I Alone Regress in a Hero Party That Was Annihilated - Chapter 45

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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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#45. Mountain Lord (2)

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A few minutes before the battle broke out.

“….”

Featherback was looking down at the snowy field from atop the hill.

Black dots were scattered across the white canvas.

Those were the iron stakes driven into the snowy field.

Chunks of metal steeped in the foul energy of the most vile among humans, that corrupt aura.

They had completely contaminated the pure energy veins flowing beneath the earth’s surface, destroying them beyond any hope of recovery.

Kudddddddddd…

The mountain writhed its entire body and screamed.

Earthquakes and avalanches were occurring everywhere.

Featherback watched nature’s suffering with an expressionless face.

‘In my childhood, I once insisted on vegetarianism, believing we should protect nature….’

It was a foolish thought.

Who protects whom?

Humans were remarkably powerless before nature’s whims and violence.

Perhaps because he had once experienced near extinction of his species by nature’s hand, he felt not the slightest guilt about breaking and destroying the natural environment to bring it to its knees.

‘There’s nothing I won’t do to survive.’

If it meant humanity could survive, he was prepared to turn mountains and seas alike into scorched earth.

‘Speaking of which… those things that have been holed up in the mountains all this time, sucking up spiritual energy, will all wake up now.’

A child whose milk is cut off wails, and an old man whose livelihood is cut off flies into a rage.

Whatever the case, they all get angry when something interferes with what goes into their mouths.

Soon, there was a reaction.

Kwa—bang!

The Mountain Lord crawled out from deep within the ice cave.

[Grrrrrrrrrrr…]

White steam poured out between teeth as sharp as sword blades.

Ice Dragon Adara.

A nightmare born in winter’s heart.

Its massive body writhed like the waves of a river freezing in real time.

Its long-stretched limbs gleamed with brilliant silver light, their surface covered with crystals of snow and ice that had been frozen for thousands of years.

Its head was massive and imposing like an ancient peak rising above the snowy field.

Deeply sunken eye sockets beneath layers upon layers of snow-white scales.

Within them, intense light flashed like the aurora borealis.

Scraaaatch—

Every time its claws scraped against the ice sheet, a cold, ruthless noise like metal rang out.

[Graaaaaaaaawr!]

Rage over the mountain’s spiritual energy that had been flowing into the cave being cut off.

Featherback stepped forward toward Ice Dragon Adara.

‘…It looks exactly the same as when I saw it before Regression.’

The enemy he had encountered while healing wounds from defeat at Beauvoir Abandoned Mine.

Adara’s appearance was completely identical to that time.

The ancient Mythical Age, when humans were still far weaker than Monsters.

The Ancestors who had to live hidden in caves connected the twinkling stars in the night sky to draw the forms of gods and monsters, passing them down to their descendants.

One of the oldest and most primordial forms created in that era was the Dragon.

Ancient terror, humanity’s natural enemy.

‘But that thing has a fatal flaw.’

Featherback looked at the Ice Dragon before his eyes.

Unlike the terrifying forms passed down from the Mythical Age, Adara was missing one part.

That was its ‘Wings.’

One of the core factors that make dragons terrifying.

Ice Dragon Adara lacked those Wings.

That was because it wasn’t pure-blooded.

A Lesser Dragon born with the humble blood of a Branch Family—that was Ice Dragon Adara’s true identity.

“Though it lacks Wings, its Teeth and Scales rival those of an adult dragon.”

Featherback drew his Sword and faced off against Adara.

Looking at the gleaming Teeth and Scales on the Ice Dragon’s body, Featherback offered a brief assessment.

“They should be quite useful.”

* * *

Crash—bang!

Adara’s Claws tore through the Snowy Field.

“Aaaah— spare me!”

“Dragon! A Dragon appeared! Run!”

“N-no! I can’t escape! It’s too fast…!”

The Prisoners were completely wiped out in less than 30 seconds after the Ice Dragon appeared.

“Y-you bastard! You were aiming for this from the start…!”

Some surviving Prisoners turned their backs on Adara and ran toward Featherback, but.

Slice—

Running in that direction only meant getting their necks cut just the same.

Soon, the Ice Dragon’s gaze turns toward Featherback.

Featherback spoke.

“It’s useless no matter how much you suck the mountain’s energy for a lifetime. For a half-baked worm like you.”

[…!]

As if understanding human speech, Adara’s eyes widened.

Featherback continued his mockery.

“No matter how strong you become, wings won’t grow. Your body will just get bigger. You’ll never be acknowledged by your kin. Ever.”

[Graaaaaaaaaaaaah!]

Adara’s eyes rolled back.

Featherback nodded.

‘The provocation worked perfectly.’

Dragons that have just awakened from sleep often cause great damage to the humans living nearby.

The reason the once-thriving Beauvoir Mines became a desolate abandoned mine was also because Ice Dragon Adara had awakened from sleep.

‘I must capture it here.’

Only then can future casualties be prevented.

Furthermore, it was a necessary subjugation to revive Mörsolt Territory by restarting the Beauvoir Mines.

…Whoosh!

Featherback charged forward.

Adara’s massive body moved to follow Featherback.

Movement speed that was swift despite its large body.

But Featherback’s sword was even faster.

Whoosh whoosh—

Featherback ran along the rocks beside the cave and grabbed onto Adara’s back.

Where the shoulder blade and back meet, the area where wings should be was empty.

Only crumpled wing bones like melted wax protruded without any skin covering them.

Featherback delivered a sword thrust toward that spot, which was nothing less than a mark of degradation.

Thunk!

The famous sword Baekrin cut through the dragon’s hide and penetrated deep inside.

[Gyaaaaaaah!]

The Ice Dragon let out a cry of pain.

From its wide-open maw, extremely cold aura exploded outward.

Crackle crackle crackle!

The Ice Dragon’s breath covered the entire region with frost.

Featherback rolled across the floor with all his might.

Though he dodged as much as he could, he couldn’t completely free himself from the Cold Aura.

His left hand holding the shield was burning hot.

When exposed to extremely low temperatures, it’s hard to distinguish between frostbite and burns.

[Grrrrrrrrr!]

Ice Dragon Adara began pursuing Featherback.

Featherback covered his body with the White Shield and lay prone on the Snowy Field.

Since everything around was white, it wasn’t easy to distinguish with the naked eye.

However, Ice Dragon Adara was running precisely toward where Featherback had hidden his body.

It was because of the smell—the smell of Chunks of Meat that stimulated hunger.

Soon.

Crunch!

Ice Dragon Adara kicked at the spot where Featherback was presumed to be lying.

And sure enough, flesh, bone fragments, and meat juices burst out from that spot.

[Gruk?]

Ice Dragon Adara tilted her head.

She had definitely trampled and burst something… but she wasn’t sure if it was the enemy she had been chasing.

However.

The brief confusion was quickly broken.

Slash!

Featherback, who had risen from the Snow Field, slashed Adara’s hind ankle with his Sword.

[Kraaahhh!?]

Adara was startled and turned her head back.

But Featherback had already disappeared beyond the falling snow.

Crash—crash crash bang!

Adara swung her Claws again, following the smell of meat carried on the wind.

Then immediately, she felt something pierce the tip of her Claws.

[Gruk?]

Adara looked at the round chunk of meat skewered on the tip of her Claws.

It was flesh and Entrails pieces rolled into a ball and shaped like Arm Guards.

Those things, reeking with the smell of Chunks of Meat, were buried bit by bit throughout the Snowy Field.

Featherback’s scent was completely masked by them and couldn’t be detected at all.

While Adara was bewildered.

…crack!

Featherback, who had risen from the snow field, sliced off a small piece of the ice dragon’s tail tip.

[Kyaaaaaaak!]

Ice Dragon Adara was enraged.

Her anger was even greater because she never imagined being toyed with like this in the snowy field, her own hunting ground.

“Holding in anger is bad for your health. Come in.”

Featherback gestured with his hand in his characteristic emotionless tone.

Adara charged toward her opponent.

Featherback launched his body toward a mountain peak that was far away from the snowy field.

[Groooooooooooo!]

Ice Dragon Adara, with her maw wide open, fiercely pursued him from behind.

Eventually, when both their shadows reached the entrance of the mountainside.

“This should be good enough.”

Featherback suddenly stopped his steps.

He turned around in front of an earth cave that was just big enough for one person to enter.

This place was in the middle of a slope path about a hundred meters away in a straight line from Beauvoir Abandoned Mine.

“You’ve worked hard climbing all the way up here.”

Featherback continued speaking toward Ice Dragon Adara, who had followed him to just a dozen meters below.

“Now go back down.”

[Gruk!?]

Adara didn’t even have time to react.

Ku-woong!

Featherback stomped his foot.

The mana carried in his sole spread out to the surroundings, creating double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, sextuple, septuple, octuple, nonuple, and decuple ripples.

Chiiiiiiiiik…

The surrounding snow began bubbling as if boiling, then transformed into an enormous amount of water that surged upward.

The soil, rocks, and logs that had been buried underneath were all pulled out, creating a massive muddy torrent.

At the same time.

Craaack!

A loud noise came from the mountain peak.

[Kruruk!?]

Where the startled Adara raised her head, she could see a mountain peak with particularly large iron stakes densely embedded in it.

The ripples that Featherback had just created widened the cracks between the iron stakes even further.

Kwa-kwang! Kwang! Kwakwakwakwang!

Soon, the mountain peak collapses.

Kwarrrrrrrrrrrrrung!

The avalanche seen up close is surprisingly not white.

A murky brown tsunami was sweeping down the mountain slope with tremendous force.

Kwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwa―!

Waves of ice come rushing down like a tsunami.

[Kraaaaaaak!?]

Ice Dragon Adara drove her claws into the ice sheet.

And from deep in the throat of her wide-open maw, she vomited out long-held rage and inferiority.

Flash―!

A breath incomparably more fierce than before.

…Kwabang!

Dragon’s Breath and nature’s avalanche clash in one place.

However.

Kwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwa―!

The Lesser Dragon’s breath begins to be pushed back gradually.

No matter how mighty a dragon may be, it is ultimately part of nature.

It was insufficient to withstand the rage that the entire mountain peak was spewing forth.

Brown waves overflow over the Wall of Frost created by the breath.

Eventually the dragon’s body was swallowed by the avalanche.

…Crack!

The claws driven into the ground broke one after another.

[Graaaaaaaaaak!]

Ice Dragon Adara is swept away by the waves of snow, earth, and ice.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

[…!?]

Adara, tumbling down pushed by the avalanche, finally confirmed what was lurking down below.

Beauvoir Abandoned Mine.

The place where she had massacred humans long ago.

A place she hadn’t paid particular attention to since then.

…And a place where lava streams flow beneath the mountain.

The avalanche carrying Ice Dragon Adara was pouring down toward that very place.

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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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