Rogue Villain-Chapter 215: Trickery

Ackster held onto the announcer without saying a word. The rain continued falling down on and around them as the crowd slid away like a river while they were rocks.

The announcer didn’t know how long it had been, but since he was forced to meet Ackster’s heavy gaze, it felt like an eternity before the last spectator finally left and gave them privacy.

"You have the Sun God Token, right?"

The announcer was surprised at Ackster’s surprisingly smooth voice. But when he took a closer look, he noticed Ackster’s handsome features as well. They had just been hidden by a couple of days of fighting’s grime and blood.

’How unfair. Good-looking and strong.’

"N-no, I don’t! I’m just the announcer!"

"I’ll give you one more chance."

"N—"

"Before you say anything, you should know that you have no value other than the Sun God Token. Hand it over, and I’ll let you go, easy as pie."

"..."

Ackster and the announcer stared at each other in tense silence. Ackster waited for the announcer to admit he had the Sun God Token or at least try to bargain for his life. And the announcer was looking for a way out. There was no way he believed Ackster’s promise.

"...I don’t have it."

"Okay."

Ackster began squeezing the announcer’s neck.

"On me! I don’t have it on me!"

The announcer hurried to rectify his statement. Ackster eased up his grip but only slightly. The announcer still had a hard time breathing and an even harder time trying to get away.

"Where is it?"

"My subordinate! My subordinate has it!"

"Don’t fuck around. You would trust someone else to carry your treasures?"

"I keep him locked up under the arena! He has a much larger inventory than me, so he holds most of my stuff. If you spare me, I’ll give you as much as you want!"

Without answering, Ackster kicked the announcer’s shin, breaking it until it hung on by a thread.

"Don’t lie to me."

"Ahh!" You motherfucker!"

The announcer screamed in pain and would have cradled his leg if it weren’t for Ackster’s vice-like grip.

"Pathetic bastard. You have space for toys but not the Sun God Token? All your treasure? Yeah, right. You’ve been trying to fish for something behind your back all this time."

Ackster held up the announcer and shook him like a ragdoll. He would have slapped him around a little as well if he hadn’t lost his other hand.

"I’m serious. I have no reason to kill you if you just give me the Sun God Token."

"W-wait a little. Why do you even need that old thing? I’ll give it to you, but if it were as valuable as I tell everyone it is, you wouldn’t be the first one to come looking for it, right? To be honest, it’s mostly a piece of junk. It’s nigh indestructible, but it’s worthless."

"To you, maybe."

Ackster kicked the announcer’s other shin, breaking it in half.

"Aah! Heup!"

The announcer yelped in pain before sucking in air through his teeth.

"If you pull out anything but the Sun God Token, I’ll feed you to Tetraxia, piece by painful piece."

"Fine! Take this stupid thing!"

The announcer stopped hesitating and finally reached into his inventory, pulling out a package that started to catch fire as soon as it came in contact with air. Ackster dropped the announcer and swatted it down to the arena where Tetraxia was stomping around and making a path through the colosseum.

After a second of flying through the air, the package exploded in a fiery inferno.

"Neat trick."

Ackster looked at where he had dropped the announcer and where the latter should be lying and crawling around. But there was nothing there except a puddle of blood from the announcer’s broken legs.

’Idiot.’

Ackster closed his eyes and focused on his senses. The rain should have obstructed anything he could have sensed, but surprisingly enough, Ackster didn’t feel like the thrumming rain was blocking his hearing or sense of smell in the least.

And before long, Ackster opened his eyes in a direction to the side. There was nothing there. At least it didn’t look like there was anything there.

But Ackster could hear someone struggling to muffle their pained breathing.

The announcer had used some kind of escape artifact that hid him from view and prevented his blood from leaving a trail. But whether the announcer lacked capability or the treasure wasn’t that good, he hadn’t gotten very far, and Ackster could still sense him.

So, Ackster stomped over with his gaze trained on the announcer while wondering why the announcer was so stubborn. He clearly had the Sun God Token on him, and if he didn’t hand it over, he would die. Was he that confident in his treasures? Or was there another reason why he didn’t want to give Ackster the Token?

Ackster grabbed Stormcaller from his back and drew it back slightly as he neared the bench the announcer had taken shelter behind. When he got close, he thrust it out, piercing the ground and the piece of flesh before that.

"Grrah!!"

The announcer screamed in pain as Ackster forced him out of the invisibility.

"You monstrous bastard! How did you find me?!"

"What? Like you weren’t just sitting here waiting for me to discover you? Idiot. Hand over the Sun God Token—No, never mind. I don’t even need it. I’ll just kill you."

Stormcaller had pierced the announcer’s thigh, and by the blood spurting out, the announcer would bleed out soon unless he had another treasure to save his life. Ackster wasn’t going to take that risk, so he pulled out Stormcaller and aimed at the announcer’s head.

It was very unlikely that the Sun God Token would drop from his inventory when he died, but it wasn’t impossible. It was unfortunate, but he couldn’t have a smooth ride all the way. Ackster had to be prepared to cut his losses.

"Fuck! Here, take it!"