Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 576

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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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Park Jin-tae observed Kale Heniatus’s expression before uttering a single word.

“…Damn, that’s one hell of a murderous look.”
“Hmm.”

Flinch.
Park Jin-tae turned his head at the sound coming from behind.
The moment Dark Tiger’s eyes met Park Jin-tae’s, it flashed a sinister grin.

‘Damn it. Absolutely vicious.’

A monster’s smile brought no comfort whatsoever.
Park Jin-tae scrunched his face and clamped his mouth shut.

That was when it happened.

“Here.”

Kale Heniatus came to a halt.
Park Jin-tae lifted his gaze.

Every night.
As the neon lights that once illuminated Korea’s every corner faded away, and people grew weary from their endless battles with monsters.
Stars began to reveal themselves one by one across the night sky.

A building emerged between those starlit rays.

“Does the operation begin here?”

Kale Heniatus turned his gaze toward the gentle voice.
Joo Ho-sik approached while speaking.
Park Jin-tae’s face contorted upon seeing him.

‘Remarkable fashion sense, that one.’

White shirt, white pants, white shoes.
And as the final touch, monster blood splattered across various spots.

‘A madman.’

A different kind of madman than Kim Rok-soo.

“Yes. It begins from here.”
“Hmm. Indeed.”

Joo Ho-sik gazed up at the building and spoke calmly.

“Indeed, trust begins from this very place.”

Park Jin-tae’s face crumpled.

“Correct. The beginning of trust.”

And at Kale’s composed response, Park Jin-tae’s expression crumpled even further. Joo Ho-sik observed Kale quietly before opening his mouth.
Joo Ho-sik quietly gazed at Kale Heniatus before opening his mouth.

“…Do you understand what trust is?”

Kale gestured toward Chae Su-jung without meeting Joo Ho-sik’s gaze, answering his question.

“Trust is nothing complicated. Believe in me, and that is all there is to it.”

A flicker of intrigue crossed Joo Ho-sik’s eyes.
A gentle smile spread across his face.

“As expected, the mindset of one blessed with the great power of foresight is truly extraordinary. I too wish to learn such trust—”
“Sir. You’re being loud.”

Chae Su-jung, her expression blank, stepped between Joo Ho-sik and Kale.
Upon her back rested a frame carrier far larger than her own frame.
She allowed no one to touch her burden.

“Loud, you say? But this remarkable matter of trust—”
“No charlatans.”

Chae Su-jung lightly ignored Joo Ho-sik and turned her gaze toward Kale Heniatus.
Click.
Kale was manipulating the radio.

Whoosh.
Soon, when a bright light flickered across the radio, Kale’s mouth opened.

“Operation starting point reached. As a final review, I will explain the operation outline once more.”

Everyone held their breath, listening intently to Kale’s voice.

The operation’s beginning was simple.
It stemmed from a single question.

‘When Grade 2 and 3 monsters rampage at night, where are the Grade 1 monsters?’

Tomorrow, as the final crisis, the Grade 1 monsters would launch their attack.

‘Where are those creatures during the night?’

The answer had been recorded in later documents.

【While Grade 2 and 3 monsters, consumed by madness, attacked each Central Shelter respectively, the Grade 1 monsters waited at a certain distance away, taking their rest.】
【However, they did not scatter to different locations but instead gathered together in one place.】

【Without hunting humans, they calmly awaited their turn.】

Because of this, on this night when the Central Shelter lost its function, people who had escaped from the Central Shelter and hidden throughout the city were able to survive.

“Current location. Between the Grade 1 monster and Grade 2, 3 monsters of the Park Jin-tae Central Shelter.”

And based on that fact.

“Starting from this location.”

Kale was currently positioned between the ground where Grade 2 and 3 monsters attacked the Central Shelter and the ground where Grade 1 monsters gathered in silence, awaiting tomorrow’s hunt.

“We will execute the rat-in-the-poison operation.”

I intended to finish off both sides.

Crackle.
Kale Heniatus stepped into the building after speaking into the radio.

Twenty-four hours.
The time I had to endure until the New Central Shelter appeared.

“That’s too long.”

After all.
People needed time to eat, sleep, and rest.

“Brother, I’ll see you later.”
“Sure, take care.”

Kale Heniatus exchanged farewells with Alberu, and the Dark Tiger vanished into the darkness.
Four people remained on the Building Rooftop, excluding him.
Those who had climbed up following Kale Heniatus gazed toward the location he indicated.

First. The Shelter with Park Jin-tae as its leader came into view.
Located not far away, it was brightly lit.
Flames were soaring from its rooftop.
It was a fire that Kale Heniatus had requested be set.

And so it was clearly visible.
The Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters charging toward the Shelter.

“Terrifyingly numerous.”

Everyone tacitly agreed with Park Jin-tae’s murmur.

“Let’s begin.”

Kale Heniatus pointed toward the Sky.
The gun in Park Jin-tae’s hand aimed upward.

“Fire.”

The moment Kale Heniatus’s command reached his ears, Park Jin-tae’s finger pulled the trigger.

* * *

Boom!

From the rooftop where Kim Min-jun stood, he watched flames erupt skyward in the distance.
Lee Sung-won beside him cried out.

“It’s begun!”

Crackle.
Kim Min-jun’s radio began to glow with life.
He opened his mouth.

“Can you hear me?”
-I can hear you.
-Coming through loud and clear.

The tense voices of Bae Chul-ho and Grandmother Kim reached his ears.
Confirming the connection was intact, Kim Min-jun turned his gaze forward.
Sweat pooled in his palms. Tension beaded on his forehead and trickled down his face.

‘…Will we succeed?’

A counterattack.
We’re actually striking back.
Doubt flickered through Kim Min-jun’s mind, yet he did not lose faith.

And not long after the flames erupted toward the sky in the distance.

“Roooaarrr!”

A savage roar echoed across the land.
The creature that unleashed that cry—a monster consumed by madness—leaped over the path where instinctive fear had driven the others to retreat, and took position beside one man.

Choi Han spoke to the Dark Tiger standing at his side.

“Have you arrived?”
“Yes.”

The moment Dark Tiger appeared, Kim Min-jun shouted.

“Begin now!”

Bae Chul-ho at the second Central Shelter immediately cried out toward the Steel Hawk outside the window.

“Now!”

Grandmother Kim at the third Shelter spoke to the White Rabbit.

“Now!”

The Steel-Feathered Eagle descended in front of the building.
The massive White Rabbit moved to the front gate of the building and stood before Jang Man-su’s shield.
Alberu stood before Choi Han.

Alberu and the two Grade 1 boss monsters standing before each Central Shelter recalled Kale’s words.

‘Even if Grade 2 and 3 monsters are filled with madness, they instinctively fear taster boss monsters.’

Extremely or considerably.

‘In the beginning, please face them moderately.’

The Steel Hawk and White Rabbit were not ordinary Grade 1 monsters.
Unlike the Grade 1.5 taster monsters that would later appear between Grade 1 and 2, these were monsters 1.5 times stronger than Grade 1.
Moreover, because they could communicate, they were recorded as ‘special’ beings in the ‘records’.
Even if Kale’s speculation about the ‘command ability’ in the records he knew from the future was wrong, these taster boss monsters were terror to Grade 2 and 3 monsters.

Therefore, even filled with madness, facing merely two or three Grade 2 and 3 monsters at once was an easy task for them.

They faced them moderately at the beginning, just as Kale had instructed.

‘And the moment I send the signal.’

Steel Hawk’s feathers began to rise like needles.
A gloomy light seeped into White Rabbit’s crimson eyes as her white fur bristled like thorns.

What Kale Heniatus had said.

‘Awaken the fear carved into their instincts.’

The alpha monsters began to fully reveal their power to the grade 2 and 3 monsters.

“Kiiiiiii—!”

Steel Hawk’s piercing cry, on an entirely different level than before, made the night tremble.
White Rabbit was no different.
At that roar of ferocity, the grade 2 and 3 monsters faltered.

Even madness could not overcome instinct.

“Will you not?”
“Fine, I’ll do it. Sigh.”

At Dark Tiger’s roar, the monsters too had to feel the imprinted fear.

“Grrr, grr.”
“Kkuuu.”
“Kkeeing.”

Hesitation. Hesitation.
The grade 2 and 3 monsters, especially the grade 3 ones, began to retreat backward.
Those beasts that had been intent on slaughtering humans now cowered before the presence of a greater predator.

And the predator did not let that retreating prey escape.

“Die!”

Hundreds of sharp feathers shot from Steel Hawk’s wings, engulfing the monsters.

“Gahack!”
“Krrgh!”

The White Rabbit was no exception.

“Kwaack! Hack!”
“What a delightful sound.”

Boom!
The corpses of monsters torn apart simultaneously by the White Rabbit’s two front paws crashed to the ground.

“Grrrgh!”

The monsters began retreating further and further back.
Consumed by madness, rational judgment had abandoned them entirely.
The monsters could not sense the number of their allies.
They instinctively perceived only the presence of the alpha monster.

A single Grade 3 monster hesitated in its retreat before finally turning and fleeing.

“Krahahahaha! Yes, run! Or I’ll kill you myself!”

Screeeee!
Steel Hawk let out a tremendous cry that stirred primal fear in the monsters’ instincts, her laughter ringing out.

That was the beginning.

Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters began fleeing one after another.
It was the same at all three locations.

“Ha, haha—”

Bae Chul-ho let out a hollow laugh at the sight.

“So even those creatures know how to run away.”

No matter how formidable the alpha monsters were, the Grade 2 and Grade 3 monsters—despite their superior numbers—failed to recognize this and instinctively fled.
Their numbers grew ever larger.

The sight of creatures that moments ago had been desperately trying to kill even one more human now fleeing left one feeling utterly deflated.

“…With the alpha monsters at our side, this night has proven far easier than expected.”

That fact felt hollow.
Then, Je Ha-jeong’s voice reached my ears.

“Brother. I’m not sure if the method will feel easy, but…”

Je Ha-jeong had momentarily shared Bae Chul-ho’s thoughts, but a different realization struck her first.
Bae Chul-ho’s gaze turned toward Je Ha-jeong.
Je Ha-jeong was astonished by something else entirely.

“Drawing those leader monsters to our side doesn’t seem like an easy task, does it?”

The leader monsters had shown no inclination to continue conversing with humans.
All except one.

“And wouldn’t all of this require foreknowledge of the monsters’ instincts and combat patterns?”

No matter how much Je Ha-jeong thought about it.

“…It would have been impossible without knowing.”

It would have been impossible unless someone knew everything that would unfold, as if reading from a record.
Who would draw a leader monster to their side?
Who could possibly know such instincts of monsters?

Bae Chul-ho’s lips slowly parted.
It was impossible without knowing.

“But it becomes possible if one does know.”

He thought of one person.

“The fact that we have someone who knows this—”

That such a person appeared at this very moment.

“That’s a miracle.”

There was no other way to describe it.
Bae Chul-ho, Je Ha-jeong, and those around them were enveloped in a strange sense of understanding as they gazed at one another.

“Uncle!”

At that moment, Bae Pureun’s voice rang out, and the silence shattered simultaneously.

Boom!
Crash!

A series of explosions echoed from far away.
Bae Chul-ho rushed toward the window.

Flames were surging up from all directions.
It was the fire Kim Rok-soo had mentioned.

But.

“…It seems far more tremendous than what he described?”

For some reason, the flames appeared far more intense than what Kim Rok-soo had said.

“Uncle thought the same thing? I thought so too.”

From Bae Pureun’s response, Bae Chul-ho realized his thoughts were not mistaken.

And this was something even Kale Heniatus had failed to grasp.
No—Park Jin-tae and Chae Su-jung had both failed to realize it as well.

“…Insane!”

Park Jin-tae stared at the surging flames with an astonished expression before turning his gaze to the side.
Joo Ho-sik gazed at the blazing building with a gentle smile on his face.

“The power of faith is truly formidable.”
“Ha!”

Park Jin-tae was left speechless by those words and simply laughed.

Just moments ago, Park Jin-tae, Chae Su-jung, and Kale Heniatus—the three of them—had wielded powers related to fire.
It was then that Joo Ho-sik’s ability had been activated.

It was a strange power.
The moment Park Jin-tae activated his ability, an unknown force amplified his strength as if providing him with a foothold.

“Surely… you said it would only amplify slightly?”

They had said it would raise an explosive force of 5 to about 7.
At that moment, Chae Su-jung’s voice reached him.

“That’s not wrong, is it? Both he and I were only amplified slightly.”

An explosive force of 5 had been raised to about 7.
Chae Su-jung gripped the Molotov cocktail in her hand tightly as she looked at one person.

“…It’s just that one person was amplified far too severely.”

Kale Heniatus gazed at the burning building.

Boom! Crash!
The empty buildings exploded endlessly, spreading flames in all directions.
Kale Heniatus looked down at his hands.
Then he looked at Joo Ho-sik.

Kale Heniatus could currently use Destructive Fire at less than half his original capacity.

And he couldn’t even use all of that reduced power.
He still needed to use Wind and Water today.
There was much more power he would need to use ahead.
He couldn’t afford to collapse.

He had used a moderate amount of power.

Yet that power…

“…tripled.”

It had been amplified roughly threefold.
By that ability of Joo Ho-sik’s called belief.

‘An ability that affects even Ancient Powers? This belief ability?’

Kale Heniatus’s gaze turned toward Joo Ho-sik.
Joo Ho-sik’s mouth opened.

“Did you not say that you command the Wind?”

Kale Heniatus summoned the wind.
It was an exceedingly subtle force.

But the moment Joo Ho-sik’s hand extended toward where Kale Heniatus stood.

Whiiiing—
That force amplified.
Kale Heniatus directed the wind toward where the flames burned.

The fire followed the wind’s trajectory, spreading not in other directions but precisely as Kale Heniatus willed—toward the monsters.
Kale Heniatus’s gaze turned toward Joo Ho-sik.
Joo Ho-sik’s mouth opened.

“It seems you are someone I can trust.”

Then he pointed toward other buildings.
Precisely the structures that our group would soon burn—those confirmed to contain no living creatures.

“Shall we?”

Kale Heniatus immediately straightened his posture at those words.

I could not fathom how Joo Ho-sik’s power could amplify the Ancient Powers.
Yet one thing was unmistakably clear.

‘This is advantageous.’

It was far more advantageous to us.

‘I can push harder.’

I gradually revised my strategy to apply greater pressure against the enemy. Though I might need to fight more fiercely myself, with Joo Ho-sik’s arrival, this was the more certain path to victory.
I regarded Chae Su-jung, Park Jin-tae, and Joo Ho-sik as I spoke.

“…We’ll set fire to the escape routes of the fleeing monsters, using the New Central Shelter as the focal point.”

But the crucial part came next.

“However, we’ll exclude the three locations where Grade 1 monsters are resting.”

The Grade 2 and 3 monsters, with nowhere left to flee, would instinctively avoid the terror of the leader monster chasing from behind and move toward the areas without fire.
Driven by the primal urge to survive.

And at the end of those instinct-driven movements.

“The fleeing Grade 2 and 3 monsters will overrun the resting places of the Grade 1 monsters.”

So how would the Grade 1 monsters respond to the Grade 2 and 3 monsters rushing at them in violation of the attack rules?
Kale Heniatus spoke with perfect composure.

“We don’t need to do everything ourselves, do we?”

Whoooosh—
Wind erupting from Kale Heniatus’s hand enveloped the four of them.

“And we’ll funnel the Grade 1 monsters into a single location as well.”

Grade 1 monsters, drunk on madness, invisible to the Grade 2 and 3.
A vast space consumed by chaos.
To create that space.

“We’ll either ignite the flames quickly or collapse the buildings rapidly.”
The four of them began moving, riding on Kale Heniatus’s wind.
They moved through the passages where the monsters were expected to flee.

Wherever the four passed, buildings crumbled in flames, blocking the monsters’ path forward.

“…Insane! Really, this is absolutely insane!”

Park Jin-tae couldn’t suppress his shock at the inferno.
As he moved between buildings on the whirlwind, Chae Su-jung swept past him and hurled a Molotov cocktail.

Boom!
Another surge of flames erupted skyward.

“Stop your pointless muttering and do your job.”
“Tch. I’m quite good at my job, you know?”

Park Jin-tae pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!
The flames pouring from the hands of the national team marksman blazed more brilliantly than usual, striking their target with precision.

Boom!
The flames continued to surge upward.
The farther away one looked, the more vividly those flames became visible.

It was a massive circular inferno advancing as if it would engulf all three Central Shelters.
Yet the people of the Central Shelters knew the truth.

These flames would never reach us.
But that magnificent blaze was so vivid it sent a chill down one’s spine.

Bae Chul-ho found himself unable to speak at the sight.

“…Ha, haha—”

He could only laugh.

Grade 2 and 3 monsters fleeing from Steel Hawk.
Before them, flames rose like a tidal wave.

Front and back.
As Bae Chul-ho watched the monsters trapped with no escape, he found himself reflecting on today—a day that had felt extraordinarily long.
A day made even longer by the countless moments dancing with death.

Crack.
He clenched his fists tightly.
The twenty-four hours were not yet over.

“Je Ha-jeong. Open the door.”
“Yes, brother.”

Creeeeak.
The door to the Central Shelter swung open.

“Let’s go.”
“Yes, uncle.”

The New Central Shelter.
Those who remained after leaving behind personnel to defend this place emerged from the Shelter.
Kim Min-jun’s voice crackled through the radio, reaching the people who had stepped outside.

-Attack.

Now it was our turn to strike at the heels of the fleeing enemies.
The humans who had once fled to escape the monsters were gone.

A future not far distant. Just as the humans in Kim Rok-soo’s memories had done.
Those who had been running and hiding finally burst forth to reclaim their homes, their territories.

And leading that charge was.

“Push them harder, sir.”
“I know. Stop nagging me about it.”

Choi Han.
Just as Kale Heniatus had said. The one who would fight the most tonight.
He, who had been holding back Grade 2 and 3 monsters at a single Central Shelter, was now.

“I’ll go ahead first.”
“I’ll follow shortly.”

Heading to destroy the resting place of the Grade 1 monsters.
There, alongside Kale Heniatus, until the sun rose.
He would fight without rest.

‘Choi Han.’
‘Yes, Rok-soo hyung.’
‘After I take the people to the New Central Shelter. I’m going to see Choi Jung-soo.’
‘…Is that so?’
‘Yeah. Choi Han.’
‘Yes.’
‘You wouldn’t be interested in taking on one more disciple? There’s this guy named Choi Jung-soo. He wields a sword quite well.’

The corners of Choi Han’s mouth lifted.
Beyond the fleeing monsters, his eyes—moving swiftly across rooftops and between buildings—reflected the figure of Kale Heniatus waiting for him.

“You’re a bit late.”
“My apologies, Rok-soo hyung.”

Kale shrugged at Choi Han’s words and gazed toward the area untouched by flames.
Though there were no flames, the firelight illuminated the darkness, revealing the landscape within.

“Grrr.”
“Grrrgh.”

The Grade 1 monsters, their forced rest now shattered, bared their fangs toward Kale and Choi Han.
Beings of incomparably greater strength than Grade 2 and 3 monsters gathered in countless numbers, rising to their feet one by one.

At the tip of Choi Han’s blade, a shimmering black aura surged with the momentum to transform into a black dragon at any moment.
Red electricity crackled and erupted across Kale’s entire body.

“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”

The two descended together into the domain of the Grade 1 monsters.

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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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