a large chunk of flesh from the dimensional energies tearing it off.

Danlier looked down at them with a cold gaze. "I told you. Today, I won’t be letting you two go." Her arms spread, the book floating in the middle as its pages flipped back and forth. "You better be careful. I am not the same as I was in the past."

Even Balaya did a double take, stupefied. ’...Was Danlier always that strong? Impressive.’