At that moment, Rax was being rudely interrupted from his nap by an overconfident alien soldier, looking for things to steal. The herpetopede came to full awareness as he felt an unfamiliar hand touch his back legs. When that hand tried to lift him off the ground, Rax roared and kicked out at his assailant. Recently all of Rax's levels had been going into density rather than size, which he had found to be far more useful, and when he kicked out the alien was slammed into the far wall, with a broken skull.
Rax snorted and got to his feet. There was clearly some sort of battle happening, and he was missing the action. The herpertopede charged out of his cozy sleeping quarters underneath a barn, and briefly saw Sam flashing by, heading straight for a large horde of aliens. Rax yipped in joy at seeing so many free levels in front of him, and he started running after Sam. The lizard was not especially fast, but his great density allowed him to build up momentum very effectively, and when he struck the enemy lines, bones were shattered under his tread, and limbs were crushed by his skull. He let out a roar of delight, exulting in the carnage. Unlike Sam, he could put aside things like morals, and just enjoy a good fight.
Sam saw Rax charge out of a barn and run towards the enemies. He briefly considered telling the lizard to get to safety, but upon seeing the effect when he slammed into the enemies, Sam decided against it. Rax was built like a miniature tank, and his momentum was almost implacable, at least compared to the fodder that made up the majority of the army. Sam quickly lost sight of the lizard as he let himself sink into his battle state. Each strike was one of justice, each move was made with the implacable force of righteousness itself…
“Wait a second. Since when have I thought like this? This must be my Dao,” Sam thought, crushing the megalomaniac thoughts. For one to be a true arbiter of justice, one had to be without illusions of their status. Self confidence to the point of thinking that one was beyond reproach was the first step on the long road to evil. He felt his Dao rumble in approval of the resistance to its temptation, and he sighed. Why did Sam have the feeling that dealing with the Dao would only become harder in the future?
Sam shut out the mental noise, and focused on the fight. The aliens were pitifully weak, none of them taking more than a single hit to die. They seemed even weaker than before, and Sam realized that Salvar’s presence must have been buffing them up. Still, the tide was almost never ending. By now all the non combat class possessors had been told to evacuate and head for the city hall, and now only the hundred or so elites of the faction were left fighting. Sam now had no need to watch out for civilians, allowing him to fight with his full might.
Sam paused for a moment, looking down into a blood filled crater at the shattered bodies of his enemies. He did not feel triumph, or happiness, just the satisfaction of a job well done. With a flare of light, Sam’s aura exploded out of him, melting the minds of the nearest enemies, and bolstering his allies. With the field of death extended around him, Sam stalked through the army like a lion through a field of sheep. All of the essence, despite how little it was, was wasted, and Sam was more than a little annoyed by this. Even with each soldier only giving a mere pittance of essence compared to his needs, Sam still would have gained quite a bit at the rate that he was killing them.
A shout of alarm rose up from the back lines of the invaders, and Sam saw a whip of light tear through an entire unit in one go. The rest of the captains had arrived. Sam saw Eduardo’s face briefly through the moving bodies, and he smiled at him. The rest of the captains stood with him, and now they had the entire army pincered between them. At that point it was basically a clean up operation, and by the time that half of the army had died, the enemy realized that they were outmatched, despite their numerical superiority. They tried to run, but they were stymied by the implacable advance of Sam, the captains, and the elites.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
An hour later, not a single alien remained alive. None of them had chosen to surrender, so all that was left of them was a bloody field, redolent with the stench of death. Sam set his mace aside, and took stock of the city. Only this region was destroyed, and it could be easily repaired, especially with the large numbers of credits that came in from the dead aliens. They had only possessed a few thousand or so each, but Salvar had possessed tens of millions of credits, credits that would go to upgrading the city again. A notification pulsed at Sam and he opened it.
Subquest Update:Invaders from Beyond the Stars
You have defeated one of the vanguard armies of the invasion effort, but that is only a drop in the ocean that is the full force. The stronger and larger armies are being stalled in transit so that it will be more of a fair fight, but they will be coming soon. Be warned, for the factions whom these armies belong to will set their eyes upon you. Whether that is a good thing or not is up to fate.
Sam closed the quest notification, and noticed that everyone else seemed to be reading it too. If it was to be believed, that hard fought battle was just the first of many to come, and there were still two other quests that had to be completed. It was time to build the city up into an unassailable beacon of power and strength so that none who sought to do it harm could enter. Only then could Sam leave and scour the globe for the Seven Seals. Right now the least pressing of the quests was the Legion quest, because it had not actually shown itself yet. Sam gathered the captains, happy that they were all still alive, and made his way to the city hall. It was time to survey the damages.
An hour later, all of the survivors were arranged in front of the city hall, and Sam checked the faction members list to see how many had died. His heart fell as he saw that well over a hundred had laid down their lives during the battle. Sam reined in his feelings though. He had a speech to make. The reason that he had summoned everyone was so that they could have a ceremony for the dead. As the last person trickled in, Sam cleared his throat.
“Today is a day for celebration, but also one for sorrow. In utterly defeating the enemy army who sought to reap our hard earned resources for themselves, to kill our people and crush our spirits, we have proven that we have what it takes to reclaim Earth! In doing so, we have attracted the attention of greater forces, and as I am sure you have all seen, that army was but the first of many to come. In the meantime, we must not forget those who have laid their lives down for us, taken before their years were up by the vagaries of fate and evil. But, as long as one of us draws breath, we will never die!” There was a resounding cheer at this, and Sam nodded grimly. He could not disrespect the dead by smiling at the result of a speech predicated on their demise. He raised one hand, and shot a pillar of Dao energy up into the sky, bathing everyone in its red light. The aura effects of his new skill caused everyone to straighten up and stand tall, despite their sorrow. With a sudden pop, the air shimmered, and a large group of people appeared outside the city hall, easily ten thousand strong. Sam stared at them, and then at the resulting notification.
Your faction has been deemed worthy of supporting additional members. Over time, the humans that were held in stasis after the tournament will be handed over to the stewardship of you and the other factions. Protect them, for they are the future of your species.