He teleported next to the man, and brought his hammer down as he fell, sending it crashing into the shield surrounding the alien king. It struck it with a metallic clang, and the man inside the shield grinned as Sam’s weapon glanced off.
“Is that what the Pythuki scum have resigned themselves to? Taking aid from other worlds. It is surely shown then that our race is superior.”
Sam had no time for the man’s words, or to parse the strange epithet that he had used, and swung again, trying to crack the shield. A bolt of fire took him in the gut and he was torn off the shield. The enemy king was powerful, that was for sure. The heat from the attack seemed to go beyond the mere physical variety, and started to singe his very soul. However his willpower and Dao were so powerful that he only had to flex his Dao to expel the energy from his body. However, it still hurt his corporeal form. That was a nasty ability, one that seemed to be made to tear apart Daos. The king was a tricky opponent.
Sam growled and sent a spear of elemental energy towards his enemy as he fell, the lance like form of Sky Splitting Wrath surging out of his left hand. It drilled into the shield and then detonated, blasting it apart and sending the king flying backwards. He caught himself on another shield, and manifested one just in time to block Sam’s strike. The arrogant look on his face was gone now, replaced by fear. It was likely that he had never been forced to deal with anyone like Sam before.
Manarox was still fighting through the waves of enemies below, and heading off the Dao abominations that threatened to overtake his troops. Sam was in the clear to deal with this threat by himself. His teleportation skill would help to even the odds against such a powerful spellcaster.
“You are stronger than I had expected, I must admit. It is rare that I find one with a higher level of Dao mastery than myself. Still, you must die.” A wave of golden light began to spread in all directions around the man. “Halcyon Obliteration!” He screamed as the attack went off.
The wave of golden flames washed out into the world around him, tinging the sky gold. Sam teleported away, but the attack kept coming, spreading towards him no matter where he went. As it went, the ability lengthened into a long rope of golden fire, which pursued him like a serpent of flame through the air. Below him, he saw the battle rage on, without a care for his predicament. He eventually stopped, and mustered his Dao to strike. His swirling Dao energy gathered in his left hand and he threw it towards the encroaching whip of light, sending a lance of pure power roaring towards the attack. They impacted one another with a blinding flash, and he instinctively teleported away from the nexus of power. He did so just in time too.
The colliding strikes detonated like a small yield nuclear strike, and a shockwave of superheated air carried him up into the atmosphere, even with the distance that he had placed between himself and the skill. The alien king hovered in midair about half a mile away stunned that his attack had done nothing against Sam.
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With about half of his Dao reserves remaining, Sam chained a series of teleports towards the enemy leader, gathering up his pure mana in his hammer in between bursts. One of the benefits of being able to use pure mana was that he could tap into two different energy sources, which prolonged his overall reserves. His hammer started to flare with blue fire as he traveled, and the enemy leader gathered up his own golden power in his hands.
As Sam moved, he got a better look at the other man’s Dao energy, and found that it was aligned to some concept of Sovereignty, or the like. It gained power with the number of subordinates that the man had, and decreased as they died. It was a potentially powerful Dao, but it was very situational, and Sam could not see it being useful for anyone other than a king, or a leader. It was interesting that it manifested as golden light though. Perhaps the man was fusing it with his elemental energy as well, which was that of Light. In any case, it hardly mattered. Sam was here to kill him.
As Sam neared, the king began to layer more and more shields on top of his existing one, creating a sphere of light that seemed almost impenetrable. However, his attacks ceased, unable to penetrate the shields from the inside. Sam appeared on top of the shields a moment later, and began his Justice is Best Served Cold sequence, with his hammer beating out a staccato rhythm on the shield. Every strike left a small pocket of Dao energy, punctuated by rhythmic strikes of mana enhanced metal.
After a dozen or so strikes, Sam brought his hammer high over his head and it came crashing down. There was a flare of light and the shields cracked open beneath him, allowing him to land his first strike. It was not without consequence however, and a tendril of fire caressed his body, burning him through the armor. It was all worth it though.
His hammer slammed into the king’s head, nearly breaking his neck and sending him tumbling towards the ground. Manarox looked up a moment later and sent a razor sharp stream of energy towards the man, using Chrysaor to its fullest power. The king deflected the strike, gaining his senses at the last moment, but it still sliced through one of his arms, and the limb fell to the ground, spurting blood.
Sam let gravity take him, falling after the descending sovereign. His hammer began to crackle with lightning as he poured power into it, and the weapon heated up as he descended like a meteor. He could sense that he was on the edge of a breakthrough in terms of finding a more powerful weapon skill, what with his teleportation abilities and mastery over his Dao and mana.
With a roar, he sent his mana spiraling into the hammer, and then tried to force his Dao energy from both Fragments into the hammer. It started to tremble in his hands, glowing with an ominous white light. However, he had the means to get to his target before it went off. That was where his teleportation abilities came in. He appeared by the king a moment later, bringing the hammer down like the fist of God.
“Sky Splitting Vengeance!” Sam screamed, following in the naming convention of his projectile attack. The hammer made contact, and all went white.