Azzun had grown up hearing stories of how even lowly imps and thralls had managed to turn into arch daemons after entering a fresh world . They had found some treasure or natural oddity that had helped them shed their lowly heritage and emerge as a powerhouse in their galaxy .
Of course , Azzun knew that even if some treasure was discovered , it wasn’t his turn to enjoy it . They would all enter the greedy hands of their general . Even though the general couldn’t be considered a top talent of their clan , he had managed to snag this great opportunity . He guessed it helped to have a Great Daemon as a great grandfather , who spoiled him rotten .
The old daemon had forcefully elected his only great grandson , Ogras Arh’Rezak to lead the incursion . Azzun and the rest had discovered his incompetence even before entering the new world .
Afraid that there would be a strong resistance on this world , and that losses of their forces would reflect badly on him , he had simply unleashed beast hordes to kill everything around the incursion for the first month . He had chosen four evolved beasts to lead their packs , and simply let them run loose without any supervision from a Beast Master or Tamer .
Even many of the elders had disapproved of such cowardice , but the great daemon quashed any dissention .
He only dared to enter when the first limiter was loosened . Everyone had been shocked to discover that both Ur’Khaz and Vul were dead when they finally arrived .
While neither were particularly strong , both were elites who had been chosen among the thousands of beasts to be leaders of the beast packs they sent through to clear the area . They were almost at the limit of what The Ruthless Heavens would allow to pass through the incursion , and it had cost the clan a fortune to send them through . They had been heavily nurtured and given many supplements to increase their physiques . After the restrictions lifted they would be like kings in a newly initiated world .
Ogras immediately further cemented his erratic leadership upon noticing this fact . He had simply called the Heralds trash for dying so easily , and was more focused on the construction of his palace than finding out the reason for their demise .
He had simply sent out a few scout parties , Azzun’s group included , in order to gain information about the surroundings . Getting the order felt almost like a death sentence the unlucky scouts . If something in this forest could kill their alpha-beasts , how would they survive? They were only level 30 to 35 with common classes , the weakest of the army that had arrived .
However , they had no choice but to comply with the order . The hierarchy and rules were extremely strict . Both they and their families would have a miserable ending if that happened . They could only bitterly nod their heads and try to stay alive . He could only hope to garner some type of merit during their invasion , which would allow him and his family to live a bit more comfortably in the clan .
The blast of different colors around him felt stressful and disorienting , and even though they had been briefed on this type of terrain it was hard to adapt . They were in a constant state of un-ease , as they had no idea what might jump out from the bushes at any moment .
As if summoned by his thoughts , Azzun heard a subdued rustle , followed by a wet thud and grunt . He immediately drew his weapon and turned around , only to see one of his companions topple over with a crushed skull .
Their assailant was already mid-swing toward his other companion , and she was killed before he managed to even react .
The attacker was a walking horror , completely red and covered in blood . Its body looked like a maze of crudely sewn together body parts and Azzun first thought was that the attacker was an Abomination or Ghoul from the Undead Hordes . If the world they attacked had an empire of the undead , their invasion would be a nightmare . There were few enemy factions in the multi-verse that were more annoying to battle than the undead .
He quickly discarded the idea when he noticed that the patchwork was actually an extremely rudimentary armor rather than its actual skin , and realized he was battling some manner of barbarian warrior .
He didn’t have time to analyze the situation further , as the man attacked with a swing of his odd weapon . Azzun quickly lifted his war-axe to intercept the swing , but quickly regretted it when their weapons clashed .
Horrified he realized the monstrous power that was contained in the swing , and he quickly circulated his cosmic energy and activated his defensive skill . An earthen layer quickly covered his arms and torso , and stabilized him . Thanks to his quick reactions he didn’t break his arms , but the force still threw him down on the ground , and his defensive skill shattered .
Disoriented and hurting he threw a wide swing towards his enemy , but only hit air . He tried to get back on his feet and meet his attacker . He didn’t get far however , before he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head , and then everything turned black .
Zac stood panting over the unconscious demon , a sheen of perspiration covering his face . The sweat came from pain rather than exertion , as his charge had opened up some of his wounds . He finally dared to use his skill on the demon , which showed Azzun , Level 33] .
Luckily these demons didn’t seem very strong even if they were higher leveled . He started to go through their bodies , and looted anything that seemed useful . He ended up carrying two sets of gear , and had two backpacks slung over his back .
He ignored the protests of his ribs , and then dragged the two looted corpses into the bushes and hid them there . He was too tired to bury them , and he didn’t want to linger here too long . Hopefully some beast would sniff them out and eat them before their compatriots found them .
Zac was somewhat surprised with how calm he was with his actions . These three were clearly sentient beings , to the point that Zac had mistaken them for humans for a second . Still he had butchered them without any mercy or hesitation . He had been slaughtering nonstop for a month , but those had generally been beasts with the exception of the imps .
He had thought that he still would have some trepidation when dealing with humanoid beings but it seemed that something deep and primal had changed in him during the last month . He was harder and colder compared to before , and he felt that he likely wouldn’t be able to go back to what he was .
Just as the world had changed , so had he .
Chapter 23 - Do you Understand My words?
Zac sighed and slung the unconscious Azzun over his shoulder , and the action caused him to whimper in pain . He would have preferred to drag him , but he didn’t want to leave a trail straight to his campsite .
He wasn’t far away from home now , and slowly walked the last bit . When he was a hundred meters away from the camp , he stopped and put his captive down . After making sure that the demon was still unconscious but alive he got a few vines and tied him up . Then he slowly made a circle around the camp , looking for any sign that there had been foot traffic in the vicinity .
A drawback of the illusion array was that he had no idea if 10 demons were waiting inside his camp without him seeing it , so he wanted to make sure that his surroundings were undisturbed . He couldn’t find any signs of anyone having walked through here lately , so he quietly skulked towards the camp , and took a peek inside illusion array .
Luckily the camp was undisturbed , so Zac went back and got his demon , and then walked back into the safety of the illusion array .
Finally back he let out a long sigh that had felt lodged in his chest for the past few days . A growl from his stomach reminded him he had only eaten nuts and leaves in the last days and he quickly went over to his car and snatched a handful of dried meat he had hung on a line between the trailer and SUV .