Bonfires of pain shot through Ackster's body every second he put weight on his foot with the broken toe bone. But hopping on one leg didn't make it any better since each bounce had his limp toe dangling and swinging like a sunflower caught in the budding currents of a tornado.
But he remained conscious, and he couldn't let himself be stopped by something as trivial as pain, especially when it was weak enough that he could endure it just by gritting his teeth. So, he packed up his things while shoving as much meat as possible into his piehole.
Mio jumped into the bag, sensing Ackster's urgency.
It was a shame he had to leave behind so much food, but there was no way he could bring it with him. If he got hungry along the way, which he almost definitely would, he would simply have to pick up something to eat while running. In the worst case, he would have to eat grass.
But as long as he arrived at Karandiel's crash site, he didn't mind.
So, with everything he needed in his bag or in his mouth, Ackster hobbled in the direction of the hole in the sky, which was already disappearing now that Karandiel had entered the mortal realm.
Ackster felt like he could see a tiny dot fly down through the sky when he used Keen Senses to the limit, but it was so small that he wouldn't be surprised if he were hallucinating it or seeing it through the power of hope. In any case, he knew Karandiel was far away, and he probably wouldn't arrive before she landed.
Ackster probably wouldn't be first on site, either, since people closer to the hole in the sky would investigate out of curiosity. He only hoped he would arrive before someone took away Karandiel or Karandiel left on her own.
Ackster wasn't sure what state she would be in, but he knew she wasn't very strong after she first fell since she lost her angelic powers, and it took her a little while to regain her strength.
So, in order to make sure nothing untoward happened to one of his anti-Hero cards, Ackster hobbled along as quickly as he could. The pain was too insistent and stubborn to ignore, but he gritted his teeth and bore with it, occasionally venting it on an unlucky beast or something that happened to get caught up in his path.
Eventually, after a few hours, Ackster felt and heard a low, momentary rumble. It was like a short earthquake, and its epicenter was in the direction he was headed. He was still quite far away, but Karandiel had already landed. Well, maybe not already, considering it had taken her several hours to fall.
Ackster was a little surprised that it had taken Karandiel that long to hit the ground, but even if it was relieving that he had gotten a little more time, he couldn't rest at ease since he was still far away. Thankfully, his toe had numbed slightly the last few hours. He could increase his pace through the waist-high grass.
It still hurt like someone was repeatedly smashing his toe under ten cinderblocks with each step, especially when it got caught in grass straws or roots or dirt. But the pain was becoming more and more bearable, even while he started running at his top speed.
Ackster considered dumping his training equipment in favor of reaching Karandiel quicker. But, while Karandiel would be a useful card against The Hero in the future, she wasn't his only hope, especially when he couldn't even guarantee her assistance. His primary hope for salvation was still himself. So, he would simply have to step up and make sure his training equipment didn't slow him down too much.
If it did, it was on him to do better while still wearing it. Getting rid of his training equipment once would make it easier to do it twice. And his purpose in wearing the weighted clothes all the time in the first place was to make sure that he could handle even the toughest and most desperate situations under less-than-optimal circumstances.
He thought about trying to activate Limit Breaker and run faster, but it was too risky since he might need it in the future. If he ran himself ragged before even arriving at Karandiel, who would inevitably attract the interest of anyone nearby, he would be powerless to secure her.
Ackster's eyes narrowed as he thought about it. Karandiel's arrival could attract the attention of monsters, considering her angelic nature and aura, even if she had Fallen. But the majority interested in the celestial phenomenon and what had popped out of it would undoubtedly be humans.
If he wanted Karandiel for himself and without any witnesses that could connect him to the Fallen Angel, he would have to exercise his willingness to do anything to other humans instead of just himself. It was one thing to torture himself out of a desperate wish to become stronger, and it was relatively easy to kill monsters and beasts since they couldn't communicate with him and wanted to kill him.
But killing humans was something Ackster hadn't ever done. He vaguely knew already that he would have to do it one day. But he had just been an ordinary guy on a peaceful Earth. He wasn't a murderer.
But poised with this eventual moral dilemma, Ackster didn't really have a choice.
Either he didn't do what was necessary and increased the odds of him and everyone else on Millmeria dying in ten years. Or he did what was necessary. And, in exchange for a few lives, everyone else, including himself, would live.
It was a no-brainer, really.
But it was easier said than done, and it was easier thought than said, which was why Ackster decided to stop thinking about it and focus on running, making full use of Sprint. He would do what needed to be done when it needed to be done.