Chapter 62: Crescendo
Zac brought out his second axe from his pouch, nervously glancing around. His plan had been to kill the Herald as well, but being stared at by hundreds of hungry eyes quickly extinguished any desire to remain. For a second he thought about throwing out the cauldron but soon discarded the idea.
The run-off fumes from when the imp Herald was concocting the poison was enough to do a number on him, and he didnt dare imagine what the finished product would be like. Unfortunately, he had no method to control the dissemination of the poison, and best scenario he managed to kill some of the demons. But that would still leave him to fight his way out against the survivors, now with one less ace in the hole. Worst case scenario the poison took too long to activate, or he poisoned himself as well, dying in a bout of friendly fire. The poison would have to be for when he truly was out of options as the last Hail Mary.
Zac instead shot back away from the tree and started cutting his way out of the packed masses. But how could leaving with the treasure be so easy? Combatants from both camps furiously impeded his path, and he was immediately beset by attacks from all directions. New wounds joined a litany of old ones, and even with Zacs great constitution, he was starting to feel the pressure.
With a furious roar he overcharged [Chop] and created a wide circle of death with a radius of 6 meters with one fluid motion before he pressed forward. But he only managed to take one step as an intense hair-raising danger made him turn around.
A silver sword was aimed straight at his throat from behind, and Zac barely had time to block it with the enlarged edge of [Chop]. The power of the strike was enormous, and Zac was flung back from the force. He didnt even have time to land as a molten spear struck him in his back, the searing pain eliciting a howl.
Neither the Herald nor the general were ready to give up the fruits, and for a second put their differences aside in order to hunt down Zac. The same couldnt be said of their underlings of course, as their furious melee quickly resumed after the fruits were snatched. The monkey horde was once again starting to lose control of the situation, but this time Zac was too occupied to do anything about it. The fires started to grow, and soon the whole valley would likely be consumed in a conflagration.
Zac was in no position to worry about his island burning down, as he currently had two formidable foes to contend with. With steely eyes he activated chop to the limit he could sustain it and charged at the duo. With a roar he swung the axe in an upwards curve, rending a huge gash in the ground as he did. The edge flew toward the general, who Zac estimated to be the most formidable foe.
With a slanted blade the demon managed to nullify most of the force and redirected the swing upward. He then immediately followed up with a quick forward stab aimed straight at Zacs heart. Zac barely managed to inch his chest to the side in order to avoid the blade, but it still tore a bloody gash along his chest. The sword had to be of superior make, as it actually ruined the inscribed dress he wore over his armor. If Zac had known this would happen he would have immediately used its charge instead of holding out for a more threatening situation.
The Herald wouldnt miss the opportunity either and spat some magma in Zacs direction. Most luckily missed, but some splattered on Zacs arm, and some nauseating sizzling could be heard. Zac could only press forward, hoping to end things quickly.
He used every trick he had learned from [Axe Mastery] trying to get past the sword of the general in order to do some damage. Each swing was imbued with all the strength he could exert, and wailing sounds of his axe filled the air. He even swapped between using his Dao and using [Chop] trying to disrupt the generals rhythm.
But it seemed that nothing worked against the demon. He smoothly deflected or dodged every strike that Zac put out, not even looking strained. His strength clearly wasnt at the same level as Zacs, but he made up for it with skill with the blade. Still, Zac judged his Strength to be far above 100 though, as every strike with the blades created terrifying collisions, the shockwaves keeping any fire out of their way. The ground beneath their feet kept cracking and getting destroyed as well.
Even more dangerously it looked like the demon also possessed a Dao Seed, or at least was beginning comprehend one. His strikes contained a sense of sharpness, and the shockwaves from his strikes actually cut small wounds on Zacs body when the air hit him.
The Herald had gone somewhat passive, content in letting the two duke it out for a bit as he recuperated. By now it likely knew that it was not the match of either one of the two combatants, and probably hoped they would kill each other. It threw the occasional spear or boulder at Zac, but rather focused on helping out his brethren against the demon army. A few demons had tried to join the general in his battle against Zac, but the Herald luckily killed them as they came. Unfortunately, the General was in no need of backup and was doing just fine on his own.
Zac was steadily accruing wounds from his fight with the demon, as he wasnt able to dodge his lightning-quick stabs. The best he could do was to avoid the sword hitting fatal spots by adjusting his body. Even worse, the general was one of the demons who used the black lightning attacks.
He used it far more freely compared to the first demon he had met. Every strike contained the biting sting of the arcs, and the lightning was actually slowly accumulating inside Zacs body. His arm suddenly jerked from the shock, completely exposing his chest. The demon was prepared, and with a lunge stabbed his sword straight in Zacs chest.
Lightning poured freely into his body, and Zac coughed up a mouthful of blood from the damage. He normally might have passed out from the pain but the lightning kept him awake. To make matters worse lava spikes erupted from the ground between Zacs legs from a stomp of the Herald.
Surprisingly, the spikes shot toward the general, with the largest one aiming straight towards his exposed heart. It looked like the Herald had been waiting for an opportunity for a double knock-out. However, the general simply snorted and from nowhere all the spikes were cut into pieces. Hovering next to him was the sword that the demon had kept on his back throughout the battle.
It crackled with black lightning and seemed to have no problem with defying the laws of gravity. It hovered a few rounds around the general before it returned into the scabbard on his back on its own.
Abruptly the spike on the back of Zacs axe head slammed into the temple of the Herald, instantly killing it. Zac had taken advantage of the brief pause in the Herald after its attack and used it to mount a surprise attack. Zac had consistently focused all his energy on attacking the general thus far, and the Herald had grown lax. He hadnt actually planned on killing the Herald before the general, but he saw an opportunity and took it.
A huge surge of cosmic energy entered Zacs body, and he felt himself gain another level. There was no time to go over it though, as the general renewed his attacks on him. Zac once again found himself at an impasse, steadily losing ground. The chest wound was creating trouble for him to breathe and move freely as well, and the fight turned even more one-sided. He wanted to somehow create an opportunity to flee, as he had accomplished all he needed for now. But the General would barely let him breathe, let alone leave the scene.
A tremendous amount of roaring erupted in the surroundings as well. The monkeys lost their minds upon seeing their leader fall and started madly swing at everything around them. In their madness they completely gave up on defense and started dropping with even faster speed compared to before. One after another the monkeys died, becoming food for the expanding fires. The flames hadnt died out due to the death of the Herald, instead truly becoming a force of their own as they spread over the dried leaves and husks.
Zac desperately tried to swing faster and with more power to turn the tides, but the general felt like an impenetrable wall of deft blades. As he kept fighting and swapping back and forth between [Chop] and the Dao, something suddenly clicked in his mind, and he once again summoned out the fractal blade.
This time it was different as it held a darker hue and emanated the aura of a lofty mountain. Even the fractals on the edge had grown denser, weaving another line of inscriptions along the edge. He finally managed to integrate his Dao with his skill, and the result wasnt as simple as one plus one equals two. Something new was born out of the fusion.
With renewed vigor Zac roared and furiously swung his axe at the general, aiming to end it all with one strike. It was a huge overhead swing aimed at the demons head, and it carried the aura of a falling meteor.
The demon immediately sensed something was wrong but didnt have time to dodge. Looking serious for the first time, the demon roared as the sword on his back flashed into his free hand, and he held up both his swords in the air in order to block the strike.
Just another sword wasnt enough and the force slammed him down to his knees, the impact blowing any debris or bodies in the surroundings far away. The general tried to deflect the force, but the Chop of Heaviness was intractable as it pushed his blades down. A golden sheen flashed into existence around the demon, but it only held for a second before it cracked. The force in the strike contained everything Zac had learned and gained so far, and a flimsy armor inscription wouldnt stop it.
An amulet around the neck of the demon started shining with a blinding light, and a silver shield winked into existence next. It looked like the shield of a celestial, as it shone with brilliant fractals as it met the oncoming axe.
The collision didnt create a huge impact as Zac expected, but it rather seemed the shield somehow absorbed the momentum. After the strike the shield started to crack, and the general groaned miserably as a crack could also be heard in his right arm. It looked like using that amulet didnt come without its price. But it was sufficient to stop Zacs monstrous swing.
The general didnt seem lax as before, and with an angry roar and his hair in disarray, he got to his feet. With a couple of furious slashes he created some distance from Zac, then pointed his sword towards the sky. His second blade crackled with an extreme amount of lightning and rapidly flew over ten meters up in the sky. The lightning kept expanding around it, creating a wide field of a lightning hell-scape.
The black arcs changed and actually turned into sword silhouettes covered in fractals. It reminded Zac of his own cosmic energy edge, but the danger he felt from the roughly hundred swords sinisterly hanging above was above anything he had felt thus far. The general didnt pull any punches anymore and wanted to completely eradicate him.
The lightning blades started falling towards Zac like a heavenly punishment. Any one of the blades could kill Zac if it hit, and there were over a hundred of them incoming. Knowing there was nowhere to hide from the strike, Zac could only fight it head-on. Cramming all his remaining cosmic energy into his fractal on his hand he created his largest edge thus far, sporting almost 8 meters long blade. It was imbued with the Dao of Heaviness, and with a roar of defiance, he launched it like a projectile up against the sword rain.
For a second it felt like a colossal mountain rose from the ground to intercept the heavenly thunder above, in a struggle between the Heavens and Earth. The collision was earthshattering and the chaotic energies temporarily blotted out the sky. Errant lightning blades fell all over the area, killing and maiming monkeys and demons alike.
Zac had managed to avert most of the attack with his colossal edge, but he was completely drained and his head hurt. Furthermore, his swing wasnt able to destroy all of the falling blades and he found himself impaled by multiple lightning swords. The general was panting as he walked over to Zac, one arm hanging limply to his side. He didnt look like he had much fight left in him either, but it was enough to finish Zac off.
His second sword floated above his head, looking like a sinister scorpions stinger. Its crackling lightning had dimmed considerably, but it still held a strong killing intent within. Their eyes met for a brief second and the sword shot down towards Zacs head. He tried to muster up a response, but he could only feebly lift his axe in an attempt to avert the incoming sword.
A spear of complete darkness suddenly emerged out of the generals chest and lifted him up in the air, forcing him to puke out a huge amount of blood as his body started spasming. The sinister looking weapon had truly impaled him, and likely completely obliterated his heart.
Behind the general a nondescript demon in average gear was standing, with a determined glint in his eyes as he looked upon his dying leader. The general arduously turned his head and when he saw his assailer his eyes shrunk to a needlepoint.
With his last breath, he let out a ragged roar that covered the whole battlefield, garnering the attention of all the combatants.
OGRAS!!!
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