The ambushes by the Black Peaks forces increased in frequency and intensity as they approached the city itself, but that was to be expected as they grew more desperate. One thing of note in the attacks was that Rezso focused on taking down their weakest members. Hopefully the wound John had left him would stay forever, but it was likely that someone like him could find some way to unpetrify his elbow. The question was whether such things were available in the Black Peaks and whether or not they would work in just a few days.

He never got close enough for John to see, and while Rezso was still causing problems for them, the fact that he was not fighting against Charlotte or Deirdre- or John- meant that they were more free to take out other members of the Black Peaks. Overall, enemy casualties were higher than their own at the moment. They just needed to keep their momentum for when they reached the city itself.

Even from a few hundred meters away, it was difficult to clearly make out the city. Numerous stone spires and larger rocky crags rose up throughout the area, blocking off the city itself. However, there was one prominent feature that could easily be picked out, the Black Peaks themselves at the rear of the city.

Sharp angles of black rock stretching into the sky in three distinct sections, John could feel the darkness practically radiating from the area. That power overwhelmed other spiritual energy in the area, to the point that even without surrounding spires the local cultivator’s concealment techniques would likely become more effective.

John took a long look at them, and pondered what they should do. The last stretch of distance would be the hardest to overcome, but the most critical. Obviously. Because now they had reached a place that the local forces had to protect. While they doubtless were not pleased with the spires that had been destroyed along the way, they would be much more concerned about their sects being ransacked and their wealth taken away.

Finding Charlotte among the army, John struck up some idle talk. “What do you think the chances are we can force some kind of surrender or force them to pay reparations?”

She shook her head. “It’s truly difficult to say. Obviously they don’t seem in any mood to surrender just yet. We have to show them how much their actions were a mistake.”

“And kill Rezso,” John added. “We can’t let people believe that just because they have someone a little strong, they can do whatever they want.”

Charlotte snorted. “That’s the way of cultivators, though.”

John shook his head. “It only works if nobody has allies. He’d have to be at least mid stage or higher to avoid being taken out by a small group.”

“He’s not without subordinates, though. And from what I can see of the wall of the city, they’re high and sturdy.”

John shrugged. “We’ll deal with that after we attempt negotiations. I doubt they’ll accept anything at this point, but we should at least try before moving onto the next step.”

“And what do you think that next step is?”

“We have to clear out the area for a proper siege. Remove all the cover around their city. The process itself will encourage them to think twice about what they’ve done.”

Charlotte frowned, looking at John. “What do you intend?”

“If the Black Peaks intend to cause trouble like this, then they shall do without their namesake.”

“Are you sure?” Charlotte asked. “It’s not so easy to accomplish such a thing. And it’s a bit… extreme.”

“They will be allowed to offer Rezso’s head at any point along the way,” John shrugged. “It will be their choice if it actually happens.”

-----

Now that they had a more permanent position, the besieging army began to carve out a larger place for themselves. From a hundred meters to two hundred or more in every direction, they toppled the natural stone that muted energy sensing and began to reshape the terrain into proper fortifications.

Earth cultivators were assigned for the last steps only, fusing stone into other stone or at least carving the shapes so pieces would approximately balance. Everyone else could carry or at least push around boulders of various sizes, creating walls that would at least slow approaching enemies slightly. About half of the army was assigned to the fortifications, while the other half remained mobile, carving out a path around the city.

-----

Negotiations were a bit difficult to establish, but ultimately yelling at the city walls, while inelegant, proved fruitful. At the very least they got a response after some time of waiting. John wasn’t sure if it was to annoy them… or because nobody of sufficient rank was actually in the city. They could all be sneaking around, and there simply had to be a large number of secret entrances and exits from such a place.

Rezso himself came to speak, standing behind the walls’ fortifications. A perfectly reasonable place to stand, but in that sense John thought it showed vulnerability. “So you come with your armies to the Black Peaks. What makes you think your siege will be successful?”

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“I could ask the very same of you,” Charlotte said. “What made you think your violation of our property would result in anything beyond your total annihilation?”

“We may not have been able to fight you near your territory,” Rezso commented. “But here, we have the advantage.”

“Is that so? That must be why you are hiding behind your walls. How’s your arm, by the way?” Charlotte asked.

“It’s recovering nicely, thank you,” Rezso said, raising his arm above the merlons he was standing behind and flexing his elbow. “In a day or so, I will be driving a knife through your neck.”

Charlotte glanced over at John, who gave a noncommittal shrug. With the distances involved, he couldn’t sense whether any earth element remained within Rezso’s elbow. It was possible to force it to move in various ways, though some of them would cause serious damage. He kind of hoped Rezso did that, injuring himself for a bluff, but the man seemed a bit more cautious than that. Most likely he temporarily weakened the solidifying effect, or was actually on the road to recovery.

“You are welcome to try killing me… yet again,” Charlotte said. “But enough of that nonsense. We are here for only one thing. Demanding your surrender. Reparations will come in two forms. First, your head. Second, three times the resources you stole from our sites in the Rolling Dunes, plus prices for every disciple killed there.”

“Laughable demands,” Rezso said. “You don’t even dare approach our walls.”

“Nor do you dare to step a toe beyond them, now that we are here,” Charlotte said. Then she amplified her voice even more. “People of the Black Peaks, heed my words. At any point in the coming days you may deliver Rezso’s head to us. If you choose not to, untold calamity will befall your city.”

With that, she turned away, and John followed after her before Rezso could come up with a proper response.

-----

For his plan to work, John had to actually scope out the Black Peaks themselves. They stood anywhere from hundreds of meters to a few kilometers above the surrounding terrain, an amplification of the already extreme terrain. Their greater power meant that anywhere on that side of the city sensing anything but the peaks themselves was nearly impossible. Which was why John was confident enough to sneak around the back side of the city and approach alone.

He’d more or less declared his ambition to topple the peaks to Charlotte, but whether or not it was actually a feasible option had yet to be determined. Cultivators could accomplish amazing feats of power, but even they would have difficulties toppling mountains… in a short time.

But the Black Peaks weren’t really proper mountains, were they? No, they were more like towers. Somewhat greater than the tallest skyscrapers on Earth, and they certainly had wider bases. But even so, it was at least conceivable that they might be toppled.

John made sure to focus on what his eyes and ears might pick up as he approached. The rear of the city was built right up against the peaks, but John supposed that there were likely watchers atop them. That’s what he would do, at least. Especially with the surrounding terrain, seeing a far distance off with just their walls was nearly impossible.

But here, the peaks would work against the locals. Enshrouded in darkness, John also made certain to take cover along his route to avoid more mundane methods of spotting him. He glanced up towards the peaks, unable to make out any figures or even structures above, but not comfortable declaring conclusively that they were empty.

The rear sides of the peaks seemed to be naturally smooth, but they were not perfectly so, and though they rose sharply to their points, they still had sufficient slope that a cultivator of some skill could climb them.

John was careful with his use of spiritual energy as he began his trek, but he expected that nobody would be able to notice unless they were paying attention to his exact position- in which case he was likely compromised regardless. He took his time, going from ledge to ledge, some wide enough to sit down and some so small that he was barely balancing on a single foot. Even so, that was sufficient for him to return to his peak efficiency.

The first one that he inspected was the easternmost one, on the right side from the perspective of the army. It was unsurprisingly quite sturdy. Natural formations wouldn’t grow and remain so tall if they were not. John inspected it around the base, its midsection, and near its peak.

From there, he was able to make out a single small outpost atop the middle peak, with five or six guards gathered scanning the area. Or at least, that was theoretically what they were doing. For the most part, one or two of them were casually looking, while the others sat and played cards or dice or something involving a table and gambling. They seemed quite unconcerned about anyone who might be sneaking about.

Maybe that was a trap, and there were hidden guards doing a better job. Or perhaps there was a serious flaw in the city’s security. Not that he could bring even a large squad along without serious risk of being spotted, and climbing an army through the lowest sections of the peaks was still quite impractical. Going over the city walls would be easier… for the most part.

The time it took to explore a single peak was not negligible, and by the time John was finished looking for weaknesses it was almost nighttime. He briefly considered going back, but he knew he wouldn’t sleep well anyway. In that case, he might as well take advantage of the night. He probably should have waited for nightfall to begin with, but he had wanted to start scouting to begin with.

Even so, he was cautious of the guards and resolved to make his way over to the far side of the western peak so that he could not be spotted by the inefficient guards. Even a casually roaming pair of eyes might accidentally pick him out. If that happened, John would both be embarrassed and in serious danger, around the city from the armies.

The slope on the western peak was… too gradual. It was possibly even sturdier than the first one. Easier to climb, though, but once again still more difficult than city walls- except for the lack of defensive formations, which he supposed was an important factor. Still, he couldn’t imagine taking any significant portion of the army over with him. If he took an elite squad, people would notice Charlotte and Deirdre missing, and then they would simply be in the middle of enemy territory alone.

While John believed that the three of them could kill Rezso regardless of whether or not his elbow was still injured, it might not be quick. Which would mean the forces of the Black Peak collapsing on them over the course of a few minutes. And then they would be dead. If they had an advantage in cultivation it would be different. If John was the one in the Ascending Soul Phase with Rezso somewhere in the Consolidated Soul Phase, the man would likely be dead in his private rooms right now.

John looked at the middle peak. He would save that for the following night, because he would need to be more cautious with more proximity to the guards he’d seen. And he would have to look out for more on the side peaks, because it was strange he hadn’t spotted any. If they’d had none at all, John would have been extremely suspicious, but as it was… he was going to maintain caution, and hoped they simply didn’t believe more guards were necessary. The middle peak was the tallest, so it made some sort of sense.