Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 413

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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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For a moment, no one dared to speak.

“…Ugh… Ugh….”

But the moment a pained groan reached their ears, the silence shattered.

‘What the hell!’

Sword Master Hana stared at the Lion King Dorf with an expression of utter disbelief. And at his subordinate, whose hair was gripped in his hand.

“My apologies.”

And now Dorf was offering his apologies to Hana.

“My subordinate disrupted our fight. I am truly ashamed.”
“…Ugh… Gack….”

Dorf paid no mind to his subordinate’s groans as he smiled gently at Hana.

“I hope this serves as sufficient apology.”

With those words, Dorf swung his fist.

“Hack! Cough!”

Two cries of agony erupted.
His fist struck the limbs of the subordinate held in his other hand. Gazing coldly at the shattered limbs, he flashed a sinister grin at Hana.

“Let us continue our duel.”

And his arm moved.
Hana’s eyes widened.

‘…Insane!’

Dorf hurled his own subordinate toward the ground saturated with dead mana.

“AAAAHHHHH!”

The one who had been hurling soldiers to the ground now plummeted himself, his agonized wail piercing the night.

“How noisy.”

Sword Master Hana’s gaze snapped toward Dorf in an instant.

“…You bastard!”

The metallic ring of steel sang out.
Sword Master Hana raised her blade once more and launched herself at Dorf with explosive force.
In Dorf’s gentle smile, both his hands gripped the trembling necks of two soldiers.

“Whoa, whoa. Calm yourself. It seems we should dispose of these nuisances first so we can fight freely and fairly. So please, wait a moment.”

With those words, the soldiers were released from Dorf’s grasp and hurled to the ground.

“No, this can’t be!”
“Saint—!”

Sword Master Hana tore her gaze from the falling soldiers and unleashed her aura toward Dorf.

A deafening boom erupted.
Dorf brushed off the dust from his unscathed hand with casual indifference.

“So eager to fight me? Ah, I understand that sentiment well. You possess the bearing of a true swordmaster.”
“Madman! Stop your nonsense!”

Sword Master Hana deliberately raised her voice to provoke Dorf.
All the while, she maneuvered to draw him away from the soldiers, away from danger.

‘…He hasn’t entered his berserk state yet.’

Yet Sword Master Hana bit her lip hard.
Dorf had not yet unleashed his transformation, and still he deflected her attacks with ease.

‘I am a Sword Master, so how can this be…!’

How was Dorf blocking aura attacks so effortlessly?
Hana felt frustration and irritation welling up inside her.

“…Ugh, Saint….”
“Jack, Sun God….”

I could see soldiers bound at the wrists, kneeling and weeping.
My irritation only grew deeper.

They were enemies. And I had already revealed that I was no longer a Saint, remaining only as a Sword Master.
Yet I could not turn away from the desperate hearts of these enemy soldiers who still sought the Sun God and the Saint in me.

‘If only this were a one-on-one duel!’

If I had an environment where I could properly face Dorf alone.
Then, at least I could have poured my full strength into the fight.

‘Choi Han isn’t here. Erhafen isn’t here either. Rosalind said she’d be late. Merry is late too.’

But right now, I had few allies to fight with.

‘…I’ve changed too.’

I let out a laugh like a sigh.
The old me would have rushed in recklessly without thinking.

‘Hana, this battle is important. For the Sun God Church to show a new face. For Mogur to rise again.’
‘Hana, we hope you’ll take the lead in this matter.’

The words my brother Jack and Sir Rex had spoken came back to me one after another.
I wasn’t thinking about just fighting anymore.
I had to think about what came next.

“I can’t afford to be distracted.”

Whoosh!
I inhaled sharply and arched my back as a fist came straight at my face.

Whoosh!
A violent gust of wind erupted in the wake of Dorf’s fist. Hana twisted her body and swung her arm, her aura targeting Dorf’s leg.

Crash!
“Ugh!”

But that leg moved first, sweeping away Hana’s arm.

Damn it!
Hana’s face twisted in frustration.
Another fist came flying at her. An ordinary punch—no aura, no berserk state. Yet Hana felt the crushing pressure as if a massive boulder were hurtling toward her.

Crash! Bang!
Blade and fist continued to collide.

“Ugh, gah!”

With each impact, Hana’s feet retreated backward.
She wasn’t injured, but she was clearly being pushed back.

“Damn it all!”

Harsh words spilled from her lips.
Dorf responded with a sigh-like tone.

“I suppose I’ll have to remove your hesitation.”
“Shut your damn mouth!”

Hana gripped her sword like a spear and thrust it at Dorf to silence him. Dorf’s body easily evaded the strike.
His mane-like hair whipped about as he shouted.

“Knock all the soldiers away!”
“You crazy bastard!”

Boom!
The tip of the blade and the fist collided, sending a deafening roar through the air.

“Hack!”

Hana let out a brief cry as she was pushed backward, her feet sliding across the ground.
Through the dust, the silhouettes of enemies flinging soldiers away became visible.

“Puhahahaha!”

Yet she laughed.

“Hmm?”

Dorf’s gaze turned toward his back.

At the top of the Northern Alchemy Tower, someone was climbing upward, gripping the railing. Soon, the figure being carried on that person’s back descended.
Soon after, the person who had been riding on his back got down.

“Thank you, Vicross.”

It was Saint Jack.

“Hurry! Drop those soldiers now!”
“It’s fine! That Saint is just a hollow shell with no offensive power!”
“He was definitely below us!”
“It was definitely down there!”

Their brows furrowed.
And she furrowed her brow.

Who is the author?

Someone wearing Saint Jack’s Priest’s coat and a hat pulled down low sat on the floor waving their hands.

“It’s nice that it’s soft and cushioned, whether it’s a wheelchair or just grass ground.”

And standing beside him was another masked figure. For a moment, I thought it was the masked person who had climbed onto the tower railing, but upon closer inspection, this one was considerably smaller in stature.
And as a bonus, there was one more masked figure standing there. For a moment, I thought it was the masked person who had climbed up onto the railing at the top of the Tower, but looking more closely, this one was much smaller in build.

“Saint, be careful so your priestly robes don’t get dirty.”

It was Ron, the servant wearing a mask.

“When did she change?!”

Those who looked at Saint Jack again realized that the Saint was not wearing priestly robes.
Saint Jack, dressed in quite luxurious noble attire, held the Sun God’s healing power in both hands.

“Hana!”

He shouted. At the same moment, Hana laughed.

“Hahahaha!”

The reason was simple.

-Hana, the human says! ‘Why are you acting unlike yourself? Just fight!’

Hana’s shoulders shook with laughter.
Dorf’s expression changed subtly.

In that instant, she ran.

Tap, tap-tap!

She leaped into the air.
She kicked off the railing and launched herself skyward.

The top of the Alchemy Tower, divided into four sections.
From the south where the enemy and Dorf stood, she vaulted across the railings toward the east.

Boom!
Her feet landed.
There was nothing on that rooftop.

“Are you running away?”

Dorf asked with a benevolent expression.
A smirk. Hana smiled.
That was when it happened.
A golden aura tinged with black surged upward.
And came crashing down.

Crash!
Crash!

Sword Master Hana began demolishing the eastern rooftop at the very summit of the Alchemy Tower.
She tore through the tower without hesitation.
Yet as she did, she looked at Dorf with a radiant smile and spoke.

“Care to fight?”

Dorf’s lips curled upward.

“Kekekek, how delightful!”

Dorf vaulted over the railing.
Both Hana and Dorf crossed the gap between railings using only the raw power of their bodies, without a shred of magic. Hana cried out as she watched Dorf leap through the air between the railings.

“Do as you please!”

It was Jack who responded to those words.

They had separated.
Hana and I were now apart.
We could distinguish the space between us.

“Attack the Saint!”
“Now is our chance!”

The Knight and the Lion King stepped forward to assault the Saint.

“We’ll cover the rear!”
“Launch ranged attacks! That way we won’t be touched by that solar power!”

The Dark Mage and the Mage retreated backward.
The Dark Mage in particular fell back to the very rear, summoning dead mana. Then immediately cast black magic.

Whoooosh. Whoosh. Whoooosh.
Multiple strands of black magic rose into the air.

“Attack!”

As one Dark Mage’s cry was immediately echoed by the others, mudlike black limbs were manifested through dark magic. They surged toward Saint Jack.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized.
The speed and precision far exceeded even that of a standard Mage Battalion.

“How fortunate.”

In that moment, Saint Jack smiled.

It truly was fortunate.
Not that the Mage attacked first, but that the Dark Mages did.
Truly.

“How fortunate they divided the Tower into four sections.”

Now I can fight separately from Sword Master Hana.
Saint Jack drew forth all the power of the Sun God, every ounce of healing force dwelling within his body.

Whoooosh—
Warm light swept across the space in an instant.

‘Saint Jack, why do you use your healing power in such a limited way?’

Saint Jack recalled a meeting with the Dark Elf Tasha from a certain day.
When Crown Prince Albert Crossman had briefly stayed hidden in the Empire, Tasha, who had worked to assist him, came to the Papal See to meet Jack and handed him documents.
Tasha placed the documents on Jack’s desk and asked him that question.

‘Pardon? Ah, I suppose I don’t use it properly, do I?’

Jack answered with an awkward smile at those words.
He already knew that Kale and his companions had accomplished much at the Capital Alchemy Cathedral Tower. Because of that, he felt small.
Though he was smiling, his heart ached.

‘No, that’s not what I meant.’

What Tasha had said then with a puzzled expression.
Those words had provided Jack with a clue.

Black magic hurtled through the air. Jack swung both hands toward it.
Light advanced gently.
Like the wingbeats of a butterfly drenched in rain, it appeared almost powerless.

“What?”
“What is that?”

The enemies’ eyes widened.

Fwisssss—
Sssss—

Light enveloped the black magic.
Then the black magic began to fade away.
Like dust, it crumbled silently into nothingness.

The moment Jack witnessed this, he clenched his fists.
Tasha’s words came to mind.

“As you know, we Dark Elves fled from the Sun God and the Light Church, hiding ourselves in the desert long ago. It’s an ancient tale, but it happened.”
“…I apologize. We should have lived in harmony.”
“No! That’s not why I brought it up. Regardless, records from that time still remain. Since we must prepare for such things from our perspective, we studied those records.”

Jack poured forth even more healing power, more life force.

“Holy Knights are frightening, but the most terrifying existence is written as one who carries life. Because it is the natural opposite. To dead mana.”

The Dark Elf records contained documentation of an existence they needed to be more cautious of than Holy Knights.

“People often misunderstand, but while offense is frightening and defense is remarkable, the most terrifying power is one that renders all attempts futile, preventing anything from being accomplished at all.”

A power that prevented dark-natured beings from fighting at all.

“Of course, it’s said that such a feat would require hundreds of ordinary-level Priests pooling their strength.”

Tasha looked at Jack and offered her counsel seriously.

“But I think that if it were you, Saint Jack, large-scale applications might be difficult, yet you could achieve a certain degree of this.”

And Jack had now realized it.

Whoooosh—
As if a gentle breeze were blowing.
The floor of one section of the tower divided into quarters blazed with light.

“Guh!”
“…This cannot be!”

The Black Mages felt as though that light were a swamp dragging their feet downward.
A force that made living beings ever more vibrant enveloped the dead mana.

It was not an attack.
It merely stole their breath away.

And it was only the beginning.

Uuuuuung—
The light began to descend along the tower.
Jack’s light began to consume every place save where Hana stood.

There was no need for overwhelming force or vast quantities.

Merely like a thin thread of silk.
Like grass of modest height.
Like scattered petals.

Thus Jack’s light began to slowly extend from the tower toward the Forest.

Screeeech!
Screech!

The golems’ movements began to slow beneath that light.
With a clunk, the Black Mage at the control seat felt the gentle vitality born from the dead mana obstruct the golems’ movements.

It did not hold them fast like solid stone, nor did it arrest them like a fierce wind.
But it embraced all things swiftly and gently.

A night without the sun. The Northern Alchemy Tower, where the dead mana lake existed.
For but a fleeting moment, that place became the most vibrant with life.

The golems and Black Mages suddenly began to convulse, their bodies twisting.

“…We must kill the Saint first.”

Only then did everyone truly sense the presence of Saint Jack.
The danger of that power as well.

Boom. Thud. Thud.
Half of the golems surged toward the heart of the forest.
Saint Jack.
To eliminate the power he was radiating.

“What in the—!”

Meanwhile, the Knights and Mages remained unaffected by that power, standing perfectly fine.
In fact, their condition seemed to be improving.

“We’ll kill him!”
“Seize the Saint!”

Seeing the Black Mages and golems moving sluggishly, the Knights, Lion Tribe, and Mages immediately attempted to attack the Saint.
Several of the Knights were already charging toward him.

Crash!

But a greatsword came crashing down, blocking their path.
The one gripping that sword’s hilt spoke while pulling on white gloves.

“The Sword Master isn’t here.”

Vicross drew his greatsword once more.

“Then it’s worth a try.”

A greatsword, even more massive than before, was leveled at the Knights.
The Knights hesitated at this display.
They still hadn’t identified the masked figure’s true identity. There were so many swordsmen traveling with Kale, after all. And most of those gathered here had never actually encountered Kale’s group before.

The standoff continued.

“All of you, attack together!”
“We’ll provide magical support!”

The Knights, who had been probing their opponent while maintaining their distance, soon seized the opportunity and rushed toward the greatsword.
At that moment, Vicross spoke calmly.

“My work here is done.”

What?
Confusion flickered across the face of the Knight charging at the front.
Hadn’t he just said moments ago that this was worth attempting? Yet now it was finished?

But Vicross’s words were the truth.
He had received instructions from Kale.

‘Buy us some time.’

And that time had now elapsed.

Rumble—rumble—
The sound of the sky crying out echoed through the air.
The enemies lifted their heads.

The black night sky grew murky.

Whoooosh—whoosh—
A fierce wind roared. When they turned to look, a colossal vortex of wind rose up from the cross-shaped corridor.

The soldiers who had fallen beneath the tower and Dorf’s subordinates, battered and bloodied from their clash with him.
All of them lay upon the ground below the tower.

And at the center of the wind.
The masked figure in black stood with both fists clenched tightly.

“…Should I give it a try?”

Within his two hands lay a mana stone.

Clouds obscured the moon and stars.
In complete darkness, when nothing from the sky illuminated the Alchemy Tower any longer.

Flash!
A crimson bolt of lightning, like blood itself, descended from above.

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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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