I Alone Regress in a Hero Party That Was Annihilated - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#12. Treasure Hunt (2)

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The Sword of Mörsolt.

It was the ‘Pinnacle of the North’.

The only blade that had once severed the Demon King’s neck.

The method of wielding it was precisely the Mörsolt Sword Style.

It was the Sword of Mörsolt that had blown off the heads of High-ranking Demons who could move mountains with their fingers and dry up lakes, cutting them down like dog heads.

But the once-magnificent Sword of Mörsolt was now nothing more than a tale of the past.

The severance of inheritance.

Due to the tragedy that occurred 100 years ago, the family’s sword style was lost.

The Branch Bloodlines who inherited the family barely managed to restore the sword style by piecing together memories… but they could only imitate the early parts of the style, and there were limits to reproducing the Secret Techniques of the latter parts.

A sword style with its core lost was nothing but an empty shell, sometimes even inferior to ordinary swordsmanship.

For the humble bloodlines of the branch family who had not properly inherited the blade, that was their limit.

…But that would only last until today.

In Featherback’s hands was the Complete Edition of Mörsolt Swordsmanship, completely undamaged.

“…”

Featherback raised his hand.

A thick book came into view.

The texture of the bumpy cover was not only rough but even felt ominous.

It was because it was made from the flayed hide of a Supreme Demon.

Someone might criticize why he had left behind the countless treasures in the Secret Vault and brought only this old, unsettling book.

But Featherback knew better than anyone.

If he could get his hands on just this one book, the treasures in the Secret Vault were nothing more than trash to be thrown away.

‘Finally, I have it.’

Featherback stroked the book’s cover.

Then.

Crunch—!

A demon’s maw that protruded from the cover bit Featherback’s hand.

Blood drops seeping from the tips of sharp teeth began to soak into the book’s cover.

The demon’s maw continued to sink its teeth into Featherback’s hand.

An ordinary person would have lost their hand like this.

Hissssssss…

But that didn’t apply to Mörsolt, who possessed the blood of demon destruction.

Featherback’s blood mercilessly melted the demon’s teeth.

The demon’s maw was startled and hid its teeth, and soon the tightly closed book opened.

‘What an unpleasant locking mechanism.’

Featherback skimmed through the contents of the book.

【―Mörsolt Sword Style Complete―】

The Mörsolt Sword Forms began to take shape before his eyes, one by one.

1st Form: Blood Drawing .

2nd Form: Skin Peeling .

3rd Form: Bone Extraction .

4th Form: Flesh Carving .

5th Form: Beheading .

6th Form: Demon Consumption .

7th Form: Ritual .

Sword forms for slaughtering demons.

A needle-like pain shot through the hand holding the sword manual.

Nevertheless, Featherback did not let go of the sword manual.

‘Before my regression, the swordsmanship I could obtain was only up to the 5th Form. My realm couldn’t surpass 5-Star either.’

Finally, the sword forms beyond the 5th had come into his hands.

Now that the ceiling blocking his bloodline’s potential had collapsed, nothing remained to obstruct his path.

‘New swordsmanship. Experience from before regression. If these two are combined, there will be no place my sword cannot reach.’

Even if it were the Demon King’s neck, he would be able to cut it down without question.

Just as the Mörsolt of the past had done.

‘…I’ve taken everything worth taking.’

Featherback decided to leave the Secret Vault.

He would have to leave behind the treasures remaining in the Secret Vault… but that didn’t matter right now.

It wasn’t the naive thought of being satisfied just because he had obtained an important secret manual.

‘Even though they’re bait for traps… I can’t abandon a single one.’

He knew several ways to extract all of these without leaving anything behind.

This too was a privilege of being a Returner.

* * *

The early snowstorm had once again devoured the entire Northern Region without fail this year.

The streets dominated by bitter cold had long been devoid of human presence.

…However.

There was exactly one place where warm winds blew even in this fierce cold.

“How is it that warm air seems to be coming from here?”

A young-faced maid heading to Mörsolt Castle’s Training Hall set down her water bucket and spoke.

The water bucket that had been frozen solid on the way here was slowly melting.

Then another maid beside her said.

“It’s blowing from that cave.”

“It’s true. But why is warm air coming out from there? Did a hot spring burst in the cave?”

“Huh? You don’t know?”

The maid whispers to her friend.

“The Young Master has been doing sword training in there lately. He’s so diligent that the heat is incredible. I went to bring him water the other day, and even I started sweating just watching.”

“Eh? Young Master Featherback? The Young Master turns pale at the mere mention of swordsmanship? Are you sure he’s not painting or singing?”

“You went on assignment to Lower Village and came back not knowing what’s happening in the world? What era are you talking about? He even burned all his precious art pieces recently.”

“Really? No way, you’re lying. I’ll have to see for myself when I bring him water and food later.”

“No! It’s my turn this time!”

“What? You said you didn’t want to be the Young Master’s maid last time. You complained about how fussy he was about cleaning and clothes.”

“Do you want to keep talking about the past? He’s so easygoing and generous these days. And… hehehe.”

The young maid stops mid-sentence and laughs mischievously.

“Honestly, the Young Master is handsome when he’s not being irritable. But when he trains, he takes off his shirt… his muscles are just… oh my… such a feast for the eyes…”

“What, really? Me too! I want to see too!”

“Stop fooling around! It’s my turn this time! Do you know how much I’ve been looking forward to today! You get in line!”

The young girls giggle and scurry away together.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the Training Hall, Featherback was swinging his sword.

Featherback came out of the Secret Vault and immediately devoted himself to training.

Swish—

Each time he swung the sword down, a sharp cutting sound burst out half a beat later.

The sword of Mörsolt is originally a Demon Slaying blade.

In an era when myths and legends lived and breathed, it was a desperate survival technique created by humans who were merely prey for the Dominant Species.

While families from warm and peaceful regions obsessed over facades called chivalry, romance, and ideals, Mörsolt’s swordsmanship remained faithful to the basics.

A killing art that must slay enemies with minimal cost.

“…”

Featherback silently swung his sword.

Through his sweat-soaked white hair, blood-red eyes flashed.

The sword sliced through a stalactite like the teeth of a starving beast.

‘It seems sharper than my blade before regression.’

Featherback recalled his past life.

After the family’s destruction, for the reconstruction of his bloodline; during the Demon Realm War, for survival; after joining the Hero Party, to kill the Demon King.

He had to cut and be cut countless times.

‘I must not forget the pain of that time, the anger of that time, the fear of that time.’

The peace he encountered after regression was far too sweet.

So Featherback was making great efforts to not lose his memories from before the regression.

He always ate preserved food for meals, and licked orc gallbladders daily while avoiding soft foods.

He densely laid blade fragments and thorny branch stems on his sleeping area.

And when he opened his eyes, he would first grab the sword placed by his bedside and swing it.

Stabbing, cutting, tearing, pulling, breaking, carving, extracting.

The place where Featherback unleashed his slash attacks was in chaos as if torn by the claws of a giant beast.

‘I’ll test the swordsmanship I obtained from the Secret Vault right away.’

Featherback deployed the contents of the secret sword manual exactly as written.

1st Form: Blood Drawing .

2nd Form: Skin Peeling .

3rd Form: Bone Extraction .

4th Form: Flesh Carving .

5th Form: Beheading .

6th Form: Demon Consumption

7th Form: Ritual .

While repeating these movements, Featherback could feel it desperately.

‘The swordsmanship I had learned until before the regression was only half-complete.’

He had roughly suspected it.

When battles ended, the Hero, Mage, and Priest would all say in unison.

‘Your swordsmanship is strangely clumsy in its finishing. It’s powerful as it is now, but…’

‘I wasn’t the only one who felt that sense of incompleteness at the end. There are probably more follow-up movements.’

‘If only you could find them, your realm would become much more profound. You’d probably be able to sweep away the Demon King’s army by yourself without needing the party.’

At one time, he had been skeptical of their evaluations.

When this sword manual was discovered just before humanity’s extinction, it was already far too late.

Moreover, the sword manual was attacked by demons during excavation, causing some pages to burn, making it impossible to learn the complete version.

‘But not now.’

It wasn’t too late, and there were no burned pages.

Featherback had obtained the complete sword manual and had already memorized it word for word without missing a single detail.

All the defects that had occurred later were completely filled in.

If he had known this swordsmanship before the regression, if he could have learned it just a little earlier, then his comrades wouldn’t have had to die like that.

They no longer existed in this world and couldn’t be revived even with elixirs.

The warrior’s expression was dark as he recalled the faces of the Hero, Mage, Saint, and the Archer, Thief, and other comrades who had died before them.

But that was only for a moment.

Swish—

Featherback swung his sword once again.

There was no time to spare for feeling depressed.

If he had that time, he would swing his sword one more time.

“….”

Featherback began to deploy the Mörsolt Sword Forms.

‘First, I’ll deploy as far as I can with 2-Star level ability.’

The White Light Sword traced a mysterious curve.

A technique that pierces the enemy’s softest part to a depth of one inch.

This is called the 1st Form ‘Blood Drawing ‘.

It was the basic technique Featherback had used most throughout his past and current life, and the killing art that had slain the most demons.

Not particularly strong, but a thrust that was difficult to predict, extremely fast, and precise.

Soon, Featherback moved on to the next motion.

Swish―

A white flash streaked horizontally across the ground.

Zzzzzzrip!

After the sword passed, the stone floor peeled away like animal hide being stripped.

That was the 2nd Form ‘Skin Peeling ‘.

This too was a slashing motion that gained maximum benefit with minimal approach.

It was one of the sinister basic techniques whose effect was maximized when combined with the 1st Form.

‘Before regression, I deployed up to the 5th Form swordsmanship at 5-Star realm. But with my current realm, I can only use up to the 2nd Form.’

Featherback’s current realm was at the end of 2-Star, now on the verge of entering 3-Star.

Upon reaching 3-Star, Foundation Building would become possible following Qi Refinement.

This meant going beyond feeling mana through touch to being able to create gaseous Aura Blades.

Only then could he deploy ‘special techniques’ that transcended ‘basic techniques’.

The 3rd Form ‘Bone Extraction ‘ was exactly that.

‘…Once I master the 3rd Form, the 1st and 2nd Forms will transform into even more terrifying killing arts.’

The 3rd Form was the first step toward truly becoming reborn as Mörsolt.

It would have been perfect if he could achieve 3-Star and master up to the 3rd Form on this dungeon expedition, but for now he had to be satisfied with this.

‘There are limits to sword practice against monsters. I need to face fellow humans for my skills to improve rapidly.’

Featherback stroked his chin.

Just because his skills improved by deploying swordsmanship against humans didn’t mean he would engage in swordplay against innocent people – that would make him not human but a Murder Demon.

And Featherback was willing to become a Murder Demon.

Because the humans he would target were…

‘They haven’t committed particularly heavy sins yet… but as time passes, they will surely commit great sins.’

Before regression, there were pieces of trash who had encouraged the family’s destruction.

Featherback planned to use them as targets to hone his killing arts.

Just then.

“Young Master.”

Someone entered the Training Hall.

When he turned his head, he saw two young-faced maids holding water buckets.

“We brought water for you to wash yourself. Um…”

“Oh, and…”

The two girls, who had been glaring at each other for a moment, delivered news from outside the cave to Featherback.

“The Family Head who went out for Orc Subjugation has just returned!”

That was also one of the pieces of news Featherback had been waiting for.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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