Rogue Villain-Chapter 237: Handn’t

When Tararat used his mana, he had a tendency to become more hot-blooded. He didn’t think as much as when he kept a lid on his mana. Or rather, he didn’t need to think as much since his overwhelming power would be enough to settle any problem.

Even problems without physical solutions could be solved with Tararat’s rationale.

He didn’t necessarily need to bring Ackster back to the elders alive so they could fish out the truth from him. He just needed to bring his corpse, at most, and tell them what Ackster had told him. If they could discern the truth from that, it still wasn’t a big deal.

If Kargas really showed up with something from the Alchemaze powerful enough to destroy the Land of Dragons, they just needed to prove him wrong with overwhelming force.

So, Tararat stopped holding back entirely as he cut down with his sword, aiming to cut Ackster in half.

However, Ackster wasn’t going to just let that happen. There was a difference between provoking difficult enemies to use them as sparring partners while testing his limits and recklessly letting them land every single fatal strike they wanted.

Ackster brought his arms up and used the dagger he took from his back to block Tararat’s strike. He wasn’t confident it would work since the dagger was smaller and incompatible with his mana, while Tararat’s sword was glowing with edges like a lightsaber from the surge of volcanic mana flowing through it.

And Ackster was right. Tararat’s sword began cutting through the dagger. However, halfway through, the force of his strike caught up with the blade that had slowed down due to the dagger. That force traveled through the dagger and into Ackster, sending him flying into the ground with enough power to make a crater the size of a pond.

As Ackster crashed into the ground, Tararat accompanied him, still pushing down with his sword. The dagger broke, and Ackster immediately pressed the flat of the blade with his palms, stopping it from progressing further.

Even with his Pyro Resistance, Ackster could feel the skin on his hands melting and burning before slowly being cut through.

With a sudden exertion, Ackster pushed the blade to the side while he spun on the ground and kicked Tararat’s leg before flipping back and jumping up out of the crater.

’As expected...’

Tararat’s mana had healed his leg, and he barely noticed Ackster’s awkward kick. He looked up at Ackster from the crater before raising his sword and pointing it at Ackster right as he leaped straight at Ackster, his sword piercing through the air like the lance he used when riding his mount.

A phantom-like structure of mana enveloped Tararat’s sword, doubling its length.

Ackster feinted a sideways lean before bending forward and jumping straight at Tararat, colliding with him and crashing down to the ground in the crater together.

Before Tararat could try anything, Ackster headbutted him, unleashing a rippling punch with his skull straight onto Tararat’s nose. That moment of disorientation was all Ackster needed to begin pummeling the dragonling with a series of full-power rippling strikes.

However, his strikes were dealing even less damage than before due to Tararat’s defensive mana reinforcing his already impeccable armored scales. It didn’t take long before Tararat found enough space to move to counterattack despite Ackster straddling him.

Tararat started punching Ackster’s torso and sides with his free hand. What Tararat hadn’t expected was the fact that his punches were even more useless than Ackster’s. The force behind all of his strikes was being dispelled and distributed over Ackster’s entire body and cushioned with his mana.

It was the reverse of his rippling strikes. It was the rippling defense Ackster had experienced during his fight with Dala, which had been the trigger for reaching the next level of his Unimportant Whatever Arts.

Unlike with his rippling punches, he needed to constantly use his mana to activate the defense. But that didn’t matter. Ackster was satisfied as long as it worked.

However, his rippling defense wasn’t very useful in dispelling the force of Tararat’s movements. So, when Tararat started tossing and throwing Ackster around, Ackster found it difficult to continue lambasting him with punches. He gritted his teeth and left Tararat’s body.

Tararat was building momentum, and if he got out from under Ackster, Ackster would end up being in the severely disadvantaged position. Against Tararat’s strength and sword, Ackster didn’t think that would be a wise decision.

His rippling defense might be enough to ignore Tararat’s punches. But Tararat’s sword would be a different matter entirely. If he didn’t want to get locked in place and skewered like a drowned rat, Ackster would have to exercise caution when grappling with the sturdy dragonling.

"Are you going all out?"

However, instead of charging at Ackster again, Tararat paused with his sword angled to the ground. He looked at Ackster with a clear gaze, his mana partly withdrawn.

"Close enough."

Tararat sighed.

"At this rate, our fight won’t end in quite a while."

"So? I don’t have anywhere else to be."

"I do. I must inform the elders about Kargas’ plan. I would have liked it if you could do it in person. But you have no intentions of going willingly, even if only because you want to fight."

’Damn.’

This was not how Ackster saw things going. He could already guess that their fight wouldn’t end anytime soon and that there most likely wouldn’t be a clear victor. But he hadn’t thought Tararat would give up.

"I’m not giving up. I’m just putting a hold on our battle. We will continue this in the future."

"It sure as hell looks like you’re running away, though."

"I’m not."

Tararat glared at Ackster but didn’t fall for his provocation.

If Tararat didn’t have his own convictions and code of honor, he wouldn’t have risen to a high and respected position within dragonling society, even if he was strong. His strength just made that easier.

"Fine. But I’m going to continue getting stronger, so unless you do the same, I’m killing you."

"Of course."

Tararat smiled before turning around. He was about to jump up on his wyvern.

"Wait a minute!"

Tararat glanced back at Ackster.

"Yes?"

"Cut off my hand before you leave!"

"...What?"