Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 284. Marching Onward!

After receiving the news from Eila, the other three leaders began creating strategies on how they would receive the enemy armies. Flor was in a room inside the Town Hall with all the military-involved people. She just finished telling them about how she planned to move the Golden Sap City army. "... In summary, we'll leave the ants behind and task them with the protection of Golden Sap City. The rest of us will go to the frontlines. Does anyone have any idea how to improve it? Any suggestions?"

A man who worked right under Wert looked at Flor and opened his mouth. However, after thinking for a few moments, he didn't say anything.

Still, Flor was very sharp, so she noticed his gesture. She was curious as to why he went silent, so she asked. "What's your idea? You were about to say something, right?"

The man scratched his head. "Lady Flor… My words might not be quite pleasant to hear. I would rather refrain from saying them."

Wert rolled his eyes and kicked him under the table. "Say it."

The man crossed his arms, thoughtful, and Wert insisted. "Duren, are you really going to stay quiet after recently gaining your current rank?"

"Sigh…" He looked at Flor and finally decided to speak up. "Lady Flor. Isn't it better if the ants are the ones that go to the frontlines? The ants reproduce quickly, so in case of a large loss of personnel, we will be able to recover quickly."

Duren felt a gaze coming from the side, and he saw a woman with fiery red hair and compound eyes staring at him. The pressure of that gaze almost made him apologize. 'Ah… I should've stayed silent.'

However, the person looking at him spoke up, looking back at Flor. "He has a point. While extreme, I think his idea can work quite well with a few touches." She added with a half-smile. "After all, as it is, he is just telling my children to sacrifice for everyone else."

Having said that, Ignatia was really not fond of this type of situation. Still, she understood that this was part of her colony's destiny. A horde not to cover and engulf everything but to protect and safeguard the World Tree.

Flor shook her head and said firmly. "You already sacrificed enough in the recent war. I won't let you do the same this time around. The rest of the residents in this city need to show that they are involved and not always rely on the ants for an easy and risk-free win."

Flor's words hit the hearts of a few people in the room who had been thinking similarly to Duren. 

As a counterproposal, Flor commented. "The enemy's objective is most likely Liu Shu. They might even use parts of their armies to keep the cities busy while their main forces attack Golden Sap City. Hence, believe it or not, staying behind to protect Golden Sap City is the most dangerous part." 

Then, she pointed at the map that was spread on the table in front of them and spoke up. "Do you see this area between Sirol City and Mareful City? It's completely out of range of the two cities. Same here, to the west between Mareful and Fortuna City. The only things that are blocking these locations from being easily accessible are the Lakeborn Forest and the White Flower Forest."

Those two locations were natural barriers that prevented easy access between cities and protected the balance that was created during all these years. Flor added with an interested smile. "Still, I think that if they choose the Lakeborn Forest as a way to cross and make trouble, they might be surprised…" 

Wert looked at the map and spoke up, a touch of doubt added to his rough and deep voice. "While I know what you are speaking about, won't that be too dangerous for… It? It will probably continue being passive, as it has until now, right?"

"I doubt it," Verdantia spoke up, her tone quite confident. "I don't know what dear Liu'er did a few days ago. However, she released a wave of aura that I can only describe as imperial. All plant beings, including Sylvan, are aware that the new Queen of the White Flower Forest is Liu Shu. It, even when it's about to take a major step, won't stay idle if a bunch of people try to trespass the boundaries."

Meanwhile, the enemy army was approaching precisely from that direction, arriving at the Lakeborn Forest's edge just a day after Flor's discussion. Baron Lorbase looked at the large forest in front and asked Elenara, his right-hand woman. "Is there any news that we need to know about this place?"

Elenara was a Sylvan woman clad in armor with a tender look quite opposite to her true nature as an Earth Sylvan. Her gorgeous earthly hair fell loosely in curls, and her gaze was firm and steady. "My Lord, this is the Lakeborn Forest. As long as we don't approach the giant lake in the middle, we should be okay crossing the forest."

"The lake…" Lorbase muttered, mounted on his horse-like mount. "Are there really strong enough creatures there that have enough strength to attack our army?" 

Elenara paused for a second, not sure about the answer. She had another suggestion, but due to the two Sylvans that had unknowingly become close to her Lord, she was unsure if it would go through. 'My Lord is so entranced by them that he even kicked Kaedric back to the barony.' 

Still, even if the chances were high, she tried. "My Lord, I would suggest circling the Forest. We'll come dangerously close to either Sirol or Mareful City. However, nature is never to be underestimated."

"Ha." 

A scoff that made Elenara's eyebrow twitch came from the side and looking sideways, she saw the two elegant women approaching on their own mounts. Elenara could clearly feel that these two were blood-related, as they had similar silver hair and eyes, and both were wearing enchanting black dresses. The more mature woman at the front spoke up, the fan covering half her face as only her smiling eyes were shown for them to see. "Lord Lorbase. A little Forest can't do anything to our army. If the Forest becomes unruly, then we'll just cleave through it. Chop the trees in our way and burn down everything that opposes our march!"

Lorbase frowned deeply at those words; that was quite a brutal way of doing things. Elenara, as a pure Sylvan, was naturally furious at the mere suggestion of such atrocity. "Lady Evangeline! How could you suggest such barbaric actions!? What are we, those scum from the Nexus!?"

Evangeline looked coldly at Elenara and sharply closed her fan, showing her downward-arched lips. "It is that thinking of yours that makes it easy for The Nexus to survive in the first place. They just need to cover themselves with vegetation, and everyone will raise their hands in surrender! Cowards!" 

Elenara's face almost turned fully red as anger rushed to her head. The fact that this woman was even making that comparison was making her stomach sick. And yet, to her absolute shock, Lord Lorbase agreed. 

"You are right, Lady Evangeline. Now it is not the time to be mindful and careful about our surroundings."

Elenara's eyes widened like saucer plates as she looked at Lorbase. "M-My Lord! If you do this, not only is it barbaric and ridiculous, the Azure Rose Confederation will not like it! You might even lose your title as a Baron!"

However, what Elenara didn't know was that Lorbase had been slowly corrupted. His thoughts of revenge amplified to the extent that they already overcame reason. Evangeline opened her fan again, and her smile widened with each of Lorbase's words. "Even if I lose my title, as long as I can avenge my daughter, I will commit any and all atrocities!"

Elenara's mind couldn't comprehend this. While Lorbase has never been an exemplary Lord, he was at least not illogical or impulsive. '... Can the loss of a child change a person this much? Even when he has no proof that it happened as he imagined? Or…' Elenara looked at the gratifying smile on Evangeline's face, and her heart tightened. 'Did this woman do something behind my back?' Now that she realized this, Elenara noticed that she didn't even know the attributes of these two Sylvans. 

She asked aloud, her tone calm and relaxed. "Lady Evangeline, what type of Sylvan are you?"

Evangeline blinked twice, her silver eyes looking over with puzzlement. "Why so suddenly?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Elenara raised her eyebrow. "I just realized that I didn't know. I need to know your strength to place you where it is best, right?"

Her words were perfectly logical, so nobody else around intervened. Evangeline smiled. "I am… A Fire Sylvan. Although I control an unusual fire."

"Fire?" Sylvans usually reflected their attributes through their bodies and even attitudes. So, a Fire Sylvan's attitude would usually be much more upfront, extravagant, or, in a way, fiery. On the contrary, the woman in front of her felt like she was made of ice. Her silvery hair and eyes also pointed in that direction due to her overall appearance.

Lorbase commented, somewhat surprised. "You really don't look like a Fire-attuned Sylvan."

"Well…" Evangeline lifted a finger and lit up a gentle grey flame. "This should be enough proof, right?"

"... Grey Fire?"

"Lord Lorbase." Evangeline interrupted Elenara and spoke. "We should depart before our enemies pinpoint our location and start preparing. We lack time, so we should be hasty." 

The Baron nodded and pointed forward. "Move! If we move through the forest, we'll arrive much earlier."

The entire army started marching under the disapproving gazes of most Sylvans in the army. In terms of numbers, one out of every 250 were Sylvans, adding to a total of nearly 300 Sylvans. Even if their numbers were much less, the positions of the grand majority of Sylvans were relatively high. 

When they all entered the Forest, a man poked his head from a far-away bush and muttered. "They really are going to take that route! I am surprised. This should be good news for Lady Eila."

He called for a bird and then sent a short and concise message. 

In Sirol City, standing on the walls and looking far into the distance, Eila heard the familiar chirping of her message birds and extended her arm. A few seconds later, the bird landed on her arm and gave her the message. "Hm? Really?"

She was surprised to read that they would actually do such a thing. "That's… strange. Unnatural even." 

In Eila's opinion, and the reason she was here in the first place, the enemy army would circle the Lakeborn Forest and try to do an initial assault on Sirol City. If the assault were successful, they would conquer the city. If not, they would retreat and leave behind a large enough army to protect them from being flanked. 

To prevent the first scenario, Eila came here as one of, if not the strongest combatant on the <White Flower Province>'s side. "Well… A Forest is prime location for ambushes. Traversing it only works as a safer option when you are sure that the enemy doesn't know you are there…" Eila smiled. "But I know."