Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 457

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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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Yet no one welcomed Ron and Vicross home after their long absence.
Instead, enemies came rushing at them from the Main Gate itself.

“Good.”

Vicross uttered a brief comment and swept his greatsword horizontally.

“Ugh!”

One of the Dark swordsmen who had charged at them lost the contest of strength against the greatsword and collapsed. But that was merely the beginning.
Mages, Knights, Soldiers, Archers—countless fighters of every type converged upon the two of them in concentrated assault.

“We should have severed the Molan Family’s lifeline completely!”
“These rats dare enter so brazenly!”

Several of those who had once betrayed the Underworld families and switched their allegiance to Dark hurled harsh words at Vicross.

“Pathetic.”

Vicross began advancing as he spoke, his resolve unwavering.
He knew the path he must take, and he possessed more than enough will to wield his blade in pursuit of it.

“…You—”
“Just follow me.”

Ron tried to say something upon witnessing this, but Vicross casually dismissed his words and brought his massive sword down in a diagonal slash.

Boom!

The magical fireball collided with the wind pressure generated by the greatsword and detonated.
Vicross crossed through the explosion while thrusting his blade forward, advancing with a single step.

“Argh!”

Vicross’s sword pierced another fighter’s flank. With an impassive expression, he withdrew the blade and swept his right foot in a vicious kick.

“Gah!”

I had no time to spare a glance at the soldiers sprawled across the ground.

‘I lead the way.’

Vicross swung his sword with that singular thought consuming him, and Ron followed silently in his wake.

‘…He’s definitely improved.’

Since Choi Han had arrived at the Mansion, my son Vicross’s swordsmanship hadn’t advanced by leaps and bounds, yet it was steadily growing stronger with each passing day.
And he was becoming more and more like his mother—in his sword technique, in his every action.

‘His appearance is a carbon copy of mine, though.’

I felt laughter threatening to bubble up. It was rare to feel such foolish mirth on a battlefield, yet today seemed to be one of those rare occasions.
And on every battlefield where I had laughed so foolishly like this, my wife had always been at my side.

We had both met and married at an age later than most. In truth, it had taken considerable time from our meeting to our marriage. And in all that accumulated time, we had shared countless experiences together.

Except for the days in my youth when I learned short-blade techniques and concealment arts from the elders of my household, since I became a full-fledged operative, she was the first person Ron had ever allowed to stand at his side.

In fact, it was more accurate to say I had held her firmly at my side rather than merely allowing her to stand there.

‘I’m taking the lead, you hear?’
‘Stop charging ahead so recklessly.’
‘Ugh, you’re so suffocating.’

Yes, she loved being at the forefront.
Ron recalled the conversations we had shared.

‘No, listen to me. When you’re at the very front, swinging a greatsword and striking someone across the face—do you understand that feeling?’
‘Should I understand that? I prefer driving a blade into the back of someone’s neck from behind. That suits my taste far better.’
‘Goodness, I shouldn’t have even brought it up.’

The image of her shaking her head with an expression of complete bewilderment at the incomprehensibility of assassins, wielding her greatsword, remained vivid and clear in Ron’s mind even now.

‘…He’s just like her.’

My son resembled his mother in that very aspect.
Of course, he was not identical to her. Vicross had spent time alongside formidable warriors like Choi Han and Gashan, and through witnessing their battles, he had acquired knowledge of his own.
Yet the roots of his nature remained hers.

At last, following my son’s footsteps, I began ascending the staircase that led toward the City Wall where the Main Gate stood.
One step, two steps. As I climbed higher, the landscape within the Gorge gradually came into view.
Even so, the enemies pressed forward with greater ferocity.

“You assassin bastard, running away like that!”

At the voice behind me, my hand moved.

“Gack!”

With a dull thud, I watched coldly as the enemy tumbled down the stairs with a dagger embedded in his throat, then turned my gaze forward once more.
In that instant, a tremendous sound erupted.

Boom!

“Argh!”

I saw another figure plummeting below the City Wall, releasing agonized cries in succession.
Clang. The sword in his hand fell to the ground, split cleanly in two. After observing the blade for a moment, I looked up at the staircase ahead.
At the end of the remaining steps, Vicross stood atop the City Wall, gazing down at me.

“Father, come up, won’t you?”

Vicross spoke in his characteristically blunt manner, his body marked with countless minor wounds, though they were obscured by the blood of others splattered across him.

Tap.
I took a step forward.
Tap, tap.
Soon my pace quickened, and I swiftly ascended the remaining stairs.

“…Ah.”

A laugh that resembled a sigh escaped my lips.
The rugged mountain range. The deep Gorge nestled between them and the sheer, towering Cliff.
All the cherished sights came into view.

“Father.”

Ron watched as Vicross pulled out a rolled-up cloth from his inner pocket and handed it to him. He accepted the fabric and unfolded it. The Molan Family’s emblem was inscribed upon it.

“…Did you draw this?”
“Yes.”
“Your artistic skills could use some improvement.”

The boy was skilled at cooking and quite adept at sewing, yet his drawing ability was abysmal.
Still, he had rendered the emblem far better than I expected.

The Molan Family.
Because they existed within the Underworld, they could not openly display their family emblem while conducting their missions. Yet within this Gorge alone, they had hung the emblem.
It was a declaration that this was their domain and home—a warning to uninvited guests and passersby not to set foot here.

‘Things will be different now.’

From now on, the meaning of this emblem would change.
Ron approached the location where the Dark flag hung and tore it away with his dagger.

The Dark flag fell with a soft thud, and Ron tied the cloth bearing his son’s drawing of the Molan Family emblem in its place.

Wheeee— whee—
At that moment, Vicross blew his whistle.
The mist instantly dispersed and vanished. Then, the Mercenary King Burd Illis, standing upon the Second Perimeter’s City Wall, cried out.

“Advance!”

Mercenaries of every profession—mages, swordsmen, hunters—roared as they surged toward the Third Perimeter. Assassins who had survived the annihilation of their clans descended from beneath the cliff buildings and melted into the Battlefield.

Ron turned to observe the allied forces pouring forward, then turned back. The Central Building came into view. The key figures of this Secret Base would surely be within. Even if the highest-ranking members were absent, he had to seize complete control of that structure.
He turned his head.

“Lead the way.”

He yielded the front to his son.

“I will cover our rear.”

He intended to remain behind and prevent the enemies from pursuing them.

“Yes. Let’s hurry.”

Vicross took the lead toward the Central Building.
Ron followed behind him.
In this Secret Base without a supreme powerhouse, there were few who could stop these two.

* * *

Finally, at the top floor of the Secret Base’s Central Building—in what had once been the Molan Family patriarch’s office—Ron spoke as he gazed upon his lord.

“Young master, there is a teleportation circle here leading to another Secret Base.”

Kale Heniatus stepped onto the teleportation circle.
Beside him stood Choi Han, Vicross, the Mercenary King, the Dragon Hybrid, and the nine-year-olds.

“I will handle the cleanup here and follow after you.”

Kale Heniatus gazed at Ron, who smiled kindly once more, and nodded.

“Alright. But Ron, isn’t your mansion a bit too nice? It’s even larger than the Count’s Mansion.”

Ron grinned comfortably, and Kale Heniatus stepped onto the teleportation circle.
As his vision grew increasingly dark, he recalled the second Dark Secret Base.

-Human! But why did the White Star establish a Secret Base there?

Three forbidden zones existed on the Eastern Continent.
Wind Island, where Kale Heniatus had obtained the spinning top.
Castle of Light, where Lord Sherit’s Castle had stood.

And finally.
The Black Hole, located in the Northern Region of the Eastern Continent where the Glacier began.
In the past, people feared that massive chasm—a sinkhole the size of an average city with no visible bottom—believing that those who fell into it would plunge into a world of death or reach the Gate of the Demon Realm.
Thus, no city or village existed in its vicinity.

In truth, there was no reason for anyone to live in a place where such a massive sinkhole existed.
This was because the sinkhole lay between the mountain range and the Glacier, which protected the people of the Eastern Continent from the bitter cold of the frozen lands.

No one would have built a village near the pit beyond that mountain range.

Yet people had given it a name nonetheless.

The Final Taboo.
The Gate of the Demon Realm.

Dark’s second secret base existed between that Gate of the Demon Realm and the mountain range.

Whoooosh—
Brilliant light enveloped Kale, and when his eyes opened where the radiance faded, he had arrived before Dark’s secret base.
According to the Dragon Hybrid, this place had poorly defined boundaries between the three perimeters.

As the brilliant light vanished, Kale’s vision grew increasingly clear, and he beheld the second secret base.

“Ha, haha—”

Laughter escaped him.
It was not laughter born of joy or delight.
It was laughter that came from sheer exasperation.

—Human! This place feels familiar!

Near the Glacier region, it was bitterly cold despite the body-temperature magic cast upon me.
Though I had never been here before, the landscape of the second secret base felt strangely familiar to me.

“Lord Kale, this place is—”

Choi Han’s face froze, and he could not find the words to continue. But eventually, he spoke.

“It’s similar to the Dragon Slayer Village. No—it’s almost identical.”

Underground. That blue village that existed surrounded by cliffs.
The stone structure at the center where Choi Jung-gun’s memoirs resided.
All of it was reproduced identically before my eyes. I let out a hollow laugh as I gazed upon Dark’s hidden secret base, the place where the strongest gathered in concentration.

‘This is exactly like the legend of the village created by the First Dragon Slayer, isn’t it?’

The First Dragon Slayer had gathered the strong and created a village separated from the mundane world.
It was both infuriating and laughable that someone who wanted to become the White Star instead of a Dragon Slayer would create such a place.

Why, you ask?
Because I could keenly feel that this Secret Base was a village created as a substitute—a place he yearned for the Dragon Slayer Village but could never return to.
A man who sacrificed others, tormented them, and sought to dominate everything harbored such thoughts, held such emotions, and built such a village—it was simply absurd.
And I was furious.
I was irritated.

“Well, well, how amusing.”

Kale watched as a figure emerged through the opening gate at the village entrance.

“Where do you think this is, crawling all the way here?”

The man speaking with a sardonic tone was the Lion King. He, who had remained in this place, regarded Kale and Choi Han with an expression of utter disbelief.

“I received word that the Dark Secret Base was under attack. Yet here you are, when you should be in the Desert? Hmm?”

He shook his head as if exasperated. But gradually, the smile fading from his lips revealed his realization.
Because it meant they had been deceived by Kale.
One by one, enemies began to emerge from behind him.

“Kale, they are formidable.”

As Choi Han said, each of them possessed the caliber to command at least a respectable mercenary unit.
The Lion King exuded confidence because of this.

“I’ll have to capture you before my master arrives.”

A low rumble resonated—
Dark energy began to coalesce and swirl around his body.

“I’ll throw you into that Gate of the Demon Realm pit. Kehehehe!”

The Lion King, speaking with a sly tone, caught sight of Kale’s slowly widening mouth.

“Your turn, now.”

Huh?
Lion King Dorf watched from behind Kale as a figure in a deep hood stepped forward. An inexplicable sense of déjà vu washed over him, and an eerie chill ran down his spine.
It was the sensation that accompanied the approach of something catastrophic.

Whoosh.
The hood was pulled away.
And the face of the figure beneath it became visible.

“…You were alive?!”

Shock etched itself across the Lion King’s face, and the Dragon Hybrid who had cast off the hood closed his eyes quietly. His hair was dyed red, but his face remained gaunt and taut with tension.
He felt it every single day.

Death drawing near.

The searing pain that cut across his entire body intensified with each passing moment.
He had to be careful with every breath. One wrong inhalation, and agony would consume him—the kind that felt like it would claim his life immediately.

But if the end was coming soon.
Just as the initial choice granted to me had allowed me to live another six months, I wanted to choose my own end with my own hands.

I drew forth the faint light attribute that still lingered within my body.
Though I now inhabited a human form and the light I possessed was exceedingly weak, it undeniably existed.

“I’m ready.”

I spoke to Kale behind me, and Kale opened his mouth.

“Begin.”

Two voices answered in turn.

“Understood.”
-Acknowledged, human!

The Dragon Hybrid and Raon began to draw forth the power within their bodies.

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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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