Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 409

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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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Rosalind’s fingertips trembled.

‘There’s far too much mana…!’

She bit her lip.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
My entire body felt as though it were burning.
Like a raging inferno that consumed me entirely, so violent I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to.

Yet as she reached toward the Grey Dragon, she cried out silently.

‘More, more, more!’

I wanted to command more mana.
No—I wanted to seize it in my grasp!

“You’re insane! Do you have a death wish?!”

Becrock’s voice never reached Rosalind.

Roooaaarrr!
Instead, Rosalind stared at the Grey Dragon that had closed the distance to mere inches, its jaws gaping wide before her.

Crack, boom! Crash!
The mana stones shattered, collided with one another, and exploded into crimson mana.
Yet Rosalind continued to reach forward.

Roooaaarrr!

The Grey Dragon and the crimson mage collided.

The Grey Dragon lunged to tear at her flank.
Rosalind extended her left hand.

Boom!
Crimson mana sealed the Dragon’s jaws shut.
She turned her gaze away without even watching the rest unfold.

‘Red.’

Everything appeared red to her now.
From the tips of her toes to the crown of her head—her eyes, nose, mouth, every part of her was engulfed in crimson mana. Her entire world had become red.
The Grey Dragon, Becrock, and even the night sky itself had lost their original colors, transformed into shades of red.

‘Perfect.’

She savored this sensation.

Her entire body.
Even breathing itself.
Everything was saturated with her mana.
Rosalind smiled as she extended her right hand.

A colossal hand of mana, mirroring her own form, materialized before her.

Clench!
Rosalind closed her fist.

Roooaaarrr!

The massive crimson hand of mana tore through the Grey Dragon’s wings with a sickening rend.
Rosalind’s eyes gleamed with lethal brilliance.
Dead mana and living mana intertwined—hybrid mana. The grey entity was shredded.

“That… that madwoman!”

Horror flooded Becrock’s eyes as he witnessed the scene.

It wasn’t that Rosalind had blocked the Grey Dragon’s attack, nor that she had torn its wings asunder.
Attacks could be repeated—there was nothing shocking about that.

What truly astounded him was something else entirely.

“…Are you truly prepared to die?”

Crack. Crack.
Rosalind ceaselessly devoured the mana from the magic stones.
To the mages watching, she appeared as though she could be consumed by that crimson tide of mana and perish at any moment. Her entire body trembled uncontrollably, did it not? And her eyes had turned a bloodshot red.

Becrock uttered the term that designated the mages’ condition.

“Mana Runaway!”

Was she truly willing to trigger a mana runaway just to defeat him?
Why?
Why would someone born into the Royal Family, who had lived comfortably doing as she pleased, go to such lengths? What could possibly drive her to this?
He could not comprehend it.

In that moment, he saw her lips part open.
The owner of those crimson hands—hands that were pulverizing one torn wing of the Grey Dragon—stared directly at him and spoke.

“I will win. No matter what.”

Becrock felt a chill run down his spine at the words she uttered with an expression that seemed consumed by madness.

“This insane woman…!”

Mutual destruction.
The word surfaced in his mind the moment he beheld her face.

‘That’s definitely a “you die and I die too” attitude! She’s planning to take us both down with her mana runaway!’

He could not die.
Becrock did not wish to die. After all he had endured to reach this position! He was already suffering from the loss of one hand and an injured ankle. And now he was being asked to die?
To stake his very life?

His hand pointed toward the Grey Dragon.

“Stop her! Tear her to shreds!”

Simultaneously, a grey shield materialized around his hand.

Roooaaarrr!
The colossal dragon lunged at Rosalind once more. Boom, crash! Dead mana and living mana collided, and the torn wings regenerated instantly.

“Kill her! Kill her now!”

As if answering Becrock’s command, the Grey Dragon swung its front claw at Rosalind.

Crash!
Rosalind blocked the claw with arrows. And she pressed forward.
Whether the Grey Dragon blocked her path or not, she paid it no mind.

Boom, crash!
Colliding with the hybrid mana, her crimson mana exploded and dissipated.
Yet she didn’t spare it a glance.
The mana stones provided her with endless mana.

‘…Mana runaway.’

She recalled the words Becrock had uttered. A hollow laugh escaped her lips.

During the Canyon of Death battle. The Dragon Hybrid had triggered mana runaway.
Mana runaway. A catastrophe brought on by a mage’s unchecked greed for mana. Ignorant of one’s own limits, succumbing to desire, the body ruptures and death follows.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
Even now, vast mana pressed against her from all directions.
Not from the Grey Dragon, but from this crimson mana—it felt as though it could consume her at any moment.

“But here’s the thing.”

Rosalind surged forward rapidly.

“Why doesn’t it hurt?”

If it were runaway, it should hurt.
But it didn’t hurt.
Rather, I was overflowing with power.

The trembling in my body gradually subsided. The mana pressure that had enveloped me weakened with each passing moment, no longer able to confine me.
I was becoming increasingly liberated.
In that instant, the voice of the magnificent six-year-old Dragon reached me.

-Clever Rosalind! You would know your own condition!

Yes. I knew my condition.

“This is my optimal state.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.
This very moment, enveloped in such an immense torrent of mana, was my optimal state.

Words like “best” or “supreme” didn’t fit this moment.
What others might call mana runaway—this vast ocean of mana surrounding me—felt to me like wearing clothes tailored perfectly to my body.

A situation others would deem catastrophic mana runaway was, for me, the most fitting state imaginable!
I couldn’t help but laugh.

“This is serious business.”

It truly was serious business.
And perhaps he understood the meaning behind those words.

-Rosalind! The human says you have plenty of mana stones, so use them freely!

At Raon’s words, I burst into even louder laughter.

“Hahahaha! Then I don’t need to worry about mana stones!”

I had always thought it was a serious matter to consume so many mana stones just to maintain my optimal state. But now that someone wealthy told me not to worry, there was no need for concern anymore.

“Kill them!”

I answered Becrock’s command.

“Who do you dare order me to kill?”

With those words, Rosalind moved both her hands.
Two enormous crimson hands materialized. She drove forward without hesitation.
Even though that direction was toward the Grey Dragon’s embrace, she paid it no mind.

The crimson hands pummeled the Grey Dragon.

Boom! Boom! Crash!
With each impact, the blended mana shattered. Unable to withstand Rosalind’s ferocious mana, the dead mana and living mana separated and scattered apart.

“Th-this-!”

Becrock’s face contorted at the sight.
The Grey Dragon writhed as if in agony. The reason it appeared so was simple.

“My blended mana!”

Rosalind’s mana was tearing through the blended mana.

“My blended mana law is perfect! Perfect, I tell you! There’s no way it could be torn apart so pathetically!”

Becrock spoke in disbelief while hastily creating grey shields, barrier after barrier, surrounding himself.

Krraaaagh-
The Grey Dragon’s agonized cry shook the night.
Its belly had been pierced through.
The crimson hands had torn through that belly. And now those hands were advancing toward the Grey Dragon’s master.

“Damn it!”

Becrock gazed at the crimson mage behind the crimson hands and created more shields.
The crimson hands immediately rushed toward the first barrier.

Crash!
The first grey shield shattered instantly.

“Damn it!”

My hybrid mana shattered so easily! Is that even possible?
I created this masterpiece!
His face contorted.
He conjured even more grey shields.

He had to make them thick enough that those crimson hands wouldn’t be visible, so impossibly thick.
The shields had to be massive enough to conceal him entirely.

That way, those crimson hands wouldn’t reach him easily.
Breaking through the barriers and shields would consume precious time.
And Rosalind would be unable to see him through the grey.

‘Then I’ll have my chance to escape!’

A glance.
Becrock’s gaze shifted downward.
In that instant, his eyes met those of his subordinate mage. When he nodded, the subordinate mage nodded in return and surveyed his surroundings.

‘We flee. To another Alchemy Tower!’

At least his subordinate mages and Black Mages would escape according to his signal.

‘Rosalind, Kale Heniatus, and Lex are here. The Black Dragon too. Which means the other locations are undermanned!’

The Sun God Cult’s Saint and Saint Maiden were not formidable opponents.
Choi Han and the others were present, but there were none who could match him in sorcery.

That would suffice.

Boom! Crash!
Another barrier shattered.
Yet the grey remained thick enough that the enemy beyond remained obscured. Becrock’s lips curved into a smile.
But his movements were swift.

A teleportation magic circle began to form discreetly in his palm.

‘Without the Black Dragon knowing!’

Rosalind was now consumed by mana rampage and couldn’t stop—she would continue destroying those shields, driven to kill me. I had to exploit that madness.

‘I’ll go back and perfect my magical rules even further.’

He made this vow and shouted.

“Do you really think you can break through this? If you go berserk, you’ll only end up dead!”

He deliberately hurled the provocative words at Rosalind.

Boom! Boom! Boom!
In response, the crimson hands struck even more violently against the grey shield and barrier.
This is it.
And now is the moment.

Becrock shouted.

“Now!”

Whoooosh—
The mages on the ground began casting teleportation magic. Those of lower and higher skill levels swiftly converged together, combining their power to activate the teleportation spell as one.

And Becrock also unfolded his teleportation magic.

“Cough!”

But the spell shattered.

“Hack, gasp, what—what is this, cough!”

His eyes darted downward.
He saw a hand wrapped around his throat.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The crimson hands were still pounding against the grey shield, and he could hear the sound clearly.
Then why—why does a hand infused with crimson mana have my throat in its grip?

Becrock’s eyes trembled.
The teleportation spell had been broken.
Why?

Crackle!
A hand brimming with crimson mana seized his only hand, which was suffused with grey mana. The grey mana scattered.

And from behind.
Becrock sensed a tremendous surge of mana emanating from his rear.
Then, a voice reached his ears.

“Is this how you gripped the Southern Tower Master’s neck back then?”

A figure materialized.
Rosalind’s face loomed into view before me.

“Ugh. H-how?”

Becrock’s face contorted.
I shouldn’t have been visible beyond the grey barrier—how could she have appeared behind me the instant I initiated the teleportation?

“Your kind always follows the same pattern. When things get difficult, you abandon your weaker allies and flee.”

Rosalind spoke matter-of-factly.
The White Star’s subordinates invariably escaped in critical moments, taking only themselves or those they deemed valuable.
After witnessing this pattern repeat several times, shouldn’t one have caught on by now?

“And it’s strange that you only defend, isn’t it? I wondered—if you’re not attacking and only blocking, are you planning to escape?”

Crush.
Her hand, brimming with crimson mana, clamped down hard on Becrock’s throat.
Becrock’s breath caught. Yet the light in Rosalind’s eyes as she regarded him remained cold and unmoved.

“So I let the magic handle the attacks while I turned invisible and crept behind you. Simple, right?”

Simple? What was simple about this?
Invisibility of such a caliber—one he couldn’t detect—required extraordinarily refined mana control.

Rage surged through Becrock.
His hand trembled violently as he lashed out forward.

Whoosh—
The grey shield vanished.
Then two massive, crimson hands that had merely been pounding against the shield came into view.

“I-I should be in mana runaway, but… hck. H-how are you controlling your mana with such precision? Cough!”

Becrock stared at Rosalind in disbelief.
She answered his gaze with calm composure.

“I’m not in mana runaway.”
“…What?”

Becrock’s expression vanished from his face.
Shocked to the point of losing even the pain in his throat, he could muster no expression whatsoever.

“Why are you so surprised? This state is perfect for me. Do I look like I’m dying?”

Only then did Becrock realize that the Mage’s expression, covered in crimson mana, had actually improved.

“…How could you—!”

How could a human possibly wield mana of this magnitude!

“My hybrid mana is perfect! You didn’t take any damage while tearing through it? You won’t die?”

Becrock’s face contorted, but not from physical pain—from something far deeper.
The fact that his hybrid mana had dealt no damage whatsoever to this Mage tormented him far more profoundly.
And then came a cruel word that amplified that anguish even further.

“Weren’t you just deluding yourself that it was perfect?”

Rosalind’s calm words.
Becrock’s face twisted beyond description.

“No! It was perfect! My hybrid mana is a power that will change the history of magic! A new force that those like you, who have practiced magic so comfortably, could never dare to covet!”

Rosalind regarded Becrock quietly.

“Stand in the way of my path, which has overcome everything!”

Ever since Becrock discovered his talent as a child, he had overcome countless hardships to reach this point.
He recalled the adversities he had conquered.

When he was fortunate enough to become a mage’s disciple after living as a beggar, he secretly killed the mage’s prized student for his own talent and success, taking that position for himself.
How much suffering had it taken to quietly eliminate such a talented rival?
And once he became the prized student, he worked with utmost dedication.

Then he met his lord, and the day when he could finally control all the vermin beneath him was drawing near.
He would become a great hero.
But why—!

“You dare obstruct me!”

She watched Becrock pouring out his anguish and rage, and a thought crossed her mind.

They were the same age, weren’t they?
Though Rosalind was his enemy, she acknowledged Becrock’s strength. She had no choice but to—his abilities demanded it.
She recalled when Becrock had said they shared many similarities.
But why hadn’t he remembered the one thing they were most alike in?

“Becrock, while you were creating laws and casting magic, I was also casting magic.”

I also lived with all my effort.
Truly.

Becrock’s eyes wavered.
She released the grip from her hand around his throat.
Rosalind spoke calmly as she gazed into Becrock’s trembling eyes, fear now evident within them.

“Thank you. I grew because of you.”

Crash!
Two massive crimson hands descended upon Becrock as he left Rosalind’s grasp.

“Aaaahhhhh!”

Becrock’s agonized scream pierced the air.

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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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