Defiance of the Fall

With a crash , the warrior was flung backward once again , and this time Zac could hear the sound of bone breaking .

The earth demon was still running and Zac couldn’t let him get away . He barreled after him and threw a knife at the back of the mage . A block of rock rose up behind him intercepting the dagger , but the scare made the mage stumble .

Zac immediately rushed to the fallen demon , and ferociously stabbed down at his throat . However , a layer of rock appeared on the mage's skin , creating another layer of defense . The knife simply couldn’t cut through it .

Terror was still evident in the demon’s eyes , and it stuttered some words in its own language . Zac ignored it and brought out the huge greatsword from his pouch . He increased the weight to the max through the inscription on the blade , and slammed it down on the body . It was cruel , but he wouldn't risk letting the mage somehow alerting the army of what was going on .

Over 130 Strength and a heavy greatsword resulted in a ruptured lump of flesh on the ground , and even a crater was created .

Zac didn’t waste any time , and immediately ran back toward the last demon . He found him limping away from the scene of the battle , his sword discarded where he fell . He soon noticed Zac approaching with fear and hatred evident on his face . Suddenly he completely disappeared , shocking Zac .

He wondered if the demon used some sort of teleportation skill which would allow it to escape . He furiously ran toward where the demon disappeared and looked around for any clues .

Zac saw a glimmer in the distance and immediately threw a dagger at it . Suddenly the background looked like it was distorting , and the warrior reappeared , the dagger lodged in his arm . Zac ran over , and with a swing of the great sword ended the fight .

The last demon had used an illusion skill like his array , or something similar . That was also how he snuck up and almost decapitated him earlier . Zac was a bit surprised a meat head-looking warrior knew such a skill , as that felt like something that usually belonged to rogue-like classes .

It made him realize he couldn’t rely on his gaming experiences for everything . The system was quite omnipotent , and anything was possible .

With the demons killed there was no hurry anymore , so Zac quickly treated most of his wounds and then gathered up all the corpses and their gear in his pouch . This also made sure none of the demons pulled a ruse on him and played dead , as nothing living could enter the pouch . He also retrieved his daggers and axe , and while doing so he was attacked by the last barghest and gwyllgi from the roving party .

With their masters dead they went back to their ordinary hyper-aggressive behavior . Without any demons shooting various things at him he finished them off easily , officially eradicating the war party .

The fight had gone above his expectation , and he was almost like a fox let loose in a hen house . His stats were getting increasingly scary for his level . Furthermore , the fight had also made him realize something . Not one of the demons he had fought thus far used any Dao while fighting . They had used battle tactics and skills , but the indefinable quality of Dao , such as Zac’s heaviness and force he could imbue into his strikes , were missing . Perhaps gaining a Dao seed was something uncommon , or at least hard , making it a rare boost reserved for the elite .

He was also very satisfied with his new skill Chop] . It worked just as he hoped , providing a great method of sneak attacking . He wasn’t sure if it was designed to be used this way , but he felt it was the most effective method in this type of combat .

Zac had wanted to use the skill a bit more to test it out in battle , but unfortunately , he spent a good deal of the battle without the axe in his hand . He really hoped he would be able to pick up some back-up axes , or even throwing axes , soon . Unfortunately Azzun had been the only demon so far who fought with an axe .

Even though he luckily stopped the signal flare and finished the battle quickly Zac didn’t feel relieved . The fight took place right by his camp , making him realize it was just a matter of time before he was exposed .

He spent the next hour going over the scene of the battle , meticulously removing any traces of battle that he could . He was forced to crush the earthen spikes into rubble , but the wall was crumbling by itself for some reason . Perhaps it was erected so hastily that it couldn’t properly stabilize , sort of like his Chop] blade when making it too long .

When finally done it wasn’t readily apparent a battle took place outside his camp . There were sections of overturned earth though , as Zac had to hide the blood and viscera somehow . Hopefully a day or two in the sun and wind would make it appear more natural .