A giant made of lightning stood over the walls that were only half its height. The giant wield a sword in each of its hands and, with a swing of one of its swords, the giant cleaved through the wall, creating an opening wide enough for it to proceed into the city. The attacking soldiers, upon seeing the giant, immediately fell back to avoid getting in its way. They seemed content staying behind the giant while it carved a path for them.
“We better fall back,” said Belen. “We cannot possibly hope to survive against that thing.”
The other Dark Cult and Lightning Clan members had the same idea. Everyone withdrew from the battlefield so the lightning giant could proceed forward with impunity. Luckily for them, the giant ignored them as it proceeded through the slums with the sole focus on the inner walls. Any building that came in contact with the giant was vaporized instantly. Once the giant was near the walls, Ali received a message from Menna. Someone within the Dark Cult had an ability to pass messages to allies within a certain radius. The ability was limited to only single direction communication but, in situations like these, it helped coordinate forces from a safe distance.
Guess it’s time for us to resume our attack then!
All allied members immediately returned to their previous positions to launch an attack. To Ali’s surprise, the enemy soldiers were hardly on the alert. They acted like they were just marching through friendly territory with no worries at all. Their lax attitude only made it easier for Ali’s side to launch a surprise attack, instantly inflicting heavy casualties. During the chaos, Ali managed to get another kill with his final air slash before his MP depleted again.
Proceed with the second stage!
Once Menna’s command reached him, Ali immediately joined the others to flee from the battlefield. According to reliable intel, the attacking forces possessed a powerful group, known as the Strike Alpha, that had an impressive record against organizations and crime syndicates. For some reason, the leaders of the attacking side didn’t trust anyone outside their circle. Therefore, they preferred to eliminate any potential threats as opposed to going with a more cooperative approach. Before he left, Ali learned from the top brass within the Dark Cult that the stance of the attacking side had been unknown. As long as the Strike Alpha was absent from the battlefield, there would always be a chance for negotiations.
Guess now we have to fight to the end then.
The situation had developed into the worst case scenario. The Strike Alpha members were not only powerful but the intel on them was extremely limited. There were even claims that none of their members even revealed all of their abilities, at least not to those who survived the encounters. To hopefully have a fighting chance, the Dark Cult and the Lightning Clan purposely set up locations that would give them a slight edge. Their best members in Vliland would be assigned to different locations to better deal with the threat at hand. While there was no guaranteed chance of victory, the plan had the highest chance of victory which was the best they could do.
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“Let’s break off from the main group,” said Kamis. “Nothing good awaits us if we stay too long.”
In a battle between the strongest, their group members were no different from the ants on the ground. They could annoy the strong but that would only result in them suffering the wrath of those too powerful for them. Since they couldn’t contribute, they might as well withdraw from the battlefield until a better opportunity showed up. As they headed back to one of the temporary bases, Tian flew beside Ali.
One of their members created a dozen clones and one of those clones is pursuing you four.
The teenager quickly relayed the information to the others. After constant update from the air serpent, he confirmed that the clone could reach them before they reached the safety of the base. They couldn’t afford to let the bases be discovered by the enemy as they needed locations to conceal and regroup should the battlefield become more bloody. There was also no guarantee that they would be safe if they did reach the base.
“The clone should be weaker, right?” asked Kamis. “I should be able to take a few hits?”
Belen shook her head as they stopped in their tracks. She began sharing what she learned and how there was a powerful member within the Strike Alpha who excelled at making clones. Not only were these clones supposedly eighty percent as strong as the original but fighting and defeating one of these clones also didn’t yield any XP in any form.
“In other words,” said Kurata, “this is the worst type of foe to face.”
With little time to prepare, the group got into formation. Kamis stood at the front while Ali and Tian held the two flanks. Kurata and Belen stood a fair distance behind the three of them, ready to support when the opportunity arose. Their opponent soon arrived on the scene. The clone had no facial features, appearing more as a silhouette than a direct human clone. However, Ali could sense the danger from being so close to one. His opponent didn’t bother saying anything, though the teenager doubted it could due to it lacking a mouth. The clone charged at Kamis and the two of them moved several meters before the bulky teenager halted the enemy’s advance. This disrupted their formation as the clone managed to get behind both Ali and Tian, with a much easier time attacking their backline. In response, Ali and his air serpent tried attacking the clone but their attacks didn’t even leave a mark. With a simple exertion of energy, the five of them were sent flying. Ali scrambled to get up to return to his combat stance.
Is this the gap between us and the clone? How strong is the original? And can we even last more than a few minutes against this clone?