Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 216

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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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He descended like a bird of prey.
A bird that hunted for the throat of its quarry.

My body shot downward.

“At last I see you!”

The Fire Bear Tribe member on the lead vessel didn’t flinch at the sight of me. Instead, he cried out as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

“You think you can destroy this ship with an aura no more than 2 meters long?”

The Fire Bear Tribe member had good reason for his confidence.

Sirem, the fake Dragon Slayer who had returned alone from the Heniatus Territory. According to the report he had transmitted through Dark before the Northeast Rowan Kingdom naval battle, my aura length did not exceed 2 meters at maximum.

Therefore, I could not completely destroy this vessel, which was several times the length of my aura.
As long as both wheels could roll together, the ship would not stop.

“You Heniatus bastards who killed my comrades—I will kill you myself!”

Only Fire Bear Tribe members stood upon the vessels approaching the Rowan Kingdom side. They were the Fire Bear Tribe who had participated in the battle at Heniatus Territory.
The Fire Bear Tribe member’s massive arms swelled with tensed sinew as he entered a berserk state.

One standing on the ground. One descending from the sky.
The Fire Bear Tribe member’s eyes locked with mine. I could see his lips moving slightly as he muttered something.
In that brief moment, the Fire Bear Tribe member unconsciously read my lips.

‘Pathetic.’

Pathetic?
The Fire Bear Tribe member suddenly felt a chill run through him and frantically leaped across the deck.
At that moment, I brought my sword down vertically.
With considerable force, slowly. The blade descended from sky to earth.

“This—this is bad! Dodge!”

The Fire Bear Tribe member cried out without thinking.

2 meters.
The black aura that fell short of that length.

The moment the sword descended, the aura transformed into a spear.
A spear of unknowable length.

As if 2 meters were a joke, the black aura blooming from Choi Han’s fingertips stretched endlessly. And finally, the aura pierced through the lead vessel.

Crash!

For the first time in this war, an explosion reverberated across the battlefield.

“I-insane!”

The Fire Bear Tribe member landed on the ground and turned around with a dumbfounded expression.

It was pierced.
The lead ship had been split cleanly in two through its center. A vessel the Flame Dwarf Tribe had constructed to withstand even considerable magic.
That ship had been severed in an instant.

And two more.
A total of three ships collided with the aura-turned-spear and were obliterated.

“…What in the world.”

For a moment, silence seemed to settle over the battlefield.
The Fire Bear Tribe member slowly turned his head.

“It’s been a while.”

The black-haired Sword Master came into view.

“Releasing all your power in one strike like that.”

His gaze was fixed precisely on the Fire Bear Tribe member.
The Fire Bear Tribe member unconsciously froze.

“B-but you said the aura length would never exceed 2 meters maximum-!”

Of course, the Dragon Slayer’s report had been truthful.
However, even aura of the same 1-meter radius differed in density.

Aura that was originally 1 meter versus aura that was originally 10 meters compressed to its limit at 1 meter. These two were clearly different.

Because the Dragon Slayer had reported carelessly about his own condition, the Indomitable Alliance received false information. After that, when the Dragon Slayer was captured by Kale Heniatus, the Indomitable Alliance lost any further opportunity to obtain accurate intelligence.

‘Pathetic.’

Choi Han’s words shook the Fire Bear Tribe’s mind belatedly.
Choi Han truly found the Fire Bear Tribe’s actions laughable.

Why did those who had invaded a small corner fiefdom first, seeking to kill and destroy, now speak of revenge against us?
Had not most of the Fire Bear Tribe perished in the Dragon Slayer’s wyvern explosion?

Why did the attackers blame the defenders?
Should we simply die in silence then?

War is the filthiest mud pit, where some must die and others must live. Choi Han had no desire for nobility or righteousness in such a place.

Protecting my people, my family.
Even if I became the filthiest of all, that was what Choi Han truly wanted.

Uuuuung.

As if responding to his resolve, black aura surged forth from Choi Han’s blade once more. A sword standing on the precipice of darkness’s completion. Its edge turned toward the enemy.

Tap.
Choi Han, having pushed off the ground, shot forward.

Kale Heniatus’s orders were not yet finished.
There was still much to destroy.

The people atop the City Wall watched in silence, unable to speak.
Atop the South Tower, the Caro Kingdom Mage lost her words at the sight before her eyes. She had known that a Sword Master in seclusion existed in Caro, but this was the first time she had witnessed his true power in actual combat.

‘Is a Sword Master truly this formidable?’

Her hands trembled at the overwhelming power. Her gaze shifted toward the Central Tower and the North Tower. Especially the North Tower—where Duke Hooten, the Empire’s Sword Master, stood.
The distance made it impossible to see the Duke clearly. Yet she could feel the atmosphere.
They were being overwhelmed.
That was when it happened.

“Connect the communication channel for me.”

The commander’s voice reached her ears. Only then did she look down at the video communication device in her hand.

Beep beep—beep beep—

An urgent call from Prince Valentino. She hastily connected the video communication while glancing at the people of Rowan Kingdom.

Their expressions were matter-of-fact.
Only then did a chill run down her spine.

Rowan Kingdom, which had achieved an overwhelming victory.
That story was the truth.

‘Then we too—!’

Her hands holding the video communication device began to tremble for a different reason. In that moment, a small screen appeared above the device.

—…Commander.

Prince Valentino. His expression—as if he didn’t know what to say—appeared on the video communication screen.

“Did you see it?”

I saw it.
I saw it far too clearly.
Valentino barely managed to open his mouth and respond to Kale’s words.

—…Duke Hooten himself said it would be difficult to pierce through like that in one strike. Even most Sword Masters have a maximum aura length of 3 meters, he said.
“He is no ordinary Sword Master.”

Valentino, looking out at the battlefield, felt the weight of war emanating from Kale’s figure.

“He is a hero.”

His voice was filled with certainty.

“Your Highness, there is no need for concern.”

Prince Valentino had initiated the video communication out of worry for the South Tower, but upon seeing Choi Han, he let out a hollow laugh at his own dumbfounded expression before speaking.

-…Commander, I’m counting on you.

Only then could he see Kale Heniatus looking at me.

“That request will certainly be fulfilled.”

Prince Valentino smiled and ended the video communication first. The Mage holding the communication orb tucked the now-dark orb away and gazed at Kale.

The Commander opened his mouth to address everyone atop the South Tower’s City Wall.

“Hold the line as long as possible until everyone arrives.”

Everyone?
Confusion crossed the Mage’s face. But there was no time for contemplation.

“The Knights protect the Mages against any unexpected attacks. And the Mage Battalion—”

Kale raised his hand.

“Ugh.”

The Mage’s body shrank back from the sudden surge of mana fluctuations. And he gasped in shock.

Fluttering, fluttering. The robes of every Mage in the Mage Battalion billowed violently. Between them, necklaces hidden beneath the robes glowed brilliantly, revealing themselves.

“…Highest-grade mana stones!”

Highest-grade mana stones.
Necklaces each bearing two gems filled with immense mana radiated brilliant light.

Hummmmmm, huuummm.

The tremendous surge of mana sent ripples through the surrounding air—a mana wave of such magnitude that the Caro Kingdom Mage had never experienced before.
Kale Heniatus extended his hand toward her.

“This is your role.”
“Pardon?”

A necklace materialized around her neck.

Uuuuung.

The necklace around her neck resonated with the mana waves surrounding them.
A supreme-grade mana stone necklace.
The Caro Kingdom Mage gazed at the Commander of the Northeast Rowan Kingdom. The commander spoke to the mages, including her.

“Attack.”

Kale Heniatus’s hand descended.
His fingertips pointed toward the enemy.

Uuuuu—

A sound like the roar of a colossal beast began to emanate from the South Tower.
The Mage Battalion Vice-Captain cried out.

“Fifth-tier Larokai!”

Magic erupted from the mages’ hands. The Caro Kingdom Mage marveled at the sight of their combined power merging with the mana stones.

‘How much have they trained?’

Merging the mana of multiple people was no simple feat. It required at least a year of constant practice, training together in close quarters.

‘…They weren’t just strong.’

The Caro Kingdom Mage clutched the mana stone at her neck.
Rowan had been quietly accumulating power beneath the surface. They had prepared this overwhelming strength and resources for the war that would inevitably come.

The mages’ power and supreme-grade mana stones were proof of that.

“Attack!”

As the Vice-Captain’s command rang out, five concentrated mana spheres surged toward the battlefield.

Kwaaang!

Another explosion erupted.
While our forces trembled at the sight, I found myself thinking.

‘They’re worth every coin, indeed.’

I had seized the opportunity to sell some of my highest-grade mana stones to the Crown Prince. Those stones had been distributed to the Mage Battalion.

‘A tidy profit.’

The stress of war had been eased somewhat by the weight of gold.
Yet my expression remained unmoved, devoid of even the faintest smile.

‘Something feels off.’

I recalled the words of my guardian knight, Clophe.

‘Lord Kale, since our side has won, the Indomitable Alliance will surely attempt something afterward. If we lose this battle, only the final battle remains.’

The final battle. That referred to the Canyon of Death.
And that was what troubled me.

-Human. These guys aren’t very strong! The Bear Tribe is formidable, but my wings would send them flying!

Because of that.
Just as Raon said, the enemy was oddly weak.

Kwaaang!

I turned my head.

The North Tower. The Empire was fighting fiercely.
They conducted a textbook defensive siege, with Duke Hooten occasionally unleashing aura strikes against the Bear Tribe. The Imperial Army was executing a flawless strategy.

“…Are you working hard?”

The more I thought about it, the more the Empire seemed strange. They must have used some trick.

I gazed toward the Central Tower.

“Krahaha! Destroy the walls! Climb up using the broken ships!”

Three medium-sized ships collided with the Central Tower. The city wall of the Central Tower trembled visibly. A 3-meter-tall White Bear Beastman deflected incoming arrows and magic with his body, directing the other bear tribe members.

The Caro Kingdom forces were struggling considerably.
It was only natural.
The Indomitable Alliance was certainly strong. Clearly, they weren’t weak.

‘Still, they seem a bit weak?’

What was it like when they came to the Heniatus Territory?
Wyverns, a Sword Master, even the red star of ‘Dark’—so many came. But now there are only bear tribe members?

“Something’s off.”
“Sir?”

The knight beside me looked at me. But I began scrutinizing the battlefield carefully.

Soldiers disembarking from the large ships in the distance were slowly preparing to advance alongside the knights.
There were still many medium and small-sized ships anchored at the coastline.

Those ships must have wheels too. Berserk bear tribe members were roaring from above them.
Fewer than a hundred ships had charged toward the castle so far.

I looked at the ships that had reached the front and crashed into or halted before the walls preparing to attack, and then at the small ships still rushing from the rear.

The small ships from the rear were approaching very rapidly.

Crash!

Another ship near the South Tower was destroyed.
I turned my head. All the Fire Bear Tribe members were rushing at Choi Han. In the midst of it, the mages’ mana orbs destroyed another ship.

The sky burned crimson with the sunset.
Beneath it, the fractured cross-section of a destroyed ship came into view.

Only then did I realize it.

“…There’s nothing on the ship!”
“Sir?”

The Knight asked for clarification, but I didn’t answer, my expression hardening instead.
The wreckage of both severed halves contained nothing except the Bear Tribe members spilling out from within.

Did this make any sense?
Why waste a ship like this?

Then I spotted smaller vessels approaching from behind.
And I realized something else.

There were no Bear Tribe members on those rapidly approaching boats.
Only soldiers were visible.
Perhaps because my gaze had fixed on those soldiers, Raon’s voice echoed through my mind.

-Weak human, those soldiers are crying. Weeping!

Enemy soldiers on the decks of the smaller vessels. Fewer than five per boat. They were weeping.

Why?

“Damn it.”

The answer came to me.
There’s something inside those boats.

At minimum, explosives.

“Video communication spell!”
“Sir?”

I urgently commanded the Caro Kingdom Mage.

“Connect me to the Crown Prince immediately through video communication!”

The small boats were not far away.
The Caro Kingdom Mage hastily began establishing the video communication link.

That was the moment.

“Aaaahhhhh!”

A bloodcurdling scream pierced the air.
It was the White Bear Beastman. He bellowed with grim determination.

“Attack! Tear down the City Wall before the sun sets!”

The small boats accelerated, rushing forward at greater speed.
Simultaneously, the Bear Tribe members at the vanguard roared ferociously, their momentum surging. They charged toward the South Tower in unison.

“Aaaahhhhh!”
“Die! Enemies of our tribe!”

Choi Han straightened his sword as the Bear Tribe members, who had been passively blocking his path, suddenly shed their restraint and charged at him together.
Once. Before the sun sets. Finish them.

Choi Han’s expression grew even colder.
Then it happened.

“…What?”

Choi Han’s face twisted into an expression of bewilderment despite himself.

They were fleeing.

The Bear Tribe members who had been charging forward were now frantically scrambling away in the opposite direction.
In that instant, a voice amplified by magic echoed across all of Leona Fortress, resonating from beyond the South Tower.

A familiar voice.
It was Kale Heniatus.

-Everyone, evacuate! Magic bombs!

Bombs?
Unlike the Bear Tribe, Choi Han saw small boats rushing forward fiercely.

‘Could it be?’

Choi Han felt his body lifting into the air.

-Choi Han, the humans worry about you. So I’m saving you.

Raon’s voice echoed through Choi Han’s mind. Lifted into the sky, he saw the small boats passing beneath him.
The small boats, carrying trembling enemy soldiers, did not stop and headed toward the City Wall.
Kale Heniatus opened his mouth.

“Shields!”

The mages immediately began casting shields.

Whoosh.
At that moment, the video communication channel connected.

-Commander! Bombs? What are you saying! Are you telling me those small boats are bombs?!

Prince Valentino’s urgent voice came through.
Who would easily believe that boats carrying their own soldiers were loaded with explosives?

“There’s no time.”
-…Understood.

The video communication cut off. Soon, shields began to be raised one by one over the Central Tower and the North Tower.
But Kale Heniatus’s expression was grim.

Insufficient.
If all these dozens of small boats were indeed bombs, the current shields were woefully inadequate to protect all of Leona Fortress.

Amplification magic echoed from the Central Tower.

-Destroy the small boats before they reach the City Wall!

At that moment, magic poured down from the Central Tower onto the small boats. Of course, the Caro Kingdom Mage’s magic was insufficient to block all the small boats.
But it could destroy some of them.

Boom!

“Ahhhhh!”
“Ahhh!”

Along with the screams of enemy soldiers, a small boat exploded.
Watching the sight, I issued orders rapidly.

“We cannot block all enemy boats, but reinforce the shields and stop them before they reach the City Wall as much as—”

But my movement halted.
Raon’s voice echoed in my mind.

—…Human, that smells like magic bombs.

Boom!

Another small boat was hit by Caro Kingdom magic and burst apart. The small boats following behind ignored it and rushed forward.

But the Caro Kingdom’s magic that had been pouring down stopped.

Raon’s voice continued.

—That smell. It reeks of dead mana.

“…Those insane bastards.”

Black liquid shot up into the sky from the exploding small boat along with the magic bombs.
Dead mana seeped into the ground torn apart by the magic bombs.

I turned my head.
The North Tower.
The Empire’s side, surrounded by shield magic more solid than ever, came into view.

‘Those Empire bastards!’

Dead Mana Bomb.
It was a bomb created by the Empire’s Alchemy Tower.
And it had emerged from the Indomitable Alliance.

Kale recalled Clophe’s voice once more.

‘They will certainly do something on the Indomitable Alliance’s side.’

Was this something—using a Dead Mana Bomb?
Were they so desperately thirsty for victory in this battle that they would deploy a weapon that would face condemnation if revealed to the world?

“Gahhhhh.”
“Gahh.”

Enemy soldiers wounded by the magical explosion and poisoned by Dead Mana were dying before my eyes.
My expression twisted.

Even if they used Dead Mana Bombs to topple Leona Fortress, the fortress would be so covered in Dead Mana that the enemy forces couldn’t cross it either.

That was when it happened.

Pwooooo— Pwoo—

The sound of horns echoed from the coastline.
Enemy soldiers boarded their ships again.
Two of the enemy fleet’s vessels were moving back toward the sea.

“Ha, haha.”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

The enemy ships were heading back to sea.
I immediately grasped their meaning.

‘They’re heading to the Northern Coast.’

Now I finally understood what the Indomitable Alliance’s true objective was.

The core forces of the Caro Kingdom had gathered at Leona Fortress.
What would happen if they scattered dead mana and fled?

Leona Fortress would become a wasteland.
The coastline would be consumed by dead mana, making it impossible to pursue those fleeing Bear Tribe members.
No further combat could take place here.

Even if hundreds of ships departed, the Caro Kingdom forces could do nothing but struggle desperately to avoid the dead mana bombs.

Meanwhile, the Indomitable Alliance would head toward the Northern Coast.

What would be faster—the ships, or the movements of the Caro Kingdom forces who had to fight the dead mana bombs here and now, who had to prevent this dead mana from poisoning the inland beyond Leona Fortress?

There were some forces at the Northern Coast, but far too few. Moreover, there were Caro Kingdom civilians who hadn’t managed to evacuate and abundant resources from the Commercial District.

“C-Commander, it’s dead mana! Definitely dead mana!”

The urgent voice of a Caro Kingdom Knight reached my ears. Watching the approaching small vessel amid the turmoil of Leona Fortress, the Knight felt despair wash over him.
And he looked toward the shields.

The South Tower shield was solid.
It seemed unlikely to be drenched in dead mana liquid.

The Northern Empire side appeared the same.

‘But what about our kingdom?’

The Central Tower shield was flimsy.
The Caro Kingdom Mages were not as strong as those of Rowan or the Mogur Empire.

What could be done?

Then, a rough voice reached the Knight’s ears.

“These cunning bastards.”

It was Commander Kale Heniatus’s voice.
Among the few panicked South Tower soldiers, Kale’s voice resonated through the air.

“Do not worry.”

The soldiers gazed upon their commander. Even as they watched, the small vessels drew ever closer.
Yet their eyes could not remain fixed upon those approaching boats.

Silver light.
A silvery radiance bloomed into view.

Whoooosh.
Threads of silver began to unfurl and spread outward.

-Weak human, do not fear! I too know how to conjure a silver shield! I can protect everything!

The silver threads extended swiftly to the South Tower, then onward to the Central Tower and the North Tower. And finally, a colossal shield materialized, accompanied by wings of radiant silver.
That shield was enveloped in silver luminescence. A silver barrier of absolute protection.

The soldiers atop the South Tower recalled words they had heard from Hillsman Vice-Captain before the war began.

The shield does not break.

In that instant, dozens of tremendous explosions engulfed Leona Fortress.

Boom, crash, boom!

The small vessels erupted in flames, and torrents of black liquid—dead mana—surged like a tidal wave toward the silver shield.

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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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