Chapter 110: Countree-Offensive

Year 127

“Activating the hero-item, the Holy Cannon of Alantara!” The templars shouted. The hero item itself was a small item, but to power it, they had to build a massive array of crystals and mana-storage items. The array was ten times larger than the hero-item itself, and that single use broke most of the crystals. 

 

The cannon was really just a small shotgun shaped item. Probably one of the heroes was a gunner or something when they made it. 

 

The item glowed, and woosh a huge blast of energy shot out towards the walls. 

 

I activated 5 [Steelwood Barrier]. Is this power stronger than the demonic supercannon’s long range attacks? It easily tore through my 5 barriers, and then defensive shields that were already there. Then, that entire section of reinforced wall exploded. 

 

“Wow.” I was impressed. The hero’s item really made my wall look like cardboard. So, in short, the demon’s attacks had previously failed to break through my defenses because of my innate anti-demonic properties. Against the hero’s items, I’m blocking it entirely based on stats and levels, and on that front, it’s still not enough. 

 

Does this mean if Harris or Mirei tried to kill me, they could have succeeded? From this incident alone, I think the answer is yes. They could. They really could.

 

So, I decided I needed an insurance of some kind.

 

Like the grass that regularly regrows after fires scorched the lands, like the plants of the floodplains that respawn after every flood, I decided to extend my roots deep underground. As deep as I possibly could.

 

Then, I put my [Tree-heart] there. Even if they chop off my entire tree, as long as my [tree-heart] survived deep underground, I believe I can survive. I also added a big batch of [tuberous storage] around my tree-heart, like a seed, I have the nutrients and energy from the storage potatoes to respawn should I need to.

 

“They won’t be using that for a while.” Edna said.

 

“But we don’t know what else they will use.” Faris said, as the crusaders charged at the hole. The forces quickly retreated to the next defensive point. “The temples have a lot of inherited items.”

 

“But each use is a waste.” Edna frowned. “Why didn’t they use such items against the demons?”

 

“I’m sure they did. They just have a lot of it.”

 

“Maybe since the heroes were around, they didn’t see why they needed to use it, unless they were really desperate.”

 

Since the strategy for this entire plan was to delay the enemy as long as possible, there were numerous layers of walls made. 

 

Jura came and mentioned his concern. “Since the temples are willing to use heroic items, it’s possible they may attempt to use an elite force, armed with heroic items to attack you directly.”

 

“I agree.” Of course. There are probably heroic-grade teleportation items, or heroic-grade stealth items that they can use to attack me directly. The problem, of course, is that their users probably can’t fully activate their abilities. Which is why the most heroic items are defensive in nature, because they needed large magical formations and runes to channel power to the heroic items. 

 

Unless, there are heroic-grade batteries. Which makes a lot of sense.

 

< They grow weary. A few more years will blink by, and they will stop. >

 

> Already? < I responded to Lilies. > I had hoped this war would last until the next demon king. <

 

< Mortals, they are not suited for long wars. They forget their grudges and pain far too easily. Conflict is but a temporary dance.  True wars are long, and lasts a few thousand years. >

 

> Surely the older races would remember. < 

 

< Time is memory’s archenemy. This is but a casual spar. >

 

> It probably is. < 

 

Lilies, again with odd commentaries. I don’t recall whether there are any long wars in this world, not any more, at least. Unless, that war is invisible? 

 

> Your long wars... is it the demons and the gods? <

 

< Maybe >

 

Maybe? That’s a yes, dammit. 

 

The Crusaders advanced a little. 

 

My forces slowly moved into place. I’ve had tunnels ready, and I’ve secretly occupied various little forests near the port cities. Maybe they have a heroic item able to detect me? But still, I wanted to drag it out. See what exactly these temples are able to bring to the battlefield. 

 

-

 

“This sucks.” Edna complained. “I don’t like being forced to retreat.”

 

Her compatriots just rolled their eyes. The crusaders revealed another hero-grade item. A large bow. They brought an army of mages along to create a runic formation on the ground, and they shot it again. 

 

This time, I used 10 [steelwood barriers]. It still tore through all of them, but at least, it didn’t cause my walls to explode. All it did was blast a big hole in the wall. 

 

So the magical number is around 10? Or maybe 20? 

 

“Unless you have a solution for the hero-grade items...”

 

-

 

“Master. Research on assassin beetles completed. We are working on the flying beetles now.” Horns updated, and I quickly started transforming my beetles into their assassin forms. They are smaller, leaner, but with sharp limbs and spikes. They also have poison, and can shoot out a poison horn. 

 

“Great!”

 

Another piece to the puzzle.

 

Eventually, the 2nd layer of walls fell, and the forces retreated. At this point, Jasmine quickly updated that morale was falling, and we needed a small victory to keep the stalemate going. So, the temple used the Holy Cannon of Alantara again, this time at a fort. It blasted the fort’s walls and a segment to smithereens.

 

But it was a ruse. Using [root tunnels], I had the army sneak around them, and then, with my new assassin beetles, rushed in for the kill. I would seize the Holy Cannon of Alantara for myself. There would be no survivors. 

 

It was chaos. Perhaps, a slaughter too. 50,000 assassin beetles appeared from the ground, together with the Valthorns and the regular armies. A proper counter-attack. 

 

The enemy died, and now, I have the Cannon. In the chaos, the commander was able to send a distress signal. 

 

“This is Commander of the Vanguard force, we’re being attacked by new beetle types! The Cannon is lost. The cannon is lost!” A root strike dismembered him. 

 

-

 

The General was a day away, and he got the message. “Hmmm. New beetle types. I have an ominous feeling.”

 

Well, you should, mister General. You’re stretching out your supply lines, spreading your men thinner, and when I strike, you won’t be able to rush back and save your port cities. 

 

Letting the crusaders push further in was an intentional plot to spread out their men and their elite forces. Even if it seemed like we were losing, only Jura was aware that something was up. 

 

“When is Aeon going to bring out his superweapon?” The war council asked. “The new beetles, are those the superweapons?”

 

Jura nodded. “I believe that’s the first of the many weapons Aeon plans to unleash.”

 

The next weapon are the spiders. I wanted assassin spiders to take control of the cities. The first time the enemy would see it, would be when I attack the cities. 

 

Jasmine noted that our morale quickly improved as we have secured the hero-item. 

 

The Generals gathered his advisors. A priest was present, and he read out the statement. “The temple has authorised use of more hero-items.” Ah. Looks like the temple is really going for it, but the fact that their ability to power the hero items relies on large arrays means they are so obvious when they are about to be used. 

 

Could a small assassin group really sneak in with it? Unless they build the array on site... or use an existing array. 

 

But I didn’t want to drag it too long. I have been observing them when they used the hero-items, and now that I have claimed their hero item, I turned it against them. My mastery of runes meant I too, can quickly set up an array, and activated the Holy Cannon of Alantara against the enemy force. 

 

One blast, it drained all the runes, and broke some of the stones and ground that channeled the power. The enemy retreated. That one attack killed probably a few thousand, and it’s not even it’s full power. 

 

I decided to try channelling my existing star mana into it. The hero-item drained all my star mana easily, and it’s so greedy! After it used up all my star mana, it wanted more, and the item easily used up my normal mana too!

 

Did the heroes always have so much star mana? How’d they keep their weapons working?

 

“Master, based on my surveillance of the heroes, they have approximately 500,000 to 800,000 star mana each.” Jasmine commented, she pulled on her past records of conversations between Harris, Mirei and Gerrard. 

 

I have 300. No wonder the hero-items just drained my star mana like I had nothing. They must be using at least 1,000-2,000 star mana to power the hero items each time. The weapon was now partially charged, and I used it on one of the crusading armies. The explosion was massive, far larger than what it was when powered by regular mana, and still it wiped a quarter of that army. Probably 10 to 20 thousand just died instantly. The enemy panicked and then quickly retreated. 

 

I’m sorry, but death is what it is. I even felt their souls enter my main tree.

 

But I only regenerate star mana by a pitiful amount every day. That meant I couldn’t even use the hero’s item if I wanted to. My full 300 star mana takes an entire 2 months to regenerate, so the weapon can be used once every two months to this level of strength. So it’s not as if I could just use the cannon like a machine gun. 

 

Despite the enormous destruction caused by the hero-Cannon, I’m fairly certain this wasn’t it’s full strength. Also, the hero-items used by the temples, and all the various nobles are inferior to pure hero items, in the sense that they have been made to also work with regular mana. True hero-items can only be operated with star mana, and are useless to everyone else. Those pure star-mana hero items are superior in output and strength. 

 

-

 

The army regained a bit of our lost ground, and we managed to retake the outermost walls of the Freshlands. 

 

“How long more till we research the next upgrade for the assassin beetles?”

 

“A month, master.” The assassin beetles have not been revealed to our enemies, yet. At least, I hoped that they were not detected. 

 

The tunnels and my bases next to the 6 port cities continue to expand. I’ve researched tunneler beetles, and have also commenced research on more types of spiders. The beetles made additional tunnels into the port cities, and I wonder whether the enemy realised it by now. I could tell some of them felt something, at least. 

 

The mayor of one of the port towns kept sending miners to dig the ground. He said he felt there’s an infestation or something, but he wasn’t sure. I had to order the beetles to hastily collapse the tunnels before they were detected. 

 

Surely, that mayor couldn’t be the only one that possessed such skills. In fact, some of the military leaders we observed clearly had the skill, but they just didn’t react to it.

 

“I can’t help shake off this feeling that we’re all walking into a big trap.” A commander said to a fellow captain. “It’s a feeling that’s been nagging at me since I landed in this city.”

 

“Seasickness.”

“I feel like it’s my skill.”

 

“You’ve had it since the day you landed, and it’s been a good three months since then.” 

 

It’s funny that one of the ways to beat such ‘alarm’ skills, is to keep scaring them until they stop treating it seriously. Kinda like training one’s body to ignore their daily morning alarm. 

 

“If it’s something, it should’ve happened.” The other captain just shrugged. “We’re doing okay. The heretics are not making progress.”

 

That was just one of the many captains that was eventually lulled into a sense of complacency. For the rest of the year, there were smaller battles, but I was still waiting for more beetle upgrades. I wanted my conquest of the six port cities to be simultaneous and decisive. I wanted to break the crusaders once, and end it. 

 

“Aeon, there should be another 400,000 soldiers arriving on our continent.” Kavio and the war council reported. Ah, this was in addition to the 500,000 to 600,000 soldiers that were already deployed across the entire battlefront? 

 

I wondered why the war doctrine in this world still insisted on throwing numbers at an enemy at first, but eventually I got it. In terms of actual combat, sure, an army of high leveled individuals can do way more damage than an army of lower leveled conscripts, but I increasingly believe the temples are intentionally hoping that from a large pool of low levelled individuals, some gems emerge. It’s an interesting tactic, to sieve the gems from the scrap, they send these large numbers to their possible deaths.

 

The Freshlands’ own defensive army is about 300,000 strong, conscripted from the massive population of the Freshlands. Yet, that excluded my million-strong beetle and spider army. There are various smaller city-states that decided to side with me, and they volunteered in total, another 60,000 fighters. 

 

“And so, they send more to their doom.” 

 

“They would outnumber us 3-to-1 once they land. I believe they may try a decisive strike once they land, to minimise the load on their logistics.” One of the hired [Generals] advised. It’s funny and rather strange to have [generals] on my side now, but I’m not complaining. “They would try this path, I believe.” The general pointed to one of the entrances into the Freshlands. “Or force a way through this segment of the Rottedlands.”

 

It’s a large army, and may end up in a lot of bloodshed. A situation I’d like to avoid, if I can.

 

I wondered whether I should pull my attack at the moment when they land, or after? What is their supply situation? Is their food and accommodation going to arrive before the actual army of 400,000?

 

Trevor tapped into the [grand mind], and quickly created a massive overview of the entire battlegrounds. He highlighted all the various supply positions. “Master, should we intend to cripple and starve our opponents, we may be able to do so by attacking all these locations. A decisive strike before they land may force them to redirect.”

 

The logistics and supplies usually arrive before the army. So the right time to strike is when the 400,000 is still at sea, but their supplies and all have landed. That way, the coming army is forced to deal with a lack of supply. 800 ships, carrying 500 soldiers each. Large galleons of the 4 temples. 

 

I wondered whether my attacks work in water. I think the impact of my root strikes would probably be weakened by the water. 

 

“How long before they arrive?” 

 

“In two weeks?”

 

There’s a tiny window, when the supply ships arrive just before the army itself. I paused, and I thought. By all the odds, it wasn’t ideal. My fully researched assassin beetles were not ready, but if I wanted to cause the most damage, I had to take this window. 

 

“Ready all the armies. There will be a strike in 6 to 8 days. All mobile units prepare for a long range strike.” 

 

That declaration made the entire war council pause, before Jura himself, invited as a translator, mostly, asked on behalf of the war council present. “Aeon, repeat that, please?”

 

“Ready all our forces. We will strike in 6 to 8 days. Valthorns will receive specific instructions.”

 

-

 

About 2,000 of my best Valthorn fighters gathered at a forward base near one of the outer walls. There was three [giant attendant trees], and it flanked a tunnel that led underground.

 

"Briefing time." I announced telepathically, and the Valthorns stood to attention. Edna, Faris and many other upgraded class holders were there. "All of you will be marching into the tunnels. You will be split into 6 groups, and your next orders will be given when you are there. Be prepared for urban combat and a siege, enemies expected to be high level, and large numbers."

 

The order given, they started to board the carrier beetles. The fastest beetles were selected, and they had supplies for a month. The beetles would carry them to their targeted destination in a week. The Valthorns chatted. "Are we attacking the nearby forts?" 

 

The crusaders had set up numerous advance forts to hold their supplies. These are my targets, but it wouldn't be the Valthorns' target. I had intended these 2,000 Valthorns to coordinate the attack on the 6 port cities. 

 

These are my best and most loyal Valthorns, most of them have [Aeonic] variants, such as [Aeonic Rangers] or [Aeonic Druids], or [Aeonic Knights]. 

 

The beetles will provide the numbers, but I need the Valthorns are the secret sauce, with their higher levels and special skills

 

-

 

2 days later, I had moved more beetles into various locations near the port cities. 100,000 beetles and spiders at each of the port cities, waiting for the time. [Root tunnels] made as close as possible, and as many [subsidiary trees] as I can, in all the places where I could place a tree without raising too many alarms.

 

“Aeon, what are we doing in 4-6 days?” The [general] asked, he noticed the Valthorns were gone. “The enemy clearly is behaving strangely, and some of the smaller battalions have attempted to attack our walls. Is there something that was leaked?” 

 

The enemy was nervous. Their [generals] and [strategists] all had some combat sense, and they knew something was happening. They just didn’t know what, so some of them just attacked. 

 

There was an air of tension.

 

“We’re preparing for war?” 

 

“Is Aeon revealing some superweapon? The Valthorns, what’s their plan?”

 

“What’s the enemy up to?” 

 

I decided to confuse them a little. “We will be striking at their fortified locations.” The council thought this meant all the nearby forts, and they started to make plans with the resources available to them. I had given them use of 100,000 regular beetles to supplement the regular standing army.

 

On the other side, I detected their discomfort. The generals and strategists all have skills, and so the crusader generals all increased their scouting efforts, and since there’s only one week left to the trap, I didn’t hesitate to kill their scouts with a root strike, or a poison. 

 

“Aeon’s forces are able to kill our scouts this far away from the walls.” 

 

“They have an infiltration force? An assassination squad?” They wondered, and increased their guards. They truly were not experienced in fighting against a [tree]. They assumed my tactics to be similar to regular kingdoms. 

 

“What’s their force projection ability?” The generals discussed at first, of the likelihood of a long range strike from me. They noted it is possible, but they rated the risk as low, since they do not expect that I could field a war-significant number of combatants far away. 

 

This trap is something I can only pull off once. All these enemies will learn of my tactics, and they will be prepared after this.

 

So, if this trap succeeds, I must hold onto the port cities and deny the temples a chance to regain a landing zone. At least, they would have to land further away, and march a lot further.

 

Still, some of the more paranoid commanders reshaped their forces into defensive formations. The effects of skills are really interesting.

 

-

 

Another 2 days, and the supply ships started to land. Some soldiers too have landed, but the bulk of them have not arrived. The small group of soldiers started to set up new tentages and areas, where the newly arrived soldiers will rest, before joining the rest of their armies. 

 

Too bad they won’t find any place to rest. 

 

The Freshland army cavalry was ready, and the crusaders were clearly preparing for a cavalry charge. “We spotted Freshland cavalries and archers massing behind the walls and cities. They may be preparing for a charge.”

 

“If they want to strike at us before our reinforcement comes, then let them.”

 

In another day, most of the supply ships have arrived, and about 70,000 of the 400,000 additional soldiers have arrived. True, not all will come at the same time, but no matter. 

 

Already, some of the soldiers had a bad feeling. I’m sorry, but war is a cruel thing. The temples have decided to declare war, and peace was off the table. Perhaps I must display a decisive victory, then only a peace can be negotiated. 

 

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-

The Valthorns arrived at their designated locations underground. They’ve been travelling in the [root tunnels] for an entire week.

 

“Where are we?” They were mostly lost. Their sense of time and place is distorted in the tunnels, there are no markers, to day-night cycle. They’ve lived with food prepacked, or those made by the [aeonic druids]. They even have special fruits and drinks to help them tolerate the effects of travelling underground for long periods. 

 

The 2,000 Valthorns have split up in the underground tunnels to their respective targets. Each group gathered in a small clearing, protected by the [camouflage] of subsidiary trees. 

 

Time to start my second briefing. “Once you step out of these forests, will be the Port cities of the Crusaders. Our enemies. Rest well, because once night falls, we will attack the port cities.”

 

The Valthorns were nervous. “With so little of us?”

 

“No. The beetles and spiders will assist you by the tens and hundred of thousands. They are hidden throughout the city, and the land beneath you. You will join the battle once they start the attack.”

 

They nodded, and I let them soak in the information. I created a few wooden displays of the targeted port cities, and where the weak points are, which they took their time to analyse. They had never participated in a siege before. 

 

The Valthorns chatted and planned, and I told them to rest well before nightfall. I gave them all a tree-syrup filled with energy nutrients. They’d go into the attack with their full strength, whereas the enemy is exhausted from a full day’s work.

 

-

 

The moment of fighting finally came. The weather was pleasant in all six of the port cities, and the soldiers were all in various stages of sleep. Some were alert, for sure. I had decided to strike in the late evening, as my assassin beetles and poison-web spiders benefited from the cover of night. 

 

I steeled myself, and sent out the command to all my beetles and soldiers.  “Generals and commanders, it is time to strike.”

 

The first port was home to 200,000, but now it was temporarily home to an additional 50,000 soldiers. 

 

As the city itself didn’t have enough accommodation, most of the newly arrived soldiers and their support team lived in makeshift housing outside the city itself. That meant they were always vulnerable to subterranean attacks since they didn’t have fortified foundations. 

 

It began suddenly. Tentages and their temporary bases collapsed beneath them, Multiple, almost a few hundred holes appeared at the same time, and the beetles rushed out. A well-timed root strike also caught one of the commanders by surprise, wounding him severely, before a beetle finished him off. 

 

The soldiers, most feeling safe and comfortable this far away from the front lines, were suddenly jolted into panic. Some of them slept without their weapons, many were not alert at all. The beetles took full advantage and they attacked and killed the enemies by the hundreds and thousands.

 

“Attack! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!” The commanders shouted, but their voices were soon silenced by a spider that ran into their mouth. The port itself found it’s walls broken. Some of them had been magically reinforced, but I had found weak spots after the past few months of planning. There were already tunnels that allowed my spiders and beetles to enter the Port City itself. After all, not every city had the luxury of master builders who made thick foundations. 

 

The soldiers scattered as loud explosions spread. 

 

The Valthorns too, joined the battle. They rode beetles and rushed for the walls. They focused on the higher leveled one who managed to react and fight. Assassin beetles were more than a match for the level 10-20 soldiers, but if the enemy soldiers were level 30-50, it would require the Valthorns to effectively disable them.

 

A mage ran and tried to send a [message], but an arrow went through his head. He collapsed. 

 

[Aeonic Rangers] and [Archers]. 

 

The 50,000 soldiers quickly thinned to only 20,000 to 30,000 that fled, and the port city itself was flooded by beetles and spiders. 

 

As a statement, the beetles dug up one of the squares, and I made a [giant attendant tree] right in the middle of it. The giant tree all emitted a [healing aura] and [magic suppression aura], which made my beetles a lot more hardy.

 

Then an explosion went off. 

 

“Master, a group of mages just activated a hero-item.” Right in the middle of the port city, it created a summoned giant fire elemental and it started attacking the beetles. Ah, my beetles couldn’t get to that group in time.

 

“Ugh.” 

 

Thankfully, with my [giant attendant tree] right in the city, it was rather easy to just launch [constrict]. My vines can take a bit of fire, and they can ensnare magical creatures since 50 years ago. They can even drain mana! So it’s perfect for summoned fire elementals. The vines latched on, and gradually, the struggling fire elemental shrunk until eventually it was extinguished.

 

“Shit.” The mages cursed and fled. The magical item summoned more fire elementals, but I had a lot of vines, and these fire elementals were pitiful. Had they been summoned with star mana, they may be worth taking seriously.

 

Most cities had some military resistance, but nothing I couldn’t really handle. So, progressively I captured more and more artifacts and treasures. 

 

They had higher level units too. A general here, a commander there. Some master swordsmen too, who cut through my army of assassin beetles like nothing. But as my beetles or the Valthorns distracted these masters, a vine would occasionally ensnare their legs, and they would find themselves weakened, poisoned. The beetles would then deliver the knockout punch. 

 

Once we got a strong foothold in the city, and my beetles have seized most of the key locations, I would telepathically speak to everyone in the city. “Surrender, or we will kill you.” 

 

The Valthorns, like Edna and Faris would then help to coordinate and communicate with the captured and surrendered civilians. 

 

The port city fell by end of the day, civilians all under home quarantine as beetles patrolled the streets, and the enemy forces all corralled into the squares. My main focus was ensuring that the port was no longer operational. 

 

I still don’t have flying beetles, but some of the jetties and docks were made of wood. So, it was easy to destroy them. Whatever supplies they had was quickly hauled away by beetles. Even if they managed to dock at one of the jetties made of stone, they would immediately have to fight beetles and spiders. 

 

A similar chain of events repeated in all the other 5 port cities. All of these cities have magical defenses and high level individuals, some more than others.

 

In one city, the Valthorns had to deal with a group of master pyromancers, and in another, a group of expert axemen. 

 

Without [healing aura], and the element of surprise, the losses would have been a lot higher. The soldiers, as ragtag as they are, were quite good once they found their weapons. Most were around level 20, so they could go toe-to-toe with one beetle in a straight fight. Still, the element of surprise, coordinated strikes at all 6 port cities and multiple other supply locations easily overwhelmed their ability to respond properly. Some of the soldiers retreated. Skilled ones too, they had the right instincts to respond correctly. But sometimes, even doing things perfectly leads to failure. 

 

One of the port cities experienced constant combat till midnight, with long fights throughout the day. They had a few platoons of very well trained soldiers at least level 30 to 50. For them, the Valthorns fought hard, and I had to frequently assist them with my vines to prevent any unnecessary Valthorn deaths. 

 

2,000 elites meant only about 300 to 400 Valthorns per city. A small number of elites on my side, against whatever elites the temples have. I had to protect them. They are an investment into  my future. I had vision, and I had beetles. So the Valthorns would usually attack from an advantage. I would never let them be wastefully sacrificed. 

 

They are crucial to my longer term plans. We are the trees, the anchor of the ecosystem, but the ecosystem must have other moving parts. I see the Valthorns as a key part. 

 

Nearer to the various crusading armies, surgical strikes that targeted their supply chains popped up everywhere. It hit at their tents, destroyed their food. Spiders that poisoned their water. For the crusaders, this was their first brush with assassin beetles that popped out of the ground. 

 

The crusaders had two large two-hundred thousand strong forces, split across two large campsites. 

 

We didn’t attack them much, just little hit and run attacks. 

 

It was intentional. I had hoped that a portion might break off and try to rescue the port cities. I chewed through the smaller forces easily. For larger armies, the element of surprise was not as effective. 

 

If they could keep themselves calm and hold the entire force together, they’d survive.

 

Their generals, startled awake by the sudden onslaught of messages and calls, actively tried to reassess the situation. “All our port cities have been captured? The supplies have been stolen?” It wasn’t hard for beetles to haul away goods. That’s part of their regular peace-time duties. “We’ll be out of food in a week with the ports out of commission.”

 

“We must rush back to retake one of the ports!” Furious discussions broke out. Some pushing to retreat to the ports, others recommending a push against Freshlands.

 

“The paths have been cut off.” 

 

I’m a tree. Terraforming terrain isn’t exactly difficult. I could easily add trees to a path, and populate them with hostile vegetation. Then add beetles! Instant-terrain difficulty +1! 

 

Trevor and my artificial minds have been planning for months on how to knock out all their transport routes overnight, and leave only smaller, less useful paths. Even vast plains had tunnels collapsed in order to create a cliff. 

 

“How?” That was a word that gave me joy. I felt like a master strategist who finally revealed his trump card, and the generals were my victims. 

 

“Monster-trees?” Monstree. That’s a bad pun. 

 

In a period of about a week, the balance of power switched. Their entire logistics network and supply chain crippled. The general could probably beat the Freshland force in a straight fight, but I would never fight them that way. I always wanted a subtle way.

 

There was a saying, if one is to remove weeds, they must also remove the roots. I think these ports are the roots. 

 

I was going to drag it out until they starved, and even if the general was a good one, a starving army still represented a significant weakness. No amount of [skill] would suppress widespread hunger. Maybe a level 100 [general] could, but I think the enemy [general] was in their level 60s only. 

 

Meanwhile, the Freshland army finally got their marching orders, and they soon encountered the deserters and those who fled from my army of beetles and spiders. No army was going to hold itself together when food and water ran out.

 

Some segments of the two crusading forces broke off and they marched towards the nearest city in hopes of securing some supplies. But morale dropped quickly as they encountered terrible, unforgiving terrain that was never there previous, and the two large armies fractured, as each force wanted to seek out their own sources of food. 

 

The generals and lords, priests tried to hold the army together, but ultimately, they were a coalition army. 

 

The temples cobbled the force together from the armies of various kingdoms. There was never true unity or proper discipline.. Once they fractured, it was a lot easier for the Freshland army and my beetles to pick off the smaller forces. Many surrendered. Many soldiers did not have a personal stake in this conflict, and were not blind zealots. 

 

Within a month from that day, both of the armies’ leaders decided to surrender, while the 300,000 or so soldiers that were unable to dock had to forcefully redirect themselves to further ports, with whatever little supply they carried. There, their crusade stopped. 

 

The ‘First Crusade Against Aeon’ had ended. I lost about 200,000 beetles from the 1,000,000 deployed across the 6 cities and various smaller targets. Horns and my new artificial minds all leveled up quite significantly from the battles. 

 

[You gained a level. You are level 169]

[Subsidiary trees limit increased to 1,500,000]

 

Of course, this sudden upheaval made my war council angry, frustrated. “Aeon had planned to take the six port cities all along.” The general said. “We were the distraction from the main attack.”

 

“And it didn’t tell us because we might leak it to the temples, so Aeon just let us drag the war out.”

 

Jura earned a bit of sounding, but Jura himself had very little knowledge of the actual plan, other than there is one. In fact, he knew of the plan to attack all six port cities at the same time I announced it to the Valthorns. 

 

A victory. 

 

But the crusade was not over, not yet. 

 

The temples remained formally at war, so this was pretty much just the ‘First Crusade’. I made sure research continued into more types of beetles and spiders. I would want to add flying beetles, and bomber beetles. I’d like to bomb the ships once they got in range of the shore. 

 

There’s also the political complexity of assimilating the six port cities into the Freshlands administration, and the negotiations with the nations and kingdoms in between. Those that had chosen to side with the temples, quickly switched sides, when they watched the port cities fall. All of them also fortified their walls and reinforced their foundations, to make it harder for tunnelling.

 

Politically, the six port cities are now a part of Freshka. I declared that since they declared war on me, I have, by the norms of this world, properly conquered the port cities. Something none of the kingdoms dare oppose, even if they privately mentioned their worries. Some of them got so paranoid that they chopped all the trees from their cities. Treeless cities. 

 

Enemies. I declared cities without trees as enemies of the Freshlands. The few small city states that made such a decision surrendered in fear.

 

All in, by the end of the year, we had conquered six port cities, and eight other kingdoms. Many expressed their regrets for siding with the temples. 

 

I had initially considered being more ironfisted and considered executing their leaders, but decided to demand resources, gems and various other treasures as compensation. Throughout the new kingdoms that now come under my influence or indirect control, I thought of expelling those who sided with the temples, but instead opted for a widespread conversion programme.

 

Like a forest reclaiming urban lands, I can convert them. I would try.

 

Wololo.

 

Most priests in this world are not specific to a god, though some do specialise, and in doing so, gain special classes for that god. But in most part, the priests of the world are generally polytheistic, and it’s a mishmash of the pantheon and whatever local animistic belief that existed in a particular location. 

 

It was this tolerance of various beliefs that allowed me to recruit some of my earlier batch of priests. The world had spirits after all, and unlike home, the priests of this world acknowledge that each god has a focused scope, and at times, local spirits will reign over the wills of the gods. 

 

In a way, it is strange that the gods outright declared a crusade against me. Why? They’ve shared the world with so many others, so what’s wrong with just letting me rise? 

 

Why a crusade?

 

Why send an army and so many lives to waste when there are demons to prepare for?

 

Why?

 

What’s this insanity?

-

 

“It’s my first time seeing the ocean.” Edna said. She had lived inland. The Freshlands itself is landlocked, after all, the corruption bomb happened in the middle of the continent. “Little did I imagine for my first time, I’d be part of a covert army conquering a port city.”

 

“Fate is strange, Edna.” A fellow Valthorn nodded. There were a few deaths. I couldn’t save everyone, but a few deaths are still infinitely better than many. The losses on the opponent side is far larger, and the beetles gathered the surrendered soldiers into groups. 

 

More of the regular army and cavalry had marched all the way from the Freshlands to reinforce the Valthorn strike team including various local nobles and captains. They had a lot to do, like stripping the surrendered soldiers of all their weapons, briefings, taking over the military administration.

 

There would also be officials from the Freshlands Federal Authority. They had to set up offices to integrate these new cities into the Freshlands. 

 

Formally the six cities were declared to be the Freshland Six Ports, and they would have a sub-authority known as the Six Ports Administration. It made sense that all six ports were administered together, even if all six were previously independent states. Quite a few of the existing administration surrendered, and Kavio recommended that we assimilate them into the existing structure, once they passed some loyalty test. A suggestion I agreed. 

 

But a lot of new people had to be parachuted over. It’s kind of like when a company forcefully acquired another company. Some of the employees would remain, but usually the heads of department would change. There would be a lot of system changes and migrations. Laws and processes need to be modified to comply with the new acquiring holding company.

 

“You’ll get sick of the ocean soon enough, Lady Edna.” A soldier said. The Valthorns are a sub-nobility, so they are often referred to as Lady or Lord, even if they do not formally carry the title. 

 

“Indeed.” Edna nodded. She was in the southernmost port. “But for now I’ll enjoy it.” There were wreckages to clean up. Holes to patch up. 

 

Most of the civilians had private complaints about the new [Giant attendant tree] that now dominated their city, but they soon accepted that they lost, and the Tree is there to remind them that we will watch over them. 

 

The Valthorns would be stationed there for at least a few years as a peacekeeping force, with regular rotations back to the Freshlands. A long range beetle-transport service was set up, and the kingdoms in between happily gave permission. It’s not as if they dared oppose me at this point. 

-

 

Most of the nations swayed with the wind, and changed allegiances. Like new converts, they compensated for their foolish past by insulting their temples with vigor and vitriol. 

 

It’s fine. Geopolitics is disgusting, but ultimately necessary. There is no way I can populate the land without people, and people naturally give rise to politics.

 

After the battle, I created more artificial minds. I had to. My lands and dominion had increased so much more, and Jasmine and the existing artificial minds could not handle the monitoring of so many new citizens. I also didn’t expel those who believed in the four warring temples, I only demanded that they do not support any war effort against me. But that required my artificial minds to observe so many of these cities and kingdoms. 

 

Intense monitoring and surveillance is required. 

 

“Why not kill them?” My artificial minds suggested. “After all, we have killed so many.”

 

I didn’t want to, though. But I felt comforted too. This is a part of nature. In nature, death is perpetual. Do we weep for the millions of ants who died in their wars with each other? Do the ant queens cry when the super ant-colonies wage planetary warfare? 

 

No. 

 

[Grand Mind Tree has blocked influence from trees.]

 

Override.

 

Death on a personal level is a tragedy. 

 

But in the wars I fight, they are but a statistic. A number. 

 

A score at the end of the game.

 

A tree in it’s life would create thousands, even millions of seeds. All potential lives. It does not weep when mortals eat the seeds. It is part of a greater calculation. That some will survive, and as a whole, we will all prosper and grow.

 

Pain and death is but a step-

 

Wait. I’m going too far. No. I paused and pulled myself together. “Indeed, but they surrendered. As such, I must abide by the norms of those who surrendered, that they are not overly punished.”

 

I cannot go too deep at that end. I would become a pest, a locust. A tree of nature must never let itself turn into plague that destabilised the ecology. 

 

“But they may well go against you, master.” 

 

I must mold the narrative correctly. I seek to change and prepare, but I must look to be constructive, not overly destructive. Even if I do use tools which are destructive. 

 

 “A risk, but a calculated one. Only by displaying mercy and the willingness to assimilate these people, these heathens that they once were, can we convince the world that we are here to stay. If one of every two converts to our cause, we are stronger as a whole. The risk is worth it, to build a stronger tree, we must sometimes accept some risks.”

 

The artificial minds mentally agreed. They would agree anyway.

 

“So, we watch.” Fifty new artificial minds. My second [grand mind tree] will take 18 months to be completed. The various surrendering kingdoms gladly volunteered the materials for it’s construction. They didn’t know, of course. I merely asked for the materials, and the losers gladly coughed it out.

 

It will be long. Those who lost will nurse unhappy feelings. 

 

I only hope that we pick them up before those unhappy feelings lead to more war and conflict. The temples started a war, but I have no intention of letting this crusade last for centuries, even if I am very much suited for a long war.

 

< A swift victory >

 

> Relatively. < 

 

< They will regroup > Lilies had not participated in the war. In fact, Lilies’ city didn’t send soldiers out at all, even though their city was home to many followers of these temples.  < And we see that you will be ready > 

 

Hah. Was that a pep talk from Lilies? 

 

> If only it wasn’t so. <

 

< Achieving equilibrium usually requires conflict. > 

 

> So it is. <