Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 594

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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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“Monsters are attacking through the subway tunnels?”
“…If we hadn’t known, we would have suffered greatly.”

Subway. The people mentally repeated the word Kale Heniatus had uttered.
A massive conference room the size of a typical indoor gymnasium.

Kale Heniatus opened his mouth again.

“An Electric Eel. That monster will move through the subway tunnels to approach Seokmyeon, reveal itself, and attempt to attack the Seo-myeon Shelter.”
“That’s strange.”

At that moment, someone raised their hand.
It was Jo Min-ye, the representative from Jeonnam.

“What seems strange to you?”

Jo Min-ye answered Kale Heniatus’s question.

“I’m not familiar with the situation in Busan, but surely the subway tunnels must be collapsed and desolate in many places. There are likely many sections where the tunnels aren’t properly maintained.”

Jo Min-ye’s gaze turned toward Heo Sook-ja, who sat beside Kale Heniatus.
Heo Sook-ja nodded.

“That’s correct. The rescue team members from our Seo-myeon Shelter have examined the subway tunnels, and while there are no completely collapsed sections, we’ve identified quite a few areas with partial damage.”
“So the monster would secretly traverse such tunnels to reach Seokmyeon?”

Jo Min-ye shook her head.
Then she spoke, looking at Kale Heniatus.

“I expected considerable presence from an unranked monster, but its body is smaller than I thought.”

Flap.
At that moment, the sound of wings beating echoed through the air.
Everyone’s gaze shifted toward one corner of the conference room, which resembled a grand hall.

“What are you looking at?”

Steel Hawk fluttered her wings with a sharp, piercing gaze.
The representatives gathered there exchanged thoughts as they observed her.

‘They said that monster was Grade 1. Yet even that monster can’t properly navigate through the Subway Tunnel.’
‘They said it was an unranked monster, incomparable to Grade 1 monsters. But it seems smaller than I expected.’

Steel Hawk’s wings made it nearly impossible for her to pass through the Subway Tunnel.

“Ahem. That unranked monster isn’t exactly small, though.”

Kang Il-rae, the representative from North Jeolla, interjected with a clearing of his throat.

“Of course, it may be smaller in size compared to the grandeur and strength we imagined, but the Subway Tunnel isn’t exactly a cramped space, is it?”

He spoke while stealing glances at Kale Heniatus.

“And here, our Commander.”

He gestured toward Kale Heniatus with both hands.
Jo Min-ye, who had sat next to Kang Il-rae during the previous speech, let out a quiet snicker at his antics, but Kang Il-rae pretended not to hear and continued.

“According to what our Commander said, the monster’s name is Electric Eel, and it should have a form like a snake. Even if its body is thin, if its length is considerable, it would be difficult to call it a small creature, wouldn’t it?”

That was also a valid point.
Ki Hee-ran, the representative from North Chungcheong, opened her mouth.

“And what truly matters for a monster isn’t its size, but the destructive power it possesses.”

Kim Gang-hun, the representative from South Gyeongsang, nodded at her solemn words—a far cry from how she had passionately expounded on Kim Rok-soo’s strength while sitting beside him during the speech.

“Exactly. After all, we only need to deal with the one coming through the tunnel, don’t we?”

A thin smile crossed his face.
Kim Gang-hun smiled as if it were a simple matter.

“No.”

Hm?
Kim Gang-hun turned his gaze toward the voice denying his words.
The voice belonged to Kale Heniatus.

“It’s not just one.”
“What do you—”

Snort!
At that moment, the sound of a snort echoed through the room.

“Brother Woo?”

It was Kim Woo, who alongside Heo Sook-ja and Lee Soo-hyuk, formed the central pillar of the Seo-myeon Shelter.
Kim Gang-hun regarded Kim Woo with bewilderment, but Kim Woo offered no reaction and instead turned his head toward Kale Heniatus, as though expecting him to provide the answer.
His demeanor suggested that Kale Heniatus held the key to understanding.

Tap!
A light tapping sound resonated against the table.
It was Kale Heniatus.

“The Electric Eel has two heads.”
“Pardon?”
“And its body can be divided vertically.”

In that instant, the eyes of each regional representative widened.

“…Two creatures!”

A monster with two heads could split its body into two.
That meant the monster was actually two entities.
Kale Heniatus observed the shocked faces around him and recalled the records from the past.

‘That’s why the people of Seo-myeon Shelter suffered so much.’

The unranked monster that had advanced underground from Gwangan-ri to Seo-myeon had merged its body near Seo-myeon and attacked the Shelter.

‘At that time, the people of Seo-myeon Shelter were too preoccupied defending the Castle against the rampaging monsters caused by the appearance of the unranked creature to notice its underground movement.’

Thus, to them, it was as though an enormous monster had suddenly materialized before their eyes, reducing everything in all directions to ruins.

Tap!
Kale Heniatus struck the table once more.

“I will unfold the operational map.”

Kim Min-jun and Lee Jin-ju, standing behind him, brought forth a single sheet of paper.

Whoosh—
The paper unfurled across the conference room table.

“…A subway map?”

The Busan subway map filled the eyes of those gathered.
Until recently, that map had been useless—no one traveled the subway, let alone anywhere else—but now it had transformed into an operational blueprint.

“Now then.”

Kale Heniatus’s finger traced the map.

“Are there subway lines leading to Seo-myeon?”

Gwangan Station, located near Gwangan-ri Beach. The routes from there heading toward Seo-myeon Station.
Jo Min-ye exhaled the words like a whisper.

“…Two….”

There were a total of two routes from Gwangan Station to Seo-myeon Station.
Of course, transfer requirements differed between them, but in a world where subways no longer moved, transfers were a meaningless concept.

Paths existed.
That fact mattered most.

“This is…”

Moon Se-un, the Gangwon Province representative, furrowed his brow.
He had no choice but to.

“…The monsters won’t be small in size.”

Kale answered matter-of-factly.

“That’s correct. It’s not small. Even at half strength, it’s quite massive, but when combined, it boasts considerable presence. When merged, it becomes far more enormous.”

Kang Il-rae ran his parched lips together before speaking.

“If one creature splits into two, it would become somewhat weaker, wouldn’t it? Right?”

To that question, Kale nodded readily.

“Its power would be considerably reduced compared to when it’s merged.”
“Exactly! Then that’s actually fortunate!”

Kang Il-rae, whose expression had brightened considerably, suddenly froze at Kale’s next words.

“Of course, even when divided in half—with just one head—it will easily surpass the Grade 1 monsters that attacked the initial Shelter.”
“…Huh. It will surpass not just a Grade 1 monster, but multiple Grade 1 monsters?”

Kim Gang-hun spoke with a tone of despair, and Kim Woo’s mouth opened.

“So it’s beyond classification. It’s so powerful that it’s in a different dimension entirely.”

Kim Woo’s gaze slowly turned toward Kale.
His voice flowed out slowly and deliberately.

“And our commander intends to kill all of them.”

The gazes of those gathered around the table slowly turned toward Kale.

Kale opened his mouth with an expressionless face.

“Yes. I will kill them one by one.”

Gyeongnam’s representative, Kim Gang-hun, opened his mouth.

“Is that… even possible?”

The corners of Kale’s mouth rose as he answered the tension-laden question.

“Yes. I will, and we will.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.
The representatives from each region could see the documents being placed before them.
Kim Min-jun, Lee Jin-ju, and Lee Sung-won distributed thin operational briefing documents.

“Your respective roles are written there.”

Each regional representative picked up the document assigned to them.

“Familiarize yourselves with it by tomorrow.”

Kale Heniatus’s voice reached their ears.

“We will depart at noon tomorrow.”

Tomorrow, the humans would head to their respective battlefields.
All eyes turned back toward Kale Heniatus.

“And the day after.”

Unlike before, the humans who had sensed the presence of enemies targeting them—

“We will begin the hunt, the war.”

The battles that lay ahead were both a hunt to capture unranked monsters and a war between humanity and monsters for victory.

* * *

Clink.
A teacup was set down on the saucer.
The fingers holding the teacup released it, and a voice emerged from across the table.

“You came at Kale Heniatus’s request?”
“Yes, Sherit.”

Sherit’s eyes turned toward the blonde-haired, blue-eyed man seated across from her.
Albert Crossman. He smiled at her gaze while quietly observing a man standing behind Sherit.
His eyes were devoid of particular emotion, as if searching for something.

“…You’re still alive.”

The Dragon Hybrid’s complexion was deathly pale, as though he might expire at any moment, yet his vacant eyes met Alberu’s gaze.
In that instant, Sherit’s gaze shifted toward the Dragon Hybrid.

Flinch!
The Dragon Hybrid’s entire body jerked as their eyes met, and he quickly lowered his head.
That was the moment.

“Everything must remain exactly as it is when Kale returns.”

Sherit withdrew her gaze from the Dragon Hybrid, her eyes brimming with bitterness and sorrow, and spoke in an emotionless voice.

“Before that child returns, I cannot allow anything to deteriorate further. Only if everything remains unchanged can matters proceed according to that child’s wishes when he returns.”

Sherit was using magic to delay the Dragon Hybrid’s death as much as possible.
This was possible because of her exceptional magical prowess, and because she was a Dragon—the Dragon Lord—who understood the dragon’s power inscribed upon the Dragon Hybrid’s heart better than anyone else.

“Of course, the pain has only intensified.”

Whenever the Dragon Hybrid’s lifespan extended even slightly, he had to endure pain that multiplied several times over.
Even breathing must have been agonizing.
Alberu directed a question toward the Dragon Hybrid.

“Are you managing?”
“….”

Yet the Dragon Hybrid remained silent, standing behind Sherit.
To Alberu, he resembled a knight protecting his liege.
But such sentiments were not his to voice carelessly.

Crunch, crunch.
Beside him, Raon sat quietly without a word, munching on a cookie.
While receiving Sherit’s affection.
Alberu watched as the silent Raon glanced back and forth between Sherit and the Dragon Hybrid, and he opened his mouth.

“That’s good to see.”

His gaze and the Dragon Hybrid’s met.

“Kale mentioned that since the Dragon Hybrid would be alive, I should come ask him about something.”

In that instant, both Sherit and the Dragon Hybrid’s shoulders stiffened slightly.

“In any case, since I’m in a busy situation, let me get straight to the point.”

His gaze was fixed on the Dragon Hybrid.

Alberu recalled what Kale had told him.

‘I’ll relay to you exactly what I discussed with the Dragon Hybrid back then.’

Kale had said it was a conversation that took place with four beings present: Kale, Erhafen, the Dragon Hybrid, and Raon.
When Erhafen and the Dragon Hybrid first met, the Dragon Hybrid had apparently said something upon seeing Erhafen.

‘So you became the last one.’

He took a sip of tea before speaking.

“According to Kale, you said that Erhafen was the last dragon the White Star would kill.”
“That’s right. The White Star designated Erhafen as the last dragon to be killed.”

Alberu nodded at that response, then recalled another exchange.
Erhafen had asked the Dragon Hybrid a question, and the Dragon Hybrid had answered it.

‘Was my heart also supposed to become yours?’
‘No. That’s not it. He simply said he needed it. But even I don’t know what it will be used for.’

As Alberu recalled the conversation Kale had shared, his mouth opened.

“So you still don’t know what Erhafen’s heart will be used for?”
“That’s right. I’ve thought about it too, but I can’t figure it out.”
“Then how many dragons in total have you killed?”

The Dragon Hybrid hesitated at the follow-up question.
However, Alberu gave him no opening to deflect.

“From what I heard from Kale Heniatus, the reason Erhafen was chosen as the last dragon to be eliminated is because Erhafen maintains contact with other dragons. That suggests they were concerned that after killing Erhafen, other dragons might discover it and become troublesome, doesn’t it?”
“…You could say that.”
“Hmm.”

Clink.
Alberu set his teacup down on the table.
Dragons.
For a moment, he had been tempted by the idea of using such beings as allies.
But now was the time to assess the situation with a clearer head.

“Sherit.”
“Yes?”
“When you were Lord, how many dragons existed?”

Sherit spoke slowly, as if searching through her memories.

“Typically… around 15 to 25 across both the East-West Continent combined. At the lowest, about 10.”

Tap. Tap. Tap.
Alberu’s index finger drummed against the armrest.

Five dragons in the Dragon Hybrid’s heart, for starters.
And Olien.
At minimum, six.
Whether the White Star gave the order or killed them directly.
It would be at least six or more.

“In any case, there should be living dragons remaining, whether few or many.”

No matter how mysteriously the White Star moved, it would have been difficult to kill many dragons while evading the eyes of the Dragon Hybrid, who was sensitive to dragon auras.
He spoke curtly and then gazed at the three dragon-related beings before him.
That was the moment.

Knock, knock, knock.
Along with the sound of knocking on the door, the voice of the Wolf Tribe boy Rak came from outside.

“Uh, Tasha has arrived!”

Alberu rose from his seat.

“I was the one who called you.”

With that, he approached the door and turned the handle.
Creak.
As the door swung open, Tasha offered a smile to those gathered within the room.

“It’s been a while.”

Her somewhat weary face turned toward Alberu.

“You said you had something urgent to ask, so I came. What is it?”

And why had he insisted on meeting here, at Sherit’s Castle of all places?
Tasha was curious about that as well, but she refrained from asking in front of the Dragons.
Then, Alberu’s lips parted.

“Kale Heniatus mentioned something.”

At the renewed mention of Kale Heniatus, the gazes of Sherit, Raon, and the Dragon Hybrid turned toward him.

“Previously, Market Master Obante said-”

Obante, the Market Master of the Underground City where the Dark Elves dwelled.
Tasha’s grandfather and a Dark Elf of five hundred and twenty-two years.

“He told Kale Heniatus that he had once encountered a Dragon.”
“Ah! That’s right!”

Raon sprang to his feet, his wings fluttering.
Raon recalled a scene from his memories.

When he first went to the Underground City of Death Desert with Tasha.
The moment he first met Market Master Obante, before meeting Merry.
Obante had spoken while looking at Kale Heniatus.

‘I had the honor of meeting a Dragon once before. The aura is the same as it was then. My spirit, who first encountered that Dragon back then, says the feeling is similar to that time.’

As he said those words, Market Master Obante had welcomed Raon, who was proclaiming, “I am the great Raon Mir!”

“That’s right! The Dark Elf elder told the human that! He said he’d seen a dragon with a spirit before!”

Alberu recalled one of the moments he had conversed with Kale Heniatus.
He had asked Kale a question.

‘According to the Dragon Hybrid’s words, there are at least six dragons, but if we include the dragon killed by the White Star that he doesn’t know about… are there any dragons remaining? It seems like there would be few.’

Knowing that the White Star had originated from the Dragon Slayer, Alberu asked carefully.
To that, Kale had answered flatly.

‘First, we should have Erhafen check if there are any dragons he can currently contact and find the whereabouts of other dragons. As for the rest, well.’

Kale had uttered the name of one existence.

‘Since dragons have such independent natures, it’s unlikely that Erhafen knows all the dragons personally.’
‘Then wouldn’t it be difficult to find them?’
‘First, it seems we should investigate through Market Master Obante.’
‘Huh? The Market Master?’
‘Yes. If we find one dragon, the connections might lead us to find them all, wouldn’t they?’
Alberu, finding it strange that Kale had mentioned Obante, who was a blood relative, ended his recollection and asked Tasha.

“Market Master Obante, your great-grandfather—where did he say he saw a dragon?”

Alberu made preparations one by one for Kale’s return, or rather, for what might be the final war.
The moment Kale returned, he would begin the war that would end everything and bring peace.

* * *

At that very moment.
Kale slowly opened the Training Ground door.

“Choi—”

It was then.

Crash!
A tremendous boom echoed right beside Kale Heniatus.
He turned his gaze.
The door he had opened.
The wall directly beside it.

“Ugh!”

A figure slammed against the wall and crashed onto the Training Ground floor.
It was Choi Jung-soo.

“Damn it!”

He spat out the curse without even noticing Kale Heniatus.

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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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