Return of the Woodcutter

[Remaining time: 8 hours]

A few hours had already passed since the previous battle, and the forest fire had time to cool off, but not extinguish.

Aito had replenished his stamina, equipped a fresh pair of leather boots, and made a few additional preparations for the incoming last fight, with Jack as the key to success.

He had sent the small monkey to fill its belly while he had been dealing with the army. He hadn't had the time to test out Jack's poison properly because of bigfoots attacks. So Aito just hoped the number of feces would be enough for his plan to work.

He had done everything he could think of. The rest was a game of patience. That red bastard standing a hundred meters away from the waterfall had been staring at the cave for hours. As if it was provoking or trying to impress him.

The last rays of sunlight pierced through branches and leaves to highlight the army leader's angry-looking face, partially covered by a metallic helmet. Suddenly, it roared to give its soldiers a new order.

Its voice echoed throughout the entire cave. Bouncing against the walls. When it receded, a new sound entered Aito's ears, a sharper one coming from the other side of the cave with a few seconds of latency.

"Kyaaak!"

At Jack's signal, Aito lit a torch before leaving the waterfall entrance, moving deeper into the darkness.

Aito passed by an opened spiked barricade and a few campfires—covering his nose to protect it from their awful stench. He had made those during the few days spent in his new dwelling to light the way. Those bigfoots didn't seem to have fire and, with the night coming, they wouldn't be able to see in there.

As a host for the last battle, it was his duty to provide comfort for his guests. That's why Jack had also added "flavor" to the campfire. Once lightened up, they would work like incense, propagating a delightful smell in the entire cave. But not yet, at least not on his side.

The key to this "warm welcome" was speed and sneakiness by taking advantage of the darkness. If he waited like a trapped rat at the entrance, Aito would give them the initiative.

He darted by the still unlit bonfire of the central area and headed towards the other tunnel.

Sounds of battle coming from further ahead confirmed the presence of evol monkeys. While Jack kept them busy, he lit the campfires on the way starting from the one next to the entrance to the lower part of the cave as to avoid being a victim of his own scheme.

At the entrance, taking advantage of its camouflage and the confusion, Jack slit the throat of two shield-bearers before stepping back into the shadows. The near-complete darkness offered Jack a perfect environment to hide in.

Just when it was about to jump at a bigfoot's throat, a familiar voice echoed in the cave.

"Jack! Retreat!"

Evol monkeys were starting to reorganize. They killed those affected by Jack's poison and shoved their corpses aside. Shield-bearers to the front, others to the back, they began their descent into their host's dwelling.

A putrid stench originating from Jack's feces entered their nostrils as they went deeper, their way lighted by small fires like emergency exit lights.

Soon, the feces placed on the leaves topping the sticks built in a pyramidal shape caught on fire. The poison in it evaporated and started to spread in the tunnel.

At first, bigfoots only sensed a repugnant feeling invading their nose. With their acute sense of smell, it was even more uncomfortable. But they had evolved to the point of being battle-hardened monkeys and could ignore their own discomfort—which was leading them to their doom.

Meanwhile, Jack used its active skill to keep an eye on them and stay under the radar. Its passive skill "poison resistance Lv 1" provided Jack with immunity to its own secretion, so it shouldn't end up being a victim of its own stench. Although, the smoke could become a problem.

The group of around forty evol monkeys finally arrived at the central area but found nothing. Only burning wood, rocks, and an underground river. Suddenly, one of them coughed. It was soon followed by another. The phenomenon spread, causing multiple coughs to break out inside the cave.

A small monkey perched above the group, observed the situation, patiently waiting for the poison to act.

In the other tunnel, Aito had clued himself like a spider to the rocky ceiling, trying to imitate Jack's fighting style. He had tried to get as close to the waterfall entrance as possible, but only managed to reach midway before hiding from dozens of bigfoots with wet fur.

The campfires he had yet to light were masking his own body odor with their stench, keeping him from being detected by those furry bastards' acute sense of smell. In this complete darkness, with no light, Aito had to rely on his hearing to identify the enemies that were walking blindly past him.

Once they were out of the way, he let himself down, lit another torch, and used it to burn the rest of the poisonous incense.

He then took out a piece of fur from his inventory and used it to direct the smoke towards the inside. Seeing that it was useless with the wind direction conveniently bringing the "perfume" in the right direction, Aito escaped the cave. However…

'Why the fuck is this huge monkey fucker here?' He thought, greeted by Big Bad Red when walking out of the pond. 'Cunning bastard.'

The army leader seemed to have been waiting for him outside, for the opportunity to finally have a "fair fight."

No small monkey would interrupt them. Neither would bigfoots that were suffocating from the poison inside the cave. They might rush out like ants leaving their nests, but the fight would be over by then.

"Fine," Aito said. He equipped a shield in his left hand, hid a one-handed ax behind it, and armed his right hand with a double-handed ax. "Ready when you are."

ROAR!