Defiance of the Fall

While it still hurt Zac could move his arm again . He had used the monkey as a wall to slam the ball of his arm back into its socket . As a thanks Zac gave it a quick chop which decapitated it , and then kicked its headless body into two oncoming stone monkeys .

This couldn’t continue for long , as Zac had less than 10% of his cosmic energy reserves remaining while the monkeys showed no desire to relent . Thankfully the lush forest soon gave way to rocky outcroppings and cliffs , showing that he was approaching one of the peaks .

Due to the haphazard escape he wasn’t sure which one of the peaks it was , but a quick glance outward showed the familiar forest of the island . That meant he wasn’t running north at least , as he’d only be seeing ocean then . He was thankful , as he was afraid he would have been forced to jump down the steep cliff , praying to survive the 100-meter drop into the ocean .

Zac kept running , and he planned to escape into the forest down on the ground . The first time he fought the monkeys they had stopped at the foot of the mountain , and he could only hope they’d do the same again .

But almost immediately as he ran he knew that plan wouldn’t work . As he passed a small crest a larger view of the island came into view , and he could see the incursion and the demon town . The position immediately made him realize he was on the easternmost peak . If he ran right down this peak he’d be in prime demon territory . Straight out of the frying pan and into the fire .

He stopped for a second confused as what to do which allowed a few monkey captains to drag out new projectiles out of the ground and hurl them at Zac .

He slammed one of them away but the other hit him with a deep thud , eliciting a bloody cough . Even with his 90 plus Endurance , it felt like he couldn’t take many more of those throws . He couldn’t remember how many he’d tanked by now , and it felt like his body was on the brink of collapse .

He sluggishly swung his axe and killed a monkey who was foolish enough to get close and looked around for options .

In his vision he saw a cave entrance slightly hidden behind some shrubbery and boulders . After a brief hesitation he changed course for the cavity . If he continued on along the mountain path he’d arrive at where he had spotted the demon party earlier , and the risk of running into the monkey packs was great . He couldn’t return either , as he wouldn’t last running to another peak .

He didn’t really want to enter the cave , but he knew that it was his only hope . Right now he couldn’t see any other method to shake off the monkey horde . They seemed truly consumed by rage , which made sense as he had killed well over a hundred of the assailants by now .

Either the cave was a small dwelling for an animal , or a part of a larger network of tunnels . If it was the former he’d make a last stand , and at least the enemies would only be able to come from one direction . If it was the latter he might actually survive by fleeing into the tunnels .

There were roughly 10 monkeys in the way , and Zac grimly summoned Chop] for one last charge . His arms and legs felt like they were coated in lead , but he determinedly swung his axe while he advanced .

The monkeys could offer no resistance against Zac’s reignited spirit , and he soon was at the mouth of the cave . A rock slammed into his back just as he entered , making him realize he couldn’t just stand at the entrance and fight it out . He would be sniped to death . After a quick glance inside it seemed that the cave actually was just the entrance of a bigger cave system .

The monkeys seemed to have no problem following him into the tunnels , as they charged towards the entrance without hesitation . Zac suddenly was afraid that he would be in even worse straits if he let them enter . They were stone monkeys , who knew what advantages they’d have inside a cave .

Out of options he could only do something stupid and desperate . He put away his axe and brought out his great sword . With a furious slam he hit the roof of the cave entrance , causing huge cracks in the roof and making rock chippings fly in all directions . He didn’t stop and slammed twice more with all the strength he could muster , and finally an ominous rumbling could be heard .

The roof of the cave started to collapse , and Zac desperately ran further into the cave . Falling rock and debris pelted him , and he was forced to leave his sword behind in the chaos . After a minute the rumblings stopped , and the cave was completely blocked for at least 20 meters of debris . It would take even the strong monkeys a good while to excavate the entrance , if they even wanted to .