Rogue Villain-Chapter 185: Sea God Manual

The rectangular object inside the light blue crystal case was surprisingly elaborate. Considering the Temple, the chamber’s layout, and the overall simple designs of everything except the murals, Ackster thought that the Sea God Manual would be more simplistic in nature.

It was also a relatively common trope in fantasy stories that old, cool, powerful books had a deceptively ordinary appearance.

But the Sea God Manual had a bunch of glitter and pearls on the cover, forming elaborate patterns of the sea.

Ackster was a little suspicious. It could be a trap.

"Eh."

It wasn’t like he hadn’t been reckless before.

Ackster grabbed the crystal encasing and removed it from the pedestal, nervously awaiting a hatch opening in the ceiling and dropping a stone ball the size of a house on him. But nothing happened, so he grabbed the Sea God Manual, put back the case, and stepped back. He clutched the book and scanned the chamber.

Still, nothing happened.

"Phew."

Ackster’s eyes widened as he realized sighing in relief might have been the same as raising a flag. He scouted the room again, including the pedestal, the case, and the Sea God Manual.

Fortunately, there was still nothing to cause Ackster undue worry.

Without sighing in relief, Ackster looked around the room, considering what to do. He could try and go back. But he could also take a seat and start reading the Sea God Manual.

Ackster tilted his head to the side with closed eyes.

"Better not."

It would probably take a little while before he could make any progress with learning mana. It would be better to do that when he wasn’t in the middle of an ancient Temple without any resources. He also missed Mio and didn’t want to leave the slime alone for longer than necessary.

Ackster began walking toward the doorway leading to the hallway with the murals. Now that he had the Sea God Manual, he had no reason to stick around.

However, after taking three steps, a stony ka-thunk echoed around the room.

Ackster turned around.

A section of the previously seamless wall had fallen.

’Insufficient resources...’

Ackster was just about to run full speed through the hallway when he caught sight of something glimmering beyond the collapsed wall. He hesitated long enough for another section to fall.

Ackster had what he came for. He should just leave, not risk his life inside a collapsing Temple that has reached its limit. He might be strong, but not strong enough to take on the mountain of rubble that would crash on his back if he didn’t escape quickly enough.

He had already started realizing that throwing his life away wasn’t necessary.

’If the Manual is the reward for the first trial...’

However, the idea of a reward for a trial after the first trial—a reward that, logically speaking, should be even better than the Manual, was tempting. The Sea God Manual would be central to his plan to overcome The Hero. If there was something better than it, it was something that could improve his odds of success.

If it was something that could prevent the end of the world—prevent Ackster’s death, he had to take it, even if the chance of it being as great as he hoped was minimal. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

For all Ackster knew, it could just be a piece of jewelry that had managed to endure through the annals of time and just barely managed to avoid turning to dust. But considering that the Temple itself had barely lasted this long, what awaited Ackster beyond the crumbling walls would certainly not be anything useless or ordinary.

Ackster threw caution to the wind.

Feather-Footed and Limit Breaker activated to the max had Ackster’s legs blurry as he sprinted toward the object through the rising dust and falling stone. He only had enough time and sight to notice that he grabbed something like a stick before he stuffed it into his inventory and high-tailed it out of there the same way he had entered.

The Sea God Temple, upon draining the last of its resources to finish the trial Ackster had undergone, was coming down, and it was coming down fast.

The ceiling wasn’t far behind the walls, and blocks of cracking and cracked stone crashed into the floor all around him. Without Battlesight, which fortunately activated even if he wasn’t in battle, Ackster would have taken at least a couple of solid hits.

Ackster had taken a leisurely stroll, admiring the murals, on his way into the Temple’s depths. But the hallway felt longer when he sprinted through it. And Battlesight wasn’t flawless. The skill still had room for improvement, and it missed more than a few blocks of stone.

Ackster’s defensive skills and Keen Senses helped him move through the worst of it, but he stumbled out of the hallway covered in blood and filled with broken bones.

But he wasn’t safe yet. Not only were the cliffs on either side of and above the Temple joining it in its collapse, but Ackster’s Seaweed Breath had worn out.

Ackster felt the water clog his mouth, throat, and lungs almost instantly. He reached for the pills while trying to run and swim through the chaotic mess of rocks tumbling through the water.

He felt his hand grab them within the semi-corporeal space that was the inventory. He pulled them out, but before he could pop one into his mouth while frantically kicking his legs, a stone just big and heavy enough to overpower his waning strength found its way to his forearm.

’Shit!’

Bubbles escaped Ackster’s mouth as he dropped the pills of Seaweed Breath.

He didn’t have time to rummage through his inventory for more, not with how panicked he was. He had to get out of there while holding his breath.

Ackster was too deep to even see the sky, even if the damned cliffs hadn’t interfered with his view.

’I don’t think grabbing that stick mattered.’

Ackster gazed upward, and his legs fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings. He didn’t have a choice but to endure and power through. It was just like what he usually did.