Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 276

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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 exposed Lake Bottom trembled as if struck by an earthquake, and the earth began to crack open.

Crack—!

From the widening fissures emerged a crimson liquid that looked capable of melting anything—much like the lava I had encountered atop Ten Finger Mountain’s peak.

The moment Kale Heniatus saw that liquid, he cried out.

“Everyone, get clear!”

Then another voice shouted.

“Take flight!”

Choi Han, On, and Hong’s bodies shot skyward. It was Erhafen who had lifted them into the air. Yet even as Choi Han rose, his gaze remained fixed downward.

“Damn—”

The moment the crimson liquid erupted from the Lake Bottom, that hellish scarlet torrent surged upward as if to devour the very heavens.

Whoooosh!

Like a torrential downpour rising from the earth itself, a colossal wave of crimson liquid erupted from the Lake Bottom.

The ground shook violently.
The earth that had occupied the Lake Bottom crumbled helplessly, unable to withstand that crimson deluge.

What rose up like the pillars of flame Choi Han had witnessed countless times before—

“Kale Heniatus!”

—became a tidal wave that crashed down upon him.
As Kale Heniatus stared at the inferno descending upon him, a single thought crystallized in his mind.

‘We’re finished.’

It seemed I had touched something I shouldn’t have.

-Hahahaha, cough, hahahaha!

I seem to have provoked that mad Destructive Fire, who was laughing hard enough to choke.
Kale Heniatus stared at the lava surging toward me with a bewildered expression, still clutching the money pouches.

At that moment, a woman’s voice resonated in Kale’s mind.

-Fly up.

…What?
Kale hesitated.

A voice I had heard only once before.
The Voice of Wind.
It was The Thief’s voice from when I had obtained that power.
Until now, whenever I discovered a divine artifact, she had only created small whirlwinds to guide the way, but now she revealed her presence for the first time.

That woman who had stolen a god’s possession and fled, The Thief who had to die submerged in the sea, stripped of the freedom of wind, spoke.

-The entity that understands fire better than anyone is wind.

Fire and wind are inseparable beings.
They wrapped around each other, becoming an increasingly fierce calamity.

Kale felt the wind swirling around his feet of its own accord. The presence of wind appearing the moment fire tried to grow stronger. Kale was puzzled, but he rolled his feet and pushed off the ground.

Kale surged upward together with the wind.

Crash!

The lava engulfed the ground he had left behind.
As if consuming the lake was not enough, the lava began to relentlessly devour more and more of the earth, expanding its domain.
The lava, expanding at such a rapid pace, finally collided with the barrier left behind by the dead ancient dragon Olien.

Crash!
Boom!

As the lava touched the barrier’s edge, wooden vines burst forth to block it. But the lava easily consumed the vines.

I melted them all.

“…Such overwhelming power.”

Erhafen was at a loss for words.
From the moment Erhafen revisited Grey Eye Lake, he had restored Olien’s barrier that he had briefly torn through to bring Kale here last time.
Although Sky-Devouring Water had vanished, he maintained the barrier to preserve Olien’s legacy.

And there was also the matter of restoring Olien’s barrier to avoid others’ gazes, uncertain as he was of what Kale might do.

Yet now that barrier was crumbling helplessly.

“This unlucky bastard!”

Erhafen stared at Kale in exasperation, but he could not bring himself to approach him and speak.

‘Fire is raging wild.’

A crimson aura swirled around Kale’s body, across his skin. Red light blazed from his form as if he were engulfed in flames.
Moreover, I could sense the wild, raging energy of fire emanating from his body.

Kale himself was acutely aware of his own condition.

“Ugh.”

His body was under strain.

It was not pain.

It was heat.
It was only early March, yet it was unbearably hot.

‘What was I thinking, enhancing myself like this?’

Kale, unable to suppress the irritation welling up inside him, unconsciously undid the buttons at his neck. It was an involuntary action born of the oppressive heat.
Hot steam poured from his mouth.

Yet Kale could not afford to remain dazed.
The lava began targeting Kale once more.

Indifferent to Olien’s barrier, the lava surged forward, creating another tidal wave toward Kale Heniatus, who barely held his ground in the sky through Voice of Wind alone.

Ancient power was something one had to obtain on their own. Kale could not rely on the aid of flight magic.
Even in that moment, I heard Voice of Wind’s voice.

-When the two of us fought together, no one could stand in our way.

Destructive Fire and Jjangdol were called heroes. And The Thief, who had to live in hiding, would occasionally aid him.
Whenever the two of them fought enemies together, no one could stop them. They couldn’t. The obstacles were all swallowed up, and their bodies grew ever larger.

-Fire must find its original power for me to use my true strength.

What?
My body froze as I watched the approaching lava. The true power of Voice of Wind?

-The power of free wind is not merely movement and whirlpools. Wind exists everywhere.

In trees, in earth, in fire, in water, and in the humans who live in this world.
The flow of air that always exists beside all these things—that is wind.

-That is why it is most beautiful when shared with someone, rather than standing alone.

Though she was a thief, she always helped her companions. So she aided them in becoming the most destructive fire, the mightiest earth, the sturdiest wood, and allowed water to journey across the sea to the Eastern Continent.

-When you one day use a divine object.

I furrowed my brow.

‘A divine object?’

There were three divine objects in total that I possessed or had entrusted to others.
The War God’s Watering Can obtained in the Northern Region, Condemnation of the Sun, and the Method to Kill Death.

Why would that suddenly come up now?

-Then, remember that I am there.

But Voice of Wind chose silence once more.
Instead, the madman’s voice flooded my mind.

-What are you doing? Hurry up and throw the money already!

Uuuuung.
The lava creatures converged into a single mass and descended slowly toward the ground, surging toward Kale. Simultaneously, Destructive Fire loudly pestered Kale.

-What are you doing? Let’s enjoy this! Why are you just standing there? Huh? Kekeke, it’s time to rampage!

Kale’s expression twisted even further, and in response, the lava rushed toward him. Choi Han, On, and Hong, who had been watching, unconsciously took steps in midair as if moving closer to Kale.

“Kale! This is too dangerous!”

That was when it happened.

“Noisy, you cheapskate.”
“…Pardon?”

Choi Han paused and inadvertently asked for clarification.
But Kale paid him no mind and plunged his hand into his coin purse.

The corners of his mouth lifted.
The whirlwind swirling around his feet diminished as his body descended slowly toward the lava. Sweat drenched his form from the heat both within and without, yet Kale’s eyes grew increasingly luminous.

To obtain the Wolf King’s Diary, the coin purse containing 10 billion Counds in gold coins had been reduced to 5 billion Counds.
To that, I added 3 billion Counds—a portion of the 30 billion Counds I had extracted from the Sinten Merchant Guild Master.
A total of 8 billion Counds.
All of it in gold coins, not silver.

Beyond that, there were gold coins from the Eastern Continent that I had obtained by raiding the vault.

‘Over a billion?’

It seemed likely to exceed that.
I was someone who spent money when it mattered.
I already had separate funds set aside to feed myself and those around me for a lifetime.

‘What better time to spend surplus wealth than now?’

I tightened my grip on the hand thrust into the coin purse.

There was only one thing he intended to do.
A money pouch inscribed with spatial magic.

Riiiiip—

The money pouch tore open from within.
The spatial magic began to deteriorate gradually.

And through the widening tear, the melodious sound of gold coins clinking against one another echoed forth.
Kale Heniatus called out cheerfully toward the wave of lava surging before him.

“Come now, Jjangdol! This is what money tastes like!”

Riiiiiiip—
The spatial pouch tore completely apart.
In the same instant, Kale summoned wind once more, soaring skyward. Brilliant light traced the arc of his trajectory.

“…You absolute madman.”

Erhafen pressed his hand to his forehead.

“Hahahaha!”

Kale Heniatus laughed heartily.
Golden light began pouring down from the ruptured money pouch.

Even without the moon, the brilliant golden radiance reflected in starlight and the crimson glow of lava illuminated the world beautifully.
Raon, clutching his piggy bank, cried out with an expression of bewilderment.

“Money rain! Gold rain is falling! It’s shocking but thrilling! This is a disaster!”

The gold coins fell into the lava.

Uuuuuu—
A sound like weeping emanated from the lava. And it was an accurate description.

-Krhkh, the scent of gold, more refined and harder than silver. Hehehkh, it’s gold. Oh, my goodness!

Gold coins poured ceaselessly toward the lava.

-Oh, indeed, indeed! This angelic human! Oh, sob, oh!

The color of the lava being struck by golden rain began to shift.
The lava, which had been only red, started to shimmer with a faint golden light like Destructive Fire.

The hellish crimson hue gradually absorbed the increasingly sacred golden light, transforming into a deep golden-red.

Uuuuung-
Uuung-

The lava’s cry grew louder.
That was when it happened.

“How bothersome.”

Kale Heniatus’s calm voice cut through the lava’s wails. And his action that followed was simple.

Riiiiip.

The money pouch tore completely open.
And Kale Heniatus simply opened the entrance and flipped it upside down.

“…Gold, gold coins pouring down! I, the great Raon Mir, witness yet another world today!”

And Kale Heniatus flipped the potato sack over as well.

“…Human! Human! You are magnificent! Human! I, the great Raon Mir, acknowledge it!”

Raon Mir’s cries were drowned out by the metallic clatter of cascading gold coins and ingots.
Destructive Fire was bewildered.

-Huh? Huh?

Kale Heniatus chuckled softly.
Destructive Fire was confused.

-…Uh… Hmm… This has to be over a billion?

Kale Heniatus poured out gold ingots without hesitation.
After all, he would earn even more once he stripped Dark and the Mercenary Group, and besides the 13 billion Counds he would receive from the Bishop, he had hundreds of billions in funds.

Kale spoke matter-of-factly.

“If you’re going to do something insane, you might as well do it properly.”

Yet despite his indifferent tone, Kale’s expression was radiant. Brilliantly, luminously radiant.

‘I’m happy.’

Kale was genuinely happy.
Spending money was when he felt most alive.

In the end, Destructive Fire cried out.

-This lunatic is crazier than any demon or angel!

A deep rumbling echoed—
The crimson liquid vanished.
Only a golden-hued lake remained beneath Kale’s feet.

Kale descended into it.

The surface rippled.
Though the surface trembled, Kale stood upright upon the golden-hued lake—or rather, the thick, swamp-like liquid—and spoke calmly.

“There are more gold ingots in the sack.”

Gold ingots that the lava could no longer consume floated across the golden-hued swamp.
Kale’s expression twisted into something even more crooked at the sight. Destructive Fire’s voice came weakly.

-I’ve lost.

Kale thought it truly pathetic that Destructive Fire’s capacity was only a mere hundred billion. Yet soon he found himself staring down at his own body with a peculiar sensation.

It was glowing.
The thick swamp began to glow and slowly evaporate.

Golden-red smoke began to rise and envelop Kale Heniatus. At that moment, the voice of Destructive Fire echoed in his mind.

-I preferred what was real.

The evaporated golden-red smoke completely shrouded Kale’s body. Those suspended in the air could not see him. Only the dazzling golden-red light shone from the ground toward the heavens.

-While others chased after gods or immortality, or pursued intangible things like power and honor, I chased after money.

That light resembled a sun descended upon the earth.

-Money was visible, something I could hold in my hands—the most tangible existence of all.

Destructive Fire loved reality. Even if it seemed mundane and harsh, I loved reality.
The reason was simple.

-I found it beautiful.

Others cursed me as a miser, saying a hero cared only for money without honor, and that in the end I turned the Northern Region into a sea of flames yet still sought only wealth.

-But for one who knew only how to destroy, money was a means to protect something.

For someone who had burned and destroyed everything since birth, money was, in a sense, a means to resurrect and preserve what I had destroyed.

The nobleman’s fields I had burned without understanding my own power as a child. My parents, scraping together what little money they had, offered it to the nobleman to barely prevent me from being taken away.

‘That mere money was nothing. It could protect you.’
‘Never forget what money truly is.’

My poor parents worked hard to save money, yet they spent it without hesitation for my sake.
The one who knew only destruction spoke to Kale.

-I must repay those who spent money for me with something of equal measure.

Without exception.
That was my iron principle and the way I resolved the resentment in my heart.

Kale Heniatus lifted his head.

Whoooooosh—

Golden lightning seeped into him.
And the golden lightning that couldn’t seep in began to surge upward. The voice of Destructive Fire echoed in Kale’s mind.

-Destructive Fire doesn’t need to fall from the sky. It can surge from below as well.

Multiple strands of golden lightning shot toward the night sky.
A single beam of light that began from the earth pierced upward like a spear.

-Do you know what that is?

Boom!
Crash! Crash!

Golden lightning exploded across the sky with a deafening roar.
It was beautiful, like watching fireworks.

-The sky is strong and arrogant.

Kale watched the golden lightning shatter against the heavens as he heard Destructive Fire’s voice.

-Be careful of those who possess the attribute of the sky.

…Sky attribute?
As Kale’s brow furrowed, Destructive Fire spoke with a laugh.

-But this time, it will be fine. Remember that.

Ssssshhhhh—
The golden lightning that remained around him instead of rising to the sky rapidly seeped into Kale’s body.

“…Phew.”

Kale exhaled deeply.
The barren Lake Bottom where both lava and water had vanished—Kale stretched out his hand from its center.

Whoooosh.
Destructive Fire, now shimmering with a clearer golden hue than before, danced across his palm.

“Human!”

Starting with Raon, the group descended one by one to Kale’s side. While Raon, who had grown accustomed to this after experiencing it once, remained composed, the others were visibly shaken as Erhafen gazed upon the Destructive Fire resting in Kale’s palm and spoke.

“…A sight I have not witnessed in a thousand years.”

Yet his eyes remained fixed upon the Destructive Fire, unable to look away.

Fire could be expressed through so many attributes.
Light, warmth, even sustenance itself.
But the Destructive Fire before him had shed nearly all of fire’s conventional properties.

Only its pure, savage, and destructive essence remained.

A voice resonated within Kale’s mind, confirming this truth—the fearsome voice of Jjangdol.

-That fire.

The very flame that burned fiercely through the coldest Northern Region of the Western Continent. The flame that could have done more, yet restrained itself with deliberate moderation.

-It has finally emerged into the world in its complete form.

Jjangdol, the ‘Guardian,’ was at odds with the other, yet acknowledged that the full power of the most liberated and fearsome ‘Destroyer’ had returned.
It was at that very moment.

Beep— Beep—

A video communication device emitting crimson light materialized above Raon’s front paw. Kale turned to address his companions.

“We must depart for the Western Continent.”

Once again, they were called to the battlefield.

“Human! A message from the clever Rosalind!”

Rosalind, still occupied with the aftermath of the Indomitable Alliance’s collapse, connected the video communication and immediately posed a question to Kale.

-What will you do with the Bear Tribe and the Flame Dwarf Tribe? Will you spare them?

Kale had temporarily entrusted the Bear Tribe and the Dwarves to Rosalind’s care while attending to other matters. He opened his mouth slowly to respond.

What should we do with the Bear Tribe and the Dwarves?

The Empire would have to face the true power that those who had been their allies once possessed.

“I intend to make them cling to life desperately.”
-What?
“Even enemies deserve a chance.”

Kale Heniatus smiled quite gently.
Yet no one, not even Choi Han, took his words at face value.

-My lord, the Crown Prince of the Empire is said to be giving a speech.

Kale Heniatus’s smile deepened.
Crown Prince Adin had begun to reveal himself in the affairs of the Western Continent.

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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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