Rogue Villain-Chapter 321: Can I Eat That?

Ackster looked at the flatlands as they arrived. They weren’t so flat anymore since the ant nest’s tunnels had collapsed without any ants to maintain them. The collapse had also happened a while ago, considering grass had started growing everywhere like the weed it was.

However, no new beasts had taken the ants’ place.

Ackster narrowed his eyes as he looked toward the depths of the nest, trying to pierce the ground with his gaze.

"Everything alright?"

Wilma clasped her hands behind her back as she looked at Ackster while the others looked around the place that was supposed to be the entrance to the Alchemaze. She was the only one who knew how deeply his place had affected Ackster.

Although she still couldn’t sympathize with his idealogy and willingness to commit heinous deeds for his goal, she could still sympathize with Ackster’s suffering. He had endured more in the last few years than people did in a lifetime. He had the strength to show for it, but it wasn’t without a cost.

"I’m fine."

Ackster nodded and turned to the others.

"The entrance is at the bottom of all these tunnels. There might be more than one entrance, or there might not be a single entrance left since the tunnels’ collapse."

"Are you telling us to...?"

Makkel spoke up because he got a bad feeling.

Ackster nodded.

"Yup. Start digging."

Wilma sighed before handing out shovels to everyone who needed them. Karandiel, Mara, and Mastrax could make their own or use other means of digging. Ackster could clear the dirt with his strength and Will alone. So, Kargas, Wilma, and Makkel were the only ones who used shovels.

They all excavated from the same spot so that it would be more efficient. But when Mara and the others started using flashier techniques that removed more dirt at once, Ackster’s party members gradually drifted away from each other, with some taking the lead while others lagged behind.

"Hold on a minute."

Ackster paused as he realized something. He asked the others to wait.

"Can everyone, like, take a step back?"

Ackster gestured for the others to hug the sides of the pit or pits they dug as he walked over to the center of the vertical tunnel. He kneeled and put his hand against the ground.

At the moment, his Inventory, which he hadn’t found the limits of, was empty.

It would be a shame to let such a large Inventory gather dust instead of being put to use.

Ackster stretched his consciousness as far as he could into the ground before sending as much dirt as he could in one go into his Inventory.

Instantly, a large chunk of the ground beneath their feet vanished into thin air.

Ackster had intentionally not taken any of the dirt from beneath the feet of anyone. But he couldn’t predict how the dirt left behind would collapse inward.

"AIHHH!"

The piece of dirt Makkel stood on crumbled and crashed downward to the abyss-like hole Ackster had just made. Makkel panicked. He couldn’t fly, and he was more of a mage than a fighter. He wouldn’t survive a fall from that height.

Ackster clicked his tongue. He was also falling, but he wasn’t panicking and screaming like a little girl. With a sigh, he used his Will to push Makkel into the wall, where he clambered onto the dirt for his life until Mara could scoop him up.

Ackster scanned his surroundings as he fell to the bottom of the pit he made alongside a bunch of dirt. He saw various half-intact tunnels here and there. But he couldn’t understand why not a single beast or colony had decided to use the ant nest as their own. It was the perfect place to recreate a nest, and Ackster knew tons of beasts or monsters would happily reuse the ant nest.

Maybe the ant queen’s scent lingered, or the collapse made it too much of a danger and hassle.

Whatever it was, Ackster had a bad feeling.

Ackster glanced up at his comrades.

The bad feeling wasn’t enough to dissuade him, and he removed another chunk of dirt from the ground, stuffing it into his Inventory. The others began to descend in their own ways to catch up to Ackster.

The type of soil and dirt in the ground changed and became more rocky. It changed gradually the deeper they went. Ackster recognized the new ground when he touched it.

They were getting closer.

But from his memories, Ackster remembered that there was still a ways to go, so he grabbed another huge chunk of the ground and stuffed it inside his Inventory. His eyes widened slightly. He wasn’t sure that would fit.

But his Inventory still wasn’t full, so Ackster grabbed another chunk.

Ackster was both surprised at the size of his Inventory and the depth of the ant nest. Thinking about how deep the ant nest was and how long he had been stuck in it the last time he was there wasn’t good for his state of mental well-being.

Ackster frowned a little and removed the final chunk of ground between himself and the bottommost layer of ground that overlapped with the entrances to the Alchemaze.

Ackster scooped all the dirt away from the stone doors that looked the same as the last time.

Ackster and the others all had furrowed brows as they looked at the collapsed stone entranceways in the ground like entrances to underground tunnels. The dark yellow stone stood out against the almost black rock.

’Can I eat that?’

It had been a while since Ackster found something worthwhile to stuff inside Smelting Furnace. And last he checked, this stone was pretty sturdy. But that had also been long before he reached his current strength.

The others stood next to Ackster in the center of the doors.

Wilma’s brow was in knots as she looked at the scene.

"I’ve never heard of an entrance with multiple entrances like this."

Ackster nodded.

"Me neither. What do you think it’s about?"

Wilma shook her head.

"No idea. I’m not an expert on the Alchemaze. All I know is that no one knows much about the Alchemist’s motivations and intentions."

Ackster looked at the door closest to him.

’...Was the stone and dirt this color?’