Due to the breaking the slam seemed to enrage the beast further rather than hurt it . It hadn’t lost much time from the slam , and now Zac was in a precarious situation .
The beast immediately jumped towards him , its huge jaws trying to rip him in two from his chest .
Flustered Zac rolled on the ground down in between the beast’s leg , hoping to gain access to the more vulnerable belly . He knew now he needed to thoroughly enrage the beast so that it would blindly charge through the bushes and into his palisade . He was now in an awkward position in between the front legs , and could only rely on cosmic energy to generate force in his swings .
He slammed the hatchet up into the torso of the beast a few times , hoping to puncture a lung . It was effective , as a stream of blood showered him , and the monster elicited a painful yelp . He only had time for a few swings though , as he suddenly was slammed on his left side by a kick . Zac flew away once again like a ragdoll , and this time he felt that he had broken at least a rib as breathing felt like getting stabbed .
He could only grit is teeth and circulate more cosmic energy to keep his injuries in check . He was already starting to run dangerously low , and fatigue was starting to set in .
He kept running toward his trap , but still afraid to run into it . The beast was enraged , but it still hadn’t lost its reasoning completely , and Zac was afraid that it would notice the trap . Then he would be well and truly screwed .
He needed at least one more effective assault .
The Herald was soon upon him again , this time swiping with its front paw , hoping to catch Zac in its claws . Zac could only frantically dodge and jump out of the direction . He tried to get a swing in every now and then to hurt its legs , but it largely proved ineffective . He had hit true a few times , but only some flesh wounds were created .
Zac once more tried a riposte after dodging a swing , but this time a large head closed in with extreme speed . The Herald tried to chomp off his arm during his swing .
Zac quickly retracted his arm , and it was almost too late . The maws closed a fraction of a second too late , allowing Zac’s arm to disengage . His hatchet wasn’t as lucky however , and the monster chomped down on the head . A crunch was heard and when Vul opened its maw again to try to take another bite the axe was released .
The already worn axe was now completely deformed , and had essentially turned into a stick with scrap metal on top . The edge was gone and instead it more resembled a mace now with some random sharp edges .
A flame of rage ignited in Zac’s eyes when he saw his trusty companion being completely ruined by the Herald , and he completely forgot about safety . With a roar he stopped backing away , and instead forced most of his remaining cosmic energy into his right arm and legs . With a desperate lunge he jumped straight for the Herald , surprising it for a split second . That was all he needed as Zac plunged the Scrap weapon into the left eye of the beast .
The demon forcefully jerked backward from the pain , for a second standing only on its back legs , reaching an impressive 3-4 meters in height . Pained yelps quickly transitioned into roars of blazing fury , and Vul stomped down towards Zac , trying to flatten him like a pancake .
Zac had no time to care about his beloved hatchet being stuck in the eye of the monster , and started a mad dash away from the beast . He saw that the monster was completely and utterly raving with anger and pain right now , so this was his chance .
He focused the last of his energy in maximizing his speed as he dashed the last distance toward the trap . The Herald was hot in pursuit , not caring about anything anymore , completely smashing through any smaller rocks or trees that was in its path .
Finally he reached the bushes where the poles were hidden , and by now the huge beast was right in his heels . Zac could even feel the heat from it's maw . Zac simply dove through the bushes headfirst , making sure to keep a height below that of the placed spears in order to not skewer himself .
It was with great relief Zac could sense that the Herald thundered straight into the bushes right behind him , intending to simply rip through it .
As Zac landed on the ground he felt a huge impact behind him which caused the ground to tremble .
One of the trees had struck the Herald straight in its chest , entering at least a meter and impaling it where it stood .
The beast shuddered and let out a miserable roar which echoed in the surroundings . Blood was flowing out of its mouth like a waterfall , drenching both Zac and the surroundings . It immediately started wildly thrashing around , unheeding of its wounds . The contraption couldn’t take the weight and almost immediately collapsed .
Even if it was almost blinded and bleeding out , the Herald wouldn’t go quietly , as it incessantly wailed and thrashed about . One of the swings hit Zac square on his left arm , punching him down in the ground before he could get out of the way . A loud crack could be heard , and Zac almost passed out from the pain .
It followed up with a few frantic swipes with its claws , which rent long gashes all along his back while he helplessly lay on his stomach beneath the impaled beast .
Luckily for Zac the thrashing didn’t continue for too long , as a huge amount of cosmic energy entered him . Some helped replenish a small part of his severely depleted reserves , while most worked toward leveling him up .
The surroundings felt extremely quiet after the sounds of battle had subsided . He lay panting on the ground , and couldn’t help smile with bloodied teeth . He’d done it .
But just as Zac felt elated over his victory , a responding roar echoed in the distance . And then another , and suddenly the forest was filled with a cacophony of bestial roars .
Backup was coming .
Chapter 21 - Hurt
Zac only knew pain as he pushed forward through the forest , not even knowing if he went in the right direction . From all directions he could hear roars from different beasts closing in . His consciousness was hazy , and he only moved on instinct by now . He had been fleeing for a while since being forced to run from the roars in the forest . He had only had time to yank the mangled hatchet out of the Herald’s eye socket before using the little cosmic energy he had to speed away .
A crash was heard to his left and a barghest bounded toward him to intercept his flight . He intuitively tried to dodge but his feet did not listen to his commands , and he fell over . It was lucky too for Zac as the demon dog flew straight over his fallen form .
Zac numbly got to his feet and continued on . Soon the barghest had managed to run around and came toward him again . The scant cosmic energy in Zac’s body circulated as he suddenly turned toward the demonling and with a growl swung his mangled hatchet down in a mighty overhead arc .
The strike hit clean on the beast’s forehead , slamming the maw closed and its head into the ground . The power was so strong that its thick cranium cracked and both blood and brain matter covered the axe . The beast was stopped right in its track and lay on the ground convulsing
Zac had no time to finish off the beast as a movement in his periphery made him instinctively swing outward . The axe head hit a dark shape and elicited a pained yelp . It was a Gwyllgi which had planned to take advantage of the fight and strike a finishing blow at his head . Unfortunately for the hound , this had happened dozens of times by now and a response had been engraved in Zac’s subconscious by now .
The Gwyllgi fell down , likely with a few broken ribs from the impact of the axe . It had hit the beast with its blunt side , but with Zac’s power and cosmic energy such a strike was still lethal if positioned correctly . Zac wasted no time and finished it off with another swing down on its head .