The Reserve Guard knew of the incoming assault, but the southwestern side of the city was not prepared for the first attacks to be this intense. Their trenches were surrounded by fire, as balls of flame landed down among their brethren, burning any that came into contact. From above, Jamal laid waste to those within his vision, as the other Viligantes assisted in the push.
Leon was flicking waves of pressured air toward the enemy stone bunkers ahead, while Alice had been charging up some type of attack for the last five minutes now. The only other member with them, Brat, was switching between a bird and his werewolf-like state, taking any of the Reserve Guards by surprise with the ambushing tactics. Despite all the chaos, for the most part, the soldiers kept their defense mobile, only moving about when absolutely necessary, or to other sections to strengthen certain sections.
"How's it coming along, Alice?" Jamal roared above, causing the woman to take a quick glance at him.
"I'm almost done," Alice clenched her teeth tightly, "Just another minute or so."
"We're going to need that power very soon." Leon managed to get out, before shaking his hand in pain, "I can't keep doing this."
The Port-O-Bea army was doing their best to advance forward with them, as the group within the first hour or so, managed to occupy around seventy-five percent of the first line of trenches. From what they'd seen and could tell, there were only two more lines that needed to be broken through and some other minor fortification before it was a quick and clear shot toward the city itself. That was, if they could penetrate through the tough lines here.
Jamal could tell the reality of the situation was rapidly deteriorating, as he saw an enemy artillery shell wipe about about fifteen of their own men like that, or advancing soldiers getting ambushed by the Reserve Guard, and gunned down with ease. With some gaps between the trees, he could see the dozens of new Reserve Guards coming in to maintain the lines they had under control or start a push to recapture what they lost. They didn't have time to wait for Alice to launch that ultimate attack, whatever she promised it to be. He had to use his full power now.
Tapping into his emotions, Jamal could feel the want of bloodshed deep inside, itching to be let loose, or the anger against Youden's oppression. But unlike before, he wasn't in an aggressive-like mood to let loose like usual. But rather, in a more controlled state of mind, would he be able to realize and think clearly of his decision that would give them the edge.
"Hey!" The man roared loudly, causing all those below to turn their heads.
Feeling the veins popping through his skin, Jamal could feel all his energy condensing together, waiting to be released at once. Still able to think, and before any enemies decided to get smart, he stretched his arms, letting it all out for the world below to see.
.....
On the other side of their operations on the more northern flank, the army led by Hops and the others were pushing through the treelines, as they had secured their way into the Appleridge National Park. Secluded due to the few roads leading in or out of the forest, the scene of pine trees and thin streams of running water would keep those in the area at peace. Under normal circumstances of course, would a trip here be filled with joy and curiosity, but this very day was things different around here.
"We should be around two miles away from the northern checkpoint of the city." Heskins huffed with excitement, although kept his cool.
"Yeah, those defenses were a bit undermanned than we could anticipate." Sera took a quick glance at her sword in sheath, beaming with energy in agreement with the response, "We only lost, like, four people."
The ones in front of the push, Hops and Fonda, kept quiet, as he had to be ready to alert everyone of any enemies, and for Fonda to subdue them. With that in mind, the group knew that the greater threat should likely be up ahead for them to face, as the duo kept their guard up. That concentration for even the slightest movement was broken when a sharp breeze passed through.
To most people, it would just feel as if the wind was picking up for the moment, but this felt much different. The cooler air of the spring months was quickly replaced with a greater increase in temperature, causing even a few not used to a rapid change to bring about a little sweat. That was off, which made Hops stop, with everyone slowing down behind in a confused state.
"Do you guys feel that?" Fonda looked around to find the source, as all eyes were turned to Hops.
The man was staring into the sky, towards their southern direction, and noticed a slow but increasing red aura. There, Hops shot a grin at everyone, now knowing what was going on.
"We're fine, for now. It appears that our friends might be having a bit of a problem, or did have a problem." Hops made his two fingers mimic a compressing motion. "Be ready for a change of sound."
"And that's because?" Heskins took notice of large flocks of birds passing overhead.
"Jamal decided to go all out, or something of that magnitude. For it to be seen all the way here, that's some true power." Hops managed to let out before a loud burst of sound ruptured the air.
It wasn't something that would have made most people crouch down, at least from their position, but the strength of the energy being felt from such a distance was a thing that could only have been imagined. This was unlike something Hops had felt in a long time, as the aura's energy passed through in a wave-like manner. It wasn't necessarily visible unless one had powers that could make such a thing a reality, which a few people in their flank could actually see, but most could simply feel the pulses of the power within. The closest Hops could reflect on this power was around the time they first fought Youden, with the clear mind that he and Jamal had against that man.
"Is he unlocking another stage to his power or something?" Heskins could only ponder.
"Nah, I think he's just finally let things loosen up a bit. I just haven't truly felt him or seen something like this happen in a long, long, long time." Hops gave the army a grin, "Now, let's deliver on our end while the spectacle over there is going off."
.....
Those in the vicinity of the blistering heat could not help but almost beg for forgiveness, as the aura quickly waned down by about seventy-five percent. Jamal held an unusually large grin over his face as if this was normal for him to go off as so about.
"That felt kinda good, I got to be honest. Should do that more often." Jamal was slow to descend, as both sides were shocked.
"So you weren't transforming into some new power or anything?" Leon shouted from down below.
"I wish, but no. I'm pretty sure that this is my "full power" from being engulfed in these red flames. Kind of completed, you know?" Jamal looked at himself, noticing not much of a difference, except for a dim pulse moving around him.
"Your energy is off the charts, I've never seen it do something like that before." Brat had moved silently through the unattentive Reserve Guards in his path, knocking them out, as the boy managed to find his way to the edge of a trench near Jamal.
"Thanks, man. Now, we really got to finish off these guys before they build up any more strength." Jamal was propelling himself several feet off the ground, before raising a hand at a reinforcement group of Reserve Guard, now seeing the source of that chaos and a quickly formed fireball the size of a one-story home. "I hope you new guys are ready to kick things off because I know that all of our people definitely are. So get ready!"