Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 349: The Final Five

The crimson fractal on [Verunʼs Bite] had long been recharged, and he didnʼt want his battle with the E-Grade powerhouses to be interrupted by the remaining forces. Verun understood his thoughts and immediately stormed into the thick of it, its oversized maw snatching up Technocrats and drones alike.

If the Technocrats equipment could be seen as a counter to Zac, with his inability to activate [Deathwish] against attacks that relied on technology, then the opposite could be said for Verun. Some of the drones tried to fire at the large beast, but its intangible form was the perfect counter to the laser beams as they harmlessly passed right through it.

Zac had already guessed that the Tool Spirit was a bit like the ghosts of the Undead Empire. Normal attacks didnʼt work, and they needed to be empowered by the Dao to be able to reach him. Perhaps only the cultivators would be able to harm it at all, which gave it free rein on the battlefield. Miserably screams echoed across the Underworld as the beast reveled in its uninhibited carnage.

Satisfied that his back was protected by Verun, Zac could finally target the leaders of the Incursion without worries. He stomped into the ground with tremendous force, and the next second he appeared right in front of the Technocrat with one of the spatial crystals in hand. He immediately threw it at the Nexus Hub in the distance, hoping to seal any communication or escape while he was occupied.

”Protect me!” the foreman screamed, and four powerful strikes flashed toward him almost as soon as he arrived.

Zac was inundated in a sea of lightning, and even with his tremendous Endurance he felt his consciousness slipping. Luckily the attacks only lasted less than a second, and Zac immediately slammed his foot into the ground again before they could launch the next attack. The five large towers rose into the air as Zac unleashed another cloud of corrosion in the cage.

The moment the towers appeared the ghastly chains immediately shot out, but this time each chain targeted a different person. Unfortunately, things did not go as smoothly this time. The four cultivators immediately backed away from Zac while they started to fight the chains, launching powerful strikes to rebuff them. The chains acted like snakes, slithering around and trying to pass their defenses, but the cultivators kept them as bay as they looked for means of breaking out.

The technocrat wasnʼt as lucky though. He had a personal shield that stopped the chain a few times, but after a few slams the chain managed to create a large enough crack to pass through. The technocrat tried to clumsily defend himself with his expensive-looking exoskeleton, but a wide swing left his whole side open for the chain to sneak up and wrap around his neck.

Zac couldnʼt believe how weak the man was. It looked like he had never been on a battlefield before, just asking for death by being here. Perhaps he was just a businessman or an owner of the company that had taken the mission to scan Earth, and never even planned to enter a battle.

The brief pause allowed him to scan the five with [Inquisitive Eye]. The foreman was actually only level 76, not having improved the slightest since breaking through. The four cultivators were a bit better though, ranging between level 83 and 86. But Zac still didnʼt feel there was any need for alarm since he had fought far stronger enemies until now.

”Help me you buffoons!” the Technocrat screamed to finally regain the attention of his guards.

”Transform!” one of the guards screamed as he unleashed in an enormous discharge of lightning that pushed the special chain far away.

The next moment the sky above the cage darkened as thick clouds formed in an instant. It was the first time Zac had seen any clouds in the Underworld, and it was obvious that they were created by the four guards. They were almost as dark as the mist Zac created with [Winds of Corruption], but they were teeming with wild energies as it continuously lit up by lightning bolts.

Zac guessed the four bodyguards came from the same Sect or Clan since they all possessed lightning-attuned classes. Perhaps the foreman had hired them since they would be efficient in protecting him from other Technocrats and their machines.

Of course, lightning attacks were just as effective against humans as well, and Zacʼs eyes darted between the bodyguards and the foreman, unsure of who to deal with first. But the decision was made for him as the four powerhouses simultaneously charged him. Zac got ready to defend, the world turned white for a second as four massive lightning bolts slammed into the cage.

However, the lightning did not target Zac, but rather the four guards. It slammed into all of them simultaneously, completely hiding them inside the blinding light. Of course, Zac knew they werenʼt about to kill themselves, so he wasnʼt surprised when they emerged unscathed. The lightning had helped them transform into another shape.

Crackling white armor covered their bodies, and they all held weapons that seemed to be wrought out of frozen lightning bolts. Two of them were holding spears whereas the other two held broadswords. They had even gained wings made from electricity, making them look like gods of thunder.

Their looks werenʼt the only thing that changed with the lightning strikes. Their speed almost doubled as they Zoomed toward Zac like four streaks of lightning. He barely had time to prepare his defenses before they were upon him, all stabbing toward his vital spots.

Zac blocked two of the strikes with the help of [Immutable Bulwark], one with his shield while he met the final strike with [Verunʼs Bite]. Two ghosts immediately appeared behind the two who stabbed his bulwark, while a crack resounded as the sword wielder who Zac met head-on broke one of his arms in the clash between weapons.

The two ghosts only managed to cause minor wounds, but the surprise strike was enough to distract one of them enough for the chasing chains to lock around his throat. Zac felt a shock run through his body from the massive amounts of electricity the four warriors released, but he forced himself forward to follow up on his strike.

The sword wielder with the broken arm tried to create some distance between them, but he was attacked by the relentless chain when he tried to flee, forcing him to stop in his tracks. Zac wasnʼt about to give up on the opportunity, so he slammed the shield into the ground, causing a wave of spikes to push the final bodyguard away as he pursued the wounded one.

A shield erupted around the guard as Zacʼs axe swung down with ferocious force, defending against the strike. But Zac only refocused his efforts and [Verunʼs Bite] once again fell down with finality. Zac suddenly felt a blazing pain in his side as a lightning spear tore into his body, and a jolt of electricity caused such a shock to his system that he accidentally dropped his weapon.

His muscles spasmed and flinched, but Zac forced himself to throw his body onto the guard who had narrowly escaped being bisected by the swing of his axe. Tens of lightning bolts hit him as he gripped the horrified cultivator, but Zac refused to let go. A fountain of blood rose to the skies when Zac managed to forcibly rip the warrior in two, ignoring the lightning armor completely.

Steam rose from his body, and Zac felt as though he was half-roasted from the barrage of lightning bolts. The constant shocks also aggravated the multiple wounds he had accumulated in the earlier fight, and he felt his steps starting to become unsteady. Every part of his body hurt, but he refused to stop.

He still had some fuel in the tank, even though his expenditure up til now had been massive. It was partly due to the stream of Miasma he was receiving from the spectral chains that had started to absorb the lifeforce of their captives. Since one of the warriors had died the final chain rushed toward the Technocrat on Zacʼs command.

The Technocrat leader was unleashing a barrage of attacks on the chain around his neck with a power that belied his earlier embarrassing display. It was the exoskeleton that was showing itʼs worth, even though it could only turn a turd into a more powerful turd. Cracks were already starting to show on the chain, and Zac was afraid he would be freed soon enough unless he was bound tighter.

The sky suddenly rumbled as the area was drowned in a thunderstorm as the clouds started unleashing bolt after bolt in the area. The five towers got the worst of it as they essentially acted as lightning rods. As Zac looked at the chaos he realized that the remaining time was limited, so he forced his exhausted body to exert even more power.

Two unfettered bodyguards remained, one of which had a light wound from [Deathwish]. Zac targeted the wounded one first and immediately pounced on him. The guard wanted to keep some distance as he launched a storm of lightning at Zac, but his movements were restricted due to the harassment of the ghastly chain assigned to him.

Zac forcibly ate a couple of strikes as he kept the other guard at bay with [Immutable Bulwark]. He finally managed to get close to him, his axe already on its trajectory of death. The cultivator looked unreconciled and glared at Zac with hatred.

”Die!” he roared as his whole body started crackling with berserk powers.

Zacʼs eyes widened in alarm and he activated both the defensive rings on his hands, causing two barriers to appear around him. The next moment he was blasted into the air once again from a thunderous explosion. The guard had chosen to self-destruct in an effort to bring Zac down with him, but his layered defenses were enough to take the brunt of the strike.

The good news was that the desperate strike didnʼt only affect Zac. Even the other guard who was trying to flank him was swallowed in the explosion, scorching half of his body and throwing him up in the air as well. The chain acted quickly and captured him as well, which meant that everyone inside the cage was finally captured.

However, one of the fractals atop the five towers started showing cracks from the barrage of lightning strikes coming from the sky, and a few Technocrats had managed to sneak away from Verunʼs frenzied carnage to try to break out their leader. Zacʼs vision was turning blurry from the constant shocks, but he forced himself to run over toward the remaining guards.

The first one was screaming on top of his lungs, already looking a bit shrunken from the incessant drain of lifeforce the chain subjected him to. It didnʼt look like he had any means of resisting it, in contrast to the Technocrat who still seemed full of energy as he tried to free himself from his fetters. Zac wasted no time and cut off the guardʼs head in one swift motion. There was no resistance as the guard was completely consumed by the pain and completely oblivious to the surroundings.

The final guard put up a feeble fight, but he was all alone against an enranged Zac, so he was quickly cut into pieces as well. Only the Technocrat leader remained, and he was currently bound by three chains, as he had managed to destroy two others while Zac fought the guards. Luckily new chains replaced those that the Technocrat destroyed, keeping him in bondage during the whole fight.

”You canʼt kill me! Firmamentʼs Edge wonʼt tolerate it!” the Technocrat wheezed as he saw Zac approach with murder in his eyes. ”Not even the Undead Empire or the Demon Legions are safe from their wrath.”

”Thatʼs not my problem,” Zac growled as he lifted his axe.

A wet thud could be heard as the axe almost cleaved the Technocrat in two, but Zac frowned when he got no energy to confirm the kill. The Technocrat was somehow clinging to life, staring straight into Zacʼs eyes with hatred and what looked like glee.

”I... Warned... You,” the Technocrat wheezed with a sneer as blood poured out of his mouth.

The next moment a terrifying change took place in the technocratʼs body started to twist and deform as he grew with shocking speed.