Defiance of the Fall: A LitRPG Adventure

by TheFirstDefier

  It was Zac’s ace in the hole that he had hoped to keep until the last wave and finish it off with a bang. But he immediately knew there was no way for them to manually kill the endless number of wolves that spawned out of the wave, especially not with the wall in shambles. They would have been tired out, then overrun from the numbers.

  An acute sense of danger warned Zac, who immediately used [Loamwalker] to move away as far as possible. Soon after, he heard the ground explode behind him from a lightning bolt, but he didn’t bother turning around. He was closing in on the safety of the array.

  The lightning actually kept increasing, and Zac was forced to keep dodging the bolts. But even with his movement skill, he didn’t come out unscathed, as the lightning ran along the ground between two nearby bolts, shocking Zac on the way.

  His world turned white for a second, and he stumbled, but he shook himself awake and continued. It felt like he was cooked from inside, and the pain was even worse than the black lightning arcs that the main branch demons used. He was forced to eat a few more secondary blasts of lightning before he finally threw himself through the array and fell down panting.

  Smoke was rising from his body, and the short hair that had grown out lately was singed clean off, once again turning him into a bald monk. After a few steadying breaths, he got up and turned toward the battlefield. Now that he wasn’t running for his life, he could actually properly inspect the lightning storm, and the sight was truly exceptional.

  He felt it was a joke he’d considered Rydel’s final attack to be a punishment from heaven. This was what real heavenly thunder looked like. It was as though the god of thunder himself wanted to smite this whole part of the island out of existence as huge bolts unceasingly slammed into the ground.

  He looked up and saw that the cloud was spread a bit further than he had hoped, and errant bolts kept slamming into the shield. He winced with every blast, as he knew that each time lightning struck the shield, it cost him Nexus Crystals.

  “Good hustle, human,” Ogras said as he approached with his trademark half-smile. “I didn’t expect the lightning punishment to be this intense. It might be because there’s a Nexus Vein beneath the island.”

  Zac nodded and brought out a canteen of water that he poured over himself, the water cooling his singed body.

  “I’m not sure the crystals will last,” the demon then added with a low voice, his face turning somber. “The amount of lightning striking the shield is more than we expected.”

  “Are the rods ready?” Zac asked in response.

  The demon nodded and waved toward the small wall that now was adorned with five-meter-tall metal spears jutting out at some intervals, leading down into the ground. It was lightning rods they had asked the blacksmith to create in case the lightning got out of control.

  “Lower the power to the shield, and it might last longer.” Zac sighed.

  Ogras nodded and waved toward Janos, who still was managing the shield. He touched the large crystal ball, and soon the shield dimmed somewhat.

  “Move away from the wall!” Ogras shouted, and people spread out some distance from the wall.

  Even with weakened energy output, the shield defended against most of the lightning bolts. Every now and then, a crack was blasted open, letting a few slip through. Luckily, they harmlessly entered the rods, which pushed the lightning down into the ground, until the shield repaired itself again. However, it was clear that each rod would only be able to take one or two of these magical bolts of lightning, as they partly melted from a strike.

  They didn’t have to worry about the metallic wolves outside either, as they had been the focus of the lightning since the start due to their composition. They were quickly reduced to molten pools of metal on the ground outside.

  Finally, the lightning bolts started to subside, and the skies cleared up with noticeable speed. Zac and Ogras finally dared to exit the shield to look at the result. They quickly moved up to the mostly ruined wall and surveyed the battlefield. Even Ogras looked shocked by what they saw. The scene was like something taken out of a horror story. Thousands upon thousands of mangled and burned carcasses covered the ground, which by itself was burnt and pocked.

  Zac was surprised to see that only one pillar of light remained in the distance. Had the Lightning Punishment even destroyed the portals? As if sensing that the offensive array’s onslaught had ended, the last incursion started pulsing, and out walked a humongous beast. It was the 720th beast wave, and it was the complete opposite of the last one. As soon as the monstrous wolf walked out of the portal, it winked out of existence.

  The wolf looked abyssal with six pitch-black eyes and a much too large maw. It actually gave Zac the same vibes as the demonic beasts he had fought so far on the island, and he turned toward Ogras and found him looking pale.

  “E-grade Fiend Wolf,” Ogras exclaimed with some fear evident on his face.

  “From your home world?” Zac asked, as Ogras clearly recognized the monster.

  “No, but it lives within demon territory. They are extremely dangerous. Luckily, there’s only one. Usually, they rove in large packs of thousands. Still, it’s going to be a tough fight. It’s evolved to E-rank and possesses at least one Dao Seed.”

  The wolf started approaching and let out a demonic roar that echoed through the battlefield. The howl felt like a physical blow to Zac, and he saw that some bloody gashes actually appeared on Ogras, who lost his balance.

  The wolf swiped its claws toward the two, and even though there were two hundred meters between them, Zac felt a terrifying sense of danger. He immediately grabbed the falling Ogras and unhesitantly jumped down from the wall.

  As he landed, he heard a swishing sound from above, and the next second, the wall was simply blown away, cut into multiple pieces. A terrifying wave continued on and slammed into the shield, instantly destroying it.

  “Dao of Sharpness…” Zac muttered, convinced that it should be the Dao Seed he had been trying to gain for so long. He realized the wave of destruction from the sharp claws felt very familiar, and he was sure that it had the added feeling of the Dao of Sharpness he once sensed in his first vision.

  “It’s too strong. E-rankers are simply different from us unevolved. We should give this one up, human,” Ogras muttered as he spat out some gravel from his mouth.

  But Zac paid him no heed as he stood up and glared at the last wolf who stood between him and his goals.

  92

  Fiend Wolf

  The wolf obviously was able to do great damage from such a distance, so there was no point in hiding behind the wreckage of the walls. Zac didn’t have any more tools or arrays to take care of it, so he would have to finish this last wave by hand. He took out an axe and charged toward the beast with determination in his eyes.

  The Fiend Wolf spotted him and, with a mighty roar, set off against him as well. As they approached each other, the boss once more swiped with its claw, making three edges rend a path toward him. In response, Zac charged up five [Chop] edges and launched them to meet the blades one by one.

  The wolf’s attack demolished the first blade without being impeded in the slightest, and the following four blades didn’t fare much better. The five blades somewhat slowed down the attack and weakened it, but it was nowhere enough to stop it. It forced Zac to use his movement skill to dodge it, happy that at least his axe didn’t take damage from using the Cosmic Energy blades after they detached from the axe.

  The attacks of the wolf were on a higher tier compared to his own, and he didn’t know whether it was due to the Dao of Sharpness or the power of the beast itself. He knew that evolving into an E-grade class was supposed to give a huge power boost, but he still felt he should be able to contend with his enormous stat boosts from his titles. Luckily, his movement skill was great for dodging attacks, and he sidestepped the incoming strike.

  Soon he was upon the beast, and it felt even more threatening this close. It was even larger compared to the huge rock wol
ves he’d fought some time ago, reaching over six meters in height. But that clearly wasn’t its only difference. The very air around it hummed with power, and he actually felt himself getting cut by innumerable air blades. Some small cuts even appeared on his body with his huge Endurance, so Zac knew that an unevolved human would be cut into ribbons by simply walking close to this monster.

  It was the beast’s Dao Field. Ogras and Alyn had explained the magical effects of Dao in battle. For example, when a warrior’s insight got deeper, he could actually spread his Dao out into the vicinity, creating a field that empowered himself or hurt his enemy. An early-stage seed was too weak for that, though, meaning this wolf not only possessed the Seed of Sharpness, it was also an evolved version.

  He moved underneath the monster, careful to avoid its long serrated claws that looked like they could bisect him in a second. He quickly summoned [Chop] and swung at one of its hind legs in an effort to chop it off. He had no wish to stay in this field too long, as he’d be slowly whittled down to just bones.

  The five-meter edge slammed into the leg some ways above the knee and penetrated into the thick sinewy muscles. But the axe didn’t get far before it was stopped. Even with Zac’s monstrous power, he couldn’t lop off its leg. The swing pushed the leg back, but soon the axe in his hands started to bend.

  The standard-issue axe simply wasn’t good enough to cut through the monster, at least not without the aid of his Dao Seed or a stronger skill. Even odder, it was as though some force rebounded his energy, annihilating the Cosmic Energy he used in the swing, which nullified much of the effectiveness of the strike.

  He threw away the ruined axe and brought out a new one, but the wolf wasn’t content just to let Zac scurry about underneath its stomach. It pushed away with extreme speed and repositioned itself so that it could bite or claw after him. It started to furiously swipe at Zac, who could only once again rely on his movement skill to move away.

  It destroyed the ground all around him as the waves from the claws rent gashes as deep as Zac was tall, which stretched tens of meters away. The beast wasn’t using any skills, only the power of its body empowered with its Dao, and still the effect was even greater compared to when Zac used [Chop]. Gravel and charred body parts of wolves were flying all over the area from the Fiend Wolf’s assault.

  Zac tried to move closer to the beast, but it held him at bay with its claws and huge maw, making it impossible to get around. He soon gave up and infused a [Chop] with the Dao of Heaviness and furiously swung it at the claw to intercept it. The collision was enormous, and Zac was pushed twenty meters away, the axe in his hand completely destroyed.

  The wolf wasn’t unscathed, though, as it yelped and backed away a bit. Nothing was cut off, unfortunately, but the empowered strike at least broke some bones in its paws and perhaps destroyed some muscles. The Fiend Wolf obviously didn’t want to put any weight on the damaged paw, even though it didn’t actually bleed.

  The wolf only seemed to get even more enraged, and the air distorted around it. It furiously howled up in the air, then exploded into action. With a frenzied charge, it ignored its hurt paw in order to close in on Zac, who once again was forced on the defensive. Zac’s Cosmic Energy was over halfway depleted even before starting the battle, and he knew he couldn’t just keep dodging. [Loamwalker] had an amazing effect, but it was his most draining skill.

  Without seeing any alternative, he pushed forward right after dodging a swing, moving straight toward the beast’s head. The maw of the monster was immediately upon him, rows of jagged teeth closing in. But just as the mouth was about to slam shut, a green shimmering sheen enveloped Zac.

  It was the defensive option of his clothing, something he hadn’t used apart from some experiments during the past month. As top-tier E-grade equipment, the shield from his robe stopped the teeth in their tracks, even causing many of them to crack or break off.

  The pain must have been blinding for the monster, as it howled in pain while its head jerked away by reflex. Zac saw his opportunity and charged up his [Chop] with the Dao of Heaviness, and ruthlessly chopped at its exposed throat. The power of his swing was enormous, and he could actually hear some things in its throat breaking. He also managed to cut some ways into its throat, making a great deal of almost pitch-black blood spurt out.

  The power of the swing together with the Dao of Heaviness actually threw the huge monster over ten meters away, where it landed with a deep thud. The ground beneath Zac’s feet caved from the pressure, chips flying in all directions.

  Unfortunately, the swing wasn’t enough, as the monster had no trouble getting back on its feet. It was frothing at its mouth in anger, and a deep growl incessantly escaped its mouth. But just as it got to its feet, nine large spikes materialized around it from clouds of green shimmering gases. Zac’s sense for danger started tingling from just looking at the meter-long spikes, and he glanced around.

  He saw Alea standing some distance away with a pale face, ready to keel over. Just as he saw her, she closed her fist, and a penetrating screech erupted from the wolf. Zac quickly turned back and saw that the large spikes had penetrated deep into various parts of the beast’s body.

  The wolf let out an enraged roar and furiously shook to remove the poisoned spikes from its body. However, they were firmly lodged into its body, and even with its thrashing, they stayed inside. The wolf howled in anger and ignored Zac to swipe its front claw toward the demoness, who desperately scrambled away. The movements of the wolf were weird and twitchy after being impaled, but it still was able to send those sharp edges out.

  The nail attack had clearly used up all of her power as she stumbled around while she tried to avoid the incoming blades. Zac knew that should have been Alea’s ace in the hole, as he could barely draw blood with his huge swings, yet all nine of her spikes had penetrated the tough hide.

  The onslaught quickly became too much, and the edge of a swipe hit her shoulder, drawing a great spurt of blood. She had actually used some defensive option at the last minute, but the attack immediately destroyed the cloud that formed in front of her. She yelled in pain but kept moving away from the wolf, but it wouldn’t have it.

  Zac tried everything in his arsenal to stop the assault of the enraged wolf, wildly swinging his axe at it, but it seemed intent on bringing the poison master down. Apparently, those spikes had hurt far more than anything else it had felt during the battle. It furiously gathered a great deal of Cosmic Energy in its claw and swung a huge arc after her when it saw that she was moving further away.

  Zac saw that she wouldn’t be able to dodge it and moved in front of her with a few quick strides of [Loamwalker]. He activated the second charge of his shield, once more enveloping him in the protective layer as he positioned himself in front of the demoness. The enormous wave of destruction approached, and Zac was punched back from the impact. But luckily, the shield held even against this huge attack.

  He managed to soak up most of the damage that appeared, but the wave was simply too large. Some parts passed by him, and an errant streak of power swiped Alea, making her scream and topple over. A huge gash appeared on her clothes, and blood immediately started to pool beneath her. It looked like the strike almost completely bisected her.

  As he saw his companion, who received such a terrifying wound because she wanted to help him out, a blazing fury erupted in his mind, and he charged toward the hurt wolf. The only thing in his rage-addled brain was the need to destroy the Fiend Wolf. Zac didn’t even notice that Cosmic Energy was gathering toward his head as he furiously charged toward the boss.

  The wolf was in quite bad condition from Zac’s swings and the poison, but it roused itself to intercept his strike. Just as it did, tens of black spears rose up from the ground, striking various weak spots. A large spear whistled through the air and impaled its undamaged front leg, making it fall down again with a yelp. Zac didn’t care about any of that and, with a roar, pushed off the ground, sailing through the air toward the monster
.

  While he jumped, he gripped his axe with both hands and lifted it over his head. As he did, an enormous edge over ten meters formed, thrumming with sharp power. The edge was neither the pale blue as usual nor the darker shade from imbuing it with the Dao of Heaviness. It glistened with a silvery luster, and it looked like the very air itself was cut apart as Zac moved forward.

  With a bestial roar, he swung down the axe, infusing all his anger and Cosmic Energy into the strike. He completely cut the beast in two, instantly killing it. It didn’t end there, though, as the strike slammed into the ground, tearing a fifty-meter gash into the ground with a thundering sound. It was like a miniature version of the huge canyon created by the axe-man in Zac’s first vision.

  Seeing the beast dead, it was as though all power left Zac, and he unceremoniously fell down after the strike. The last furious charge completely overtaxed him, and he was almost completely out of Cosmic Energy. As he lay panting on the ground, the shadows next to him flickered, and Ogras appeared through his movement skill.

  A flash of fear filled his heart as he saw the ruthless demon stare down at him, but he only bent down to give him a hand.

  “Good hustle.”

  “I thought you were going to retreat.” Zac sighed tiredly with a glance at the demon.

  “I was just waiting for the right opportunity to tip the scales. My normal attacks wouldn’t be able to hurt it, so you needed to do the heavy lifting,” the demon answered with a half-smile.

  Zac knew the demon probably only hid in the shadows until he saw an opportunity to kill the Fiend Wolf. If it didn’t appear, he would have receded into the darkness and left without so much as a goodbye. Still, he knew the demon was under no obligation to risk his life for him, so he wouldn’t comment on the flakiness.