Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 331

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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 73. Who Are You?

A skeletal dragon revealed its majestic form against the night sky.

“…A, a dragon-”

Sir Rex, the Cat Tribe Knight, stared at Kale Heniatus with a bewildered expression.

‘Are those truly dragon bones?’

Where had dragon bones come from?
This was something he had never heard of before.
Of course, he had seen a dragon made of bones in the famous footage from the Heniatus Territory battle, but that dragon had been black.
And hadn’t that one been destroyed?

‘Did he possess another set of dragon bones?’

Kale gazed into Sir Rex’s bewildered eyes before letting his gaze drift away like flowing water. He could see the Empire’s citizens, startled and astonished.
In that moment, Raon’s voice reached him.

-Fake! Everyone’s so surprised!

Indeed it was.
Kale observed the astonished crowd and allowed the corners of his mouth to rise slightly beneath his robe.

They were all wyvern bones.
Of course, it was a dragon recreated by Merry, who had once manipulated dragon bones and possessed unparalleled knowledge of skeletal and bodily structures.
And that was precisely why it appeared as a dragon to the people.
This was what mattered.

“Ha, haha-”

Sir Bernard—no, Tower Master Bernhard burst into laughter.

“How amusing.”

His eyes beheld only white-robed figures: the Necromancer and the skeletal dragon, along with wyverns, holy knights, and priests—all painted in shades of white.
Finally, his gaze turned once more toward Merry.

“You’ve grown a bit stronger than before.”

What?
Kale Heniatus’s expression became peculiar.

Merry had grown tremendously by consuming vast amounts of dead mana in Jungle Zone 7.
She had become strong enough to defeat Choi Han six times out of ten.
Yet that degree of growth was merely “a bit”?

Merry’s voice reached us.

“I understand. I have grown somewhat stronger.”

Kale Heniatus’s brow furrowed.
Merry too had described her own growth as “somewhat more.” Her gaze turned toward Tower Master Bernhard.

“Compared to you, it is indeed only a bit.”

At that moment, everyone looked toward the sky.

Screeeee—
The white Dragon began to beat its wings.

“However, I will emerge victorious.”

Merry’s calm voice reached Bernhard. The Tower Master burst into laughter and continued.

“Hahahaha, haha— These Necromancers and their ilk are always so presumptuous, haha—”

The laughter faded.

“They know not their place.”

He recalled someone from long ago—the last Necromancer, the King of Death.
Bernhard’s lips twisted.

Necromancers are weaker than dark mages.
That was the truth.
Yet there had been one who shattered that truth and insisted that a sanctuary must be created for beings with dark attributes to thrive.

Wandering alone across the Western Continent, she had extended her hand, saying that darkness too was part of nature and asking them to walk together.
A person who revealed her face before all living creatures of the Western Continent, urging them to blend into the world rather than hide away.

‘Bernhard, you must become the path for dark mages. Join us. Dark magic surely has a thread connecting it to nature.’
‘Everything that exists in this world has a reason. There must be a way for dark magic not to be an evil force.’

That aged visage speaking with a wrinkled face.
Grotesque black spider-web-like blood vessels.
A skeletal frame that had endured suffering throughout life, ravaged by ailments everywhere, and a spine bent with age.

If there existed a person of the most hideous appearance, it would surely have been her—the King of Death.
That grotesque old woman spoke.

‘Bernhard, after you end everything, return to nature.’
‘Let us abandon our attachment to life.’

Bernhard saw Hana, covered in black blood vessels, screaming as she looked at him.

“You became a lich, and now you’re trying to control people too!”

Simultaneously, the voice of the King of Death, her voice, echoed in his mind.

‘Abandon your attachment. Stop living as a lich. I’m giving you the chance to end your own life. If you refuse, I will kill you, Bernhard.’

The corners of Bernhard’s mouth rose as he burst into loud laughter.

“Hahahaha—!”

In the end, the final Necromancer who was said to be able to defeat dark mages had died.
The one who survived was Bernhard—himself.

The survivor is always the victor.
Tower Master Bernhard slowly raised his hand.

Boom!
An aura mixed with black and gold light collided with Bernhard’s black mana sphere, erupting in an explosion.
Bernhard lightly brushed off Hana’s aura and cast a sneer toward her who had attacked him.

“Seems you’re angry.”

Bernhard had been startled by Hana’s sudden ambush moments ago, but there was no reason to be caught off guard by this direct assault.

“Why are you so angry?”

The Tower Master Bernhard stared at the enraged Hana as her attack dissipated, breathing heavily through his nose.
The corners of Hana’s eyes curved sharply.

“You’re asking because you don’t know?”

Eyes brimming with madness swept past Bernhard and fixed upon the gathering crowd behind him.
Humans whose eyes had turned black as if reason had been stripped away assembled without expression, becoming Bernhard’s army.

Being controlled.
Being used.

These were among the things Hana despised most.

As a child, she had been exploited by the Sun God Church, by the Pope, forced to live a false existence.
After that, she had been deceived by ‘Dark’ and struck down from behind.

“I’m a wicked person, you see.”

Scritch, scritch.
Hana’s arm hung limp, her blade dragging across the ground.

My brother is kind. Kale and his companions are kind too.
But I am rotten through and through.
No—it’s not merely wickedness. It’s evil.

Pure evil.

“That’s right. I’m not just wicked—I’m utterly corrupted.”

Screeeech—
Her blade raked violently across the ground.
Once more, Hana’s sword swept through the air.

“That’s why I can only find peace by killing creatures like you!”

Aura and dead mana collided, erupting in a violent explosion.

Kwaaaang—

As dust rose once more from the blast, obscuring the impact site, Bernhard’s voice cut through the chaos.

“In a battle between many and few, if the few possess greater strength, sometimes the few emerge victorious.”

Sensing the ominous shift in momentum, black energy began to swirl around Merry’s fingertips.
Hana moved to Merry’s side and braced herself, channeling power into her feet.

That was when it happened.

Crash! Crash! Boom!

Sounds erupted from somewhere.
The noise of something colliding and shattering echoed through the air.

“What the—!”

Kale turned his head, his brow furrowing deeply.

The main gate of the Alchemy Tower stood wide open.
There, he could see panicked Dark Elves, Tasha, and Choi Han.
And there were others as well.

Black mages with their limbs bound.
Those who were still alchemists.
Along with guards and others who performed various duties within the Alchemy Tower.
And finally, slaves who had been captured from across the Western Continent.

They were all visible.

“Grraaah—”
“Cough!”

Those with eyes blackened as pitch thrashed desperately to escape the tower, even while bound and held down by the Dark Elves grasping their limbs.
When they tried to restrain them by the arms, the possessed ones didn’t hesitate to break their own bones in their frantic struggle to get outside.

To Tower Master Bernhard.
To reach him.

“…This! Those people seem to be controlled as well!”

Kale Heniatus heard Lex’s panicked voice.
At the same time, Bernhard’s voice rang out.

“But there is a way to defeat a small number of the strong.”

As the explosion subsided and the dust cloud dispersed, Bernhard came into view.
Bernhard gazed quietly toward Kale Heniatus and drew a smile. It was a picturesque, benevolent smile.

“Become evil and cruel. The good find it difficult to win wars, no matter what.”

That was the moment.

-Human!
-Kale! An enormous presence.

The moment the voices of two Dragons reached his ears.

“Gack!”

The one standing beside Tower Master Bernhard began strangling his own neck with both hands. This man had called the Tower Master his teacher—the one who had been masquerading as the false Tower Master.
As everyone held their breath and stared at him, Bernhard laughed and spoke.

“If I control them, they can kill themselves.”

That was when it happened.

“No, please!”

People turned their heads at the desperate cry that pierced the air.

“No, Father!”

A single Knight who had been advancing toward Bernhard—the one who had been blocking Imperial citizens from leaving the Capital—seized a boy’s wrist and dragged him.

“Sir Knight! You mustn’t! No, cough!”

The Boy’s Father, who had been trying to stop him, was shoved aside by the Knight. Everyone froze at what had unfolded in an instant.

“If I control them, they could kill someone completely innocent.”

Bernhard spoke with a laugh.

“I don’t attack the strong. I attack the innocent. That’s how you defeat a foolishly righteous strong one.”

Cough. Hack.
Bernhard gently stroked the head of his dying disciple.

“Isn’t it a beautiful method of destruction?”

Mere death was not destruction.
True destruction was watching the mind die alongside the body in agony.
That way, the dead mana that emerged from them would be saturated with despair.
It would be useful to my master.

“What do you think?”

Bernhard laughed, observing the frozen strong ones.
That was the moment.

“Nonsense. My ears have been defiled.”

What?
The instant Merry’s mechanical, rigid voice rang out.

Bang!

“Cough! Gasp!”

White mana flew forth, striking the Knight’s armor with brutal force.

“Dad!”
“Ah, a-!”

Father trembled as he rushed forward and cradled the boy in his arms.
Through his eyes, he could see the dark-eyed Knight approaching the boy once more.

Crash!

But the Knight was blocked.

“Sam!”
“Yes, boss.”

The boy’s father, who ran the shop, watched as Sam—an employee from the Slums—blocked the Knight with a small shield.
In that instant, one of the Slums residents picked up something lying on the ground and hurled it.

Clang!

And it was caught by someone’s hand.
It was a shield.
A large silver shield.
The one wielding it cried out.

“Protect the Empire’s people!”

At Sir Lex’s cry, the Slums residents carrying bags swiftly drew small shields from within them.
The only weapons that had been packed alongside the relief supplies.
Lex shouted once more.

“Everyone, flee!”

Lex’s gaze turned toward Kale Heniatus.
Lex met the eyes hidden beneath the robe.

Protection.
It was the duty Lex and his comrades had undertaken.

“Let’s go.”

The moment Lex rushed past Kale Heniatus and shouted, another voice cried out.

“Help Sir Lex!”

The middle-aged woman dressed in white priestly robes pulled back her hood and drew daggers from her sleeves.

“You crazy bastard, you touched the boy?”

Frigia, the head of the information network under Kale Heniatus.
The assassin Frigia, who had once killed the previous leader when ordered to kidnap the boy and fled, now departed the plaza with her subordinates in tow.

“Render all the knights combat-ineffective!”
“Yes!”

The assassins masquerading as priests in white robes scattered throughout the capital.
Shields and daggers departed to fulfill their purpose.

-Human!
“I know.”

Recalling the remaining task, Kale opened his mouth.

“Saint Jack.”

Kale tapped the shoulder of Saint Jack, who kept muttering “purify, purify.” He spoke as he observed the wavering pupils of Saint Jack’s eyes fixed upon him.

“Everyone here is poisoned. And they are overwhelmingly strong. Strong enough not to harm the innocent.”

Ah.
Saint Jack let out an exclamation.
He could see people rushing past Kale’s back.
Choi Han and the Dark Elves.
Those draped in white robes burst forth from the darkness within the Alchemy Tower.

At the same moment, Saint Jack heard laughter.

“Puhahahaha, good? Who?”

A person laughing like a madman, shoulders trembling.
My sibling.
Saint Jack saw his sister Hana.

Hana, her eyes ablaze with madness and fury, spoke.

“Good? Me? Pfu, hahahaha!”

She laughed as she spoke.

“Bernhard, once I kill you, it’s all over, isn’t it?”

Once the puppet master was dead, everything would end.
Hana continued laughing, tossing out her words carelessly.

“It’s mine, right?”

The answer came from beside her.

“That’s correct.”

A stiff, mechanical voice.
Yet it was the voice of one who knew Hana second only to Saint Jack.
Merry—the one who would carry the same pain throughout her entire life—her composed voice reached Hana’s ears.

It hurt.

Hana’s body still ached from frequent pain.
Yet she pushed strength into her feet and spoke to Merry.

“As I thought, I prefer the white dragon to the Black Dragon.”

And she surged forward.
Moments later, her feet dug into the earth.

She leaped skyward.
Soon she had solid ground beneath her feet.

The white dragon’s head.
Hana stood atop the skeletal dragon’s head and spoke.

“Let’s go.”

The skeletal wyvern and the holy knights followed in Hana’s wake.
On the ground, Choi Han and the Dark Elves rushed past Merry toward Bernhard.

At that moment, Kale Heniatus spoke to Saint Jack.

“Now is the time.”

Saint Jack recalled what I had to do.
Only then did I feel the vibration spreading across my chest. From my inner pocket—a faint tremor emanated from within.
The moment the wavering vanished from Saint Jack’s eyes, Kale Heniatus whispered.

“Deliver the judgment.”

Saint Jack grasped the small hand mirror vibrating in his inner pocket.
The divine artifact of the Sun God—the Judgment of the Sun.
It was crying out.

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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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