Chapter 41: Apex Predator
Zac didnt dare hesitate and furiously chopped his axe down through the array while the demon still had his pants down doing his business.
As Zac suspected the demon was ready for the strike, and without hesitation, he lifted his sword to meet the oncoming attack. Unfortunately for him Zacs strength was in another league, and with the addition of the Dao of Heaviness the force of the swing simply broke the poor demons arms and continued unimpeded into his head.
It looked like that the array didnt hold up to scrutiny when observed at such proximity, or maybe the demon simply used some ocular skill more powerful than his [Eye of Discernment]. The demon had noticed something was wrong but didnt want to alert anyone to this fact until he was back at safety in his group. But some discreet facial tics had foiled his plans.
After the swing Zac quickly grabbed two of his knives from his pouch and hurled them at the war party just as they were shocked by an axe appearing out of thin air and killing their comrade.
One of the knives punched a hole through the imp, instantly killing it, but the other missed the demon he was aiming for. Hed trained his throwing skills diligently since his embarrassing throw that completely missed the target in his first battle against a barghest. Together with his increased stats in Strength and Dexterity, his aim was quite good by now, but he still couldnt always hit his targets when throwing in rapid succession.
He threw another dagger but the demon dodged it, as it was ready for the attacks now. The barghest were stupid however, and a knife instantly slammed into its torso, maiming it badly. He had a decent stock of knives by now since killing the scout demons surrounding the valley with the incursion, and could keep throwing them for a while.
He didnt have any time to kill the other barghest, as he saw one of the demons starting to conjure a fireball. Aghast, he didnt dare to hesitate, and hurled a dagger at the mage. He couldnt have him burn the camp down, or even start a forest fire. Every demon on the island would know a battle was happening here.
A magic shield stopped the dagger in its tracks, so Zac had no choice but to charge out of his array toward the demons. There still were 5 demons and a couple of demon beasts against him. Fortunately he killed the imp immediately, otherwise hed have to worry about those fireballs. They were still extremely deadly, even with his improved constitution.
Suddenly as he was approaching spikes shot out the ground. They looked like thin stalactites, so it seemed one of the demons was a rock mage. Not expecting the attack one of the spikes managed to stab into his gut before he could react.
His breastplate was high quality work, but unfortunately it only covered his upper torso. Therefore his only protection on the rest of his body was the common leather armor which barely impeded attacks. He broke off the one impaling him and then destroyed the other with a swing.
An arrow crackling with electricity zoomed toward his head as he was getting rid of the stone spears. He had to dodge before properly removing the tip of the spike from his stomach, making it do some extra damage while he rolled away.
As he got back to his feet the fire mage already seemed ready to fire his spell. But to Zacs horror he wasnt actually aiming at him or the camp, but straight up. The demon intended to use it as a signal flare while the others impeded him.
Zac desperately infused all the cosmic energy and heaviness he could into his arm and threw his axe with a grunt. The axe sounded like a propeller as it ripped through the air at the mage. The magic shield that stopped his knife shattered like a mirror, and the axe head slammed into the mages chest, instantly killing him.
Lucky for him the ball of flame snuffed out as soon as the mage died, just like how it did with the imps he had fought. There would be no signal flare or forest fire this time at least.
But Zac didnt have time to breathe out in relief, as a barghest slammed straight into him. The demonic brutes could charge straight through smaller trees, so the force completely winded him. Had he been prepared he could have used the inscription on his chest piece, as his chest armor held one charge where it could nullify an attack. But Zac himself had to activate it and he wasn't prepared for the body slam.
An arrow shot into his stomach as he was pushed backward as well, piling on to his misery. Luckily his endurance was up in the high 70s by now, and it didnt get far into his body before stopping.
However, the arrow released a lightning shock right into his intestines, making him unable to breathe for a second. Zac coughed out a mouthful of blood but didnt dare move the arrow, remembering that leaving the weapons in the wound when stabbed was safer. He could only break it off and ignore it for now. Instead, he punched the barghest which caused it to crash hard into the ground.
A flash of pain erupted on his back, and he noticed a gwyllgi had approached soundlessly from behind. Normally these beasts were of no concern, but he also had to worry about the mage and archer. There also were two more demons who still stayed put. One of them carried a two-handed sword, and with his muscular build looked very much like a classic warrior.
But the others gear gave Zac no indication of her means of attack. He assumed she was some sort of mage, as she held a tome in her hands.
Zac growled in annoyance and kept the barghest down on the ground with one hand and grabbed a knife out of his pouch with the other. With a quick stab he tore its throat out. It was still alive but wouldnt be for long. He just barely dodged another arrow coming at him right after his kill, but simultaneously an earthen spike tore straight through the dying barghest and headed for his head.
Just as he was about to dodge a splitting pain in his mind made him completely blank out, and as he tried to dodge the incoming spike he realized his body didnt respond.
But with a muffled roar Zac used all his will-power to force himself to move. He succeeded in breaking the odd restriction and managed to move his head away somewhat away from the stone spear. It still tore a huge gash in his left cheek, doubling the length of his mouth.
Breaking free from the binding left him with a pounding headache and a bit woozy, and he had to shrug his head to reorient himself.
A quick glance at the enemies showed that one of the demons who earlier had been staying put was puking blood while looking at Zac aghast. It was the one who was holding a tome looking mysterious. He didnt have time to think about what kind of skill she used, as he was beset from both behind and the back.
A gwyllgi charged at him again, but this time he was prepared. With a quick stab blood gushed out of its chest, and it crashed into the ground. He took another arrow, this time to his leg, but it was a worthwhile price for another enemy down.
He grabbed the dying gwyllgi by its neck and used it as a shield while charging toward the group. Their distance wasnt big and he was upon them before they could send another salvo of earthen spears and arrows.
Zac ran toward the downed mage in order to get his axe back, but the warrior demon who had stood rooted until now placed himself in his way. From his bulging muscles he seemed he focused on the Strength attribute, which actually made Zac relieved rather than anything else. If it was one thing he was confident in it was his supreme strength.
The warrior roared and swung his sword toward him. Zac didnt dare use his knife to intercept, and could only use the beast carcass as a club. He swung it at the warrior, trying to angle it so that he would hit the flat of the blade rather than the edge.
The corpse and the sword clashed, and the corpse exploded in a mangled shower of blood and viscera, drenching both Zac and the demon. But it did its job, and the sword was deflected once. That was all he needed, as he crashed into the demon with all the strength he could muster.
The warrior was flung away like a ragdoll, not being able to muster any resistance in the slightest. He fell down a few meters away, and whether he was alive or dead was unknown. The demons seemingly hadnt expected that outcome of the collision, and he managed to immediately snatch up his axe before they could react.
Zac then made a beeline for the archer. At these close quarters, the archer had actually dropped his bow and instead held a short sword and a blade respectively. Zac would have expected him to make some distance like the last archer he fought. But perhaps he either actually focused on blades, or didnt dare turn his back on Zac while fleeing. Both the blades were crackling with the same lightning as the arrows he had shot at Zac earlier.
Zac ignored an earthen spear stabbing into him and pushed on toward the Rogue-looking demon. He wanted to make short work of him and swung a horizontal swing intended to cleave him in two.
However the demon almost seemed to have no bones in his body, and curved his torso to avoid the swing, and then retaliated by trying to stab Zacs heart and throat. Zac was out of position with the swing and could only desperately protect himself with his free arm, really wishing he had a buckler right about now.
The knife heading for his heart plunged into his bicep, and the short sword changed trajectory slightly to avoid hitting his arm as well. It at least managed to nick his throat, and a small gout of blood spurted out. But at least it hadnt hit an artery. The electric shocks hurt as well, but with Zacs Endurance he could grit his teeth and simply force his body not to spasm. These arcs of lightning couldn't compare to the black lightning he had tasted earlier as well.
He turned his hand to readjust his edge and tried to swipe the demon on the way back. The demon once again deftly repositioned his body so that he would be able to avoid it, but this time Zac wouldn't be denied. Just as the axe blade was about to miss the demons throat a translucent edge grew out a meter and cleanly decapitated the ranger.
Zac didnt really want to show his ace while there still were 3 demons alive, but he had to kill the ranger. The ranger was the only one he wasnt sure he would be able to catch if they started to flee. And if they were sane they should. He had decimated half their force in almost no time. His wounds looked grisly but nothing that would stop him from continuing his onslaught.
With his new skills and power-ups he truly felt like the apex predator of his island.
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