Defiance of the Fall

Zac’s day continued like this , and by evening he had killed roughly 20 demonlings with varied amount of success . He still had not leveled up to level 18 , but he could somehow sense that he was close . After every kill during the day some of the cosmic energy had entered his body . And if his body could be considered a container , it felt as though the container was starting to get full . Zac guessed that the moment he felt - full - from the cosmic energy was the moment he leveled up .

Zac stood and overlooked the aftermath of his last victory . He had gained a few new wounds , but nothing threatening . This latest fight had been the most dangerous one so far , simply because he had fought two demonlings at the same time . The second one had burst through the vegetation while he was already fighting the first one .

Luckily the beasts were truly clumsy , and with dodging around the natural environment he managed to mostly keep out of harm’s way until he could bleed them out . Zac hypothesized that the natural environment of these beasts likely had no greenery , and very little obstructions . The monsters simply seemed completely unaccustomed to fighting in this type of terrain .

Zac was about to leave when he suddenly heard a twig snap behind him . Taking no chances he lunged to his right . He just heard the sound of wind while falling , but suddenly his left shoulder explode in pain . Ignoring the pain for now he got to his feet and finally got a good look at his assailer .

It was a demon , but a different type from the ones he had fought so far . If the demon dogs so far had been depending on brawn , this one clearly leaned toward agility . Measuring up to his navel , the beast somewhat looked like an oversized greyhound dog . If the dog had turned into a zombie . Just like the other demon it looked almost like it had been skinned . There were some differences with a greyhound though , such as the head with the oversized maw . The three rows of sharp teeth were clearly showing as the monster silently growled toward him . It had no fur , and instead had a thin red skin with the wiry muscles clearly showing beneath . This beast also only had the customary 4 legs , compared with the 6 legs of the other demons .

Its paws were also larger than a normal dog’s , and Zac could clearly see large sinister claws sticking out of them . The sinewy tail seemed overly long even for a monster of this size , slowly swaying behind it .

Finally he noticed that one of the front paws was bloodied , dying the grass red . That explained the burning pain on his shoulder . He had no time to come up with any fancy strategies at the moment and could only fall back on his go-to method for dealing with demons . He slowly repositioned himself so that he once again would have his back to a tree . He had immediately discarded the idea to run away . With its lithe build and long legs it obviously was built for speed , and he had no delusions of being able to shake it off . Hopefully the high speed would help come in handy for him when it slammed into the tree behind .

Suddenly the hound shot toward him . Zac knew it would be fast but it looked like the like it flew across the ground . The 30-meter distance between them was erased in seconds , and Zac barely had the time to jump out of the way to let the hound slam into the tree .

Just as the monster was about to slam into the tree trunk it swung its long tail . This somehow changed the direction of its momentum . Instead of slamming into the tree it actually used the trunk as purchase with its legs to push itself forward toward Zac’s falling figure . Even before he had hit the ground from jumping away , the beast was upon him .

Zac swung the hatchet while midair , but the beast was to close for the blade to hit its head . He managed to punch the jawline with the haft of the axe though , stopping the maw from chomping down on his head .

Zac landed with his back on the ground , and the hound fell on him . All air was knocked out of his lungs , and he could taste the iron of blood in his mouth . He was face to face with the beast , its acrid breath filling his nose .

Zac desperately held the head at bay with his left arm , swinging the hatchet with his other . Dismayed Zac saw that he couldn’t generate enough strength to create more than flesh wounds from this awkward position . The beast struggled to reach him with its maws , meanwhile clawing on Zac’s chest . Each swipe ripped straight through his shirt and left a bloody gash on his torso .

This stalemate could not last , he would be cut to ribbons if he didn’t do something . He swung the beast to the side and slammed it into the ground on his left , giving a brief moment of respite . He didn’t dare hesitate and immediately swung his axe in a broad arc . His body screamed in protest but he could only grit his teeth .

The axe howled and swung down toward the demon hound .

Chapter 15 - Desperation