Rogue Villain-Chapter 352: Aspects Of Endlessness
Clear Mind gave Ackster a splintered clarity as his body succumbed to the wrath of Berserk, amplified by the negative feelings of the miasma that had yet to perfectly meld into his Ichor and the conflict of his core.
Ackster’s thoughts ran on two tracks as he watched his body’s instincts take over and utilize his sources and force to pummel the golem. One track looked at and analyzed the fight, including how the golem still suppressed Ackster and broke his body repeatedly.
The other track running through Ackster’s mind passed by, and picked up the idea that he should have enough to become a full-fledged infinity machine.
Ackster’s Will relied on his willpower. But he could exhaust it. It had become a finite resource that required time to recover, even if he had the willpower to continue using it. Doing that strained his mind, rather than somehow using Will he didn’t have.
He only had as much mana as he had trained. It recovered over time or if he trained and absorbed more from his surroundings.
Ackster’s vitality had aspects of endlessness only because his heart was like a bottomless fountain of it. But without sustenance, his heart couldn’t continue pumping out vitality, and neither could his skills increase his production of it.
The source that came closest to being endless was Ichor, but that was only because it was so energy-efficient. Just like his other sources, it could run out before recovering after some time.
It didn’t make sense.
Ichor was the power of gods.
Ackster didn’t know much about the gods of the celestial realm. But he had trouble seeing them as the kind of beings that would run out of energy like that. Of course, possessing endless energy wasn’t something an ordinary person could understand.
But they were gods. They weren’t supposed to be within the realm of a normal person’s understanding.
To Ackster, it only made perfect sense that perfected Ichor was endless. Or maybe, rather than being endless, it wasn’t consumed.
Ackster tilted his head. He could feel his Ichor grow.
Smelting Furnace and his Ichor had started melding the miasma. He was approaching the finishing stages.
But the expression of twisted rage on his face and his bloodshot eyes told Ackster that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
’Whoops.’
Refining such a potent source into his weak and unstable Ichor had been successful, but it hadn’t been a good idea. He needed to restore balance.
Fortunately, the undefeatable golem had given him a surge of inspiration. Well, to Ackster, it was inspiration. To anyone else, it would have been the fear of death.
The golem was undefeatable. Even with the power of Berserk on top of his martial arts, Stubborn Well-Being, and Diamond Body, the golem continued regenerating its body and limbs with even more ease than Ackster did. And Ackster was running out of sustenance in Monster Muncher and Smelting Furnace.
’Ah, that’s right. I also have the flames of Smelting Furnace.’
The fires of Smelting Furnace didn’t need any fuel, even when burning and refining something. They were their own fuel, and they turned whatever was inside Smelting Furnace into more fuel for the flames to continue raging.
’I guess that’s the key.’
Smelting Furnace wasn’t the skill of a Calamity for nothing. It also wasn’t stuck at S-rank when the rest of his well-used skills were climbing further and further. Ackster was sure it would be the skill that brought him to the next level.
But for now, he had to deal with the imbalance of his marble of Ichor and the clay golem.
Ackster started eating pieces of the golem whenever he could. But the golem’s tower-like arms pummeled him into the walls and the floor with enough force to make that a vain attempt. He would lose all his energy before he had eaten enough clay to make a dent in the golem’s recovery.
Ackster’s grimace twisted into a contorted grin. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
He had found it!
It was partly self-inflicted since he held off on eating the golem from the beginning. But for all he knew, the golem had an endless pool of clay that it could source building materials from. The end result wouldn’t have changed, even if he started eating earlier.
Ackster was in danger.
As soon as it regenerated, Ackster bit off and swallowed his tongue to give him a short boost in energy as he distanced himself.
It seemed like the golem had grown bigger since the beginning of the battle. Maybe it had deemed Ackster as significant enough of a threat to use its full power.
Considering how much clay covered the tunnel and the walls, the golem could probably fill the entire room with its body and lock Ackster in place with its mass.
’I guess that’s what you call a jinx.’
Ackster regretted the thought as soon as it popped into his head since that’s exactly what the golem did when it realized Ackster could escape.
The bird had already retreated, but it got worried about what was happening when clay rolled through the tunnel, finally sealing it when all of it was inside the room.
The golem grew in size. Its limbs and body swelled, thickening and filling out the room.
Ackster tried to blast through it with his martial arts.
But the golem just continued building its body with more and more clay. And it did so faster than Ackster could tear it away.
Besides, the clay Ackster blew off the golem’s body was still inside the room. It still took up space, and the golem just absorbed it right back into its body.
The golem forced Ackster into a corner and pushed him against the wall.
Ackster used his sources, including his Ichor despite its instability and the malice of the struggling miasma. He blew holes clean through the golem. But they closed shut in a matter of moments.
Ackster had his back against the walls. Even his elbows touched. But his hands touched the golem.
He was out of space to move, and a moment later, the clay enveloped him completely.
Smelting Furnace raged and refined all the clay Ackster managed to eat.
But the golem focused all of its weight on Ackster and propped his mouth open with clay that it hardened. Ackster couldn’t swallow and devour the clay even if he wanted.
’Shit...’
