I Alone Regress in a Hero Party That Was Annihilated - Chapter 37

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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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#37. To Meursault Mountain (1)

 

— — —

 

The Prisoners of Narok crawled up.

 

Destination: Meursault Mountain, where bitter cold near absolute zero rages.

 

Mission: To pioneer the Abandoned Mining Area teeming with dangerous Monsters.

 

Reward: Pardon upon survival.

 

P.S.: If you die, that’s it.

 

I had heard the general details through Rorschach.

 

Grind—creak—

 

The Wealthy Merchants who once dominated the entire Region were grinding their teeth, chewing on their resentment and hatred toward Featherback, who had brought about their downfall in an instant.

 

‘I will definitely kill him.’

 

‘There are no watching eyes on Meursault Mountain.’

 

‘Featherback, I will surely assassinate that little brat.’

 

The toxic malice emanating from the Prisoners was so intense that even the Prison Guards shrank back.

 

However.

 

“…?”

 

The Prisoners dragged out of Narok were guided to a somewhat peculiar location.

 

It was a Slaughterhouse located on the Outskirts of the Fortress.

 

“…!”

 

And it wasn’t just any Slaughterhouse.

 

Monster corpses skewered on Metal Hooks hanging in clusters from the Ceiling.

 

This was a Slaughterhouse specializing in Butchering Monsters.

 

The interior was damp and reeked of decay, with old bloodstains and claw marks covering the Walls.

 

The screams and Death Cries that Monsters had uttered until their final moments seemed to linger in the air.

 

Eventually, the Prisoners came face to face with a large Cutting Board in the center of the Slaughterhouse.

 

On top of it lay a large black bear.

 

A Doenseori Black Bear.

 

A massive predator with its upper and lower jaws cleanly severed lay dead on the Cutting Board, its tongue hanging out long.

 

And standing before it was Featherback.

 

“When it comes to Butchering.”

 

With the Prisoners watching, Featherback lifted a razor-sharp Boning Knife.

 

“Grab it with your hands.”

 

Strong hands gripped the bear’s leg bone.

 

“Support it with your shoulder.”

 

Featherback pushed up the bear’s body with his shoulder.

 

“Step on it with your foot.”

 

Then he stomped hard on the bear’s paw with his foot.

 

“Press down with the knee.”

 

Right after that, when he pressed between the bones with his knee, the bear’s leg snapped with a dull sound.

 

Crack! Snap—

 

Featherback pushed the sword into the soft area where the leg connected to the torso.

 

…Thunk! Sliiice—

 

The blade of the boning knife cleanly cut through the hide.

 

“Extract the bones properly.”

 

Featherback pulled out the bone from between the flesh with a calm expression.

 

“Drop the meat.”

 

With a thud, the bright red chunk of meat fell to the floor.

 

Featherback’s boning knife relentlessly cut, sliced, severed, and dismembered the bear’s massive body.

 

Parting the gaps between muscles, penetrating the caverns of bones and joints, separating tendons and nerves strand by strand along their grain.

 

Drip drip drip drip drip drip drip…

 

No matter how cleanly you perform blood draining on monsters, you can never completely remove the blood remaining in the blood vessels and muscles.

 

Fishy blood began flowing across the butchery floor.

 

The stench was even worse because thick mana was mixed in.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

The prisoners quietly watched Featherback butchering the bear.

 

Hair white as fallen snow, skin white as porcelain.

 

They were completely stained red with splattered bright red blood.

 

Could the infamous name Blood Lily suit anyone better than this?

 

At first glance, he looked like a beautiful young girl, yet how could he so cruelly pierce and tear apart a monster’s body with his sword?

 

Finally.

 

…Thwack!

 

Featherback brought down the large square cleaver and severed the bear’s neck.

 

Splash—!

 

The prisoners recoiled in horror as blood splattered onto their faces.

 

Squelch—squelch—squelch—

 

Featherback walked toward them.

 

Holding the bear’s severed head with its mouth torn open in his hand.

 

“Welcome to my slaughterhouse.”

 

The prisoners trembled before Featherback’s emotionless gaze.

 

Until coming here, he had been ready to tear Featherback apart the moment he saw him, but now that he had actually come to this terrifying place, that thought had been completely uprooted.

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

The prisoners who had been grinding their teeth fiercely were now all cowed, only moving their lips wordlessly.

 

Regardless, Featherback continued speaking.

 

“The gentlemen gathered here are tough bastards who haven’t opened their mouths despite enduring severe torture until now.”

 

“….”

 

“You can take pride in yourselves for not revealing the whereabouts of your hidden wealth until now.”

 

“….”

 

The prisoners gradually avoid eye contact.

 

Featherback suddenly stopped his feet at one spot.

 

There was a prisoner holding his head up straight and glaring at him.

 

He was a bearded man with a large build and a fierce appearance.

 

Despite being imprisoned in Narok for a long time, the strength in his eyes had not yet faded.

 

Featherback nodded his head.

 

“A friend who led a large criminal organization and extorted tribute money from surrounding merchants. Your name was Ruchika, wasn’t it?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

The prisoner ground his teeth toward Featherback.

 

Then he continued in a growling voice.

 

“Just butchering bears won’t be enough to make me afraid.”

 

“….”

 

At those words, Featherback nodded his head.

 

“Good spirit. I was just in need of a vigorous worker like you.”

 

“Hmph.”

 

The prisoner snorts as if he had succeeded in seizing the initiative.

 

Featherback’s brow furrowed slightly.

 

“But you’re quite lacking in courtesy toward the superior you’ll be serving from now on.”

 

“What? Courtesy? Listen here. I’m someone who commanded all the violence organizations in this area. If you want to negotiate with me, you should show courtesy first.”

 

The prisoner glares again.

 

Featherback wiggled his fingers toward him.

 

“Worker. Lower your eyes.”

 

“….”

 

The prisoner doesn’t obey.

 

Instead, he only opens his bulging eyes even wider toward Featherback.

 

The prisoners around them watched the confrontation between the two with pounding hearts.

 

Right at that moment.

 

Featherback flicked his finger.

 

…Thwack!

 

Finger Flick. Also known as ‘Finger Snap’.

 

Something kids do when they playfully tap each other’s foreheads.

 

But Featherback’s finger, flicked with mana infused in it, was nothing short of a deadly weapon.

 

With a sound like a leather drum bursting, the prisoner’s eyeball exploded.

 

“Aaaaaargh!?”

 

The prisoner screamed, covering his burst eyeball with his hand.

 

Featherback tilted his head.

 

“Worker? Did you feel like rolling your eyes?”

 

“Ugh, you crazy bastard…!”

 

The moment the prisoner raised his blood-covered face, Featherback’s finger moved once more.

 

…Bang!

 

The prisoner’s other eyeball burst as the entire area around his eye socket caved in completely.

 

“Huuuuuuuuuh!?”

 

The prisoner, now blind in both eyes, collapsed while wetting himself.

 

Featherback shrugged his shoulders.

 

“Now you have no eyes left to roll.”

 

“…”

 

“Are there any other workers who want to glare at me?”

 

“…”

 

The inside of the slaughterhouse became as quiet as a tomb.

 

Only the faint sobbing of the prisoner who had lost both eyes echoed through the space.

 

Finally, Featherback nodded his head.

 

“Good.”

 

As if pleased with the quiet atmosphere, Featherback continued speaking.

 

“It seems you gentlemen are slightly mistaken about something, so I’ll carefully make a correction.”

 

“…”

 

“I’m not standing here to negotiate.”

 

“…”

 

“All of you gathered here are those who have been deemed ‘beyond salvation’ by society. From pedophiles to rapists, fraudsters, thugs, kidnappers, human trafficking ring members, and various other economic criminals – quite a diverse gathering indeed.”

 

“….”

 

“The reason I’ve gathered you all here is simple. We’re short on workers to accompany us on the expedition to the remote territory.”

 

The prisoners nodded at Featherback’s words.

 

This was what they had heard while being dragged here.

 

However.

 

“…But there’s one more trivial reason.”

 

The prisoners raised their heads at Featherback’s words.

 

Soon, Featherback continued in a cold tone.

 

“Criminals hated by the common people. That is, to extract blood from worthless scum like yourselves and make an example.”

 

“…!”

 

At those words, the prisoners began to tremble.

 

Featherback continued in a nonchalant tone.

 

“Since ancient times, when the leadership changes, conducting purges to suppress subordinates’ morale is an old unwritten rule.”

 

“….”

 

“What must be done to establish organizational discipline and refresh the atmosphere? Tearing apart one easy and suitable target in front of everyone is the best method. It’s fast and costs nothing.”

 

Honest and self-evident words.

 

And among the prisoners gathered here, there wasn’t a single one who didn’t understand such principles.

 

They too had lived their entire lives that way.

 

Featherback continued while looking at the prisoners lined up in the slaughterhouse.

 

“Those easy and suitable targets are precisely you all.”

 

“….”

 

“You have clear criminal records, your criminal proceeds haven’t been recovered yet, and you still incite public outrage among ordinary citizens—you’re perfect.”

 

The Blood-stained White Ghost smiles.

 

So very brightly.

 

“Let me share something just with you gentlemen—I absolutely love oppression through fear.”

 

Before that red and chilling smile, the prisoners had to feel a chill that seemed to freeze the marrow in their bones.

 

Soon, Featherback stabbed the blood-stained boning knife into the center of the cutting board.

 

Thunk! Tremble tremble tremble…

 

The flexible blade vibrated several times.

 

“You and I will now depart on an expedition.”

 

Then the slaughterhouse doors opened with a loud noise and prison guards entered.

 

Squelch—squelch—squelch—squelch—

 

The sound of military boots stepping on blood.

 

The Prison Guards placed large handcuffs, leg shackles, and iron chains on the floor.

 

…Thud! …Thud! …Thud! …Clank! …Clank! …Clank!

 

Finally.

 

Thoom―!

 

A dog collar came into view, thicker than the length of a neck, looking like it would pull someone’s head right out from between their shoulders just by wearing it.

 

Featherback moved his fingers slightly.

 

“From now on, you will wear these on your necks, wrists, and ankles. Execute.”

 

What safety could they hesitate about now.

 

The prisoners hurriedly reached out and picked up the restraints.

 

It wasn’t because they wanted to wear them, but because they had just seen a prisoner die with both eyes burst after foolishly resisting moments before.

 

Clank―clank―clank―clank―clank―

 

All the prisoners put on the chain armor themselves.

 

In the process, there was fierce psychological warfare as they tried to choose the lightest-looking ones, the oldest and most worn ones.

 

“How quick.”

 

Featherback nodded his head.

 

Then he gestured toward the Prison Guards.

 

The Prison Guards moved in unison to gather the chains connected to the prisoners’ necks in one place.

 

Soon, the iron chains extending from the prisoners’ necks were connected to a massive carriage standing outside the slaughterhouse.

 

Only then could the prisoners understand why they had been made to wear chain armor around their necks.

 

“Su, surely not…?”

 

“Surely not” always catches people off guard.

 

This time was no different.

 

Featherback raised a thick, long whip toward the prisoners connected to the carriage.

 

“Pull the wagon and go to Meursault Mountain, my horses.”

 

It was a frugality that even saved money on buying horses.

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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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