Sam jumped to his feet upon feeling this, causing the various drunken hedonists lying around him to groan in dismay. Taking a deep breath, Sam shouted, waking them all up from their slumber. They got up reluctantly, but luckily the effects of alcohol were far reduced on people of their level. There would be no hangover, only annoyance.
Beyond the wall, something walked, and its steps caused the ground to shake. Sam could briefly make out what looked like a gargantuan head peering over the walls. A moment later something slammed into them, and a cloud of dust rose up. Sam leaped out the window and started running towards the wall, thankful that his armor could equip itself. The captains and stronger members of the faction came running after him, and they reached the wall a few minutes later. Outside the wall, the noise of stomping feet could be heard, and Sam bolted up the stairs.
Outside was a sight far worse than anything Sam had expected. Tens of thousands of aliens milled around and they were all heavily armed, and quite highly leveled. In the middle of the army, ten people stood, each projecting the aura of a high G Rank fighter. In the very center of their number, a man stood. His skin was a reddish color and he had two curling ram’s horns protruding from both sides of his head. He was undoubtedly an F Rank warrior. Sam could feel the concentrated power rolling off him in waves, seeking to suppress him.
Every mile or so, there was a juggernaut of twisted flesh and metal that seemed to be some sort of division of siege engines. They looked like ogres, only far larger, and without a scrap of intelligence in their eyes. They were simply tools and nothing more. Sam stared down at the man, feeling a trace of fear for the first time in a while. Upon seeing this, the demonic figure laughed, a fierce and high pitched noise that caused Sam to grit his teeth.
“You will give us your Dao Tree to us this instant, or we shall be forced to attack. Upon my name, Salvar Tenebron, I swear that if you do not hand it over, you will all die painful deaths. If you do, then your ends shall be quick. What do you say?” The alien leader said, in a deep and sonorous voice that somehow reached Sam without sounding like a shout. Sam growled and stepped forwards. His fists were burning with the energy of his Dao. The energy of Righteous Anger was filling his body and he felt this soul stirring within him. All traces of his previous fear were gone, and he only felt rage.
“I have two words for you, you bastard. Fuck you!” Sam screamed across the battlefield. Salvar roared and raised his ax. His army charged, roaring war cries. People dashed to the turrets and started firing into the army. Sam stood there glaring down at his enemy, the red alien snarling up at him. Raising his mace, Sam screamed wordlessly, before leaping down into the fray.
In the Overlord’s Faction Headquarters
The Overlord shouted in rage as his cameras picked up a horde of aliens gathering on both sides of the canyon. The walls that he had erected on the sides were doing a good job of keeping them out, but that was more because they hadn't tried to breach them than because of their structural durability.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The Overlord himself was manning their Superior Mana cannon, which had been souped up to the max. Half of the entire wealth of the faction had gone to upgrading this weapon, and he was looking forward to using it. The weaker members of his faction, who were seen as cannon fodder, charged up the ramps on the side of the canyon towards the top, ready to throw themselves off the walls and into the enemy army. As the Overlord’s inner circle gathered around him, he fired the weapon. A new star was born on the end of the cannon, and it arced up into the air. The automatic targeting system of the cannon made sure that it headed directly into the greatest concentration of enemies. A moment later a pillar of light shot up into the air from beyond the wall. The ground shook, and a light mist of blood rained down on the people in the canyon.
The Overlord barked out a short laugh and then started running towards the walls. His new power from having passed every threshold was now coming to bear, and he sped up the ramps like a man possessed. He was now on the Road to Zenith, and he would not let some aliens get in his way. By the time that he had reached the top, he was able to see the true scale of the enemy army. There were thousands of aliens waiting there, and there were even a few people around the Overlord’s strength. None of that mattered however. An army of this size would allow him to exponentially increase his power through his collection of Dao energy from killing off the weaklings. By the time that he got to the leaders, he would be so strong that they would die as soon as he touched them. With a bellow of excitement and rage, the Overlord soared over the enemy lines, landing in a crater of cracked earth. The second strongest man on Earth was here to play, and more than a few things were going to be broken.
Kane City
Rodney Kane growled as his surveillance system picked up the hordes of aliens crowding around his city. They were here for his resources, and he would not let them have them. He crushed the computer screen between his fingers, and started to suit up in his dark armor. With a whoosh of air, his greatsword manifested. He had not been idle in the last few days, despite his bitter rage, and he had grown in power. With one level left to go until he had completed his final threshold, which some strange force was telling him to do, Rodney was as ready as he could be to fight against the filth that dared to despoil his planet.
He stomped out of the repurposed nightclub that he was using as a base, and all around him his followers gathered. Rodney looked around him for Andrew Munro, but the man was nowhere to be seen. The two men had started to drift apart, and as far as Rodney knew, Andrew was already gone. Well, that was all good. He had no need for such a treacherous ally. He would beat these pieces of scum into the ground, and teach them not to mess with him and his faction. With a grinding roar, the gates of the city opened, and a storm of artillery fire was directed out into the enemy lines. As Rodney and his retinue charged, a fierce smile creased his face. This was where he would prove himself once and for all.
In the ruins of Paris
Reaper trudged through the muck and decay that coated the floor of the extensive catacombs that twisted and turned underneath the city, a dark model of the streets overhead. He felt at home here among the dead, and he was slowly but surely gaining elemental mastery from just being here. Behind him a line of skeletons and wraiths walked and floated along the endless hallways. Reaper had been given the option of following his own path by the System, and he had gladly taken it. He would make a faction of the unliving, a necrotic kingdom of the dead. And when they surfaced from the dark places of the Earth, all would fall silent and still, unmarred by the odious noise of life.