Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 473

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

However, Erhafen did not stop speaking.

“Dead blood will not suffice. Only the blood flowing from a living, thrashing creature can oppose death itself.”

Valentino’s heart suddenly pounded violently.
It felt as though I had heard a secret I should never have known.
My heart felt pierced with anguish.

“What symbolizes human vitality? Is it not the blood flowing from a heart that beats without restraint? Ah, and the quantity matters—a mere trickle will not do. A substantial volume is required. This is why fighting in such a manner results in death from excessive bleeding before any victory can be claimed.”

The thing called ‘conscience’ within Valentino’s heart pierced him painfully.

“In any case, the most efficient method for a human to counter dead mana is to drive a blade through one’s own heart or cover one’s entire body in wounds while fighting.”

Valentino’s brow furrowed deeply as I observed Erhafen speaking with bureaucratic detachment, devoid of emotion.

“…No… such a….”

Words would not come. My mind churned with countless phrases, yet I could not bring myself to speak them aloud.
In that moment, I saw a faint smile forming on the Mage’s composed face—a smile tinged not with joy, but with sorrow.

“Truly a tragic method, is it not?”

Tragic.
Upon hearing that word, the face of Kale Heniatus surfaced in my mind.

for the first time.
At last.

Only now could he understand the weight of fighting in the smoke of dead mana.

I did not know whether Commander Kale would fight drenched in blood or employ some other method. Yet I could sufficiently grasp that dead mana posed such a lethal poison to humans, and that fighting an enemy within such an environment was something far more horrifying.
I winced. Valentino took a step back from the castle wall railing.

Step back. Valentino withdrew one pace from the City Wall railing.

‘He withdraws.’

Erhafen observed this with an indifferent gaze.
However, the moment he became aware of his actions, he had to feel remorse.

But the moment he recognized his own action, he felt the sting of conscience.
The soldiers nearby and the nobles who were secretly listening to their story. I saw everyone taking a step back.
Erhafen glanced around him.

Erhafen observed this and reflected.

‘This way, fewer people will venture into the Desert.’
And move on.

And beyond that.

‘Everyone will come to understand, even if only slightly, how much Kale has endured.’
There were many people who simply said it was great.
Many spoke of Kale as merely a hero,

But how many truly understood the path he walked?

‘It is not only Kale.’
Many people fight with the white star with death by their side.
Choi Han, Merry, the Little One, and so many others.

Erhafen believed that people ought to comprehend the weight of that burden, even in part.

‘With this, the Caro Kingdom will surely offer something to that unfortunate fellow.’
Of course, the reason why Erhaven said this was not just because of a desire for compensation or recognition.

Of course, Erhafen’s words were not spoken merely in hopes of reward or recognition.

‘…Time is running out.’
The White Star would be destroyed before his time was up, but there was no telling what would become of this world after he died.

The White Star would be eliminated before his own time ended, but what would become of this world after his death remained unknowable.

That is why he spoke now, warning people in advance.
So, if you’re sorry and grateful, please stop doing it.
Do you know how difficult the work Kale does is?
So if you feel sorry and grateful, then stop asking him to do more.

So don’t burden them with difficult tasks later under the guise of being heroes.

Don’t exploit their kind hearts.
Words like this tend to spread quickly.

Such words spread quickly, after all.

I’m just another selfish dragon with no other choice.
But that expression hardened in an instant.

But his expression hardened in an instant.

Kuuuuung!

The ground trembled.
“What, what is it?”

“What? What is it?”

The startled nobles grabbed onto the City Wall and railings.

“What… what is that?”
Erhaven, who was already looking in that direction, frowned.

Erhafen, who was already looking in that direction, furrowed his brow.
The ground shook a few more times. A huge roar was heard in the distance.

The ground trembled several more times. A tremendous roar echoed from far away.

And in the center of the Desert, a swirling black vortex appeared.
A whirlwind soaring as if it would pierce the sky.

A tornado that surged upward as if piercing the Sky.

Erhafen lifted his body into the air.

“W-where are you going? W-what about us?”

One of the nobles stammered the question while looking at Erhafen, but Erhafen didn’t even glance at him as he spoke to Valentino.
“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Y-yes, of course.”

Erhafen, having entrusted the relatively composed Valentino to Gashan, shot upward. His gaze fixed on the black whirlwind—the center of the Desert.

That was where the fake Underground City lay.

* * *

Boom! Boom!

The ceiling collapsed, and chunks of stone rained down into the Underground City.
“Avoid! I’m saying dodge instead of dazing!”
“Ahhhhh!”

“My lord!”
I was afraid of the dead mana smoke that would soon enter this place.

It was dread of the dead mana smoke that would soon flood this place.

Even now, following the crumbling ceiling and the gaping holes, wisps of dead mana smoke crept downward.

Yet their lord paid them no attention whatsoever.

“Running away?”

I regarded the White Star with utter disdain. Around me stood Sayehr, trapped within a barrier of wind, alongside the Black Mages who had descended from the surface.

“Isn’t that rather pathetic?”

I scoffed at the sight, and the White Star responded calmly.

“You’re hardly one to talk, retreating backward and deploying teleportation circles.”

As the ceiling began to collapse, I distanced myself from the White Star and moved toward the heart of the city.
Additionally, Cale’s body was already wrapped in a bright teleportation gin. That wasn’t all.
Whoooooosh—

Teleportation circles glowed throughout the space as my companions were being transported away.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Exactly. Under normal circumstances, one of us would have died here.”
The white star will fight with Kayle in a desperate attempt to find the power of the land. However, the current white star seemed to have no intention of fighting him at all.
If the White Star hadn’t realized this place was fake, I would have proceeded with my original plan.

He made no attempt to seize me as I retreated or to catch my fleeing companions.

So with the plan in ruins, I had no reason to fight the White Star while carrying the bomb of dead mana smoke.

-Human! Let’s go! I’ve transported everyone! The dead mana smoke will reach here soon!
That’s why Cale walked away from the white star at the entrance.

Because of this, I had moved away from the White Star near the entrance.
“Run inside!”

“Run inside!”

The White Star’s subordinates, fleeing from the dead mana smoke descending near the entrance, rushed toward where I stood.

-Human! Let’s go!
But Cale hasn’t moved yet.

But I hadn’t moved yet.

“Why aren’t you going?”

The White Star asked, and I shrugged my shoulders.

“I was just about to.”

With those words, I sent a hand signal to Raon.
A bright light enveloped his entire body.
Whoosh!

As Kale was teleported away, I recalled what I had witnessed until the very end.

‘The dead mana smoke had seeped in.’
He saw smoke of dead mana reaching the white star.

I had seen the dead mana smoke touching the White Star.

The black smoke seeped into the White Star’s skin the instant it made contact. Like iron filings drawn to a magnet, the black smoke was pulled in and vanished without a trace beneath the White Star’s skin.

‘…I need to investigate this.’
Only then would all the clues be solved and the name ‘White Star’, which has been around since ancient times, would disappear forever.
Now was the time to uncover the connection between the White Star and dead mana.

Most importantly.

‘The Gate of the Demon Realm.’
Cale’s eyes were enveloped in bright light.

Brilliant light enveloped my vision.
His body is teleported and there is nothing left where he was.

My body was teleported away, and nothing remained in the place where I had stood.

The Dark Mage approached the White Star, who was watching the empty space.

“My lord, we shall depart.”

The White Star raised his hand in response to the Dark Mage’s words.

“Wait.”

The White Star extended his hand. The dead mana smoke surged toward him, forming a massive black whirlwind.
The warlock looked at this in wonder. He couldn’t even see the several Lion and Cancer members who had already died from smoke inhalation.

The Dark Mage watched in wonder. To him, the Lion Tribe members and several Dark Unit Members who had already perished from inhaling the smoke were invisible.

Simultaneously, he smacked his lips with regret.

‘I won’t be able to claim even a single wisp of dead mana.’
The warlock was disappointed that the dead mana smoke to absorb had disappeared, while Sayer, on the other hand, was breathing comfortably and roughly leaning her tired body against the wind wall.

The Dark Mage regretted losing the dead mana smoke to absorb, while Sayehr, by contrast, breathed easily and leaned his exhausted body casually against the wind barrier.
“why?”
“Sayehr.”

“…I should visit the Gate of the Demon Realm.”

Sayehr’s face stiffened in an instant, and he opened his mouth toward the White Star, who was absorbing the dead mana smoke.
“Kale Henitus. I think we should ask about that guy’s existence.”

“Kale Heniatus. I need to inquire about that man’s existence.”
There wasn’t much time to go to the gate of the Demon World and ask.

There were few matters worth traveling all the way to the Gate of the Demon Realm to ask about.

“…Could it be that Kale Heniatus is…? No, surely not?”

Sayehr spoke with unease, and the White Star neither confirmed nor denied, instead broaching a different subject.
“Oh, no way.”
“He might be someone they prepared, so I need to verify.”

“…I may not be the only one who received power from another world.”

Sayehr, who had been shaking his head, fell silent at the White Star’s final murmur.
A being that suddenly appeared in the world and almost ruled the world in ancient times.
The Ancient White Star.

Only the White Star, Sayehr, and Dorf knew the secrets surrounding him.
If White Star’s current prediction is correct, Kale Henitus has become a very dangerous enemy to them and must be eliminated.

If the White Star’s current suspicion proved correct, Kale Heniatus would become a considerably dangerous enemy—one they absolutely had to eliminate.

The White Star ceased his absorption and spoke to his subordinates.
“You’re not absorbing everything?”

“Without absorbing it all?”
It was because of the wind.

It was because of the wind.

Mana stirred up a massive gust that prevented the White Star from absorbing all of the dead mana smoke.

“The Ancient Dragon has moved. Identifying Kale Heniatus takes priority over this pittance of dead mana smoke.”
The white star had to find out something more important first.

The White Star had more important matters to attend to first.

Soon the White Star, Sayehr, the Dark Mages, and his surviving subordinates departed, leaving only silence in the Underground City.
Several video communication spheres were rolling around inside the bones of small skeletal monsters that were clattering.

A few small skull monsters rolled through the bones inside the communication orbs, clattering as they moved.

And soon the small skull monsters headed toward the Ancient Dragon Erhafen, as their master the Necromancer had instructed them to go.

-Golden Dragon Grandpa! The human took the communication orb and came with the White Tiger!

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————