While the Cerulean Defense Force, the Transcendent Group as well as the Undead Race were busy repelling the attack from the Glings and the Elves, there was one more matter that slipped past their attention.
“The distraction went well.” The Queen murmured to herself on her flesh throne. She was connected to every single one of the Gling on the planet, along with the structure that her underlings had built. So she knew what she was doing.
She had done this to slip something that would enter the rear of her enemy. After all, the ambush at the Rift had failed, and she had no suitable counter against the undead element.
She shifted her perspective to that of her newest-born creature. It was made from many small cells that formed the being but all of them were an ‘entity’. The Queen had produced thirty of such creatures and decided to use them to cause a major event at the enemy’s backyard.
Firstly, this creature could not be detected by a usual sensor like a sense. Even with the enhanced sense of the Gling, the Queen could not discover the presence of this creature if not for the fact that they were connected to the Hive Mind.
Secondly, the creatures were adept at disguising themselves. They could take the form of many creatures they encountered, so that was covered.
Thirdly, she lacked critical information about the race she had encountered. That became the blind spot, which she regretted. To solve it, she decided to send the thirty creatures deep into enemy territory. She also wanted to meet with the ones who had the potential to mess with the races that she had encountered.
Fourthly, these creatures could turn into the smallest cellular unit and move almost undetected. This was the order that the Queen had given them the moment they neared the base built by the Three races.
“Spread out! Turn into the smallest unit possible and infiltrate the other side of the Rift! Gather all information about my enemy!”
The creatures transformed into the smallest cell, dispersing their bodily form and shrinking to a size smaller than dust. They then moved past the soldiers who moved around, carrying with them the ammunition boxes.
Then they entered the Rift. The Queen’s sense stayed with them, wanting to see for herself what kind of scenery the other side had.
Then the panoramic view of the desert with the bases built around the Rift could be perceived to the Queen through the creatures. Then the thirty creatures dispersed in all directions, trying to gather all the information in that place while clearing the Fog of War effect.
As they spread around, some of them found the natural flora and fauna of the planet to be different than their world. The Queen could see that one of the creatures was being chased by a giant animal relentlessly.
The other was dealing with the attack from the flying animals, which had designated it as prey to be eaten.
The Queen realized that the environment around the Rift was not so friendly, but she found it strange that the three races were able to go to the Rift uninterrupted. She suspected that the three races had something that could repel these beasts from intruding on their bases or even cities.
She was not wrong, as it was indeed the case. The most notable thing to do for anyone on the Cerulean Planet when exploring outside the safe zone was to bring some Mur with them. That could tame the giant beasts like Rex and Pterosaur but it also had the effect of repulsion under certain circumstances.
The Queen then ordered the rest of the infiltrating creatures to lower their presence to the point of being completely ignored by all the animals. Whether they were in the desert or in the forest, all of the creatures obeyed without even hesitation.
They moved more carefully without attracting attention to themselves. The Queen realized that the area around the Rift on the Cerulean Planet was located in the middle of the wilderness area.
She needed to find the settlement of the races that opposed her to know more about them. She knew that dealing with the base at the Rift might even alert the three races of what she had so she did not attack it.
Instead, she’d rather find something that could help her cause a mess in the enemy territory.
‘The difference between my race and theirs is that their thoughts and wills are different, while my race is unified. That factor will be the one where they fall short!’ The Queen thought while considering the difference between her race and her opponents.
She received real-time information directly from the Metamorphic God so she knew that her information could not be wrong. Furthermore, different will meant that there was a chance for her to acquire a collaborator who could do things in her stead.
‘Yes. That is right. Divergence of self will create different opinions. There will be one who shares a similar intention to mine. All I have to do is find them…but how?’
The Queen could only let the infiltrators search for the settlement of the three races. The Queen knew something and acted on it.
Actually, the method was simple. The Queen just had to backtrack the route the soldiers of the three races took to get to the rift. She had one of the creatures follow the prints of the vehicle's tires as well as footsteps.
As for the others, they were deployed to search the area to be able to strategize better.
Then a loud noise slowly approached. The Queen shared the sense of her creatures despite being in a different spacetime, so she could perceive that what was coming was the reinforcement from the three races. It was actually the metal flying objects moving in the sky above the creatures.
She knew that those things were really a threat on its own, just slightly below the transcendents she had seen before who wielded undead element. Those flying objects then entered the Rift and the Queen knew that the three races were going to expand their area.
‘I need to hasten my plan. Otherwise, they will gain an advantage so big that I cannot overturn it.’ The Queen thought while sensing the creatures tracking the traces left behind by the three races’ forces.
After four hours of movement, the Queen saw through the creatures that there were many buildings in the moors in front of the creature. The fauna of the planet avoided the place as if it were something that should not be visited.
The buildings were taller than even her hive. The Queen realized that the races who built this were leaning toward technological development too. It was a surprising revelation since her races also pursue both transcendental and technological aspects, even though it was differed in practice.
Then she ordered the creature to disperse to every part of the city, trying to gather information.
The first problem arose as the Queen did not even understand the speech of the people there. So she kept the creature for learning the language of the people while mapping the entire city. But this would take quite some time, which the Queen felt like should be done with other things.
‘This one will be stationed here to gather all information and learning the language. The rest will be spread around the Rift to get a feeling of the area. Furthermore, where do those flying objects come from? I need to know about that too. And also the weapon the three races have.’
The Queen could only wait and see for now. Other than that, she also ordered one other creature to track a certain item that was lost due to the nest being destroyed by the three races.
It was currently located in the base near the Rift and the Queen did not want to even let the other suspect her motive. She knew that the three races started to look at that item with interest and she had to take it back if possible.
The particular creature’s task was to keep track of that item. The Queen knew that her chance at reobtaining the item was high since there could possibly be a shift of hand from the base to the escort group.
Then she sensed the battlefield near the Rift and saw that particular man from the unknown race. His skill at using his weapon was exquisite enough to gain attention from the Queen. The way he found the weakness of the many types of Glings caused her to pay attention to this particular transcendent.
‘The tide of battle is no longer mine. Even with the emergency move I have in mind is not enough to go head to head against them.’ The Queen realized that the undead element truly had to be countered properly or else the advantage were going to be seized by her enemies.
She then delved into understanding the language used by the three races. She had to do this endeavor herself since she was the only one who could do it.
-
On the other hand, there were problems the Elves faced.
It had to do with their quantity and also the deployment of their troop alongside the Glings. As this problem arose, the Elf King had to be the one to solve it, that was what the Elves believed.
Sybil sat on the throne created from the parts of the Sacred Tree itself, channeling his Ether and letting it out in an overwhelming manner. He swept his gaze to see every single one of the delegation from the other Sacred Tree.
Ever since their eventual defeat in the Star Battle, their number had been kept small for a reason. It was to easily control and monitor them. The number of Elves corresponded to the number of the Sacred Tree that was still standing.
Currently, only twelve trees remained on the entire planet, making the number of Elves scarce. They also had to allocate their already small number into small groups to safeguard the nest where the most important item of the Gling was stored.
This was done to make sure that the item in question was more secure. But now, Sybil had received a word from the Queen of the Gling swarm that one such item had fallen into the enemy’s hands.
“Is that all you have to say?” Sybil let out a loud voice as he questioned the delegation. He glared at one in particular.
It was the delegation of the Sacred Tree of the closest distance to the location of the destroyed nest.
“Your Majesty, this is not me shirking responsibility, but the enemy has deployed their main forces against the smaller number of the protected nest as well as the elf group. We are not prepared for that power directly.” Despite the pressure of the Elf King, the delegation spoke with calmness that even Sybil felt should be praised.
But the severity of the item was so big that the Queen deployed a special unit from her Glings to investigate and also retrieve it.
“Do you know that the Queen personally sent me this messenger to me!?” Sybil then extended his hand, did a motion grasping before a small, tiny Gling with wings rested on his palm.
A small gasp could be heard from all the delegations. They knew that the messenger would not be sent carelessly and only when the situation was critical that the Queen used it. In normal circumstances, she would summon the Elf King to the Hive.
“So you better tell me something new.”
“I have come to this place with the fastest method available so I know that the enemy will likely scout their way first before moving with their reinforcement.” The delegation said.
“That is true. However, the Queen needs us to make a move against the three races. We have to delay their movement as much as possible!” Sybil said while still radiating the intimidating energy.
“Is that what the message from the Queen says?”
“With certainty. So those whose Sacred Trees are in the near area of the Rift, prepare as much as possible!”
The delegations then had a deep frown on their faces. This was saying that they needed to pour in more people. But they could not defy someone who had control over their death and life. So they bowed to the Elf King.
“We will obey the order.” They said with reluctance.
Sybil retracted his energy, and he looked up at the top of the canopy of the Sacred Tree from the place where he sat. It was an open place so that every single Elf could look at the majestic figure of the Sacred Tree itself.
The Sacred Trees were connected to each other through their roots. That also allowed some Elves to use it as a convenient transportation device. That was what allowed the delegations from various Sacred Trees to attend the court at such a fast speed.
This allowed the Elves' movement to be as swift as possible. Sybil kept looking up while thinking about the future.
‘Will we have even a future? Is my race destiny to be subservient to the Gling for the rest of our existence?’ Sybil thought while slowly gathering the Ether in his body to the Gling that was on his palm, infusing it with Ether.
The Gling then became active before returning to the Hive, where the Queen’s true body resided. When Sybil looked down at the court once again, he realized that the delegation had moved and had carried out all the orders received from him.
The nearest Sacred Tree to the Rift was busy since the delegation had returned from the king’s court.
The Elves, who were the main forces of their community, were preparing themselves. They geared up, using wood from the Sacred Tree to carve out several tools for combat. Swords, arrows, bows, even spears, all of them were prepared.
Then they also adapted their Ether by using it as a form of warm-up. They wrapped the Ether in their blade, infusing it into the limbs or forming a certain image using the Ether. This was their training for the transcendents.
“Move! Let the blessing of the Sacred Tree and Mother Nature course through you!” the leader of the group said while also doing the exercise together.
“Ha!” The rest followed the leader as they let out a shout, imprinting the memory of the Ether being sharp and piercing as their weapon. The image formed was that of the blade which let out a sharpness that pierced the skin, making the onlooker feel like their skin was being prickled by a needle.
This was the elite group of the Sacred Tree. Under normal circumstances, they would not be deployed since their main task was to guard the Sacred Tree they were in charge of.
But now that the Queen had issued a decree to their king, they had no choice but to execute it. The eyes of the Elves in the group were glinting with lights that were ignited due to their feelings toward the Sacred Tree.
They all knew that the Rift was closer to them than any other Sacred Tree so they braced themselves for the eventual encounter with the three races that became their opponent.
“I hear that there is an unknown race that even the Metamorphic God and Mother Nature don’t recognize. What do you think?” the youngest of the group asked in curiosity. The more senior elf near him heard what he had said.
She replied, “That is why we need to gather information about them while slowing down their advance.”
She used the Ether in her body to form a jade-colored arrow. She spun the arrow in her hand as if already used to this move for years.
“But can we win, though? I heard that the enemy is using the infamous undead element, which is the counter to our Ether. Our numbers are not enough to counter them, so…”
“Don’t demoralize ourselves like that.” She glared at the youngest.
She continued, “It is true that we are outnumbered, but it doesn’t mean that we have no chance at victory. We can slowly wear them down, for example.”
The youngest nodded his head, seemingly accepting the word of his senior.
“Then we can brittle their morale and motivation. Slowly but steadily.” She added while using the wooden sword infused with the Ether to slash at the position above her head.
A crescent sword strike was formed and launched to the sky, along with the others’ strikes, as the finale of the training session.
The youngest breathed out, his expression was one of excitement. Although the condition of his race seemed to be pessimistic, he still held hope for the bright future he and his race might have.
The youngest weapon was a pair of wooden knives. He was fast on his feet and could utilize Ether to be able to flicker around the community like a shadow.
As for his senior, she was a renowned beauty who was admired for her skills and technique. He also wanted to reach the height his senior had reached or even better…surpassing it.
The leader saw that the entire group was finally in top condition and nodded his head, pleased to see this. Despite his weary look, he still flashed a smile as he said to the group.
“All of you are the pride of our community in this Sacred Tree. I will not say much but one thing that I need to hammer it to you is that you need to act within your capability. That is all. Prepare to move to the frontline.” The leader stood in front of the group before he turned around and moved to the outside of the community.
The group of Elves followed suit. The determination in their faces and eyes was a sign that they would struggle to the bitter end, not for the Glings but for their own.