Chapter 86: Hunt Begins [5]

“Tender meat always begs,” Bjron whispered. “But don’t worry—I’ll savor it.”

Slap—!

His hand smacked her across the cheek, sending her sprawling onto the cold stone floor. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, mixing with her tears as she sobbed, curling into herself.

Bjron crouched down, low, looming over her like a shadow that swallowed all warmth.

“I’ll start with the eyes,” he said. “They’re always the freshest.”

Saying that Bjron grabbed her hair and started dragging towards his private butchering room.

’Three months of hiding. No human meat for this long. It’s finally time at last….No one can stop me. No Draken Duchy, No Alice Draken, No her annoying knight. Tonight night is mine.’

Crack—!

The iron door slammed shut behind them, echoing like the final toll of a death bell.

Bjron’s boots dragged against the ground as he hauled Lila deeper into the abandoned mine, her body limp and trembling, leaving streaks in the dirt.

The corridor grew narrower the further they went—colder, darker. The flickering torchlight behind them faded, swallowed by the shadows until only the low creaks of rusted chains and the soft, awful squelch of wet earth remained.

A metallic scent mixed with rot clung to the air like an invisible fog.

Lila coughed. The stench of blood stung her throat. She tried to speak, but only hoarse sobs came out.

Then—finally—they reached it.

Bjron’s butchering room.

A curved, hollow chamber carved into the mine’s rock, illuminated by a single iron lantern that dangled from a ceiling hook. Chains hung from above—some empty, others stained dark. Blades, cleavers, saws, hooks. Rows of them, lovingly laid out on a rotting wooden table. Some clean, others rusted or chipped from heavy use.

Bjron stopped and released her hair. She collapsed to the floor with a pitiful gasp, clutching her bruised face and coughing against the taste of blood.

Then, she heard it.

A hum.

Bjron’s hum. Low, tuneless, cracked like old leather, yet disturbingly content. He ran his fingers across the edge of one of his blades, testing its sharpness like a painter preparing a brush.

“You smell of lies,” he said, voice light—almost musical. “Gold? Jewels? Hah. They taste like mud compared to marrow.”

He glanced back at her with a grin that stretched too wide, eyes gleaming.

“But go on. Say it again. Offer me something. I like to hear what the meat thinks it’s worth before it dies.”

Lila forced herself to rise to her knees, palms scraping the cold stone, blood still trickling from her mouth.

Her voice cracked as she spoke, shaking. “B-Bjron… I can… I can get you out of here. I know people! I know nobles who’d pay to see me returned alive. You… you want freedom, right? Power? I can get it for you! Gold! Ships! H-Hell, I can buy you an entire island if you want—please!”

Bjron’s expression twisted.

He dropped the cleaver onto the table with a loud clang, then walked slowly toward her, crouching in front of her trembling body like a parent kneeling beside a child.

“Do you know what power really tastes like?”

He raised a blood-stained finger and gently touched it to her lips.

“The scream of a woman who thought she could buy her way out of death. That… that’s power.”

Lila whimpered. Her entire body shook, her tears flowing faster now.

“I’ll give you anything… I-I’ll be your servant for life. I’ll—” she swallowed, shame burning inside her throat, “I’ll do anything. I’ll serve you. Be yours. Just… don’t kill me. Please.”

Bjron tilted his head. He reached out again and pressed a calloused hand to her cheek, slowly wiping the blood there with his thumb.

“Be mine?” he whispered, as if savoring the phrase.

Then suddenly, he laughed—a deep, guttural, awful laugh that filled the room like smoke.

“You think I want obedience? No, no, no… That’s what civilized men crave. I’m no man anymore, little pig.”

He reached for a long iron hook, still crusted with something dark.

“I want struggle. I want terror. I want the sound your bones make when they snap beneath my hands.”

Lila screamed. She scrambled backward, slamming into the butcher table, knocking over knives and hooks that clattered to the ground around her.

“NO—PLEASE! I-I’ll give you land! I’ll give you a title! You could be a lord!”

Bjron walked slowly after her, dragging the hook behind him with a scraping hiss.

“I was a lord once. Long ago. Before I found the truth.”

He leaned in, mouth near her ear, voice like the hiss of a dying fire.

“Flesh is the only throne I need now.”

Lila wept. Her voice broke down into raw sobs. Her nails clawed at the stone, as if she could dig her way to safety.

But Bjron was already behind her. He lifted her by the hair once more.

And the butchering began.

—-

Julies Evans’s POV

A few minutes before Bjorn dragged Lila toward his private butchering room—

“Damn… that hurt like hell.”

I exhaled slowly, my body aching as I slumped back against the cold stone wall of the cell. My breathing was shallow, but steady. The only reason I was still alive was because I’d gathered every drop of blood in my body and hardened it around my gut just before Bjorn’s blow landed.

Thank God I reacted in time.

My plan had been to take him down earlier, but I’d underestimated him.

He was stronger—far stronger than I’d expected.

And to make matters worse, I still hadn’t fully recovered. The effects of Velra’s blood magic were lingering in my body, ever since she forcefully rewired my circuits. Even though she gave me three days of rest, I was far from being in peak condition.

Then there was my sword.

Broken.

Snapped during my last clash with that psychotic bastard.

With all that, there was no way I could kill him. Not yet.

“Fuck…”

But this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. I still had options—I just needed to bide my time and—

“E-Eren… what are we going to do?”

Mira’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“I… I heard him. He said he’s going to… eat Lila. And when he’s done… he’ll come for us next, won’t he?”

Her words trembled as much as her body. She stood just a few feet away, eyes wide with terror, lips pale and quivering. She was barely holding it together.

Right. I’m Eren right now.

The disguise still held.

I turned toward her slowly, trying to keep my expression calm even as my blood boiled.

Mira looked awful. Her short pink hair was damp with sweat, clinging to her face despite the bitter cold of the dungeon. Her arms wrapped around herself, like she was trying to hold herself together.

And then—

“Ugh… khgh!”

She turned away suddenly, collapsing to her knees as she vomited.

The fear had finally overwhelmed her. The thought of what Bjorn planned to do—of being eaten alive—was too much for her to stomach.

I clenched my fists, jaw tightening.

“I’ll kill him before he has chance to do that.” I said and stood up and woke up towards the lock if door with [Echo Rod] in hand.

’He must have thought that hunt was over but Hunting only just began.’

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