Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 562

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

Jang Man-su found himself clutching at Kale Heniatus’s sleeve without thinking.

“I, I—”

He felt the tremor rising from the ground beneath him where he crouched.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The earth shook with each thunderous step of the monsters closing in from all sides.
Jang Man-su cried out.

“How can you just let him go alone like that?! If he—”

If he dies out there, what then?!
Jang Man-su’s eyes darted frantically between Choi Han and Kale Heniatus as they advanced ahead, his helplessness mounting by the second.
Cold sweat already drenched his face, and his pupils trembled wildly, consumed by terror.
Kale Heniatus met those wavering eyes with his gaze.

‘It was like this before too.’

When the Central Shelter collapsed, Jang Man-su had been paralyzed at first by overwhelming chaos and fear, unable to act properly.
He was a man who had lost both his legs to monsters.
Whenever he saw a monster, he said his knees would go numb.
Despite having nothing below those knees, the terror of losing his calves and feet would come rushing back, he had said.

So Kale Heniatus had to show him.

“Uncle.”
“Huh? What?”

A faint smile played at Kale Heniatus’s lips, reflected in the eyes of the terrified Jang Man-su.

“It’s alright.”

Kale Heniatus’s hand extended toward the front.

“Watch.”

Jang Man-su’s gaze shifted forward.
In that instant, he could see Choi Han launching himself upward, kicking off the cement ground.

“…Ah.”

The tip of Choi Han’s sword pointed toward the sky.

Jang Man-su had seen several ability users wielding swords besides Lee Soo-hyuk, the former leader of the Central Shelter, but he had never witnessed a blade like Choi Han’s before.
It was a new form of sword.

Yet what unfolded from that blade’s tip was familiar.

“…Dragon.”

Shimmering black smoke coalesced, forming a colossal dragon.

The sword’s tip turned from the sky toward the left.
The Black Dragon writhed its body.

The blade swept from left to right.
In that moment, the Black Dragon moved in tandem with the sword, releasing a fierce roar.

Roooaaarrr!

The Black Dragon consumed the monsters.
Where the luminous black dragon passed, the sound of the monsters’ footsteps vanished.
Only the corpses of the slain monsters fell to the ground.

“…Ah-”

No other words came.
Jang Man-su felt a chill run through his entire body.

Was this truly the power of a human being?

All of the Grade 3 monsters that had been rushing toward the Shelter from the very front were slaughtered.

In an instant, silence descended.
People held their breath even more than when the world had been shrouded in darkness.
Beneath the clear sky, the darkness that unfolded within the scene of despair shone most brilliantly in the eyes of all who witnessed it.

Jang Man-su’s gaze fixed upon the back of the young prince who had fallen to the ground.
A boy in somewhat unusual attire, wielding a somewhat unusual sword.

The young prince was serene.
He simply stood there, his back exposed, motionless.

*Kekeke—*

The silence shattered.
Jang Man-su’s gaze shifted backward.

*Kahahaha!*

Park Jin-tae was laughing, his shoulders trembling.
He had no choice but to.

*Kekek, I’m going insane.*

I truly felt as though I might lose my mind.
As the approaching Grade 3 monsters came into view, my breath grew suffocated.
The pressure was so overwhelming I felt I might die from it.

But the moment that Choi Han unleashed his power.

The pressure from the Grade 3 monsters vanished.

*This isn’t human strength!*

Instead, an even more formidable force seemed to constrict my very breath.

*Lee Soo-hyuk?*

He couldn’t even be compared to Lee Soo-hyuk.
Of course, that man was one who continued to grow, so he might be stronger now, but he was incomparable to Choi Han.

“…Kim Rok-soo was right.”

He was certain of it.
Follow Kim Rok-soo’s words and you live.
Without question.
He raised his voice.

“If you don’t want to die, snap out of it!”

That was the moment.

“Kraaaaaah!”
“Krooooh!”

Trampling over the corpses of the dead monsters at the front, a fresh wave surged forward.

Choi Han’s Black Dragon held back the vanguard, but there was no way it could stop hundreds of them alone.

“Kraaaaaah!”
“Kyaaaack!”

The roars of monsters echoed from behind the buildings as well.
North, South, East, West.
They converged from all directions without mercy.

Park Jin-tae lifted his head.
He felt Kim Rok-soo’s gaze upon him.
It was a look that seemed to say: your turn now.

“Ha. Funny bastard.”

Park Jin-tae smiled and moved his hand.
He drew the scabbard from his waist in one fluid motion.
Then he released the tension in his grip.

Thunk.
The scabbard fell to the ground.

“Commander.”

Lee Chul-min and the other members of the Attack Team turned their gaze toward him.
However, Park Jin-tae looked at Kim Rok-soo instead.

“I follow Kim Rok-soo’s command.”

He approached the spot where Kim Rok-soo, Jang Man-su, and Lee Jin-ju stood.

“At least twenty-four hours.”

For one day.

“The ruler of this Shelter is Kim Rok-soo.”

That was the only way we could survive.
Kim Rok-soo, who felt no pressure whatsoever.
As Park Jin-tae approached him, he felt a different kind of pressure instead.

‘Yes, that gaze.’

The look in Kim Rok-soo’s eyes as he stared at me.
That became the pressure that returned to me.

Eyes that firmly believed I would accomplish something.
That gaze became pressure for Park Jin-tae.

He couldn’t help but smile.

Because it was familiar.
This kind of pressure laden with expectation.

Pressure had been a constant companion throughout Park Jin-tae’s entire life, and he actually enjoyed the kind of pressure reflected in those eyes.

He slipped his hand into his shirt.
Feeling the cool sensation against his palm, he grasped the object inside and pulled it out.

Click.
A small pistol materialized in Park Jin-tae’s right hand, gleaming in the light.

Park Jin-tae, a former national shooting champion.

Guns, swords, missiles, and more.
All the weapons that humanity had wielded before the Cataclysm were still usable now.
However, their effectiveness paled in comparison to ability-infused weapons wielded by ability users.

These monsters didn’t fall easily to pre-Cataclysm weapons.
A creature that required dozens of missile strikes to kill would perish instantly to an ability user’s bizarre power.
But what was once nonsensical had now become the norm of this world.

In the hands of ability user Park Jin-tae, the gun was reborn anew.

In that moment, Jang Man-su, watching Park Jin-tae approach, opened his mouth.

“Hell, I don’t even know anymore!”

He shut his eyes tightly, taking in Kim Rok-soo’s grin one last time as he looked at me.
Then he twisted his body to one side. He spread both arms wide.

His hands pointed toward the North and South.

“…Rok-soo.”

With his eyes closed, he spoke softly.

“Will I be of help?”
“Of course you will. We can’t do this without you.”

A smile bloomed at the corners of Jang Man-su’s mouth.

“Really? Is that so?”

I’m needed? They can’t do this without me?
I have value? I’m useful?
I can actually do something?

Jang Man-su’s lips trembled.

“Alright then, let’s give it a shot!”

Brilliant light began to gather in Jang Man-su’s two hands.

Jang Man-su.
He possessed the ability to defend.

Though he had lost both legs, the power that dwelt in his body remained intact—his two hands were unharmed.
From his two hands, walls materialized.
Thick, expansive, towering walls of translucent light.

Plop.
The moment cold sweat trickling down Jang Man-su’s forehead fell to the ground.

“This is insane!”

Park Jin-tae’s laughter-tinged curse reached their ears.
Kale Heniatus’s head turned.

The three-story building that had once been the Central Shelter.
Now merely a structure with one side collapsed.

Walls had risen up in the South Side and North Side Training Grounds of this rectangular building.
Walls roughly one-and-a-half stories high.
A height that far exceeded even the towering frames of monsters larger than humans.

Kale Heniatus’s fist clenched with determination.

‘Perfect!’

Jang Man-su’s power remained exactly as it had been in the past.
Kale Heniatus lowered his head.

“Hehehehe.”

Jang Man-su was laughing.
He opened his eyes slightly and gazed at Kale Heniatus.

“Hey. I did it right, didn’t I?”
“Yes.”
“I think I can only hold it for about two hours though?”

Kale Heniatus smiled.

“That should be sufficient.”

He lifted his gaze away from Jang Man-su.
The smile faded from his lips.

With the North and South blocked off, the Grade 3 monsters would inevitably push through from the East and West.

Kale Heniatus, who had drawn near without warning, tapped Choi Han’s shoulder instead of offering words of gratitude.

“Group 1 takes the East Side.”

Choi Han moved toward the monsters surging in from the East.
Kale Heniatus tapped another’s shoulder.

“Group 2 heads to the West Side.”

Park Jin-tae shifted toward the West.

“Brother.”

Kale Heniatus heard Lee Sung-won’s voice approaching from behind.
The anxiety that had lingered in Lee Sung-won’s eyes had begun to fade.

“Grandmother says she’s ready.”

Kale Heniatus turned around at those words.

The Third Floor building.
Every window and door had been torn out the night before.
Grandmother Kim stood on the rooftop, looking down at Kale Heniatus.

Kale Heniatus’s gaze shifted.
The East and West sides of the building.
People were visible in those windows.

They were not ability users.
But they were those who would participate in this battle.

Kale raised his hand.
Then he shifted his gaze.

First toward the West Side.
His attention turned to Park Jin-tae.

“Commander.”

Park Jin-tae didn’t respond to Lee Chul-min’s question.

“Heh heh.”

Only laughter escaped him.

“It’s really true.”

Truly, genuinely.

“Just as Kim Rok-soo said.”

Kim Rok-soo had said:

‘East, West, South, North. All the approaching Grade 3 monsters are different.’
‘If we block the South and North, the monsters coming from those directions will scatter and follow behind the creatures from the East and West. The leading monsters from those directions are slightly more difficult.’
‘First, the West Side.’
‘The Grade 3 monsters approaching from the front of the West Side are venomous ones.’

True to his word, the monsters currently approaching at the forefront were indeed venomous creatures, just as Park Jin-tae had experienced.

Boom. Boom. Boom.
So many monsters drew near that the very earth trembled.
Park Jin-tae stood before them.

At that moment, Kale lowered his hand.
Simultaneously, Lee Jin-ju spoke at a volume that only those within the Central Shelter’s perimeter could hear.

{Whoosh!}

Park Jin-tae could see the flaming arrows streaking past overhead.
He lifted his gaze.
From every window of the buildings, people hurled burning objects toward the monsters.
While some wielded their bows with practiced precision, most simply flung whatever was ablaze in wild arcs, ensuring their projectiles fell safely beyond Park Jin-tae’s group.

Kim Rok-soo spoke.

‘Since they’re poisonous, let’s incinerate them immediately.’
‘You fight alongside the Shelter people.’

Burn the monsters.

“…Fire, then.”

Park Jin-tae murmured softly and turned his head.
Tilt.
Kale tilted his head slightly to one side.

‘Shoot.’

At the casual command, Park Jin-tae moved his hand.

“Ah, this is genuinely fun.”

In an instant, his hand completed the reload.
To the eyes of others, no bullet was visible.
But to his eyes, the bullet existed.

He aimed his gun at his targets.
The targets were the poison-laden monsters advancing before him and the flames his allies had hurled.

Park Jin-tae pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A small bullet shot forth from the muzzle.
Park Jin-tae’s mouth opened.

“Detonate!”

In that instant, the small projectile streaking through the air detonated in a brilliant burst.
Simultaneously, a crimson inferno erupted skyward, spreading in all directions.

Park Jin-tae, an offensive ability user.
His attribute was fire.

Fireballs hurled by allies collided with that raging blaze.

Boom!

A colossal explosion erupted.
Park Jin-tae, standing atop the building, bellowed at the non-ability users below him.

“Throw more! Keep throwing fire!”

He shouted to the Shelter people watching me.

“Burn these damned monsters to ash! Incinerate them all!”

Click, click!
Park Jin-tae’s gun locked onto its next target.

Bang! Bang! Bang!
Fiery projectiles streaked toward the monsters.

In that moment, Lee Sung-won spoke softly to himself.

“…The battle to relocate everyone to our new home has begun. We have approximately twenty-four hours remaining. We must hold this position for those twenty-four hours.”

Boom!
Lee Sung-won shifted his gaze.
To the East Side, Grade 3 monsters fell helplessly before a gleaming black blade.

Bang!
At the sharp sound, he turned his attention.
Flames surged from the West Side, consuming monsters in their hungry embrace.

Lee Sung-won shifted his gaze forward.
He could see Kim Rok-soo standing beside Jang Man-su, surveying the battlefield.
Lee Sung-won brought the hand clutching his badge closer to his mouth as he recorded his observations.

“…The situation on the battlefield is promising. It seems we can do this.”

Yet there remained much time still to endure.
Lee Sung-won murmured to himself.

“…I wish the night wouldn’t come.”

That whisper never reached Kale Heniatus.
But the furrow between Kale Heniatus’s brows deepened as he gazed upon the battlefield.

‘We must endure until nightfall with minimal losses in combat strength.’

The first critical juncture.
It was the approaching night.

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