Defiance of the Fall

The run-off fumes from when the imp Herald was concocting the poison was enough to do a number on him , and he didn’t 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 Zac’s 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 didn’t 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 couldn’t 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 Zac’s 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 wouldn’t miss the opportunity either and spat some magma in Zac’s direction . Most luckily missed , but some splattered on Zac’s 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 general’s 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 wasn’t at the same level as Zac’s , 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 Zac’s 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 .