Ants flooded over Karandiel and the translucent golden egg that was forcing her into a fetal position in less than a second after she fell off Ackster's back like a dead scarab.
"No!"
Ackster barely had time to shout after he heard and noticed Karandiel letting go. He had no choice in the matter.
However, things might not be as desperate or dire as they seemed. Ackster had not yet lost Karandiel, one of the cards he was hoping would help him stop the end of the world. He had heard what she said before she let go.
She had mentioned her Book of Convictions, which meant she had regained some of her power. He wasn't privy to the details. But there was hope.
Ackster stopped dead in his tracks and jumped off the ant he was on in the direction of where he had last seen Karandiel before the waves of crawling ants swallowed her. Although she had managed to put up some kind of defense, and considering what he knew about the fallen angel, Ackster was sure it would last, it wouldn't last forever. And if he could, he would rather ease as much of her burden as possible to ensure she didn't fall to the ants.
So, he dove into the battle head first, a little worried about Mio. But while Mio was useful, the slime wasn't as important for the endgame as Karandiel was, and he would have to prioritize Karandiel. But he could feel a soft and wet sensation climb out of the bag and up his neck onto his head. Mio wasn't willing to give up and chose to seek refuge in Ackster's hair. As long as Ackster kept his head safe, he would keep Mio safe.
'Good thinking, Mio.'
Ackster wasn't in a position to compliment Mio aloud, so he did it in his thoughts as he pried apart the first pair of mandibles that had locked themselves around his leg. He could already feel the sharp pegs in them dig into his skin.
Resilience and Leather Skin were doing their best to keep him intact, but the ants' bites were also limiting his movement and making it that much more difficult to counterattack and defend himself.
Ackster used the momentum from prying apart the ant's mandibles to tearing the entire ant apart. They weren't as fleshy, bloody, and gory on the inside as he had hoped. The more meat there was, the more strength he would gain and regain from eating them. But he would just have to supplement the lacking quality of each ant with quantity.
Fortunately, there was seemingly no limit to the amount of ants he could smash and tear apart. He gulped down as much as he could of the ant he tore apart's insides before moving on to the next.
Ackster's fist crashed into a nearby ant head and retrieved a fistful of soft flesh from its brain that he shoved in his mouth before continuing to the next. He used both hands to feed himself while he danced around and kicked the encroaching ants with his legs.
Battlesight activated several times as the ants stacked on top of each other to reach every last part of Ackster's body. But the images of the ants Battlesight gave Ackster overlapped with the reality, and it became a muddled, jumbled mess of swarming ants. It was too much for Ackster to make out any differences.
Ackster ignored Battlesight as much as he could and relied on his natural instincts, reflexes, and bodily toughness to dodge, parry, block, and counterattack all the ants that came at him. All the while, he did his best to shove whatever felt edible in his mouth to let Strong Body and Monster Muncher get to work.
Fortunately, the individual ant strength wasn't that great, and he didn't have to activate Limit Breaker yet. It seemed like the ants' only advantage was their numbers. What Ackster couldn't understand, however, was why or how they lived unnoticed in the Cloven Grasslands, which were supposed to be appropriate for D to B-ranks at the most.
What he was dealing with now wasn't even something A-ranks could deal with if they were alone.
He also wondered how the ants had gone unnoticed if they swarmed in the millions just to kill him and Karandiel. Or maybe that was exactly why. They didn't hold back and made sure there were no witnesses. But there had to be someone who had noticed what was going on, that people weren't returning from this part of the Cloven Grasslands.
Ackster decided he was going to ask Wilma about it if he got the opportunity. He had no plans on returning to Ilto, but he felt that wouldn't interfere with his business with Wilma.
The fact that Ackster had enough leeway to indulge in leisurely thoughts was proof enough that the ants weren't that strong. The only threat was the numbers. Even if one could easily kill one or ten or hundred of them, that was nowhere near enough. Sooner or later, one would run out of energy, mana, stamina, or whatever else one used to power themselves and their skills.
However, Ackster didn't only have pretty decent stamina. He also had two skills that increased his recovery and metabolism. Well, three if he counted Iron Stomach's ability to digest anything. Strong Body and Monster Muncher both broke down whatever Ackster ate and turned it into fuel and strength.
Ackster felt his arms and legs grow heavy, and his mind was getting blurry from the overactivation of Keen Senses and Battlesight.
But compared to the training equipment, the heaviness of his limbs wasn't much, and most of it was due to the ants clinging to him, trying to bury him. And the fogginess of his mind was mostly repelled by Iron Will and Clear Mind. But even without them, it wouldn't have been anything in comparison to what he suffered during his poison consumption streak.
Ackster was completely assured that as long as nothing extreme happened, this was doable. He had a neverending supply of food that could keep the perpetual motion machine that was his body, running.