Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 335

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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 74. Shattered

I stared at the one who kept asking who I was.

-Human! The White Star is human, but doesn’t seem human! S, shield more!

Just once.
A moment ago, only once. I blocked the White Star’s sword of fire that came hurtling toward me with my silver shield.
I looked down at my hand gripping the shield.

‘My palm is torn.’

In that instant, the ‘unbreakable shield’ nearly shattered.
If not for Raon’s silver shield, my shield would have broken.

I tore my gaze from my hand and fixed it upon the White Star.
Unlike the weary voice, his eyes blazed with vitality. That discord somehow suited him.

“You yourself—”

I opened my mouth.

“You yourself, who are you?”

No.
Who he was didn’t matter right now.

“How are you repeating reincarnation?”

A reincarnator.
Words my enemies had spoken flashed through my mind.
Crown Prince Adin, whom he had called human, and the Dragon Hybrid. Among them, Crown Prince Adin’s voice echoed in my thoughts.

‘I cannot win. No living being can ever defeat him, no one.’
‘I am not afraid of you, nor of dragons. But I fear the White Star.’

I began to understand why Crown Prince Adin feared the White Star.

‘He is life itself.’

Even if I kill him, he will be reborn in a form I don’t recognize and appear before my eyes again. Moreover, there was a high probability he would appear stronger than before his death. Experience accumulates, after all.
So it would be terrifying.

“Reincarnation, then. You must have heard it from the Ancient Dragon.”

White Star swept back his hair and offered a rather refreshing smile.

“That’s why I should have killed that Ancient Dragon back then.”

Should have killed him back then.
At those words, I recalled Erhafen, who had come to me saying that Rare was destroyed. And the existence of dragons that had already died before that flashed through my mind.

“So, where should I start?”

White Star remained composed.

“M-My lord-”

The Lich with crimson eyes stretched out his bony arm and called to White Star desperately, but White Star didn’t spare him a glance.
Instead, he gazed at me with eyes full of amusement and opened his mouth.

“I am the head of the Dragon Slayer Family. And I am the one who annihilated the Dragon Slayer Family.”

…What is this bastard saying?
For a moment, I was taken aback.

“Except for me, I killed every single one without leaving anyone behind.”

He’s the head of his own family, yet he killed them all?
Not a single one left alive?

“And as you said, I am a reincarnator.”

I watched White Star openly reveal his identity without hesitation, unable to grasp the situation. Usually, when asked about something like this, wouldn’t people hide it to the end?
He’s just casually spilling out his past misdeeds?
…Is he truly insane?

“Kale Heniatus, I’ve heard much about you. Reports came in that you possess multiple ancient powers, much like myself. They say your eyes and hair color are similar too.”

Interesting.
White Star murmured softly, then tilted his head to one side.
Even as he did, Sword Master Hana’s white sword burrowed deeper into the Lich’s heart core, and Lich Bernard called out desperately for his master.

“…Master—”

But I had no time to pay attention to that voice.
White Star kept speaking words I couldn’t afford to ignore, words that demanded my full attention.

“But Kale, I didn’t know you also possessed the Dragon Slayer Family’s power. The dominating aura, right? That’s what you have? I can feel it.”

White Star, who called me by name so casually, lightly swung his sword downward.
A tremendous sound erupted.

Crash!

The radiant sword aura and flames collided violently, producing a massive explosion. Through the billowing smoke, Choi Han landed on the rooftop, sword still in hand.
White Star glanced at Choi Han once, then turned his gaze back to me and spoke.

“Moreover, you’re like that black-haired one and like me.”

The commonality between White Star, Choi Han, and myself.

“Time has been twisted.”

The commonality flowed from White Star’s lips.
At those words, I heard the Young Dragon’s voice in my mind.

-Human! I don’t understand what that means! Our Choi Han isn’t twisted, and our human isn’t twisted either! Both are great like me, well, somewhat great!

Raon’s silver shields materialized once more, attempting to protect me from White Star. White Star observed the sight, then looked straight ahead at the voice he heard.

“So?”
“…What?”

I, Kale Heniatus, spoke to White Star with a crooked smile, tossing the words out casually.

“So what are you trying to say?”

Whether time itself had been twisted or not.
What does that have to do with me?
As long as I’m living well right now, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?

“Hana!”

Kale Heniatus called out one person’s name, and immediately after, another.

“Merry!”

In that instant, black threads tightened simultaneously with tremendous force. At the same time, Sword Master Hana pierced completely through Lich Bernard with her white blade.
The white blade burst through his chest and erupted from his back.

Crack!
The heart orb shattered completely. In that moment, a grotesque sound filled the entire space.

Screeeee— Screeeeeee—

A horrifying wail that resembled what a monster’s cry might sound like engulfed the Imperial Capital.

“Ugh!”

Saint Jack instinctively covered his ears and nearly collapsed to his knees.

“Saint.”

There was someone who caught his body before he fell.

“…Sir Rex.”

The Cat Tribe Knight Sir Rex, shield in hand, helped Saint Jack back to his feet.
Saint Jack regarded Sir Rex with a peculiar expression. According to the original plan, Sir Rex was supposed to evacuate the Imperial citizens and then take shelter with them. Yet after evacuating the citizens, he had returned to the center of the battle.

“I just couldn’t sit still.”

At Sir Rex’s words, accompanied by a faint smile, Saint Jack found himself smiling slightly as well.

“We feel the same way.”

They were all here with that same conviction in their hearts.
Of course, the depth of their resolve varied somewhat, but ultimately, weren’t they all people who couldn’t simply stand idle?

“Saint Jack, are you alright?”

Sir Rex’s expression darkened as he observed Jack. The Saint had clasped his hands together, and they trembled visibly.

“No, it’s just…”

Jack let even his faint smile fade, his face filled with confusion as he gazed upward at the sky. Sir Rex followed his gaze skyward as well.

The night sky.
As dawn approached, the black expanse gradually gave way to deep indigo, spreading across the heavens.
And piercing through that indigo was a horrifying wail.

Keeeeee— Keeee—
The Lich could be seen crying out.

“Hehehehe—”

The crimson light in its eyes gradually dimmed.
The Lich was weeping. Not tears like those of a human, but a red liquid streamed from its eye sockets.

“Why? Regretting death?”

Hana laughed mockingly at the sight of the Lich, drawing her white sword.

“My lord, my lord—”

Lich Bernard continued to call out desperately for his master, and Hana’s sneer deepened.

“Listen, your master won’t come to save you no matter how much you cry for him.”

That was the moment.
Saint Jack clenched his hands tightly together. And he murmured.

“That’s strange.”
“What is, sir?”

Sir Rex could discern what Jack was seeing in the sky. It wasn’t Tower Master Bernhard, nor Sword Master Hana, nor Kale Heniatus.

“…I sense no darkness from the White Star. Rather, it feels like the Dragons.”

Jack spoke as if entranced, gazing at the White Star.

“There’s a noble and beautiful aura.”

And then, Sword Master Hana heard the Tower Master muttering.

“My liege.”
“Your liege won’t save you, you know? You’re going to die.”

The Lich smiled even as the red light in his eyes flickered, nearly extinguishing completely.

“…For my liege… I am… h-happy to die.”

What?
Sword Master Hana’s expression vanished.

Screeeech— screech—

Sword Master Hana lowered her head.
Through the gaping hole in the Lich’s chest, she could see a shattered heart-shaped orb. Black smoke poured from it.

Just like during the battle at Maple Castle between the Empire and Wipper Kingdom.
Like the black smoke that erupted when the golem was destroyed.
An even more massive plume of black smoke now flowed from the Lich.

Uuuuung—
Sword Master Hana gripped her sword tightly. The White Sword struggled to break free. Through it, she could understand.

Danger.
That black smoke is something dangerous.
The moment she realized this.

“…Grow stronger.”

Flicker, flicker.
The red glow that had been blinking slowly extinguished completely.
Clatter. The black bones, now devoid of power, hung limply from Merry’s black threads.

The Lich Bernard was dead, and only the black bones that had been his body crumbled away.
Dead.
He was finally dead.
Yet in Sword Master Hana’s eyes, black smoke covered the sky that had turned dark blue.

Screeeee— Screeeeeee—
The black smoke, emitting a horrific wail, gradually transformed into clouds. Dark clouds that carried the ominous premonition of something terrible about to descend.

Kale Heniatus could see those clouds too. In that moment, the voice of the White Star reached his ears.

“I heard you were just a reckless fool from an ordinary family. But you’re so similar to ‘me’ of this generation.”

A bright smile played across the White Star’s lips, unobstructed by his mask.
Exhaustion flickered across Kale’s eyes.
Perhaps the Lich Bernard, who had been with me the longest, was not truly dead. Even if he wore that form, he had been my comrade, had he not?
Yet the White Star laughed.

“That’s why I’m pleased.”

Pleased?
Kale couldn’t follow this madman’s train of thought at all, and an inexplicable rage surged within him.

-We’re nothing alike! We humans aren’t some deranged, twisted wreck like you! Don’t spout such nonsense! You garbage White Star!

The Young Dragon vented his fury in anger.
Thanks to that, Kale’s rage subsided, and he could organize his tangled thoughts.

The White Star gazed at Kale’s complicated expression with affection. A small joy colored his weary voice.

“I needed someone like me. That’s why I created Sirem and the Dragon Hybrid.”

For over a thousand years, I had strived to create beings to replace myself. Yet they all became failures. In the midst of this, I heard reports about Kale Heniatus and became quite intrigued.

Later, when Tower Master Bernhard from the Eastern Continent departed for the Western Continent upon hearing that the Imperial Alchemy Tower was under attack, he too came by, hoping he might catch a glimpse of Kale Heniatus.
And the White Star, having met him, felt nothing short of complete satisfaction.

Sirem, and the Dragon Hybrid.
Now that he was here, there was no need to create substitutes like those two.

Nearly a thousand years. All that time endured to gather every ancient power he required.
Having reached the end of that era, naturally a being like Kale Heniatus had emerged.

“You will do nicely.”

The White Star spoke with evident delight.
Kale furrowed his brow and mobilized the ancient power within his body. Ready to deploy it at any moment, prepared to strike without hesitation.
But at the words that followed, Kale’s body faltered for an instant.

“You can take my role instead.”

What? What am I supposed to do?
Just as I opened my mouth to ask—

“Kale!”

An urgent cry pierced the air.
Erhafen the Ancient Dragon.
Erhafen, who had been rising from the rubble of rooftops, had somehow already reached the vicinity of the White Star.
I had never seen the ancient dragon’s eyes so desperate before.

“The power you possess is false!”

The ancient dragon cried out urgently.

“He still has it! He possesses the true Dragon Slayer power!”

What?
The White Star possesses the true Dragon Slayer power?
My ‘Dominating Aura’ and the false Dragon Slayer power that Sirem possessed—are they all counterfeits?
Is that even possible?

Kale Heniatus’s gaze slowly turned toward the White Star.
The White Star was smiling.

“Do you know what that is?”

Whoooosh—
The White Star unfurled a curtain of water.

Boom! Boom!

The light spheres Erhafen fired shook the water curtain. Yet through it all, the White Star remained unhurried.

“Ancient power. It is conveyed and inherited through nature, or through humans. Which means humans can create it as well.”

An unbreakable shield.
That ancient power belonged to the Glutton Goddess, and it was passed down through her to later generations.
Voice of Wind.
The Thief’s power was no different.
Destructive Fire, fearsome Jjangdol, Sky-Devouring Water.
All of them began with humans, and were passed on to other humans.

“That dominating aura you possess—I left that for my descendants.”

The Dragon Slayer power passed only to those who became the head of the Dragon Slayer Family.
From head to head.
A power inherited from one human to one human alone.

However, unlike other Dragon Slayer Family heads who passed all their power to their descendants, the White Star kept only half.

“Why would I give all my power to someone else? It’s my power—it’s ridiculous for me not to possess it myself.”

He left only the shell.
He left behind only powers that gleamed on the surface. So that those who inherited this power would be mistaken for Dragon Slayers by others. So they would appear to be Dragon Slayers in appearance alone.

The White Star pointed a sword of fire toward Kale Heniatus. He gazed at Kale, who would take his place.

“You must become the next Dragon Slayer.”

Dragon Slayer Family.
Dragon Slayer.
Traitor.
I had finally found a suitable replacement for that role. I had discovered an alternative human who could accomplish one of the two tasks the White Star had been preparing for over a thousand years.

“For that, I’ll need to taste the heart of a dragon, won’t I?”

In that instant, Kale Heniatus felt a chilling sensation wash over me.

Whirrrrr—
The white crown in my embrace trembled violently. The crown that craved dragon’s blood, that consumed dragon’s blood, vibrated with intensity.
Simultaneously, my heart began to race.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The dominating aura I possessed suddenly surged throughout my entire body.
That was why. The moment the White Star beyond the shield leisurely opened his mouth.

“Don’t worry. I’ll retrieve the dragon’s heart for you.”

The instant those words left my lips, I stretched out my arm.
Toward empty space that appeared to hold nothing. My outstretched hand made contact with reptilian skin.

-Human! Let me destroy that White Star—! Ugh! What’s happening? Whimper!

The moment my hand touched that skin, I pulled it into my embrace.
Goosebumps erupted across my entire body.
The White Star’s voice reached my ears.

“The heart of a young dragon is quite an excellent stimulant as well.”

He was targeting them.
That White Star was targeting Raon.
Realizing this, I wrapped both arms around Raon, interlaced my fingers, and held him close. Then I spread my unbreakable shield wide open.

Shiiiiing—
Silver wings and shield blazed with a brilliance more radiant than ever before, positioning themselves in front of me.

“How amusing. Kale, you still don’t know how to properly wield the ancient power.”

Yet the White Star thrust his sword toward the silver shield and silver wings.

The silver shield shattered.
It crumbled far too easily.

“A calamity sword imbued with fire, you see.”

White Star spoke to Kale Heniatus with a gentle, instructive tone and laughed.

During the Heniatus Territory battle, the calamity sword of the fake Dragon Slayer Sirem that Kale Heniatus had blocked together with Raon.
White Star had infused fire attribute into a genuine calamity sword far superior to that one, shattering Raon’s shield with contemptuous ease.
Kale Heniatus anticipated what would unfold next.

“Human!”

Raon’s voice reached me not through my mind, but audibly, yet I cradled that round head against my chest while channeling Destructive Fire into my left hand.
This creature had even sent an ancient dragon flying. Raon was not yet strong enough.

‘When the shield breaks, I fight.’

Crack.
I saw the silver shield fracturing as it collided with White Star’s blade.

Thump, thump, thump.
My heart thundered.
No—my dominating aura raged wildly. It felt as though fear had seized me.

The cracks in the shield deepened.
I could see White Star’s laughing eyes.
That was when it happened.

“How dare you.”

The moment a familiar voice reached me from nearby.

Boom!
A platinum spear descended upon the flaming sword, entering my field of vision.

“Ugh!”

The White Star let out a short groan for the first time, stumbling backward.
A figure materialized between Kale and the White Star—wielding a platinum spear in their left hand and swinging a platinum mana sphere in their right.

“How dare you.”

A voice dripping with fury cut through the air.

“Do not lay a finger on my children.”

Cold, piercing eyes fixed upon the White Star.

“Unless you wish to die.”

I could see Erhafen standing before me.
A thin rivulet of crimson blood traced down the ancient dragon’s lips.

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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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