Sam dashed in the direction of the line of smoke, slowing down when he was about half a mile away. Overhead, Sam could hear a faint rustling noise as the dragons flew around on another. They were more like snakes than western dragons, and it seemed that they were moving like a gigantic knot of serpents, wriggling around one another. There was some strange force keeping them away from the ground though, and Sam was relatively sure that none of them would be able to attack him.
Sam cut all thought of the dragons out of his mind as he stalked the shadows, blending in with them. His Dexterity made it so that he had a map of correct placements for his feet and body as he moved, and soon he heard the rhythmic tramping of footsteps ahead of him. Sam stopped, and then peeked out from behind the tree. One of the Legion members was on patrol, and it was making a circuit of the area. In its hands, it clutched a small machine gun. This was a different creature to the ones that Sam had fought before. It seemed as if the Legion was progressing as well. Sam already knew about their ability to telepathically communicate, so if he was caught off guard by the monsters, he would have all of them on his back a few minutes later. He would have to attack it from the shadows. Sam had never really needed much stealth in his time since the arrival of the System, but there was always a first time. Even without any practice, he was pretty damn good at it.
Sam slunk from tree to tree, making as little noise as possible. As he did so, he charged up his weapon with power. Right as the sentry was about to turn around and make its way back to where it had come from, Sam struck. He flashed out of the cover of the shadows like a bullet, and brought his mace down on the monster in front of him. The creature crumpled to the ground, its head a mass of blood and gore. Sam hoped that it had not found the time to report back to its brethren, but there was really nothing that he could do about it.
Sam pulled the corpse behind a tree, and made sure that it was well hidden by covering it with loose leaves and branches. Sam then started towards the center of the area that the monster had been patrolling. A few minutes later, he found what he was looking for. A small camp had been erected in the middle of the woods, with about a dozen Legion members walking around. In the center, a strangely twisted creature paced. It wore the apparel of the other soldiers, but it lacked a helmet, exposing its face. It was a smooth mass of gray flesh, but it still seemed to be able to see. It was some sort of leader within the unit, as the other monsters made way for it.
In the center of the clearing, surrounded by piles of military supplies, there was a large cage. Inside the cage were Sam’s friends. They were all bruised and bloodied, but they were still alive. If Sam was to get them out, he would have to be stealthy.
Sam made a full circuit of the camp, making sure not to make any noise. He didn't know how powerful the monsters’ senses of hearing were, and he did not want to test it. The one without the helmet was clearly some sort of leader, and as a result it was likely quite powerful. Sam doubted that it was stronger than him, but it had the support of all the others as well.
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Sam watched as one of the monsters made its way out of the camp, presumably to check on the one that Sam had killed. He followed it silently, and when it was out of sight from the camp, he ambushed it, staving its head in with his hammer. Ten minutes later, a group of two soldiers came out of the clearing, and Sam groaned. This would be a lot harder to pull off. Sam would have to kill them both in a single strike, and even worse, they were distanced from each other by about five feet. Sam was going to have to pull off all the stops for this one.
Lurking in the shadows, he began to fill Mjolnir with as much power as he could muster in a few seconds, which was quite a considerable amount. As the weapon started to glow, Sam burst out of his hiding spot, and brought it crashing down on one of the monsters. The creature was vaporized instantly, and the other one was caught by an expanding bow wave of energy, and turned into a bloody smear. Breathing heavily, Sam flicked the gore off his hammer. The blood was a disconcerting shade of gray, and it looked as if he had just dropped his hammer in a bucket of paint. Sam cleaned it off as best he could, and made his way back towards the camp. Another patrol would be coming out soon, and he needed to be ready. Or so he thought. As soon as he reached the camp, he saw that everyone had clustered around the central area, with the leader pointing its gun at Claude’s head.
“I know you're there, Sam Atlas. Come out, or your friend gets it.” The creature’s voice was deep and raspy, with a staccato cadence. Somehow it was producing the sounds while lacking any sort of mouth. Sam remained hidden, not even breathing.
“Very well.” The monster clicked back the hammer of his gun, and shot Claude in the leg. The man groaned, and gritted his teeth. “Last chance, or the next one goes in his head.” Sam took a deep breath, and stepped into the clearing, already starting to coalesce mana within his hand. The energy burned his skin, but he hid it. He would need something unexpected if things went south.
“Put away that hammer. I know how dangerous it is,” the monster ordered Sam, edging its gun closer to Claude. Sam kept his face impassive, and slotted Mjolnir into a loop on his belt. Putting his hands by his side, Sam stared at the Legion members.
“Who are you?” He asked a moment later.
“I am but a messenger of the central mind. We are all equal, but some are more equal than others. It suited the greater good for me to possess higher intellectual abilities, so here we are. Now, onto business.” The thing kept its weapon pressed to Claude’s head the entire time, but it was looking directly at Sam. “You have been quite the thorn in our side, even if you did not know it. Stealing Mjolnir out from under our nose was a bold move, Sam Atlas. We were struggling against that accursed lightning elemental, but our heavy hitters were coming to play. You denied us of our objective, wasting our depleted assets. But now, the slate is wiped clear.”
Sam’s palm was starting to burn from the mana concentrating there, but he kept his face still.
“So what is this? All revenge for some petty slight?”
“I would hardly call poaching one of the most powerful weapons in the world a ‘petty slight’ but no, it is not. You are a threat to us, and it serves our interest to wipe you out before you can grow to full power. Speaking of which, you will surrender to me this instant, or your friend will be lacking a head shortly. Followed by her,” the creature said, pointing at Ava,” then her-ah, you get the gist. What will it be?”