The shield flared with light and thickened dramatically. A few seconds later, the attack hit, and the shield began to flash violently. Where the beam of dark energy met the shield, it started to wear away at the bulwark of mana, eroding it bit by bit. However, the energy eventually wore off, leaving the mana shield scarred, but unbroken. As this happened, another cannon went off. This time it was the Crystalline Devastator. It seemed that the city had either bought another piece of ammunition, or had found a way to make them.
A shard of crystal dozens of feet in length lanced through the sky, aimed straight for the hole in the Titan’s abdomen. It laughed, sending shockwaves across the land as it did so, and seemed content to ignore this attack as well. As an undead, albeit a massive, extremely powerful one, it was very hard to put down the Corpse Titan. It had no problems with tanking hits like this one.
The shard of crystal slammed home, exploding in a rain of purple shards. They raced off at the speed of sound, tearing through the thick bones of the Corpse Titan. Many of the shards hit the ground, sending up plumes of earth. However, that was the last major weapon of the city. It was down to the defenders now.
A bit to the north, a large unit of automatons leaped over the wall, taking the fight to the army of undead battering the shield. All of them were over F Rank, and a potent force to deal with. On the walls, mages started to lend their support to the artillery, sending bolts of energy and other elemental attacks down at the hordes below. Sam simply watched. He needed to save as much of his energy as possible for the Corpse Titan. A few moments later, Lao, Eduardo, Jeffrey and Talnor leaped up onto the wall, standing by his side. Their faces were universally grim.
“I informed the other captains about the Corpse Titan, not that it was especially hard to miss,” Jeffrey said.
Sam simply nodded grimly, staring at the rapidly approaching Titan. It was even larger than he had thought originally, now that he saw it in motion. Creatures should not exist at that size, and had Sam still been a mortal man, the sight would have filled him with fear. Now however, as the juggernaut of bleached bone and dark energy approached, the swirling energies of his Daos filled him with power. This was the meaning of life within the Multiverse. A hunger began to fill him, for the mountain of essence that the Corpse Titan would likely contain. Gordanus had spoken on the impossibility of defeating an E Ranker while still in F Rank. For this fight, Sam would undoubtedly have help, but perhaps when he faced the final Titan, he would be ready. All he really needed at this point were a few dozen more levels, which would come easily enough, and a Dao Seed.
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The latter would increase his power exponentially, and perhaps give him a way to win against a monster so much stronger than he was. Sam watched the automatons battle the undead, but most of his focus was on the incoming Titan. It was only a dozen miles away from the city now, and seemed to be charging up another attack. Energy roiled around it, this time in the form of a dark mist. The mist spread across the ground as it ran, coating the world in Death. Where it went, everything rotted away, creating a patch of ooze in the wake of the Corpse Titan.
A shining presence erupted from the monster, a Dao that was even stronger than Sam’s own. It was undoubtedly a Dao Seed. As the Dao came into being, the mist doubled in potency and size, covering hundreds of feet every second. Soon a mile wide patch of the ground was completely eaten away. A moment later, the energy returned to the Titan, carrying all of the matter that it had eaten back. It was some sort of energy gathering technique, by the looks of it.
The energy had eaten away at the life in the area, creating more elemental energy for the Titan to use. As the energy returned to its master, the Titan raised one massive hand. A ball of power began to form there, seeming to weigh upon reality itself. The air around it sagged, and it seemed to have a sort of conceptual gravitas that tugged at Sam’s mind. He resisted it, instead mustering his own power. If that strike hit the walls, they were going down.
The other defenders seemed to realize this too, and his companions gathered up their own power. Jeffrey supercharged his gun, creating a bright blue ball of power that arced at high speeds towards the incoming ball of Death energy. Eduardo and Lao worked together to create a spiritual lance, with Lao’s power enhancing the ability beyond its norm. Finally, Talnor poured his mana into his sword, causing it to crackle with lightning. He unleashed it a moment later, bringing his blade down. A crescent of energy shot out, pitifully small in the face of the oncoming attack.
Sam meanwhile created a miniature solar system of his projectile abilities. It was easier to generate power in this form than in its normal one. Because the incoming attack was so large, a single precise skill would do little. However, if he divided up the force across its entire surface, he would do a lot more damage. As he fired it off, he used his Dao to empower the skill, relying on his new mastery. The attacks seemed stronger than before, and they shot out like instruments of his own wrath, tearing through the air.
All along the wall, mages loosed their own abilities, and the artillery briefly turned their gaze up towards the Corpse Titan. All of these abilities concentrated on one spot, and as they raced through the air, some of them hit one another. Energy spread across the sky as the skills empowered each other, creating a near solid beam of power. At the very head were the attacks of Sam and his four strongest captains.