Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 448

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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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Kale Heniatus’s gaze shifted to Choi Han’s hand—the one gripping the Illusionist’s arm, stained crimson with blood. In that moment, Choi Han’s voice rang out.

“I’ll handle this.”

Kale glanced at Choi Han once, then turned away. His footsteps quickened toward the Terrace.

“…You think you can handle me?”

The Illusionist’s voice echoed, but a far louder sound followed immediately after.
Crash! The red Dome shattered completely, and then—

Boom!
Kale glanced at the wall where the Terrace window stood. A massive crack spider-webbed across its surface.

“Ugh!”

The Illusionist was embedded in the wall.

“…Brutal bastard.”

It was unmistakable—Choi Han had hurled him. Yet Kale didn’t turn back to confirm. His foot landed on the Terrace’s railing with a soft tap.
Tap. His foot touched the Terrace’s railing.
Wee-wee-weee, wee-weee—the alarm still wailed throughout the Castle, and beneath it, the sound of wind being cut reached Kale’s ears from behind.

“Did you think I’d just let you leave!”

The roar of Bear King Sayehr pierced the air. Kale recognized that wind-cutting sound as Sayehr’s arrows of light.

‘So what?’

Kale didn’t slow. There was no need to.

Boom!
The arrow of light collided violently with a black aura that blazed with wild radiance, detonating in a burst of energy. Sayehr’s gaze snapped toward the owner of that black aura—the one who had obliterated his arrow.
Drip, drip. Droplets of blood fell from the back of Choi Han’s hand onto the hall floor. His eyes, cold and unwavering, fixed upon Sayehr.

“There’s an unfinished fight between us that needs settling.”

I had fought Sayehr at the North Mogur Alchemy Tower before. As that memory surfaced, Sayehr gathered light into both his hands.
Ready to engage at any moment.

But my opponent had no intention of fighting.

“However, I have something more pressing to handle first.”

With those words, my body moved with explosive speed.

“Damn!”

Sayehr reacted quickly, but I was faster. My black aura surged forth alongside crimson smoke, aimed directly at the Illusionist who was weaving hand seals.

“Ugh!”

The Illusionist abandoned her seals and rolled away. Boom! My black aura pierced the spot where she had been, and the ground collapsed beneath the impact.
The Illusionist’s eyes widened as she stared at the devastation.

‘Where is he? Where did Choi Han—’

I had vanished from sight.

“Gasp!”

She felt a vice-like grip seizing the back of her neck. Simultaneously, the metallic scent of blood flooded her nostrils. A cold voice reached her from behind.

“Found you.”

I had seized the Illusionist’s arm. I had told Kale I would handle this. I needed to resolve this situation.
To do that, I had to stop this Illusionist above all else.

In my eyes reflected a golden bracelet, its links intertwined like chains. My lips curved upward.
What I had glimpsed when I grabbed her arm earlier—I had seen it correctly.

“No!”

A spear of light forged by Sayehr shot toward me. The Illusionist twisted her body away from my grip on her arm, her remaining hand striking at my vital points.
She moved with the skill of a highly trained martial artist.

“Do you think all I have is illusions?”
“I don’t need to know that.”

The hand that had gripped the Illusionist’s nape seized something else instead. Blood spread across the golden chain bracelet.
Crack! The golden chain bracelet shattered in Choi Han’s grasp.

“Cough!”

In an instant, blood poured from the Illusionist’s mouth, and her body collapsed forward. But Choi Han had to retreat to evade the spear of light aimed at him.

“Eli!”

Sayehr rushed to support her body, and in that moment, Choi Han turned his head. He saw Kale soaring beyond the terrace.

“…Ravens.”

Dozens, hundreds of black birds following in his wake filled my vision. Choi Han moved immediately. My task was clear.

It was the same for Kale. He kicked off the terrace railing and surged into the air, opening his mouth.

“Gather the territory’s people in one place.”

Caw. Caw.
The ravens that had moved like a black curtain following Kale scattered in all directions at once. Simultaneously, Gashan opened his mouth.

“Lord Kale has given an order. Gather all the territory’s people in one place!”
“Understood.”

Tasha wrapped herself in wind without hesitation and headed toward the fleeing residents, leading the Dark Elves with her.
Prince Valentino gestured for the Knights to follow behind her, but asked Gashan with an anxious expression.

“Shouldn’t we flee from the fire? What about that crimson blaze approaching us now, that red river—does Lord Kale have no other instructions?”

From the four pillars of fire in all directions, flames advanced without mercy. Valentino felt fear at the sight of the red liquid flowing like a river.
He desperately wanted someone to resolve this, and the only person he could think of capable of doing so was Kale.

But the fleeing residents of the territory couldn’t even think of straw to grasp.
No, there was none to grasp. Would a lord who levied such enormous taxes come to save them? They were fortunate if they didn’t have to flee.
They had to find their own path to survival. And for ordinary territory residents, that path was nothing but escape.
They had to flee from the fire surging like that river, flee from the calamity.

Caw, caw.
That was when—a raven’s cry suddenly pierced the air.

“Huh?”

The boy holding his mother’s hand lifted his head. A raven was flying above them.

“Mom, Mom.”

The boy’s mother began to lift her head but froze mid-motion. A Dark Elf appeared from the corner of the alley. Seeing the family that had stopped, he pointed in one direction with his hand.

“Go that way! The raven will guide you!”

The woman, momentarily confused by the sudden words, spoke without thinking. The only words that escaped her lips were those.

“If we go that way, can we survive? Can we—”

Can we trust you?
She swallowed the rest of her words, unable to speak them aloud. But the Dark Elf, as if understanding her heart, smiled and replied.

“Yes, you will.”

At the same moment, the woman felt the boy’s hand tugging at her collar.

“Mom, Mom! Look there!”
“I’m in the middle of something important—”

The woman, about to quiet the boy, looked to where he was pointing and her eyes widened. Floating in the air was a figure wielding a sword of blazing fire.
From the four pillars of flame like inferno, she could dimly discern that this person was the one who had caused all of this.

And before that figure floated another person.
Though both were too high in the sky to see clearly, at least the luminous power radiating from both their hands was distinctly visible.

“…Water?”

That blue substance was water at first glance.

“Hurry this way. Prince Valentino is also here.”

At the Dark Elf’s words, the woman cradled the boy in her arms. If the Crown Prince was there, if that noble presence was there, it would be safe.
And she could sense it faintly.

“Go quickly!”

He is one of us.
The one whose hands glow with blue light is one of us.
Having nothing, such premonitions became acute and remarkably accurate. The woman ran in the direction the Dark Elf indicated, cradling the boy.
There was no reason to lose her way.

Caw, caw.
A single raven became her guide. Throughout the city, ravens were guiding people, flying toward a single destination.

“Looks like they managed to resolve it.”

The White Star, who had been speaking while looking down below, lifted his head and stared straight ahead.

“The warning alarm is sounding, so it seems they’re trying to destroy the mana disruption device as well. Kale, your allies are arriving one by one?”

Kale shrugged and pointed the spear in his hand at the White Star.

“Why are you talking so much today? It’s tedious.”
“Ha!”

At his blunt words, the White Star burst into laughter. Then he pointed his fire sword at Kale and opened his mouth.

“Wasn’t it the first time we faced each other alone like this? How about we have a conversation?”
“No.”

Kale ignored him.
Have a conversation now? When liquid fire from all four directions was breaking through to overturn the Dubori Territory?
Kale had neither time nor leisure. Raon and Erhafen still hadn’t destroyed the mana disruption device. He had to face the White Star alone.

Yet Kale could not help but listen to the White Star’s words.

“Do you know? I deliberately chose not to acquire one of the powers that the Ancient White Star possessed.”

What?
There was a power that someone aspiring to become the Ancient White Star didn’t want to possess?
Kale’s gaze fixed on the White Star, and noticing the question in his eyes, the White Star drew a thick smile across his face.

“The power of water, that is. You’ve seen my water attribute power, haven’t you?”

I had.
The White Star’s water-attribute ancient power, which unfurled like a curtain, was primarily used as a shield—a barrier of defense.

“In truth, I have no need for defensive power. What I required was a weapon capable of offense.”

The sword of fire pointed toward the spear in Kale’s hand.
A spear forged from water. The Sky-Devouring Water—still cursing inside Kale’s mind even now.

“So I journeyed to that lake where such power was said to exist, seeking the Judging Water.”

Kale’s grip on the spear trembled slightly.

-The Judging Water? That’s me.

As the Sky-Devouring Water had said, the “Judging Water” was the name the god had bestowed upon the Sky-Devouring Water.

“That power was said to be extraordinarily formidable. Beloved by the divine, it was described as an immensely powerful spear capable of judging all things.”

Kale read the greed gleaming in the White Star’s eyes.

“So the power of that spear is the Judging Water? You took what was mine. And now you covet the power of my lands as well?”

That greed gradually transformed into fury. It was the first time the White Star had revealed such blatant anger toward Kale.

The White Star spoke to Kale.

“Come at me.”

Kale bit his lip and immediately seized the spear with both hands. The water spear elongated further, its tip spinning with violent intensity.
Whiiiing— The wind wrapped around Kale’s body ever more tightly.

The White Star didn’t wipe the smile from his face, as if he understood everything going through Kale’s mind.

“Your spear stance is rather poor. Perhaps you need some martial training?”

Fierce flames erupted from the White Star as he took his stance.

“You think water can overcome fire? But my flames are one with calamity itself. Mere water cannot defeat them.”
“When did I ever say I relied on just one power?”

At Kale’s words, the White Star’s momentum faltered slightly, his grip tightening on his sword.

“What?”

Kale exhaled like a sigh toward the questioning White Star.

“Did you really think I’ve just been standing here holding a spear and listening this whole time?”

Kale shook his head slowly.
In that moment, the White Star heard an unfamiliar sound.

Boom.
Not a massive tremor, but the earth itself was resonating.
Boom, thud.
From all four directions—north, south, east, west—vibrations rippled outward without discernible origin.

Crack.
In that instant, a faint sound imperceptible to most ears emanated from the ground’s surface. The earth was beginning to fracture.

The ground was being torn open from below.
Fine cracks appeared before the crimson wave advancing ferociously, devouring everything in its path.

A voice echoed in Kale’s mind.

-I think I’m about to pass out.
-Stop complaining and dig through the ground properly! You blasted rock!

The conversation between Scary Rock and Sky-Devouring Water filled Kale’s consciousness. Thump. Thump. His heart pounded fiercely.

“…Could it be the power of the earth—”

Kale Heniatus flashed a twisted smile at the White Star, who muttered in astonishment.

What do you mean “surely not”? That surely is exactly what’s happening, you bastard!

Crack, crack-crack.
The ground fractured with soft sounds. In those gaps, thin streams of water began to pool.

Boom! Boom! Boom!
From all directions came a deafening roar that shattered the night. Massive columns of water erupted from the north, south, east, and west.

Kale stared coldly at the White Star.
Creating a calamity, you say?

“This calamity will freeze to death.”

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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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