The faction only had a few short hours to prepare, and they made the best of that time. Each turret was manned, and the main mana canon was prepared. The smaller mana cannon embankments were fully charged as well, and ready to go.
Sam and his strongest companions divided up into four groups, each of whom went to a gate. They divided up the groups to make the average power of the fighters roughly equal, which meant that Sam was paired with George. The man was holding his greatsword eagerly, and was now suited up in some armor of his own. Sam gave him a small smile as they walked up to the top of the wall together. As they made their way to the gate, all of the defenders saluted, and Sam didn't even feel awkward this time. He was now a different man to normal, an engine of vengeance that would never run out until the objects of his hatred were dead. Until the people who had killed his followers died, he would not be satisfied. If they surrendered, then he would find something else for them to do to make up for their sins. Perhaps indefinite forced labor for their faction. Sam had no trouble killing now, but he still would not break the rules of war, despite the fact that no self respecting cultivator would ever be so honorable. Sam was not a self respecting cultivator though. He was a man on a mission.
He could faintly hear and feel a rumbling underneath him, but there was no visible source, save for a small smudge on the horizon. The enemy army had finally gotten into range, and by the sound of it, they had brought something big. Sam waited patiently until the first of the aliens came into visible range. There were far more than last time, and lumbering behind them was a monster that Sam knew very well. Or rather, he knew its species well. It was another cyclops, and it was even larger than the one that Sam had fought. Its eyes were glazed over, as if it was under the influence of some mind altering effect. Every alien around it gave it almost a kilometer of space, and Sam could see them bouncing up and down with each step.
On top of the cyclops’ head, Sam could see something small. As it came even closer, he made out what it was. A man stood there, and not just any man, but the demonic general himself. Salvar Tenebron. The F Rank warrior who had fled during the previous battle was now here with a far stronger horde than last time. A look of cruel enjoyment blazed in his eyes, and he grinned straight at Sam as the plodding steps of the behemoth beneath him carried him forwards. The army stopped about a mile away from the walls, and Tenebron jumped down off the cyclops, landing without harm. The man looked up at Sam, and started to speak, his voice magically amplified.
“HAVE YOU CONSIDERED MY OFFER FURTHER, SCUM?” The man shouted, causing Sam to clench his fists. Sam stepped forward and raised his own voice.
“I SEEM TO REMEMBER SEEING YOU TURN TAIL AND FLEE AT THE SIGHT OF MY POWER. HAVE YOU RETURNED FOR MORE?” The nearby faction members laughed, and Salvar grimaced. The demon turned around and started walking back to the ranks of his army. With a mighty leap, propelled by his Dao and mana, the man jumped back up onto the cyclops.
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Sam nodded at the nearby fighters, and they began firing on the horde waiting outside. Ballista bolts and all manner of projectiles soared down from the walls, or rather up in the case of the people targeting the cyclops. They quickly stopped after seeing that all of the projectiles merely bounced off of its skin. That was an F Rank existence, and it would not be felled by such paltry weaponry.
Salvar laughed, and dropped his clenched fist. The army charged. When they reached a suitable distance, they opened fire. Arrows and spells flew upwards and Sam ducked beneath the battlements, on the off chance that one of them could actually hurt him. It was perhaps a bit of a paranoid move, but one that was well intentioned nonetheless.
When the barrage ceased, Sam gave George a look, and the two men jumped down from the wall. Further up and down the wall, the other stronger melee fighters followed suit, and a force of mere dozens engaged a force of tens of thousands. This was truly a battle for the ages. The cyclops reached down to the ground, where a giant ball of rock, pulled from a storage device, suddenly appeared. Bellowing loudly, the first sound that it had made, the cyclops hefted the boulder, and threw it into the city.
Sam watched in horror as it streaked overhead, too high up for him to do anything about. Then a barrage of ethereal blue bolts of energy struck it in midair, shattering it. It had taken an entire mana cannon embankment to destroy that one attack. Sam couldn't waste any more time however, and he charged the enemy lines.
As he attacked, he could feel that these soldiers were a cut above. They were more disciplined and also quite a bit stronger, nowhere near enough to fight Sam on an equal level, but enough to at least stall him in large numbers. They had strange amulets that allowed them to siphon mana and health from each other, making it so that every time Sam was about to score a hit, his target suddenly became durable enough to tank it. This effect only lasted for a few strikes, Sam being far too powerful to be stopped by such a tactic, but that had allowed for him to be flanked. He was now in the center of a circle of aliens, all of whom were baying for his blood. He had lost sight of his allies, but by the sound of things, they were doing a good job.
Sam whirled around his mace, pulverizing all of the aliens near him. He was getting close to another level up, he could feel it in his bones, and one step closer to being F Rank. It was still a pathetic rank, but one step closer to his goal. Sam imbued his mace with power, and then tried something that he had never really had the chance to do before. He used Justice is Best Served Cold on a group of enemies rather than just a single one. Each strike turned an alien into a flying arrow of bone and flesh that severely injured those around them. When the combo was finished, Sam brought his mace down on the ground, releasing the energy that had never had a chance to be used on the aliens, seeing as they had died in one hit. A corona of red light burst out from the mace, atomizing the nearby aliens, and blasting the further ones away. Sam raised his mace slowly, and grinned at the aliens.