Chapter 27: One Against Many
Zac almost lost his breakfast as the arrowhead slammed straight into his gut. It punched through the wired leather armor and continued into his body. Luckily most of the force had been spent going through the armor, and with Zac’s high endurance it only proceeded two centimeters before stopping.
This kind of wound wouldn’t reallyfaze Zac anymore after constantly getting hurt from his fights. However, he still hesitated for a second after ripping the arrow out. Fight or flee? He hadn’t prepared to challenge the party like this.
However, he soon discarded any thought of fleeing. He didn’t like the prospect of having another arrow slam into him, this time in the back of his head while running for his life. The ranger seemed to have some detection skill, as she could spot and shoot him while he was hidden in bushes a few hundred meters away. He needed to kill the archer at least before fleeing.
He threw the arrow away and pulled out one of his smaller knives from its sheath. Zac wasted no time and threw it straight at the archer, and it flew with at least the same velocity as the arrow that had hit him.
The female demon seemed to have been prepared, and with an almost impossible nimbleness jumped out of the way and proceeded up into a tree like a forest elf. She moved like a specter and in just a few seconds she was gone from his vision among the leaves
Zac tsked in annoyance, and charged at the party while trying to use trees as a cover from the archer. The force of his steps made deep indents in the ground as he charged forth like a runaway bull. The three remaining demons were obviously ready for the fight, as they spread out intending to encircle him.
Zac could sense that all of them were using some skill, as he could feel the cosmic energy react to their bodies. An illusory red gas started floating around one of the combatants, giving him a more sinister feel. The other underling pointed down on the ground, but Zac couldn’t see anything happening.
Zac couldn’t see anything happening with the leader either, but the sense of danger increased substantially.
As Zac was furiously approaching he quickly used [Eye of Discernment] on the trio, and got some basic information about his enemies.
[Metisis, Level 38]
[Gormer, Level 39]
They were roughly 5 levels higher compared to the last party he had attacked. That meant that they should have at least 15-20 higher stat points including the bonus stats from their classes, compared to the last group of demonss.
He was also surprised to notice that the third man, the unarmed one, had somehow resisted his skill. There was only a blur above his head. This made Zac even more wary of him. He had even managed to identify the herald Vul, who was far higher level compared to himself.
Zac furiously circulated cosmic energy in his body, and ran straight toward the weakest enemy, Metisis. When he was just over 50 meters away from them an arrow came whizzing down from the tree tops. This time Zac was prepared and slammed it away with the broad side of his axe head.
The force of this arrow was far higher than the hastily one she had shot before. When the axe and arrow collided he was actually pushed back a bit, his feet making a grove in the ground. Luckily the axe was apparently made from excellent materials, and wasn’t damaged one bit.
Zac pushed ahead once again, the last 50 meter distance gone in just a few seconds.
Just as he was a few meters away from his target, he pushed all the cosmic energy he could into his right leg. He instantly kicked off with all the power he could, and shot like a bullet straight at the other demon, Gormer. The force of the push created an explosion in the ground, even leaving a small crater.
They had not expected the speed that a 98 strength powered push could give, and Gormer barely managed to lift his hooked sword before Zac chopped horizontally with all the strength he could muster.
The axe moved like a lightning, but when it entered the weird gaseous substance it felt like he was trying to push through water. A good part of the momentum was somehow sapped out of the strike, and his force couldn’t properly come to bear.
Zac wouldn’t let this opportunity go though, and with a growl redoubled his efforts, and the axe continued on and slammed into the demon right under his left arm. The leather armor could afford almost no resistance against the sharp edge of Zac’s axe as it embedded itself firmly in his chest. He couldn’t push it clean through though, as the weird strength sapping effect seemed to be even stronger within the body of the demon.
Zac immediately ripped his axe out which produced a tremendous sprout of blood. He planned to turn around to meet the other two demons head on next. He didn’t believe he’d get a second chance for a surprise attack like this.
But before he could do anything, he suddenly felt something ensnare his feet and he completely lost his footing. Zac fell headfirst on top of the collapsed dying demon. Gormer seemed intent on revenge even with one foot in the grave, as he weakly held on to Zac to keep him from fleeing.
While Zac struggled to get free he took a quick glance down at his legs. They were ensnared by a handful of purplish wiggling roots, which somehow seemed alive. They seemed to be a skill or magic that came from the other demon underling.
Perhaps they had planned to ensnare him when he got closer, and then attack him from three directions, securing an easy kill. Unfortunately for them Zac had preceded them with his lightning fast blitz.
Zac had no time to analyze it any further, as the leader had moved to position close to him. Shockingly he no longer was unarmed, but hefted a monstrous great sword that was almost as long as he was, and over 20cm wide.
He had mocking eyes and a sneer as he lifted the sword above his head. Zac could once again feel the movement of cosmic energy, and knew that the leader was using a skill. Dark arcs of power spread from his arms into the large blade.
The dying demon’s strength was no match for Zac, and he frantically ripped himself free from his grip. But he only managed to get himself up to his knees when the large blade started falling down on him. It was poised to cleave him in two unless he did something.
Zac pushed his power to the limit and gripped his axe with both hands and swung upward with all his might, hoping to intercept the sword.
With a tremendous clangor that echoed through the vicinity the axe and the great sword connected. The force actually created a shockwave that blasted outwards.
Zac was slammed down into the ground again from the force creating a small crater. Even with his superhuman stats he couldn’t handle the power of the sword. Luckily for him he at least managed to get the leader demon off-kilt and change the trajectory of the strike. It actually slammed down in the gut of the dying Demon. The might was so strong that the torso of the underling veritably exploded, instantly killing him. That wiped the smirk of the leaders face and seemed to enrage him instead.
Meanwhile, the dark lightning from the demon’s skill passed into Zac’s axe when they collided, and burrowed into his arm. A blazing pain ran through his whole body, and his muscles spasmed uncontrollably.
That was actually the only reason Zac survived, as a great spasm jerked his head some distance away. Another arrow slammed down right where his head had been before.
This arrow was different than the other, with a jagged arrowhead and being pitch black. It whizzed down with a great force and actually completely embedded itself into the ground, right down to the feathers. The extreme penetrating power was evident from that shot, likely from a skill.
It was only thanks to being bombed with black fireballs by the imps that Zac was able to retain consciousness. He pushed the pain away with all the resilience he could garner, and with a quick swing cut through the roots that ensnared his feet. The roots were far sturdier than they looked, and it felt like he cut through steel wire rather than wood.
Still it was no match for his power and the sharpness of his axe, and he was free in no time. He rolled a way as quickly as possible, trying to gain some distance before the leader swung down again.
He got to his feet just as another batch of roots closed in on him. This time they came as a swarm from the ground under the other demon. Zac whirled his axe back and forth in a frenzied manner and cut them down as they came, stopping their advance after a while.
The battle reached a short lull as Zac stood panting, while facing the two Demons. He tried to survey the treetops but couldn’t locate the female archer. Her existence was like an annoying fly in the periphery that made him unable to fully concentrate. Even worse, this fly could kill him with one strike if he wasn’t careful.
Fighting one against many truly was a pain in the ass.