Rogue Villain-Chapter 177: Too Close For Comfort
If Ackster didn’t learn Last Stand, he would have to learn another method to control or suppress his overflowing vitality. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to enter the ocean without being attacked by swarms after swarms of aquatic beasts and monsters.
He could grow strong enough that those beasts wouldn’t pose a threat to him. Or he could learn another way to control his life force. Regardless of what choice he made, it would take a lot of time.
Such a delay would either force him to rearrange his plans entirely or to choose a method other than the Sea God Manual to train his mana with. But the mana training methods that can be compared to The Hero’s Blessed World Manual can be counted on one, maybe two, hands.
It would be even more time-consuming and challenging to acquire such a method when he could just go for the Sea God Manual.
However, Ackster couldn’t afford any delays, regardless of what path he took. He had a limited time frame to grow strong and amass enough power to defeat The Hero. And he had wasted at least two months twiddling around underground, doing nothing but getting cursed.
In order to make up for the time he had lost and ensure there would be no delay, Ackster had to take a risk. He had to straddle Death and come as close as possible without actually dying.
Ackster would have groaned in frustration if his body hadn’t been in such a bad state that moving could cause blood to spurt like a fountain.
He didn’t like almost dying all the time. But he couldn’t find a way where he didn’t do that, at least not this time. In the past, he had intentionally gotten close to death because he was desperate for growth and survival.
But it was also thanks to that growth that he had gotten an inventory so quickly. It might also be because of that his inventory was so large.
It was undeniable that almost dying all the time had boosted Ackster’s growth and strength.
That was why he was confident that this was his only option.
Ackster brushed through the pain and focused on the raging energy of Limit Breaker, fighting to break free of his control and stop ravaging his body. Ackster didn’t want to follow Limit Breaker’s wishes, nor did he do that.
Through an instinctual understanding of Limit Breaker, Ackster grabbed hold of the skills’ energy and pervaded it, turning it more barbaric and violent, more ferocious and ravenous.
The transformed Limit Breaker energy coursed through Ackster’s body, breaking through another set of chains and shackles, further freeing his body from the natural inhibitions protecting it from itself.
Unlike Limit Breaker’s energy, which carefully unlocked the shackles and pushed away the fading chains, the new energy forcefully broke through them using brute strength.
If he had been conscious, Ackster would have wanted to cheer.
The brute strength that the new energy used came from Ackster’s body. The energy sourced its power directly from Ackster’s being, his life force.
He had done it. Ackster had managed to transform Limit Breaker’s energy into his own Last Stand.
However, his body was already on the verge of collapse before he did that and unleashed the violent energy onto himself.
The violent energy unlocked even more of Ackster’s dormant potential, but what he needed wasn’t unlocking his dormant potential. It was to rest and recover.
The violent energy of Last Stand did ravage his body further, breaking it and causing more blood to flow, despite Ackster already sitting in a pool of it. But it also brought the functions of his muscles, blood, veins, skin, bones, bone marrow, lungs, heart, stomach, liver, kidneys, spleen, and the rest of his organs to a whole new level.
He had pushed Limit Breaker further than ever, both in terms of duration and power. After that, Ackster took Limit Breaker’s energy and boosted it with violence. It was a barbaric version. But at the moment, the maximum power Ackster could unleash with Last Stand surpassed what he had ever pulled off with Limit Breaker.
That surge of power, greater than any Ackster had ever experienced, filled his body, bestowing upon it the strength it needed.
Ackster was still unconscious, so he was in no capacity to control his skills or do anything to promote his body’s recovery. But that was the beauty of skills with passive effects, such as Strong Body and Stubborn Well-Being. They took charge, even without Ackster’s conscious acting.
Strong Body and Stubborn Well-Being happily took part in the surge of power granted by Last Stand. In the transition period, as Last Stand deactivated, the two recovery skills made use of Last Stand’s waning effects and power. That, combined with Last Stand no longer harming Ackster’s body, was enough for Ackster’s two recovery-promoting skills to take off and start bringing his body back from the land of the dead.
That wasn’t all.
As if they had sensed or noticed Ackster’s suffering and trial, Mio returned from their trip. They looked the same as when they had left, so it was impossible to tell what they had done.
Mio saw Ackster’s state. They had been with Ackster from day two. They knew better than anyone what Ackster could do and what he needed at this moment.
With their tiny, soft body, Mio ferried meat from the pile of dead beasts and monsters that Ackster had killed when they first arrived.
Mio didn’t give Ackster a choice, not that he was in a state to make one, and just pushed the food into Ackster’s mouth with their tentacles.
It was no longer Strong Body and Stubborn Well-Being fighting a losing, uphill battle against Ackster’s demise. Resilience, Iron Stomach, and Monster Muncher joined the fray. Survivalist also threw out support from afar, limited by its low rank.
Ackster’s skills worked in harmony to bring him back from the verge of death, and Mio fought bravely to make sure his skills had the energy to do that.
It was too close for comfort, but Ackster had done it.
