Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 298

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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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Chapter 65. The Nape of the Neck

But most people’s attention was not on Choi Han.
The scale of war had far exceeded the bounds of human imagination—a mere human hardly warranted a second glance.

“…Why swordsmen? No, are they knights?”

The Empire’s people could see faint white armor glinting above the skeletal birds cutting through the high sky.

Dozens of skeletal birds.
Even the smaller ones measured roughly three meters in length.
Their target was obvious.

The golems, of course.
The Sub-Tower Master gestured to Honth, the Tower Master’s disciple, who immediately issued orders to the Alchemists and Mages.

“Attack those birds—no, attack the pilots!”

Simultaneously, the Empire’s Mages began casting. Offensive spells erupted to shoot down the skeletal birds and their riders.
In the midst of the chaos, a nobleman turned to Crown Prince Adin and spoke.

“Your Highness, white hair! Could it be—could Paern have gotten involved?”

The largest skeletal bird at the center. Upon it stood a white-haired, blue-eyed man in a brown robe, gripping the reins.
The Seka Family and the Wyvern Knights—the guardian knights of Paern, renowned for their white hair—naturally came to mind.

“That white-haired man wearing a mask is suspicious, and the pilots on the birds wearing unmarked armor is equally strange!”

To anyone’s eyes, the situation was deeply suspicious.
When Crown Prince Adin remained silent, the nobleman raised his voice further.

“Moreover, the Bear Tribe and Dwarf Tribe of the Indomitable Alliance are in Wipper. Could it be—could it possibly—”

The nobleman’s face twisted. A horrifying possibility had occurred to him.

“Could the Indomitable Alliance and the Breck Kingdom be conspiring together? Have they sided with Wipper?”

The expressions of those around darkened. A misstep could very well ignite a war spanning the entire continent.
That was when it happened.

“I’m not sure.”

Crown Prince Adin uttered just those words and turned his gaze. His eyes fixed upon Kale Heniatus and Valentino standing at the edge of the earthen wall, distant from the soldiers. Particularly, he studied Kale intently.

‘Is that white-haired man truly from Paern? Or from the Seka Family?’

It was unknowable.
Moreover, while most of these nobles remained ignorant, the Crown Prince and the Empire’s leadership knew the truth.

‘Clophe Seka is a false Wyvern Knight. A forgery created by Dark.’

And Adin had determined that Clophe, defeated in Heniatus Territory, had joined forces with the Roan Kingdom to survive.

‘Breck and Paern. They may have conspired together.’

Yet it was equally possible that Roan was orchestrating both of them.
By the measure of power, this seemed more likely.
Which was the truth?
There was no physical evidence for either.

The gazes of Crown Prince Adin and Kale Heniatus collided.

‘Then why would Roan send their hero into such danger, risking his very life for the Empire?’

The Crown Prince cherished Roan’s hero.
And Roan’s hero had never hesitated to sacrifice himself for the Empire.

Adin’s mind grew turbulent. That instant—

Wheeeee—

A chilling whistle pierced the sky.
The moment I saw Kale’s gaze turn skyward with genuine surprise, my own eyes followed to the heavens.

“…What?”

Crown Prince Adin saw the brown robe falling through the air.

The White-Haired Man cast off the brown robe, revealing his true form.
Crown Prince Adin’s eyes widened.

“…A Priest?”

Pristine white priestly vestments, untouched by a single speck of dust.
The moment it was revealed, Kale Heniatus was taken aback.

‘That bastard?’

The brown robe that Clophe Seka had gleefully cast away.
Kale had never given Clophe permission to remove it now, never authorized him to reveal his priestly form.
That was why.

‘This brilliantly insane bastard!’

The moment Kale’s shock subsided, he suppressed the smile threatening to break across his face.
In that instant, he heard Rosalind’s voice faintly transmitted through the communication crystal in Hilsman’s arms.

-Activating voice modulation and amplification magic.

Ah, truly brilliant people.
The moment everyone’s eyes were captivated by the white priestly vestments and white armor, Kale marveled at Rosalind’s judgment. The reason soon swept across the battlefield.

“Behold the heavens!”

A voice distorted and otherworldly.
Chilling yet impossible to ignore, it pierced every ear.

Kale could see Clophe Seka raising his hand. He released the reins.
He was the beginning.

The Knights in white armor raised both hands as well, pointing toward the highest point in the sky.

The sun.

Like the faithful of the Sun God Church pointing to their deity, empty hands reached toward the sun. Simultaneously, Clophe spoke.

“We shall march toward the light!”

It was a famous phrase left behind in the Sun God Church.
Necromancer. It was the battle cry the Sun God Church had shouted when vanquishing them, a rallying spirit they had raised to drive back the darkness of the Western Continent.

‘This bastard!’

I genuinely appreciated Clophe’s audacious move. Of course, this situation hadn’t been part of the plan.
But the golem hadn’t been part of the plan either.

‘Variables beget variables.’

Those who create chaos in war are those who can end it.
I knew this, as did Clophe and Rosalind. We were commanders, after all.

Clophe now sat at the highest point in this space, gazing down at everything below.

‘Everything looks so small.’

It was one of the sensations I had felt when leading the Wyvern Knights, even if it was a false command. From this vantage point, humans truly seemed insignificant.
Utterly trivial.

‘That’s when I knew I would become a legend.’

Clophe felt laughter threatening to burst forth. Fearing I might laugh like a madman, I continued with the words the Sun God Church had once shouted at the Necromancer.

“In the name of the divine, I shall strike down the darkness!”

Yes, strike them down!
All of them!

Of course, I served no god.
I believed in no religion.
But there was one thing I believed in.

From the highest point in the sky, I gazed down at one place.
Red hair came into view.
With the vision of a Sword Master, I took in Kale’s face. Those eyes held absolute confidence. Intoxicated with exhilaration, I cried out words that would never come from the Sun God Church.

“I shall become legend!”

I can see the legend! I can follow that path!
I will survive!
That was the only truth he believed in.

Shrieeeeek—

At the same moment, the whistle’s cry blanketed the sky once more, and the knights seized their swords while the Dwarves gripped their reins. The Wyvern Knights, who had survived but been defeated—no, who hadn’t even been given a chance to fight—now cried out with renewed fervor as they gained the opportunity to battle in the sky once again.

“I shall become legend!”

Guardian Knight Clophe Seka.
The loyal knights who followed his command began to move.

“…The Sun God Church?”
“The Sun God, truly? But wasn’t that the one from the battle against the Necromancer?”

Confusion spread across the faces of the Imperial Army. Soldiers in particular, along with several nobles, could not hide their bewilderment.
No matter how much the Sun God Church’s reputation had fallen due to the corruption of the religious order and the terror it had wrought, it had still been the faith they believed in.

What appeared to be priests and holy knights of that very religion now drew their blades against the Imperial Army.
Crown Prince Adin opened his mouth.

“Metelona.”

The Sub-Tower Master shouted.

“Attack!”

Dozens of spells were unleashed toward the sky, toward the skeletal birds.

Boom! Crash! Crash!

The spells detonated across the heavens.

“Ugh!”

Several skeleton birds staggered as magic struck them, and the bodies of dwarves and knights shook.
But direct hits were rare.

“…Commander Rosalind!”

Sub-Tower Master Metelona gazed toward the Wipper Kingdom’s city wall where Rosalind stood.
But Rosalind was issuing cold orders to the mages on Wipper’s side. Her voice reached Kale through the video communication channel.

-Focus entirely on blocking the Imperial Army’s magic. Detonate our attack spells before they reach the skeleton birds.

Boom! Crash! Boom!

The sky was consumed by explosions from the mages’ attacks.
There was no clear sky. Dark gray smoke filled the heavens from countless explosions.

“Attack! Keep attacking!”

Sub-Tower Master Metelona shouted. The more explosions, the more the skeleton bird pilots’ vision would be obscured, and the shockwaves would make controlling the birds increasingly difficult.

Magical firepower that appeared hundreds of times greater than Wipper’s concentrated coverage blanketed the sky. Because of this, nothing could be seen in the gray-tinged heavens.

“…At this rate, shouldn’t we be fine?”

It was the moment soldiers and nobles voiced similar thoughts aloud.
Sub-Tower Master Metelona stared intently at the sky. Then, Crown Prince Adin’s voice reached her.

“Not yet. These things-”

Ssssshhhhh-
Sub-Tower Master Metelona heard the sound of wind.
Beneath the gray smoke, white birds shot downward like arrows.

“-are strong.”

The moment Crown Prince Adin’s voice reached her, tinged with a subtle intensity.

Boom!

Dozens of white birds that had pierced through the magical explosions collided with the black golems.

Crash! Crash!

The white bird’s beak and wings struck at the golem, while the golem’s massive hands lashed out at the white bird. They collided again and again.
Neither side feared destruction.

“…A war of giants.”

A nobleman’s voice trembled with dread as it spread through the air. Even so, the earth shook and the deafening roar left ears ringing. There was no room for humans to intervene.
Yet those who commanded these colossal forces fought with fiercer intensity than ever before.

Especially Clophe, now stripped of his voice modulation and amplification magic, paid no heed to his white hair whipping in the wind as he flew toward the golem’s control platform and crashed into it.

“Kuh, kuh-kuh, kuhahahaha!”

His laughter would not stop. Yet his eyes remained ice-cold.

“How strong! You possess a truly formidable body!”

The golem’s body was indeed powerful.
It possessed a durability that made the Necromancer’s reinforced skeletal bird bones seem laughably fragile.
But Clophe shouted without hesitation.

“Collide with it! Knights, draw your blades! Destroy the control platform!”

There was nothing to fear.

Crash! Crash!

The battle between these titanic forces grew increasingly fierce.
No—the skeletal birds thrashed about wildly.
The golem sought to shake them off. Their true objective was not the skeletal birds themselves, but the destruction of Maple Castle.

“…Troublesome.”

Crown Prince Adin smiled despite his words. He extended his hand toward Honth, the Tower Master’s disciple. Honth promptly produced a grey orb and offered it to the Crown Prince.
Adin opened his mouth. His voice carried to the golem unit’s control platform.

“The golem unit ignores those birds.”

Those birds likely have stopping the golems as their primary objective rather than destroying them.
Why?
Even if we destroy the control room, finding the golem’s core would be difficult. How could we locate a hidden golem core in such urgent circumstances?
Furthermore, the golem’s body was far too durable to destroy in order to search for its core.
Crown Prince Adin issued his command.

“The golem units advance rapidly. Prioritize the capture of Maple Castle’s walls above all else.”

Screeeech.
The golems’ movements began to shift.
Their massive bodies started to ignore the bone birds’ attacks.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The smallest golem stood ten meters tall, with roughly thirty more of varying sizes.
They charged toward Maple Castle without hesitation.

That was when it happened.
Crown Prince Adin’s lips parted. His voice directed itself toward the gray orb.

“…What’s going on?”

Fifteen meters tall—the largest golem at the center of their formation, the darkest black golem that led all the others.
That golem halted its advance.

In that moment, Kale whispered something so quietly that only the one closest to him could possibly hear.

“Help Choi Han.”

The Young Dragon’s response came through.

-Understood, human! I’ll destroy it and return!

Kale watched the largest, darkest golem.
He could see a tiny figure climbing up the golem’s body.

It was Choi Han.
The swordsman in the black helmet climbed the golem’s body without hesitation.

A war of giants.
And then a single human appeared in their midst.

Choi Han heard the reassuring voice of his trusted partner near his ear.

-Choi Han! We humans will help!

Choi Han smiled.
He lifted his gaze. The massive body of the golem loomed before him. He could feel just how solid and formidable the black form beneath his feet truly was.

But his reliable partner, the Young Dragon, spoke up.

-The back of the neck. The nape.

Whoooosh—
Choi Han saw the golem’s hand moving to grab him. It was so massive and heavy that the very air shrieked as it swung.

-Choi Han, that’s where its source of power lies.

But Choi Han did not hesitate.

-We humans will smash it!

There was no reason to stop.
Rather, there was only reason to press forward.

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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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