Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 148

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Whiiii— whiiii—

Two whirlpools swirled across Kale’s palm. He glanced at Raon, feeling a sharp sting on his cheeks.

“I’m fine.”

Despite Kale’s words, Raon continued to stare at him with piercing eyes that seemed ready to crackle with electricity. Raon’s mouth opened.

“Your arms were trembling earlier. Use the ancient power more moderately. Weak human, you need to do some strength training.”

What connection could there possibly be between the ancient power and strength training?
Kale found it puzzling but dismissed the thought lightly, turning his gaze to those within the transparent barrier floating in the air beside him.

Rosalind, Choi Han, Gashan.
The three of them stood speechless, gazing downward. Kale spoke, looking at Choi Han among them.

“What are you doing?”

Choi Han and Gashan reacted to his words. Rosalind belatedly turned to look at Kale.

Kale’s finger moved. His index finger pointed downward.

“Why don’t you go down and fight?”

The shaman Gashan hesitated. Only then did he realize he had been staring blankly at Hice Island below.

‘Right, I should help too.’

He was the one who had gathered and brought the Tiger Tribe here. Gashan tightened his grip on the wooden staff in his hand.
That was when it happened.

“No, Lord Kale. I must stay by your side. I cannot know when you might be injured, when you might suddenly cough up blood again—”

Choi Han’s words continued at length. Gashan opened his closed eyes and stared at Choi Han with an astonished expression.

‘Weak?’

Gashan saw the whirlpools swirling violently in Kale’s hands. Who had created these whirlpools churning through the waters between the Hice Islands?

No matter how much Gashan himself, Rosalind, and the Dragon had conjured the storm, those whirlpools were extraordinary. Gashan was simply astounded by Choi Han’s account.
Rather, he found Kale impressive for listening to such a story with such seriousness. Kale’s mouth opened.

“I may be a bit much, but this time I don’t think I’ll cough up blood.”
“That’s right, Choi Han! Because the great Raon Mir is here!”
“…Yes. The great Raon is here too.”

At the conversation between one human and the Dragon, Choi Han nodded.

“Yes, I understand.”

Gashan’s face was one of disbelief. Then a hand patted his shoulder. It was Rosalind. When Gashan looked at her, she spoke.

“Gashan, let’s go.”
“…Understood.”

Gashan followed Choi Han and Rosalind, slowly heading toward the Hice Island below. Before they scattered to different positions on the Hice Islands, Gashan heard Kale’s voice from above his head.

“Choi Han, don’t destroy the islands.”

Gashan thought Kale truly said the most peculiar things. Just then, Choi Han looked up and shouted.

“Yes, I’ll be careful.”

The old shaman simply gripped his wooden staff tightly. Without a word, he parted from Rosalind and Choi Han, heading toward the Hice Islands where the Tiger Tribe dwelled.

Whiiiiing—

A chilling sound swept past him. A whirlpool rushed swiftly downward. Soon the whirlpool collided with the sea.

Boom!

The whirlpool carved into the sea surface, churning violently in the waters. Gashan gripped his wooden staff firmly and descended rapidly.

“…Nature itself, I beseech you. Calm this trembling heart of mine.”

With only a small prayer, the shaman settled his astounded mind.

Kale sent two whirlpools to block the ship’s path and settled in to observe leisurely. Thanks to the transparent barrier Raon had created, even the rain and wind posed no obstacle.

Though the darkness obscured much of the scene, Raon’s occasional lightning strikes illuminated the situation well enough.

“…remarkable.”

An exclamation escaped Kale’s lips.

Kuuuuu—
Massive whales rose above the sea surface, their cries piercing the night.

Kwaaang!
The side of a medium-sized vessel shattered as it collided with three whale bodies. Kale swallowed hard at the sight.

‘Brutal.’

The Whale Tribe members, including Witira, rammed the ships relentlessly in their whale forms. Yet they did not attack recklessly, heedless of their own condition.

The whales they had brought served only as a threat, colliding only with ships attempting to escape the whirlpools, skillfully herding them toward Hice Island.

Kale watched with a sense of dread, when Raon offered his observation.

“These whales obey your commands remarkably well.”
“Indeed.”

It was an order I had given.
I simply hadn’t expected them to execute it so flawlessly.

Between the lightning strikes, a shattered ship became visible.

“Aaaahhh!”
“Argh!”

Dark Mage Unit soldiers who hadn’t managed to evacuate tumbled from the fractured hull into the sea.

In the darkness, they couldn’t gather their wits.
Until sunset, they had sailed comfortably enough. But what in the world was happening now?

A soldier flailed in the water, moving toward a piece of wood drifting through the darkness. That scrap of timber seemed like his only chance at survival.

‘Just a little more, just a little!’

The agent’s fingertips barely grazed the wooden plank. He stretched both arms toward it with all his might. That was when it happened.

Whoooosh—

The sound of water being cleaved reached his ears.

Psshhhhh—
The sound of rain fell, but the agent didn’t hear it.

Whoooosh—
The sound of water splitting grew clearer and clearer.

“No, this can’t be.”

The agent’s hands, gripping the wooden plank, trembled violently. His submerged body felt as though it were freezing solid. And then, finally, what had been cutting through the water revealed itself.

Uuuuu—

A whale’s mournful cry.
The whale opened its maw toward the organization that had slaughtered its young kind.

“Ah, ahhh—”

The agent couldn’t form proper words, trembling as he faced the whale’s wrath.

Uuuueeeeee—

Countless whales following the Whale Tribe surged through the wreckage of the ships.
For the humans thrown from the vessels, it was hell.

But hell existed not only upon the sea.
Beings consumed by even more intense fury than the Whale Tribe were scattered across the Hice Islands.

“Insane… why are the Tiger Tribe here— Ugh!”

The Arm Combat Unit 1 member couldn’t finish his words. On the island, cloaked in boulders, trees, and dense brush—terrain so treacherous that even tigers could leap across it with ease—the night posed no obstacle whatsoever to them.

The two subordinates following Arm Combat Unit 1’s leader instinctively took a step back.

Grrrrr—

The beast let out a low growl and tore an arm from the leader’s body.

Thud. Thud. Thud.
The corpse of Arm Combat Unit 1’s leader was torn to shreds by three tigers treading lightly across the muddy ground.
The tigers, having lost their kin and tribe, turned their gaze toward the panicked agents who had lost their leader.

Wiiiiing—
A strange sound emanated from the tigers. One of them stepped forward.

Tsssss—
With a wisp of smoke, the tiger transformed into human form. The massive Tiger Tribe member spread both arms wide and spoke.

“Khehehe, so you captured our kinfolk and skinned them?”

Five squads from the Dark organization.
Each squad, divided separately and accompanied by their respective units, had slaughtered the Tiger Tribe living on a single mountain.
With dozens of ships comprising a single squad, the Tiger Tribe family that could have handled one squad numbered at most four.

Blood dripped from the mouth of the Tiger Tribe member who had bitten off Arm Combat Unit 1’s leader’s arm. Eyes consumed by rage spoke to the agents.

“I’ll skin you all alive.”
“Ugh, ahhhhh!”

The two subordinates began fleeing toward where the other agents were. The Tiger Tribe member watched them calmly. He opened his mouth after a long pause.

“Let’s hunt. The night is long.”

Wiiiiing.
The Tiger Tribe member carefully secured the mana disruption device in his possession and loosened his neck muscles slightly.
To block the video communication revealing that the Whale Tribe and Tiger Tribe had joined forces, all the Tiger Tribe members carried mana disruption devices.
They were support provided by Rowan and the Breck Kingdom.

Three adult Tiger Tribe members disappeared into the darkness with the leisurely gait characteristic of tigers. They made no attempt to hide their presence.
The Tiger Tribe member let out a laugh of rage as he heard the screams of the Dark organization’s operatives.

Meanwhile, on another Hice Island, someone moved with utmost silence.

The island among all the Hice Islands that possessed the most varied terrain.
Cliffs, forests, sandy beaches, swamps—an island that held all of these was the stage for a soundless battle.

“Ugh!”

With a brief groan, the operative’s body went limp.
An assassination specialist from the Dark Mage Unit 1, serving under Vice-Commander Gretel. The last survivor among the two scouts who had ventured out.

The corpse was carefully laid upon the ground.

Servant Ron gazed down at the body in silence, then wiped the blood from his blade. It was the handkerchief his son Vicross had prepared for him.

Every movement made no sound.
Only the voice of nature echoed.

The roar of seawater churning.
The patter of rain.
The rumble of thunder.

Ron’s lips curved upward. Another sound reached his ears.

The sound of human movement.

Ron, once the heir to one of the five great families that ruled the Eastern Continent’s underworld. He moved his body slowly in response to the subtle sounds that reached his ears.

They were likely scouts sent out after the previous reconnaissance team fell silent.

Thus Ron systematically severed the Dark Mage Unit’s limbs one by one, tightening his grip on Vice-Commander Gretel’s throat.

I am the assassin who has survived past sixty years of age.
Along with avenging my family, I still possessed the ability to teach these young whelps what fear truly meant.

Swish—

The sound of grass rustling in the wind reached him. Ron moved toward where the footsteps of those moving covertly could be heard.

In another place, brutality rather than secrecy dominated the island.
The flattest terrain among Hice Island’s many isles.

CRASH!

The few boulders scattered across it shattered.

“Damn it!”

Opid spat out a curse between ragged breaths. But he had no time to rest. A chill crept down his spine.

CRASH!
The sound of the island’s terrain being destroyed echoed again. He couldn’t turn around. There was no time to even consider what had become of his subordinates.

‘Where did this insane woman come from!’

She was insane. Truly, utterly insane.

“Hahahaha!”

Laughter that shook the forest echoed across the island.
A Sword Master wreathed in golden aura. She laughed while obliterating everything around her.

Opid, commander of Dark Combat Unit 1. The Dark Mage Unit he led lacked the raw power of the Dark organization’s upper echelon.
Yet even without exceptional individual strength, they possessed cunning and knew how to deploy their forces with tactical precision. That made them stronger than the elite forces of most kingdoms.
It was precisely this efficiency that had allowed all of Unit 1 to hunt the Tiger Tribe.

When they first faced this Sword Master, they had managed her well enough with their established protocols.

“…Damn it! But this isn’t how it’s supposed to go!”

Yet this Sword Master was a madwoman.

Drenched in blood as crimson as the darkness itself, the Sword Master.
She showed no defense, no fear. The more blood she saw, the more she laughed and charged forward.

Several arrows from Opid and his subordinates had already lodged themselves in her body. But rather than grimace in pain, she attacked with even greater ferocity.

‘Why is this woman even here!’

By this point, I couldn’t help but know.
Still, as the leader of Arm Combat Unit 1, I knew something about the organization’s affairs.

A fake saint abandoned by the organization.
That woman. It was definitely that woman.

Opid rushed toward the boat at the coastline. I couldn’t hide within the island. The sea—I had to reach the sea instead.
Given the current situation, I couldn’t even gauge what had become of the other scattered unit members. Though the storm’s rain and wind roared fiercely, I could hear what sounded like people’s screams cutting through it.

Whiiiing—
At the same time, the sound of a mana disruption device emanated from that woman’s possession.

‘I need to contact the organization.’

I had to reach the boat, avoid that disruption, and contact the organization.
Opid clutched at my side and ran. Blood trickled from the wound where the aura had grazed my flank.

That was when it happened.
A voice came from directly behind me.

“Do you really think you can keep running and survive? Hm?”

Damn it.
Opid’s face twisted. The sandy beach was visible—just a little further and I’d make it.

“Blood really is beautiful, don’t you think? Isn’t it? Is that why you all tried to kill me?”

She was toying with me.
The mad Sword Master followed behind, taunting Opid. I swallowed my curses and kept running. There was no choice.
A deer could only flee from a predator.

And then I reached the sandy beach.

“Huh?”

A boat moored on the sandy beach.
A black-haired man stood before that boat. Behind me, the Sword Master’s voice rang out.

“Ah, how dull.”

Screeeech—
Opid drew his sword.

Clang.
But the blade of an upper-tier Expert crumbled pathetically against Sword Master Hana’s aura. The aura tore through Opid’s chest as well.

Sword Master Hana spoke bluntly, glancing at Choi Han.

“I’ll handle this alone.”
“I know. I came to tell you not to go berserk and destroy the island.”

Rather than answering, Hana turned and headed toward the forest of the island. Following Kale’s instructions, she had killed the leader first. Now it was time to eliminate the rest.

Choi Han watched her go, then turned his gaze toward the sea. The small humpback whale Paseton offered his back, and Choi Han climbed aboard, heading toward another island. He murmured quietly.

“I can’t understand it.”
“Understand what, sir?”

At Paseton’s question, Choi Han voiced his thoughts. The Secret Organization’s combat unit—strong enough to annihilate most kingdoms’ Knights Orders and numerous in numbers, yet lacking overwhelming power. That was what he had been thinking as he observed them.

“Why do they try to kill the strong?”

The Whale Tribe, the Tiger Tribe, and the fake saint Sword Master Hana.
As if they were trying to eliminate all the strong ones in this world. Choi Han recalled those whom the Secret Organization had tried to make enemies of rather than allies, and he couldn’t comprehend their intentions.
Paseton answered Choi Han’s question.

“Well, maybe they think they need to be the strongest to rule easily? And what good would it do to know the reason anyway?”

At Paseton’s answer, tinged with quiet fury as if such reasons didn’t matter, Choi Han nodded.
Right, it wasn’t his concern.
Who led the Secret Organization, what they were thinking—none of it mattered. He simply had to destroy them so they couldn’t do such things.
That was his job.

“Paseton, let’s head toward where the weaker Tiger Tribe members are.”

Avoiding the Whirlpools, Choi Han headed toward where he needed to work.

At that moment, Kale could only faintly see the battlefield through lightning, unable to see the blood flying everywhere. But Raon, who could see everything, kept glancing nervously at Kale.
A weak human shouldn’t see all of that and become faint-hearted.

“Raon.”
“Why, why are you doing this, human? I can’t see anything!”

What was that about?
Kale stared at Raon with a bewildered expression. Raon averted his gaze slightly, and Kale’s voice reached him.

“You brought the dead mana bombs, right?”
“…I brought them because I brought them! Why are you asking?”

Curiosity piqued, Raon looked at Kale. Kale was speaking with a smile on his face.

“I was thinking of leaving some traces on the most heavily damaged island.”
“Traces of dead mana bombs?”

Kale gazed down at the sea, which was difficult to see clearly. Only darkness was visible.

“Even if both the Tiger Tribe and our side have mana disruption devices.”
“Ron doesn’t have one!”
“Right. Ron doesn’t, but regardless, some of their mages must have contacted the Whale Tribe urgently after seeing them.”

During Kale’s five days of reconnaissance, the primary focus had been on the presence of mages. He had mobilized crows and sea creatures alike to investigate the mages as thoroughly as possible.

Raon nodded.

“They definitely would have contacted them!”
“Then the Secret Organization would come here out of curiosity, wouldn’t they?”
“Right, they would!”

Kale had satisfied Raon’s curiosity.

“So they came to investigate, and if they find faint traces of the Empire’s dead mana bombs on one of those islands—traces someone tried to erase—what would they think?”

Raon laughed.

“Hehe. This should be interesting, human!”

Kale observed Raon’s reaction and thought to himself.
What a terrifying dragon this one is.

Yet despite his inner thoughts, Kale’s lips curved into a smile as well.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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