Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 244

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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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The Dragon Hybrid lifted his head. His gaze was calm as he looked down at me. Even as the light consumed his hands, Choi Han showed not the slightest change in expression.

Choi Han’s savage darkness traveled through the wound Raon had left behind, relentlessly gnawing away at the Dragon Hybrid’s insides.

“Kugh, you, you trash!”

A massive arrow of light materialized in the air and shot toward Choi Han.

Boom!

But the arrow of light never reached Choi Han.
Instead, white bones crumbled silently to dust.

Merry’s Black Wyvern consumed its own armor made of white bone, shielding Choi Han from the light’s touch.
The Dragon Hybrid abandoned the wyvern and pressed against me, twisting his body in an attempt to shake off Choi Han, who gnawed at his wounds with black aura, but Choi Han refused to let go.

Crackle, crack.

The Dragon Hybrid ignited light across his entire body.
His form was engulfed in brilliant radiance.

“Ugh, you madman!”

Yet Choi Han uttered not a single cry. Instead, he methodically tore the wound wider, raked through it, and embedded darkness deep within the Dragon Hybrid’s body.

The Dragon Hybrid’s eyes turned crimson. Bloodshot from burst capillaries, his gaze burned with rage as he gnashed his teeth against the contradictory force twisting his own body.

Imperfect, yet still an imperfect existence that twisted his form in opposition.

“Kraaaaaaagh!”

Ugh!
With Choi Han’s suppressed groan, his body was hurled away from the Dragon Hybrid. The wyvern rushed forward and caught him.

Thud, thump.
Choi Han rolled once across the wyvern’s bone-crafted back before settling, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

I did it.
It wasn’t over yet, but I had carved out a window of opportunity to buy more time against the Dragon Hybrid. I slowly pushed myself up, using my spine as support with my burned hands.

“Huff, huff, gasp.”

The Dragon Hybrid, clutching at his blackened abdomen, came into view.
Even wrapped in brilliant light, Choi Han’s darkness embedded in Raon’s wound refused to fade. Instead, it thrashed violently within that radiance, gnawing away at the imperfect body.

Now, the remaining ones just needed to pool their strength and eliminate that imperfect form.
I held the conviction that we could do this.

That was when it happened.

“…Laughing?”

My body froze.
I could see the bloodshot eyes of the Dragon Hybrid staring at me.

“How dare you. How dare a mere human. An imperfect being dares to laugh at me? Huh?”

Crackle, crackle-snap.
The light enveloping the Dragon Hybrid’s body began to undulate like violent waves. Blood trickled down from his mouth.

“Huff, gasp.”

The Dragon Hybrid touched his abdomen. Intense agony coursed through him.
A mere human, and a Dragon that hadn’t even completed its first growth, had reduced him to this state.
The two beings he despised most had brought him to this.

A Dragon Hybrid belonging to neither side. From the moment memory existed within him, he had been a monster belonging nowhere.
In his eyes, the deep resentment he had concealed alongside his rage began to surface.

That black-haired human and the young Dragon who had wounded him.
Those two were unforgivable.
Absolutely, unforgivable.

“…Damn bastards, how dare you, to this body-”

Crack, crackle.
The Dragon Hybrid’s platinum hair stood on end, one strand after another, and his body became engulfed in light.

Choi Han’s hands clenched into fists without his realizing it.
Ominous.

The wounded Dragon Hybrid appeared weaker than ever before, yet there was something unsettling about him—a foreboding that suggested touching him carelessly would be a grave mistake.
That was when it happened.

Caw. Caw. Caw.
The ravens began acting against the sorcerer Gashan’s commands.
They started descending to the ground—the Tiger Tribe and Whale Tribe. Or rather, to be precise, the ravens fled to the ground. Choi Han witnessed the bewilderment on the faces of the Tiger Tribe and Whale Tribe members.
In that instant, a raven flew toward Choi Han.

The raven opened its beak and spoke.

“To the ground! Choi Han, come to the ground!”

Surely, it was Kale’s command.
The Black Wyvern rushed downward urgently. Like an arrow shot from a bow, it descended at an unstoppable speed.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
Choi Han’s heart pounded.
This was a sense of crisis.

The Canyon where the water barrier and pillar of fire had both vanished.
Yet the enemies did not cross over the collapsed rubble—or rather, could not.
Choi Han turned his head to look behind him.

There, above, the Dragon Hybrid was visible.
And his face and hands, with veins bulging prominently, came into view.

Boom.
The moment the Black Wyvern touched the ground, Choi Han heard Kale’s voice.

“Runaway.”

Runaway.
At those words, confusion flickered across Choi Han’s face, and his gaze turned toward Kale.

“…A Dragon’s rampage?”

But Kale Heniatus did not answer Choi Han’s question, only gazing upward at the sky.
He had sent away the crows, the Tiger Tribe, and the Whale Tribe—all of them.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded.
A presence I hadn’t heard from in a long time spoke to me.

-The Dragon’s blood is running wild.

A deep, resonant voice.
The master of the ‘Dominating Aura’—the very power that had once revealed to me the existence of the Dragon Slayer’s strength and the crown.
At that voice, my heart raced wildly, and my mind began to feel as though it might shatter from the complexity of it all.

The Dragon’s blood running wild.
That could only mean one thing: a rampage.

‘The Birth of a Hero,’ Volume 1.
The story of when Choi Han and Raon first met.

Choi Han, who had ended the life of a rampaging Young Dragon to grant it peace rather than suffering—in ‘The Birth of a Hero,’ that Dragon was described as possessing such immense power that it could level an entire mountain and village.

That Young Dragon was merely a four-year-old who hadn’t even undergone its first growth stage, let alone received proper training.
But the Dragon Hybrid before my eyes now was incomparably stronger than that Raon had been.

“Kahahaha! I’ll kill them all! I will definitely kill those three!”

The Dragon Hybrid’s face became increasingly grotesque as veins bulged across it. With each moment, the black aura engulfing his abdomen grew larger, consuming ever more of the surrounding space.

Yet the Dragon Hybrid paid it no mind whatsoever.
His gaze turned toward me. Then toward Choi Han, and finally toward the figure wrapped in blankets, hidden from view.

Slaying a Dragon had been his dream.
He had thought it an impossible dream. But now the opportunity had come. Rage and ecstasy—all of it enveloped the Dragon Hybrid’s body.

Boom. Bang.
The light around him, unable to contain its power, collided with itself and erupted outward.
The Dragon Hybrid raised both his hands.

Two hands raised toward the sky.
Following his hands, luminous arrows began materializing one by one in the air.

Those same light arrows that had sought to destroy Leona Fortress of the Caro Kingdom.
But now, in a completely different magnitude, hundreds of glowing arrows blazed into existence above them.

“…Good heavens.”

Rosalind, the Mage, felt her breath catch at that power. Her hands and feet trembled.
A dragon’s rampage. That single word brought terror crashing down upon her.
Yet Rosalind bit her lip. She was a commander—she had to find a way forward, immediately.

Archie and Paseton of the Whale Tribe stared at Witira. She could not tear her eyes from the sight of the Dragon Hybrid’s rampage.
A place that was not the sea.
What could she accomplish there?

Flee?
To flee, she would need—

“We need time.”

Those light arrows seemed ready to plunge earthward at any moment. She had to hold them back while allowing the others to escape.
It was the duty and obligation of one who ruled the seas.

Boom. Thud.
At the heavy footsteps, Witira turned her head. The Black Wyvern had set Choi Han down and took flight.
Her gaze shifted toward Merry.
The Necromancer’s thoughts aligned with Witira’s own.

Hold the line.
Endure.

Simultaneously, Rosalind’s voice rang out.

“Activate the teleportation magic circles! Mages, raise your shields, everyone, everyone!”

Rosalind’s voice, amplified by amplification magic, echoed through the canyon.

“Flee!”

Rosalind, speaking those words, was preparing a large shield magic circle. Witira let out a laugh. Simultaneously, she released a sigh tinged with regret.

Kale Heniatus’s party all understood.
There existed a presence capable of stopping that rampage.

Raon.

If it were Raon, if it were that young dragon, he could at least unfold a shield to block it even if he couldn’t attack. Just as he had done at Leona Fortress, he could have blocked it together with me.

I couldn’t ask Kale alone to stop that power.
That was why.

“Young master.”

Rak tugged at Kale Heniatus’s collar.

“Rosalind, Merry, Choi Han, and everyone can gather together and block it. That should work.”

Huff, huff. Raon’s breathing grew increasingly ragged, striking against Rak’s ears. He watched Kale Heniatus, who didn’t budge an inch, and tugged at his collar again.

He was afraid this man might entertain foolish thoughts.
Rak was terrified that this person might think of doing something reckless again.

Then, Rak heard a voice as calm as always.

“Rak.”

And I saw a back smaller than mine.

“You know what you need to do, don’t you?”
“Yes. I understand.”

Holding Raon behind me.
Kale Heniatus’s voice continued to reach Rak, who understood that task.

“Perhaps.”

Perhaps?
When Rak hesitated at that unexpected answer, he lifted his head.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—
A sound as if a massive tempest were approaching. Yet the sky held not a single dark cloud. Rather, it blazed with blinding brightness.
The world seemed to be ending from the sheer luminosity.

Countless bolts of lightning collided with one another, making the heavens roar.

“Hehehehe, absolutely, absolutely not letting you escape alive. You pathetic maggots!”

Standing at the center of those lightning bolts, the Dragon Hybrid slowly lowered the hand he had stretched toward the sky, directing it downward toward the earth.
In his eyes, he saw those fleeing. Whether allies or enemies, all he perceived were fleeing maggots and maggots using shields and power to block his path.

Among them, he saw one more.
A being different from the maggots.
The world’s highest rank.

A Dragon.

A Dragon wrapped in a blanket came into view.
A brilliant smile spread across the Dragon Hybrid’s lips.

I will kill.

That Dragon too will become insignificant now. Like me, it will become a monster like me. Or perhaps it is more beautiful to die without becoming a monster? Lost in these thoughts flooding his mind, the Dragon Hybrid burst into laughter.
No matter how one died, everything else was superior to him.

Because he was the most, most damned thing of all.

“Kuhahahaha! Everyone dies!”

The moment both hands pointed toward the earth, light poured down.
Hundreds of lightning bolts crashed toward the ground.

“Young master!”

Rak called out to Kale Heniatus. In that instant, a massive shield descended from the sky to meet the incoming lightning bolts. It was Rosalind’s shield. And standing before the shield was a presence.

Screeeech—
The Black Wyvern with bones of darkness spread its wings wide with a silent cry.

In the midst of that chaos, Rak could see Kale Heniatus.

Kale Heniatus was surveying his surroundings.
He observed the soldiers and knights fleeing in panic, his companions standing firm without retreating, Choi Han positioned before him, and sensed without needing to look—Rak and Raon at his back.

And finally, he recalled the question echoing in his mind from someone unseen behind him.

‘Perhaps.’

Kale Heniatus answered the question reverberating in his thoughts.
That voice still reached him now.

-Are you prepared to sacrifice yourself?

Kale Heniatus extended his hand.

Boom!

The wyvern shattered into fragments. The Black Wyvern, which had spread its wings to shield the earth, crumbled pathetically into black bone dust.

Crash, bang!

The shield fractured as well.
Rosalind could not manifest more than one shield across such a vast expanse.

Just as lightning was about to engulf them.

Whoooosh—

A silver shield unfurled its luminous wings and spread across the earth like a protective barrier.

“Hahahaha! So this is all the power you possess! You hid it under the Dragon’s name! Did you truly believe human strength could withstand such force?”

The Dragon Hybrid laughed at the shield’s strength that remained after the Dragon’s power vanished. It was insignificant—nothing compared to the majesty of a true Dragon.
His voice, amplified by magic, echoed throughout the Canyon.

“I shall destroy this shield, you, and the very source of your power!”

The source of your power. That was clearly referring to Raon.
I bit my lip.

Boom, crash! Crash! Crash!
Lightning bolts continued to rain down relentlessly.

“Aaaahhhhh!”
“Kraahhh!”

Even the enemy soldiers screamed as they perished, their cries engulfing the surroundings.
Despite reinforcing the unbreakable shield, I was overwhelmed. Soon, the shield would shatter.

-Should I eat again?

The Glutton Goddess asked me that.
But I knew that simply continuing to deploy shields like this wouldn’t end this.

What could possibly stand against those hundreds of lightning bolts?
Was there any power capable of clashing with and withstanding those bolts?

Such power existed.

“Damn it.”

A power specialized in one-against-many combat.
A power that allowed me alone to create something capable of clashing with hundreds of lightning bolts.

That power I had witnessed in the underground chamber beneath the Jjangdol Mansion surfaced in my mind. Stone spears that had filled the passage leading to the Eastern Continent, slaughtering countless monsters.

If those stone spears collided with those lightning bolts?
Wouldn’t the lightning burst in the sky?

Light. Neither Choi Han, Merry, nor the Whale Tribe could stand against such an attribute.
Rosalind and the Tiger Tribe had already pushed themselves too far to defeat that Dragon. I couldn’t afford to let them die from carelessness.

“Young Master-”

The grip of that oversized child tugging at my collar.

“Kale Heniatus, stop bleeding, stop—we have to run!”

Choi Han’s voice.
Gasp, gasp—Raon’s breathing growing more ragged. How far could I flee while carrying the unconscious Raon? Could I hold out until Erhafen arrived?

That creature’s attribute was light, so it specialized in mobility as well.

I recalled the vitality of my heart. The shield had consumed it, but the power still existed. Thanks to that strength, I rarely died. Even when wounded, I healed quickly.

“Choi Han.”
“Yes, Kale Heniatus!”
“Get behind me.”
“…What?”

I walked past the frozen Choi Han and moved forward. I felt Rak following behind me, with Raon cradled in his arms.

Then I lifted my head and gazed at the Dragon Hybrid beyond the silver shield, its light slowly fading.

“Damn bastard.”

A curse made it easier to bear.
I opened my mouth to answer the question echoing in my mind.

-Are you going to sacrifice yourself?

I had no intention of sacrificing everything.

Kale Heniatus—Kim Rok-soo—knew this well.

People earned money, seized power, and struggled through breathless lives to secure their own sanctuaries precisely to avoid sacrifice. To avoid sacrificing themselves or those they cherished.
I knew this truth intimately.

But I also knew something else.

“…Young master, you have to escape.”
Gasp, gasp.

I was the adult among these two.
Their guardian.

If I’ve taken responsibility, I must see it through to the end.
I need Jjangdol’s power.

Kale Heniatus’s voice resonated through the air.

-Are you prepared to sacrifice yourself?
“Yes.”

It was the first time he answered Jjangdol’s question.
Kale Heniatus faltered.

To him, who had prepared for sacrifice, who had readied himself for pain and battle.
Jjangdol’s voice reached him.

In response to Kale Heniatus’s declaration of sacrifice, Jjangdol answered for the first time.

-I will protect you.

What?
Kale Heniatus began to feel vibrations resonating through his body.

-Protection is my calling.

Jjangdol’s master, the one who had spent his remaining years alone in the Underground Cavern Mansion, harbored a single regret.
He, who had lived protecting countless souls.
He who sought out the weak and shielded them had protected many, yet there were others he could not save.

-My comrades always fought ahead, sacrificing their lives. I could not protect them.

He had failed to protect his comrades.
They fought while sacrificing themselves, and all departed this world before him.

-Now I wish to protect those who are willing to sacrifice.

The deep, resonant voice echoing through Kale Heniatus’s mind was firmer than ever before.
A voice like stone itself.

-That is the only wish I have left.

Kale felt the ground beneath his feet trembling.

A person who had spent his entire life protecting something.
The power that person possessed, the essence of stone.

The earth.
An existence that had given its own body to create a place where all living creatures of this world could survive.

-I will destroy to protect, and I will stand before you to protect.

The earth began to move.

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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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