Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 261

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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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Chimera. A manufactured monster.
The ancient dragon’s breath caught at that word.

‘It defies the laws of nature.’

Mutations and anomalies were different creatures entirely.
While those two phenomena occurred within the natural order, a chimera existed outside it.

“Nine hundred years ago.”

The moment the Dragon Hybrid spoke, the ancient dragon exhaled sharply.
I had anticipated a second growth phase, but nine hundred years of life? That rivaled the lifespan of dragons themselves.

How was such a thing possible?
Erhaben pressed his lips together, waiting for the Dragon Hybrid’s next words.

The Dragon Hybrid released a shallow breath and delved into the past.

“I told you I was the sole child who survived. That man made me call him ‘Father.’ But since I was a child who survived alone, he was not my true father. Ah, I suppose you’re curious about who my real father is?”

The Dragon Hybrid caught sight of the Young Dragon’s gaze fixed upon him from directly behind Kale Heniatus.
Within those deep blue eyes swirled caution and sorrow, a mixture of all such emotions. To the Dragon Hybrid, they seemed remarkably pure.

How young.
That dragon was truly young.

Recognizing this, the Dragon Hybrid let out a quiet laugh and continued.

“My father is the ‘White Star.’ The leader of the Dark.”

Raon faltered, and the ancient dragon’s breath caught. Even the Whale Tribe’s Witira outside the door could not suppress her gasp.
Yet the Dragon Hybrid only smiled wider at the light in Kale Heniatus’s eyes.

It was a searching gaze.
Those eyes, still revealing not the slightest crack, observed him with cold precision—discerning whether he spoke falsehood or truth, whether his words were genuine.

‘A terrifying one.’

The Dragon Hybrid didn’t suppress his laughter as he posed the question.

“You want to capture that person?”

The leader of the Dark. The White Star.
The one who imprisoned the Dragon Hybrid in the Cave.

“But here’s the thing. Even I only saw a masked face. Of course, only the eyes were covered, so I saw the mouth.”

The Dragon Hybrid had only seen the lips of that person who smiled while watching the white crown that consumed his blood.
Even now, whenever sleep came, that laughter echoed in his ears. In that dark space, it was the only sound of a living being he could hear.

The Dragon Hybrid pushed the memory aside and looked at Kale Heniatus. The moment their eyes met, the Dragon Hybrid heard Kale’s voice.
Kale Heniatus detected something peculiar in the Dragon Hybrid’s words.

“‘A person,’ you say?”

The Dragon Hybrid had said ‘that person.’
The corners of the Dragon Hybrid’s mouth lifted.

“Strange, isn’t it?”

Mm.
Erhafen wiped his face with his hand.
In the hushed space, only the Dragon Hybrid’s weak voice resonated.

“The White Star is a person. Yet he’s been alive for roughly nine hundred years. He doesn’t even emit the scent of death. What do you think?”
“He doesn’t emit the scent of death?”

Erhafen interjected into the conversation.
The Dragon Hybrid met the Ancient Dragon’s gaze.

“That’s right, Erhafen. You would have grasped it immediately. I’m half-blood, but I carry dragon’s blood. Dragons are sensitive to the scents of nature and death. That’s why we detect the scent of dead mana well. Yet even I couldn’t detect the scent of death from him.”

Erhafen’s expression hardened.

“…You know about me?”
“That person ordered the destruction of your lair. And I was the one who delivered that order.”

Ah.
A sigh escaped from Witira of the Whale Tribe, filling the prison cell.
Piece by piece, the puzzle was coming together. Yet the greatest mystery still remained.

My mind grew tangled with complexity.

It was strange.
The White Star, leader of Dark. Who was he?
How could a human live for nearly nine hundred years?
Moreover, a being half-dragon who failed to sense the aura of death—was such a thing even possible?
Could that occur naturally?

“What do you think?”

I met the Dragon Hybrid’s gaze once more.

“That person disgusts you, doesn’t he? Don’t you want to kill him?”

That person. The human who had demanded to be called Father.

“I do.”

The Dragon Hybrid wanted to kill that person. No—he did want to. Right now, this very instant.
Powerless rage and resentment flickered in the Dragon Hybrid’s eyes.

“My earliest memory is of a cave. When I first opened my eyes in that cave and faced that person, he said to me:”

Nine hundred years ago. I still remember the chill of the cave walls. That voice, colder even than the stone’s frigid touch, was my first memory of sound.

“I carved a dragon’s heart into your body.”

I recalled what Erhaben had said upon first seeing the Dragon Hybrid.

‘You consumed a dragon’s heart.’

Did that mean the same as carving a dragon’s heart into one’s body?
I looked toward Erhaben and caught sight of the ancient dragon’s face, distorted by shock he could not hide. I found no answer in that expression. But in the Dragon Hybrid’s voice that followed, I found my answer.

“After that, I consumed a dragon’s heart from time to time.”

…Is inscribing a dragon’s heart into one’s body truly different from consuming a dragon’s heart?
Kale Heniatus fell silent, his gaze fixed upon the Dragon Hybrid.

How many lives had this creature devoured to sustain itself?

Yet Kale could not voice such thoughts aloud. The Dragon Hybrid’s eyelids trembled faintly—he was lost in memories of the past.
Nine hundred years. Nearly a millennium of unfathomable time.

“Do you know why my hair and eyes are black?”

A dragon bears but one color in each era.

“They became hopelessly muddled together.”

When all light mingles, it becomes darkness—the absence of everything.

“After consuming the hearts of dragons, my colors began to blend at some point.”

His heart harbored the hearts of dragons within it. Those hearts had seeped into him like tattoos, and with each dragon heart he consumed, they seized greater control over his body.

Then one day, the color of his eyes, hair, and scales all turned black.
The Dragon Hybrid believed this hue suited his circumstances perfectly.

“That person seemed intent on pushing me through the Third Growth.”

They had wanted to make him a true dragon.
I know not why.

“But I am merely a created being, so the Second Growth remained my limit for nine hundred years. By the time I reached the Second Growth, I had consumed a total of four dragon hearts that person provided. Including the heart inscribed upon my body, I am an existence forged from the lives of five dragons.”
“…That is unbelievable.”

Erhafen could not help but voice his true thoughts.

Five dragons slain?
Including the ancient dragon Olien of the Eastern Continent, that made six.
At minimum, six.
Such a feat was no simple matter.
No—it was nearly impossible.

Dragons are solitary creatures, so they would have been killed one by one, yet they were never weak. Even alone, a dragon remained formidable.

But humans had killed dragons like that?

‘…It’s not human.’

Unlike the Dragon Hybrid who had spent most of his life in caves, the ancient dragon who had lived a thousand years in the world reached his conclusion through experience.
The creature that killed the dragon was not human.

“Erhaben.”

The Dragon Hybrid laughed as he looked at Erhaben.
At first, he too could not believe what the leader of the Dark, his father, had accomplished. He could not believe it even as he consumed the hearts that were brought to him.
But only after stepping out into the world could he understand.

“Dragons are solitary beings. Stubborn and selfish. So when they die, most of the time no one knows.”

Dragons isolate themselves. Some especially severe ones rarely even formed families. They did not wish to create burdens that would hinder their growth.

That was their weakness.
When they die, no one knows.
There are no families to mourn them, no acquaintances to grieve.

No one comes to save them.

“Do you know why I only targeted you now?”

Erhaben read the emotion that flickered across the Dragon Hybrid’s eyes as he looked at him.
It was envy. This Dragon Hybrid envied the ancient dragon.

“Erhaben, you are less selfish. Unlike other dragons, you knew quite a few dragons and associated with them. And you helped them.”

The reason the Dark had not touched Erhaben, who was more of an ancient dragon than the Eastern Continent’s ancient dragon Olien. Unusually, there were many other beings around him.
The Dark could not understand why that was.

But Erhaben furrowed his brow and realized the reason.
Perhaps because he possessed the attribute of ‘dust’ or ‘particles’, he cherished things weaker, more trivial, and more insignificant than himself. Strangely, his gaze was drawn to the weak.

I protected young dragons I knew during their first growth, guarded the World Tree, protected the Elves, and even saved the lives of several of them.
Erhaben lived in solitary dignity, yet he did not choose isolation.

“That’s why you became the last one.”

The ancient dragon closed his eyes and asked when the Dragon Hybrid finished speaking.

“Was my heart supposed to become yours as well?”

The Dragon Hybrid shook his head at the ancient dragon’s question. Then, looking at the young dragon glaring at me and Kale Heniatus with an emotionless expression, he answered.

“No, that’s not it. That person simply said he needed it. But even I don’t know what it will be used for.”

He had merely relayed the instruction to invade Erhaben’s Lair to someone else.
The Dragon Hybrid gazed upon the beautiful form of the ancient dragon, who had spent ages much like myself.
Unlike the grotesque counterfeit, the genuine article gleamed brilliantly. Even the same platinum light—the imitation and the real were worlds apart.

“…Sigh.”

The Dragon Hybrid exhaled deeply. He had spoken far too many words for the state of his body.

His gaze turned toward Kale. The young dragon was watching him quietly. Black skin, yet unlike his own, it was beautiful, and his eyes shone with a deep blue-green hue.

He harbored no concern whatsoever about that helpless state of weakness during the first and second growth phases. He had thought that even if he suffered and died like this, it would be acceptable.

Yet he felt a bitter sense of injustice. It seemed unfair to live and die this way. With only that feeling, he had endured the growth period.

Raon’s mouth opened slightly when his eyes met the Dragon Hybrid’s, then closed again. Though called a clever dragon, Raon could not find words to express what he felt in this moment.
So he simply met the Dragon Hybrid’s black gaze.

Erhaben also regarded the Dragon Hybrid with a complicated expression. This one had lived as long as I had, and had claimed the lives of five of his own kind. Yet still, his feelings remained complex.

Then it happened.

“Here it comes again.”

A flat voice filled the prison.
It was Kale.
He rose from his seat.

“…Again?”

When the Dragon Hybrid unknowingly echoed the question, Kale Heniatus nodded as if it were obvious.

“There’s still time to think.”

One week—the time Kale Heniatus had given to think. There were still a few days left before that week would pass. Yet the Dragon Hybrid couldn’t comprehend Kale’s reasoning and opened his mouth.

“…I’m a being made from the lives of five dragons. Shouldn’t you kill me right now? Aren’t you angry? I’m a cursed existence.”
“Am I the one who would spare you?”

The Dragon Hybrid fell silent in that instant.
Kale Heniatus spoke the truth to the Dragon Hybrid, who seemed to be under a misunderstanding.

“Either way, I’m the one who will kill you.”

Whether right now, or after six months of suffering in agony until your body tears itself apart.
In the end, you will die.

“I’m simply letting you choose how you die.”

Depending on that choice, what I would gain from this creature and the direction in which I would gain it would differ.

“Since it’s your life, choose as you see fit.”

Raon watched Kale Heniatus turn away from the Dragon Hybrid without hesitation and the Dragon Hybrid staring after him, alternating his gaze between the two before flying toward Kale. Upon seeing Kale’s expression, he simply clung to his back.

“…I’ll stay a bit longer.”
“As you wish.”

Erhaben looked at Kale Heniatus, who answered his words without any particular concern, then turned his gaze toward the Dragon Hybrid.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”
“…Do as you please.”

A conversation between the Ancient Dragon and the Dragon Hybrid was about to begin.
At that moment, Kale Heniatus, who had been heading out of the Prison, stopped in his tracks and spoke.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

After a moment of silence, Kale Heniatus could hear the Dragon Hybrid’s voice.

“…Father said that when someone becomes a true dragon, he gives them a name.”

But the Dragon Hybrid could never become a true dragon.
Kale’s face contorted with anguish.

‘Damn it, why did I even ask?’

Kale suppressed the rising irritation and stormed out of the Prison.
Witira of the Whale Tribe acknowledged the ancient dragon Erhaben’s gesture and followed in Kale’s wake.

Tap, tap.

Save for the flickering torchlight, only footsteps echoed through the dark Underground Tunnel. Both Witira and Raon watched Kale’s expression without uttering a word.
And Kale was cursing this fantasy world.

‘This rotten world!’

Whether it was Dark or the White Star or whatever else, there wasn’t a single thing he liked about this cursed “Birth of a Hero” narrative.
He wanted to flip it all over, but his fragile body lacked the strength to do so.

‘Damn it!’

His irritation-laden footsteps were relentless and rough.
Kale marched forward with heavy, emotion-laden steps toward the entrance of the Underground Tunnel. Soon, the tunnel’s entrance came into view.

“Young master, shall I open it?”

Witira, who had been following behind, spoke up and tried to take the lead, but Kale shook his head. He seized the entrance door handle blocking his path, pouring his irritation into the motion.

‘Oh my!’

And he was startled.

Slam!

He shut the door again.
Kale clutched at his chest near his heart.

Damn it.
Seriously, damn it.

I took a deep breath and opened the door again.

“Why are you—why are you doing this? When did you even get here?”

I was so startled that my words came out in stammers.
I couldn’t help it.

“…Lord Kale.”

Choi Han was standing right in front of the door.

‘Why does this bastard always position himself directly in front of the door?’

I had nearly collided with Choi Han several times before, and now I contorted my face in exasperation. I was about to say something to him when I heard voices and turned my attention elsewhere.
But Witira of the Whale Tribe’s expression shifted strangely as she caught sight of Choi Han’s eyes.

“Young Master!”
“Young Master Kale!”

I could see Rosalind and Rak rushing toward me over Choi Han’s shoulder. Orca Arch trudged along behind them, shaking his head repeatedly.

“Lord Kale.”
“Hm?”

At the gentle, soft tone of his voice, I turned my attention back to Choi Han.
He extended two documents toward me.

“I have brought the treaty documents.”

Two of the Northern Three Kingdoms.
Documents bearing the signatures of Norland and Ascosan.

My lips curved upward.
They had handled the matter faster than expected. As always, they proved themselves to be overpowered and capable.
My gaze drifted toward the far side of the Canyon Cliff.

The banner of the Indomitable Alliance appeared before us like a mirage.
Despite the darkness of night, the flags fluttered, catching the faint light.

The moment had arrived.

“Prince Kale Heniatus!”
“Rosalind.”

Kale greeted Rosalind as she approached, his face breaking into a radiant smile.

“Now it’s time to strike the Bear Tribe and the Dwarves from behind.”

The end of the first war was drawing near.

The banner of the Indomitable Alliance.
At last, the moment to tear that flag to shreds had come.

—————
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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