Rogue Villain-Chapter 176: Why Not?
All things considered, it didn’t take long before Ackster started reaching his limit in what his body could handle before it became too much for Strong Body and Stubborn Well-Being. Those two skills were still putting in work, but they began losing out in speed as his body suffered more and more worse and worse injuries.
Ackster had reached the perfect state to shave off his vitality. But using Limit Breaker like this took too much concentration. Eventually, since Limit Breaker didn’t directly consume vitality like Last Stand was supposed to, Ackster would also generate more vitality than he wasted by injuring himself like this.
Even if his body, Strong Body, and Stubborn Well-Being started boosting his vitality, that didn’t necessarily mean he would heal quickly enough or that he could maintain a perpetual state of injury to limit how much vitality overflowed.
After all, Last Stand did what Limit Breaker did at the price of his vitality. On the other hand, Limit Breaker technically didn’t cost anything. Last Stand’s side effects and backlash were more severe, and it wasn’t as effective. But it was not the vitality-consuming backlash Ackster was after. He wanted the vitality-draining activation of Last Stand. If he balanced it right, he might not even suffer the backlash.
Ackster maintained the same state of Limit Breaker’s activation, even after reaching his limit. If anything, reaching his body’s limit in terms of what it could endure and heal before it started losing out to Limit Breaker’s backlash made it easier to concentrate. The pain of his skin tearing, muscles and tendons snapping, blood flowing in reverse, and organs revolting sharpened Ackster’s mind until it was razor-sharp. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Unsurprisingly, Ackster once again found himself approaching the thin line between prosperous life and mortal danger. But that only served to further his concentration and dedication to the task he had assigned himself. Stepping closer to his good friend, death, helped Ackster subconsciously acknowledge how much he needed this.
It was also usually a prerequisite to experience the fear of death to experience the phenomenon known as the Last Stand. In his attempt to circumvent that condition, Ackster had ended up achieving it with growing severity.
Strong Body and Stubborn Well-Being were fighting to recover the injuries from the backlash of overusing Limit Breaker. But it was growing more apparent with each passing moment that they weren’t enough.
Ackster’s injuries were no longer limited to his internals, and they worsened by the second. If he continued like this, his body would break down and become permanently damaged or worse. He could die from acute organ failure and blood loss as all of his internal organs were suffering from the overload.
His veins ruptured, starting from the smallest capillaries to the thick, throbbing arteries leading from his heart. He bled from his cracked skin, on the inside, and from his orifices.
Ackster looked like he was on the verge of implosion. But he was breathing. He was alive.
His breaths weren’t doing much anymore, and he wouldn’t stay alive much longer if he didn’t stop at once.
But he couldn’t stop. He hadn’t gotten Last Stand yet. And if he stopped now, he would lose the sharp edge of getting so close to dying. He would know his limit next time and wouldn’t feel as alive, as desperate.
He needed the thrill of danger, the cold breath of death brushing against him, to provoke his body to activate Last Stand instinctively.
If he recovered from his current injuries without learning Last Stand, it would become even more difficult to learn it since his overflowing vitality would have grown even more abundant.
Logically speaking, Ackster was in a perfect situation and state to trigger Last Stand. It was also a point where he would have trouble creating such a situation for himself in the future again. Any attempt to replicate it would only give worse results.
However, Last Stand still didn’t proc.
’What’s going on?’
Ackster still couldn’t understand why.
He could learn Limit Breaker and all his other skills without any major issues. If anything, he had a worryingly easy time learning and ranking up his skills. So, why was Last Stand being so stubborn and refusing to come to him?
Was it because he didn’t fear death?
No. Ackster feared two things in this life: death and The Hero. He was doing his utmost to avoid both. He fought tooth and nail to stay alive.
Was his transmigration and the fact that his soul didn’t belong to his body somehow become a hurdle?
Unlikely. That should have interfered with Ackster’s other skills as well in that case.
Was it not enough?
Was it because, deep down, Ackster knew that he wouldn’t die? He just had to stop maintaining Limit Breaker, and his body would eventually recover. With awareness of such a fact, it was no wonder his fear of death wasn’t acute enough to urge his body into the state of primalistic overdrive known as the Last Stand.
Ackster could either accept that awareness as the reason and back down. He could give up here and try to figure out another method to learn Last Stand. Maybe if he tied himself to a stone and jumped into the ocean, he could do it.
Or, he could not do that. He could continue—no, not continue. He could take it one step further. Ackster could push Limit Breaker further, beyond the realm of no return. At that point, Ackster wouldn’t have a choice. His body wouldn’t have a choice. One Last Stand would be all that could possibly bring him back from the brink of death.
Ackster disliked the idea since he had just resolved to himself that he wouldn’t be throwing his life away at each and every opportunity that came his way. He had already had multiple too-close shaves with death. If he kept it up, he would die before the world ends.
All his hard work and suffering so far would have been for naught, and he would die a meaningless death.
But in reality, Ackster could only see one real option. He didn’t know retreat. Backing down here wasn’t an option for Ackster.
