Chapter 89: The Final Four

Chapter 89: The Final Four

As the days passed the fights got increasingly desperate. Zac had improved quite a bit over the last weeks enabling him to pick up some of slack. But the same thing couldnt be said about the demons. He was surprised to hear that most of the demons that entered the incursion were actually level 75 already, stuck in the first bottleneck. Their current power was around a level 50, or a level 30 elite. This made Zac realize that levels were only a half-decent indicator for actual power.

The continuous battling was a crucible that let a few warriors push through their limits and improve their skills. There had even been a few warriors who gained a Dao-Seed in their desperation. A nondescript demoness gained the Seed of Tinder, and her fireballs suddenly created waves of death as the flames quickly spread into their surroundings. But it wasnt enough.

Ogras was truly impressive, both in the number of his kills and his leadership. Over the weeks his role as the leader of the demons went from something born out of fear into willing submission. Unfortunately Ogras didnt have the inhuman Endurance and Vitality of Zac, and as the fights got more intense the shorter amount of time he was able to keep going.

Initially the two split the fighting 50-50, giving both sufficient rest, but now Zac fought in 75 percent of the waves. In some waves he simply acted as a back-up to the tired Ogras, but the other waves he was forced to almost single-handedly carry.

Just in the last day Zac had been forced to activate the shield on eight of the waves, rapidly draining his crystal reserves. One of the waves he actually decimated with the offensive component after letting everyone rest for a full 59 minutes.

In a perfect world he would have done that in every single wave for half a day, but it, unfortunately, was impossible. The offensive attack took twelve hours to recharge and cost 2500 crystals to use. Even though he had a crystal mine to his name, the actual amount of crystals he had on him wasnt too large, so he had to use the attack sparingly.

Zac was running quite low on crystals, even though Ogras reluctantly fished out a surprising amount of them a week ago. They were his private hoard he kept as long as possible. Zac regretted that he traded so many of them for Nexus Coins prematurely. He was afraid the whole wave would come in one go instead of the incremental way the wolves had, and splurged on the array and a few offensive options to be able to meet a storm of beasts.

Only afterward did he know that he was wrong, and Ogras was as surprised as he was. It was easy for him to sometimes see the Demons as some omniscient beings, but Ogras was only a youth from a D-Ranked world just like him. There were an endless amount of things he didnt know the specifics of either.

Zac had even gone to buy back some of what he sold to Calrin, prepared to eat a loss. He was dismayed to learn that Calrins reasons for hiking up prices of herbs werent actually purely a business tactic. There apparently were restrictions put in place the moment the waves started and the protective shields of the shop were erected. The System stopped the trade of certain items, and crystals were one such thing.

Crystals were used in powering most powerful arrays and war machines, and Calrin said he believed the reason for the embargo was that the system didnt want people to finish hard quests with money alone. It made sense, as the beast horde quest would become a joke if Zac had unlimited funds. He could just sit on top of the wall and watch as powerful arrays ripped the wolves to shreds. He had seen the terrible power of the arrays the one time he activated the offensive functions. The blasts left nothing alive of that wave.

He already had an advantage from possessing the mine and the knowledge of the demons. Without either the quest would be far harder, but still manageable. Unfortunately the restrictions on trade meant that Zac couldnt just keep the array active for the last four hordes. His remaining crystals simply wouldnt be enough.

The few demons who hadnt reacted in time met miserable ends as well. Some at least managed to activate one type of defense or another, such as stone skin or a magic shield. But the defenses quickly shattered as the demons were thrown off the wall into the distance, their life, and death unknown. The demons who hadnt even erected defenses immediately turned to mangled pieces of flesh and bones that splattered their teammates.

Fucking imbeciles Ogras muttered as he shook off a piece of brain matter that had fallen on his legs. He had been the first to throw himself to the floor, his survival skills simply impeccable as always.

We cant let them shoot off another blast like that, the wall will completely crumble, he continued as he turned toward Zac.

The shaking from the impact quickly subsided and Zac hesitantly looked up over the wall. The wolves simply stood rooted at the same position as before, their white eyes staring at him. Not one of them took a single step forward, and they seemed to be waiting for something.

Zac guessed that it took some time to charge a blast of that power, but he didnt want to find out how long. This race of wolves clearly preferred ranged attacks, and if they were left alone they would quickly turn the whole wall into rubble.

He didnt dare erect the shield as well, as he wasnt sure that it could even withstand such a concentrated attack. It was one thing for it to defend against a multitude of claws and bites, but to withstand the concentrated power of hundreds of fused attacks at once? Zac felt doubtful. Even if it held it would take a massive amount of crystals just to defend against an attack of that magnitude, and Zac might find himself without the use of the fortifications against the next three waves.

We need to go, Zac simply said and got ready to jump over the wall.

What the fuck, are you crazy? Ogras immediately said, clearly unwilling to brave such an army.

Zac only ignored him and jumped down, creating a thud as he landed. At least there were no wolves of the last wave remaining standing after the blast wave. He unhesitantly charged straight for the ranks of the psychic wolves. As he started running he heard an exasperated Goddamnit and a lighter thud behind him.

With a wry smile, he kept running and took out a huge boulder from his pouch. It weighed a few hundred kilos and looked like something a catapult should throw rather than a human. Zac launched it straight into the middle of the pack with a resounding roar, wanting to disrupt their rhythm.

A shimmering shield actually winked into existence in front of the group, and the boulder slammed into it with a terrifying force. The shield wobbled and flickered from the impact, but it barely held true. But just as the stone helplessly fell to the ground a black javelin slammed into the very same spot, cracking the shield with a snap. As the large shield broke and many wolves let out a pained yelp.

The wolves magical defenses were down and an opening was created. One human and a demon rushed inside, each creating a storm of blood.