Defiance of the Fall

Zac knew he couldn’t fight a protracted battle , as the monkey would destroy his weapon if they kept clashing like this . Using Chop] wouldn’t help either , as the damage was transferred to axe anyway .

Angry at being pushed back Cindermane roared and stomped the ground , causing multiple spikes to erupt beneath Zac . They looked similar to the spikes of the earth mage , with the distinction that they seemed blazing hot and far more numerous .

Zac managed to destroy most of the spikes with a chop , but one managed to stab into his leg . A blinding pain erupted in his thigh , causing him to involuntarily scream . A sickening sizzling sound could be heard and Zac smelled the fragrance of grilled meat . The spike was actually barbequing his leg .

Ignoring the pain he grabbed the burning hot spike with his free hand , ripped it out of his leg and threw it away . As he did the Herald took the opportunity to grab the ground , dragging out a stone the size of Zac from seemingly nowhere . Its molten fingers penetrated the boulder and soon the whole rock was glowing a sinister red .

With a roar it tried to slam the stone down right on Zac , who could only ungainly dodge . Not daring to hide any of his cards any longer he infused his strikes with Dao and started swinging away against the Herald .

Cindermane possessed either great reflexes or combat experience , as he kept dodging or deflecting the strikes . Zac tried to grab onto the monkey with his free hand in order to throw it down on the ground , but as soon as he got a grip on its arm the red streaks lit up and the arm got searing hot . Zac instinctively let go with a scream , and the monkey took the opportunity to try to claw out his throat .

Zac saw no choice but to activate his armor , and the golden sheen protected him from getting killed . He wouldn’t give up even with his lifesaving device used up though , and wildly kept swinging at the Herald , unheeding of any cosmic energy expenditure . After a few exchanges the monkey king managed to get a stab in with one of its hands , pushing a centimeter into Zac’s arm . The finger burned even hotter compared to the spike , and Zac couldn’t refrain from screaming out in pain again .

However Zac’s every strike was overwhelming . He used every trick Axe Mastery] had taught him and weaved a net of destruction with his axe . Marks started to appear on the monkey's hands , and it looked like it wouldn’t be able to block his strikes forever . It was lucky as well as the edge of the axe was starting to shine with a red sheen from all the collisions as well . Not much longer and Zac feared that the inscriptions on it would be ruined , which meant that it wouldn’t auto-repair any longer .

He also had pushed the Herald back toward the tree , and they were currently fighting under the white leaves .

The monkey became more agitated as they approached the trunk , and furiously fought to force Zac away from the tree . There clearly was something special about it , and the Herald didn’t want to risk it getting damaged . The Monkey suddenly emitted a penetrating screech , its whole body lighting up .

It spat out a white-hot ball of magma straight at Zac’s chest , forcing him to jump out of the way , and away from the tree . As he dodged he also saw that the lava spit wasn’t the only thing that changed from that scream .

Like a scene out of a horror movie suddenly an endless number of bodies rose out of the ground , pushing the dried trees and bushes to the side . It wasn’t zombies , but a vast number of stone monkeys , all looking larger and stronger compared to normal ones . With a quick glance he could make out at least 40 monkey captains among the reinforcement .

The monkeys had been lying dormant under the ground , and the roar called them to action to create a trap . He didn’t know why it waited so long to unleash them , but he knew that he had run out of time . In just seconds he would be overrun with stone spears and boulders . He would have problems contending with just the monkey horde , but if he had to watch out for the spells from the Herald as well he’d surely die .

A desperate idea grew in his mind , and he didn’t have time to go through pros and cons before trying it out . He was currently two meters away from the tree trunk , and with an exaggerated roar he swung his axe in a horizontal swipe . As he did the familiar blade of Chop] rapidly grew out , soon longer than he could stably maintain for any longer duration .

Cindermane screeched and hastily jumped to intercept the huge edge from cutting down the tree . Zac’s premonition was correct , the tree truly held a great importance to the monkey .

The Herald couldn’t properly grab the translucent edge with its awkward positioning , and the edge cut into its whole body horizontally across the chest . A deep grisly gash was carved onto its body , but its great Endurance prevented it from getting cut in two . It still was badly hurt and bled profusely as it fell down on the ground .