Rogue Villain-Chapter 236: Volcano

Aiming for the large open spot filled with a lot of relatively soft muscle instead of hard armor and dragonling skin had left Ackster’s head, neck, and back open for Tararat’s retaliation. So, when Ackster committed to the strike, Tararat pulled out his dagger and instantly aimed for Ackster’s spine.

He wouldn’t die. That much Tararat was confident of. But since Ackster had talked about Kargas coming to the Land of Dragons and bringing it down while also mentioning having found something in the Alchemaze, Tararat had to bring him to the elders and get the truth and details.

So, Tararat was still reluctant to go for Ackster’s neck or head.

Ackster, on the other hand, had no fear. In fact, he was counting on Tararat attacking him so that he wouldn’t notice Ackster amping up the power in his strike.

Since Tararat had willingly left such an opening in the hopes of ending the fight before it spiraled out of control, Ackster would be a fool not to use it. All the punches that had only used a fraction of his strength weren’t for naught.

The fact that they were still powerful enough to damage Tararat’s innate armor of scales was enough to convince him Ackster was using a lot of his strength with each strike.

Tararat felt a chill run down his spine when Ackster’s fist made contact with his leg, but it was too late to react or change his plan, so Tararat followed through with his stab while Ackster punched his thigh and unleashed a torrent of force. The force made Tararat’s leg momentarily look like jelly as ripples spread through the entire limb before bouncing into his torso and taking over the rest of his body.

Tararat had just enough time to lodge his dagger in between two vertebrae in Ackster’s spine before Ackster’s punch sent him stumbling backward.

But Tararat grinned as he hopped back on one leg. With a dagger in his spine, Ackster should be paralyzed, at least from the waist down. Now, he just had to haul back this monstrous human and nurse his leg.

However, to Tararat’s mounting shock, Ackster didn’t collapse to the ground, unable to move. He slowly got up from his bent over, almost kneeling position, and flipped up his head to look at Tararat with a mad grin.

’Did I miss?’

Seeing the incredible sight in front of him, Tararat couldn’t help but think that he made a mistake due to Ackster’s punch. But as far as he remembered, he hadn’t missed. Even someone with such an unnatural regeneration as Ackster would at least need to remove the dagger before he could move again.

But Tararat could tell that the dagger was still lodged in Ackster’s back.

"Oh, wow, this feels weird."

Ackster looked at his lower body before raising his leg and taking a step forward.

"But it still works. Good."

Ackster turned his predatory gaze at Tararat while reaching back.

"What do you say we stop fooling around?"

He pulled out the dagger. At the same time, he released the stops on his life force and used body reinforcement to strengthen himself to the utmost limit. Ackster held off on using Limit Breaker.

Tararat gritted his teeth as his ploy had failed, and he had earned nothing but a numb and possibly broken leg.

"As you wish."

Tararat took a deep breath. In and out. He approached the bubbling pool of mana deep inside his being and touched it with the tip of his mind, inviting it out.

Tararat’s mana accepted his invitation like a starved beast, and it rushed forward, blazing through his body and filling it with enough power to turn the air around Tararat’s body hazy with heat and pressure.

’So this is what she was talking about.’

So far, Ackster and Tararat had been equally matched in their exchanges. While Ackster had grown since he fought the centipede, he hadn’t grown that much. It didn’t make sense, considering what Mara had said about Tararat.

However, Ackster finally got an explanation.

Tararat had a monstrous amount of mana that rivaled his own in quality. If anything, Tararat’s mana had a higher quality since he had perfected it over a longer time.

Tararat’s mana was like an active volcano hotter than any Ackster had bathed in. Ackster’s mana was a still pond, free from any impurities.

In front of Tararat’s mountain of fiery mana, Ackster felt small, and he could feel his mana being suppressed. His mana didn’t flow as smoothly as before, and it didn’t reinforce Ackster’s body as well as before, either.

’He’s so strong his mere presence afflicts status conditions? Wicked.’

Ackster grinned.

This was what he was looking for—a worthy opponent to test his limits, both physical and technical. Tararat was perfect. He was strong to a twisted degree, and even if his martial arts and swordplay were instinctual and built around his physical prowess, he was good.

Ackster’s Unstoppable skill that had just kept him moving even with a severed spinal cord shielded him from the oppression of Tararat’s mana and kept his body in a mostly unaffected state. It also helped him push forward while ignoring Tararat’s pressure.

Ackster looked straight into Tararat’s eyes, which were glowing with an orange sheen due to the strength of his mana. Even his hair and scales were glossy with the power of his mana. Not even Tararat’s physical body could contain all his mana.

Ackster felt a tingle rush down his spine. A moment later, Tararat crossed the distance between them in a flash, leaving behind an afterimage. Ackster’s Overhuman Senses warned him with enough of a gap to let him brace himself. But he had no hopes of dodging Tararat’s gut punch.

Tararat sent Ackster flying, his body too sturdy to be pierced by the punch. But Tararat’s follow-up was instantaneous, and he was already waiting for Ackster before the latter could hit the ground. He raised his sword with both hands and readied a straight vertical strike right in time for when Ackster flew by. Tararat’s blade rushed down like the executioner’s blade on a guillotine, ready to chop Ackster in half.

Ackster’s pupils narrowed. He might have, once again, gotten himself in deep shit.