Defiance of the Fall

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 didn’t 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 hadn’t 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 didn’t 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 Zac’s 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 hadn’t hit an artery . The electric shocks hurt as well , but with Zac’s 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 demon’s throat a translucent edge grew out a meter and cleanly decapitated the ranger .

Zac didn’t 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 wasn’t 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 .

Chapter 42 - Exodus

With only two demons left , not including the knocked out warrior , Zac charged toward his next targets . The two demons briefly looked at each other in the eye , and both launched an attack before fleeing .

The tome-wielding demon’s attack was an almost invisible ripple in the air , whereas the earth mage erected a large wall . Zac once again threw his axe just before the wall completely obscured the two fleeing combatants , and then he crashed straight into the wall .

The wall was hastily erected and couldn’t withstand Zac’s momentum , and he blasted through it like a wrecking ball . Just as he did the ripple hit him , making him nauseous and disoriented . But the attack wasn’t as strong as the earlier one , and he soon managed to dispell the effects .

A quick glance at the demon who used the ripple attacks showed her dead with an exploded chest , with his axe stuck in the ground some distance away from her corpse . But before he could continue on to kill the earth mage he felt an intense amount of danger as he heard a whistling sound . It was the sword-wielding warrior who Zac had punted earlier .

Somehow he had gotten up and snuck right behind Zac without him noticing , and his two-handed sword was bearing down on his throat . Zac had no time to dodge and could only put his hopes on the spell on his chest . The familiar golden sheen of the armor’s skill immediately enveloped him , just in time to intercept the large sword .