Rogue Villain-Chapter 182: Trial

The hallway with the murals of the Sea God’s adventures wasn’t that long. But it was longer than Ackster had expected, considering it only told different epic tales of the same person.

The Sea God had either lived an incredibly long or eventful life.

The murals gave Ackster a deep insight into what he could expect from the Sea God Manual. It also reassured him that it had been the right choice.

However, Ackster was a little worried when the so-far pristine murals were cut off and replaced by bare walls. He wasn’t sure if it really was that the walls were bare or if the murals had been covered in a thick layer of paint. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Regardless of the details, the Sea God’s stories had been abruptly cut off.

Based on how the hallway ended after the censored stories began, it seemed that it was the Sea God’s finale that had been removed from the Temple. Ackster was both curious and worried.

But, without letting his anxiety get the best of him, he stalwartly advanced through the opaque, shimmering film of blue separating the hallway from what lay next.

*Trial commencing.*

Ackster heard an ethereal voice as soon as he stepped through the thin barrier and entered a large oval chamber with a pedestal in the middle. And on top of that pedestal, encased in a crystal case as light blue as a glacier’s peak, was a rectangular object.

"That’s...."

Ackster’s face broke up in an eager smile as he identified the hardcover book, seemingly wrapped in dolphin skin, resting within the case.

’The Sea God Manual.’

Ackster had found what he was looking for. But that wasn’t all. He had also stumbled upon something that The Hero and his companions hadn’t had the chance to encounter in the original story.

The Temple’s trial.

Ackster looked around the chamber as he tried to identify the source of the voice among the light stones dotting the walls like stars in the ocean patterns. Needless to say, he didn’t find anything. And before he could go for a more thorough search, the contents of the trial manifested themselves.

The wave-like symbols, shapes, and patterns on the walls in the chamber coalesced and formed mermen carrying shields and sabers.

Ackster warily scanned the moving paintings for a moment before they started plopping out of the wall, one at a time. They swam through the air in the chamber like fish for a moment before turning their heads toward Ackster once the final merman had left the walls.

The mermen made of water arranged themselves like a troop of soldiers and lined up in front of Ackster.

Ackster felt his skin prickle with danger as he sized the mermen up while retrieving a saber and a shield of as similar design as he could find in his inventory.

Against multiple armed enemies, Ackster figured it would be a wise idea to use some kind of defense, even with his tough physique and regenerative abilities. He could also take the opportunity to learn from the mermen during the fight if he used the same weapons as them.

It was a greedy wish and choice. But Ackster had long since noticed his own talent when it came to learning physical movements. He hadn’t been very diligent in putting that talent to the test, but he had started doing so when he fought the Crimson Edge adventurer group before they went ballistic.

The mermen in the Sea God Temple would undoubtedly be more skilled than the Crimson Edge had been back then. It would be more difficult. But it would also be more rewarding.

The only thing Ackster didn’t like was that it made him passive. He couldn’t attack first since he wasn’t sure how to do it most efficiently while wielding a saber and a small round shield strapped to his forearm. Unlike the mermen, he didn’t have a free hand to balance himself with, or whatever it was they had in mind for their unarmed arms.

So, he stood still at the entrance to the chamber, ready for the mermen’s charge. He rested on the balls of his feet, and his eyes were constantly flitting between the different watery figures.

Ackster felt his senses begin to heat up as the mermen finally made a move.

Ackster almost thought he saw waves ripple through the air as they flapped their tails to surge forward all at once.

Ackster dashed to the side to avoid the mermen’s charge and use their line formation against them. Taking on all of them at once would be a little too much when he didn’t know what he was doing.

By limiting the number of mermen attacking him directly, Ackster could focus more specifically on their individual movements, such as how they swung down with their sabers to cut apart Ackster.

Ackster managed to avoid the first wave of attacks by jumping back right before the blades landed.

However, the mermen, who had lagged behind due to their companions blocking them and who hadn’t gotten a chance to attack, surged forward and attacked right after the first wave.

The mermen’s attacks were relentless, and they pursued Ackster like iron nails to a magnet.

Ackster realized he couldn’t mimic the way they used their weapons since they went for large and powerful strikes that left them open because their companions would be there to attack before their target could counterattack.

For now, Ackster was just running around the room, jumping off the walls to dodge the endless stream of saber strikes.

But he couldn’t run forever.

Ackster had decent stamina, and he had several skills that could turn him into an infinity machine, but that was when he had something to eat. Aside from the mermen he couldn’t touch, the light crystals lighting up the room, and the pedestal in the middle of the room that he couldn’t approach since the mermen swarmed to block it, there was nothing within the chamber.

’Oh, wait a minute...’

He could use the mermen’s prioritization against them.