Chapter 400: Losing Momentum
Anatol might have retreated back into the sword that had imprisoned them for a few eons. But that didn’t mean their strength was sealed again. They had just chosen to slightly limit their influence on the world so as not to speed up Millmeria’s destruction. They also willingly chose to lend their strength to Ackster by keeping their strength in the sword.
The sword’s sharpness, tensile strength, durability, and, most importantly, ability to devour and steal from its targets were leagues beyond what they were before Ackster freed the demon.
The sword was so much more powerful that Ackster felt it cut through the world just by him sprinting toward the Observer. If he wasn’t careful, he might destroy Millmeria before the Observer could finish doing it.
Ackster rushed through space using the experience from teleporting inside his Perfect World and flashed behind the Observer. He slashed through the Observer’s barrier, ball of cosmic energy, and shoulder.
Like Anatol had promised, Ackster’s attacks worked. They no longer passed right through the Observer like the latter was a mirage.
Ackster grinned.
It was time for some payback.
Ackster didn’t hold back in the slightest.
He used the full extent of his mastery of his martial arts to imagine himself as water as he slipped through the void to avoid the Observer’s attacks and reposition himself before imagining the Observer as water and slashing through it with a sword that would cut even unrefined Heavenly Iron like butter.
<Don’t even think about it.>
Anatol warned Ackster before he could think about how strong his body would become if he managed to eat and refine the sword.
Ackster didn’t ignore the warning, but he didn’t respond.
Although he was Limitless and used a strength and speed that rivaled even the Observer’s, he couldn’t forget that he could still die. The Observer was still powerful.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Observer wasn’t good at combat, Ackster wouldn’t stand a chance.
Even now, while Ackster’s attacks landed, they didn’t deal any lasting damage. The Observer healed and unleashed powerful blasts and explosions of cosmic power.
If it weren’t for his affinity for space that let him take cover in the void, Ackster would have had to waste a lot of his Limitlessness on recovery.
Ackster also had to be mindful of the backlash that was sure to follow Limitless. He could see the path to victory now. But it would be for nothing if he died immediately afterward.
That was why he stopped thinking about useless things and focused on two things, the battle of attrition with the Observer and refining the cosmic power.
Ackster hadn’t been sure he would win against the Observer even if he managed to refine the cosmic power into his Ichor before since the Observer was more powerful and had more cosmic energy than Ackster could understand.
But things were different now.
Cosmic energy on top of Limitless would boost Ackster’s strength even further.
However, as the Observer got used to fighting Ackster and using its cosmic energy, it started unleashing more and more powerful attacks.
The ground far below them was already a deserted wasteland. The cracks in Millmeria had spread to the horizon, and they showed no signs of stopping.
Ackster might last until he could win, but Millmeria wouldn’t.
Ackster took a deep breath before dragging even more power out of Limitless. After all, there was no limit to the strength he could use. The only thing that could be called a limit now was how great of a backlash he could endure without dying.
With another burst of power and strength, Ackster unleashed a hail shower of sword attacks on the Observer. He left a net of thin lines in the Observer’s body. The Observer didn’t even need to do anything before the lines started fading like dust in a gentle breeze.
At the same time, the Observer couldn’t do anything when Ackster continued slashing it apart. Ackster didn’t let up, even when the Observer tried to counterattack. He continued attacking and driving apart the Observer’s body further and further.
The Observer had to expend cosmic energy to recover its body, and it had to expend an exponential amount the more pieces his body was in and the further apart they were.
Finally, Ackster managed to widen the gap to fit his fingers. While still slashing with one hand, Ackster reached in with one hand and grabbed a chunk of the Observer’s body.
The Observer belatedly realized Ackster’s intentions as Ackster flung the chunk into space with the same limitless strength he used to cleave the Observer into pieces.
The Observer could feel part of its strength leave. It got weaker. It wasn’t by much. But it was noticeable.
Ackster grinned. If the Observer could notice, so could he. His plan worked.
Ackster continued slicing, grabbing, and throwing. To make matters even worse, Ackster threw the chunks of the Observer’s body in different directions.
It didn’t take long before the Observer’s strength dipped below half and it could barely react to Ackster’s attacks. At that point, Ackster didn’t even need to try to continue wearing down on the Observer’s strength.
However, the moment Ackster let up on his strength, the backlash from Limitless would come crashing down on him like a train of mountains. He maintained the full extent of his strength until only a single piece of the Observer remained. He was about to throw that away when a being came from below.
The being jumped from the ruined wasteland, opened wide, and devoured the tiny chunk of the Observer’s body.
Ackster had been wondering if he should do that but hesitated since Smelting Furnace was too busy with the cosmic power. But even if he hesitated, he should still have been able to react to someone trying to steal his slice of pie.
As Ackster tried to figure out why he had missed it, he stopped moving. He had defeated The Hero, the Voice, and now, the Observer. He had saved the world, even if half of it was in ruins.
He lost his momentum.
The backlash of Limitless and Limit Breaker before that caught up to him.
Before Ackster could react, his vision turned black, his body exploded, his power ran out, and his core cracked and dropped to the ground. The Demon Sword lodged itself in the earth next to it.
<Huh?>
However, the Demon Sword, which had seemed like it was going to protect Ackster’s core, could only watch on as the broken core disappeared into the ground.
