Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 506

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

A glance.
Witira’s gaze lifted toward the sky.
Clophe Seka, who had descended close to the forest, offered a noble smile, but Witira had heard it clearly.

‘What matters is that I have a hand in the legendary path. Nothing else concerns me.’
‘Why does there need to be a reason in the making of legends and heroes?’

Her expression turned sour.

‘…There’s nothing good about getting entangled with this human.’

Clophe Seka was the type who should only be involved with on a professional basis.

Lake of Despair. He came rushing without even knowing what lay there, picking a fight with the Lion King. It was very much the behavior of a man who had sparked wars.

And Clophe was observing Witira as well.

‘…Strong even without the sea.’

The Paern Kingdom ruled the Northern Western Continent. They could not carelessly claim the title of strongest in the north. Not before this Whale Tribe.

The sea directly above Paern Kingdom’s lands. If the Whale Tribe stationed there ever revealed their violently immense power to the continent, the other kingdoms would fall into great chaos.

‘And this one is utterly unrestrained.’

The way she shattered trees on her first appearance, the way she destroyed Dorf’s subordinates.
Witira was no opponent to be taken lightly.

‘But even the Whale Tribe obeys Kale’s words.’

He felt anew just how great Kale was.
Unlike the noble smile gracing Clophe’s lips, his eyes grew increasingly radiant.

He had grasped the thread well.
Whether it was the White Star or whatever else, that creature had now become a most vicious enemy on the Western Continent. And Kale was a beautiful, self-sacrificing hero.
The fact that he held the thread of that hero pleased Clophe immensely.
So, Clophe whispered toward the communication device he had turned in the direction of the Whale Tribe.

“Kale Heniatus, you’re doing well.”
-…Ha. You really do talk a lot. Anyway, understood.

Beep.
The video communication cut off.
At that moment, Clophe’s shoulders flinched slightly.

Craaaash!
A whip undulated like a wave, savagely engulfing everything around it.
Boom!
Soon a member of the Lion Tribe shot skyward before crashing to the ground, buried so deeply that his entire body was swallowed by the earth.

“Gaaahhh!”

A scream of agony echoed through the forest.

“Ha. Insane.”

Lion King Dorf paid no mind to the two tribesmen who had been hurled and buried into the ground.
Even without entering a berserk state, most of the Lion Tribe possessed impressive physiques. Despite these warriors being helplessly caught by the whip, they failed to capture his attention.
Dorf’s build was comparatively unremarkable among the Lion Tribe.

Whoooosh—
Yet a dark aura rippled around him, enveloping his form. He stared ahead with an expression of utter exasperation.

“It’s already strange enough that creatures meant to live in the sea have come ashore. And only three of you? Ha! You truly underestimate me.”

Witira.
Behind her stood Archie and Paseton of the Whale Tribe.
Archie’s lips curled upward. He stood with one leg bent, his chin raised defiantly.

“We underestimate you because you’re underestimating us. Why? Do you think we’re intimidated by your numbers? Tch. Witira, look behind him. Wow.”

Archie pointed behind Dorf.
There, members of the Lion Tribe were appearing one after another, filling the forest.

“Tsk.”

A hand emerged from the sunken earth. Soon after, the Lion Tribe member who had been buried by Witira’s whip pulled himself from the ground.

“Phew.”

The Lion tribesman who had been knocked down at the start rose to his feet with a deep breath.
He bore bruises, but nothing that would prevent him from fighting.

Dorf’s expression remained unchanged as he didn’t even glance at the scene. It was the expected response.

The Lion Tribe.
They possessed bodies far too resilient to be felled by something as crude as a Whale tribesman’s whip. For the Lion Tribe, a weak body was grounds for elimination—immediate expulsion from their ranks.

Whoooosh—
A cold wind swept through the forest, yet the air grew increasingly scorching from the heat radiating off those facing their enemies.
Dorf opened his mouth to speak to Archie with an indifferent expression. But Archie was faster.

Clap, clap, clap.
He applauded as he spoke.

“Wow. There’s really a lot of you. So you’re planning to overwhelm us with numbers, huh? Wow, wow! Witira!”

A sneer played at Archie’s lips—the kind that even Kale Heniatus would find insufferable.
He bumped his fists together sharply, and Witira, called upon by Archie, asked him a question.

“What’s wrong?”
“Can’t we just beat all of them down? I’ve been stressed anyway. Hehehehe.”

Witira watched Archie’s grin for a moment, then turned her gaze away.
Dorf was staring at Archie with an expression of utter disbelief.

“Ha. So there really is a punk thug among the Whale Tribe—”

CRASH!
His words could not continue. With a tremendous boom, Witira’s whip came crashing down before Dorf.
Trees shattered, and dust billowed around them. In that cloud of debris, a Lion tribesman approached Dorf and whispered urgently.

“Should we charge them?”

He was suggesting they rush through the dust and attack the Whale Tribe.

“Wait.”

But Dorf held back his subordinates. And he let out a dry chuckle.

“Ha!”

Where Witira’s whip had passed.
A massive, straight line of destruction and devastation was drawn directly in front of Witira.

If Dorf took just three more steps, he would touch that line Witira had created with her whip.

The moment Dorf’s gaze shifted from the line to Witira.

“Do not cross the line.”

Witira spoke calmly, and white vapor began to coalesce around her. Steam was gathering.

“…Hahaha.”

Dorf laughed, then quickly erased his smile and lifted his head with a hardened expression.
Beyond the forest, a blizzard surged skyward into the heavens.
That violent whirlwind laden with snow must be the Lake of Despair, one of the Five Wonders.

And Dorf’s target lay there.
So he had to go.
Dorf opened his mouth with a leisurely smile.

“What if I cross the line?”
“A pointless hypothetical.”

Witira answered with a laugh.

“You cannot cross it. Because I have decided you won’t.”
“…What?”

Dorf’s expression hardened.
This was different from some insignificant Archie spouting insolence.
Witira was not even the Whale King, merely his successor. For her to speak to Dorf, the Lion King, in such a manner was something he could not simply overlook.

“…Such impudence—”
“How noisy.”

Shing.
Paseton drew his sword.

“Just come at us.”
“Hahahaha—”

Dorf laughed loudly while pointing at the three Whale Tribe members.
Yet his voice carried an icy chill.

“Go.”

In that instant, the bodies of the Lion Tribe warriors at the vanguard began to swell.

“Graaagh!”
“Grrr—Grrr—”

They were berserk.
Boom. Boom. With each step they took, the earth trembled, and soon their hair bristled like manes as they swung forearms as thick as an average person’s thigh.

Crash—Boom!
A tree snapped effortlessly and crashed to the ground.
The berserk Lion Tribe warriors at the vanguard surged forward, trampling over the space where the tree had stood.

“Scatter.”

Witira commanded, and Paseton moved to the right while Archie moved to the left.

“Each of you handle your respective directions.”

With those words, Witira grasped her whip and pulled it taut.
The whip coiled around her arm, and Witira stepped forward.
She crossed the line and entered the territory of the Lion Tribe. Her gaze was fixed on Dorf.

“I’ll be the one to capture the Lion King.”

At the same moment, Clophe Seka’s commanding voice echoed from the sky.

“Capture the lions!”

Massive arrows and long spears left the hands of the Wyvern Knights and poured down upon the enemies filling the forest.
The battle in the Northern Region had begun.

* * *

And on the Eastern Continent, Kale Heniatus felt the start of that battle.

“Sigh.”

Kale Heniatus exhaled sharply as he stared at the severed video communication channel.
That was enough time to organize the situation in my head. There was no need to overthink it.

Kale Heniatus’s eyes gleamed.

“…I knew you’d aim for the real one after all.”

The corners of his mouth twisted upward in a smile.

-Human! If you try to deceive, they’ll all think it’s a deception and run away with that smile!

Raon, seeing Kale Heniatus smile more wickedly than usual, spoke excitedly, seeming pleased that Kale Heniatus’s condition appeared sound. But Kale Heniatus let Raon’s voice pass through one ear.
Though I was smiling, my true feelings were far from at ease.

“…This is going to be a big problem.”

I realized that the fight with the White Star could turn into a four-way battle if things went wrong.

First, the two things actually happening.
One was this battle currently unfolding in the Underground Chamber of the Molden Royal Palace, and the other was the actual battle against Dorf aiming for the World Tree.

And if things escalated with the spy discovered in the Northwestern Region of the Roan Kingdom and the search for Mercenary King Bud’s Ranger Unit, there was a high probability that battles would occur in four locations total.

‘This is no joke.’

No matter how hard I tried not to be tense, tension crept in.

‘I could become careless.’

Fighting in one location would have been far better.
Battles unfolding across four separate fronts meant there could be moments when Kale Heniatus couldn’t keep watch over everything, and if something went wrong, it might become impossible to contain.
Though I trusted my companions, fighting beyond my direct oversight naturally brought this anxiety and tension.

-Human! Human!

That was when it happened.

-Human! Can’t you hear me?
“Huh?”

Screeeech—
Before I could even respond to Raon’s voice, a sharp sound pierced through from my hand.
I ducked my head, and in that instant, a chill ran down the back of my neck.

-It’s an urgent call from the Mercenary King!

Yeah, I see it too.
It was an emergency transmission from the Mercenary King.

-Connecting now!

Whirrrr—
The video communication channel opened immediately, and my eyes widened.

It was pitch black.
I couldn’t see anything.

-Huff, pant. Kale, can you hear me?

It was Burd Illis.

“Yeah. I can hear you.”

I answered urgently. For some reason, Burd’s voice sounded different from usual.

-Good. I’m carrying it inside my clothes right now, so I can only transmit audio.

The black screen made sense now—the communication device was hidden inside his clothing. Yet even knowing the reason, my expression grew increasingly tense.

Screams and explosions pierced through Bud’s voice.
Kale Heniatus’s eyes grew dim.

“…What’s happening?”

Whether he was running or not, Bud spoke breathlessly.

-The entire mountain was under an illusion.

What?

-And now that the illusion is dispelled, the entire mountain is swarming with enemy forces. And- Ugh!

At the same moment I heard Bud drawing in a sharp breath.

Clang!
The sound of blade meeting blade rang out.

-Damn it! Cough!

Thud.
As Bud spat out a curse, the sound of his body slamming against something echoed through. Without realizing it, Kale Heniatus had risen to his feet, gripping the communication crystal.

“Hey.”
-…Help me.

Kale Heniatus’s pupils flashed with intensity.

-Come quickly.

Kale Heniatus’s mouth opened.

“I’m coming right now.”
-Yeah, wait-

Click.
The communication crystal abruptly cut off. Clearly, some situation had arisen that made it impossible to continue the visual transmission.
Or perhaps something had happened to the Mage standing beside Bud.
The Mage beside Bud was surely Gren Puff.

…It’s urgent.
What I needed most right now was time and swift action.

Kale Heniatus opened his mouth.

“Raon.”
-Yes!

As Kale Heniatus’s gaze turned skyward, he closed his eyes.
I rifled through the records in my mind.

A massive map of the Molden Royal Palace unfolded in my consciousness.
And I overlaid the path through the maze I had traversed upon it.

Then a single point became visible.
Kale Heniatus raised his hand.

“Raon. Starting now.”

The voice of Jjangdol, an Ancient Power, echoed in Kale Heniatus’s mind, yet I continued speaking.

-Kale, are you going to do it?
“Starting now, I’m going to destroy that place.”

A single point in the maze.

“There’s nothing above it.”

The widest Training Ground within the Molden Royal Palace.
It was the Knight Training Ground, and since all the knights had come to capture me, it would be empty.

“And tell Choi Han.”

My gaze shifted elsewhere.
I recalled what Bud had said.

‘An illusion had been cast over the entire mountain.’

An illusion.

“Bring Elysnet I to me alive. Of course, she only needs to be capable of speaking.”

There was no time to waste on hesitation.

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