Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 511

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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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I was running.
Bud was accustomed to fleeing, but he despised it.

“…Gasp. Wheeze. Gasp.”

Bud’s heart burned as he heard the Elf’s ragged breathing beside him.
It would normally be unbelievable that an Elf accustomed to mountains would be exhausted, yet the one beside him had no choice but to be.

‘…Because he’s used up too much of the spirits’ power.’

The group I led. And on the opposite side, the group led by Elf Soros.
The Elf beside me had been using spirits as a messenger between these two groups.

“Wheeze, gasp. Bud.”
“…Yes.”
“There are no more places left for the spirits to hide and flee to now.”

Despair settled across the Elf’s face.

The spirits contracted with the Elves on this mountain could no longer function properly.
They were either screaming and fleeing, or returning to their contractors and hiding in the folds of their garments, or scattering across the mountain and waiting in silence for time to pass.

Whiiiiing—
Bud froze at the sound of something cutting through the air and shouted to the mercenary on his left.

“Duck!”

The mercenary didn’t even answer, simply ducking his head and hastily crouching his body.
Crack!
An arrow flew past the mercenary and embedded itself in the tree beside him.

‘Damn it!’

Bud’s face twisted at the sight.
His gaze quickly turned toward where the arrow had come from.

Whoosh.
Shadows darted between the trees, closing in on us.
Arrows and attacks rained down upon Bud’s fleeing group, but he could only evade them—unable to mount any counteroffense.

“Captain! Are we just going to keep taking this?”

One of the mercenaries following behind could no longer contain his frustration, his voice rising sharply.

“Then what do you suggest?”

The mercenary flinched at the piercing gaze Bud turned toward him.
Bud observed his subordinate’s battered condition for a moment before speaking.

“Do you truly believe you could capture whoever’s firing those arrows in your current state?”
“…But—”
“We proceed according to plan. You know this as well as I do.”

The mercenary, about to protest against Bud’s cold gaze, clamped his mouth shut.

A plan.
Bud possessed one.
The mercenary had resolved to follow it. Yet watching the approaching threat and seeing the wounded carried upon his comrades’ backs, indignation surged within him—unbearable and overwhelming.
Bud understood that sentiment.
Thus he watched the mercenary swallow his rage in silence before speaking heavily.

“…We move out again.”

The group resumed their march, enduring wounds and exhaustion with each step.

“Hah, huff… hah.”

Ragged breathing—whose, none could say—mingled with the sound of our allies pushing through brush and trees, moving swiftly onward.
Then the Elf beside him spoke.

“There’s no need to worry about which direction to go. Since the enemies are herding us so conveniently toward one path, we need only follow it, yes?”

Beneath the playful tone lay anger and sorrow.
From Gren, whom I carried upon my back, came a self-deprecating laugh.

“Kekeke. Damn it all, we’re being driven like game.”
“…Don’t laugh, you fool. You just reopened the wound I barely stopped bleeding.”
“Let it bleed or not. Damn it all.”

Faced with Gren’s words brimming with resentment, Bud could say nothing more.

Being driven like game.

Bud had already noticed long ago that the enemies were herding them—along with Soros’s group on the opposite side—toward a single location.

‘We are the prey.’

Bud’s eyes gleamed with sudden clarity.

‘And they are hunting us.’

Strangely, the enemies had not killed them outright but instead forced them to move in a specific direction.

“…Hah, huff—”

Even as Bud drew breath, he surveyed his surroundings.

‘The direction we’re being driven toward is the central region of the mountain as a whole.’

Could there be a trap there?
Is that why they’re herding us in that direction?

‘…It probably isn’t a trap.’

Bud couldn’t be certain, but he judged it was almost certainly the case.

‘Monsters as absurdly powerful as these have no need to herd us into a trap to kill us!’

Right now, this very instant, those monstrous beings possessed the power to slaughter not only me but every last Elf as well.
So herding them to one location for the sake of killing them made no sense.

Bud decided to use that fact to his advantage.
In the current state, with allies scattered east and west, there was nothing he could properly attempt.

“We need to gather together. We must unite.”
“Won’t we all die?”

A pause.
At the Elf’s words, those who had been running flinched, their movements becoming awkward and hesitant.

They all shared the same thought.
Just as our allies would gather once the hunt ended, so too would the enemies driving them now converge into one force.
Wouldn’t they be helplessly slaughtered by a far more powerful foe?
Part of them wanted to believe that gathering together would be safe, yet they ran forward while harboring a deep, gnawing anxiety.
Bud understood the hearts of his comrades.

‘…Perhaps.’

Yes.

‘Perhaps the odds of death are even higher.’

Bud knew this truth as well.
Because of this, I had attempted to secretly send a few Elves and mercenaries down the mountain, but the enemies were monitoring our movements so meticulously that I couldn’t send even a small group to escape elsewhere.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded.
Ever since I discerned the true power of the enemies through scent, I deliberately refrained from using much of my aura’s strength.
I had been conserving it carefully.

I opened my mouth.
My voice was resolute and carried weight.

“Still, it is better for all of us to gather and unite than to continue fighting and increase our danger now.”

If we gathered together and raised a defensive barrier to endure, we would last longer than we do now.
After discerning the enemy’s strength, I had ensured that not only myself but others also refrained from using their full power.
I intended to unleash that strength when we were united as one.

And when that moment came.

‘No matter what, even if I must die, I will save at least a few of them.’

If I just hold on like this.
Then he will definitely come.

Bud opened his mouth again.

“I’ve contacted Kale Heniatus, so that bastard will bring our allies with him.”

Bud could feel the hope and anticipation enveloping those around him.
Why were they trying so hard to escape and endure?
It was hope—hope that allies might come to rescue them.
Because Bud understood this, he mentioned Kale Heniatus, wanting his allies to muster even a little more strength.

‘But.’

…Kale Heniatus. He shouldn’t come.
Bud swallowed the sigh threatening to burst from his lips.

‘Since I couldn’t control my own mouth and asked for help, that bastard will definitely try to come as quickly as possible to rescue us.’

Bud furrowed his brow, recalling the moment he had realized the enemies’ true power.

‘I should have sent word telling him not to come.’

There was no mage to send such a message.
Gren and all those who could use magic had been attacked first, and none of them had the capacity to cast spells now.

‘…I underestimated that White Star bastard. No, we simply didn’t know.’

White Star was indeed the leader, but he didn’t have only subordinates.
He also had ‘collaborators’ and ‘allies.’

‘A thousand years was not a short span of time.’

Bud suppressed the breath rising to his throat without letting it show and opened his mouth.

“Let’s hold on just a little longer.”

At Bud’s resolute answer and his mention of Kale Heniatus—the strategist who led them—a spark of determination rekindled in the eyes of those who followed him.
They dragged their exhausted bodies forward, carried their wounded comrades on their backs, and pressed harder with their feet.

* * *

I had no idea how much longer we ran.

“Bud.”

At the Elf’s gaze, Bud nodded.
A few Elves stepped forward and cut through the undergrowth.

A Training Ground appeared.
The trees and brush had been completely cleared, and an expansive Training Ground lay before Bud’s eyes.

Of course, the trees and brush surrounding the Training Ground remained dense, so much so that no one would believe that just a bit further lay the Snowy Mountain Region.

“This is strange. A Training Ground out here?”

The Elf looked at Bud with unease in his eyes.
Bud too felt a sense of discomfort upon seeing the Training Ground.
It was an artificial space that had no place in such a harsh mountain.

That was when it happened.

“…Captain Bud!”

From the opposite side of where they stood.
An Elf appeared, cutting through the undergrowth and stopping just before the Training Ground.
The Elf beside Bud raised his voice.

“Soros!”

It was Soros, who had been leading the Elves together with Bud.
His condition was no joke either. But since they had all survived to meet again, emotion washed over the Elves’ faces.
That was when it happened.

Clop. Clop.
The sound of hoofbeats echoed from behind Bud.

“Ah.”

The Elf beside Bud’s face turned pale.

Sniff.
In that moment, Bud caught the scent of a powerful master that seemed to numb his nose.
And he felt a massive wave of force gathering from behind his back.

“Damn it!”

At the same time, the rough voice of Elf Soros rang out, and Bud, facing the opposite direction, could see dozens of black arrows aimed at Soros’s back.

Inhale.
Bud caught the scent once more.
It was a scent of power he had smelled before. He first caught the scent of those who possessed such power on the Western Continent.
So when Bud recalled the race of those who carried that scent, he could not believe it.

‘…Dark Elves…!’

Some of the enemies attacking Soros were Dark Elves.

‘Dark Elves from the Eastern Continent!’

But Bud had no time to think.
Clop. Clop.
The sound of hoofbeats that didn’t belong in the forest, and the growing wave of force.
Bud shouted.

“Everyone gather!”

It comes flying.
That power comes flying again!

“Proceed as planned!”

The moment Bud’s words ended, the allied forces that had been torn apart in both directions gathered together at the Training Ground.

The eyes of Soros and Bud met.
Before the spirit communication was cut off, they had devised a plan.
Therefore, they had conserved their strength to the maximum.

Bud issued orders to the mercenaries.

“Raise your barriers immediately!”

Our forces, maintaining formation and moving with perfect unity, gathered at the Training Ground.
They quickly confirmed there were no bombs or traps beneath the Training Ground.
Simultaneously, the mercenaries positioned on the perimeter drew their shields in unison.
Soros shouted.

“Draw your bows!”

Arrows emerged between the shields, aimed at the enemies outside, filling the gaps in our defense.
Several large shields wrapped around our forces like a single City Wall.
Elves and mercenaries.
For those meeting for the first time, their movements were remarkably synchronized.

“Please look after Gren.”
“Understood.”

And at the center of the shield wall stood the mages.
They were the only ones who could maintain contact with the outside or execute teleportation.

“…Hey.”
“Stay quiet and conserve your strength.”

Bud ignored Gren’s call and stepped outside the shield wall. Soros moved alongside him.
The two of them each pointed their blades toward the direction from which they had come.

Footsteps echoed.
Two figures approached from Soros’s direction—one stopped while the other continued forward.
The one in the black robe removed the hood that had concealed their face.
Soros’s expression twisted as he beheld them.

“…How is a Dark Elf—”

The approaching opponent was a Dark Elf.
Because of the spirits they had contracted, the spirits contracted with the Elves were unable to exert their power.

And Bud, standing back-to-back with Soros, slowly steadied his breathing.

“Phew.”

Clop. Clop.
Bud gripped his sword as he watched the figure arrive with the sound of hoofbeats.

‘…The Black Knight.’

A woman in black armor astride a massive black horse approached the Training Ground.
Behind her were countless knights whose faces were hidden beneath black helmets. They too rode horses.
Moreover, the horse she rode seemed peculiar. It was no ordinary steed. Its eyes burned crimson.

‘That’s not all.’

During combat, not only did that knight display strange power, but so did that horse.

Whoosh. Whoosh.
Beside that knight came a man leisurely waving a fan as he approached.

Uuuuuung—
And above that man, incomprehensible forces gathered and coalesced.

‘I have a rough idea.’

I could vaguely discern the nature of that power, but couldn’t grasp it with certainty.
Only that whenever it flew forth, the entire area was obliterated. Its destructive force was no joke.

That power would come flying soon.

‘I’ll block it.’

Bud slowly raised the aura within his body.
Uuuung—
His sword vibrated.

Block it.
And.

‘…Endure!’

Bud recalled his resolve and glared at his enemy with fierce determination.

Clop, clop.
The Black Knight’s horse came to a halt.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
Bud’s heart began to race violently.
The trembling of the aura-infused blade reached its peak.
That was when it happened.
The Black Knight’s mouth opened.

“There were those who came before.”
“…What?”

Thud. Crack.
Bud’s gaze snapped toward the source of the sound.
One of the trees surrounding the Training Ground rustled.

‘…Could it be?’

Bud’s pupils trembled for an instant.
A figure descended from the tree.

Boom!
Bud’s mouth opened involuntarily as he called out to the person.

“Choi Han!”

It was Choi Han.
And on his back was a rat-like being that Bud could see.
It was someone Bud knew.
A member of the Ranger Unit.

‘…He was alive!’

There was a surviving member of the Ranger Unit!
Bud’s pupils wavered with emotion.

Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded with a different kind of intensity.
If Choi Han had come. Then.

“Hey there?”

From behind the tree that Choi Han had jumped down from, a figure approached with a leisurely wave of his hand.
Despite the casual tone of his voice, Bud could see Kale Heniatus’s eyes growing progressively colder as he scrutinized me and the other allies.

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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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