Rogue Villain-Chapter 217: Garbage Disposal

After deliberating over it for some time, Ackster decided that what the Sun God Token or whatever had threatened the announcer couldn’t scare him. If anything, immortality was what Ackster was headed toward anyway. It even seemed like his vitality could lead to a similar exploding problem as what the announcer had dreamed about.

There was also the possibility that there was nothing but empty threats behind the announcer’s fears—effective, but empty nonetheless.

It might be foolish, but Ackster chose to brave the danger of the unknown, confident it wouldn’t be able to harm him. The fact that the announcer was still in the same state as before spoke that it wasn’t as powerful as he made it seem.

The announcer had also spoken like the dreams knew the future. But they hadn’t mentioned him or told the announcer to be careful or anything, so they either trusted in the announcer’s capability or the dreams didn’t have any substance.

"Tetraxia!"

But in case the announcer wasn’t going to stay dead, Ackster had to find a solution. Well, considering its size, it wasn’t difficult to find it, even as it was about to leave the tattered Gladiatoreum.

Ackster grabbed the announcer by the scruff of his neck as he leaped down from the stands to Tetraxia.

"Catch!"

He tossed the announcer at Tetraxia, who happily opened her mouth and snapped it shut around the announcer. She let out a tauntingly audible gulp to express her satisfaction about getting to kill and eat her tormentor personally. A person was barely enough to fill the gaps between her teeth, much less require her to swallow that loudly.

Tetraxia gave Ackster a second-long look before turning around again and leaving the colosseum once and for all.

’North, huh?’

Ackster took note of Tetraxia’s direction. It was where The Hero would have to go in the future due to yetis starting to leave the mountains and targeting humans on a scale too big to ignore.

’I wonder if I should stop her.’

That was where The Hero had to go there. But that wasn’t what he had to do. While investigating the Yeti migration, The Hero discovered the first Seed of Calamity. It was the first tangible proof of The Calamity taking root in Milmeria aside from The Hero’s existence.

Naturally, The Hero dealt with it after a fierce battle. But Ackster doubted Tetraxia had gone there in the original story. If she did, Ackster had a feeling the original story would have been different since Tetraxia was certainly not weak enough to be taken down by the Yetis. She should also be strong enough to put up a fight against the Seed.

She sure as hell was a better host for the Seed than the original story’s dire wolves as well. But there was still some time left before that went down, so maybe Tetraxia was just passing through the northern half of Myrrhia to get to the other side.

’Whatever.’

Ackster stopped worrying about it. If Tetraxia dealt with or delayed the Seed of Calamity up north, it would lower the chances of The Hero coming to Tarragia and hearing about him or seeing posters with his face.

’Hmm.’

Ackster looked out over the city.

’I really don’t want any posters around by then.’

It was unlikely anyone would maintain or put up wanted posters or posters advertising the now-finished gladiatorial battle in a year or more. But Ackster wanted to be a little more confident. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

So, he called upon another storm to shower all the paper in the city and render it useless. It would reduce the odds of someone remembering and drawing an accurate rendition of his face. It would also put the sudden storms in focus instead of one gladiator who made a splash. The only thing was that people might realize or remember he was the cause, considering he sent a lightning bolt into the sky with thousands of spectators.

After calling another storm, Ackster left the city, leaving wet footprints on the ground.

’I wonder if they still have my boat.’

He hadn’t gotten the experience he wanted or needed in Myrrhia, so Ackster had to find something else. He could look for another treasure or go someplace more suitable for charging the Sun God Token, such as an active volcano.

But he really wanted to reach enlightenment, achieve bodily rebirth, and get his arm back.

’Hmm.’

Ackster first decided to see if he could get his boat back since it was useful but hard to carry when he was going on land. After that, he would have to see.

Ackster thought about his limited options as he returned to the coast.

He didn’t want to enter the Alchemaze without Curse Resistance, and he wasn’t sure how successful he would be in recruiting more pawns to use against The Hero’s party, so it would have to wait until he could rely on his personal strength and the Guild’s connections.

Ackster concluded he still had to gain experience and train until enlightenment. And he had already come up with a way to do that before even arriving at Myrrhia.

Ackster also realized that he could improve another aspect of his strength unrelated to his skills. He wasn’t looking forward to it, but he had lugged around the tiny ironwood box for a reason.

The more he thought about it, the more Ackster realized it was definitely a viable option.

Throughout his journey so far, he has used pain as a motivator, spiritual anchor, and source of growth. Why couldn’t he use the pain of Nold’s secret technique to try and reach enlightenment, or at least push him in the right direction while he complemented it with battle?

Ackster pinned completing one round with Nold’s secret technique as his goal before he inevitably reached enlightenment and bodily rebirth. It would be a shame if he lost his progress because his body reset.

It was just that nolding without the aid of Pain Tolerance would be painful, to say the least.