Returning to the camp, John waited until Charlotte woke for the morning- which was still quite early, so not a terribly long time- and then explained his observations so far.

“So far, I’ve only spotted guards on the middle peak. Just a handful, in a single location. Perhaps they have others hidden elsewhere, but I wasn’t able to pick them out. I’d have to spot them directly, after all. Spiritual energy senses are basically worthless there. It does make it easier to move around, though.”

Charlotte nodded. “I see. So your actual plan…?”

“Tonight, I’ll check the middle peak to see if it is at all feasible. There are some… logistical issues I had not considered.”

“Like how big the peaks are?”

“They’re quite small compared to real mountains!” John protested. “But there’s a slight issue of distances and practicality.”

“By which you mean…?”

“How do you topple a mountain without being on it?”

Charlotte crossed her arms. “That is indeed a problem you must resolve, if it’s to be attempted at all.”

“At least I’ll only have wasted a couple nights on this,” John said. “And it might still prove to be a viable alternative path into the city.”

“You’d best find out,” Charlotte said. “And sleep.”

“Of course I will,” John said.

And he did sleep. Just not as much as he might like. How was he supposed to do that with so many people in danger?

-----

John surveyed the Black Peaks from the army camp. He’d taken some time to learn about the fancy palaces nestled up against the base of the peaks. The big one in the center was not, as he expected, under the control of Rezso’s sect. No, the Swirling Shadow Sect was next to it, closer to the western wall.

The most prominent one belonged to the Black Blood Cult, previously the most influential group in the city. Until Rezso managed to gain influence, and ultimately advanced to the Ascending Soul Phase.

That was the information they’d managed to gain from their prisoners, at least. There was no reason to distrust it, as it didn’t involve anything particularly secret. And it wasn’t difficult to test, as being anywhere close to the sect grounds in question would allow people to sense the particular style involved.

Considering the particular arrangement of things, John had some options to consider- but first, he had to see what was actually possible. That meant slinking around the perimeter of the city once more. That involved moving away from the city for a time, as they’d destroyed all of the best cover close to it.

It wasn’t a short process, despite the city not being terribly large. After all, he wanted to move stealthily. That meant making sure he didn’t run into any enemies skulking about while also watching the walls. But they were generally not going to be looking for an individual, and John was the most stealthy individual among their own army.

Eventually, he came upon the rear side of the peaks once more, and began his climb. He clung to the rocks with earth element, just a small amount to augment his body. He couldn’t say his natural climbing abilities were that of a trained professional, but he’d had to climb difficult surfaces more than a few times in his current life. Some supernatural augmentation was more than enough. He just had to make sure to keep his eyes on the surface, instead of trusting his senses.

So far, he hadn’t spotted any additional guards on either peak to the side. Hopefully, that meant they were not there. He thought it likely, since there was only one ‘path’ up any of the peaks, a series of rope ladders and the like on the inside edge that had to be how the guards arrived, but he kept in mind that it could also be a ploy. Better than making assumptions.

The guards were on the one part of the peak that had somewhat flat ground to walk around on. It was something like a ring, with the final quarter or so of the peak being a narrower section that continued above it. John was very careful as he got close to the actual guards and surveyed the area. He didn’t find anything about their positioning- or their alertness- that he had missed before. Perhaps they felt safe, as they were on the far side of the city from the army.

Sensing their cultivations, mostly in the mid to late Foundation Phase, with one in the mid Soul Expansion Phase, John estimated he could take them out himself. Not that he planned to- that would just alert people to his presence for no reason.

He was quite pleased at what he found. The final section of the peak was only twenty or thirty meters wide, which was much less compared to the hundred to two hundred at its base. Considering they would have to deal with a cross sectional area, that was vastly less work required. It was likely only a few times as much as some of the larger crags they had already toppled.

And the angles involved… well, nothing would be exact, but it was certainly something he could work with. At most, their aim would be a little bit off, and the only targets in the area were acceptable.

John had time to spend on the small details. After all, he needed to see when they changed shifts. He’d noticed one change the previous day, but wanted more information.

Deciding it was necessary, he found the two guards who were least alert and slipped between them. Without actively sensing he could barely feel his own limbs, so with his concealment techniques in place he was confident walking between the two with at least a handful of meters on each side. Besides, they’d have to pay attention to him instead of who was winning the latest game of dice.

Stolen novel; please report.

He walked right up to the base of the final quarter of the peak, feeling it directly with his hands. The local rock was hard but brittle, chipping away under sufficient pressure. Thus, over time it had built up an amount of cracks and gullies. It was nothing relevant to the city on a natural timescale, but each detail he picked up was one more thing he could use later.

Eventually, after confirming everything he reasonably could, John slipped back past the guards, climbing down the far side once more, then slipping back to the camp.

-----

The next morning, a siege of the main gates of the Black Peaks began. It was a difficult proposition, as being close enough to attack the gates meant those on the walls could theoretically retaliate. The one advantage that was had by the attackers was that the walls were completely immobile. Thus, building up powerful attacks over a period of seconds or even minutes didn’t mean it was somehow easily avoided.

Large boulders were launched- usually part of the very terrain the region was famous for. Fire cultivators added their own boosts to it, and light cultivators launched simultaneous attacks to weaken the darkness energy around the gates, just enough so that they could cause some actual damage.

It would be a slow process to destroy anything, but they didn’t need to win quickly. In fact… that wasn’t even their intent to begin with. After all, they were simply the distraction.

-----

The number of people they could secretly convey to the final location was not terribly many- however, they had enough time for a forward group to go ahead and take out the guards, meaning they could manage some thirty total people before their combined energies would draw the attention of the city.

John was one of the forward group, of course. Taurai and a few darkness element cultivators of the Six Elements Crossroads were also part of it. Then, finally, Helen of the Firepine palace. They needed to take out the guards quickly, and she was a strong enough cultivator to help. Golden Tomb Guardians might strictly be more capable of quickly taking down these enemies, but a conflict of light and darkness would draw much more attention. Hopefully, it would only be a series of small energy exchanges, inconsequential compared to the numbing effect of the peaks themselves.

They had to be more careful than John alone, which was the reason for the distraction. As for why they were moving during midday instead of the middle of the night… it simply was when something like this would be expected. The time around noon would provide them with natural shadow from the peaks, which should be good enough with their cultivators coordinating to hide their spiritual energy.

The first hiccup came in the form of a scout on the east side of the city. It might be that they had caught onto something, or simply bad timing. They were able to notice them and take them out, but it was unclear when they were supposed to report back. It could be in an hour, or at the end of the day… or merely a few minutes.

They kept moving, John and his strike team pulling away from the others as they neared their target. They had to keep ahead, to avoid delaying things.

John led the group along the easiest route up- besides the one on the same side as the city, where casual passersby might accidentally spot them. Even so, he found he had to smooth out the route by molding the rock for easier handholds and footholds. There were people both lower in cultivation and less trained in climbing, after all. It would also be best for assuring their secondary group could reach them swiftly.

The intention was to move in on as many guards at once as possible. For the sake of the task, John intended to take out one to create a foothold. That would give them only a short amount of time to act from there- they might not feel the change in spiritual energy immediately, but it would be a matter of seconds. And at least two or three guards could simply glance over at the area at any moment.

John crept over the edge, nearly in the vision of his target. A swirl of darkness concealed him for long enough to place a hand over the man’s mouth, and then his sword impaled him. From there, the rest quickly scurried up. John made his way to his second target.

Another down, silently- and several more at the same time. But things never went perfectly. With everything happening, someone had to notice something. There was a scream- and a shuffling sound, then much more screaming.

John reached the edge in time to see a cultivator crash between the middle and western peak.

“... Sorry,” Taurai said. “I didn’t… he didn’t die like I wanted, and then he went over the edge…”

“He was the one most likely to notice, as the far one,” John said as he walked to the rear. “We just have to keep moving.” If they gave up now, they wouldn’t get this chance again. He gathered a ball of darkness, launching it down towards the ground below. It created a ‘flash’, though one that would easily blend in with the peaks. Certainly less obvious than the scream. In return, there was another small burst of darkness from below, indicating that the signal had been received.

“Should we burn the ladders?” Helen asked.

“That’s a great idea,” John said. “But it gives me a better one. We will weaken their attachment points. We want them to only hold for two or three people.”

John had some disciples begin that task- though they could likely only reach the last tier of ladders without climbing down some and exposing themselves.

“I think we should start here,” John said, creating a clear marking by pulling out a chunk of stone. “As well as here. The slope… should hopefully allow for it to tumble this way. We want to work higher on the back side to guarantee that result.” He would have to repeat some of this, but at least the marking would be good.

-----

“Why bother with this siege?” Rezso appeared at the front gates of the Black Peaks. “You know it will do you no good. Tonight, when you are tired out… I will come for your head personally, Charlotte.”

The woman held her head high as she responded. “I would be more inclined to believe you if you had been brave enough to do so the last two nights. Instead, you sent your men to their death for no cause at all.”

“Even so… I can’t see how this move benefits you. And I don’t notice that one… of the Tenebach clan.” At that point, Rezso’s head swiveled around.

Even Charlotte could feel something, without being so accustomed to the limited senses. Though she knew where to look.

“What is-” Rezso began. Then a cracking sound could be heard- all the way across the city. It reached them after a visible shifting in the top quarter of the middle peak toppled towards the rear of the city, crushing a portion of it. Flying rock fragments reached almost all the way to the front gates.

“People of the Black Peaks,” Charlotte said. “You have made your choice. By this time tomorrow, you will have nothing to name your city after. The fault, of course, lies squarely on the head of your new leader, thieving resources for a petty advancement.”

Of course, they weren't actually going to completely topple all three peaks. That would take an extraordinary amount of effort, and obviously they weren’t going to be unimpeded again. But it would serve excellently for forcing them out of the city in a foolish attack. Or causing internal strife, which would also be fine.