Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 301

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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 66. Following One’s Instincts

They had taken flight.

Prince Valentino of the Caro Kingdom watched as the white skeletal birds that had cast their shadow over the Imperial Army rose back into the sky.

He also saw light descend once more upon the faces of the Imperial soldiers, faces that had been shrouded in darkness as the bone-white birds blocked out the sun.

“Your Highness, I shall go as well.”

What? Hilsman?
Prince Valentino watched Vice-Captain Hilsman rise into the air.

-Vice-Captain! The human will retrieve you!

Hilsman heard Raon’s voice and thought of the master he would find.
Now his moment to enter the war had come.

“This is—”

Prince Valentino and his knights stared blankly at the sight before them.
The Vice-Captain’s foolish and somewhat frivolous demeanor had vanished, replaced by the gravity befitting a top-tier expert.

“I am in your debt.”

The moment Hilsman murmured those words, Prince Valentino snapped to attention and cried out.

“Seize him! He is a subordinate of the one who sought to kill Crown Prince Adin!”

And at the same moment, he looked around.
His eyes met those of Crown Prince Adin.

Valentino approached him with a worried expression.
He had to remain a friend for now. It was not yet time to strike from behind.

Clang!
Clang!

“Follow His Highness’s command!”

He hurried toward Crown Prince Adin while hearing his subordinates hastily echo his words from behind.
As he moved, he surveyed his surroundings.

The shock born from the sudden situation.
It was gradually fading from people’s faces.

Prince Valentino observed the common soldiers, knights, and nobles with keen attention.

He could see it clearly.
In place of the vanishing shock, fear and distrust were settling over their features.

Dark magic and Saint Jack.
The Empire’s people, having witnessed these two things, began to grow suspicious and doubtful.

‘Impressive.’

Prince Valentino could not hide his astonishment at Kale Heniatus’s side. Simultaneously, he found himself filled with revulsion toward the Empire.

‘They have committed far too many vile deeds.’

He opened his mouth to speak to Crown Prince Adin, who was touching his neck.

“Are you alright?”

Crown Prince Adin nodded slightly and opened his mouth toward the others.

“Do not let the enemy’s words confuse you!”

The Imperial Army watched, unable to conceal their wavering hearts at his voice.

“Why would alchemy be dark magic? It is the pillar that has sustained the Empire for hundreds of years! Do not forget that it was the only place that extended a hand to the children of the Slums!”

The confusion diminished somewhat.
The children from the Slums and Honth, the living proof of their success. The living Honth cried out from beside the Crown Prince.

“I merely used magic. If it were dark magic, the Mages here would have sensed the energy we used!”

The mages could be seen nodding in agreement. The Mage Commander spoke.

“It is not black magic.”

The arrows were black, but they lacked the distinctive malevolence inherent to black magic. No dead mana was detected either. The testimony of the Mage Commander, who stood nearby, momentarily eased the confusion that had gripped them.

“I have come here to repay the debt of gratitude I owe to the entire Empire!”

Honth’s cry rang out.
And the Crown Prince, his expression unusually desperate, shouted in response. His words jolted everyone back to their senses.

“This is a battlefield! If we are to survive, we must eliminate them!”

If we are to survive.
Those words snapped people’s minds into focus.

“Knights, draw your swords! Soldiers, take up your weapons!”

Adin moved with vigor, rekindling the spirit of the battlefield. Thanks to his efforts, the Imperial Army soldiers regained their composure as warriors facing war.
Yet doubt and suspicion had not entirely vanished.

Adin cried out.

“Golems and mages, annihilate those vile enemies!”

Enemies.
They were Kale Heniatus and his companions, who dominated the sky above.
At their center, Kale Heniatus stood atop the massive skeletal bird, rising to his feet on its back.

Crack. Crack.
Fire and light collided against his body, enveloping him in their radiance.
Because of this, the group could not approach Kale Heniatus recklessly. Choi Han felt goosebumps rise on his arms. An immense power emanated from Kale Heniatus. Without thinking, he spoke.

“Sir Kale Heniatus, are you alright?”

Kale Heniatus, his complexion ashen, turned to look at Choi Han, who addressed him.

‘He said I nearly fell under a spell?’

When Raon told me that Choi Han had nearly succumbed to black despair, I nodded to indicate I was fine. In that moment, a voice interjected.

“Kale Heniatus! Such a magnificent new power! I simply cannot fathom the limits of your strength! This beautiful radiance! More wondrous and glorious than the Sun God himself!”

Ah, Clophe.
I ignored the madman’s voice. I saw Saint Jack looking bewildered at Clophe, but I disregarded that as well and opened my mouth to speak.

“Golems are estimated to appear in the Jungle as well.”

The smile vanished from Clophe’s lips.
The Jungle, and golems.
A horrifying scene already took shape in his mind.

“Therefore, Ritana is currently retreating and returning to Capital Sector 7.”

The moment I finished speaking, Choi Han reacted first, urgently recalling the black liquid.

“Kale Heniatus! If that black liquid or the golems sweep through the Jungle, countless people will die!”

The Jungle was a place with few Mages or Alchemists.
It was a place where warriors excelled in close combat rather than ranged attacks, so if that black liquid from the golem erupted, everyone would be struck defenseless.
Moreover, it was a place with many ordinary people as well.

“We must stop that first!”

Choi Han cried out in urgency, then hesitated.

“Of course, capturing the Crown Prince now is also important!”

Our victory is important too!
Choi Han had heard and felt the voices of desperate people. That is why he spoke.

“Those things cannot be allowed to sweep over people and forests! We must save the people first!”

In that moment, he saw my cold gaze. Wrapped in fire and light, I emanated an aura that was difficult to approach carelessly.

‘Was I… too emotional?’

The thought suddenly crossed Choi Han’s mind.

“Calm yourself.”

I spoke with composure.

“Do you think I wouldn’t understand that?”

Ah, he remained unchanged.
Choi Han could see that I was still the same despite the shift in atmosphere.
Thus, he anticipated what I would say next. The moment I saw Hilsman descend upon one of the skeletal birds, I opened my mouth.

“I am issuing orders from this moment forward.”

My voice would reach not only the skeletal birds but also Maple Castle through the video communication channel. Knowing this, I smiled.

-Human! What should I do? What do you want me to do?

What should I do?
There was only one thing I would do.

“Wreck everything.”

“Pardon?”
“Lord Kale Heniatus?”
-Young master, what are you saying?
-Human! Are you going to wreck everything? I want to do that too!

My companions’ reactions varied. Most of them, however, carried confusion.
I, on the other hand, was straightforward.

I would destroy everything thoroughly.

I was someone who followed through once I made a decision.
Thus, for the first time, I switched roles with my companions.

I had always remained in the rear. Even when fighting enemies, I delegated attacks to others.
But this time was different.
I opened my mouth.

“Support me.”

This time, I am the center of it all.
Smart people like them would understand everything.

-Young Master!

Rosalind called out urgently, and Choi Han opened his mouth without managing to speak. Kale patted Choi Han’s pallid shoulder and spoke calmly.

“This is something I must do.”

Choi Han had nearly been captivated by that black despair. So he had to be excluded from the battle.
Merry would be helpful, but her impact was insufficient.
Strong impact was what I needed.

Fire that burns evil.

The Empire’s people, the Wipper Kingdom’s people, everyone had to witness it.
This was a war that might spread across the entire Continent.

“Sir Kale-”

His companions looked at him. The moment Saint Jack gazed at him with both hands clasped together, Kale spoke.

“Get back.”
“Pardon?”

When Vice-Captain Hilsman asked blankly, Kale replied calmly.

“I might lose control today.”
“…Pardon?”

As everyone stood bewildered, Kale kicked off the ground.

“Raon!”
-Ugh, I got it, human!

The human wreathed in golden light began to soar freely through the sky. It was Raon’s magic.
At the same time, Kale could see the skeletal birds flying away.
They were not heading toward the Golem.

“Smart bastard.”

I smiled, thinking of Clophe.
I descended slowly downward.
Dozens of spells passed overhead.

“As expected.”

Rosalind was clever too.
The magical attacks she commanded flew in the same direction as the skeletal birds.

Boom! Boom! Crash!

Hundreds of magical attacks from the Empire clashed with the skeletal birds and Wipper’s magic.

Thanks to that.
I could face the golems alone.
I looked toward Maple Castle. I could see Rosalind with an angry expression, and beside her were Merry, Tunka, and Herrol Codian.

They were supporting me according to my orders.
They were helping me face the golems by myself.

I let out a sigh.

“I said to support, not—”
“Guarding your side is my form of support, Lord Kale Heniatus.”
-That’s right! I’m going to support too! Weak human, I can’t help but worry!

Choi Han and Raon hovered in the air alongside me.
I sighed and looked down below.

“Heh, heh heh—”

Laughter spilled from my lips.
Massive things—golems—were looking up at me.
No, they were aiming at me. I could see the operators too. They were the ones who had created these golems.

I slowly spread both my hands open.

-Can you hear it?

Destructive Fire asked.

“I can.”

As I drew closer to the golems, I could hear it too. The cries of countless people. Suppressed sounds trapped within the massive golem’s body, unable to escape outward.
Sir Rex’s brothers were in there, the children from the Slums were in there, the people of the Roan Kingdom were in there. Everyone was there.

Destructive Fire spoke.

-I once heard my parents’ cries like this. My parents were also trapped inside a golem.

Parents who had given everything.
Destructive Fire, who had received so much from his parents, had to repay what he had been given.
That was the reason he had gone mad, and at the same time, it was why he had to save the Western Continent to become the proud person his parents had wished for.

-I am an existence that must burn and disappear.

The fire began to speak.

-But I will not burn alone.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
I slowly felt my heartbeat and gradually closed my eyes.
I closed my eyes, taking one last look at my companions’ worried gazes.

Only darkness remained.
In that moment, I heard the fire’s voice in my mind.

-There is something before me that must burn together!
-Use me!

I resolved to run wild today.
I still did not know the exact limits of Destructive Fire’s power.
But then again, did a reckless fool like me need to think about such things?

‘If I want to do it, I’ll do it.’

Sometimes, what the heart whispered was the right answer.

A deep rumble echoed across the sky.
The heavens themselves had begun to cry out.

Choi Han’s eyes snapped toward the clear sky as his hand instinctively tightened around his sword’s hilt. Raon’s voice reached him.

-It’s coming. Choi Han, fire is coming. Real fire is coming.

Raon’s voice trembled.
Without thinking, Raon’s words flooded into the minds of everyone in the group.

-Dodge! We need shields!

As Kale Heniatus’s party froze, they heard the sky’s terrible cry.

A deep rumble—another deep rumble—

It was a sound from a different dimension entirely.
The entire sky vibrated.

“Follow me!”

Clophe urgently led the skeletal birds forward, and Rosalind cried out.

“Shields! Expand the shields to their limits!”

At that same moment, a silver shield unfurled before Maple Castle. It was Raon’s shield.
In that instant, Kale Heniatus slowly opened his eyes.
The voice of Destructive Fire reached him.

-Pour everything out.

Kale Heniatus’s lips parted.

-Destroy it.
“Destroy it.”

That was the moment.

The sky turned crimson.
A vivid scarlet hue, as though drenched in blood itself.
Yet the sky’s color had not truly changed.

“What… what is that?”

The Imperial Army collapsed to their knees.

In the moment when beautiful golden light descended upon the crimson.
When a radiance emerged—mingling terror and sanctity together, as though divine punishment itself were descending.

The sky split asunder.

No—that golden-red inferno crashed down to earth.
Faster than sound, it swept across the eyes of all who witnessed it.

And then the sound arrived.

BOOM!
BOOM! BOOOM!

Dozens of Destructive Fire descended upon the earth, engulfing the entire battlefield where the golems stood.

“Ah—”

Rosalind instinctively stumbled backward, grasping the pillar of the Spire Tower.
Her breath caught in her throat.
The oppressive weight pressed through the Dragon’s silver shield.

“Is… is that the true power of fire that the prince possesses?”

Her eyes beheld only flame.
Fire suffused with golden radiance, surging upward as though to pierce the heavens themselves.

BOOM! BOOOM!

And then she saw it.
Massive dark forms crumbling.
Shattering.

Helplessly, they vanish.

“Gaaahhh!”
“Kraaagh!”

Those in the golem’s control chamber attempted emergency evacuation.
But everything was already melting away.

“The golem is melting in the fire!”

Even a being strong in aura was melting away in mere flames.
The golem pilots desperately tried to escape.
That was when it happened.

A certain sound reached their ears.

Screeeee— screeeee—
Screee— screeeeeee—

And black smoke billowed upward.
The fire melted the golem and its core alike.

Neither the Imperial Army nor the Wipper Army could see the enemy encampment any longer.

Only fire.
Fire that blurred the distinction between sky and earth filled their vision.
Golems burned within it.

“H-how horrifying.”

Thump.
An Imperial nobleman fell backward on his rear.

Screeeee— screeeeeech!
Screech! Screeeeeech!

A cry of an entirely different magnitude than before began to spread as the golems melted.
Simultaneously, black smoke seized the eye.

“…People, people—!”

The soldiers trembled with terror.
Black smoke coalesced into the shape of a skull.

The Alchemists in the control tower saw it too. The eye sockets of the skull drawn in that black smoke seemed to stare directly at them.
In their hands lay the death cries and vacant gazes of the fallen.
The pilots collapsed where they stood. Fire consumed their bodies, yet they could not move.

Beyond the skull’s hollow eyes, they glimpsed a demon gazing down upon them.
No—a Destroyer.

A man with hair the color of blood. Kale Heniatus.
He looked down from above with eyes cold and utterly composed.

The pilot whispered.

“It’s… over….”

The Empire and Wipper.
They could no longer see their enemies.
Only an ocean of suffocating flames. A black skull rising from the inferno. Terrible, anguished screams.
And at the center of it all stood one man—Kale Heniatus.

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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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