Defiance of the Fall

Zac quickly grabbed the head and put it on top of the body again , before hiding again . He had already scrubbed his face with some dirt , giving him a greyish complexion similar to the demons . With his gear already of demonic design he should probably pass as a demon from a cursory glance from a long distance . Of course if anyone took a second glance he’d be found out instantly , so he didn’t want to try it out .

He stayed next to the corpse and wormed closer to the edge . This part of the valley ended with a steep cliff , meaning that Zac would have to scale down 20 meters if he wanted to enter . But it also meant that he got a good view of the whole vale .

If the other parts of the wood had started to shift into a demon forest , then the valley looked like it was imported from another world . It was as though even the sky was different up above , feeling washed out and grey .

There should have been a great deal of vegetation just like the rest of the island , but it was sparse and looking sickly . There also was evidence of a large amount of felling , as he saw hundreds of cut off stumps . The combination made the valley look completely desolate . The ground was partly covered with smatterings of purplish black grass , but most was just black stone .

The demons clearly needed lumber for something . But for what Zac couldn’t tell so far . His eyes kept going over the valley , until finally looking over to the huge red pillar .

Zac could finally see the terminus of the incursion for the first time since he had arrived . It was a huge crystal that reminded Zac of his Nexus Node at his base . However , this crystal was red , and at least 3 meters tall .

The very air around it pulsated from the power the crystal emitted , and Zac could feel the huge energy that it released all the way from his hiding place . It continuously shot out the light that formed the large pillar that had been a constant part of his life the last month . The glow was so strong that he couldn’t see anything what was happening behind it .

Next to the pillar was a building and Zac could see a few demons milling about .

Zac planted himself within a bush , and while gnawing on some meat he had brought in his pouch he started waiting . After waiting for a full 3 hours he felt confident that there likely were limitations to the invasion .

He had not seen a single being appear from the crystal , nor disappear into it . Either they only came at certain times per day , or they couldn’t go back and forth between the island and their home world . The demons at the small building seemed to be guards left there just to make sure nothing happened to the crystal .

They were mostly milling about or even taking naps in the shade of the house .

Of course , Zac would have to stay for a good while longer if he wanted to confirm that the gate was closed , and he didn’t have time for that . However it made sense that they could only enter at certain intervals , from how the demons had appeared on the island .

The first wave assault had been the demonic beasts , and they arrived as soon as the world was integrated . The second wave was the humanoids who arrived after a month had passed . At the same time some limitations lessened on the beasts , making them stronger .

If the crystal only opened once a month , it would explain why Abby the eye had told him to finish the quest either within one month or within two . It stood to reason that the difficulty would take another noticeable leap within a month .

Zac was not sure if he would be able to handle that , as he was not powering up as quickly anymore as before . He had already gotten his class now , and gaining levels took more time now compared to earlier . The increase in strength he could gain within 30 days would likely be smaller compared to the one before , meaning that he really should try to end this invasion sooner rather than later .

As nothing really happened on this side of the valley , he decided to keep venturing further in . He moved along the edge of the valley in a roundabout manner toward the mountain .

The incursion and valley was located between the middle and the north of the island , while the mountain took up almost all of the northern quadrant . So Zac soon had travelled across the whole island , starting from his campsite in the far south .

Daylight was starting to wane , but Zac had already prepared himself to sleep outside today . While he was advancing he was keeping a lookout for possible temporary places to spend a night unnoticed . He had found some potential spots , but hadn’t bothered to prepare them yet .

During his travels he had killed four more demons . They were quite sparsely placed , making Zac more and more convinced that they were not too concerned about invasion in the immediate vicinity .

Soon he had walked along half the valley , and he could now see what was hidden earlier behind the red glow .

There actually was a town down there .