Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 37: Monstrous Power

While having some difficulty staying conscious Zac finished off the other three beasts that had arrived due to the noise of the fight. Luckily the surge of energy soon dissipated.

He quickly retreated after the kills, not wanting to keep battling any more barghest for the moment. After running for a few minutes he reached one of his hideouts, another construction high up in a tree.

As he sat down on the bedding on leaves he could finally focus on the new things in his head. Just as he suspected he had completed the quest for Axe Mastery with his last kill. His speed of killing had far surpassed his expectations. He had given himself a 10-day deadline but had finished it in just below a week’s time. It was mostly thanks to the high density of monsters in the central part of the island. The monsters were everywhere, and he didn’t have waste a lot of time traveling looking for his next target.

Zac closed his eyes to go over his new skill and was surprised to suddenly find himself standing on the edge of a cliff. Jolted by the change in scenery he immediately opened his eyes, only to once again see the familiar sight of his hideout.

It had only been an illusion or something created in his mind, but it had felt so real he had thought for a second he had been teleported somewhere. Zac calmed his breathing and slowly closed his eyes again.

He once again found himself to be standing on the desolate cliff. As he looked around he found that the cliff was a part of a seemingly endless canyon. It stretched further than Zac could see and the bottom was shrouded in a thick mist, giving the impression of being bottomless. The illusory world itself was a dull grey, as though all life had been sucked out of the area.

The most shocking sight wasn’t the canyon however, it was the enormous axe that was embedded in the ground a few hundred meters away from him. It was at least 50 meters tall and exuded a pressure that almost made Zac collapse just from standing in the vicinity.

The axe itself was simple and unadorned with a straight wooden haft. It was a double axe made in seemingly ordinary steel with curved edges. Even though it looked simple Zac felt that he was gazing at a supreme treasure just from the towering aura it exuded.

As soon as Zac’s eyes landed on the edge of the axe he stumbled backward, his face turning a ghastly white. It had felt like he was being split in two from just looking at the edge.

After regaining his bearing he tentatively looked up at the axe again, careful to avoid looking at the edges. But as he did, his vision once more changed.

The bleak dead world changed to one that could best be described as a paradise. Golden clouds hung in the sky, and there were fantastical buildings upon them. A network of translucent bridges connected the sky cities, and flying contraptions could be seen gliding about.

Zac himself was floating far up in the sky, seemingly unencumbered by gravity. Facing him was a vast celestial army. The army shone in a splendor of white and gold, and the generals radiated a terrifying power that Zac wouldn’t even be able to begin to grade. A few groups of the army were circling pillars as large as skyscrapers, and it took Zac a moment to realize the huge structures were actually supersized array flags, like the ones he had in his camp.

There were even titans among the ranks of the humanoid army, the shortest standing being at least 100 meters tall. Their muscular frames looked strong enough to carry mountains.

The army gave Zac a holy feeling, but it also emitted a monstrous killing intent, which largely seemed to be focused on himself. The very air seemed to vibrate with resentment.

Zac was terrified, as he instinctively knew that each and every one of these warriors would be able to end him without breaking a sweat. He tried to turn around and flee, but he couldn’t move even his eyes.

A sigh escaped for his lips, making him realize he was not just an incorporeal being spectating, but inhabiting a body that was out of his control. It seemed he was viewing the scene through the eyes of someone else.

His eyes suddenly looked down on his body, seeing a muscular frame covered in simple linen clothes. His feet were bare and dusty, looking as though he had walked all day without any shoes. Suddenly an axe entered his vision. It was hefted in his right hand and looked identical to the enormous one he had seen in the first vision at the canyon.

The hand holding it was extremely rough and calloused as if it had been holding and swinging the axe for an eternity.

His vision went back to the army, who now seemed to be preparing to attack. The air was rife with runaway power, almost to the point that the cosmic energy would liquefy.

Thousands of warriors started infusing cosmic power into the towering array flags, who started to shine in a white light that superseded even the pillar on his island.

Suddenly two enormous gates appeared above the army, summoned by the arrays. As the gates started to open an even stronger power started to leak out. It felt like a god’s punishment was held within those gates, and if they opened he would be destroyed body and soul.

But even against this force the being Zac inhabited didn’t react. He simply lifted his axe, and with a grunt swung it down in a vertical arc.

It was as though the world turned white with that swing, and nothing existed except its almighty arc expanding outward. Nothing could withstand it. The celestial soldiers were dismembered without managing to even muster up a defense.

The pillars shattered, and the Titans roared and tried to defend against the wave with their superior physiques. It was to no avail as they crumbled when the wave passed through them.

Some of the leaders frantically summoned awe-inspiring amounts of cosmic energy to muster up defenses that left Zac in shock. Others ripped open tears in the air itself to escape, shock and horror visible on their faces. But the blade arc pushed through and crushed the defenses like dry twigs, annihilating the last remnants of the army. Soon after even the void was split apart and dismembered body parts were thrown out of jagged rifts, and Zac could see it was the leaders that had tried fleeing through the void.

Zac’s vision started to blur, but the last thing he saw before everything faded was ahideous scar on the ground that stretched to the horizon. It looked like the world itself was maimed, and vast amounts of cosmic energy bled through the gash.

Zac’s vision returned to the canyon and the huge axe. Only now he understood it wasn’t a canyon, but the rift caused by that endlessly powerful axe-swing. The once celestial vision he had seen during the battle was gone, replaced with the empty desolation of a dead world.

Zac’s emotions were in turmoil after the battle. He had become steady as a rock after over a thousand battles on the island, but he wasn’t prepared for what he had seen. Who was that man, and why was that army trying to fight him?

Was that how a war in the multi-verse looked? If so, then earth was well and truly screwed. If someone arrived on earth with only a fraction of the power of the man with the axe, then there was nothing the earthlings could do. It would be like ants trying to stop a tank.

Furthermore, he didn’t understand why he was shown this vision. He had just gotten the skill Axe Mastery and suddenly was transported here.

As he was pondering what it all meant the gigantic axe started emitting a blinding light. When he turned his eyes over to the weapon the light intensified and suddenly the axe was gone.

In its place was a large fractal that shared the same general outline as the axe. It also emitted extreme pressure, making Zac feel as though he could somehow be cleaved in two from this pattern as well.

The fractal didn’t stay still for long, and suddenly started to shrink. When it had shrunk into the size of his palm it suddenly shot toward him like a bullet. Aghast Zac tried to dodge. It truly felt like the monstrous axe was charging at him.

It was to no avail however, and it slammed right into his forehead. Zac froze, not daring to move an inch.

Luckily the release of death didn’t arrive, and he found out he was completely fine. The fractal hadn’t cut him but somehow entered his head instead. He could now sense its existence in his mind, and it hovered there now seemingly inert.

Finally, he bit his finger making a small bleeding wound, and willed himself back to reality. He opened his eyes, still sitting in his small hideout. He was shocked to notice that he was completely soaked in sweat and drained of cosmic energy. It also seemed that hours had passed, rather than minutes as it had felt like, since the suns had moved quite a distance in the sky. But as he looked down on his finger it was whole and without any wound.

It seemed that the experience had truly been an illusion. He was already somewhat sure of that but had cut his finger just to be certain. He knew the System was no stranger to teleportation from how it sent away Hannah and her friends, and needed to know if he was in actual danger if it happened again.

For a final test, he tried to enter the mystic space once more, but nothing happened. It seemed it was a one-time opportunity he had received. He was at least happy to notice that the mysterious axe fractal actually had remained in his mind, as he could still perceive it outside of the illusion.

He was quite sure that the new fractal was the axe mastery skill that he had received, but he had no idea how to utilize it as of yet. He had initially planned on heading back to camp to finish his Chop quest as well, but he changed his mind.

He believed he saw those scenes for a reason and wanted to go over it while the memories were still fresh. So instead he rested his back against the tree trunk and once again closed his eyes.