With these heavy thoughts in mind, Sam butchered his way through the remaining ogres, finishing a full circuit of the walls within about an hour, leaving massive corpses dotting the land around it. He ignored most of the alien soldiers, letting them flail ineffectively against the walls.They were soon wiped from existence by turret fire anyway. The turrets were quite potent for how weak they were, but an average level 30 fighter with no titles was only a few times stronger than a normal person. Both would still die to a giant ballista bolt punching a hole in their head. Besides, these turrets were built with System enhanced beings in mind.
The ranks gradually thinned, and eventually someone within the walls had had enough of waiting. There was a colossal bang, and a car sized blob of amorphous power shot over the walls and into the thickest section of the enemy lines. A shockwave of power erased them from existence, and created a crater a hundred feet wide and 20 feet deep. The surrounding kilometer of land was blasted by hurricane force winds and a wave of searing heat, and Sam felt a gust tousle his hair, despite the fact that he was well out of the radius. More than a thousand of the enemy soldiers had died in that one attack, and Sam could guess at its origin. The superior mana cannon. He was going to have a serious conversation with whoever had used that without permission.
As he ran, he walked through which of the captains he had seen outside. Only they were allowed to use the main cannon, and from what Sam could tell, it was most likely Claude who had done it. The man was not present on the walls or on the ground, and he seemed like the type too. Sam did not let his suspicion blind him however, and he decided to withhold judgment until he got a better sense of what had happened.
He realized that he was already back where he had begun, but most of the fighters there had already moved on. Sam smiled as he saw the corpses of the enemy elites lying on the ground. They had not been able to withstand the might of his captains. Off in the distance, he saw the Bear chasing down a small group of aliens as they attempted to flee. The body count for this fight was going to be very high, and as far as Sam could tell, none of them were from his side. In any case, his presence was no longer needed here.
Sam made his way to a nearby gate, hailed the guard above it, and entered the compound. It was time to get to the bottom of who had fired the cannon. Sam ran towards the city hall, his face grim. Maybe he was being a bit overzealous, but lives were at stake here.
He reached the city hall fifteen minutes later, barging in the door. On the way there, he had seen that there had been nobody manning the cannon, which made sense. There was no reason for anyone to have fired the cannon and then remained there. When he entered the meeting hall, hearing the faint sound of a person breathing, he was greeted with a very confusing sight. Two Claudes laid on the ground, both of them heavily injured, and one of them unconscious. Upon seeing Sam, the one who was awake smiled.
“Good, you’re finally here.” Then he collapsed, and went still. Sam rushed over, and noticed a bracelet on the wrist of one of the figures, the one who had been unconscious when he had entered. Sam recognized that bracelet. It was the same type of bracelet that Jeffrey had worn to conceal his identity. With a growing sense of panic, Sam pulled it off. The skin of the fake Claude started to shift and turn green, and two arms appeared out of thin air, hidden from sight by the effects of the bracelet. It had been an imposter, a fake Claude sent here to sow discord. That was not what had caused Sam to feel alarm however. If one alien had gotten in, then there could be many more.
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Sam picked up the real Claude, and carried him out of the city hall. The fake one could stay put for now. It didn't look like he was moving any time soon. Just to be sure however, Sam broke both of the alien’s legs with his mace. There could be no mercy in dealing with someone who threatened his faction in such an existential way. By this point, the enemy army outside had fled, and he could see the figures of the defenders coming back to the city. They would be very surprised when they saw what he had to show them.
Eduardo reached him first, as the captain with the highest level of Dexterity. Upon seeing Claude, he frowned.
“What happened to Claude?”
“There was an imposter. It’s kind of hard to explain. For now, I need to get Claude to the hospital. Where is the nearest one?”
As they stood there talking, Lao came streaking in, riding on the back of the Bear.
“No need,” the elderly man said. “I can heal him. His injuries should be within my abilities. I will need some life force though. Between you three, there should be enough. Are you all willing to do this?”
All three men nodded, and Lao jumped off the Bear’s back. He closed his eyes, and a gentle pulse of blue light enveloped all five of them. Sam felt his strength fading away suddenly. It was a strange feeling, but one that was dangerously painless. There was no warning that he was having his life force drained, only a minor feeling of tiredness. That feeling soon heightened, and Eduardo fell over after a minute. The Bear and Sam held on until it was done however, but by the end both men were sweating heavily and could barely prevent themselves from collapsing. Lao took a deep breath, and pressed his palms to Claude’s chest. The man took a shuddering gasp of a breath, and opened his eyes.
“Wha… where am I?” He began, stuttering slightly.
“You’re safe. You were injured from fighting with that alien who was pretending to be you, but it seemed that you won the fight,” Sam said, helping the other man to his feet. Claude clutched his head, trying to remember something. A moment later, he nodded.
“Yes. I don’t remember much, but I remember a hooded figure approaching the mana cannon. I went towards them to challenge them, but when the figure turned around, I saw myself. I knew that nobody here could do anything like that, and they had no reason to do so either, so that must mean that it was an invader. I engaged the alien in battle, I don't remember anything else after that. Did you deal with them?” Claude said.
“Yeah, they're waiting in the city hall. I broke their legs so they couldn’t escape,” Sam said, awaiting judgment from the others for his actions. All he got were smiles.
“Good, that will make this much easier then,” Eduardo said. Sam nodded. It seemed that he had made the right decision after all. Using the opinions of those around you was not a great barometer for virtue, but he trusted these people, and they had shown themselves time and time again to be honorable. If they thought that something was the right thing to do, then as far as Sam was concerned, it was.