I Alone Regress in a Hero Party That Was Annihilated - Chapter 49

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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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#49. Reward Acquisition (1)

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On the way back after completing the expedition to the Beauvoir Abandoned Mine Zone.

Featherback crossed the mountain peak where the Mountain Lord had died and surveyed the opposite side of the abandoned mine.

Due to the aftermath of the avalanche and lava explosion, Beauvoir Mine had completely collapsed.

While reconstruction would take some time, the aftermath had created a new mine on the opposite mountain peak.

‘…I’ve never seen a place like this before.’

It was a hidden scenic spot that hadn’t been revealed before his regression.

Featherback carefully examined the area below the wide crack.

Hot geothermal energy rose up while lava bubbled and boiled.

The mountain’s energy, which had been cut off by the iron stakes, had found a new outlet and was flowing in this direction.

Featherback immediately recognized that this was a good new vein to excavate.

The surrounding bedrock was solid and the slope was gentle, making it easy to transport heavy equipment and construct buildings.

‘I’ll need to recruit miners and relocate their families here. I should build an entire village.’

This place was no longer a Human Survival Impossible Zone.

Featherback judged that this place, which maintained warmth due to geothermal energy even in the snowy field, would greatly prosper in the future.

If a mining village were built here, Meursault Mountain would soon become a place bustling with people.

Moreover, hot spring water was gushing out from several small caves inside the large cave, making it promising as a tourism resource.

Splash—

Featherback immersed his body in the hot spring with steam rising from it.

Cold snow piled up around him, and hot water rising from the center of it all.

“…”

Featherback immersed his body in it and closed his eyes.

It wasn’t to relieve battle fatigue.

In the dark vision, Featherback was reviewing the recent battle.

[Grrrrrrrr—]

Ice Dragon Adara, now dead, opened its maw wide in Featherback’s Mental World.

‘There were many regrettable points.’

Featherback was retracing the mistakes he had made.

‘When I first cut the ankle, I shouldn’t have held the sword in reverse grip. If I had held it in the normal direction, I could have cut off the entire ankle instead of just cutting the heel tendon.’

‘When the Ice Dragon brought down its front paw, I should have thrust my blade instead of dodging. If I had done that, I could have used its own force against it to cut the front leg vertically, making the subsequent battle much easier.’

‘When the breath came, I should have angled the shield more steeply. My posture was also ambiguous. If I had tilted the shield back sharply and lowered my stance extremely, frost wouldn’t have formed on my body. Then Cold Aura wouldn’t have penetrated into my body either.’

Not repeating the mistakes that were made.

That’s what review is for.

Featherback closed his eyes and recalled the Ice Dragon’s movements.

Claws flew at him, he blocked them with his shield, stabbed the lungs with his sword, breath rushed toward him, he rolled on the floor to avoid it, and slashed the ankle.

In the repeated battles within his mental world, the time it took to defeat Ice Dragon Adara was greatly reduced.

While Featherback reviewed his battle with Ice Dragon Adara over and over again.

Tsssssssss…

The Dragon Core inside his body was reacting.

[Kraaaaaaak!]

Each time Ice Dragon Adara let out her final death cry, the Dragon Core dwelling within Featherback’s body trembled more and more violently.

Crack!

Finally, this small orb containing extreme cold energy split into two pieces.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!

The Dragon Core’s energy spread throughout Featherback’s body.

Featherback thought.

…The egg is the world.

…One who wishes to be born must destroy a world.

Featherback used all his strength to suppress the cold energy exploding within his body.

But despite his efforts, the cold energy pierced through Featherback’s entire body.

Bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble…

The surroundings were a hot spring.

The boiling hot water began to freeze bit by bit around Featherback.

‘If I can control this, my power will increase greatly.’

Featherback put all his effort into controlling the nucleus left behind by Ice Dragon Adara.

Crack!

The orb that had split in half cracked in half once more.

In that moment, Featherback’s brow twitched.

Flash!

His dark vision changed to bright light.

‘!’

Featherback was facing a brilliant cluster of light with his eyes closed.

A massive silver wave flowing through the darkness of his mental world.

A galaxy made of countless stars was flowing like a river.

Featherback knew what it was.

Akashic Records.

The extradimensional lifeline that contains all the fate and causality of the world.

‘I see. Because I killed Ice Dragon Adara, fate and causality have been twisted.’

Originally, Adara was one of the core elements that comprised this world’s framework.

But now that thing was dead, and the role it originally performed and the position it occupied had transferred to Featherback.

The dictionary definition of the person called Featherback recorded in the Akashic Records had been slightly twisted.

Ice Dragon Adara was the thesis.

Featherback was the antithesis.

And the result value of the Akashic Records being modified in real-time before his eyes was the synthesis.

This world had newly written down the definition of the person called Featherback.

It was rewriting everything anew – his fate and causality, even the information about all the people he would meet in the future.

The world was being completely recreated anew because of one small human called Featherback.

‘Changing fate even slightly is such a tremendous thing.’

Featherback felt the energy of Ice Dragon Adara that had been rampaging within him gradually subsiding.

Crack!

The Dragon Core that had been divided into four pieces eventually shattered into countless small fragments and scattered throughout Featherback’s body.

…Crack! …Crack! …Crack!

The shell broke.

Gurgle—bubble bubble bubble bubble bubble…

The frozen hot spring melted and created bubbles.

Featherback’s flesh transcended the definition and concept of human and was once again marvelously reassembled.

A reconstruction of the body that ordinary humans would never experience after the moment they were conceived in their mother’s womb.

Featherback in this life was experiencing it for the first time.

‘Before my regression, I experienced this countless times… but it seems it was never as intense as this moment.’

Skin, muscles, blood vessels, entrails, bones – everything was being reconstructed.

Terrifying pain and burning sensation seemed to shatter and incinerate even his soul.

But Featherback endured all of this with a calm expression.

…How much time had passed?

Whoooosh—

When Featherback opened his eyes, only a large pit remained on the floor.

His clothes had long since burned away, and all the surrounding water had turned to steam and dispersed.

“It’s finished.”

He had completely absorbed Ice Dragon Adara’s power.

Featherback tried drawing up the mana throughout his body.

Rumble—rumble rumble rumble rumble…

An amount of mana unbelievable for a swordsman who had just reached 3-Star.

It was a profound realm that surpassed mature 3-Star and was touching the wall of 4-Star.

“I’ve advanced my awakening timing by at least 3 years. Dragon cores really are excellent.”

With just a little more effort in this state, breaking through the 4-Star wall was right around the corner.

Featherback examined his skin that had become much tougher and more resilient, his muscles compressed to tremendous density, and his bones that had become as hard and elastic as steel frames.

His sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste had all become incomparably sharper than before.

Clatter—

Even the sound of ice melting and collapsing in the distance seemed to be heard right beside him.

His eyes had become so bright that he could clearly see the crystal structure of snow a hundred meters away.

“Now I just need to properly forge my weapons and equipment.”

Featherback checked the Ice Dragon’s teeth and scales placed above the pit.

He would smelt the teeth well to make a sword, and use the scales to make a shield.

He planned to create a sword that would surpass the Famous Sword Baekrin, which had been sacrificed to sever Ice Dragon Adara’s breath.

“I feel sorry to Older Sister. I promised to return it but won’t be able to.”

While Featherback was quietly talking to himself.

“Young Lord! Young Master! My lord!”

He could see Sancho running toward him from far away.

He covered the naked Featherback with a shabby piece of leather.

It was one of the precious items that Sancho had enthusiastically bid on at the corruption whistleblowing auction, selling out even his cousin’s mistress’s sworn sibling’s adoptive parents’ in-laws’ distant relative’s friend’s neighbor’s step-sibling.

“Oh my, why are you naked in this cold? Please cover yourself with this.”

“…”

Featherback looked at Sancho.

Sancho rambled on about things he hadn’t even been asked about.

“While my lord was hunting the dragon, all the other prisoners died. This is all because they harbored evil intentions to betray my lord…”

“You.”

“Yes?”

“Why did you follow me?”

When Featherback asked, Sancho hesitated for a moment before answering.

After a long moment of contemplation, he scratched his head.

“I’m not really sure myself. I just had the thought that I wanted to dedicate my loyalty to my lord. To atone for past wrongs, and to reflect on my own life…”

After rambling about this and that, Sancho bowed his head before Featherback.

“Ah, I don’t know! Ever since I ran away from the blacksmith shop as a child, I’ve always wanted to become a new person! I feel like serving my lord might make that possible!”

“The only one who can change you is yourself. Don’t try to rely on me.”

“I’m not trying to rely on you! I’m trying to serve you!”

“….”

Featherback stroked his chin.

He still had a long way to go before returning anyway.

Having a servant to attend to him in the meantime wouldn’t be too bad.

After some consideration, Featherback opened his mouth.

“Fine. Then I’ll give you one test.”

“What? What kind of test?”

“I’m saying I’ll check whether you’re qualified to follow me.”

“…!”

Sancho’s mouth fell half open.

“No, when someone as capable as me says they want to serve you, you should be happy about it! How is this something to test me over! To be blunt, when I worked as an official in that territory, I was quite capable! I did well even after being dragged here! Isn’t this a bit too much… too…”

But his protest didn’t continue for long.

Featherback’s gaze looking at him was growing increasingly cold.

“Actually, I love taking tests. It’s an opportunity for advancement.”

“If you can’t do it, then don’t.”

“I didn’t say I couldn’t do it! What is it! I, the unworthy Sancho! Will brilliantly pass whatever test my lord gives me!”

Sancho snorted and beat his chest as if he had never been intimidated.

Featherback nodded.

Then he extended his finger and pointed at the mountain peak in front of them.

“That place is a passage where we’ll dig a new mine.”

“It’s a cave newly revealed due to the Ice Dragon’s rampage this time.”

“Looking at the formation of the underground vein, the Dragon’s Lair probably connected in that direction.”

“I see. But why is that…?”

Sancho tilted his head.

Featherback continued as if it was nothing.

“Since the dragon is dead, who would be the owner of the nest where it lived?”

“Well… my lord… right? Since you killed the dragon.”

“Right. If the nest is mine, then everything inside the nest would also be mine, wouldn’t it?”

“Oh!”

At Featherback’s words, Sancho’s eyes lit up.

He finally understood what Featherback was saying.

“There’s supposed to be treasure inside a Dragon’s Lair!”

“Since it was a Lesser Dragon rather than a Purebred Dragon, its intelligence was much lower. There’s a high chance the value of the treasure it collected is also lower.”

“But where is That Thing! We need to hurry inside and find it… no, wait. Don’t tell me?”

Sancho’s expression, who had been chattering excitedly, turned deathly pale in an instant.

He pointed at himself with his finger.

“Into that Dragon’s Lair… I have to go in too?”

“Of course.”

Featherback nodded his head.

Then he poked Sancho’s belly with the tip of the Dragon’s Tooth.

“Lead the way.”

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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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