Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 304

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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 teal-blue arrow seemed to swallow Honth’s body in an instant.

“No!”

The violent cry made the Imperial knights hesitate.
Crown Prince Adin, rarely showing urgency on his face, had cried out.

“Save Honth! We must save Honth!”

He paused, then raised his voice further.

“He is one of the pillars of the Empire’s future! Mages, aid him!”

But his cry was in vain.
Kale Heniatus let out a scoff at Crown Prince Adin’s words and gazed upon Honth.

“It’s already too late.”

The teal-blue arrow engulfed Honth.

Boom!

A tremendous roar erupted.
Dust and gray smoke, light from the explosion surged upward.
The smoke was vast enough to cover not only Honth but the Black Bone Bird as well.

“Cough!”

As the smoke gradually settled, figures could be seen collapsing.

“Hack!”
“Urgh!”

One by one, several of the Alchemy Tower’s combat leaders who had been at Honth’s side, seemingly to protect him, could not withstand the explosive force and collapsed, coughing blood.

The Imperial Army’s Mage Corps Commander’s hands began to tremble. He had felt the mana vibrating from the explosion that had just unfolded.
He looked at the settling smoke and cried out to Crown Prince Adin.

“Your Highness! Honth is important, but you must flee at once! The enemy’s assault is far beyond our expectations! The Necromancer appears to wield magic as well!”

The Knight Commander felt a sudden urgency—he needed to escape before that smoke cleared, before he faced Commander Kale Heniatus.
The power of fire that man had wielded was like divine judgment itself.

That was when it happened.

“As expected, not yet.”
“…Your Highness?”

Crown Prince Adin smiled. And the Mage Corps Commander witnessed it.

“What?”

Through the dissipating smoke, a figure rose skyward.
One wreathed in black mana.

It was Honth.
He ascended without a single wound, his shield dissolving as he extended his hand.
But that was not all.

Another presence emerged, cutting through the smoke—no, scattering it entirely.
The Black Bone Bird.

“It seems I’m still lacking.”

Kale Heniatus smiled, his face ashen from the strain of his depleted stamina. His hand moved. The Black Bone Bird immediately surged toward Honth.

Toward Honth, who had risen into the air, the Black Bone Bird ascended as well.
The battle had begun in the sky.

“Young Master.”
-Human!

Kale Heniatus let out a soft chuckle.

“Yes. This time, I’ll serve you all.”

Kale Heniatus began to move according to Merry’s and Raon’s intentions.
Merry immediately raised herself upright upon the Black Bone Bird’s spine, her hands—covered in a web-like tapestry of scars—emerging into view.

Honth and Merry.
Their hands reached toward one another.
Honth’s lips curved upward. He glanced downward briefly, and once the voices could no longer reach them, he opened his mouth to speak.

“Something extinct has returned.”

Black mana blossomed from his hand.
Simultaneously, black mana bloomed from Merry’s hand as well.
Honth regarded Merry in her black robes with an expression of amusement.

“Those creatures have always possessed a repugnant appearance. Truly pathetic.”

And he looked toward Kale Heniatus.

“I thought we had eradicated them all. The Dark Elves as well. I believed the bloodline was extinct.”

Kale Heniatus’s pupils dilated. Simultaneously, a chill descended upon the air. As expected, there were multiple hidden layers behind the Sun God Church’s Necromancer’s demise.
And in that moment, I understood.

‘That bastard is a Tower Master.’

One who had lived through countless ages at that.
Likely he had continued to survive by seizing the bodies of others.
Honth spoke on with delight even as he met Kale Heniatus’s gaze.

“The King of Death must be grieving. Had it been her, she would have rejoiced that a successor to the Necromancer’s power had emerged.”

The amusement faded from Honth’s expression.
Contempt took its place instead.

“Yet she met her end adorning her finale just as you have.”

And still regarding Kale Heniatus, he continued.

“Ancient power would include wind as well, would it not?”

Honth had not lost the grip of strength from when Kale Heniatus had seized the Crown Prince by the nape of his neck.

“The vessel is fragile, but immensely vast. Immensely.”

He licked his lips.
Kale Heniatus felt a wave of unease wash over him at that expression.

‘What is this bastard?’

Could it be?
When the corpse that still moved came into Kale Heniatus’s vision, Honth spoke. His eyes gleamed with murderous intent directed at Kale Heniatus.

“I covet it. As my next body.”

Had he lost his mind?
The moment Kale Heniatus thought this, his spine went cold.
Behind him.

-He’s insane!
“He has lost his mind.”

The moment Raon and Merry’s voices reached his ears, Kale Heniatus immediately ducked his head.
A small arrow grazed past once more.

Boom!

An explosion erupted.
Kale Heniatus lifted his head. He saw another black arrow flying toward Honth.
It was Merry. She spoke with composure.

“Be quiet.”

Her voice was calm and measured as always. Yet the aura of the black arrows extending from her hands was anything but.

Whirrrrr—
Dead mana coalesced and coalesced again. Kale Heniatus watched Honth. He remained unscathed.

-Human! That one casts magic as well as I do!

Raon’s grave voice reached them, and then Honth opened his mouth.

“Hahaha, so you just keep firing arrows. Well, a Necromancer can’t use dead mana through magic, right? At best, you can only move things that are already dead.”

Kale Heniatus hesitated.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart beats again.
I no longer have the strength to wield ancient power, yet my heart pounds.
Dangerous.

-Human, that power is no joke!

Raon felt it too.

-But I can’t grasp the principle! It’s just different from natural magic! I don’t know what he’s gathering it for.

Raon did not know the purpose of the energy Honth was gathering.
Because of that, Kale understood. That energy gathering now—something a Dragon who knows nature’s laws from birth does not know—that was it.

“Dark magic.”

Honth shrugged his shoulders.

“Unlike that grotesque thing, I don’t need to rely on the dead. I can use magic too, and more than anything, instead of using the dead, I can simply kill.”

He laughed, his shoulders trembling. And he spoke.

“The Dragon, the Necromancer, you—I’ll eliminate you all.”

Wind blows.
Kale Heniatus felt the wind gathering slowly in the air.
Tremendous power converges toward Honth.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart beat with increasing intensity.

“Merry, Raon.”

Kale called out to them. At the same time, he gestured for Clophe’s Black Bone Birds to retreat, then continued to Raon and Merry.

“Hurry.”

We must kill him before his magic is completed.
However, the moment Kale spoke, he understood his companions’ intention.

The Black Bone Bird moved. It was not Kale’s will.

“That’s right. I handle bones best.”

Merry moved into action.
She enlarged the black arrow while simultaneously controlling the Black Bone Bird. Then she spoke as if casually tossing the words aside.

“My master once told me.”
“What? A master?”

Kale paused after asking. A puzzle piece came to mind.

The last Necromancer before Merry. That person was said to have turned the Caro Kingdom’s Desert into the Land of Death and vanished from the world.
Merry was a Necromancer reborn from the Land of Death.

‘Could it be?’

A thought flashed through Kale’s mind, but Merry continued speaking calmly.
She merely spoke of the Necromancer book she had received from the Dark Elf Market Master—from Tasha’s father.

“I consider the previous owner and author of the book I taught myself from to be my former master.”

Kale heard things he was learning for the first time from Merry’s lips.
Perhaps stories—no, the lives—of people he had never known because he had only read up to volume five of The Birth of a Hero.

Uuuuuung—

Honth’s magic grew larger.
Yet the Black Bone Bird’s body shone with an even deeper black light. Simultaneously, the black arrow expanded. The Black Bone Bird rushed swiftly toward Honth.
Merry spoke to Kale.

“My master wrote on the first page of the book: A Necromancer is weaker than a dark mage. And a Necromancer suffers from dead mana their entire life.”

A Necromancer, even if weakened by dead mana, must live their entire life in pain.

“However, black magic feels no pain from the moment one accepts it.”

A black mage was stronger than a Necromancer and suffered no agony.

When the Dark Elf Market Master first showed her the paths of black magic and Necromancy, he had read the opening passages of the Necromancer’s tome aloud, and those words still lingered in Merry’s mind.
The reason she had chosen Necromancy spilled from her lips for the first time.

She was only ten years old, yet she had already witnessed pain and death.
Because of that, the words left behind by the book’s author had burrowed deep into her consciousness.

“To accept dead mana is to bear the suffering of the dead and their yearning for life. Therefore, a Necromancer is always in pain, and because of this, a Necromancer is.”

Merry still could not forget her mother’s voice, urging her to flee beyond the Desert, to run ahead first.

“Grateful for being alive and grateful for the lives that have passed. A Necromancer is a being who constantly suffers and awakens to understanding.”

The moment she heard that sentence, Merry chose to become a Necromancer.
And she had never regretted it once.

Then she heard Kale’s voice.

“Your thoughts are correct. Do as your heart desires.”

I understand.
Merry answered silently within herself as her hands moved. Like a conductor taking the stage, her hands swept through the empty air with graceful precision.
In that instant, Kale heard a cry like a scream from below.

“No! Save Honth!”

Kale looked down. It was the Crown Prince’s voice. The command was so forceful that Kale hesitated for a moment, but he quickly turned away from it.
Crown Prince Adin could not afford to do nothing but watch the Black Bone Bird.

And just as Kale had anticipated, a figure appeared before the Crown Prince.

“Have you forgotten me?”

Black aura bloomed into view.
A dark reaper approached, brushing past the Empire’s knights and mages with contemptuous ease. Choi Han drew near with the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile.

“Your Highness! You must evade!”
“Raise the shield!”

Yet Crown Prince Adin spoke despite the frantic voices urging him to flee.

“Save Honth.”
“Your Highness!”
“You must save him!”

Adin did not look at Choi Han.
His gaze remained fixed upon the sky.
Even as his subordinates fell attempting to intercede against Choi Han, even as chaos erupted around him, he stared only upward.

Uuuuuung—

Honth’s colossal magic appeared as though it would strike at any moment.
Simultaneously, the massive Black Bone Bird and an enormous black arrow surged toward that attack.

“Hahaha! Yes, come forth!”

Honth spread both arms wide, swelling the black mana further. Then he compressed it.

Uuuuung—

Kale Heniatus lowered his body.
The air around him trembled as Merry and Honth drew closer.
And in that instant.

—Human! Do not raise a shield! I know you lack strength! I shall do it!

A silver shield enveloped the Black Bone Bird.
At the same moment, Merry spoke.

“We collide.”
“Go!”

Honth’s black mana transformed into nine serpentine heads that lashed toward them.

Sssssss— Sssssss—
The serpents shrieked, their fangs bared like daggers as they lunged to devour the Black Bone Bird.
The Black Bone Bird’s beak and talons struck at the serpents’ throats.

Boom! Booooom! Boom!

Kale squinted against the deafening explosions. Black smoke and brilliant light erupted across the battlefield. Yet the Black Bone Bird pressed ever closer to Honth.

Crack.
Part of the shield shattered, and fissures spiderwebbed across the Black Bone Bird’s bones, fragments crumbling away.
Still, it did not stop.
That was when it happened.

—Human, something is strange!
“Something is amiss.”

What?
Merry and Raon spoke simultaneously.
Kale’s eyes widened.

Just a bit further, and the Black Bone Bird’s beak would tear through Honth’s throat.
Yet something seemed wrong.

‘…He’s still wreathed in black mana?’

Despite having conjured nine serpents, vast reserves of black mana still clung to him.
As if he were preparing to unleash more magic.

That was when it happened.
Honth’s mouth opened.

“We shall meet in the Capital.”

What?
Before Kale could even respond.
Black mana flashed brilliantly as magic unfurled.

Uuuuuung—

And then magic appeared.
Crown Prince Adin.
Light began to shimmer around him. Honth had cast magic upon the Crown Prince.
Kale cried out reflexively without thinking.

Teleportation.
That’s teleportation.

“Raon!”
—I know!

Raon moved to intercept the teleportation.
Having learned his rapid casting prowess during the battle with the Dragon Hybrid, Raon was now capable of deploying magic faster than anyone else.

Choi Han also accelerated.
He had noticed the light of the teleportation.

At the same time, Kale shouted.

“Merry, speed up! Shoot your arrows!”

All I had to do was kill Honth, the magic caster.
Then the magic would stop.
It was the fastest way.

The Black Bone Bird would soon seize Honth’s throat.

That was when it happened.
A voice seized Kale and Raon—a scream rang out.
Someone who sensed something amiss, unlike Raon.
She, the only one who had grasped the anomaly, cried out.

“It’s an explosion!”

Merry shouted with rare emotion infused in her voice.
It was fear.

Don’t attack it!
Merry realized this.
No, I mustn’t attack that.

“It’s, it’s a self-destruct!”

Raon hesitated.
And below, unable to comprehend what was happening, Choi Han on the ground also froze as he leaped over the Knight Commander’s body. The Crown Prince was right before his eyes now. He could see the Crown Prince’s expression had changed.

“Ah, what a shame.”

Crown Prince Adin lamented from atop the teleportation circle.
His demeanor had shifted, as if questioning when he had cried out to save Honth.

And Choi Han could see that there were several others besides Adin who had received Honth’s teleportation magic.
The Empire’s leadership, and the Lion Tribe leadership and Caro Kingdom dignitaries who had fled far away.

“What, what is this?”
“This suddenly!”
“Did Honth do this? This is, this is Archmage-level magic!”

Magic that executed teleportation to multiple coordinates simultaneously. Even with only a handful of people, even if they shared similar coordinates, it was an extraordinary display of magical prowess.

But that was not why Choi Han had frozen.

“There’s nothing to be done.”

It was because of Crown Prince Adin’s peculiar reaction.

“What a shame.”

A shame about what?
Choi Han felt puzzled but tried to seize the Crown Prince.
That was when it happened.

“Stop!”

Kale’s voice rang out through amplification magic.
At the same time, Raon’s voice echoed in his mind.

-This… this can’t be!

The Young Dragon panicked.
What is this?
What in the world is happening?
But Choi Han, who did not stop, caught sight of Crown Prince Adin’s gaping mouth.

‘A shame. They’re all dead. It’ll take considerable time and resources to raise them all again.’

Adin looked at Choi Han with a regretful smile. Yet his expression suggested that while it was unfortunate, it was none of his concern.

What?
All dead?
Raise them again? What?

Choi Han turned his head and gazed upward at the sky.
And then he suddenly saw the Black Bone Bird retreating.

Kale Heniatus watched as Merry drove the Black Bone Bird backward, then glanced at Honth.
Honth laughed.

“Krahaha! The novice Necromancer shows promise.”

He spread his lifeless body wide.

“‘I’ am in the Capital. This is merely a shell.”

And that body fell.
It plummeted downward like a puppet with its strings cut.

Down onto the battlefield of collapsed earthen walls where the Wipper Kingdom Army, led by Tunka, and the Imperial Army were locked in chaos.
The body descended now.

The eyes that had held life gradually dimmed.
And before that final light extinguished, it spoke to Kale Heniatus.

“A gift. A gift for your Necromancer. A taste of what’s to come.”

And with that, it smirked.

“I gift you all the dead mana of these humans.”

Crack.
The last spark of life vanished from Honth’s eyes as his chest began to split open.

Something black became visible in the gap.
Two beings reacted to it.

“No! It’s enormous!”
-No! That’s similar to a golem core too! It’s even more dangerous!

Raon and Merry’s voices.
Kale watched the falling figure—no, the Tower Master disappear, and he saw the corpse of the real Honth who had died so unjustly, the landscape of the ground etched into his vision.

The fleeing Crown Prince.
And the Wipper Army and Imperial Army.

“Damn it!”

Kale gripped the reins of the Black Bone Bird.
And descended rapidly in a vertical dive.

He turned his head to the side.
A corpse devoid of life.
Blood tears streamed down Honth’s eyes.

At the same moment, his body convulsed.

“Damn!”

Kale stretched his hand downward, veins bulging in his neck, silver light pouring forth.

Simultaneously, the bomb inside Honth’s body detonated.

Boom—!

People’s ears went deaf and their eyes went blind in an instant.
Like Kale’s Destructive Fire, but an ominous black light descended—not upon a golem, but upon a person.

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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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