No more missiles came, but a strange rumbling noise began to drift up from the remainder of the trees, and then thousands of Legion soldiers, each of which wore a strange blend between tactical armor and a hazmat suit, appeared on the opposite side from where the missile had been launched from. These were the elites of the Legion, just a step below the commanders and Hugo Mar himself.

They were unopposed now that the mana cannon’s charge had been used, which had probably been the purpose of that strike earlier. Unfortunately, none of their other weapons were powerful enough to have reached the missile before it would have landed. There were options to purchase powerful missiles in the Metropolis Core, but they would be useless short range. However, they might be useful for the looming threat on the horizon.

“Somebody got to the city hall and purchase all the missile embankments that you can find. Quickly!”

Ava jumped down off the wall and ran through the city, heading towards the center. Sam turned back towards the rapidly approaching threat, and grimaced.The enemies were coming quickly, and they were rapidly picking up speed. Judging by their speed alone, Sam guessed that they were all at least F Rank, and not just at the lowest levels at that. They were moving a bit slower than he could move, but they were probably at about level 60, which would be quite the threat to the city.

Many of the defenses would be useless against them, or would have minimal effect in any case. The ballistas and various catapults would be too slow to hit the monsters, and even if they did, they would have limited effect.

As the Legion members reached the shield, they began to batter it with their hands and feet, using strange weapons that seemed to be grafted onto their flesh. In the back, some of the soldiers pulled out guns and began to fire them at the shield, causing it to begin dropping in integrity. At the far back, a large group of Legion members began to clump together, taking various pieces of metal out of their pockets and off their backs. A moment later, they started to assemble some sort of weapon there, something that looked like a cannon.

Sam began to point his hand at them, charging up an Anger’s Reach skill. The lance of fiery light shot off a moment later, and it impacted the nascent cannon, causing it to fly off its supports and roll backwards, crushing a few of the Legion members under its weight. However, none of them had died, and they quickly righted the cannon, and pointed it at the city again.

Stolen novel; please report.

Sam snarled, and leaped off the edge, passing over the lava moat. He landed on the ground, rolling to conserve his momentum, and started running towards the enemy lines. Behind him, his captains touched down, and the gates began to discharge automatons. If overwhelming strength was ever needed, it was needed now. This crack team of elites was more dangerous than most of the entire Legion army, especially in these sorts of numbers. This was a battle that Sam was never supposed to win. However, win he would have to.

Sam breached the force field a moment later, and entered the enemy lines. He was now in the thick of it, and he could instantly tell that he would not be able to single handedly dominate the enemies like he had with the skeletons. These soldiers were a cut above, and although they were quite a bit weaker than him, they were strong in numbers.

Sam was immediately reminded of this as he swung his hammer into the face of one of the soldiers, and it didn't immediately die. Rather, it was sent flying backwards, into a knot of its fellows. The monster got to its feet a moment later, its face almost completely caved in.

It charged Sam, somehow sensing him despite the fact that its eyes were gone. He sidestepped its advance, and he grabbed its arms, throwing it over his shoulder. The monster hit the ground and Sam drove his hammer into its abdomen, finally killing the thing. He briefly wondered why he hadn’t been dogpiled by the enemies, and he found out all too soon after.

He looked up, and saw that hundreds of the Legion members were ponting their weapons at him. Sam only had a second to react, and he leaped into the air as the beams of energy passed underneath him. He managed to avoid them, but as he fell downwards, he was caught by the end of the barrage, which flipped him upside down in midair, causing him to land on his head. The impact was negligible, but he was slightly disoriented, and he felt something strike his head, denting his armor slightly. That, he felt.

Sam rose to his feet, pulsing all of his enhancement abilities, and attacked the monsters around him with his hammer, tearing them apart with his strikes. The creatures were too durable to be easily defeated however, and Sam found himself fighting a war of attrition against the creatures. If not for his newfound ability with his hammer, he would have fallen by now.

However, he could now predict his enemies’ movements, and react in the right way to deal with them, which drastically increased his melee combat ability. It didn't do anything for his overall strength, save for the stat bonus from the rank up itself, but it was like he was a new man as he slowly leaned into his prowess to extend his fighting capabilities beyond their limits.

He gradually worked through the enemies around him, relying on the long range support of his allies to make it doable. He was slowly being whittled down in turn by the other fighters, and he was starting to take damage from their constant attacks, even through his armor. Sam gritted his teeth and bore it. As long as he could still swing his hammer, he was still in the fight.