Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 373

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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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It was a clash of spear and shield.

Countless bolts of lightning converged, forming a single colossal spear.

“…My lord.”
“Silence.”

The Cat-Human Race mage supporting the White Star fell silent at his signal.
A shield enveloped their surroundings.
Though they stood beyond the reach of the lightning’s descent, it was a precaution against any stray, indiscriminate attacks.

The White Star wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

I had overextended myself.
It was not because of the three dragons’ barriers.
Such shields from the dragons held no terror for me.

“Heh.”

A brilliant smile played across my lips.

“Ugh!”
“Grrgh!”

The Dark Unit Members and other humanoid races within the shield shielded their eyes or covered their ears.
Some crouched low to the ground.
They sought to protect themselves from the blinding radiance of the lightning, the deafening roar, and the tremors that obliterated the distinction between sky and earth.

Yet the White Star perceived everything with perfect clarity.

“…There it is.”

Kwaaaang!

The converged white lightning transformed into a colossal spear, piercing through the shield’s first barrier.
The golden-hued flame wall enveloping the dome rippled.

Joy gleamed in the White Star’s eyes.

“I have them all… every single one.”

The five great natural attributes that formed the colossal dome.
Gazing upon them, the White Star felt not a trace of the searing pain that twisted through his insides.

I possessed the sky.
I possessed everything upon the earth.

Now, only one thing remained—the earth itself.
If I could seize just one more piece of earth!
Then it would be complete!

“Kekeke, khahahaha!”

The White Star’s laughter erupted.

“How fascinating!”

Truly, how utterly fascinating!

Kale Heniatus, who has not completely subjugated the Ancient Powers. Yet you possess a balance that I do not.

The White Star had pushed beyond his original plan the moment Kale unleashed all his strength.

He needed to know.
The true extent of power that Kale Heniatus’s shield possessed.

The White Star licked his lips.

“…Just one more. I need only one more.”

The contents recorded in the ‘Book’ flashed through the White Star’s mind.
Knowledge memorized through dozens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of readings.
The contents of the Book, revisited and reconsidered throughout a thousand years.

According to that ‘Book,’ in ancient times, only two humans possessed the power of the earth.

The “true White Star” who nearly became a god in the final battle, and the one who died last.
The power that only those two possessed.

The White Star felt neither the agony coursing through his cursed body nor the thousand years of exhaustion that had weighed upon him—not in this moment.

It would soon be over.
Completion was within reach.

He laughed and cried out.

“I’m curious! Will you endure it! Hahahaha!”

Boom!
White lightning that devoured all the world’s light and radiated only its own brilliance.
Within that maelstrom, a flame that refused to lose its color burned on.

And the master of that flame supported the stone dome.
A hand gripping a spinning top and a crown pressed against the rock, fist clenched.

‘Wow! The White Star is laughing like a madman!’
‘Of course he’s laughing like a madman—he is one. Look, Kale Heniatus seems to be struggling right now, so stop spouting nonsense.’
‘I’m curious! Will you endure it! Hahahaha! That’s what the White Star said.’

Damn it!
These noisy spirits!
Kale’s concentration shattered from the Wind Spirits chattering away with their observations.
At the same time, his exasperation grew.

“You freezing mad bastard!”

What? Curious whether I can endure it?
This backstabbing fool! One day I’ll crack that skull of yours!

Flames ignited in Kale’s eyes.
But his arms trembled violently.

Boom!

He felt the massive concentrated lightning attempting to pierce through the wall of fire.

Crack.
Another fissure splintered across the jewel embedded in the white crown.
Simultaneously, a tremendous force seeped into my body.

“Kale.”

Erhafen unconsciously furrowed his brow at the immense, intangible surge of power.
Yet he could not easily approach my side.

Boom!
A colossal roar erupted.

Thud!
At the same moment, the dome experienced its first tangible tremor.

“Ugh!”

Mercenary King Bird Illis instantly steadied himself against the abruptly shaking ground.
Even a Sword Master of his caliber nearly lost his footing from the magnitude of the tremor.
Yet as Bird’s eyes snapped upward in alarm, the dome still stood intact.

But a shallow groan escaped my lips.

“Ngh!”

The first flame shattered.
The golden-red fire vanished into the air, pierced by the white lightning’s colossal spear.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

And the wind—the very entity that had been fanning those flames to burn ever brighter.

‘Ahhh! I must endure!’
‘I must endure!’
‘Help us, help!’

The wind spirits’ vortices crumbled each time they touched the lightning.
The spirits’ desperate cries as they persevered yet ultimately faltered against the overwhelming force, fleeing from the lightning, filled my ears.

‘Next!’

I poured all my strength into both hands.

Boom!

The third barrier.
A wall of water collided with the white lightning. The sharp spear pierced through the water.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded violently.
Two barriers had already shattered.
Two Ancient Powers had collapsed simultaneously.

Under normal circumstances, I would have collapsed or lost consciousness from the backlash. Or at the very least, I would have struggled desperately to remain awake.

‘This is insane.’

But I did not lose consciousness.
My eyes, bloodshot with burst capillaries, glared up at the dome’s ceiling.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart beats.
I could not hear the voices of the other Ancient Powers.
I could not hear the voice of the Wind Spirit that had fled either.

All I could hear was the thunderous beating of my own heart within my body.
And I felt a tremendous force radiating from that heart.

Vitality.

Forces that sought to keep me alive surged forth through my hands and feet, into every corner of my being.
The vitality of my heart.
For the first time, I felt the presence of this power more vividly than any other force.

It was ‘being alive’ itself.
I became acutely aware that I existed in this world, breathing and living.

Whoooosh!
A wall of water collided violently with the white lightning.

Boom!
But even that water could not extinguish the white lightning.
The Sky-Devouring Water failed to devour the sky this time.

Yet Kale smiled.

Crash!
Massive wooden trunks rose to meet the descending white spear. The moment that lightning struck the wood, I felt it.

‘…It weakened.’

It had grown weaker.
The power of the lightning had diminished.

My hands trembled violently.
A cycle of immense power draining away and immense power flowing back into my body.
The power emanating from the crown that consumed the blood of the Dragon, the mightiest being on earth.
And the power of the Five Elements, infused with the forces of nature.

Between them, a human body was terribly fragile.

That is why I trembled. Yet the smile at the corner of my lips grew deeper.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

Massive wooden trunks hurled themselves at the lightning. All burned away without leaving even ash.

Eventually, all the wooden trunks vanished.
And finally.
The spear descending from the sky had to collide with the shield forged from earth.

Boom! Boom!

The lightning struck down upon the enormous dome that enveloped the White Castle.

A deep rumbling sound—!

The dome trembled.
Mercenary King Burd Illis gazed upward at the ceiling.
Though darkness shrouded the dome’s interior, I could see Kale Heniatus bracing the ceiling above.

Plink, plink.
Fragments of stone cascaded down from the ceiling.
The rock was shattering.
The dome was crumbling.

Crack, crack, crackle.
Fissures began spreading across the dome’s surface.
Yet the lightning continued its relentless assault, hammering against the dome without pause.

“Kuh, kuhkuhkuh—”

But Burd Illis found himself laughing.

The lightning pounding the dome was weakening.
The colossal spear had pierced through the shields of three dragons, and as it traversed fire, wind, water, and wood, its edge had grown blunt and progressively shattered.
And finally.

Plink, plink.
Burd Illis watched as tiny fragments of stone fell across his face, and he burst into hearty laughter.

“Ahahahahaha!”

Plink, plink.
Small fragments of shattered stone continued to fall from the ceiling.
But I was overjoyed.

“…I survived. I actually survived.”

No more thunderous roars echoed.
The trembling vibrations that had shaken everything ceased.

The world had grown so quiet that I could hear even the faint sound of dust-like particles landing on Burd’s shoulders.
Silence had descended upon everything.

Burd could not fail to understand what this silence meant.

In the end, the shield did not shatter.
A single spear could not pierce through multiple shields.

Lord Sherit lifted her head.

It was dark.
The interior of the castle, obscured by stone, had grown dark. The world that had been nothing but white had turned to shadow.
In that moment, she heard a small voice from beside her.

“…Our home is safe….”

It was Raon’s voice.
Sherit lacked the courage to lower her head and peer into her embrace. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on the dark ceiling, blinking repeatedly.

Instead, she moved her hand.
She felt the soft, round head resting against her palm.
She opened her mouth while gazing up at the ceiling.

“You are clever.”
“…I learned from the human.”
“Yes. You learned very well.”

She moved toward the center of the domed ceiling, cradling Raon in her arms.

“Huff. Huff.”

I could see Kale Heniatus breathing heavily and roughly.
Erhafen was already supporting him.

“Human!”

I saw Raon leap from Lord Sherit’s embrace and fly toward me.

‘…That apple pie.’

Raon’s paws held yet another apple pie.
The small front paws that had supported the stone dome ceiling were covered in dirt, and they carried an entire apple pie as if it were nothing.

“Ha.”

Kale let out a dry chuckle.
That was the moment.

Crack!
Kale lowered his head.
I could see another fissure forming in the jewel embedded at the center of the crown.
It was a crack that split roughly half the jewel vertically.

If one more crack like that appeared, the jewel seemed as though it would shatter completely.

“Human!”
“You unlucky bastard.”

As Raon’s cry came from ahead and Erhafen’s weary voice sounded from behind, I blinked my eyes.

“…Huh?”

Raon, who was approaching, spoke with a bewildered expression.

“Human! You’re fine! You look better than expected! You haven’t even lost consciousness!”

Erhafen exhaled as if sighing.

“This time you’re unscathed.”

I shrugged my shoulders. This time I truly was unscathed.
I was somewhat tired, but not enough to lose consciousness, and my stomach felt fine. My body was gradually returning to its normal state.

My grip tightened on the crown I held.
All of this was thanks to the power this crown had granted me this time.

Erhafen supported me as we slowly descended to the ground. Lord Sherit and Raon followed behind.

“Kale!”
“Young Master.”
Meow!

My companions rushed toward me urgently.

“…Why do you all have such expressions on your faces?”

And everyone wore peculiar expressions.
They were all astonished at Kale’s condition, which was far more intact than expected.
Especially strange was the joy mixed with bewilderment, the relief tinged with confusion that blanketed the average nine-year-olds. That was when it happened.

“…I shall show you the way.”

Lord Sherit’s voice came through, cold yet composed.
A secret passage leading to the Dragon Slayer Village.
Lord Sherit and Kale’s gazes met.

“Go now. I will guard this place. The White Star has exhausted himself as well, so he cannot mount further attacks of this magnitude. The Bear Tribe and Lion Tribe—I can hold them back.”

Kale listened quietly to Sherit’s steady voice continuing.

“I cannot accompany you, but I can guide you to the entrance of the passage right now.”

Sherit was about to continue when Kale’s lips parted, causing her to pause momentarily.

“Lord Sherit.”
“Do you have a question?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Are you bound to this castle, Lord?”

Lord Sherit hesitated briefly, but answered matter-of-factly without looking toward Raon.

“Yes. I am bound to this castle. Everything within these walls is my domain.”
“…You mean you are bound to this castle and its walls?”
“That is correct.”

To Kale, who asked a similar question twice, Lord Sherit nodded readily. Yet with urgency rising in her heart, she was about to speak again.
There was no way to know what attack the enemies might launch next.
She had to send them away quickly.

That was the moment. Before her open lips could form words, Kale spoke first.

“Who should be considered the master of this castle now?”
“Well, naturally—”

Sherit paused to catch her breath before answering.

“It belongs to my child.”

It was Raon’s.
Therefore, whenever Raon arrived, the City Gate would open wide.
Kale nodded with an indifferent expression, and Sherit opened her mouth again.
But this time too, Kale was slightly faster.

“Raon.”

His voice was directed not at her, but at Raon.

“What is it, human?”

Raon hesitated at the mention of his own home, glanced at Lord Sherit who wasn’t looking at him, and answered Kale’s call with deliberate composure.
Kale asked Raon casually, as if in passing.

“What if we relocated this entire castle and its walls?”

In that instant, Raon’s wings fluttered.

A glimmer of light danced across the Black Dragon’s pupils. The dragon’s head snapped toward Erhafen.
Lord Sherit and Erhafen, whose expressions had changed at Kale’s words, froze at the Black Dragon’s fierce gaze.

Regardless, Raon approached Erhafen with eyes gleaming intensely and answered.

“…Human.”

Kale asked flatly.

“Why?”
“Human, you’re a genius.”

Kale let out a soft laugh.
Something like this was nothing.

A fierce determination ignited within the small dragon’s eyes.

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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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