They can't progress, but they can hold their line

Ares finished tearing a fourth tank in half when another salvo of artillery rained down on him, blasting away groups of tentacles and punching holes in his body armor. The wounds were of little consequence, the pain fading instantly and his body regenerating moments later, but they were annoying and showed just how stubborn Hermes was being. Plus, while the explosions couldn't kill him, they packed enough punch to kill the other Infected.

'We'll fight each other to a stalemate; neither of our armies will make it out of here alive,' he thought, his powerful tentacles snatching a speeding tank shell out of the air and throwing it back at the vehicle that fired it, destroying it and sending chunks of burning metal everywhere. 'Maybe they can afford that, but I can't. Time to put this on hold until I have a better plan.'

Tapping into his queen's Cupid strain, Ares reached out to the plants surrounding him. There wasn't much except for weeds, but they were plentiful and would work for what he needed. Sending a group of tentacles to seek the plants out, he coated them in the virus, triggering explosive growth. Thick vines sprouted and spread, breaking up the pavement as the roots ran beneath the street. Massive columns of vegetation shot up out of the cracks, wrapping around itself to form an impenetrable lattice. It reached higher and higher until its height matched that of some of the buildings surrounding them, nearly 50 feet tall.

Ares heard the soldiers on the other side open fire on the wall, but the weeds regrew any damage they took stronger than before. They'd need something much more powerful to get through the barrier, and while Ares didn't doubt they could get it, given the strength of their army, it would surely take time, which was exactly what he needed. Even if Hermes had the entire city surrounded, there had to be weak points in their blockade. All he would need was to find one, break through to the suburbs, and grow his army.

He watched happily as the last of the soldiers trapped on his side of the barrier succumbed to the hundreds of hypnotically beautiful women that had come out of the invading ****. They were a good start, but he knew he would need more powerful, combat oriented mutants to destroy Hermes. Hopefully with their focus divided between the forest and the city, they would be weaker and easier to squash.

Within a few minutes of the wall going up, it was clear that Hermes had figured out that they wouldn't be able to break through immediately. The sound of explosions tapered off and stopped, the people in charge likely realizing they were wasting ammo. The buzz of drones hummed overhead, but lance-like vines on top of the wall shot out to intercept and destroy them before they could get over the barrier. With the plant blockade extending more than a mile in each direction, they wouldn't be getting through any time soon. Ares' one regret was that, in his focus on making the plant as durable as possible, he had been largely unable to give it any means of spreading the virus. It could arouse anyone who came too close to it, but even that would fade with a bit of distance. Still, it served its purpose and gave him time to make his preparations.