Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 197: Multiple Variables

It appeared the general was about to continue, but drums in the distance interrupted him. It sounded like a call to war, and Zac frowned and walked toward the source of a ruckus. The leaders of the Solvim hurriedly followed behind as he walked up a hill to get a better vantage of the situation.

As soon as he reached the crest he saw a sea of warriors neatly lined up a kilometer away from the army he apparently belonged to. Only a quick glance was needed to see that the armies weren’t evenly matched, as the enemies outnumbered them at least twice over.

“These guys are your enemies?” Zac asked.

“Filthy opportunists,” Dresdo spat. “They take advantage of our precarious situation, trying to mount a sneak attack while we are occupied.”

Zac frowned as he listened to the general. He wasn’t sure what to think about this situation. Judging by the sound of it, this wasn’t some battle of good versus evil, but rather a war between two nations. He had no idea what the so-called precarious situation was, he didn’t know if these aliens around him had committed some atrocities before, prompting the current response.

It put him into an ethical dilemma. Judging by the power of the troops around him, the other army couldn’t be too strong either. Otherwise, they’d already steamrolled the smaller army. If he wanted to he could simply wade into their ranks and cause utter mayhem, destroying their army within the day.

But could he conscionably do that? What would that say about him? If he went through with this he felt he be some scum who was okay with doing anything, as long as it made him more powerful. It wouldn’t be too different from starting to annihilate Ishiate, or even Human settlements just to gain experience.

Besides, it seemed too simple a scenario. Killing some weaklings wouldn’t be much of a test, and Zac felt that the System didn’t wouldn’t give him that easy of a time. Was the challenge showing the resolve to actually do anything, including killing an army of sapients that had nothing to do with him, all in the pursuit of power?

“So what is the precarious situation you mentioned?” Zac asked, trying to get a clearer understanding of the situation.

The general looked a bit hesitant, until he shrugged his shoulders.

“A great beast has arrived in our kingdom. It’s not something that we have ever encountered before. There are rumors that it’s arrived from the great beyond. Its powers are believed to be in the fabled Ascended rank,” Dresdo said.

“Ascended rank?” Zac couldn’t help asking.

“It has broken through the great barrier at level 75 and reached a higher stage of existence,” another of the aliens explained.

“The Royal Family of Orrin and many of our elites are currently occupied in fighting the beast, but it’s an arduous process. These scum from the neighboring country saw our plight as an opportunity to break our bonds of friendship, not only ignoring our request for assistance but even attacking us,” the other Solvim angrily added from the side.

Zac perked up from the explanation, but he got a bit hesitant as he once again looked at the army stationed in the distance. Just what did the system want from him? Fighting an E-graded space-beast sounded much more like a trial, but if that was his job, why did he end up in front of the army instead of the beast? Zac once again opened his quest screen to take a look at the quest to find some hints of what to do.

First step of Hegemony (Unique, Limited): Enter the first trial within a month. Defeat the challenge. Reward: [Tower of Eternity] token, [F-Grade Dao Treasure] (0/1)

The line didn’t update or give him any further hints after he’d arrived, leaving Zac perplexed. It was the first time a quest didn’t explicitly say what he needed to do. Did that mean that he needed to figure it out himself, as it was part of the trial? Or did it mean that there were multiple ways to complete the quest?

Zac mulled over the options for a bit until he turned toward the general.

“So, what goal did you have in mind when you summoned me?”

“Well… We hope that you can lead us into battle and destroy their army,” the general said as he glared at the soldiers on the other side of the field.

“I thought as much,” Zac said with a sigh.

Leading soldiers into battle wasn’t something he was ready to do, as he still had no idea what he was doing. If it came to chopping, then he was their guy, but anything more complicated than that he’d just embarrass himself.

In the end, Zac decided he would just have to follow his heart. He didn’t feel right slaughtering an army that wasn’t his enemy. From the sound of it, they might be in the wrong here, but Zac didn’t feel it was his place to put his finger on the scale.

What he could do was to go over and kill the beast. Not only would it save the lives of the citizens of the kingdom, and it would also free up soldiers to push back the invaders, which meant that both objectives would be completed.

Besides, killing the beast should be the harder option, and might even give him some extra benefits compared to killing a bunch of weak warriors. Something like a hidden reward. And even if that wasn’t the case, it would still likely help him with his work with upgrading his axe. He was approaching E-Grade, and his weapon needed to match.

“So, where is this beast?” Zac asked.

“It’s two days march to the south, it won’t interrupt the battle here,” Dresdo dutifully answered.

If it was two days by these people’s standards, Zac should be able to get there in under a day if he pushed it.

“Great, I’ll go kill the beast quickly, you just need to stall for two days,” Zac said as he turned away from the enemy army.

“Err, champion, what are you doing?” the general said with alarm. “If you leave we’ll be overrun within the day. They outnumber us three to one.”

That made Zac stop in his tracks. Just what would happen if this battle was lost while he was hunting the beast? Would he automatically fail? This quest was truly starting to become a pain in the ass, throwing so many variables at him. Zac turned around and immediately walked toward the enemy army.

“Wait, we should discuss a plan for this battle!” the alien shouted as he ran after him. “They have two full legions opposing us, and it consists of elites. May I ask, what level are you?”

“I’m level 60,” Zac answered with a shrug.

“What? Only level 60?” the Solvim, disappointment flashing in his eyes as he stopped following. “That’s at the level of the great protector, but even he isn’t able to thwart an army on his own.”

“Level isn’t everything,” Zac said. “Don’t worry, things will work out. Wait here while I go talk with their leader.”

The general did as Zac said and stopped some distance from his own army lines, looking at the back of Zac. Of course, whether he stayed behind because he believed in Zac’s words or whether he didn’t want to get himself killed was another question.

The distance between the two armies wasn’t too great, and soon Zac was only a hundred meters away from the enemy army who warily looked at the approaching figure, their weapons at the ready. Zac tried to discern anything out of place, looking through the lines of soldiers.

But no matter where he looked he couldn’t see anything different. The opposing army was comprised of the same type of humanoids, and after repeatedly using his identification-skill he knew they were of the roughly same strength as well, mostly being between levels 15 and 30. It truly seemed there was no hidden trick to the army in front of him.

He quickly spotted an area with warriors more richly decked compared to the average soldiers, and using [Inquisitive Eye] found that there was one of them at level 44, matching the general from his side. Since he’d found his target he started walking again.

“Halt!” one of the captains shouted at him, but Zac didn’t care as he kept advancing.

The army wouldn’t let Zac approach unimpeded, and a few deterring arrows sailed toward him. These kinds of attacks didn’t have an effect on Zac anymore, and he didn’t even bother activating his defensive skills, instead simply waving the attacks away as he unleashed his aura to the fullest.

“Fire at will!” the general immediately shouted with alarm after sensing the waves of power radiating from Zac.

The sky immediately blotted out with arrows heading straight toward him. If even a tenth of them hit he’d be turned into a porcupine, but Zac wasn’t worried. He simply kept walking toward the area where it seemed the leaders where stationed.

Waving away this amount of arrows would take quite some effort, so he finally activated his defensive skill. Emerald leaves started to quickly whirl around him as though he stood in the center of a tornado, each leaf blocking tens of arrows before it disintegrated.

Not wanting to waste such a gift zac simply put the bundles of arrows into his pouch as they fell one by one, and in just a few short moments he’d gathered over a thousand of them. It was clear that since the cosmic energy was so sparse in this world a lot of attention and effort went into augmenting their strength with tools.

The arrows were of high quality just like the gear he’d seen the soldiers wear, at least on the same level as those that were made in Port Atwood. They only lacked some inscriptions, after which they’d be fit to use by the Valkyries.

Initially, he considered farming arrows for a while but soon changed his mind. While none of the attacks individually was a threat to him, his cosmic energy was being depleted at a very quick rate due to the unceasing attacks.

He activated [Loamwalker] and after just a few short steps found himself in front of the general, who backed away in alarm.

“What are you? Why are you attacking us?” the general said with a shaky voice, barely able to stand straight due to the towering aura Zac emitted.

The surrounding soldiers were in far worse states, and everyone within 20 meters had simply fallen down unconscious. The other soldiers powerlessly looked on, not daring to attack anymore since their leaders were lying unconscious all around their assailer.

“You could say I’ve been hired by the kingdom of Orrin to end this situation,” Zac said as he looked down on the general, purposefully making his voice heard by the whole army. “I will go and kill that beast that is occupying a large part of their army now. I need your army to stand down for a week. After that, I don’t care what you do.”

“And if we don’t?” the general said.

“Then I’ll go to your kingdom and kill your King, or whoever rules it, along with every high-level official and general you possess,” Zac said as he added the Dao of Heaviness to the aura he emitted.

Even the general couldn’t stand after the addition of the Dao, and he plopped down to his knees, only staying somewhat upright as he held himself up by stabbing a sword into the ground with shaking hands.

“What happens after a week?” the general forced through clattering teeth.

“After a week I don’t care what you do. The beast will be dead, and it’s up to your countries to decide what to do from there. I won’t interfere,” Zac said with a shrug.

“How do we know you won’t turn and attack us anyway after dealing with the beast?”

In response, Zac only shook his head as he walked away. As he left the thick of the army he kept channeling his Dao into his aura, which also made any errant arrow that was still shot at him powerlessly fall into the ground like they suddenly weighed a ton. An order to cease attacks was soon shouted out by the general, letting Zac leave unaccosted.

”They wonʼt attack you for a week. Donʼt attack them during this time either. Iʼll go kill that beast now,” Zac said as he gave Dresdo a pat on his shoulder when he returned to his side.

The man didnʼt respond, and only blankly stared at Zac like he was some mythological beast.

Sometimes it was a bit fun to play the Demon Lord.