Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 339
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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 moment light collided with light, the ancient dragon Erhafen’s face contorted hideously.
“You foolish bastard!”
Dozens, hundreds of lightning bolts hammered down upon the silver shield.
It happened in an instant.
The moment Erhafen squeezed his mana to thicken the platinum barrier.
“Even now—”
In that fraction of a second, a silver shield materialized above the platinum barrier. And upon that, another silver shield appeared at tremendous speed.
Wasn’t his intent written far too plainly across such a display?
“Lower your shield this instant!”
Erhafen tried to pull down Kale’s hand, which stretched toward the sky. But he could see Kale’s trembling lips moving as he spoke.
“I’d rather not.”
Under normal circumstances, it would have been a tone so audaciously insolent it bordered on shameless.
Yet his eyes remained cold and resolute.
“It’s too late.”
Just as Kale said, it was already too late to lower it.
“I’ll do as I please.”
With those words, Kale gazed at the silver shield beyond Erhafen’s contorted visage.
Boom.
A single lightning bolt struck the shield.
Crash! Boom!
Several more lightning bolts hammered against the shield, attempting to shatter it.
This was only the beginning.
Crash! Bang, crash! Boom!
Countless white lightning bolts descended like they would tear the shield asunder.
“Huff, gasp. Gasp.”
Each time the shield trembled from the lightning’s impact, Kale felt his strength draining away. His heart was pounding with unprecedented ferocity, desperately trying to pour power into his body, yet—
—with each surge of vitality, it slipped through his fingers and flowed into the shield instead.
“Heh, heh-heh—”
Laughter escaped Kale’s lips. His weary eyes fixed upon the white lightning bolts.
Light poured down in torrents.
The white radiance appeared almost divine. It was blinding beyond measure. How many times in a lifetime could one witness such brilliant illumination?
“…Damn it… blindingly bright.”
Unfortunately, such a spectacle was not to my taste.
-…Hungry.
The Glutton Goddess’s voice echoed.
An indestructible shield.
The power granted by the Glutton Goddess. Kale had faced countless crises, yet the shield had never shattered.
‘Most of that was thanks to Raon.’
It was only possible because Raon’s silver barrier enveloped Kale’s shield.
But this time, the positions of Kale and Raon were reversed.
Kale’s breathing came in ragged gasps as his mind raced, striving to comprehend as much as possible through the haze of light.
‘Three impacts in total.’
The white lightning bolts would strike three times: first against Kale’s silver shield, then Raon’s barrier, and finally the platinum membrane. Three successive impacts.
With each collision, the force would diminish.
If so, the lightning that finally struck Erhafen’s platinum membrane would be weakened enough to prevent the destruction of the Capital.
BOOM! BOOM! CRASH!
So Kale decided that fainting was worth attempting, steeling himself to hold his shield firm until consciousness slipped away.
That was when it happened.
“That little brat!”
Erhafen’s urgent voice cut through the chaos.
In the same instant, through my blurred vision, I saw a figure surge past me, ascending upward.
A being wrapped in a black mana tempest, climbing higher.
Its two front legs still pointed skyward, as if propping up the heavens themselves.
I forced my focus to sharpen.
“…Raon?”
Raon, who had been positioned below both me and Erhafen, was now surging past us toward the sky.
Our eyes met.
Raon’s small nose twitched on his round face as he declared with absolute confidence.
“I, Raon Mir, am great! I will do this!”
…This foolish little dragon!
Kale felt his stomach twist. I opened my mouth urgently to speak, but Erhafen was faster.
“Little one, your shield—”
“I already know everything!”
Raon cut off the ancient dragon’s words with that single declaration, and I closed my gaping mouth.
“I’m the clearest-headed right now! So it’s my turn to do the most! That’s how it works!”
…What could a six-year-old possibly do!
My mouth, which had begun to open again, released a different sound instead of the words I’d meant to speak.
“Cough!”
Crack—
Fissures began spreading across the shield.
Black blood trickled from the corner of my mouth. In my blurred vision, I saw not only Raon but one other person as well.
“…Rosalind?”
With a soft cough, Rosalind quietly positioned herself behind Raon. But that wasn’t the problem.
Whirrrrr—
Around Rosalind, roughly a dozen of the highest-grade mana stones I had given her spun like tops. Crimson mana swirled around her, causing her robes to flutter dramatically.
“I couldn’t just stand idle.”
Behind her, I could see Merry, releasing hundreds—no, thousands—of black threads.
“Those in pain deserve rest.”
Merry quietly began sending her threads skyward.
One by one, the threads wove together like fabric being loomed. Though not as densely packed as cloth, they interlaced haphazardly, gradually forming the shape of a shield.
“I too am great.”
Then she quietly took her place beside Raon.
“Ha! Haha—”
I lifted my head at the laughter. Erhafen was laughing with an expression of utter exasperation, as if he found something absurd.
“Fine then. Let’s give it a try.”
He gently shifted me to the side.
“Here.”
“Yes.”
Choi Han, who had approached from the side, caught me. I found myself being carried on his back.
“Please rest now, Kale.”
Kale found himself at a loss for words.
Truly, not a single one.
Then, instead of white lightning from the sky, he saw white smoke rising like heat shimmer from the ground itself, wrapping around him.
That smoke enveloped him.
Lowering his gaze, he saw Saint Jack within Lex’s shield, pouring out healing power toward Kale and his companions.
The damage done to Kale’s body by wielding Ancient Powers could not be healed by Saint Jack’s holy power.
It was not a matter of wounds or illness.
Yet the healing power was sufficient to mend the wounds of the others. Of course, it did not reach Hana and Merry.
“Hahaha, quite a touching sight, wouldn’t you say?”
Kale lifted his head at the sound of delighted laughter.
Crackle, crackle—
Beyond the silver shield, its cracks deepening by the moment, White Star stood laughing. The white lightning veered away from him and struck the ground instead.
White Star seemed to be enjoying the sight of Kale and his companions.
“Should I call it moving?”
White Star wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and spoke with an unpleasant smirk, then casually shrugged his shoulders and drew a magical scroll from his bosom.
It was undoubtedly a teleportation magic circle.
‘I need to capture that bastard.’
No—actually, it was better if that bastard disappeared from here now.
There was no one who could defeat him. It was better if he vanished now. Kale’s eyes were cold, yet they burned with barely concealed rage.
White Star’s voice reached him with an eerie clarity.
“Too bad. I’m busy. I wanted to see whether you’d manage to stop me or not.”
That damned bastard—
Kale opened his mouth to speak but closed it again at the low murmur of a voice.
“…A madman even crazier than me.”
…Choi Han, did you just curse?
When Kale’s expression grew peculiar at Choi Han’s cold voice, another groan tore from his lips.
“Ugh!”
Kale’s back heaved. Choi Han saw the black blood soaking his own shoulder. He nodded at the gazes of his comrades fixed upon him, then grasped Kale’s hand reaching toward the sky.
“…Damn… this is really irritating.”
I ignored what Kale was saying.
I gathered Kale’s palm, where the silver thread hung barely connected, as if about to snap.
Thud.
Kale’s hand fell limply toward the ground. He rested his chin on my shoulder and lifted his gaze upward.
Boom!
Countless bolts of lightning.
Between those bolts, the silver shield fractured with a deafening crash, shattering into fragments.
It wasn’t truly destroyed.
Because Kale had released his power.
The silver shield simply scattered like light dispersing through air, gradually fading away.
At the same moment, Erhafen laughed heartily and spoke.
“Little one, show me what you can do.”
In that instant, I saw Erhafen position himself behind Raon, grasping both of his front claws.
A silver shield and a platinum barrier.
The two slowly began to merge.
But that wasn’t all.
Crack, crack!
Over a dozen supreme-grade mana stones shattered, their immense mana glowing crimson as it wove into the silver shield. It was Rosalind’s magic.
And through it all, a shield woven from black threads seeped in.
The White Star opened his mouth upon witnessing this spectacle.
That was the moment.
“Raon!”
Kale called out Raon’s name without thinking.
But Raon had already left Erhafen’s side, ascending higher.
Raon’s shield, woven from countless hues.
A shield infused with the power of Merry, Rosalind, and Erhafen combined.
Raon pressed his forehead against that shield, his gaze piercing through it toward the enemy beyond.
White Star and Raon.
Their eyes clashed. Through White Star’s fierce gaze, I saw a young dragon opening its maw.
“…I will never back down.”
A six-year-old dragon. Raon Mir.
Young, yet knowing everything that mattered. Though he spoke with deliberate confidence and spirit, Raon had witnessed every moment of how Erhafen, Kale, and the others had fought.
“And what will you do if you don’t back down?”
White Star regarded him with intrigue. Beneath the shield pressed against his forehead—stronger than any barrier he had ever created—Raon spoke with composure.
“Next time, I will win.”
Because he was a dragon who excelled at learning anything.
Raon saw the smile spreading across White Star’s lips. Between that smile, White Star cried out.
“Destroy it all! Strike it down!”
Blood trickled from his lips once more. Simultaneously, a white lightning bolt descended upon the multicolored shield.
Screeeech.
With that sound, the teleportation scroll tore apart. White Star coldly disregarded the Black Dragon glaring at him and turned his gaze toward Kale.
‘I must gather the Ancient Powers.’
I must gather all the Ancient Powers.
The final sixth Ancient Power.
White Star slowly surrendered himself to the teleportation magic, anticipating the moment he would obtain that power. He left one final word for Kale, who was watching him.
—See you soon, future dragon slayer.
Damn it!
The moment Kale’s limp hands clenched into fists so tight that blood welled from his palms, the White Star vanished, leaving only a white bolt of lightning streaking across the sky.
And Raon was there to meet it.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Raon listened to the rhythm of his own heartbeat as he pressed his forehead against the barrier that shimmered with countless colors, then placed his front paw against it.
‘I can do this.’
I am the great Raon Mir, after all. I can do this.
Raon recalled.
Kale’s arms wrapped around me. His trembling hands searching through empty air, startled and desperate to find me.
The urgency in his embrace as he held me close, fingers interlaced.
Erhafen’s scarred body, bleeding and gasping for breath. Yet that broad back, so impossibly wide.
And my comrades surrounding me.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
With each thundering heartbeat, Raon recalled these memories. No—he was trying to create them anew.
Magic was the power to create something using mana, the natural force of the world.
Raon could weave what he had learned into his magic.
The memory of those who had tried to protect me.
Raon realized that this was a true shield. He had learned it.
Now that he had learned, he could create it himself.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Black mana began to flow from Raon’s forehead.
It coursed through the barrier.
“Kid, you’re really not acting like a dragon at all.”
I felt the touch of the Golden Dragon grandfather’s hands embracing me from behind.
Raon concentrated even more intently on that touch.
A tremendous power flowed through my small front paws, beginning to envelop the protective barrier.
“Oh, look over there—!”
“It turned black!”
From a distance, those outside the Capital who couldn’t see the area near the Alchemy Tower clearly watched as the protective barrier, which had been shining in multiple colors, became stained black.
But soon their vision was overwhelmed by colors of every hue, and they could see nothing clearly.
Kwaaang! Kwaaang! Kwaang!
Only the sound of something being destroyed echoed forth.
Ears rang, and heads throbbed. The ground trembled.
People collapsed to the ground without even realizing it.
Black, white, red, gold.
All the lights intertwined and tangled together.
And finally.
“Weak human.”
Kale reached out his hand.
A round head settled into his palm.
Kale lifted his head.
In the wake of all those lights passing through.
Morning had arrived.
The sun was rising.
Kale stroked the head, shoulders, and cheeks of Raon, who lay weakly cradled in Erhafen’s arms, one after another, speaking in a casual, offhand manner.
“As expected, you are truly great, Raon.”
At those words, Raon broke into a wide grin.
Kale smiled in return.
No one had died.
Nothing had been destroyed, and the morning of a new day had dawned.
Human and dragon.
Their smiles mirrored one another.
And in the same breath, they spoke.
“Human! Let’s catch that bastard together!”
“…Damn it, I’m going to stab him in the back.”
Choi Han and Erhafen, who had been supporting Kale and Raon respectively, both flinched at those words. Then Kale added one more thing.
“Choi Han.”
“Yes.”
“If anything urgent comes up or you have questions about cleaning up the Empire’s mess.”
I exhaled deeply.
Choi Han turned his head slightly with a puzzled expression at the sudden change of topic, glancing back at me on his back.
I met his gaze and spoke calmly.
“Contact the Crown Prince.”
My body went limp.
In that moment, my body collapsed.
Jjangdol’s voice reached my ears distantly.
-I’m not sure how many days you’ll be unconscious.
Damn it.
This weak body is the real problem, not the White Star.
“Weak human!”
“Kale!”
“Kale!”
The voices of my companions sounded like a lullaby.
I lost consciousness.
For the first time in a long while.
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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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