Chapter 67
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Slaughter King Dane
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No guards left behind—just the Butcher Squad remained.
As if he'd been waiting for this moment, Bankers spoke up.
"Those were some real bastards.""Yeah. They used faith as an excuse to brainwash everyone and line their own pockets."
River was just as outraged by the way Gurbannan ruled the Riyans.
She turned to Dane.
"What do we do?"
There was no fear or worry on his comrades' faces. They had a vague but firm belief that Dane would sort this out.
Dane said calmly.
"Soon as we get out of here, we'll take down Avaris. It's a monster anyway—gotta taste it."
Even with his hands and feet bound tight, Dane showed no unease about escaping.
And since he was only thinking about eating it, it was no wonder his comrades chuckled.
River's expression grew a bit more serious as she said.
"Killing the monster these Riyans call a god... We'll inevitably clash with Gurbannan, and we might end up turning every Riyan against us."Dane had no desire to fight every Riyan either.
"Yeah. Let's avoid the worst-case scenario if we can. In any case, given the situation... we should probably give up on this as a monster meat supply for now."His comrades nodded in agreement.
Bankers asked.
"All good, but isn't getting out the top priority?"
He shrugged, tensing his arms with all his might. His scales rose and quivered faintly.
"Doesn't work. Even my strength can't snap these cuffs. The only way... Dane, isn't it your regeneration ability?"
Bankers glanced at Dane's arm, and River freaked out.
"What? Cut off his arm?""If just Dane gets free, we'll have options. I don't like it, but I can handle chopping off an arm."
Bankers bared his sharp teeth with a grin.
Dane nodded.
"Not a bad idea. But... no need for that."
He flexed his arm and snapped the cuffs right off.
-Clank!
His comrades' eyes went wide.
"How the hell...?""They said mid-sized monster cuffs. Guess I'm stronger than that."
He wasn't the old Dane.
In a short time, he'd devoured the large monster Kabakshus and an Elite, skyrocketing his strength.
Dane's last calculated physical power was 340. That matched the twin-headed monster Krekator, so now his raw strength rivaled a mid-to-large monster.
"I'm... offended. I prided myself on being the strongest in our Butcher Squad."
Bankers said in a deflated voice.
It was the first time he'd seemed so down, making Dane feel oddly guilty.
"The captain being strong is a good thing. No need to overthink it."
River said soothingly as she turned. Starting with her cuffs, Dane freed his comrades one by one.
No windows meant no clue how much time had passed. But they wouldn't have much left.
Dane said.
"First, find our weapons, then split up. Priscilla and I will handle hunting Avaris and the priests. We'll make as much noise as possible, so use that to prep for a quick getaway. And... ."A heavy silence matched his grim expression.
"The Riyans were probably used by Gurbannan. Even if we have to make enemies of them all, I'd prefer the civilians don't get hurt."
It was nearly impossible, but they needed guiding principles.
Dane looked each of them in the eye and added.
"Still, your safety comes first—no heroics.""Got it. Don't worry."Bankers clapped Dane's shoulder and added.
"In that spirit, leave the cage to me."
His pride wounded, Bankers strained with all his might to pry the cage bars wide.
'Just need to break the lock on the door... .'
Bankers grinned triumphantly, so thrilled his comrades said nothing.
* * *
The place where the Butcher Squad had been locked up seemed meant for caging captured monsters, but now it was empty. Dane had butchered them all, spares included.
'If they moved monsters lured by Avaris here, high chance they're on the same floor.'
Dane thought as he kicked the sturdy iron door.
-Boom!
The guard at the door got swept up in the shockwave and flew off.
They charged out into a wide corridor. Panicked guards and priests flickered in their vision. Plenty of them.
The Butcher Squad surged forward as one.
"Ugh!"
"Gahk!"
The heavily armored guards crumpled helplessly against bare fists.
Dane downed four, Bankers three, Priscilla two. River handled her share too.
The gap was vast between those who'd battled monsters for their lives in hunting grounds and these guys whose biggest feat was tying up sleeping beasts.
"Kill them!"
The shout came from a priest, but Dane's stolen guard sword grazed past his throat.
"Dane, weapons over there!"
Bankers yelled after snapping two guards' necks in an instant.
Priscilla was already racing toward where Dane's eyes landed.
Dane felled all the guards and priests with the longsword before reclaiming his cleavers and donning his cloak.
The squad grabbed their weapons and scanned around.
Monster hides hung sloppily on the walls, untanned, with blood still caked inside.
He guessed from the shapes and sizes.
"Looks like they were gonna make 'em into outfits for us."
Bankers gave a wry smile. Then.
The commotion had reached outside—the sound of rushing footsteps echoed off the walls.
Two doors in the corridor.
Dane smashed the large silent one.
Bright light poured in like a flood. Squinting, he saw a cliff edge far off.
That was how Ballurator had burst through and plummeted off.
"Bankers, River—you go this way!"
He shouted, then bolted toward the opposite door as guards pried it open.
-Slash!
The first guard to peek got only a flash of light off Dane's cleaver as a final memory.
Confirming Bankers and River heading out of the temple, Dane stepped into the tunnel.
"Let's go!"
Racing through, Dane and Priscilla met plenty of guards and priests, but their attacks meant nothing.
Dane downed them all without a single tear in his cloak.
Seeing the sprawled bodies with thick hoods over mouths and noses, he knew Avaris was close.
-Meatmeatmmeat... .
Right on cue, the meat alarm rang.
Dane and Priscilla wrapped their faces in the guards' hoods and pressed on.
The temple's central corridor.
No Gurbannan or priests. Guards were dead or fled.
Avaris still squirmed its meat-like petals.
Dane sized it up quick. No appetite trigger.
No eating it whole. No killing the god and turning everyone hostile.
'Lucky the glowing part's the stem.'
Sensing Dane's killing intent, Avaris spewed faint particles in futile resistance.
Dane sliced off the pillar-like stem, then swung the huge flower stalk to shake out every drop of remaining fluid.
He cut off a moderate hunk of meat petal for a taste and headed out.
Glancing back, Priscilla followed, clutching a small Avaris sapling she'd yanked up. Unlike the adult, no stem.
Feeling his gaze, Priscilla said.
"I'll check it out."
"Yeah."
Dane smiled and exited the temple.
* * *
Racing along the cliff path, he spotted a huge commotion on the plains below.
Riyans clustered thick.
At the center of their circular formation, Bankers and River waited.
Dane galloped up deliberately loud to draw eyes.
"The Slaughter King comes!"
Embarrassing, but effective.
The murmurs died instantly, hundreds of eyes on him.
His gaze locked with Gurbannan's atop the platform. Dane leaped through the parting crowd like a wave split, landing on the platform.
"Insolent... ."
Gurbannan didn't finish before Avaris's flower stalk smashed his face.
Dane held nothing back.
Gurbannan flew high, then slammed into the dirt with a gruesome thud.
The old man twitched once and breathed his last.
"No more to hear."
Dane murmured low.
The high priest's death stunned everyone. They'd lost their leader to an outsider in a blink.
Long-brainwashed, they didn't know how to react. Even priests and soldiers.
Dead silence everywhere. Dane's shout filled the plains.
"This is the flower stalk and petals of a monster plant! And this is the true face of Avaris, the god the Riyans have worshipped!"
Another shockwave.
Dane pointed his flower stalk at Priscilla, who'd climbed up. Understanding, she raised her tiny hands high.
On her palms squirmed a baby Avaris, its meat-shaped petals wriggling.
"The Riyans were deceived. The 'god's blessing' was just a monster plant luring other monsters. All this time... ."
Dane summed up Gurbannan's tales, hitting the key points.
Stunned expressions all around.
Dane hadn't expected instant belief.
"If you want proof, go to the temple and see for yourselves. Hear straight from the priests what Gurbannan and his ilk did to the Riyans."
The priests panicked, averting Dane's sharp glare.
Their demeanor drew soft gasps from the crowd, like proof.
"Avaris isn't dead yet. I cut the stalk, but it'll regenerate."
Some sighs of relief leaked out. Dane continued.
"The baby Avaris is still in the temple. How you use it is up to you. If you want, raise it proper and live like before."
He gave them the choice.
"Or, if you want to leave this plain and see the wider world, find me. I'm not the Slaughter King... I'm Butcher Squad Captain Dane."
He stepped down from the platform.
Faced with his momentum, the soldiers clashing with his squad lowered weapons in confusion.
They'd seen him butcher dozens of monsters.
That image burned too deep—no one stepped up. Will to fight evaporated.
He strode on. The path cleared wide.
In the center stood one lone Riyan. Prawan.
"......"
She had no words.
Dane spoke for her.
"You said you wanted out. Do that. Anyone else who wants, come find us. I don't care."
He brushed past.
Dink let out a long howl, as if it'd waited forever.