Rogue Villain-Chapter 184: Phase Two

Although learning how to use a whip would certainly be useful, and Ackster had whips in his inventory, there was a limit to what he could do when he was still learning to use the saber and shield. Ackster also felt that the mermen’s whips and whip skills would be as easy to replicate using an ordinary whip.

Besides, Ackster didn’t have an arm available. His right arm was still missing.

However, Ackster wasn’t discouraged by the reminder of what he lacked or the pointing out of a severe weakness.

The mermen progressing to phase two of this trial and adding whips to the fight only excited Ackster. If nothing had changed, defeating the mermen would have been too easy for it to be a trial left behind by the Sea God.

Of course, there could be more after defeating the mermen, but that would be too boring for something the Sea God had arranged.

The murals had only depicted the highlights of the Sea God’s combative life, but Ackster could tell that boring fights weren’t something for the Sea God.

Ackster was brought out of his thoughts by Battlesight, warning him about a whip crashing into his face. He leisurely tilted his head to the side to dodge it before leaning forward and advancing through the net of semi-translucent watery whips slicing through the air.

Unlike the other attacks by the mermen when they used their blades and shields, Ackster had to be more prudent. The whips wouldn’t only crash into or brush against him, leaving superficial injuries.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call whips glorified combat ropes, which meant they were fully capable of binding and restraining him.

Ackster didn’t miss how the mermen stretched and controlled the whips through more than simple physical control. He had been correct in that he wouldn’t be able to copy how they used their whips since the whips in his inventory were cheap ones made of leather from medium-ranked beasts. They couldn’t stretch or curve on command.

Ackster would much rather roll on the ground and headbutt a shield than get caught. He didn’t dare bet that he would be strong enough to break free before the other whips would bind him and let the mermen finish him off.

The mermen were good at using whips, at least in Ackster’s eyes. But there was a problem.

As soon as Ackster made his way through the blockade of fluttering whips by using Battlesight and tapping into Limit Break to give him a slight boost, they became useless. And the battle returned to its previous state of a close-quarters brawl, where Ackster had the absolute advantage.

Ackster just had to avoid the occasional whip snaking its way through the mermen around him, and he was fine. It was a shame he couldn’t use the whips and their movements against the coordinated mermen, but it didn’t matter.

He could cut the whips, and he could cut the mermen, even after phase two began.

Aside from a few close calls that had given him a couple of scratches and a brief moment where a merman had wrapped his ankle, the addition of the whips hadn’t given Ackster much trouble.

Ackster took a brief moment to wipe his neck where one of the scratches was. Hemorrhage Resistance prevented it from bleeding much until it healed.

"That’s disappointing."

It was too easy.

To Ackster, who was used to fighting with his life on the line or almost dying to win, defeating the mermen with the closest to death being a finger-sized scratch on his neck was a little lackluster.

There was still one left, and it seemed like it had gotten significantly stronger following its comrades’ deaths.

"Tch."

But Ackster couldn’t feel a sense of danger from the remaining merman. All he felt was irritation.

It felt like giving his all and making full use of his talents was a double-edged blade since it took the thrill—the fun—out of the fight.

’Ah...’

However, Ackster realized something as he fought the final merman guard.

’That’s a good thing.’

Getting addicted to the thin line between life and death wasn’t a good thing. Winning without needing to toe that line or sacrifice his physical well-being was.

The first step in getting rid of his nasty habit of seeking death in exchange for growth was to realize and become aware of that habit. And just now, he had been disappointed because he had fought without needing to risk his life. That was not a good sign, but it was a good sign that he caught it before he intentionally handicapped himself just to make it more challenging.

Ackster didn’t have the time for that, anyway. So, he just blocked the merman’s overhand swing with his shield before flicking his wrist to throw the merman’s blade off and cut the merman’s stomach at the same time.

Ackster had already figured out that it was a combat method that made use of the opponent’s focus on the clashing weapons to catch them unaware and launch a sneak attack.

The sliced stomach wasn’t enough to kill the merman, especially since, unlike its dead comrades, it had regenerative powers. But the merman didn’t even heal as quickly as Ackster. After sacrificing his leg to the merman’s whip, Ackster decapitated the merman.

That was something not even Ackster could recover from, much less the merman.

Ackster tried to shake off the feeling of disappointment lingering around his shoulders at how easy it had been.

’Okay, maybe it hadn’t been that easy.’

Ackster looked at the ground, where the remnants of his shield fell after the merman’s last strike. His sword, despite having mostly cut through water, was also in a bad state. He got rid of the saber and what remained of the shield.

*Trial complete.*

*Second trial commencing—Insufficient resources. Second trial canceled.*

*Third trial commencing—Insufficient resources. Third trial canceled.*

*Fourth trial...*

"Hmm."

Ackster counted the trials as the ethereal, genderless voice announced and canceled them continuously.

’Is it...?’ 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

As fast as he could tell, there were as many trials as there had been separate murals of the Sea God’s adventures.

"Holy shit."

Ackster felt both a sense of loss and relief at missing out and not having to go through all those trials before he could get his hands on the rewards.

"But why is that here?"

Ackster raised an eyebrow and tilted his head as he looked at the pedestal with the Sea God Manual.

"Rewards for the first trial, maybe."

Even if the trials only took as much time as the first one, Ackster would still spend a stupid amount of time in the Temple. It made some kind of sense if he got a small reward for each trial.

Ackster shrugged. There was too little information to draw any conclusions. So, he had to investigate. He walked up to the pedestal.