'This…is not how things were supposed to go!'
Aaliyah was in a mild state of panic at the strange situation that was taking place. The sheer amount of reinforcements present shouldn't have been possible considering the way Heaven's Army's forces were spread.
That is, unless someone with enough authority called for it.
'Sherya!'
Aaliyah knew exactly who it was. There was only one person in the world who understood her deeply enough to completely understand her intent off only a few clues.
'You were supposed to lead everyone away, not bring them to help…!'
Aaliyah almost wanted to cry. How was she supposed to take down the starship if countless important allies had to be sacrificed as well?!
Despite the determination she built to accept any sacrifice to accomplish her goals, Sherya's presence changed things.
Sherya was one of the few people who couldn't be allowed to die.
Aaliyah was forced to wait without being able to do anything else. She was forced to watch the proceedings outside from the same perspective as those Higher Nox in the command center.
As she watched, she saw the utter cohesion that Heaven's Army possessed in this moment. She saw how they flawlessly executed their plan even when their troops were falling at an astronomical rate.
"Focus on those few in the back. It looks like their entire formation is revolving around them."
Thaddeus' voice suddenly rang out.
Aaliyah's eyes widened.
'No…!'
A beam of light shot from the star destroyer and cleaved through the universe, unobstructed as it moved towards its targets.
Aaliyah was on the verge of fainting. If those were the leaders of the operation, wasn't that where Sherya was?!
But unlike Aaliyah's dread, Sherya had a wide smile on her face.
"Perfect! Everyone prep for impact and get ready! Everything comes together here!"
Her plan was never intricate and detailed. There were never a great deal of misdirections and steps for them to succeed.
After all, she didn't even have a few minutes to formulate the plan.
It was, at its core, a simple combination of distraction and herding.
The distraction had been taken care of.
Beta Squad flew around the star destroyer and targeted its weapons. Even as they lost half of their forces in this endeavor, they continued without hesitation.
Squad 2 and the Wind Lightning Sect were also still in the star destroyer's general vicinity, but the second the beam fired, they fled the central position they formerly occupied.
As she faced the beam of light about to hit her, Sherya's eyes were more serious than ever before.
The distraction wouldn't have been a distraction if it was done pointlessly.
Naturally, something was being covered up.
The blinding white light of the mana beam covered hundreds of kilometers as it grew in size. It was impossible for anyone to see in this atmosphere.
"Now!"
But sight was secondary.
Sherya gave her command.
Immediately, countless starships appeared over the horizon, chased by a horde of Lesser Nox and a large number of Higher Nox in starships as well.
When these starships appeared, Sherya slammed down on a button on her control panel.
A thick mana barrier appeared around her starship, and soon after, the starships of those around her.
Space around the star destroyer was lit up with blue light as countless barriers were deployed.
And as soon as they all appeared in reality, they connected and formed a massive planet-sized dome that encompassed the star destroyer and the Nox that'd been herded over.
AALIYAH!
NOW!
The bellow was so loud that it almost felt unreal. It eclipsed the star destroyer's beam attack, the roaring of starships all around, and all other sounds present on the battlefield…
…just to enter the ears of a single person.
A spark was lit.
Thaddeus' eyes widened.
He felt a fluctuation behind him. His hand immediately shot out. His mana formed a thick chain that stabbed into the ceiling.
But it was already too late,
Blood spurted from the ceiling, and Aaliyah's figure was revealed there.
With a line of black mana impaling her stomach, she grinned a bloody grin.
"May you never be reborn."
Crash!
She crushed the ball of mana that'd formed in her hand.
Countless seeds reacted all around the starship and bloomed.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Gigantic vines tore through the starship's systems as the seeds bloomed. The vines thrashed wildly and ripped apart anything nearby, and at the same time, they actively searched for their brethren to combine into one.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The vines took the most efficient paths to connect. They sundered the starship from the inside, and as more and more vines connected, they became thicker and more impervious to the starship's defenses.
"DAMMIT!" Thaddeus roared. Countless flashing red lights appeared on the holographic screen before him as the ship's systems began to fail.
The vines continued to grow. Aaliyah lay in a pool of blood where Thaddeus left her to die, her fingers ever so slightly twitching.
Every twitch held untold significance.
The seeds Aaliyah planted weren't all the same.
They were all the same species, but each seed would grow into a specimen with different abilities than the last.
It was a chaotic combination of powers that only someone as in tune with nature as the Plant Races could handle.
And under Aaliyah's control, these seeds could show their full potential.
OOOOOOOOOOM!
Sixteen seeds combined into one, forming a sentient behemoth beast that frenziedly attacked the starship.
In another location, 34 seeds combined into a raging flame vine that spread deathly fire through the starship and utterly ruined its interior.
There were countless unimaginable effects that could be produced if these vines were manipulated correctly.
But Aaliyah only cared about one.
'Expand.'
It was a moment that cut through the silence.
In the outside world, the mana light beam was just about to land.
And at the same time that massive beam impacted the territory barrier formed by the countless Heaven's Army starships…
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
BAAAAAANG!
Mountain-sized vines burst through the starship's hull.
Vines tore the starship into pieces as they forced their way out of it. They wrapped around the starship and held it together like gift wrapping.
It was like a scene of nature overrunning modern infrastructure.
Sherya's eyes widened.
"GODSPEED, NOW!"
'Explode.'
The vines turned red in an instant.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion trumped any other. The fabric of reality quaked from its force. Titanic shockwaves spread into the surroundings and immediately shattered the territory barrier around the starship.
Ahhhhh!
Screams were the most common sound as the starships were torn apart, their pilots flung into the starry sky.
But more than these pilots…
Those pilots who herded the Nox into the center of the territory barrier, as well as the Nox they herded…
Were incinerated within a second.
They were erased from existence during the initial explosion alone.
However, the spectacle wasn't over.
The massive star destroyer was subject to countless chain explosions. Rubble was exploded into even smaller pieces, and any integral piece of the starship turned into a nuclear bomb that could kill millions with its blast radius.
The only part of the starship that remained safe was one.
A black cocoon of energy surrounded the control room as it was barraged with explosive force.
Within, Thaddeus Church clutched a pendant that hung from his neck and spit out the blood that was pooling in his mouth.
His icy gaze remained on the only other being within the room with him.
The killing intent he emitted was perhaps even more terrifying for Aaliyah than the explosions taking place outside.
