Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 180

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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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However, it was a problem for others.
On the night of the festival’s final day when sleep eluded them, the Seka Estate’s residents remained awake, tormented by the brilliant pillars of flame that burned as if consuming the very darkness itself.

With the Duke and Vice-Duke unable to sleep, their household staff could hardly rest either.

“That… that insane bastard!”

The Elderly Butler of the Seka Estate felt a dull ache creeping up the back of his neck.
Though Knights and soldiers blocked the view, fragments of a shattered Wyvern statue were visible. It had been like the guardian of the proud Seka Estate.

Crack, crackle.

The statue continued to crumble into fine dust.
And all by a single person’s hand.

“Huh, it just crumbles whenever I grip it like this?”

A madman in night clothes held fragments of the shattered Wyvern statue, grinding them to powder between his palms with a wicked grin.

That person was unmistakably Archie.

“Man, this is fun. Crushing them under my feet feels amazing.”

Crunch. Crunch. With each stomp, the statue fragments shattered into smaller pieces. Archie felt exhilarated.

The Seka Estate’s people clearly looked pained. Archie, who had been forced to live quietly under Whale King Siceller’s discipline, felt as though he might soar away.

-Human, that Orca looks incredibly cunning! Impressive!

Kale agreed with what Raon transmitted to his mind. Archie appeared thoroughly shameless. A Knight from the Seka Estate shouted.
He didn’t seem to be the Captain—more like the next rank down.

“Who are you wretches? What outrageous act is this!”

Snort.
Archie snorted derisively.
Then he declared boldly.

“We’re a Secret Organization!”

He chuckled to himself after saying this. Even at that display, the Knight couldn’t bring himself to step forward. The Duke was currently on his way, and Clophe, the Guardian Knight, along with the Captain, were at the Lake. He had already sent messengers to both of them.

As the Vice-Captain, he held command authority over the scene, yet he couldn’t act.
The strength to shatter a massive wyvern statue with a single punch.
Moreover, that strength carried no mana or aura whatsoever—it was purely divine power. Beyond that, he sensed formidable mana emanating from one of the other masked figures standing behind that man.

Naturally, that masked figure was Rosalind, but the Vice-Captain, unaware of this, actually welcomed the standoff. Simultaneously, he glanced sideways with narrowed eyes.

A man with hair like a golden mane. While others merely regarded him as the Duke’s guest, the Vice-Captain knew his true identity.

The second son of the Lion King.
The Vice-Captain could only assess the current situation by observing this formidable figure.
Then, the voice of the Lion King’s second son came, grinding out words with contempt.

“…So those are the infamous madmen.”

Were these intruders actually renowned figures?
The Vice-Captain’s expression grew grave.

Unaware of this, the second-in-line heir to the Lion King cried out.

“How dare you speak such nonsense before me!”

Edrich of the Lion Tribe unleashed his fury toward Archie, Rosalind, and Paseton. Yet beneath his outward appearance, his mind was genuinely intrigued.

‘I never expected to encounter famous figures here.’

That crude Secret Organization attire.
The Spear Master and Tamer of ‘Dark’ were the ones grinding their teeth at them.

The conflict between Merfolk and the Whale Tribe. The assault on the Elf Village at Ten Finger Mountain. These were the ones who had disrupted all of it. In fact, ‘Dark’ had already reported them to the ‘higher-ups’.

Those men, who had piled additional work onto ‘Dark’ while it was busy investigating the Empire’s schemes, were quite the troublemakers.

‘And they’re strong too.’

Edrich, the Lion Tribe member, realized what the Spear Master had said—that his opponent’s realm was either equal to his own or utterly beyond his comprehension.
Yet he could not back down.
After all, I am the magnanimous and dignified next Lion King.

“Who are you wretches! Reveal your identities properly!”

The Lion Tribe member, acknowledging his worthy opponent, demanded to know their identities.
At that moment, Kale raised his hand, and Archie acknowledged it. Archie responded exactly as Kale had instructed.

“Would you? Yellow broomstick head.”

Edrich’s face contorted. Kale issued his next command with evident satisfaction.

“Let’s move as well.”

Kale’s body grew increasingly transparent. As he turned away, Edrich’s voice rang out from behind him.

“How dare you speak such nonsense about this noble golden hue!”
“What? This bastard isn’t even the master of this place—why is he acting so high and mighty?”
“Y-you-!”

Edrich was left speechless by Archie’s retort, while the Vice-Captain hesitated and regrouped his formation.
Kale marveled at Archie’s quick wit as he spoke to Choi Han, who was approaching.

“I like how Archie does it like that.”
“…I have no desire to learn such things.”
“Fair enough. One like him is more than sufficient.”

Is it truly just Archie? Choi Han regarded Kale with that very look, but Kale moved swiftly onward.
Once they confirmed his disappearance, the group initiated their next move.

“Stop wasting words. Come at us.”

Archie, despite telling them to come at him, charged forward first. His target was precisely Edrich of the Lion Tribe.
Following suit, Rosalind and Paseton moved toward the Seka Estate Knights.

In that chaos, Kale gave firm instructions to Choi Han and Raon.

“Follow closely. Stay beside me.”

One of the other Lion Tribe members and the remaining Dark operatives were nowhere to be seen. So Choi Han and Raon had to stay glued to my side to keep the Cats and myself safe.

-Understood, human! I’ll always stay by your side!

Raon’s pleased voice reached me, but I ignored it and slipped into the Seka Duchy.

* * *

Whoooosh—
The sound of wind echoed through the corridor.

A room at the end of the Seka Duchy 5th Floor hallway.
Gronika, a member of the Lion Tribe standing right beside the Study of the next Duke, Clophe Seka, opened her mouth.

“…Was there a window open somewhere?”
“Pardon?”

The Knight of the Seka Duchy reflexively questioned her, then his expression shifted.

Shing.
The Dark operatives drew their weapons.

There was no open window.

The moment word spread that an outsider had infiltrated the Seka Duchy, they immediately sealed off all entrances to the 5th Floor or stationed Knights at the doors.

Wind should not have blown through.

Whoooosh—

The wind blew again. At the same time, their grip on their weapons tightened.

It was mist.
Fog rolled down the corridor from far away, carried by the wind.
A white wave cut through the darkness and rushed toward them with terrifying speed.

“Fall back.”

Gronika charged into the mist. A whip was gripped in her hand.

Whoooosh.
A golden whip, reminiscent of golden hair, slashed through the mist. Yet a small sound echoed from within the fog.

Meowwww.

Cats.
She suddenly recalled that hideous elderly man wearing the guise of a child, grinding his teeth in fury.
The Tamer. He had spoken those words.

‘I will personally kill those Cats.’

During the Dark battle unit meeting she had attended, the Spear Master had reported.

‘There are two Cats. They excel in poison.’

Meowwww.
The cry sounded once more. She immediately slashed through the mist with her whip.

Clang!

But something intercepted her whip. The whip bounced off a blade and lost its trajectory.

And from the fog emerged a man.
A man clad in black night clothes—his dark eyes were visible. Simultaneously, black aura swirling through the air caught her gaze.

Gronika opened her mouth toward her subordinates.

“It’s Poison.”

Dark possessed some information about these individuals.
The moment her whip bounced back, she immediately recalled one piece of that intelligence.

“So you’re the Sword Master.”

Behind the mask, his dark eyes crinkled with amusement. Seizing that instant, Gronika swung her whip with ferocious force.

Crash—!

The corridor’s windows shattered. Glass fragments scattered beyond the panes.

“W-why is the glass…?”
“What?!”

Those stationed at the main gate of the Seka Duchy froze at the sound of shattering glass. They realized something had happened on the 5th Floor.
Gronika watched the poisonous mist scatter and dissipate out the window, then tilted her head slightly.

“What are you doing? Scared? You wyvern flies! Yellow broom, running away? Kahahaha! Run well!”

The intruder’s voice echoed from outside the window.
Yellow broom. At those words, she let out a stifled laugh and immediately rushed at Choi Han.

“Guard the door.”

With a brief command to her subordinates, her whip lashed toward Choi Han.

Whoooosh!
Crash!

It wasn’t the sound of a sword and whip colliding. The window frame with its shattered glass trembled. Gronika, gripping a short dagger, charged at Choi Han, who had flicked her whip away.

Her blade entered Choi Han’s space. Their eyes met.
In that moment, Gronika heard the intruder’s voice for the first time.

“Too weak.”

What?

Gronika’s pupils wavered.
Then a familiar voice rang out.

“Gronika!”

Her cousin Edrich appeared in the 5th Floor corridor. Other Knights were visible as well.
His face bearing marks of impact, Edrich rushed desperately into the fray.

‘They’ve all arrived.’

Kale observed the scene from the entrance of the 5th Floor corridor, cloaked in invisibility.

-Human, when are we doing this?

Raon’s excited voice rang out. The dragon still hadn’t forgotten his thirst for vengeance against Am. Kale slowly summoned the Wind’s Sound at his fingertips.

“This is insane! What are you? What exactly are you?!”

Edrich, brimming with irritation and resentment, threw a punch at Choi Han. At that, Gronika immediately joined in a coordinated assault. From above and below—their cooperation targeting the gaps was as seamless as if rehearsed.

But their opponent was Choi Han.

Thud. Tap.
The fist and whip were blocked with utter simplicity. Yet the two didn’t stop. Gronika’s dagger shot toward Choi Han’s shoulder while Edrich’s foot aimed for his knee.

The agile yet swift attacks were invisible to ordinary eyes. Then, an unfamiliar voice cut through.

“Destroy.”

Gronika faltered.

…Who?

Before she could finish the thought.

Whoooosh—

It sounded like a sudden downpour. Her eyes darted sideways.

Mist was swirling violently. A crimson haze billowed and expanded steadily.

“Where are you looking?”

At the eerie voice, Gronika redirected her dagger.
Clang. An aura-wrapped hand collided with the blade.

“Gasp!”
“Edrich!”

The masked figure’s grip had seized Edrich’s throat.

“How dare you—how dare you aspire to kingship! Ugh, let me go!”

Edrich thrashed desperately. Gronika, who had rushed forward to save Edrich—the instrument of power for her family—stopped in her tracks.

Whoooosh—

The sound did not cease.
Something was rushing toward them.

Something was charging forward.

The moment she turned her head, she felt it.

That’s right. There was one more person.
The owner of that unfamiliar voice.

A figure shrouded in white mist came hurtling forward in a straight line, swift and unstoppable.
A tremendous wind accompanied him.
Poison seeped into that wind alongside the mist. White, crimson, blue, black—a maelstrom of poisoned fog swirled violently.

Burst.

The word that flashed through her mind.
Soon after, she heard the voice of the one who had seized Edrich’s throat.

“Let him go.”

Edrich was hurled through the air.

“Dodge!”

With Gronika’s cry, the wind erupted.

Kabooom—

A colossal vortex of poisoned fog engulfed Am.
The window frame shattered and burst outward.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the wall.

“Cough!”

Edrich took the full brunt of the Whirlpools’ attack. Though he possessed some resistance to poison, the Whirlpools themselves were formidable.
His body crashed to the ground.

Boom!

Yet he rose immediately, appearing remarkably unscathed.

“Gah!”
“Ah, ah, ahead!”

The members and Knights, intoxicated by poison, babbled incoherently, but the Lion Tribe paid them no mind. They pressed forward toward the final chamber.

Click.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening echoed through the passage.

“Ugh… ugh.”

The Knight standing before the door was already temporarily paralyzed by the poison.

“Ah.”

Gronika exhaled a hollow sigh.
Choi Han blocked the path ahead of her and Edrich.

Behind him stood a man who had turned the doorknob.
As invisibility and mist dissipated, a figure gradually revealed itself from the feet upward.

The eyes of the masked man gleamed with amusement toward the Lion Tribe.

Creak—
As the door swung open, Kale entered the chamber with unhurried composure.

Click.
The door shut, and the Lion Tribe found themselves blocked by Choi Han’s blade.

“Get through me first.”

Choi Han spoke with delight as he coated his blade with aura. It was a signal that the real battle was about to begin.

Meow.
Meow.

Following the cries of the Cats, mist rose once more into the air.

* * *

Yet regardless of that situation, Kale was bewildered.

-…Human. Something’s strange.

Raon was equally bewildered.

In Kale’s hand was a small box.
It was the box the Lion Tribe had tried to protect, the item secretly passed to the Guardian Knight family. Upon opening it, Kale found himself at a loss.

It was a crown.
But that wasn’t the problem.

-…Human, I sense your power. Sometimes it feels as strong as my front paw! That’s when I feel it! Human, did those bastards ever steal from you? They’re truly despicable!

A white crown.
Kale’s mouth fell open.

“Raon, doesn’t this crown look familiar?”
-…Huh?

Raon fell silent for a moment before crying out in shock. Without realizing it, he even dispelled his invisibility as he spoke.

“The Black Swamp!”

Yes. The dragon corpse in the Black Swamp.
This white crown had been resting upon that corpse’s head.

The moment Kale grasped that crown, I obtained the ‘Dominating Aura’—a power perfect for deception, brimming with nothing but bluster.

A voice other than Jjangdol’s echoed in Kale’s mind.
It was a familiar voice, yet one from a distant memory.
Kale recalled the words that voice had spoken.

‘Do you know the easiest way to steal your opponent’s breath, their very respiration?’
‘It is fear.’
‘Use it well!’
‘Sometimes deception will save your life. Ahahahahaha!’

The voice of my former master, who had granted me the power of a dominating aura.
That voice spoke again after so long.

-That crown thirsts for dragon’s blood.

Then it fell silent.
Jjangdol said nothing either.

Kale looked at Raon.

“Why do you look so troubled, human?”

Kale spoke.

“Let’s discard this.”
“What?”
“No, wait. If those bastards keep holding onto it, that’s absolutely unacceptable.”

The Black Dragon saw for the first time Kale grimace at something expensive—a crown adorned with jewels no less.
To the tilting Raon, Kale spoke with resolve.

“Should I destroy it?”

It was the first time I’d picked something up only to dislike it.

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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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