Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 287

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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 Empire’s 3rd Knight Order charged down the only path through the Fire Pit.

“Dismount!”

Duke Hooten leaped from his horse, shouting the command.
The horses had caught sight of the crimson flames and panicked. Frightened creatures were useless on the battlefield.

‘Besides, those narrow passages would only encumber the horses.’

Having made his decision, Duke Hooten surged forward toward the Fire Pit at breakneck speed.

Clang—!
A blade pierced the sky, or rather, an aura erupted skyward.

A silvery-gray aura, shaped like a sword, soared toward the heavens.
The Empire’s Sword—a name bestowed because Duke Hooten was a Sword Master, and his aura shone with the brilliance of the blade itself.

“Follow the Duke!”

At the commander of the 3rd Knight Order’s cry, the dismounted knights formed a protective formation around the Duke, advancing toward Tunka and the castle’s Main Gate.

“Ahahaha! You finally came down to ground level! Now this is fun—fighting on equal footing! Kahahaha!”

Duke Hooten saw Tunka charging toward him.
As Tunka and the warriors pressed forward, the soldiers behind them filled the gap with spears and arrows at the ready.

“Arrogant fool.”

Duke Hooten spat the words with contempt, stamping the ground as he gripped his aura-infused blade.
Tunka and Hooten.
The two rushed toward each other, eyes locked, as if drawn by fate itself.

‘Insolent savage! I’ll kill you!’

Hooten’s pride had been wounded.
Despite bringing overwhelming numbers, he had been outmaneuvered by Wipper time and again, and now the very tide of battle had turned against him.

He had rushed forward to change the flow of battle.
And to buy time.

And finally.

“I will kill you!”

To kill Tunka.

Tunka had now entered Duke Hooten’s effective range. From a distance that a mere barbarian without aura could never reach, Duke Hooten could unleash a killing strike toward Tunka.
Because he possessed aura.
Just as a Mage and an ordinary person held different value, so too did those with aura and those without differ in their worth upon the battlefield.

Whoooosh—
A silvery-gray aura surged skyward, then descended with devastating speed.

To kill Tunka.
The blade infused with that intent—Duke Hooten’s first strike had begun.

“I will crush you beneath my—”

That was when it happened.
A chill ran down his spine.
Duke Hooten felt a sudden, bone-deep cold.

A blade approaches.
A sinister edge, sharp as a sword, draws near.

Duke Hooten turned his head to the right.

A black helmet came into view.
A helm that obscured nearly everything, leaving the face barely visible beneath.

‘…When?’

When did that person arrive here?
How did I not sense it?
How could I, a Sword Master, sense nothing?

Yet the question could not grow any larger.
Duke Hooten moved his arm, which had erupted in goosebumps, as he watched the helmeted swordsman approach with nothing but an ordinary iron blade and ordinary movements.
But the swordsman in the black helmet was faster.

“Ugh!”

Hutten’s body staggered. His eyes widened.
In that instant of acceleration, I saw him driving his right side forward.

‘What kind of speed is this…!’

An ordinary swordsman?
Or an Assassin?
Or—

‘A Sword Master?’

A silver-gray aura bloomed from Hutten’s blade once more. He tried to glimpse the eyes behind the helmet, obscured by the mesh visor.
There was no such swordsman in the Wipper Kingdom.

Then, faintly, I could see the eyes.

They were red.
Brilliant crimson eyes.

Like the eyes of a serpent crawling up from the molten lava of hell itself—Hutten found himself seeing the fires of perdition blazing behind that black helmet.
Hutten swung his arm in desperation.

The silver-gray aura surged toward the black helmet.
The moment Choi Han saw that aura, he immediately retreated.

A sharp whisper.
But the edge of my collar was slightly torn.

‘As expected.’

Choi Han frowned as I looked at my slightly cut collar. Then I gripped my sword tighter.
My crimson eyes, transformed by magic, fixed upon Duke Hooten beyond the helmet.

‘Raon, change Choi Han’s eye color. We might get caught.’
‘Understood, human! Choi Han! I’ll change it to my favorite color! I’ll do as I please!’

Raon simply changed it to his preferred color, but inadvertently left a deep crimson afterimage in Duke Hooten’s mind. Yet he was an experienced Sword Master.

“Who are you?”

Duke Hooten asked, but Choi Han pointed his sword at him once more.

A crudely fashioned black helmet.
Ordinary clothes without leather armor.
Moreover, a plain iron sword devoid of any aura.

“Your Grace, I shall face him!”
“Commander! Leave such small fry to me!”

Two knights who had broken from formation approached the Duke. But the Duke offered them no response whatsoever.
His body shot forward.

Boom!

Once again, an explosive roar echoed through the air.
Duke Hooten’s eyes gleamed with mockery.

Blade did not meet blade.
The plain iron sword evaded the silver-gray aura.
Instead, the iron sword deflected Duke Hooten’s blade. The sword hilts collided forcefully against each other.

“Why aren’t you using your aura?”

Duke Hooten glared at the helmeted swordsman—at Choi Han—and asked. He had no choice but to.
He could not fully discern Choi Han’s level. Yet from that single clash, he could gauge it.

This man is on my level.
In other words, a Sword Master.

Duke Hooten let out a low chuckle.

“A Sword Master’s duel without using aura? You must want to lose.”

A Sword Master who doesn’t use aura? A swordsman without aura?
That was simply fighting with one’s eyes closed.

Shhhhh—
Silver-gray aura sliced through the wind.
Choi Han retreated. He gazed down at his plain iron sword.

“You don’t wish to lose.”

Duke Hooten approached Choi Han with an upright and elegant stance, his aura unfurling. He spoke to Choi Han with certainty.

“You must wish to die.”

Fighting a Sword Master without using aura.

Yes.
That was the same as wishing for death.

Choi Han gripped his sword hilt. His eyes, now crimson, fixed upon Duke Hooten’s stance.

No—observed it.
Like a serpent concealed in tall grass awaiting prey, I meticulously observed Duke Hooten’s every movement in breathless silence.

I returned to that time—when I could not use aura.

Duke Hooten had walked the typical elite path. Born into the Empire’s greatest noble house, the moment he showed talent in swordsmanship, he trained under the Empire’s greatest master, and as a result, became a Sword Master.
Thus his sword was elegant and brimming with formality.

Yet I wielded my blade from the opposite end, or rather, I had endured life from the opposite end.
Before I even gave it the name “Black Sword Technique”—a name that didn’t quite fit—I had no swordsmanship to speak of. I merely performed the bare minimum movements necessary to survive.

My body shot forward.
Duke Hooten and I collided once more.

As expected, I thoroughly avoided his aura, yet I could land no attack against Duke Hooten.
Only meaningless clashes continued.

“You’ve mastered refined swordsmanship.”

Duke Hooten appraised Choi Han’s sword with unhurried composure.
As if the chill that had run down his spine moments before had never existed, he reclaimed his equilibrium.

“Hmph.”

And I heard his scorn.
The helmeted swordsman mocked me.

I found myself laughing at the mention of refined swordsmanship. Then, rotating my helmeted neck slowly, I loosened my muscles.

“Now I’m getting the feel for it.”

No—the sensation had returned.
I smiled.

The Dark Forest.
That sensation from back then had returned.

I had stepped forward for Tunka’s sake and to aid Wipper. But there were other reasons as well.
A thought that flickered through my mind the moment I saw Duke Hooten.

‘What if I fought while binding my aura?’

I wanted to grasp complete darkness in my hands. To do that, I had to return to when I created this imperfect darkness.
When was that?

When I lived in the Dark Forest.
Back then, before I became a Sword Master, I was weak. Always desperate, always servile, always wretched. But the moment I became strong, those emotions sank deep into the recesses of my heart.

That was why I needed this situation.
To return to a time when I wasn’t a complete powerhouse, when weaknesses existed.
Perhaps then the path that had been blocked would become visible?

I charged toward Duke Hooten once more.

“Grrgh!”
“Hack—hold the line! Loose the arrows!”
“Warriors, do not cease!”

The sounds of soldiers and warriors clashing near the entrance reached his ears.

Starting with the Empire’s 3rd Knight Order, the Imperial infantry and knights surged forward like a tidal wave.
While Duke Hooten and his knights engaged the formidable warriors like Tunka, the foot soldiers relentlessly pressed through the gaps, targeting the Main Gate.

“Don’t let the enemies reach the entrance! Bind their feet! Bind them!”

A desperate voice from the Wipper side rang out. They were mad, but it was the madness of desperation.

“Extend your spears! Block the blades aimed at our warriors!”

Choi Han was the same—mad with desperation.
He could see Duke Hooten. Unlike himself, here was a swordsman whose very walk carried elegance and dignity.

My senses awakened.

My aura was bound, but I had to kill that bastard.
The corners of my mouth lifted.
No answer appeared. But the problem became crystal clear.

“Loose your arrows!”
“Don’t let them cross into Wipper’s land!”
“Sever the knights’ necks!”

Chaos. Yet the voices of Wipper’s people cut through distinctly.
Their desperation mirrored my own.

“Defend our land!”
“If we fall, Wipper falls!”

Protect it.
If I fall, others will be hurt.

Choi Han, who had emerged from the Dark Forest, had grown so strong that he no longer felt the desperation to protect himself.
But when a home came, when a new family arrived, he discovered something he needed to protect once more.
That was why he thought he was desperate.

‘No. I am not desperate.’

I felt the true nature of the wall.
I understood why I had been blocked.

It was because of these voices.

-Choi Han, if you think you’re about to get hurt, raise your hand! I’ll shield you!
-Choi Han, humans need to know their limits!

“Put up a shield! Shield for Pelia!”
“Rosalind! Second-stage lightning magic incoming!”
“Don’t let the fire in the barrier go out! Keep casting flame magic!”

“Extend your spears!”
“Soldiers in the rear, support those in front so they don’t collapse! The moment we give ground, everyone gets trampled!”
“Wounded to the back! Able-bodied soldiers, don’t stop—keep firing arrows!”

It wasn’t just me who was desperate.
I saw Duke Hooten’s sword. The blade, infused with aura and clearly well-prepared, sought the gaps in my defense.
A sword refined with dignity. Before such a blade, I rolled across the ground.

When facing a strong opponent, what wouldn’t one do to survive?
I threw dirt over myself.

“Tch—!”

Hooten watched me roll away like a coward with eyes full of contempt.
His gaze seemed to ask how a swordsman trained in refined swordsmanship could dodge his carefully prepared strike so crudely.

“Pathetic.”

And he did not miss the opening left by my rolling form.
Hooten’s blade aimed once more at the heart of the man tumbling across the ground.

Hooten regarded the swordsman in the black helmet with scorn and mockery.
Catching someone whose stance had collapsed from rolling to evade aura was nothing—child’s play.

That was when it happened.

“This is why I was blocked by that wall.”

What?
It was the moment I heard the helmeted swordsman’s incomprehensible words.

“Kehehehe!”

Laughter echoed.

‘Oh no!’

Tunka.
This is Tunka!
I had forgotten about him. Duke Hooten’s blade faltered.

Ahead was the helmeted swordsman rolling across the ground.
Behind him was Tunka.

A moment of hesitation wavered at the tip of the Duke’s sword. But he soon swung his blade in the direction he had been heading.

‘This one first.’

The helmeted swordsman first.
At that moment, Duke Hooten locked eyes with a pair of crimson irises faintly visible through the collapsed posture.
Those red eyes were smiling.

The Duke hesitated once more.

Choi Han was smiling. I could see Tunka rushing toward the Duke’s back.
Even as he was drenched in blood by the Knights following him, he charged at the Duke with a smile. Yet in those eyes burned a desperate resolve to kill the Duke.

This was the problem.
The problem was that I wasn’t the only one desperate.

I kept seeing paths to victory without having to fight alone.

Kale Heniatus was the same, and so was my group. When I fought alongside them, I could see a path forward. A way to win without needing to grow stronger.

Tunka’s feet dug into the ground.
His severed metal club aimed for Duke Hooten’s head.

“Damn it!”

In that fleeting moment of hesitation, Duke Hooten ultimately turned away from the helmeted swordsman’s gaze, pivoting his body backward.
He had to deal with Tunka first. The silver aura surged toward Tunka’s neck.
That was the moment.

Duke Hooten heard a cold voice.

“Where are you looking?”

A scrape of metal.
Duke Hooten’s body went rigid. His eyes shifted. The helmeted swordsman appeared before him with a sharp, blade-like presence, as if he had never lost his stance.

And an ordinary iron sword was embedded in his side.
The serpent had struck silently at the prey’s throat. And it had injected its venom.

“Gasp.”

Black aura bloomed from the tip of the iron sword lodged in the Duke’s body.
Yet because the blade remained embedded within him, neither the Duke nor anyone else could see that black aura.

‘He can use aura and yet—!’

The Duke could not even utter those words, forced instead to stare into those cold, crimson eyes.
Then it happened.

Wheeee wheeee—

A whistle sounded from atop the City Wall.
The Fire Barrier surrounding the castle had blocked the enemies’ attacks, but simultaneously trapped the forces of Maple Castle within.

Screeeee—

With a strange cry, the white bone bird that had vanished above the black clouds summoned by Rosalind and Raon reappeared.

Screee screee—

The white bone bird parted the black clouds, gazing down at the earth from the heavens.
On the ground, Wipper had confined itself, but in the sky, Wipper was freer than anyone.

Kale calmly observed Duke Hooten, who stared at him in disbelief despite having Choi Han’s blade embedded in his chest, still playing his flute.

“Destroy the black towers.”

His voice traveled through the video communication channel, reaching the Dwarves above the bone birds.

The first phase would end soon.
It mattered not whether the Empire desired otherwise. Kale and Wipper were the ones seeking a prolonged conflict.
This collision was merely a taste—a lure to draw Crown Prince Adin to this place. There was no need to prolong the appetizer.

When the Crown Prince descended to the brink of the Fire Pit, that was when the true inferno would consume him.

-You’ll use your full power later, won’t you?

To Sparkling Thunderbolt’s question, Kale responded with silence—an affirmation.

—————
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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