Flor looked around with an exhausted face; her Aether Mana had been reduced to around ten percent, and even keeping herself flying felt extraneous. Most of the remaining Rose Fairies had fallen to the ground out of pure fatigue, while a few had fainted from Aether Mana exhaustion.
The entire battlefield was littered with corpses, making the surroundings smell of blood and insides. It was certainly not a pleasant smell.
That was not the worst part since the garden specially made for baby Rose Fairies had been trampled, leaving almost no intact plant. The sight of the flattened roses in between the many footprints made Flor's stomach churn.
This prompted Flor to stop and look closely at the corpses of the Rose Fairies. Her gaze lingered on their messed-up remains, her mind flashing with many thoughts.
Seeing the faces of a few Rose Fairies she personally interacted with between the dead was not a first for Flor, but seeing so many dead was a first certainly a first.
The wars she had participated in in the past were of a much smaller scale, making her realize how difficult it was to resist outside attacks without numbers and proper strategies.
"Flor."
The voice of the mature and usually playful Ant Queen reached her. However, the tone was much softer than usual as her compound eyes looked her way.
Flor mustered a smile and spoke. "Sorry for all your children. Almost 40 of the 100 that came died."
Ignatia looked at the corpses of the ants and shook her head. "They died protecting who will become our race's protector in the future. This war made me realize how important that Little Tree truly is."
Ignatia remembered the brutality of the tree when slaughtering everything that approached with ruthless efficiency and then imagined it when the tree was double or even triple her current height. A chill ran up her spine. 'Probably not even a developed ant nest can deal with her. The only option would be to throw numbers to die until it is exhausted. Even then…' Ignatia looked at Liu Shu's ternary essences and could see the regeneration slowly ticking and increasing the numbers. '… That kind of regeneration would make any low-level attack useless.'
Flor looked around and nodded. "She is important."
Ignatia, however, heard a different tone in her voice and asked with a gentle smile. "Are you wondering if she is more important or the Rose Fairies that lie dead there?"
Flor paused and sighed. Without answering her question, she flew toward Ignatia and sat on her shoulder. Ignatia looked at her and lifted one of her hands to tickle her belly, earning a slap from Flor. "Stop that."
Ignatia laughed as she retracted her hand. "Sorry, you are just adorable."
Flor sighed and looked at the living group of Rose Fairies. After looking around, she suddenly realized that not all of them were gathered among her high-level Rose Fairies. Her heart sank as she asked. "Where is Aster?"
Ignatia paused and looked over. Her compound eyes could easily discern the facial expression of Clavel and the others, and there was a bit of pain beyond the exhaustion, making her realize what happened. "Flor… Aster…"
Flor quickly left her shoulder and approached Clavel, Zinia, and Amapola. "Amapola, where is Aster?"
Aster was quite a mischievous Rose Fairy, and she was always a bit cynical. However, she took care of many things and often talked with Flor. Therefore, Flor was very fond of the young yet strong Rose Fairy.
Amapola saw Flor approach and flinched, making Flor's gut feeling become increasingly worse. Her voice was calm when she asked. "What happened?"
Amapola opened and closed her mouth, and she finally spoke. "One of the high-level
Flor took a deep breath. The smell of blood rushed into her lungs while the image of the death-filled battlefield reentered her vision. "Where is her corpse."
Amapola shook her head. "The attack was too much. The corpse is… not recognizable."
Flor nodded and turned around. "Understood. Take care of the fainted Rose Fairies and use Liu Shu's fruits without squandering them. I want every Rose Fairy and Ant to eat five of each of the Phoer, Aether, and Anima berries. We should've enough saved to feed everyone for at least three or four days."
Amapola answered right away. "I'll get with it right away."
Flor waved her hand as she approached Cinderielle. The woman was bleeding quite terribly, but most wounds had closed somewhat, so there was no risk of dying of blood loss.
Cinderielle was lying on the ground, looking at the sky with a blank expression. 'That was… too risky.'
She still remembered how Froorar and the bird attacked her so brutally, opening wounds all around her reinforced body while trying to escape her grip. She wanted to lift her right arm to look at her injuries, but an extremely sharp pain prevented her from moving her shoulder. 'Right, my shoulder bone was fractured by that humanoid Thornstride.'
She could feel resentment coming from him, a lot too. 'That creature… was intelligent. Much more than a common beast.'
Still, for Cinderielle, killing it didn't feel much different from a typical beast. She felt no remorse, only relaxed about being able to kill the creatures that made Liu Shu cry in pain.
Remembering the pain-filled aura of the World Tree, her heart almost burst with anger again. However, she managed to calm down, knowing that everything was over. 'She is okay, and she can recover. Continuing to be angry toward them is not something I should do.'
"Hey."
The very recognizable voice of the Rose Fairy Queen reached Cinderielle, and the Sylvan moved her neck to look toward the direction it came from. "What's wrong?"
Flor flew down and sat by her side. Her dress gently blended with the green grass around her, making her look like another flower in the surroundings, a cold and elegant one. After a while, Flor said. "Thank you."
Cinderielle blinked. "Why?"
Flor looked at her and smiled. "For fighting with us and caring about Liu Shu genuinely. Such a reaction can't come from someone who is faking it."
Seeing the petite creature who had shown nothing but a cold face smile, Cinderielle had to admit that Flor looked pretty, like a masterfully crafted doll. Cinderielle shook her head faintly so as not to worsen her wounds. "How is Tiantian?"
Flor shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. She has gone dormant after the last Level 10 fell. Her Aether Mana hit zero, while her anima energy was dangerously close to zero, too. Her Phoer is also at around thirty percent. Quite surprising for all the attacks she received." Flor looked at Cinderielle and smiled. "When you see her trunk, you will not be happy."
Cinderielle asked with a frown. "Is it in that bad of a shape?"
Flor nodded. "Scratched everywhere, with sap flowing all around it. The roots that surfaced are similarly leaking sap and sliced or bitten open in many places. However, even if she is dormant, her body still has some subconscious autonomy, and the surfaced roots are slowly returning to the earth while her entire body heals."
Cinderielle commented. "Isn't this a prime opportunity to inaugurate your caravan plan?"
Flor blinked. "What do you mean?"
Cinderielle said. "Look around you. Do you even need so many dead creatures? Why not sell them after using all those you can and saving a few? Their coats and flesh can go for quite a price. You can also use this as a starting capital. If you add some specialties, the caravan will take off quickly and will be able to buy good equipment. After all, you need to buy the carts and beasts to pull them."
Flor blinked a few times. "That's… an excellent idea."
Ariel's complaining voice and the sound of steps came from their right. "Cinder, be honest. Do you want to overwork me to death for that tree?"
Cinderielle smiled mischievously. "So, what if I want? Since you are in this, you should work your ass off. You've seen it, right? Tiantian's super beautiful and gorgeous appearance as she elegantly and sophistically killed those filthy beasts~."
Ariel snorted at Cinderielle's admiring tone. "The only thing I saw was a ruthless and murderous tree! The way she reaped through the beasts was honestly terrifying. Tell me honestly, what level is she?"
Flor grinned. "Level 4."
Ariel, Robert, Maley, and Doles looked at Flor with wide eyes. The surprise in their eyes could not be concealed at all. Maley stuttered. "W-What level? Level 4?"
Flor stood up while looking up at the, for her, very tall humans and nodded. "Yes. She is a Level 4 World Tree." Then, before they could ask more, she patted her butt and dress and smiled. "I'm going to… clean up the battlefield and give you those beasts we don't need and the promised berries. I could tell that you didn't fight with your all, but I can't blame you as you were tasked to fight Level 10s as Level 9s."
Ariel sighed. "Don't blame me, Flor. I can't lose my people because of this war that had nothing to do with us."
Flor nodded. "As I said, I understand. I am grateful as long as you fight and lend a hand, even if it is just a bit. Your efforts probably saved the life of more than 20 Rose Fariies, and I'm grateful for that."
Flor looked at Cinderielle and spoke. "I have something to tell you. When you are recovered, come find me." Then, she flew away to meet with Ignatia and organize everything.
Ariel opened her mouth but couldn't say anything when she looked at the back of the Rose Fairy Queen. The sound of her wings buzzing as she flew away sounded lethargic.
Robert commented, crossing his arms. "Ariel, I know you were thinking for us, but… We could've used at least a few of those items."
Ariel shook her head. "I know where you are going, but remember that we are working with a monster species. Thankfully, they've turned out to be Rose Fairies, which aren't often indicated as harmful creatures as long as you don't damage flora around you. Moreover, we were even luckier as the species' leader is extremely intelligent for a monster species."
Ariel looked down at Cinderielle and asked with a severe expression. "Cinder. Tell me honestly. Are you really in love with that World Tree? Or do you covet it for another reason?"
Cinderielle looked at Ariel, and her lips arched. "I want that World Tree to be the mother of my children."
Ariel and the other three looked at the Sylvan with a speechless expression.