Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 302

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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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Fire.
That person had become fire itself.

Such was Choi Han’s thought as he stared blankly at the roaring flames. The Young Dragon’s voice reached his ears through the inferno.

“Choi Han! Snap out of it! This isn’t over yet!”

This fire isn’t the end?
Wrapped in layers upon layers of silvery shields, Choi Han’s body shuddered. Then he lowered his head.

Screeeech—Boom!
Boom—Crash!

Thirty-some golems.
They melted away one by one, crumbling to dust.

Yet within the inferno, something that would not burn became visible.
Black liquid.
That entity which had stained Choi Han’s blade black had not yet vanished.

‘Even Kale Heniatus’s fire is useless against it!’

Choi Han’s eyes grew dim.

‘Is that mass of despair truly indestructible?’

As Choi Han posed this desperate question to himself, one of the figures standing outside the sea of flames spoke.
One of the beings that existed outside the sea of fire opened its mouth.

If the light goes out, we’re in big trouble.

It was Crown Prince Adin.

“When the fire goes out, dark despair will be revealed. The Imperial Army soldiers will feel even more confusion and suspicion.”

And the vicinity of Maple Castle would become a desolate wasteland incapable of recovery for all eternity—a Land of Death that all living creatures must avoid.
Yet he found himself smiling despite it all.
He stroked the back of his neck.

“…Kale Heniatus.”

Shield. Earth. Water. Fire.
Ancient powers equal in number to the White Star itself.

Of course, that instantaneous acceleration he had felt when seized by the neck—whether it was an ancient power or magic remained unclear—but at minimum, including that fire, it made four.

And a healthy Kale Heniatus.

Fascinating.
Genuinely fascinating.
And I wanted to kill him.

In that moment, I understood.

“It was you.”

You.
That mysterious force which had thwarted every plan of the Empire, which had stood against the Empire—it was you all along.
Kale Heniatus and the Roan Kingdom.

They had been targeting the Empire’s throat under the guise of goodwill.
Only now did all the pieces finally fall into place.

I opened my mouth.

“Unleash all magical attacks upon Kale Heniatus immediately!”

There was no thought of the shattered golems, the dying operators, or their anguished screams in my mind.
Only the aftermath of containing the Black Despair once it was revealed occupied my thoughts.

‘Kale Heniatus will not be able to eliminate the Black Despair either.’

Even now, it still writhes within this inferno of flames.

Screeeech— screeeech—

The dead were crying out, were they not?
Even such formidable power had failed to dispel the black despair.

‘Then I shall kill Kale Heniatus and pin all of this upon him.’

If he simply died, everything could be resolved.

“Sub-Tower Master! Commander of the Mage Corps!”

At his call, the two men snapped back to their senses. Yet the nobles and soldiers beyond them remained entranced, their minds adrift.
Adin issued his command with clarity.

“Target Kale Heniatus! He is motionless now!”

Kale Heniatus hung suspended in the void, unmoving.

“Do you not hear the screams of the dying golem pilots? We must exact their vengeance, the Empire’s vengeance, at once!”
“Obey the Crown Prince’s command! All of you—pour forth your mana stones and unleash your most devastating magic!”

Metelona hastily took the lead, rallying the Mages and Alchemists.

“The target is Kale Heniatus!”

There was but one target.
The one who had wrought this miraculous spectacle.

Whoooom— whoooooom—

With trembling hands, the Mages began to activate their spells.

“If that inferno engulfs the Imperial Army, we are all dead!”

The Crown Prince’s words galvanized them into action.
In moments, the spells were primed and ready; only the signal to attack remained. Metelona exchanged a glance with the Crown Prince, and he raised his hand.

When that hand fell, the attack would commence.
Slowly, his hand descended.

He smiled as he gazed upon the flames consuming the battlefield.
Why?

‘Honth is smiling.’

The Tower Master’s disciple, Honth, was smiling. With unmistakable delight.
And so he was certain.

This was no danger to the Empire.
Kale Heniatus would die.

Adin—that was why he could smile even as he watched the inferno consume everything.

But then, it happened.
As the Crown Prince’s hand descended, he heard a voice—from one who had remained silent until now. Honth.
He finally spoke.

“…I must inform the White Star.”

The voice continued to reach him.

“This is that power. The power of those forgotten things. True ancient power.”

In that instant, the Crown Prince’s eyes widened.

Everything was changing.
The sea of flames was transforming.
Honth’s voice reached him again.

“…He must be killed. Before they all gather, he must be killed.”

And then another voice cried out.
A Mage positioned in the rear guard collapsed to his knees, his voice breaking.

“I cannot! I—I cannot do this! I cannot attack while witnessing such a sight!”

The Mage’s trembling hands clenched as his eyes fixed upon Kale, witnessing the spectacle unfolding before him.

They were converging toward me.
Black smoke, those skull-shaped wisps of smoke, drew closer to me.

Screeeech— screech—

Anguished wails accompanied them toward me.

I kept my head bowed, paying no mind to the spectacle unfolding around me.
I had wondered about this before.

What would it feel like to rampage as an overpowered being and overturn everything?

Would it be exhilarating?
Would it be thrilling?
Would it be entertaining?

‘Damn it all.’

It was infuriating.
I gazed downward at the earth below.

Golems melting away.
Alchemist operators burning to death with screams or standing vacant-eyed.
Along with it, a nauseating, viscous black despair.
As that despair touched the ground, the earth blackened. The black smoke and wails intensified further.

I lifted my head.
Choi Han stood bewildered, watching the black smoke engulfing me from the closest vantage point. A faint smirk escaped my lips.

And I began.

I started to wield this uncontrollable power properly.

Screeeech— screech—

Obscured by black smoke and anguished wails, I descended slowly toward the ground.
I set my feet upon a place filled with golems and operators, black despair, and raging flames.

“Kale Heniatus!”

Choi Han tried to rush out of the silver shield in shock.

“That liquid!”

Black despair. The viscous liquid gathered toward Kale Heniatus, converging around him who had become invisible beneath the black smoke and anguished cries.

Kale Heniatus gradually became obscured, as if sinking into the Black Swamp itself.
It seemed he would soon be consumed and vanish entirely.

“No!”

Like me, he cannot be bewitched! He must not succumb to that power!
Choi Han tried to rush forward, but a transparent presence blocked his path.

“Raon, don’t stop me!”
“Foolish Choi Han! Did you forget what the human said!”

Choi Han, who had been crying out urgently, froze.
The Young Dragon spoke into his ear.

“The human might not be able to control the power! But right now, the human still maintains his body! His vessel shows no abnormalities!”

Raon assessed Kale Heniatus’s condition with cold clarity.

“The human is only just beginning!”

The Black Dragon’s eyes perceived it.

From Kale Heniatus, from our human, warmth emanated.
Warmth—one of the reasons humans seek fire.
A power that comforts and embraces all that is cold and lonely.

Toward that warmth, all that was cold and lonely converged.
Black smoke and anguished cries.
The despair of the dead drew near to Kale Heniatus’s warmth.

And when Raon saw them all converge, he cried out.

“It will vanish! It will all disappear!”

What?
The moment Choi Han unknowingly echoed the question, his vision flooded crimson.

Whoooosh—

A scarlet light erupted outward.
Golden-red radiance bursting forth from the heart of the inferno.

“…The black things—”

The black things, the skulls, the viscous black liquid—all consumed by flame.
The Black Swamp itself burned.

Compared to the initial sea of fire, the sight did not carry that suffocating pressure.
Yet everyone fell silent.

Screeeech— Screeeeech—

That terrible shriek. That grotesque, unidentifiable wail. It vanished.

Instead, the black smoke turned white, and the black liquid was gradually consumed by the golden-red radiance.
Through it all, a sound emerged.

Aaaaaaaah!
Aaaaah—
Aaaaaaaah!

Human voices rang out.
Countless voices of weeping people echoed forth, rising skyward with the whitened smoke, growing ever more distant.

The sea of fire subsided.
The flames extinguished of their own accord.
The golem vanished without a trace.
Everything disappeared without a trace, no longer visible.

The moment the roar and explosions ceased, Rosalind in Maple Castle lifted her head.

Plink, plink.
Golden-red dust touched her silver shield, glimmering faintly.

No, I could see the ashes.

Fire burned together, leaving only smoke and ash in its wake.
She opened her mouth.

“…Purification.”

A beautiful sight, as if golden dust from the sun itself were falling.

Patter, patter.
Golden ash descended like snow upon the charred black earth.

And it also fell upon one person’s shoulders.
Kale Heniatus—from his hair to his shoulders, golden ash settled gently.

Kale lifted his head.
One of his knees buckled.

“Kale!”

Choi Han caught Kale as he stumbled forward. His eyes widened.

A trickle.
A thin stream of black blood ran down from the corner of Kale’s mouth.
Within that beautiful sight of falling golden ash, Choi Han’s face contorted.

This peaceful and beautiful scene without great explosions or sound—he understood it required immense power.
A silence that could only be obtained through sacrifice.
He knew this.

“K-Kale—”

Choi Han’s hands trembled violently. He tried desperately to support Kale and help him to his feet.
That was when.
Kale’s mouth moved.

At the same moment, Choi Han felt a transparent, round front paw strike his hand away.

-Move aside, Choi Han!

And Choi Han’s eyes widened as he saw something suddenly materialize before him.

It was a moist apple pie.
It floated in mid-air for a moment before being shoved into Kale’s mouth. Choi Han heard a sniffling voice in his mind.

-Human! Our human! Hungry! I know! That’s the look of hunger! Thank goodness! The human looks like he’s gone three days without food, but he’s not dead!
“R-Raon?”

Choi Han was flustered, but he could only watch as Kale contentedly chewed the apple pie.
With a face worn by labor and drenched in exhaustion, his body hanging limp without a shred of strength, Kale bit into the apple pie and cried out loudly.

“Target the monster on the ground!”

Choi Han froze.
Early in the battle.
What Clophe had said while mounted on the bone bird.

‘Take to the sky!’

And.

‘Target the monster on the ground!’

People had thought this monster was a ‘golem’.
A smile formed at the corner of Choi Han’s mouth.

Only then did he feel reassured.
Kale was alright now.

Wheee—wheeeee—

The sound of a whistle pierced the air.
The bone birds that had fled high into the sky reappeared.
And they flew like arrows toward a single direction.
Clophe shouted.

“The commander has given his orders! Keke, kehahahaha! At last, the time has come to capture the monster on the ground!”

The beaks of the bone birds and the blades of the knights all turned toward one target.

A monster of the earth.
Crown Prince Adin.

The true command Kale Heniatus had given Clophe shot toward the Empire like an arrow.
And Kale spoke to Choi Han, who was looking at me with a bright smile.

“Choi Han.”
“Yes.”

Kale felt all strength drain from my body, and my head spun dizzily.
I had expended far too much power.

“Slap my cheek.”

Silence descended for a moment before it shattered.

“…Pardon? Are you… are you alright? You seem disoriented?”
-Human, are you okay? The vessel is intact! If you exert yourself now, will your mind break?

When Choi Han and Raon cried out in genuine alarm, Kale answered calmly.

“I might lose consciousness.”

If I passed out, it would be catastrophic.

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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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