Chapter 374: Dao of the Axe (1/2)
Seeing the horrifying display of his skill Zac's resolve started to waver, but he soon steeled his heart. He had already confirmed with the Marshall Clan that this particular Incursion hadn't shown any mercy, and quite a large number of people had been enslaved and killed by them. Besides, getting killed by a swing of an axe was only marginally better than getting hollowed out by the spectral chains.
The birdman leader screeched in rage as he saw his underlings getting culled one by one, and he desperately tried to take Zac down. He had some sort of wind-related class, and he moved with tremendous speed to attack Zac from various angles like flashes of lightning. One wound after another started to appear on Zac’s body as though they came from nowhere, but Zac didn’t mind in the slightest.
Undying Bulwark was truly the nemesis of Dexterity-based warriors. He wasn’t able to block out the skills, but why should he even try? In less than thirty seconds the birdman general was drenched in blood from his own attacks. The ghosts from [Deathwish] had dragged him into a dance of death, and there was no way that Zac wouldn’t be the last one standing in such a struggle. Zac himself had quite a few flesh wounds, but it was nothing a normal healing pill wouldn't fix in a couple of hours.
Soon enough the birdman leader gave up on the assault and caused a rain of blood when he shot toward the wall of [Profane Seal]. But he couldn’t even escape the ghosts over on the other side of the cage, and he finally fell with an anguished wail when he unleashed a flurry of wind blades against one of the towers.
The battle was pretty much over by that point, as almost all of the trapped warriors had already fallen to the onslaught of the combination of the chains and the corrosive mists from [Winds of Decay]. The remaining warriors outside had long given up, and they frantically fled toward the Nexus Hub along with the non-combat invaders. They were all essentially walking Nexus Crystals, but Zac allowed the survivors to leave through the Hub even though he desperately needed to gain levels.
This was something he had already decided on earlier. He wouldn’t start slaughtering people indiscriminately in pursuit of power, and he would stop the moment the fight was over. Besides, he had already killed the leader and his two generals, and those three alone were worth far more Cosmic Energy compared to the remaining army combined.
The whole town was completely desolate in less than ten minutes, and the usual process of integrating the area into a part of Port Atwood began. A group of professionals from Port Atwood immediately streamed out of the Teleportation Array less than 30 minutes after it was built. His people had become experts at quickly and efficiently integrating conquered incursions, from emancipating slaves to sniffing out all valuables in the area.
Zac sat down, as usual, to go over the battle and recuperate. He didn’t have any major gains from the battle just as he expected, but it did allow him to become slightly more accustomed to his improved Dao and skills, including the Dao of Sharpness he didn't really get to showcase against the Golems.
The power of his Seed of Sharpness was amazing by this point, and his very presence was dangerous to people who had yet Evolved. Small cuts would appear on their bodies, quickly accumulating to the point that they started to get seriously hurt. Even the weaker of the evolved were slightly affected by the Dao Field, and while he wasn’t able to draw blood it looked like their concentration was impacted by the constant scratching of invisible blades.
Zac himself only waited out the 8-hour time limit while resting, and pondering on the results of the battle. The most interesting thing was the upgraded version of [Profane Seal]. The additional structures made him look forward to how the skill would look when he reached the peak. Would it create a whole fortress with an impenetrable wall?
The only unfortunate aspect of the skill was that he wasn't able to infuse it with a Dao, which caused the chain's effect on strong opponents to be pretty limited. The Demon Lord had directly rebuffed them with a fiery aura, and the Cyborg simply disintegrated them with its aura. Perhaps the chains would have lasted longer if he could have infused them with the Dao of Hardness.
Perhaps the skill was the same as [Deforestation]. It was a skill given by an Epic class, and maybe those had higher requirements on the Dao to be used, and perhaps he was even expected to have formed a Fragment from Sanctuary and Hardness by this point if going by the class archetype. But he was dragged out of his musings before reaching a conclusion as Verana walked toward him.
“Your strength is getting pretty shocking,” Verana said as she sat down next to him. “I am starting to wonder if our presence is even needed when you take down these Incursions. You are becoming an army unto your own.”
“I still need people to stabilize the situation outside the cage,” Zac said with a shake of his head. “It seems the seal is far weaker from the outside. Besides, it’s good training for the future elites of Port Atwood.”
“Still, it makes me expectant for the future. It is not often you get to see the ascent of a true powerhouse,” Verana sighed.
Zac’s initially smiled, but suddenly looked over at the Beast Master with suspicion.
“Okay, what do you want?” Zac asked.
“Tylia told me about the Beast Crystals after we closed the Golem Incursion,” Verana said with a roll of her eyes as she sat down in front of him.
“I’m sorry, there’s only so many in my hands,” Zac said. “And we have quite a few beasts in Port Atwood as well.”
“I am guessing you have gotten your hands on a mine though,” Verana said. “More crystals will grow.”
Zac didn’t deny that, as it was pretty obvious he wouldn’t just find one high-grade Beast Crystal randomly lying in a corner of the Underworld.
“You should know that we never planned on staying on your planet for a hundred years, but here we are. Our reserves will not last that long. We’d like to buy a share in the mine itself to secure supply,” the Tal-Eladar said, finally putting the cards on the table.
“It’s not impossible,” Zac slowly said. “But do you even have the Nexus Coins for such a transaction?”
“Not yet, but I hope you’ll remember your words in a year or two,” Verana smiled as she stood up.
Zac sighed when he realized that she wasn’t interested in paying up now, but rather only wanted to sound out the possibility. It was the better option of her, of course, since it wouldn’t do her much good to spend all her current wealth on a completely stripped mine.
He didn’t know how quickly Beast Crystals grew, but he couldn’t imagine it was too fast. It would probably take years before new low-grade crystals sprouted. But he needed the money now, so he had no choice but to be a bit shameless.
“A few years is so long, and my memory isn’t what it once was,” Zac coughed as he stood up.
Verana stopped in her tracks and looked back at him with an even stare.
“I guess you have some means to strengthen your memory, no? Perhaps if I paid a bit up-front?” she said with a flat tone, and Zac could feel his ears heating up a bit. “How much?”