Chapter 60 (Patreon)

Zac Immediately got ready, and while hefting an axe in his hand he finally pushed down the rock wall that blocked the entrance. It made quite a crash, but it was nothing compared to the roars of thousands of monkeys, with demon screams peppered in.

As soon as he got out he was stunned by the mayhem.

It seemed he had emerged from a secluded crevice on top of an outcropping, giving him decent vantage over the peak and down toward the valley. Everywhere he looked he saw throngs of monkeys duking it out with legions of demons.

The air sparked with energy as fireballs and lightning bolts filled the sky, the ground rippled from a multitude of spears and other projectiles shooting out. Even nature itself had entered the fray as trees slowly reached down to grab unsuspecting monkeys, before ripping them apart.

The other beast types were here as well, as a thick wall of barghest stopped the monkeys from getting into melee range of the demons. They mindlessly charged toward the monkey groupings, completely heedless of their survival.

Groups of gwyllgi roamed the battlefield with far more finesse compared to the hulking demonlings. They roved in packs and struck weak spots or lone stragglers almost with surgical precision and then quickly got out of harm’s way.

There also were a smattering if imps placed together with the mage demons, but to Zac it seemed that most of them still were in their underground dwellings, as their number was quite sparse. Perhaps him killing their boss had caused some sort of chaos to their ranks, making it hard for the demons to control them.

The monkeys wouldn’t be outdone though, and the air was filled with flying debris, from the stalactites from the monkey captains to anything that the normal monkeys could get their hands on. Zac even saw corpses being used as projectiles, flung at the magical barriers erected by the demon mages. The barghest that came close to the monkeys were largely helpless after their first impact, and were pelted and bitten to death by the angry monkeys.

The magical shields held for the most part, but every now and then they got overtaxed and shattered. The monkey captains seemed quick on the uptake, and focused their energies on those areas, leaving the unlucky few behind the broken shield crushed meat paste beneath a mountain of boulders.

However, most of the projectiles didn’t reach the demons, but rather slammed into the demon beasts who fulfilled their purpose of being meat shields.

Overall the demon’s seemed to hold the advantage, as they steadily pushed forward. For every demon the monkey horde killed, it seemed that at least 5 monkeys died. It still was early in the battle though, and from experience Zac felt that the demons would run out of juice sooner or later. Those spells cost cosmic energy after all. As long as the monkeys could withstand their furious onslaught long enough they might have a chance to turn the situation around.

Besides, the terrain was not ideal for organized warfare that the demons were trying for. He saw that the orderly lines were starting to splinter, and the legions forced to split up as they advanced.

Zac didn’t know why it had come to a full scale war, but he didn’t complain. This kind of chaos was the best news for him. He wondered if the monkey’s disadvantage was because of him. He had thinned out their horde quite a bit after all.

Some movement in the distance grabbed his attention. It was a solitary group that seemed a notch above the other demons. They were steadily pushing forward and was entering the valley at a furious pace. None of the magic shields were breaking and the monkeys could offer no resistance to their advance.

In the front a few demons in resplendent gear were personally reaping the lives of monkeys like they were harvesting wheat. Especially attention grabbing was one male demon with shining white hair that was dancing in the wind. He held a sword in his hand and had another strapped to his back, and as he moved forward it almost looked like dancing rather than a battle. The sword moved in graceful lines and danced around him in a mesmerizing pattern. But Zac new it was no performance art, as that demon’s speed of killing seemed to even eclipse his own.

It looked like he had located the general.

Satisfied with what he had found, he started to make his way down from the cliff. He had wired his head in rags to hide his features, and covered as much skin as possible. Zac hoped that the demons would be too preoccupied with the monkeys to realize he lacked horns and wore shoes instead of having taloned paws.

He skirted around the main army, and aimed to enter the valley from a different direction. There were a few clumps of demons along the path but none seemed to react to him. It was lucky that the demon armies all had individual clothing and gear, making their composition look very chaotic.

As he walked around a bend he almost ran straight into a party of 6 demons. The one in the front snapped something in demonic as Zac passed, but Zac only waved his axe in response. His heartbeat quickened as he kept running, waiting for the demons to go their own way.

It seemed the proximity was to close, as an arrow came whizzing at his back. Sensing danger Zac whirled around and blocked the arrow with his axe handle. Sighing he made an 180 and rushed into the demon group while he summoned [Chop]. The man in the front held a sword, which by itself started burning as he swung it to intercept Zac’s chop. The demon hadn’t imagined the power contained in the chop, as the edge hit him like a truck and breaking both his arms. The swing continued onward as it chopped off his upper body, and continued to decapitate the unlucky demon who stood next to him with a short sword and shield.

Zac pushed on and made quick work of the last four demons, whose feeble attempts to stop him couldn’t even slow him down. After the blitz he was bleeding a bit from two small wounds, but it was nothing serious. He was however drenched in demon blood, and could only hope that the smell wouldn’t attract any beasts.

He slowly kept moving forward, taking half an hour to reach the forest at the edge of the valley, taking twice the time compared if he had rushed straight in.

As he moved forward he saw that the orderly war at the slopes of the mountain had turned into a chaotic melee in the valley by now. There were clumps of demons fighting monkeys scattered all over the place. In most places the demons still held an advantage, but at a few other they got overrun by sheer numbers.

He saw an unlucky group of 10 demons get ripped to pieces by an angry horde of monkeys. They put up a valiant defense, but two fists couldn’t defend against ten, and in just moment they were mangled corpses strewn on the ground. A few of the monkeys had even ripped of a limb and contentedly chewed on it as it moved toward the next pack.

Zac tried to avoid battle as much as he could, not wanting to get any more experience until he seized a Fruit of Ascension. He stayed clear of any larger battles, zig-zagging forward in a careful manner. Of course, every now and then he got accosted by either a group of demons that figured out his identity, or a group of enraged monkeys happy to target any humanoid.

The clashes resulted in furious melees as Zac wanted to finish the battles as quickly as possible. Unheeding of energy expenditure he ravaged any party that got close with great chops using his skills. When he ran low on cosmic energy took a sip from the lake water and let the burn quickly restore his deficit. He did avoid using the Dao of Heaviness though, as he didn’t have any means to restore his mental energy apart from sleeping.

Soon he arrived at the field of desolation, his body covered in a multitude of shallow wounds by now. Due to the consumption of the water he didn’t feel any pain though, and still felt he was in peak condition.

The vision the system showed earlier had been true, and a huge area was now covered in dried out and dead trees. The once lush forest was gone and replaced with a dead space.

After a quick look he saw that it only was fifty minutes until the fruits ripened. Even if he had blazed through all resistance in the forest it took some time to traverse the distance. He figured that if he ran it would take him twenty minutes or so to reach the crimson tree. He was hesitant whether he should leave the cover of the forest to enter the field as he would be completely exposed if he did.

After some deliberation he ran along the forest edge toward the opposite side of the field. The demons should be concentrated on the eastern side, as they entered the valley from there. The army might have spread to encircle the tree by now, but it should at least be thinner at the opposite side.

When he had gotten a bit more than half-way to the other side he veered into the dead zone and headed for the tree. He was running out of time and needed to get to the fruits. The area was largely devoid of combatants, either monkey or demon, and soon he saw why.

As he approached the tree he saw a scene of utter chaos. The magical tree still stood tall as it had before, with the addition of the two ripening fruits. Covering it was a glimmering shell covered in dense fractals. Zac felt that the shield should be the work of the System, as the fractals seemed perfect and in harmony with the universe, just like the ones on his array flags. The inscriptions on the demons’ weapons were far more simplistic in comparison.

Packed around the shield was a confusing and bloody carnage between monkeys and demons. There were no lines of demarcation, no strategy and no order. There were just hundreds upon hundreds of warriors crammed together, desperately trying to kill anything on the opposing side. They all tried to claw their way closer to the shield and the tree.

Right by the edge of the shield a few areas almost devoid of people could be seen, and in one of them Zac saw the white-haired demon fight against the monkey king. The herald had a few supersized monkey captains by his side, and they furiously did everything they could to support their leader. It seemed the herald was mostly healed up, but a huge scar adorned its chest now.

Every strike between the herald and the general created rippling shockwaves in the area, keeping all the grunts at bay. The ground looked blazing hot with fire and molten rock, likely a result of the herald’s onslaught.

But the general clearly held the advantage, and with a dizzying swordplay was whittling down Cindermane’s defenses. The large scar on his chest had started to open up, and new wounds over his arms accompanied it. The hulking monkey captains were covered in wounds from head to toe as well, one of them even missed a whole arm.

Meanwhile the general still looked pristine apart from some soot marks, as though the carnage and fire in the surroundings was isolated from himself. The monkey captains were doing what they could to ease the pressure, but it seemed that they wouldn’t be able to hang on for long unless something changed.