The incursion was in a valley which stretched toward the mountain , and Zac gingerly moved toward the edge to see what was happening inside .
As he almost was at the crest he saw a solitary demon sitting next to a tree , currently napping . Zac was again shocked at their bad discipline , and it felt like the whole invasion was handled by a group of undisciplined children rather than an army . If he thought that the horde of barghest around the valley would be enough protection and give prior warning of an attack , then he was sorely mistaken .
After slowly looking at the vicinity to ensure there were no more scouts around he approached the demon soundlessly . He didn’t bother to identify him , afraid he would sense the scrying . When he was 10 meters away he switched gears to a sprint , brandishing his axe .
The demon woke in the last moment , and made a terrified expression . He didn’t have any time to activate any defenses or shout for help though , as the axe descended and cleanly decapitated him .
Zac quickly grabbed the head and put it on top of the body again , before hiding again . He had already scrubbed his face with some dirt , giving him a greyish complexion similar to the demons . With his gear already of demonic design he should probably pass as a demon from a cursory glance from a long distance . Of course if anyone took a second glance he’d be found out instantly , so he didn’t want to try it out .
He stayed next to the corpse and wormed closer to the edge . This part of the valley ended with a steep cliff , meaning that Zac would have to scale down 20 meters if he wanted to enter . But it also meant that he got a good view of the whole vale .
If the other parts of the wood had started to shift into a demon forest , then the valley looked like it was imported from another world . It was as though even the sky was different up above , feeling washed out and grey .
There should have been a great deal of vegetation just like the rest of the island , but it was sparse and looking sickly . There also was evidence of a large amount of felling , as he saw hundreds of cut off stumps . The combination made the valley look completely desolate . The ground was partly covered with smatterings of purplish black grass , but most was just black stone .
The demons clearly needed lumber for something . But for what Zac couldn’t tell so far . His eyes kept going over the valley , until finally looking over to the huge red pillar .
Zac could finally see the terminus of the incursion for the first time since he had arrived . It was a huge crystal that reminded Zac of his Nexus Node at his base . However , this crystal was red , and at least 3 meters tall .
The very air around it pulsated from the power the crystal emitted , and Zac could feel the huge energy that it released all the way from his hiding place . It continuously shot out the light that formed the large pillar that had been a constant part of his life the last month . The glow was so strong that he couldn’t see anything what was happening behind it .
Next to the pillar was a building and Zac could see a few demons milling about .
Zac planted himself within a bush , and while gnawing on some meat he had brought in his pouch he started waiting . After waiting for a full 3 hours he felt confident that there likely were limitations to the invasion .
He had not seen a single being appear from the crystal , nor disappear into it . Either they only came at certain times per day , or they couldn’t go back and forth between the island and their home world . The demons at the small building seemed to be guards left there just to make sure nothing happened to the crystal .
They were mostly milling about or even taking naps in the shade of the house .
Of course , Zac would have to stay for a good while longer if he wanted to confirm that the gate was closed , and he didn’t have time for that . However it made sense that they could only enter at certain intervals , from how the demons had appeared on the island .
The first wave assault had been the demonic beasts , and they arrived as soon as the world was integrated . The second wave was the humanoids who arrived after a month had passed . At the same time some limitations lessened on the beasts , making them stronger .
If the crystal only opened once a month , it would explain why Abby the eye had told him to finish the quest either within one month or within two . It stood to reason that the difficulty would take another noticeable leap within a month .
Zac was not sure if he would be able to handle that , as he was not powering up as quickly anymore as before . He had already gotten his class now , and gaining levels took more time now compared to earlier . The increase in strength he could gain within 30 days would likely be smaller compared to the one before , meaning that he really should try to end this invasion sooner rather than later .
As nothing really happened on this side of the valley , he decided to keep venturing further in . He moved along the edge of the valley in a roundabout manner toward the mountain .
The incursion and valley was located between the middle and the north of the island , while the mountain took up almost all of the northern quadrant . So Zac soon had travelled across the whole island , starting from his campsite in the far south .
Daylight was starting to wane , but Zac had already prepared himself to sleep outside today . While he was advancing he was keeping a lookout for possible temporary places to spend a night unnoticed . He had found some potential spots , but hadn’t bothered to prepare them yet .
During his travels he had killed four more demons . They were quite sparsely placed , making Zac more and more convinced that they were not too concerned about invasion in the immediate vicinity .
Soon he had walked along half the valley , and he could now see what was hidden earlier behind the red glow .
There actually was a town down there .
On a second look a town would be a slight misnomer . The buildings were quite large and rectangular , reminding Zac rather of barracks than civilian domiciles . He noticed that the missing trees had been processed into houses and fortifications . There were a few structures that seemed more refined , maybe for the officers and generals of the army . Those buildings did use both stone and lumber in its construction , and had a quite elegant atmosphere .
The whole settlement was surrounded by a wall that was a few meters tall and at least thick enough to have watch towers and a large amount of guards patrolling . Zac couldn’t fathom how they set up such a large wall in only a few days . He could only explain it with magic , as even hundreds of individuals with Zac’s strength would have to work for months of gathering stones and setting up the wall .
Finally , in the middle of the town a grand structure was being erected at a speed visible even from his great distance .
Chapter 34 - Conspiracies
Ogras Arh’Rezak was already starting to tire of this whole enterprise . The humidity of this baby world was far higher compared to what he was used to , and the two blaring suns forced him to keep squinting through the day . The terraforming was helping , but it would still take a long time until the climate got to the point that was comfortable .
He somewhat regretted exhorting his ancestor to let him lead this invasion . With his status in the clan , he still would have been entitled to any good items they could seize on this world , even if he stayed at home .
But he knew this invasion was his opportunity if he wanted to stay alive . If he could find enough goodies for either himself or the clan he’d be safe until he was strong enough to protect himself .
But who would have thought that The Ruthless Heavens placed them on a godforsaken island? It had rendered his tactic of unleashing his packs through the portal seem like a joke . There had already been voices of disagreement in the clan to such a cowardly tactic , but Ogras had only sneered at their snide remarks .