Rogue Villain-Chapter 341: Don’t Die

Ackster looked at the gorilla’s mangled corpse. The power it had been about to pull out and fight back with had sent a few chills down his spine. Ackster glared. If it was going to use something that fun, why wait until it was too late?

’Stupid bastard.’

Fortunately, the gorilla wasn’t the only beast in the forest with that kind of strength.

Now that he had reached a new understanding of his martial arts, Ackster wasn’t sure whether any of the other beasts would be his match. If he could blow apart a beast that prioritized defense, he could blow apart other beasts as well.

But things would be different if they possessed something like vitality.

Ackster hadn’t had time to sense what it was before his strike landed. But it belonged to a beast. It couldn’t be much other than vitality.

He pondered over the matter while eating the corpse, sating the hunger Monster Muncher and Smelting Furnace expressed. The gorilla might have been stupid—not weird since it didn’t have a head–but it was definitely useful. First, it had helped Ackster’s martial arts level up. Then, its body was packed full of nutrients and energy that seemed to bring Monster Muncher to a new level.

Compared to Smelting Furnace, Monster Muncher hadn’t had time to shine in quite a while. It had helped him a lot early on. But after stopping by the Land of Dragons, Monster Muncher had nearly become obsolete.

Smelting Furnace could do what Monster Muncher could do but better and more.

However, after eating the gorilla, Ackster discovered something. There was one thing that separated Smelting Furnace and Monster Muncher that he hadn’t noticed before or never had the chance to notice.

Smelting Furnace made use of the raw materials, refining the minerals, protein, vitamins, and whatever else he ate into building blocks for strengthening his body. Monster Muncher was similar. But in that department, it was more of a sped-up metabolism. It didn’t refine what he ate into its strongest form before rebuilding Ackster’s body.

However, Monster Muncher did something that Smelting Furnace didn’t do. It retained part of the food’s essence. It wasn’t as simple as reusing the building blocks. Somehow, Monster Muncher stole what made the gorilla the gorilla. It wasn’t quite the soul. It was more like Monster Muncher took note of the traces the gorilla’s soul had left in its body in a way that was impossible for Smelting Furnace.

Monster Muncher also took those traces away and handed them over to Ackster. Monster Muncher devoured all of the beasts and monsters he ate, not just their physical bodies.

Ackster almost had a feeling that his skin grew thicker and more rigid while his muscle density rose. That was thanks to Monster Muncher repurposing the gorilla’s body.

Smelting Furnace would have just reused the same building blocks to give Ackster a general overhaul and improvement. He didn’t just get thicker skin and denser muscles. He would also get sturdier bones, lusher hair, stronger nails, better joints and tendons, and tougher organs.

At first glance, Smelting Furnace was better. However, if the beast or monster he ate had something unique about it that was beneficial to Ackster, he would lose it to the fires of Smelting Furnace.

Monster Muncher, on the other hand, could impart that unique aspect to Ackster, diversifying and improving his lineup of specifications and abilities. Since Ackster was well-rounded and without any defining traits like a usage of water mana or something like that, he looked forward to what Monster Muncher could do for him.

"My Lord."

Mara greeted Ackster with a slight nod.

Ackster returned the nod and looked at Mara and Karandiel.

"How’d it go?"

"It went well. A pack of strange-looking birds observed us from afar, but they didn’t attack us. And the ’sun’ is a magical construct. It’s a replication of the sky by using magic. It also maintains this place’s natural and magical ecosystem. It circulates mana somehow. It is very advanced."

Ackster nodded. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"If the Alchemist made it, advanced is just the start. Does it rely on a power source, or is it self-sustaining?"

"Impossible to tell, My Lord. It appears to be self-sustaining. But there’s a barrier that prevents further inspection or entry."

"I see... I guess I’ll have to take a look myself after I’m done with teaching these beasts a lesson."

"Ahem. Brian..."

Ackster looked at Karandiel’s hesitant expression.

"Yeah?"

"I...I want to train on my own."

Karandiel had noticed Ackster’s displeasure when he found out that the rest of the party had taken off into the Alchemaze. She didn’t want to incur that same displeasure. But, at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel useless when Ackster singlehandedly beat the gorilla to a pulp with shockwaves that reached her and Mara when they visited the sky.

Karandiel felt a desire to grow stronger so that she could stand on equal footing with Ackster. Being by his side was nice. But earning that spot would be even better. Ackster also wouldn’t stop growing at a lightning-like pace just because he had her and Mara by his side.

Ackster’s growth wasn’t limited by the people around him. But Karandiel felt like hers was, at least when Ackster prevented her from experiencing anything dangerous.

The strength she had gained in Ackster’s absence that helped her deal with the Blood Moon disaster and build a city was suddenly disappointingly shallow. Karandiel had to put in more work so as not to bring shame to Ackster.

Ackster nodded.

"Sure. Go ahead."

Ackster’s quick answer almost made Karandiel’s worry feel meaningless.

"But don’t die. And come back stronger."

Ackster’s gaze was clear as he locked eyes with Karandiel and seemingly stared into her soul. She nodded her promise.

Ackster turned to Mara.

"That goes for you, too."

"Of course, My Lord."

Mara could tell that she wasn’t of much use to Ackster right now. So, even if she wanted to accompany him, she had to find her own path to greater heights.

Ackster headed toward the jungle’s center, and Mara and Karandiel chose opposite directions as they followed the wall around the jungle, looking for an exit or a tunnel leading elsewhere.