“Did you really think that you could deny our leader?” One of the figures said, in a vaguely feminine voice. “Supreme General Mar will use your skin for parchment and your blood for ink after this is said and done.”
Sam failed to come up with a witty comeback to this, and instead settled for ramping up his power with his augmentation skills. The heavy tread of the larger Legion force could be heard in the distance, and the shape hovering over the Eiffel Tower reminded Sam that he was living on borrowed time. Perhaps Hugo Mar was using this as a test of his subordinate officers.
As Sam’s power increased, and his aura began to flicker into the outside world, the two Legion members laughed. Their own auras sprang out into the world, struggling against Sam’s for dominance. They were vast, powerful things, but not implacable like General Mar’s had been. With Sam’s Dao Fragment and his new Dao of Resolve, he was well equipped to resist.
With a surge of will, he pushed the auras back and used the surprise to make his move. Layering his armor’s bolstering skill onto himself, Sam tore across the cobbles like a living meteor, closing the distance far faster than his enemies had expected. They both got their weapons up in time, growling in rage, but Sam had not been intending to strike.
He extracted two grenades from his pockets as he ran, starting to channel his Dao energy into it. With the new insights from forming his projectile skill, Sam was able to infuse them without destabilizing them. When he was within a few feet of the brutes in front of himself, he threw them, jumping to the side as he did so. There was a dull thump and twin explosions of ruddy red light covered the forms of Sam’s opponents. A crashing noise betrayed their trajectory a moment later as they slammed into the wall behind them.
As the noise of drumming feet grew ever louder behind Sam, he ran back to Jane and picked her up. With a nod at his companions, he began to run again. There was a roar of anger from behind them, and a black ax came perilously close to striking Lao’s head. The man only avoided severe injury at the last minute, tilting his head desperately to the side. Even still, he cut off a good portion of his right ear. Lao hissed in pain but kept himself together, barely missing a beat as he ran. They were leaving the central part of the city now, but Sam had a nasty feeling that it would only grow harder from here.
Barely a minute later, Sam and the others were waylaid once more by the Legion forces. It was only two Legion brutes and a small platoon of regular soldiers, but it was still a problem. Sam’s armor skill was still running, and as a result he tore through their ranks like they were nothing, only having trouble with the brutes.
Lao and Eduardo prepared their own attacks as Sam leaped towards the nearest brute, and as his hammer came crashing down, twin spears of light lanced into the other one. There was a splatter of blood as his hammer hit home, followed by a disgustingly warm shower of viscera that coated his body. Wincing as he saw that Jane had also been affected, Sam landed. The body of the brute fell behind him, and he turned around to see how the others were faring. To his surprise, the other brute was already downed, with Eduardo’s rapier planted deep in its skull. It seemed that he was not the only one with power here.
Sam flicked Mjolnir to the side to clean off the blood, and took off once more. He trusted that his companions could keep up. It continued this way for the next ten minutes, and Sam was starting to get worried. There was no reason that Mar himself would not have stepped in, unless he was preparing something. The man could fly and Sam was sure that if he had felt like it, he would have been able to reach them by now.
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All that Sam could see of the man however was the speck of darkness hovering in the air. He shook his head and kept running, his speed having diminished slightly from his use of his armor. As Sam carved a hole through a particularly large brute, he heard a roar of triumph from behind, which gave him just enough time to dodge. A beam of black light seared through the air over his head, slicing through the wall in front of him. He looked back to see the two commanders from earlier gazing at him with hungry expressions.
“There you are. How did you escape us so easily? I see why the General is so interested in you,” the one who had not previously spoken said. This one’s voice was deep and sonorous.
“I escaped because you two are weak,” Sam answered, trying to throw them off somewhat. “I am a different man that since the last of your brethren fought me. He died to my hand by the way.”
“Do you think that we care about Johannes? He was among the weakest of our number. We were taking it easy on you,” the feminine one replied.
Before Sam could blink, another beam of light shot out of her left hand towards him. The strangely shaped staff in her right glowed with power as she started to channel energy into it. As Sam ducked under the attack, she thrust the staff forward. To his surprise, the energy curved around, and thrust itself into the other Legion commander. He bulked up in a matter of seconds, and roared.
Eduardo flashed forwards and slashed down with his blade, its length shimmering with light, but all that he achieved was scoring a narrow wound. The creature snarled and backhanded Eduardo, sending him flying. Sam snarled and flashed forward, imbuing himself with his armor’s skill once more. As he ran, he made sure that Jane was positioned securely. He did not have the time to set her down at the moment, and he could instead have to protect her. It was up to him to defend her.
The bulked up Legion commander looked towards Sam and pushed off the ground, his massive feet leaving large holes there. He brought his ax up as he flew, preparing to send it hurtling down at Sam. Sam ducked to the side, sliding under the attack narrowly. He drove his hammer up into the creature’s gut as he passed, lifting him off the ground slightly. His efforts were met with a grunt of pain, and his opponent suddenly pivoted, showing speed that belied his size. Sam snapped his free hand up to block, his body crumpling beneath the force of the blow. Sam compressed down to the ground, building up power. He bounced back like a spring a moment later, sending a devastating strike directly into his opponent’s face.
The creature cried out in rage and pain as it stumbled backwards, a torrent of gray blood rushing down its face. Sam took the time to carefully set down Jane some distance away, and as the monster recovered, Sam began to pump his Dao energy into his hammer. The other monster was dealing with Sam’s friends with consummate ease, ducking and weaving between their blows. Still, a few had gotten through and the ground was speckled with spots of gray blood. Lao’s ear was still bleeding, and he now had an open wound on his left arm.
Sam snapped his eyes back to his own opponent as he heard the crack of breaking pavement, and he brought up his hammer. With both arms free, he could use it to its fullest potential. Sam’s arms began to crackle with crimson lightning as he brought his Dao energy fully to bear, and he started to infuse it with his mana and elemental energy as well. The head of Mjolnir started to glow and spark as the energy was forced into it, and the Legion commander paused. He got control of himself a moment later, but the damage was already done. Sam knew that this strike would hurt his opponent, as long as he got it off in time. Lao and Eduardo were rapidly being worn down, and Sam needed to get to them before they died.