Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 514

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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 that hope swiftly transformed into dread and unease.

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

To the allied forces advancing with their footsteps muffled to the utmost, those hoofbeats thundered like a tempest.
And threading through that thunder came a low voice spreading across the darkness.

“They’re coming.”

It was Bud’s single utterance.
The air surrounding the allied forces began to thicken with tension at a rapid pace.

Black Knights mounted on black steeds approached from behind.
And not from a single direction.
The sound surged forward like a tidal wave.
That was the moment.

“Maintain appropriate vigilance, but do not surrender to needless anxiety.”

Kale Heniatus’s resolute voice pierced through the ears of his allies.
They fixed their gaze forward.

Swish. Swish.
Choi Han and Hana cut through branches and brush at the front with swift, silent precision, carving a path forward.
Yet the fog ahead remained impenetrable, obscuring their vision entirely.

Thud.
An anomalous sound reached their ears.
It was the moment everyone’s tension spiked.

“Here! I sense the power of the Sun God Cult—”

An enemy’s cry.
From the left.
All eyes turned leftward.
Though obscured by fog, enemies surely lurked very near.

Whoosh.
Elf Soros quickly nocked an arrow and fixed his gaze toward the direction of the sound.

‘Hmm?’

But something was off.
The enemy’s voice no longer reached his ears.
The enemy’s voice had cut off mid-sentence.
That was when Kale Heniatus stopped walking.

“On. Clear away the fog.”
Meow.

Shhhhhhh—
Our forces watched as the fog within a certain radius ahead of us receded.
Gren Puff, a supreme-class Mage, gripped his wound while stifling the laughter that threatened to escape.

“…Haha.”

But the laughter burst forth regardless.

Fallen enemies lay scattered about.
They were dressed in the garb of the Dark organization.
Surely among them were those from the Puff Family who had betrayed their house and pledged themselves to the Dark.

Gren heard the voice of a fellow mercenary Mage.

“…Who did this—”
“Who else? The Molan Family.”

Surely the enemy who had been making noise moments ago had fallen silent thanks to the Molan Family.
Gren answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Sir? But there’s no one here?”
“That’s exactly why it’s the Molan Family.”

The enemies lay fallen, yet there was no trace of whoever had felled them.
It didn’t even appear as though they’d been struck down by ghosts.
Then Kale Heniatus opened his mouth.

“You’ve worked hard, Ron.”

In the empty space, shrouded in mist, a single voice echoed.

“It’s nothing, sir. There is no hunter who cannot catch their prey when perfectly concealed.”

At the same moment, Vicross emerged from the mist, a greatsword gripped in his hand.
He appeared without a sound and stood before Choi Han.
Then he opened his mouth.

“The path to the Snowy Mountain Region entrance has been secured.”

A glimmer of intrigue flickered in Kale Heniatus’s eyes.
After hearing the story from the rat-like Pae, he had not simply instructed Ron through Raon to attack anywhere in the enemy’s rear.

‘Secure a path.’

He had asked Ron to secure an escape route.

Clop. Clop.
Even now, the sound of hoofbeats echoed from behind.
They showed no intention of concealing themselves. They were that confident, and they believed this to be another drive hunt.

Kale Heniatus intended to exploit that.
However, there was one who felt unease upon hearing Vicross’s words just now.

“Commander.”

It was Elf Soros.

“The Snowy Mountain Region? Were we not supposed to head downward?”

In truth, Soros had felt something amiss.
Following Kale Heniatus’s guidance, they had pushed through where the Dark Elves were positioned and advanced.
Yet that direction subtly led toward higher ground rather than the base of the mountain, leaving him uncertain.

In such circumstances, upon hearing Vicross’s words about securing a path to the Snowy Mountain Region, Soros found himself naturally compelled to question Kale Heniatus.
No matter how fiercely the enemies pursued from behind, the Snowy Mountain Region would be difficult given their current condition.

“Commander, wouldn’t the base of the mountain be better? If a pursuit breaks out in the Snowy Mountain Region—!”
“The base of the mountain is not an option.”

It was Choi Han who answered.

“The moment we began our escape, a significant portion of the enemy battalion headed toward the base of the mountain first.”

Bud then continued.

“…There were many scents heading down the mountain. The enemies must have anticipated we’d flee downward. Who would willingly venture into the Snowy Mountain Region when escaping?”

Bud spoke calmly.

“So we must head to the Snowy Mountain Region.”
“But there are still many enemies pursuing us from behind, are there not?”

Soros glanced back at the wounded among them for a moment.

“While some enemies went down the mountain, there are still many pursuing us now. Escaping through the Snowy Mountain Region in this condition would be physically exhausting.”

Then Kale turned back and spoke to his allies.

“Reinforcements will arrive.”

Who else was coming?
When Soros’s eyes widened, he could see Kale’s darkened gaze.
Anger dwelt within it.

“And as I said before. I have no intention of simply enduring this.”

Soros hesitated before speaking.

“…Then what will you do?”

Kale wanted two things.
Earlier, the Wind Spirits had spoken of how other spirits were being driven toward the Mountain Center.
He now voiced that.

“The Western Mountain connected to this Mountain Peak Area. There’s no one there. We’re going there.”

The direction they were heading was also tilted toward the northwest, not directly straight toward the Snowy Mountain Region’s peak.

“We escape from there. And when we enter the Snowy Mountain Region now and cross over the snowy mountains.”

When my allies felt that the anger gleaming in Kale Heniatus’s eyes was cold rather than hot, his mouth opened.

“We trigger an avalanche. No—we bring down the snowy mountain.”

Bud, Soros, and Gren. My allies’ eyes widened.
They understood what trap Kale had spoken of.

“The snow will sweep away everything it can sweep.”

With those flat, emotionless words, Kale turned toward the northwest once more.
Given the mountain’s terrain, if we climbed just a bit higher and passed the place with the large boulders, we would reach the Snowy Mountain Region.

My allies swallowed hard and followed behind him.
They could now see the members of the Molan Family seeping in silently.
Their numbers were no longer small.

* * *

“That should work.”
-Understood.

The video communication cut off abruptly.
Albert Crossman was suddenly overwhelmed by exhaustion.
He recalled the video communication device that had been ringing urgently just moments before.

‘Please. Brother. I trust your mind.’

Kale Heniatus ended the video communication with those words.
Albert Crossman wiped his face with both hands.
A flame ignited in his blue eyes, which had been filled with fatigue.

“Rosalind.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You heard, didn’t you?”

The Mage with red eyes and red hair pulled a robe hood over her face to conceal it.
She opened her mouth as she looked at Alberu.

“Yes, I heard. Then I shall take my leave.”

He watched Rosalind as she prepared to depart, then opened his mouth after a moment of hesitation.

“Will you be alright?”

Rosalind answered his question with a smile.

“Until we meet again, Your Highness.”

We would meet again later.
Alberu let out a soft chuckle at her excellent response and gave the same answer.

“Until we meet again.”

Soon Rosalind departed, and Alberu remained alone, surveying his surroundings.
This was the space where he had been with Rosalind after sending even his attendants away.
Before Rosalind, Erhafen had been here.
With those two gone, only Alberu remained.
He recalled the words Kale Heniatus had spoken.

‘Please, brother. I trust your mind.’

The corners of Alberu’s mouth twisted upward.

‘He trusts my mind?’

His lips parted.
A low voice filled the space above the empty table.

“Very well. Let me put this mind of mine to use.”

He rose immediately and opened the office door.
His attendants, who had been waiting a short distance from the door, came into view.
They were also the leadership of Roan.
Alberu called them inside and spoke.

“I will share all information about Northwestern Roan in real time.”

Not only information about those who had secretly infiltrated Northwestern Roan, but all information would be shared.
The moment the leadership recalled what the future king meant by “all information,” they understood its singular implication.

“From this moment forward, Northwestern Roan is declared under martial law.”

Martial law.
The leadership’s breath caught at those words, but Alberu was sincere.
If a four-way battle would unfold as Kale Heniatus had said, then surely he needed to end at least one of those conflicts with his own hands to maintain his dignity as an older brother, did he not?

And above all else—someone dared to target this land, Roan’s soil?

Alberu had no intention whatsoever of falling for such a scheme.

“Gather the troops.”

On the Western Continent, Kale’s companions were also moving.

* * *

“Beyond that boulder, if we turn left, we’ll reach the Snowy Mountain Region, and there’s a path that will allow us to cross over to the next mountain,” Vicross said calmly.

Following behind him, Choi Han glanced back over his shoulder.
Kale’s expression was troubled.

“Kale.”
“…Something’s off.”
“Sir?”

Rather than answer Choi Han, Kale raised his hand and gestured toward the rear.
Ron, who had been positioned behind them, quickly moved forward.

“Ron. Doesn’t something feel wrong to you?”
“It does, sir.”

Ron agreed that something was amiss.

“Young master. The Dark Elves haven’t launched any follow-up attacks. If it were the spirits, they should have detected our traces beyond the mist by now.”

Ah, right. They would have had a high probability of discovering us.
Bud found himself sighing involuntarily, wondering what scheme the enemies might be plotting.
Then Ron’s voice continued.

“That’s strange. Why hasn’t the bomb detonated?”

Huh?
Bud’s eyes widened.

“I thought we deliberately left traces for them to follow, and they’d discover us and cause a commotion.”

Ron and the members of the Molan Family had intentionally scattered traces beforehand to create a confusion device regarding the direction of our forces.
Being specialists in concealment and tracking, their skills were top-tier.
Naturally, any enemy pursuing our escape would examine those traces one way or another.

“Hey, Kale! What is Ron saying?”

Hana spun around in shock and cried out.
That was the moment.

Boom!
A thunderous roar echoed from far away.

The eyes of those running turned toward it.
The Mages, breathless from their wounds, saw flames erupting through the distant mist.
They were a dark blue inferno.

Boom! Boom—
Soon, several more thunderous blasts followed, and the enemy’s cries seemed to echo.
The sound of hoofbeats that had been thundering forward with devastating force was no longer heard.

“Destroy it all!”

Someone’s cheerful voice was swallowed by the roar.
But several members of Kale’s group heard it, and they realized the voice belonged to Raon.

-Human! I’ve used everything Grandpa gave me!

A smile formed at Ron’s lips.

“As planned, we’ve bound the enemy’s feet with the magical bomb.”

The magical bomb had been placed where we left behind a false trail more convincing than the truth itself.
With this, the enemy’s pursuit would surely slacken.

My original plan was to use the delay caused by this explosion to quickly enter the Snowy Mountain Region. There, I would meet reinforcements and strike back at the enemies while escaping.

Ron had worried that the bomb might be discovered too late, or that the enemies might ignore the false trail entirely. Though it came a bit late, the plan was proceeding as intended, and he felt relief wash over him.

“Something’s wrong.”

But Ron could see my expression harden at the words I had just spoken.

“Young master.”

I couldn’t quite see Ron’s gentle smile clearly.
I voiced the question that had taken root in my mind.

“…Why aren’t the Vampires showing up?”

I had chosen this escape route in the first place because I believed the power of the Sun God Cult would play a significant role against Vampires and Dark Elves, making this path the most viable option for escape.
But the Vampires weren’t appearing.

“…Kale Heniatus.”

In that moment, I heard Choi Han’s rigid voice.
At the sound of his cautious tone, my face twisted.

A large boulder positioned on the path leading toward our target, the Snowy Mountain Region.
Standing atop that boulder was a figure.

Surely, just moments ago, there had been no one there.

“Are you Kale Heniatus?”

I could see a young boy standing on the boulder, looking down at me with a smile.
The smiling boy’s canines were distinctly sharp.
I grasped it instinctively.

That bastard is a Vampire.

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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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