Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.
Chapter 436. Terragore Queen’s Astounding Final Struggle.

The last step was securely capturing the Terragore Queen. Once that was done, everything would come down to a nice conclusion. Looking at the trapped monster, Flor was doubtful whether the container they produced would be enough to carry it out. She voiced her worries. “How do we send her out? I am quite sure that once she gets out of the Runic Field, she will create chaos like no other. Some people might die in the process as well.”

Mariane spoke, her voice tired from being the Runic Field’s central piece. “I don’t know, Flor. But please come up with something quickly before that monster breaks the Runic Field through sheer physical strength!”

Harmonixia spoke from a distance. Her side was almost done cleaning up the last Terragore, so she could spare some time for her. “Flor, do we even need to carry her out?”

Flor was suddenly hit with that realization, and she rechecked all the objectives.

[Optional Personal Objective: Kill or assist significantly in the death of at least 100 <Terragore> of your same level or above. (Completed)] 

[Objective 1: Suppress the <Terragore> threat. (Completed)]

[Objective 2: Avoid World Tree Tianlian Liu Shu’s death. (Completed)]

[Objective 3: Control all colonies and make sure no <Terragore> groups are left unchecked. (Completed)]

[Optional Objective 1: Capture the <Terragore Empire Capital>. (Completed)]

[Optional Objective 2: Capture the <Terragore Queen> and <Terragore King>. (1/2)]

[Optional Objective 3: Capture the <Terragore Nesting Grounds>. (Completed)]

“Huh?” Flor was startled when she checked her quest. She was so focused on the battles around her that she missed the messages that told her about the completion of the Objectives. Thinking for a little while, she called Liu Shu. “Love, do you think that we can ‘Capture’ her within her own place? All the quest objectives are done. So, we should be able to cheat it by capturing her for at least a moment, right?”

Liu Shu hummed. “Sylvan Quests can’t really be cheated. The System is not a completely mindless tool, after all. It can detect when something is not completed properly. If not, there are many ways to go around the <Objectives> since they are always written quite vaguely.”

Flor understood that. However, she still thought that it was possible. “We should at least give it a try, right?”

Since no one was against it, Flor started giving orders. Soon, a large cage prepared for the Terragore Queen appeared. The design had the Terragore King in mind, which used Liu Shu’s enhanced roots and other strengthening materials to create the bars. Moreover, the cage was able to connect with Liu Shu! This connection was for Liu Shu to manipulate it and create strong, restrictive roots and entangle the monster queen into a helpless state. Now, with over 90,000 <Physique>, whether their plans would go in their favor was a question most were not quite eager to answer. 

When the struggling Terragore Queen noticed the cage, her red eyes squinted as she made a low and menacing growling sound. The undertones were mocking, not believing that such a thing could tie her down. 

So, when she was moved into the cage, the Terragore Queen strangely didn’t resist. Everyone was confused as Liu Shu easily captured the Queen in the cage. The World Tree looked at the immobile Terragore Queen with a suspicious gaze. ‘It seems that it will be a battle of strength between you and me.’ With her knowledge, Liu Shu could easily guess what the Terragore Queen was thinking. 

‘If you think that the Runic Field is more annoying than this cage, you are in for a wild surprise.’

Looking around, our World Tree nodded to herself. ‘Okay, most of the Terragore have been put down. But not enough to call it a total collapse. That way, the Terragore Empire is considered captured and not destroyed. Moreover, as long as the King and Queen live, it will be hard to label the Empire as destroyed. If they manage to escape, rebuilding it would be a matter of time.’

So, knowing that the Terragore couldn’t help the Queen, she ordered the mothkin. “Stop the Runic Field. With it active, I can’t move the cage.”

Several hundred roots poked out of the ground, tightly surrounding and interlocking with the cage, while many of those coiled around the Terragore Queen’s limbs. Once she touched her body, Liu Shu noticed that she was far from relaxed. All the muscles were tensed and wiggling, waiting for that change to burst with her incomparable strength and break through all shackles. 

The 200 mothkin looked at each other, and Mariane nodded. “At the count of five! Don’t be late to unlatch or you’ll receive the backlash’s full burn when the Runic Field breaks.” No one doubted that the monster queen was able to break free when they relaxed, so Mariane’s warning was not unwarranted.

“One…”

The Runic Field pulsed, and instantly, the Terragore Queen’s eyes started moving.

“...Two…”

Feeling the link between the mothkin and the Runic Field weakening, the Terragore Queen’s muscles twitched.

“...Three…”

Liu Shu noticed the increased restlessness through all her roots touching the powerful being. Her ternary essences surged from her main body, traveling the distance in just a few instants, ready to pour into the roots at any moment.

“…Four…”

Everyone held their breath, and then, the count reached the destined number that would tell if they were successful or a hard battle was bound to progress.

“...FIVE!”

All mothkin instantly detached, and the Terragore Queen’s ridiculous reflexes allowed her to react right away. All occurred in a fraction of a second.

“GRAAAHHH!!”

CLANG! BOOM! 

The settled dust around exploded as the muscles of the monster queen pulled with all their might, trying to tear the cage appart through raw strength. 

Creaking sounds reached everyone’s ears, making them flinch as the Terragore Queen struggled against the roots latching around her body. Liu Shu felt as if the monster was about to pull her roots off their seams. “Y-You little monster! Why are you so strong!?”

“RAH! GRAH! RAAAA!!!”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The cage trembled as the entire area quaked due to the Terragore thrashing. Each explosion seemed to hit their hearts, horrifying them at the strength of a <Fourth Energy Cycle> being. If, instead of a monster, the <Fourth Energy Cycle> was an intelligent human or a Sylvan, they could easily understand why those types of people were considered strategic resources by most top-tier factions.

A single, high-tiered, <Fourth Energy Cycle> intelligent being, clad in powerful armor and using other tools, was a disaster hard to stop by the grand majority of powers in the world. 

Liu Shu’s roots began snapping here and there as the monster pulled and pushed. While Liu Shu tried to close it, her mouth was biting everything within reach. Her sharp claws were creating deep marks in the cage and roots trying to contain her, but thankfully, due to the innate regeneration of the cage, it didn’t break easily.

Liu Shu’s heart was determined to keep this thing under her control. “I managed to make an ancient forest bow down. Don’t think that you can best me in a battle of restriction, you monster!”

The walls and ceiling exploded as roots lunged down from everywhere. One was slashed, and two took their place, one was bitten off, and three took their place, one was ripped by the muscles, and four took their place.

Root after root, shedding sap and blood on both sides, the Terragore Queen and Liu Shu battled in a fight for dominance. “Just… Get… Trapped! <Root Strike>!”

BANG!

[-1,510,000]!

“Wah! Why is your skin so thick!? You are tougher than my city’s wall, you ridiculous thing! <Root Strike>! <Root Strike>! <Root Strike>! <Root Strike>!”

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

“GRAAH!”

Strike after strike, Liu Shu chipped away at the monster queen’s resistance. Everyone looked on with bated breath as the World Tree subjugated the terrifying creature. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. 

By the fourth hour mark, only the sounds of Liu Shu and the Terragore Queen’s battle remained in the subterranean Terragore Empire. Everyone’s heart was filled with admiration toward the Monster Queen. Regardless of species or if it was a monster, for her to resist this long after being worn down by Ignatia and the Mothkin, the only word to describe her left in their heads was “powerful.”

Truly and genuinely powerful. 

Sadly, this powerful being was at a far too big of a disadvantage. Liu Shu’s roots were basically endless. Moreover, since the initial situation was not her being free but already tied down, she had no chance to express the true extent of what 91,000 <Physique> could cause. Moreover, each hit was not that powerful, and with her over 4,000 <Phoer Body Cores> she could tank them without even flinching in pain.

Still, what she was receiving was an endless barrage that never ended. Even a single drop of water can carve through rock if it falls on it enough times, not to mention a World Tree’s roots. 

After six and a half hours of fighting, the Terragore Queen gave out a final, struggling and exhausted scream before falling down powerlessly.

“R-Raah…”

Bam.

Everyone stood still, looking at the white-furred, red-eyed monster lying on the ground powerlessly. Someone asked, trying to gulp down the emotions that raged inside them. “I-Is it over?”

[Congratulations! <Optional Objective 2> has been completed!]

Looking at that message, people fell on their butts, tension leaving their bodies. 

“We did it…”

“We did it!”

“YAHH!”

“Hahaha! We are done! We defeated the <Terragore>!”

Flor and the other leaders gathered with smiles that they couldn’t hide. There was relief, happiness, tiredness, and some sadness for those who fell during the grand quest. 

However, overall, a feeling of satisfaction and joy was prevalent within them. Flor flew into Ignatia’s arms and closed her eyes. “Done… This was probably the most exhausting war I’ve participated in.”

Ignatia gently caressed the Flower Fairy. “It’s done now. Thank you for your hard work, Flor.”

Verdantia sat on one of Liu Shu’s roots, gently caressing it. “Well done, love. Thank you for your efforts. It would’ve been far too difficult without you.”

“Yah!” Cinderielle jumped onto her back, almost pushing Verdantia against the ground. 

“W-What are you doing?” Verdantia turned, but seeing the wide and happy grin on her friend’s face, she just sighed and smiled back. “Done.”

“DONE! Hahaha.” 

Tempestria and Harmonixia approached as well with grins. “With this, my family will have nothing to say. Hehe.”

Tempestria looked at Harmonixia with a raised eyebrow. “I guess. If they dare doubt us after we accomplished this, I’ll go there to have a word personally.”

Liu Shu’s voice reached them with a harrumph. “No need to. I’ll go there myself. Let’s see how they react when the World Tree on another continent pokes one of her roots in their domain!”

Imagining that scene, all four Sylvans burst into laughter.