When the assault finally came, Sam greeted it with almost a sense of relief. Early on the morning of the fourth day, three new stars blossomed on the far end of the canyon, briefly rendering the sun invisible with their light. The force field changed its color to block out the blinding light, but the impact was still visible. Waves of churned up dirt and trees reduced to matchsticks rolled over the landscape, heading towards the city. Sam had no idea what had just happened, but as he scrambled towards the wall, he saw people up and armed, getting ready to defend the city.

A few moments later, the shockwave hit, and the ground trembled beneath Sam’s feet. Looking up, he saw a strange tubular shape streaking across the sky, moving at thousands of miles per hour. A comet-like trail of blue energy fanned out behind it, and it was on a collision course with the city. If it was the same thing that had created those explosions earlier, then the force field might not stand up to a direct hit.

Before Sam could do anything however, the superior mana cannon blasted its payload into the sky, hitting the projectile directly in the air a dozen seconds later, about twenty miles away from the city. There was a brief pause, and then all hell broke loose. The sound alone from the explosion was enough to temporarily deafen the weaker members of the faction, and caused Sam’s ears to start ringing. The shockwave hit a few seconds later, and the shield began to flicker, the air pressure of the attack enough to damage it. However, it dissipated without breaking through, and the city was safe. For now.

Sam knew that had been a warning shot, and the first wave of the actual Legion would be coming soon. As soon as he thought this, he could hear shouting coming from the nearest weapons embankment, where what looked to be a fully pitched battle was happening. Legion members, now revealed fully, were fighting against the defenders, trying to destroy the weapons. They had been hiding in plain sight among the citizens, pretending to be them. Sam didn't want to think of what had happened to those that they had replaced.

Rage burned hot within Sam, and a few seconds later, the Legion soldiers had been reduced to clouds of gray gore by his hammer. He quickly surveyed the damage done, and his heart fell. Some of the cannons had been destroyed, but even worse, a few of his soldiers had died to the Legion infiltrators. Sam clenched his hammer, and heard it creak. He was thankful that it was durable enough to hold up to his strength. He had no words to say, and instead he would make his rage known to the enemy with the head of his hammer.

Outside of the city walls, a rumbling noise started to drift up, and Sam continued running towards the walls. He could indulge in his anger later. For now, he had a city to save.

Sam reached the top of the walls a few minutes later, and beheld a monstrous tide of white surging in from the trees and over the torn up ground that the bomb had left. However, these were no Legion forces, for their bleached bones glowed in the residual light of the quartet of mushroom clouds that limned the area in a rusty red glow. These were undead creatures, and were clearly not the work of the Legion.

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In the midst of their number, a palanquin, borne by four of the largest skeletons that Sam had ever seen, rode along with the skeletons. On it sat a man that Sam recognized. A pasty, lank haired youth with an utter deadness in his expression that spoke to someone who wanted to personally kill the entire world. It was Reaper. He had joined in with the Legion in order to assure Sam’s defeat. There were millions of skeletons, and Sam briefly wondered how exactly the man had gathered so many of them in his army.

That speculation vanished a moment later, replaced with steely resolve. Sam started taking potshots at the skeletons with his ranged skill, sending dozens of them flying every time that he landed a hit. However, he barely made a dent within a tiny section of the army, let alone the entire thing.

All along the walls, the defenders began firing their weapons, and this time, a dent formed. Sam quickly turned his attention towards Reaper, sending a massive bolt of energy streaking towards the man. Reaper raised one hand lazily, and an ectoplasmic shield formed in front of him, absorbing the attack. A moment later, a dark mirror of the strike erupted out of the shield, slamming into the shield wall.

Reaper had grown far stronger since the last time Sam had seen him, but not strong enough to personally challenge Sam. However, a million skeletons would do the trick.

Sam strode back into the city, and called out for his captains to come attend him. He wanted to have the cream of the crop with him when he eventually left the safety of the city walls. He was able to use his ranged skill quite effectively, but it was useless compared to the might of the city defenses. Where he really shone was in melee battle, and most of his captains fell under that category as well.

Over the next few minutes, all of them, even George and Thomas, came to his position, geared up for war. Sam folded his arms in front of himself, and spoke.

“Well, gentlemen, and ladies, this is it. We are being besieged by the combined forces of Reaper, and the Legion, and it will come down to the eleven of us to turn the tide. We are each incredibly capable fighters, and we can make a significant impact on the battle. However, we are not invincible, and I command you to prioritize your own health over some ephemeral sense of glory. If you are about to die, or are seriously injured, you must retreat. Is that understood?”

“Yes, faction leader!” Everyone shouted in response.

Sam nodded, proud of his captains for how far they had come. In fact, the entire faction had come an incredible distance from where they had started, and he would fight to protect it until the end. At some point within a man’s life, he would have to find a hill to stand and die on. This was a worthy hill.

When it came down to the final battle, with Hugo Mar himself, Sam had a plan. A plan that would likely result in his death. His new mastery of his weapon, combined with his Dao Juggernaut skill, stacking on top of all of his enhancement abilities, would likely do the trick in finishing off Hugo Mar. However, it would probably kill Sam in the process.