The other man attacked without warning, his fists blazing with power. Sam snarled, and met his attack with his hammer, shrinking it so that he could get it into position effectively. It was high time that he tested out some of the other weapon abilities.

He teleported back, and raised the hammer, watching as it started to crackle with lightning. Rather than simply covering it, the lightning permeated the weapon, creating a hammer shaped bolt that snapped off through the air towards the Overlord. The hammer itself was left in his hands, still warm from the attack.

Meanwhile, the hammer of lightning continued along its path, almost faster than either man could see. The Overlord created a bulwark of red light, but it shattered before the force of the attack. The sand beneath his feet turned to glass as the lightning tore through his shield, and the remainder of the energy struck him, tossing him backwards. He convulsed, but pushed through. It was quite obvious that the loss of his weapon was impacting him more than it appeared.

Sam moved in, and feinted to the left, before expanding his hammer to a far larger size. It shot out like a missile as it expanded, and the Overlord was struck in the face. His nose snapped, and blood sprayed everywhere. Sam withdrew, letting him rise. The minor wound healed over in a matter of seconds, but it was clear that the man had been wounded in a manner that went beyond the physical.

“Enough,” he spat. “All this is doing is damaging my Dao further. I must consolidate my power first. I still have a dozen or so levels to go before I reach the peak of F Rank.”

Sam simply gave him a cheeky grin and put his weapon away, shrinking it down to a more manageable size. Inwardly, he was happy at the reaction. He had a lot of emotional trauma that he needed to work through with the man who wore the body of his father.

The Overlord summoned his wings once more, and soared away, heading towards the city walls. Sam cursed, and followed him, not willing to let the dangerous man out of his sight, especially within his city. Although the ego driven powerhouse already had access to the city shielding, there was no reason not to be careful. That measure was simply a necessity for his presence here, rather than a show of trust. Better he be kept close at hand than left to his own devices.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Sam called out.

“To hunt down some of the scum that plague this planet!” The Overlord responded, his wings propelling him at thousands of miles per hour. “There must be some aliens around here.”

Sam began to fashion an admonition, but then realized that this was his plan anyway. With a shrug, he teleported after the man, easily keeping pace. They crossed the continent over the next fifteen minutes or so, stopping outside the ruins of San Francisco. The city lay in shattered pieces, with its monumental bridge drooping down into the water, its support structures crumbling and broken. However, they weren’t there to sightsee.

In the center of the city, a massive citadel wrought from metal and rock stood, flashes of light heralding the arrival of reinforcements from other universes. Tens of thousands of alien invaders made the city home, training and preparing for war. Sam could see them marching through the buckling asphalt of the streets, plodding over the twisted ruins of human ingenuity. The sight boiled his blood.

“Look at that scum, parading through the streets of our cities,” the Overlord spat, his Dao flaring. “Billions died, and this is their only remembrance.”

“It is this sort of thing that makes me hate the System,” Sam replied. “What gave it the right to interfere with our lives to such a degree?”

“Say what you will, but this initialization was the biggest event of my life. I was able to ascend beyond my paltry strength, and become one of the strongest men on the planet. This is simply the unfortunate side effect. I blame the aliens more than the System.”

Sam scoffed, but did not respond. Instead, he teleported down towards the city, quickly followed by his companion. He landed next to an old bank, barely recognizable, save for the safes which still were largely untouched. Old Earth money meant little in this new world, and the alien despoilers had paid it no heed.

The Overlord touched down beside him, and grinned, cracking his knuckles. Nearby was an alien patrol, marching through the streets. To Sam’s horror, they marched with a grotesque icon born aloft amidst their number, with a trio of human heads taking pride of place upon it. A flag fluttered below it, covered with a design of a gauntleted fist clutching at an entire planet.

Sam could hold in his wrath no longer, and he surged forwards, his Dao exploding outwards. The aliens screamed in pain as the full force of his aura slammed down upon them, pressing them into the ground. Sam roared, and brought his hammer down in a blurring arc, powering it with a heady mix of Dao energy and purified mana. One moment the aliens were there, the next, the whole street had vanished, turned to ash by his strike.

Surprised, Sam looked for any signs of life, but there were none. His strength was so great that there was no trace of the monsters who had attacked his planet.