Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 496

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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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Sophies drew a picture-perfect smile at Kale’s words.
Click.

“That’s right. One of the four conference halls must be in session right now.”

Kale and Sophies had deliberately timed this moment.
Kale opened his mouth.

“According to information provided by the Mercenary Guild, there’s an administrative headquarters meeting here early this morning. And there are no military meetings scheduled for a while.”

Mercenaries exist everywhere across the Continent. And their connections reach everywhere.
So reaching a Servant in the Molden Royal Palace was nothing.

And it was very easy for that Servant to learn the schedule of meetings within the palace. The Molden Kingdom classified cleaning the quarters of high-ranking officials as work for a Servant, not a mere maid.

And with all that information gathered, Kale and Sophies were able to formulate their plan.

“Administrative headquarters present, military side absent.”

Tasha murmured and lifted the corners of her mouth.

If a headquarters meeting was taking place, naturally there would be many people either outside or inside the conference hall.
That meant it was a good situation to draw attention or cause trouble.
But if there were no military personnel there.

Her gaze turned to Kale, who was pushing up the rectangular frame in the ceiling alongside Sophies.

“Perfect for creating chaos, isn’t it?”
“Exactly.”

Kale said so while gesturing to Choi Han. Choi Han squeezed through the narrow gap and came forward, beginning to lift the panel in his place. Kale brushed off his hands and spoke to his companions.
Kale Heniatus brushed off his hands and spoke to his companions.

-Understood, human!
Got it, human!

Raon answered in his mind, and his companions answered with their eyes. There was no other way.

Squeak—
A rectangular stone panel lifted with a soft grinding sound.
The Dark Elves extinguished the Fire Spirit’s power. As they did, sunlight filtered through the narrow crevice. The party gazed beyond the gap.

The moment everyone held their breath, Kale whispered.

“Open it.”

Yet that quiet command struck the party like thunder, setting them on edge.
Choi Han tensed every muscle in his arms.

Clang!
With a resounding crash, the rectangular panel vanished, finally creating an exit wide enough for two or three adults to pass through.

“Raon, Choi Han. Go!”

Kale shouted thus as he burst through the passage into the open air.
Simultaneously, he swiftly surveyed the Central Square and the four palaces bathed in brilliant morning sunlight.
Only the palace presumed to be the Administrator’s seemed unusually bustling with activity.

‘Everything proceeds as planned.’

Kale’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
That was the moment.

“Ch-Intruders!”
“Sound the alarm!”
“Alert the Knights Order at once!”

Kale witnessed the guards and knights stationed at the entrance to the Central Square and the four palace entrances react in shock upon spotting them.

Shrill—shrill—
A Knight blew his whistle sharply, sending out the alarm signal.
Amid the chaos, Kale felt his companions rising up behind him one by one and pointed toward a specific location with his hand.

“Target.”

I executed the first phase of the plan.

-Targeting complete!

Raon’s voice reached me, and I opened my mouth.

The guards, bewildered by the sudden appearance of these intruders, scrambled about. The Knights, rushing to intercept them in the chaos, moved with frantic urgency.

Thud, thud.
“What is happening?”
“What is this commotion during our meeting?”

High-ranking government administrators and their secretaries flung open windows, their faces twisted in displeasure.
Senior bureaucrats peered out with expressions of profound discomfort.

Through the chaos, my resonant voice thundered forth.

“Detonation!”

Everyone froze in shock.

“Damn it!”
“A bomb terrorist!”

But they quickly regained their senses, covering their heads or flattening themselves to the ground to evade the blast.
Their gazes turned toward the location I had indicated.

“No!”
“Good heavens!”

Only then did they comprehend where I was pointing.

-Here it goes!

I heard Raon’s voice, and immediately witnessed a colossal torrent of mana surge skyward.

Boom—!
The explosion erupted in the heavens.
The scale of the detonation was staggering for something that occurred in an instant. A chill ran down the spines of all who witnessed it.

“Huh?”
“…What?”

The simultaneous shock froze them in place.
An explosion erupted not in the direction they anticipated, but in the sky itself—a sky that posed no threat to them whatsoever.
Yet the blast was so monumentally vast that their gazes were drawn inexorably upward.

And those whose eyes turned toward the explosion were not limited to the inhabitants of the Royal Palace.

“Begin.”

Ron issued his command to the family’s assassins.

“Everyone, you remember what the Mercenary King said, right?”
“Woof, woof!”
“My, these pups are truly remarkable. But why bring so many dogs along?”

A hundred mercenaries surged into motion.
Finally.

“Let’s go.”
“War.”

Beyond the castle walls, warriors who had held their breath in silence now advanced toward the fortress.

Yet most of the Molden Royal Palace Knights, startled by the explosion, swiftly regained their composure and steadied themselves. They assessed the situation with practiced efficiency.

“Enemies! An invasion!”
“Seize them!”

Though the reason for the explosion in that empty sky remained unclear, they had to apprehend the intruders immediately.
In that instant, Sophies, draped in a robe, took her place beside Kale.

Kale turned his head, and in that fleeting moment, his gaze collided with Sophies’. She offered a subtle smile.

“Go ahead. Your ancestors will understand.”

With those words, she cast off the robe she wore and stepped forward.

“Everyone, stop!”

She cried out, and in that instant, the captain of the guards who had been charging forward at the front, those peering outside, everyone froze with wide eyes as their movements came to an abrupt halt.

“W-what? How is Princess Sophies-!”

Someone’s voice, trembling with astonishment, pierced through that fleeting moment.
For Kale, this was the opportunity.

“Secondary objective!”

With a metallic ring, Choi Han brushed past Kale and drew his blade.
A sharp tap echoed as he lunged forward in a burst of speed, his feet pushing off the ground with explosive force.
At the same moment, Kale’s mouth opened.
In an instant, he lunged forward and then kicked off the ground with both feet, launching himself upward.
“Demolish!”

“Blow it up!”
Choi Han’s sword swept through the air.

Choi Han’s sword was swung.
“That, that location-”

“I, I—”
Choi Han’s blade was aimed at the very spot Kale had pointed to earlier, the one that had startled everyone.

Choi Han’s sword headed toward the place where Kale had pointed earlier, startling the people.
Choi Han’s sword descended from above in a devastating arc.

Choi Han’s sword came down in a vertical slash.
“…The, the statue-”

“…too, the bronze statue is-”
The statue of the First King had been cleaved in two.

“Let’s go!”

Let’s go!
“Woof!”

Sophies and Boosuli dashed forward. Kale moved alongside them, while the rest of the group encircled them protectively, matching their pace.

The statue, split in half, slowly tilted and toppled to both sides.

Boom!
The statue—once whole, now two separate pieces—crashed down in a horizontal arc.

Crash!
Crash—!

Two massive flaming arrows pierced the statue, detonating in a violent explosion.
It was Raon’s magic.

Kale lifted his gaze.
Beyond the inferno spawned by the statue, he could see Knights rushing forward in alarm.

“Seize them!”
“No! We must stop them! If capture proves impossible, kill them!”
“Former Princess Sophies must be taken alive! This is treason! Rebellion!”

Behind them as well, the thundering footsteps and shouts of guards and Knights pursuing them echoed through the air.
Kale lowered his head.
Sophies’s hands trembled as she manipulated the mechanism to open the entrance to the Maze.

“Take your time. It’s alright.”
“No.”

She shook her head at Kale’s words, then withdrew her hands.

“I’ve already opened it.”

Rumble—
A narrow passage appeared beneath the elevated platform where the severed statue had stood.
And a Staircase revealed itself.

“Go!”

Kale issued the command and immediately descended into the Staircase. Sophies and Boosuli were already racing ahead.

“Choi Han!”
“Lord Kale, everyone has arrived!”
“Raon!”

I confirmed that everyone was in position and called out to Raon according to the plan’s sequence.

“Third objective!”
-Understood!

A massive spear of black mana shot forth toward the open passage.
It collided with the ceiling of the corridor.

Boom—!

Another tremendous explosion erupted.

“No! The entrance is collapsing!”
“Inform His Majesty! Issue a Level One Alert!”

The shouts of the Knights echoed through the chamber, but their voices were swallowed by the deafening blast.
At the same moment, Sophies raised her voice and cried out.

“The staircase ceiling is about to collapse! If you don’t want rocks crashing down on your head, pick up the pace!”

The ceiling of the staircase began crumbling downward, starting from the entrance.

“Tasha!”
“Yes!”

At my call, Tasha stepped forward and scooped up Sophies.

“Thank you.”
“Woof!”

In the midst of it all, Sophies offered her graceful thanks, and the puppy, as if understanding, nestled into Choi Han’s arms. Choi Han cradled Boosuli gently, and I summoned the Voice of Wind as I spoke.

“Increase our speed.”

Soon, the group descended into the Underground Chamber, each moving at their own rapid pace.
As they did, the Staircase ceiling crumbled faster and faster.

Rummmmmble!
And finally, when the group had descended the entire Staircase.

Rumble!
The moment the Staircase ended, the ceiling that had been collapsing stopped its descent. Sophies opened her mouth at the sight.
Even as she was carried by Tasha, she remained utterly graceful.

“The Staircase ceiling and the Maze ceiling were designed separately. The Maze ceiling won’t collapse from something like this.”

With those words, she descended to the ground and gestured ahead to Kale.

“Here it is.”

Before Kale’s eyes appeared a colossal Maze with a ceiling stretching impossibly high and no visible end.
Sophies opened her mouth as she regarded the group.

“A Maze with thousands of intersecting paths. Without knowing the way, you’ll wander until you perish.”

Kale’s and her eyes met.

“What you seek is here. But one misstep and death comes easily.”
“Why is death so easily found here?”

An elegant smile graced Sophies’ lips.

“Strange monsters lurk throughout the Maze, and the paths are so intricate they’re nearly impossible to memorize. And surely, Elisne’s subordinates are hiding somewhere within this vast Maze, prepared for intruders.”

Her words did not end there.

“Furthermore, the massive walls that comprise this Maze.”

The towering walls, easily three times Kale’s height and difficult to gauge in their full expanse, possessed a thickness comparable to three people standing side by side.

“Breaking through those walls is no simple feat, but they’re filled with dead mana liquid flowing within them. Should you destroy a wall, the dead mana liquid that erupts will infect you in that instant, and death comes easily. Thus, you require guidance from one who knows the way. …Commander?”

Sophies paused mid-sentence and stared at Kale, who was grinning. Then, as if realizing something, she hesitated.

“Heh.”

Kale approached the two robed figures with a smile and placed his hand on their shoulders.
One of them cast off the robe, revealing Tasha’s smirking face beneath.
The other was Merry.
Simultaneously, the Dark Elves among Kale’s party stepped forward, and the others parted to make way for them.

Kale opened his mouth as he observed this.

“Listen, we’re going straight ahead.”

Kale pointed at the Maze.
Whether the walls were thick or tall, whether the paths twisted and coiled in bewildering complexity—it mattered not.
Whether enemies lurked throughout or monsters blocked the way—it made no difference.

“Destroy everything.”

Charge straight ahead and obliterate all obstacles. That was all there was to it.
The false World Tree lay at the center of the Maze, or so they had been told.
With enemies already approaching, there was no point in winding through the Maze’s convoluted passages when a direct assault to the center would be fastest.

“Insane,”

Kale turned his head at the elegantly rough words that suddenly reached his ears. Sophies smiled gracefully as if she hadn’t uttered a curse at all.

“Magnificent. Such delightful madness is most welcome.”

At the same moment, Merry’s lips parted.

“Going straight is simple. Smashing everything is simple.”
-I’ll pierce through! I’ll drill holes in a straight line!

Kale found the six-year-old Dragon’s cry and navigation-like voice remarkably reassuring.

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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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