Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 218

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

Guided by the hands of wind spirits, the Dark Elves soared across the desert and touched ground at Leona Fortress. The one leading them all moved faster than anyone else, drawing ever closer.

Splat. Splat.
Black liquid. A presence that trampled through dead mana without hesitation. Nothing could impede her forward march.

Directly beneath the City Wall, in a space littered with fragments of shattered ships. Standing upon that flat expanse covered only in black liquid, she raised her voice toward one figure.

“Commander, all personnel have arrived safely!”

Prince Valentino swallowed involuntarily.

Dark Elves.
Beings far rarer than Elves, and until now shunned by the Western Continent. No—despised.
Dark Elves who made their homes where corpses lay buried. Though they had not killed anyone of their own accord, the very fact of their existence filled the people of the Western Continent with revulsion.

‘…Did Commander Kale take them in from the Roan Kingdom?’

As Prince Valentino’s mind conjured the image of a Necromancer alongside them, his gaze upon Kale shifted.

‘Terrifying.’

Commander Kale had become frightening to him. Not because he was evil. The Commander was, if anything, virtuous.
Yet that virtue without prejudice—its power struck the Crown Prince as something to fear.

Of course, Valentino did not know these were Dark Elves dwelling in the Underground Chamber beneath the Land of Death. He was simply astounded by the depth of strength that Kale and the Roan Kingdom possessed. And he was equally amazed by their unflinching resolve to openly reveal beings despised across the continent.

“Your Highness.”
“…Commander.”

He regarded the uncompromising Kale Heniatus.

“May we begin the attack?”

The word “attack” flowed from Kale’s lips, not “defense.” Prince Valentino’s lips slowly curved upward.

“Why ask? Did I not tell you?”

Prince Valentino repeated the same words he had spoken to Kale Heniatus when the war began.

“I’m counting on you.”
“I will absolutely fulfill that request.”

His words were reassuring.
At the same time, Prince Valentino felt a surge of gratitude toward Crown Prince Alberu of the Roan Kingdom. The Roan Kingdom had sent the maximum military force they could muster to the Caro Kingdom.

He could hear Kale Heniatus issuing commands to the Dark Elves.

“Don’t let the enemy escape. Capture them all.”

The Dark Elves did not answer. Instead, they demonstrated their response through action.
Dark Elves numbering roughly the size of a large Knights Order began moving in perfect unison.

Soon, elementals of fire, water, earth, and wind began assisting the Dark Elves.
Flaming arrows were conjured and shot toward the coastline, while water bombs flew over the heads of the Bear Tribe. The earth itself convulsed, seizing at the ankles of soldiers rushing toward the ships.

Around a hundred Dark Elves began tearing up the ground before Leona Fortress. The most striking among them was the woman leading them—Tasha.

She raised her voice.

“Don’t let a single one escape!”

A scale of wind distinctly different from the other Dark Elves swirled beside her. Numerous wind arrows reaching two meters in length rose into the air, then descended upon the coastline and ships.

Crash!

The deck of a large vessel shattered.

Screams erupted.
Agonized cries filled the air.
Amid the chaos, the Bear Tribe looked back and forth between the crumbling deck and the Dark Elves, unable to hide their bewilderment.

“What? Dark Elves? They still lived on the Western Continent?”
“Why are they suddenly appearing?”
“Have the humans allied with the Dark Elves?”

The voices of the Bear Tribe and soldiers mingled together. All were caught off guard by the appearance of an existence they had never anticipated. Then, a ferocious voice rang out.

“Shut your mouths, all of you!”

A bestial roar echoed in response. Only then did the Indomitable Alliance snap to attention, turning their gaze toward the source.

A White Bear Beastman. The massive creature, towering nearly three meters tall, stepped forward and raised his voice.

“Proceed as planned! Mages, cast your shields to block the Dark Elves’ attacks! And Bear Tribe warriors, advance!”

His commanding tone quelled the chaos.
They could see the White Bear Beastman’s lips curling into a wide, fierce grin.

“The moment those Dark Elves step out of the dead mana zone, we slaughter them!”

Chaos could be suppressed by madness. The White Bear Beastman deliberately feigned frenzy as he bellowed.

“Tear them to shreds! This will be our first time hunting Dark Elves. How exhilarating. Kahahaha!”

Following his laughter, the Bear Tribe warriors began to laugh as well.
Dark Elves were formidable, certainly, but the frenzied Bear Tribe was no easy prey either. Several times more numerous than the hundred-odd Dark Elves, the Bear Tribe warriors were now stationed across hundreds of vessels.

There was no fear.
Rather, it was they who should be trembling.

The White Bear Beastman roared.

“Dark Elves, if you wish to live, don’t move a single step from there! If you emerge, our claws will shred the very thread of your lives!”

At that moment, the Dark Elves rushing toward the Coastline from beyond the black liquid froze.
The Bear Tribe warriors’ smiles deepened, and soldiers rapidly climbed back onto the vessels. Nearly all had boarded now, and hundreds of ships prepared to set sail immediately.

The Dark Elves stood motionless, slowly turning their heads to gaze back toward Leona Fortress.
Their commander, the Dark Elf Tasha, stood there.
She muttered in bewilderment, almost without realizing it.

“…Are they idiots?”

Weren’t the Bear Tribe supposed to be cunning?
Yet cunning ones would say such things?

“Are you stupid?”

Tasha muttered with a grave expression, tilting her head as she issued the next command. The wind lingered at her side, carrying her voice across the entire coastline with such force that it resonated through the air.

“Cloak yourselves!”

In that instant, the Bear Tribe froze.

Boom, boom. Thud.
The feet of the Dark Elves, which had halted, struck the ground roughly. Tasha’s wind swept past them, causing dead mana to surge upward.

Dead mana engulfed the Dark Elves’ entire bodies. Yet between the pitch-black liquid streaming down, their eyes gleamed brighter than ever before.
They felt power surging through every fiber of their being.

Tasha smiled.
A battlefield abundant with rare, precious dead mana—difficult to obtain elsewhere.

“This is a most, most delightful battlefield.”

There was no better environment for Dark Elves to rampage.
Dark Elves draped entirely in dead mana.
She smiled at those who did not understand the true terror of the Dark Elves.

The reason they had been cast out yet not exterminated.
They possessed the strength to survive in environments where no one else could live.

Her lips parted.

“Attack.”

Dark Elves cloaked in spirits and dead mana. They began charging toward the coastline. If the enemies did not wish to die from the spirits’ power or become addicted to dead mana and perish, they would have to flee.

“…This is bad.”
“If they charge at us cloaked like that, we won’t be able to attack them, will we?”

The Bear Tribe hesitated.

“Quickly, mount up!”
“Hurry!”

The knights of the Indomitable Alliance hurriedly loaded the remaining soldiers onto the ships. Sailors moved swiftly across the deck, preparing for escape.
The soldiers, covered in dead mana, appeared demonic as they rushed forward. Terror-stricken, they shoved at those ahead, desperately scrambling aboard the vessels.

If they fled, they could survive.

Prince Valentino, observing the battlefield, and the Grand General of the Caro Kingdom both recognized their fear. When their eyes met, Prince Valentino shouted.

“All mages, prepare your spells! Attack their ships!”

Flying magic to transport the knights proved unnecessary. The Dark Elves moved with prowess exceeding that of knights.
While they pinned down the Bear Tribe at the coastline and attacked the vessels.
Now they had to use magic to bind the enemy’s movements as much as possible or destroy the ships themselves.

Hummmmm, hummm.
Prince Valentino felt a faint tremor beneath the City Wall and approached Kale Heniatus’s side.
It was shameless to ask, but while the mages concentrated on their magical assault, he needed a shield against any unexpected attacks.

He stood beside Kale Heniatus at the railing atop the Central Tower and spoke in a low whisper.

“Commander, would you mind providing a shield? I need to focus on the magical assault.”

Prince Valentino also knew that Kale Heniatus coughed blood and suffered after wielding ancient power, requiring recovery. It was the first information one heard when inquiring about the Commander, alongside his shield.

Only now did Valentino notice how unusually pale Kale Heniatus appeared.
Of course, Kale Heniatus was perfectly fine at the moment. His skin was simply fair—not pale at all. He was merely a bit hungry.

-Human, are you hungry? Should I sneak you some apple pie?

Kale Heniatus set Raon’s words aside for now and looked at Prince Valentino. That calm gaze filled Valentino with apology and gratitude. He was grateful to the people of the Roan Kingdom, who made sacrifices that even the priests of the Caro Kingdom would not make.

That was when it happened.

“I don’t think I can provide a shield.”
“…What?”
“It will be difficult.”
“Ah.”

Prince Valentino exhaled.

‘It seems I’ve pushed myself quite hard.’

Right, the commander cannot collapse after using ancient power.
Commander Kale Heniatus had to hold on. The soldiers had not forgotten the silver shield, and thanks to it, they were overcoming their fear of dead mana.

Prince Valentino spoke with an apologetic tone.

“I’m sorry. I made an unreasonable request-”
“It needed to be destroyed.”
“…What did you just say?”

Prince Valentino could see the smile lingering at Kale’s lips. His heart began to race again at that smile.

Was the Dark Elf not the end?
Was there something more?

“…Commander, what do you intend to do?”

A calm voice reached his ears.

“I must capture it as promised.”

Capture the ship.
How?

Before Prince Valentino could voice that question.

Crackle, crackle.

Not the video communication channel connected to the Empire on the North Tower, but another video communication channel that had been attempting connection.
The video communication channel connected to the Roan Kingdom on the South Tower finally established a connection.

A figure appeared on that video communication screen.
A person concealed in a black robe, their face invisible.

Kale Heniatus opened his mouth.

“Merry.”
-Yes.
“Begin.”
-Understood.

Prince Valentino looked at Kale Heniatus. Kale smiled back at him and spoke.

“The strongest existence beneath dead mana is the Necromancer.”

Prince Valentino felt goosebumps erupt across his back in that instant.
The enemies—the Indomitable Alliance—surely had used dead mana to destroy the Caro Kingdom. But the situation now was the opposite.

Uuuuung— Uung—

Prince Valentino looked down beneath his feet.
A faint tremor he had been sensing since earlier.

He had assumed it was the aftershock of the magical bomb.
But was it truly so?

‘Could it be…?’

He hurriedly looked toward Kale Heniatus.
That was the moment.

“Gasp!”

Several knights of the Caro Kingdom and soldiers serving as messengers, who had been peering down beneath the South Tower, gasped in shock.

Crack, crack.

Beneath the City Wall, covered in black liquid, writhed and heaved.
Even the young Caro Kingdom soldier stationed at the South Tower could see the Necromancer surrounded by a black robe.
Black light flowed from the sleeves covering her hands. Following that light, the earth convulsed.

‘Could it be something the Roan Kingdom people planted!’

Was it meant for the Necromancer?
The soldier drew in a sharp breath and gazed at the Black Swamp beneath the City Wall.

Finally, something white crawled up through the Black Swamp.
Yes, “crawled up” was the right word for it.

The ground split open. No—the burlap sack that had been wrapping the white thing tore away along with the earth, and the white thing gripped the surface of the Black Swamp.

Bones.

White bones.
Hundreds—no, thousands of bones began crawling up from the ground.
Even the bones buried beneath the wreckage of the ship pierced through and emerged.

“…This… this can’t be.”

Prince Valentino gripped the railing and gazed down below the City Wall, more precisely beneath the South Tower.

Screech, screech.
The thousands of bones that had crawled up began moving as if entangled in black spider silk, slowly clustering together.

The bone fragments that Merry had carefully arranged in the Prison while watching Clophe.
Their completed form was now unfolding beneath her fingertips.

The white bones moved along the black threads, forming shapes one by one.
The first to take shape were massive talons and claws.
Next came the torso and head.

And last.
Wings.

Enormous wings.

Two colossal creatures with massive wings, now complete.

Prince Valentino turned his head to look at Kale Heniatus.
These were the beings that had attacked the Heniatus Territory.

“…Wyverns!”

He could see Kale Heniatus respond to his own words with a smile.

Whiiiish—
The sound of wind being torn asunder echoed through the air.
Prince Valentino lifted his head.

Two massive wyverns began to soar upward into the sky.

Wyverns obliterated by the Dragon Slayer.
Not all their remains had vanished in the explosion. Some of their sturdy bones remained intact.
Kale Heniatus had collected the bones of the destroyed wyverns.

‘Why waste them like that?’

And he had handed them all over to Merry.
The result was about to manifest before my eyes.

“…Commander.”

I opened my mouth, observing the indescribable expression on Prince Valentino’s face as he stared at me. But Merry’s voice came through the communication device first.

-Reinforcing them.

Reinforcing?
My expression shifted.
This was the first I’d heard of it. Reinforcing them?

But at the spectacle that unfolded immediately after, I let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha, haha—”

Boom, crash!
The front legs of the two wyverns touched down upon the Black Swamp.
The pristine white bones stood out starkly against the dark swamp. But they soon began to change.

-Our Merry truly is remarkable.

Indeed. Quite remarkable.

The black liquid seeped away from the ground.
The two wyverns were absorbing the black liquid—the dead mana. The color of the wyverns’ bones began to shift.

Just like the black-boned dragon that had once protected the Heniatus Territory.
Their bones too had turned pitch-black, transforming them into creatures resembling small dragons.

Prince Valentino, who had been staring blankly at this sight, heard my voice.

“Purification won’t be necessary.”

The Necromancer was absorbing everything.
Merry had gained an opportunity to grow even stronger.

I spoke toward the communication crystal. Merry would surely understand.

“Come.”

Come? Before the Crown Prince could express his confusion, I continued.

“Choi Han, let’s go.”
-Yes, Kale.

Prince Valentino could see the Sword Master leaping onto the City Wall from behind the black robes.

‘Surely not?’

A sudden thought flashed through his mind, and he turned his head to look at me. I was already placing my foot on the railing.

“Commander, surely you’re not—”

He couldn’t finish his words.
A black-boned wyvern descended to the railing of the Central Tower, lowering its head.

I stepped on the wyvern’s head and mounted its back. The wyvern began to beat its wings.

“I shall return shortly, Your Highness.”

With those words, I took flight.
Choi Han’s wyvern drew near to my side.

“Kale.”

I caught the peculiar expression on Choi Han’s face.
I understood that expression immediately.

‘The plan has changed from the original.’

Originally, Hillsman Vice-Captain was supposed to be the one riding here. And the plan was to attack enemies approaching the City Wall from the air.
But since circumstances had shifted, I had to mount the creature myself.

“Choi Han, from now on, you cover me. Block every spell and attack coming my way.”

Instead of answering, Choi Han looked down at my hand. Wind was swirling around it.
A savage power incomparable to the wind arrows that Dark Elf Tasha was firing now whipped around my hand, threatening to burst forth at any moment.

Wind’s Sound.
That power began to circle around me.

Choi Han met my gaze.
I spoke to him.

“Then I will summon whirlpools in the sea. The enemies will never escape. Do you understand?”

The passage leading to the sea.
I intended to destroy that route.

“Yes, I understand.”

Choi Han’s demeanor shifted.

Two wyverns began heading toward the sea. One wyvern positioned itself ahead as if protecting the other. Choi Han was upon it.
From behind him, I gazed down at the sprawling land and sea below.

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