I Alone Regress in a Hero Party That Was Annihilated - Chapter 41

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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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#41. Raw Night (2)

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Dawn when even time had frozen solid.

The blizzard that had raged all night finally stopped.

The Prisoners opened their eyes inside the hastily built Igloo.

“C-cold…”

“I don’t feel alive.”

“Did I sleep for maybe 1 minute? This is driving me crazy…”

Whether they had frozen in last night’s cold, their bodies had stiffened so much they could barely stretch.

Even then, if they hadn’t made a Campfire, everyone would have frozen to death.

There were voices saying they should conserve the Firewood since it cost a fortune to buy… but later they had to scrape together even Sawdust Scraps to burn.

“Hey, wake up.”

“Leave him alone. All the guys who were stuck by the Wall are probably dead.”

“Hmph, this Child Sex Offender bastard also froze to death last night. Of course he did, the pauper couldn’t even buy a single Coat.”

Several couldn’t wake up even when shaken.

Child Sex Offenders and Serial Killers – those notorious for pleasure-seeking serious crimes.

They were also the ones pushed to the back of the Igloo because they had no money to buy Firewood or Cold Weather Gear.

They might have had a chance if they’d at least bought Weapons, but having no money to even buy a small Dagger, being forcibly pushed to the back of the Igloo made freezing to death inevitable.

Among the Prisoners, a hierarchy had already formed based on ‘how much corruption they had confessed to so far.’

Eventually, the Prisoners came out to the Snowy Field.

There they saw a boy with his upper body bare.

An appearance so delicate and beautiful you might mistake him for a Girl.

The boy’s Hair, whiter than the Snowy Field, was soaked crimson with blood.

The nickname Blood Lily could not have been more perfectly fitting.

Featherback.

He was butchering the Yate Corpses he had used as a Sleeping Bag all night.

Slice― Scrape― Slice―

He angled the Sword to separate flesh from bone.

He set aside the Entrails and squeezed out all the debris from inside.

The completely stripped Fur Pelt had not a single piece of flesh attached.

“Urgh―”

“Blegh!”

“I think I’m gonna throw up.”

The Prisoners retched from the terrible stench of blood and musk.

Even the Criminals who had been through hell and back getting dragged here found the smell too foul to bear.

But Featherback casually scraped out the inside of the Yate’s body.

Then he removed and lifted up a Heart as large as his own Severed Head.

The Heart, with hot steam rising from it, looked ready to throb at any moment.

Crunch―

Featherback bit into the heart without a moment’s hesitation.

Chomp— Chomp— Chomp— Chomp—

And he began tearing into it like a starving beast.

“….”

“….”

“….”

The Prisoners stood there in a daze, forgetting even the cold.

Watching a beautiful young man with handsome features tear into a Monster’s heart like a beast, they couldn’t tell if this was reality or a dream.

One thing was certain: they must never get on that thing’s bad side.

Then Featherback opened his blood-stained mouth.

“Don’t just stand there like idiots, go build a furnace.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m going to turn the Yate’s flesh into jerky. It needs to be smoked in hot heat, so dig out a place for the furnace.”

“Ah, yes. Understood. But how will we make fire….”

“I’ll handle that myself, so just build the furnace.”

Featherback continued speaking while chewing on the Yate’s heart.

“I’ll share the jerky with those who help.”

“!”

It was a magical phrase that made the Prisoners move quickly.

* * *

Soon, the Prisoners gathered the Yate’s flesh in one place.

Pieces of flesh laid out on a grill made by overlapping bones in a lattice pattern.

The Prisoners placed the jerky ingredients on the furnace and waited for Featherback.

“I-It’s all ready, Young Lord.”

Featherback nodded at the Prisoners’ words.

Flutter—

After sucking up all the Yate’s blood, Featherback wrapped the fur pelt around his body.

The Prisoners swallowed their saliva as they watched.

Featherback, covered in blood around his mouth and body, wrapped in white fur pelt.

It was as if the legendary Snow Mountain demon Wendigo had descended.

‘They say Wendigo appears during blizzards.’

‘No matter how many people it devours, it never gets full.’

‘Even if the Demon King were to be revived, he wouldn’t be this murderous.’

The Prisoners thought to themselves.

Meanwhile.

‘….’

Featherback was recalling the night he spent in the bitter cold.

Inside the hot and sticky belly of the Yate, Featherback achieved Realm Advancement.

3-Star.

Featherback finally broke through the 2-Star wall and entered 3-Star.

It felt as if all the blood in his body had drained out and been replaced with new blood.

What came flooding in at the same time was maddening hunger.

Featherback felt unsatisfied even after chewing and swallowing an entire Yate heart whole.

Crunch— Crunch— Crunch— Crunch—

Raw liver, tongue, gallbladder, eyeballs, brain, genitals, small intestines, large intestines, rectum….

Featherback chewed and swallowed everything from the hot and soft entrails to the tough and coarse parts.

As the high-calorie organs entered his stomach, his hunger finally subsided a little.

Tssssssssss…

The Negative Dimension Mana that had been accumulated in the Yate’s body spread throughout his entire body.

The newly filled blood in his blood vessels contained no waste products whatsoever.

Therefore, the Negative Dimension Mana headed straight for Featherback’s heart without any loss or delay.

Featherback’s heart, pounding hot like a furnace, devoured all the Negative Energy flowing in from the Yate’s body and converted it into Positive Energy.

Whoosh!

White Cold Aura burst out madly from Featherback’s body, and it soon transformed into warm heat.

…Sizzle!

Waste products, insects, parasites and such were swept away and boiled in the bubbling blood.

Trickle—

All the snow around him was melting away.

Meanwhile.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle….

The Yate’s flesh was cooking from the hot heat emanating from Featherback’s body.

The meat pieces that had been placed on the furnace had become jerky with all moisture completely drained.

Only then did Featherback stop his Heat Emission.

“Put the jerky in leather bags. Anyone who steals and eats it will have their tongue ripped out and made into jerky.”

“Eek!”

The prisoners who had been trying to sneak a few pieces of jerky flinched.

Featherback continued speaking in his characteristic indifferent tone.

“We resume the expedition now. Depart.”

* * *

A few hours later.

Featherback and the prisoners were able to reach the front of a cave located on the mountainside.

There stood a sign with the following written on it.

【Beauvoir Mines】

However, the sign had an X marked across it with red dye.

Meaning it was an abandoned mine.

“….”

Featherback swept the floor with his hand.

Even though no one managed this place, there was no snow or ice here.

The sand caught in his hand was rough with iron mixed in, and it held a faint warmth.

“A place where geothermal heat flows in the middle of a snow mountain. You found it well.”

Featherback nodded his head.

The prisoners behind him were each murmuring in small voices.

“Beauvoir Mines? Where’s that? It’s the first time I’ve heard that name.”

“The surroundings are all perpetual snow, but only this place is warm. This isn’t ordinary ground.”

“I’ve heard of it before. I remember it was quite an active mine during my grandfather’s generation.”

“I heard that too. Wasn’t it one of the leading mineral production sites within Mörsolt Territory? I knew it was closed at some point because monsters appeared so frequently.”

The prisoners were right.

This place was a mine where iron and all other minerals were abundantly buried.

However, it was also an area where human entry was now forbidden because too many dangerous monsters appeared.

Step— Step— Step— Step— Step—

Featherback and the prisoners passed the sign and went deep inside the cave.

Flicker— Sizzle sizzle sizzle….

Sancho, who was at the front, illuminated the surroundings with a torch made by skewering Yate fat on a wood skewer.

Soon, the scenery of the abandoned mine was clearly revealed.

Walls with coal and iron ore clearly exposed, rotted and collapsed retaining walls, various abandoned mining tools.

In addition, trash like old rice bowls, blankets, books, shoes, and clothes were left neglected, covered in dust.

“Eek! What’s this ske, skeleton doing here!?”

Sancho was horrified seeing a corpse that had fallen on one side of the mine shaft and become bleached bones.

Overall, this place looked like an abandoned mine where mining had stopped a very long time ago.

‘…Just as I remember it.’

Featherback looked around this place that had been abandoned for decades, lost in memories.

Before his regression, he had once tried to rest in this place he discovered by chance while returning after completing a difficult mission.

‘Then I nearly died when I encountered an even greater danger.’

Finishing his brief reminiscence, Featherback commanded the prisoners.

“We’ll unpack our luggage here.”

The expressions of the prisoners who heard those words visibly brightened.

Sancho raised both arms high and shouted.

“Waaaaah! Hooray! Has our arduous journey finally come to an end!?”

Tears of emotion welled up in the prisoners’ eyes.

However.

Featherback shattered the prisoners’ expectations into pieces.

“What are you talking about?”

Featherback’s words followed into the ears of the prisoners who wore bewildered expressions.

“We’ve just arrived at our destination. Your real mission hasn’t even started yet.”

* * *

The structure inside the cave was peculiar.

Featherback walked boldly through the mine shafts that were winding like ant tunnels.

The prisoners following behind him soon stopped before an amazing sight.

Bubble bubble bubble bubble…

In the distant underground depths, brilliant light boiled along with intense heat.

Bright red lava was flowing through the massive cracks split in the ground surface.

Blindingly bright heat waves shimmered, and acrid smoke rose like clouds, being sucked through holes in the ceiling.

…Splash!

Liquid that had fallen from a stalactite on the ceiling dropped into the lava, creating ripples.

It wasn’t dew or groundwater falling, but the stalactite itself melting and dripping down.

“Good heavens…”

Who would have known that such a tremendous hidden realm was buried beneath the frozen ground?

“This is where geothermal heat trapped beneath the geological stratum rises up. It’s hot enough to melt even rock.”

The prisoners, overwhelmed by the scenery, remained silent with their mouths closed.

Eventually, Featherback revealed the real purpose for bringing the prisoners to this place.

“From now on, you will mine iron ore from this place and smelt it. There’s something we need to make.”

Featherback picked up a tree branch and drew something on the wall.

A long stick with a pointed end and a blunt opposite end.

At first glance, it looked like an ordinary nail or stake.

“We need to make iron stakes like this.”

What followed was an explanation of the tasks the prisoners would have to perform.

“Mine the iron ore. Then melt it in the lava’s flames. Pour the molten metal into molds and use the snow from the snow mountain to harden it.”

The prisoners turned pale at Featherback’s orders.

Sancho quietly raised his hand and asked a question.

“Um… Young Lord. I apologize for the presumption, but I have one question. We’re not technicians, so we don’t really know about smelting iron and such things… If we make iron stakes with crude iron that hasn’t even been properly refined, they’ll be so shoddy that you won’t be able to use them at all. They’ll break easily and corrode, and I doubt they’ll even drive in properly…”

“Roughly mine it, roughly melt it, roughly harden it. The iron stakes don’t particularly need to be of good quality.”

He wasn’t demanding durable iron stakes that could be used for a long time.

It seemed he didn’t particularly care if they were made by amateurs with clumsy skills.

Featherback gave his orders.

“From now on, we’ll divide into five teams. Team 1 will mine iron ore. Team 2 will put the iron ore in the furnace and melt it. Team 3 will operate the bellows to raise the fire’s temperature. Team 4 will pour the molten iron into molds. Team 5 will bury the iron stakes in the snow field to cool them. Begin.”

“Wait, just a moment! Let me ask one more question!”

Sancho asked with a restless expression.

“How many of those iron stakes are you planning to make?”

“About a thousand.”

A thousand iron stakes.

It was a quantity that left them speechless.

But the prisoners weren’t that despairing.

Since he said he wouldn’t care about quality, they could really make them sloppily.

Though they would rust and crumble in less than a few years if driven into something, that wasn’t the prisoners’ concern.

‘Right. Come on, how long could it take to make one tiny little iron stake? A thousand years? Ten thousand years? If we just work through the nights for a few days and make them quickly, a thousand is nothing. It’s better than climbing that damn snow mountain…’

Sancho let out a small sigh.

“Ah, I understand. Actually, my late father used to run a blacksmith shop. I learned the techniques roughly by watching over his shoulder, so I can manage an imitation.”

At those words, the other prisoners’ expressions brightened.

Having someone who knew even roughly would make the work much easier.

Featherback nodded.

“Then you’ll take charge as the overall team leader.”

“Huh? Me? I understand! Thank you for trusting me!”

Sancho’s expression brightened.

The dream he had when first setting out on this journey.

His wish to become Featherback’s subordinate and make the labor even a little easier had just come true.

However.

“A thousand iron stakes within a week. If you can’t make them on time, I’ll cut off your head first.”

“…”

It seemed Featherback’s concept of a subordinate was a bit different.

There were no rights or rewards whatsoever, only duties and responsibilities existed.

In the end, Sancho nodded with a half-resigned expression.

“I understand. A thousand iron stakes… A week might somehow be possible. Oh, what size should the iron stakes be? We need to make the molds first.”

“It doesn’t need to be that big.”

“I see. Still, you should give us a rough estimate…”

Hearing Sancho’s words, Featherback nodded his head.

And then.

Step— Step— Step—

He walked a few steps to the side and stood at the end of one wall.

“?”

Sancho and the other prisoners wore puzzled expressions.

Soon, Featherback’s mouth opened as he stood at the end of the wall.

“From here.”

At the same time, Featherback began to walk.

Step— Step— Step—

He kept walking. Continuously, continuously, until he reached the opposite wall.

Step step step step step step step step step step step step step step…

In front of all the prisoners, Featherback walked about twenty steps and stopped.

“To here.”

Before the prisoners who wore dumbfounded expressions, Featherback continued his answer in a calm tone.

“This is the size of one stake.”

An enormous iron stake approaching roughly fifteen meters in length.

No, it would be more accurate to call it an iron pillar.

A thousand of such things.

“…”

“…”

Sancho’s face turned pale.

The prisoners in the abandoned mine were all unable to say a word.

A silence as if nothing living existed.

In that silence, only Featherback’s voice echoed.

“I will start timing now. Begin.”

“I’ll start timing now. Begin.”

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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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