Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 286

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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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Tunka’s side retreated. The Empire’s side also fell back.
The empty ground between them, blocked by shields.

“…Fire.”

Fire descended from the heavens and erupted across that barren stretch.

Legend spoke of the gods bestowing fire upon mankind, yet this inferno resembled divine retribution itself.
Duke Hooten’s grip tightened around his sword hilt until his knuckles threatened to split.

“Your Grace.”

A trembling voice reached him from behind—a high-ranking mage commanding the Empire Magic Corps 1st Battalion.

“That is not magic, Your Grace.”
“What?”
“It is pure fire itself. It appears to be an ancient power.”

A figure in a brown robe surfaced in his mind.
The one standing beside Rosalind.

Ancient power and Rosalind—connecting these two thoughts, Duke Hooten’s mind settled on a single name.

Kale Heniatus.
His name crystallized in my thoughts. Simultaneously, the Roan Kingdom, which had aided the Breck Kingdom’s war, came to mind. Suspicion bloomed.

Yet it withered just as quickly. If there were two kingdoms maintaining favorable relations with the Empire, they were the Caro Kingdom and the Roan Kingdom. Moreover, had Kale Heniatus not received a commendation from the Empire itself?

‘Idle suspicions are best set aside.’

Still, that figure in the brown robe warranted caution. The arrogance slowly drained from Hooten’s eyes.
Meanwhile, Kale, startled beyond measure, steadied his trembling legs before they could buckle beneath him. His body swayed slightly.

“…Ka—!”

Rosalind, mindful of the soldiers nearby, hastily sealed her lips and grasped his arm. She peered at his face concealed within the robe.

‘Huh?’

Kale Heniatus’s complexion was perfectly fine. More than fine—he looked remarkably vigorous.
You know how it is. Someone who’s always cooped up in their room studying suddenly decides to take a leisurely stroll outside on a nice day, stretches a bit, and their pallid complexion suddenly blooms with color and vitality.

That was exactly what Kale’s face looked like now.
The ashen pallor that had been growing more pronounced and worrying had given way to a faint rosy flush, and his complexion positively radiated with healthy color.

“…Are you alright?”

Rosalind asked this while meeting Kale’s gaze with a mixture of concern and bewilderment in her eyes. But the moment Kale saw Rosalind’s expression—that peculiar blend of confusion and astonishment—he snapped back to awareness.

I glanced around.
Startled soldiers and even more startled Mages.
And the enigmatic expression on Herald Chief of Staff’s face.

I looked downward as well.
Tunka was staring at me from within the shield.

-Human! Are you really okay? No wait, you seem fine, but something’s strange! No, wait! I figured it out! That golden reinforcement you poured out back then was incredible after all!

The reassured voice of the Black Dragon Raon reached me.

-Now that it’s come to this, let’s reinforce everything else! Then our human won’t hurt anymore!

But then a dejected voice followed.

-…No, wait. We can’t do it now. Reinforcement costs a lot of money… I haven’t saved enough in my piggy bank yet.

But I let Raon’s voice fade into the background. My eyes were fixed on Tunka. While everyone else was shocked, Tunka alone had reacted differently. He was staring at me with his mouth slightly agape.

‘Isn’t he going to do it?’

A smirk tugged at my lips. I gently removed Rosalind’s hand from my arm and opened my mouth.

“Begin.”

Rosalind’s eyes shifted with a new intensity.
The pillar of flame still burned fiercely.
A towering inferno that rivaled the Black Tower of Alchemy itself—a presence that emanated an aura too fearsome to extinguish carelessly.
Yet standing alone, the pillar seemed pitiful.

“Extinguish the flames! Reposition the formation!”

Duke Hooten’s voice thundered through the Imperial Army ranks like a tempest. The soldiers, regaining their senses, immediately began to shift their formation.

They would simply avoid that pillar of fire.

‘I cannot fathom why such a flame was summoned there, but it serves us no purpose.’

The pillar had not targeted the Imperial encampment—it was merely a force that had struck empty ground.
Without claiming lives, it was ultimately a meaningless display of power.

‘There are countless other paths leading to Maple Castle.’

Maple Castle, situated upon barren wasteland. Any direction would suffice.
Tens of thousands of Imperial soldiers could encircle a single castle without difficulty.

Yet the warriors and soldiers of the Wipper Kingdom were too few to contend with an Imperial force capable of surrounding the entire fortress. Moreover, the castle walls held only a handful of soldiers and mere dozens of mages.

‘I need only be cautious of the Dwarves and that pillar of flame.’

In the end, it was a matter of overwhelming numbers.
That was the moment.

A deep rumbling echoed across the heavens.
The silent sky began to roar once more.

“Ah.”

Duke Hooten recalled something.
A power he had forgotten in the shadow of the ancient flame.
The magic of Rosalind and another.

The black clouds still blanketed the battlefield.

“Blast!”
“Your Grace!”

Duke Hooten opened his mouth urgently.

“Raise the shields!”

This time, magic would rain down upon the Imperial Army.

Look closely.
Even the mages atop the castle walls, unobstructed by the pillars of flame, were all preparing crimson fire-attribute magic!

‘It was to protect Tunka!’

Those scarlet pillars were a stratagem to separate Tunka from the Imperial Army and unleash a barrage of magic upon them. Only now did I grasp the operation devised by Rosalind and the Wipper Kingdom’s staff officers. My face contorted as I urged the shields forward, and soldiers and knights crouched low, raising their barriers.
Hutten was only then able to catch on to Rosalind and the Wiper Army Staff Officers’ operation. Because of this, he distorted his face and urged the shield forward, while the Soldiers and Knights crouched their bodies and unfurled their shields.

Rumble rumble rumble.

Boom!

From the sky and from Maple Castle, torrents of crimson light began to pour down.
Unlike the destructive flames that flowed like spilled blood, ordinary fire and some lightning magic shook the very space itself.

“Ugh!”
It was different from fire, like blood flowing down that contained destruction.
The mage beside Duke Hooten staggered from the tremors of the earth.

“Ugh!”

In the wake of the magic’s passage.
It was an enormous power. Especially with the golden lightning striking down from the sky, Duke Hooten felt a chill run down the back of his neck for a moment.

However, Duke Hooten was able to fully straighten his body that had been slowly bending.
Where magic has passed.

“…Your Grace, no one has died.”

There were no casualties on the Empire’s side. Some were injured, but none had fallen.
Yet Duke Hooten could not bring himself to smile at the situation.

“What in the—!”

Duke Hooten stared ahead, unable to conceal his bewilderment.

A barrier had been erected with the blood-red pillar of flame as its anchor point.
The Fire Barrier, blazing with fierce intensity, materialized before the Imperial Army’s eyes.
All manner of magical flames and electrical currents intertwined, forming a wall that burned with terrible brilliance.

“Your Grace! We are surrounded on all sides!”

Duke Hooten heard the Knight’s cry.
His own eyes confirmed it.
The Fire Barrier enveloped Maple Castle, impenetrable to any who would breach it.

Just as the Empire had once created a Fire Barrier around Maple Castle before fleeing, the Wipper Kingdom now recreated that very scene.
Yet there was one crucial difference.

“…They did not seal it completely.”

It was not completely sealed.
The Empire had surrounded the castle with an inextinguishable, alchemically-wrought flame with no entrance, preventing the Wipper Kingdom from approaching.

But the Wipper Kingdom had created an opening.
Between the blood-red pillar of flame and where the golden lightning had struck—no fire rose in that space. It remained empty, still swirling with dust.

And beyond that gap, the Main Gate of Maple Castle was visible.
If the Empire crossed that threshold, they could covet Maple Castle without ever touching the flames.

“Ha, haha—”

Duke Hooten burst into laughter.

Before the Main Gate.
Where no fire burned.

I could see those who filled that space.
Tunka stood at the very front.
Behind him, his subordinate warriors filled the ranks, and behind them came the soldiers.
Moreover, atop the City Wall above the Main Gate, the mercenary Mage and Rosalind were positioned densely together. And I could also see a figure in a brown robe.

I, clad in the brown robe, looked down at Tunka’s back. Tunka felt my gaze and stood at the sole entrance between the Fire Barriers, observing Duke Hooten and the enemies before him.
He recalled the conversation with me at the Spire Tower before the war.

‘Kale, I’m grateful for your help, but my warriors and I will fight.’

Herald Chief of Staff also seconded Tunka’s words.

‘We ask only for support. Should the situation become critical, I will ask you to step forward, but for now, we wish to do this with our own strength.’

The battle against the Empire.
The Wipper Kingdom had to demonstrate that it could withstand a certain degree of pressure on its own. This would boost the soldiers’ morale and ensure the Empire would never covet Wipper again.
Furthermore, Herald intended to use this war as a pretext to either kill the King or reduce him to a mere puppet. For that, they needed results. That was why they wished to fight.
Of course, Tunka’s reasons differed somewhat from Herald’s.

‘That is what it means to be Wipper.’

A deed befitting the Wipper Kingdom.
Whether they were called barbaric or not, they had to fight with their own hands.
At those words, I smiled at both of them.

‘Besides, I have no intention of stepping forward, at least not in the first phase.’

Tunka felt the heat of the fire, but what stood out more were Duke Hooten’s bloodshot eyes, his blood vessels seemingly burst. Kale’s voice tickled around his ears.

‘I will create a battlefield where you can rampage freely.’
‘Tunka, imagine a narrow and deep canyon.’

Envision enemies entering a narrow canyon where our forces await.
A deep, profoundly deep canyon. A place so narrow that towering cliffs block both sides.
A canyon made of fire, no less.

Of course, the canyon and the battle at Maple Castle were different environments.
Yet the outcome would be the same.

‘The enemies will face the warriors of Wipper at the end of the narrow passage.’

No matter how numerous the enemy forces were, there was only one path they could traverse.
Just as one would cut through the sheer Canyon, they would have to breach the entrance of this Fire Barrier in the same manner.

‘Tunka, if you and your warriors cannot be overcome, the enemies will never set foot upon the lands of Wipper Kingdom.’

Tunka touched the pouch hanging at his side. The orbs within this pouch were the very materials Kale had used to conjure those pillars of flame in the Canyon of Death during the war with the Indomitable Alliance.

‘The flames of the canyon will never extinguish. I will ensure it remains so, so just keep your eyes forward. How is it? Is this the battlefield you desired?’

Desired?
More than desired—this was precisely the kind of battlefield Tunka’s heart yearned for.

He felt the warriors standing beside him, and sensing the people atop the City Wall behind him, his heart swelled with assurance.
He feared not the tens of thousands of Imperial Army soldiers.

Until his own death, the Imperial Army would never pass through this passage.
Strangely, Tunka found himself exhilarated by this battlefield.
Then, an unexpected sound reached his ears from behind.

Creeeeak—

The City Gate opened.
Soon Tunka could see a man dressed as a soldier standing beside him. The one wearing a helmet. Tunka’s lips curved upward.
Even without seeing his face, he knew who it was.

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t use aura?”

The helmeted man, Choi Han, drew a plain iron sword and straightened his stance.

‘Choi Han, do you wish to fight? We must head to treatment soon.’
‘Sir Kale, while treatment is important, wielding a sword also feels like saving lives.’
‘Is that all?’
‘…Duke Hooten uses aura. Tunka has no aura. He will struggle alone.’
‘But you cannot use aura right now either, can you?’

Tunka and Kale posed the same question.
Choi Han suppressed a smile that threatened to emerge, recalled his answer to Kale, and responded calmly.

‘Still, it would be better if I fought alongside Tunka rather than having him go alone.’

“I’m still strong enough.”

Tunka couldn’t help but laugh.
The man who couldn’t even use aura because he had to hide his identity, the one who had sharpened me through relentless sparring—he now stood right beside Tunka.

That’s right.
Even without aura, Choi Han’s strength was unmistakable.
And that powerful man was on my side.
An indescribable emotion surged through Tunka.

“Choi Han, you’re my friend too, aren’t you?”
“Shut up.”

Clang.
As if to silence any further words, the tip of Choi Han’s ordinary blade pointed toward Duke Hooten.
Choi Han and Duke Hooten had never crossed paths before.
When Kale had gone to the Empire, he had kept them apart, fearing Duke Hooten might recognize Choi Han’s level. But such worries proved unnecessary.
Even among Sword Masters, the gap between Choi Han and Hooten was as vast as heaven and earth.

Hooten’s roar echoed across the battlefield.

“3rd Knight Order, follow me!”

The Imperial Knights charged on horseback alongside the Duke toward the only entrance of Maple Castle.

Whoooosh—
Simultaneously, the Empire Magic Corps began casting once more. Their mana surged toward the castle’s sole entrance and the Fire Barrier.
Mana vibrated through the air, intent on annihilating both the Fire Barrier and all those standing in its only gap.

Tunka stood before it all, thinking of those behind him, and roared ferociously.

“You won’t cross this land until you’ve trampled over me!”

Choi Han was already pushing off the ground, launching forward.

A battle between the few and the many.
The battlefield the few had desired was now created.

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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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