Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 641

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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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“…Could it be you…?”

A flicker of recognition flashed across the eyes of the Cat Tribe Chief and Lion King Dorf in that instant.
The figure before them bore the appearance of Prince Nar with dyed hair. Yet combined with the way he shielded On and Hong, and the emergence of the Black Dragon—
That Black Dragon followed only one human.
Lion King Dorf’s lips parted.

“Could it be Kale—”

At that moment.
Rustle!
As the leaves trembled, a figure concealed in the forest’s shadow lunged toward On at tremendous speed.

“…The shame of the Fog Tribe!”

A Cat Tribe soldier attempted an ambush on On.

“Gasp!”

Raon’s eyes widened. The ambush had been executed with such stealth that even Raon hadn’t detected it.
Raon watched as the Cat Tribe soldier’s dagger twisted unnaturally toward On behind him, aiming for her throat.

“No—!”

The moment Raon moved to unleash magic.

“Grrr!”

On sensed the movement and twisted her body. Her eyes locked onto the dagger streaking toward her throat.
For an instant, On’s eyes widened.

“There is no need to evade.”
“Kugh!”

With a gentle voice full of benevolence, the Cat-Human Soldier collapsed to the ground, his throat pierced through.
Thud.
A sharp dagger was embedded in the throat of the fallen Cat-Human Soldier. On and Hong watched as Ron Mollan withdrew the blade.
The Cat Tribe Chief’s mouth opened.

“…Impressive that you sensed the ambush.”

Ron drew a benevolent smile.

“At my age, I don’t fall for such crude ambushes.”

In that moment, Kale thought to himself.

‘That old man is truly terrifying…!’

Crude was the last word for it—it was an ambush so flawless that even Kale had nearly deployed his unbreakable shield in shock. And yet Ron had called it crude while piercing the attacker’s throat! Ron was truly the most frightening person around Kale.

“Young Master.”
“…Yes?”
“I shall handle this matter.”

His smile was gentler than ever.

“Hahahaha, hahahaha!”

The Cat Tribe Chief burst into loud laughter the moment he heard those words.

“Does the mere head of the Mollan Family think he can face our Cat Tribe?”

The Chief found it truly amusing.
The citizens of the Sezes Kingdom recklessly charging into this fog at the mountain’s base were amusing, and so was the head of this Mollan Family.
Fog and forest.
This terrain was absolutely advantageous to them.
Because of this, not only the Chief but the other Cat-Human Soldiers burst into snickering laughter. The enemy’s words were simply too amusing.
The Chief barely suppressed his laughter before speaking.

“On. And Hong.”

On and Hong froze at the sight of the Chief calling their names for the first time. Regarding them with an oddly affectionate gaze, the Chief continued.

“I was a distant relative of your father. So distant, in fact, that we might as well have been strangers.”

The Tribal Chief needed to show these fools the truth of their situation.

“Your father, the Previous Fog Tribe Chief, possessed innate talent but lacked the ability to enter a berserk state, making him terribly weak. And I was the strongest. He was born inferior, and I had to transform the Fog Tribe under the rule of such an inferior chief. For the pride of the strongest Cat-Human Race, the Fog Tribe.”

On and Hong’s pupils trembled.
The Tribal Chief savored their reaction like a delicious meal.

Lion King Dorf swallowed his inner ridicule as he watched the Tribal Chief.

‘Pathetic fool. Conspiring with his master and inciting rebellion.’

The Previous Fog Tribe Chief had rejected White Star’s proposal.

‘Though the Cat-Human Race is known for secrecy and concealment in shadow, we do not wish to plunge the world into chaos. I intend to bring the Fog Tribe and all Cat-Humans from the darkness into the light, to integrate us into this continent. Therefore, I must refuse such a proposal!’

Faced with such an absolute refusal, White Star had Dorf approach the current Tribal Chief.
The current Tribal Chief immediately grasped the hand offered to make him Tribal Chief, and with vast financial support, he seduced the heads of the Fog Tribe who resented the former chief’s refusal to accept assassination contracts anymore.
As a result, using the words “an inferior chief who cannot enter a berserk state,” he slaughtered the former chief, his family, and all the loyal followers who stood with him.

‘If one considers the future of the Cat-Human Race, the Previous Fog Tribe Chief’s thoughts were correct. Yet this one killed such a chief and took his place, and speaks of pride.’

Dorf found it amusing.
However, he revealed nothing and simply listened to the current Tribal Chief’s words.

“There were none who would follow the Previous Fog Tribe Chief, who tarnished the pride of the strongest Cat-Human Race, the Fog Tribe, and all demanded his bloodline be erased. Yet I spared you.”

The Tribal Chief’s lips curled upward.

“Why?”

Why did I spare you?
On and Hong could only listen, helpless before those questioning eyes.

“To show a shame the Cat-Human Race should never experience again. You are examples.”

Examples that an inferior bloodline incapable of entering a berserk state must never become.
Simultaneously, On and Hong were spared as a warning that weak Cat-Humans were unnecessary.

“In the end, you all fled. And.”

The Tribal Chief’s gaze turned toward Ron.

“You clung to a human who can’t even use his abilities or enter a berserk state.”

The Tribal Chief questioned Ron.

“Do you truly believe you can stand against us Cat Tribe Soldiers?”

Not Kale Heniatus, nor his companions—but assassins. Against them, the Tribal Chief could confidently assert that the Cat Tribe was superior.
Ron maintained his gentle smile.

“Stand against the Cat Tribe Soldiers?”

He wiped his blood-stained dagger as he answered.

“It’s simple.”
“…What?”

The moment the Tribal Chief’s face twisted, Ron’s smile began to transform. The kindness receded, replaced by a chilling coldness at the corners of his mouth.

“And I have no intention of fighting alone.”

That was when it happened.

“Kugh!”
“Gack!”

With barely audible death rattles, several Cat Tribe Soldiers concealed in the forest shadows began to collapse.
They were all positioned on the eastern flank.

“What is this…!”

Only then did the Tribal Chief realize that someone had infiltrated this battle. Figures who had slipped in without even the Cat Tribe noticing.

“Show yourselves.”

The moment Ron finished speaking, figures silently emerged from the forest shadows and beyond the fog, one after another.
Had they not appeared, one would never have known they were there—such was their stealth.
They were all members of the Molan Family. With blood-stained daggers in hand and expressionless faces, they positioned themselves in a protective circle around Ron, On, Hong, and Kale and Raon.

“Ha!”

The Tribal Chief let out a short, incredulous laugh upon seeing those who had revealed themselves.
For a moment, a chill ran down his spine at the appearance of enemies he hadn’t even sensed, but he quickly realized it was merely his imagination.

“Are all the ones you brought merely elderly men or scrawny, half-starved wretches?”

Those who had revealed themselves were uniformly either elderly or middle-aged.
The middle-aged ones appeared either malnourished and gaunt, or bore injuries in various parts of their bodies.

“It seems we grew far too complacent in our vigilance. To fall to such creatures as these…”

The Tribal Chief was certain he had failed to notice those elderly men because he had been focused entirely on Ron and Kale’s group.
And he believed the dead Cat Tribe soldiers had met the same fate through carelessness for the same reason.

“Is that truly so?”

The moment Ron responded with a smile.

“…What do you mean by that?”

The Tribal Chief felt the forest trembling the instant his words ended.

“Gack!”
“Ugh!”

Screams echoed from all directions.
Simultaneously, an elderly man beside Ron threw something from his bosom.

Clang!
A dagger.
It bore the mark denoting the Fog Tribe. That dagger, which must always be carried on one’s person, fell to the ground without a single drop of blood upon it.

It signified that the Cat Tribe soldier who owned that weapon was dead or in an equivalent state.
And this was far from the end.

Clang, clang, clatter!
Those standing beside Ron knocked the short swords from the Cat-Human soldiers’ hands. The marks of the Fog Tribe and the Cat-Humans below the Tribal Chief scattered across the ground.

“…This, this!”

Bewilderment, urgency, and shame flickered across the faces of the Tribal Chief and the other Cat-Humans.

“Cough. Hack!”
“Ugh!”

They came to realize, without words, that the screams still echoing belonged to the Cat-Humans.
Then Ron stood before Kale Heniatus, who held On and Hong in his arms.

“We were weaker than Dark, so our clan was annihilated, and we had to flee.”

A gentle voice reached the ears of On and Hong.

“And we survived.”

All the members of the Molan Family now on this Nexus Mountain were of a generation similar to Ron’s.
They were his peers, his seniors, or the generation just below him—those who barely escaped and survived when White Star devastated the Eastern Continent’s underworld through Dark.
They all gathered to the Molan Family that had risen again.

“Crossing countless boundaries of death, evading and hiding from things stronger than me, stronger than us, we had to survive.”

Ron gazed at On and Hong.
Beneath their cold expressions, On and Hong saw warm eyes. Within them lay an unwavering resolve.
The moment their gazes met, Ron, with his frigid expression, spoke.

“Yes, in the end, we survived.”

Having survived thus, we now resolved to transform the Molan Family for the future.

“The driving force of our growth—something those intoxicated by their innate strength could never comprehend.”

A smile spread across Ron’s lips.
The corners of Ron’s mouth lifted.

“And you two possess the same growth dynamic as we do.”

On and Hong were young, but they fled to survive.
And in the end, they lived.
Ron and the members of the Molan Family, along with On and Hong, were the same. Though the places and times differed, they had shared the same moments. Those desperate hours of fleeing without proper breath rising to their throats, hiding in thickets, in mud, in filth—they had all endured them.

Tap. Tap.
I felt Hong’s front paw tapping against my arm. When I lowered my head, Hong nodded to me and slipped from my embrace.
Then he took his place beside On and Ron.
On and Hong had truly grasped where they belonged.

The Fog Tribe.
Not that place, but here—where I, my sibling, Ron, and my comrades stood. No, my family. This was our place, what we must protect.
The siblings were certain in their hearts.
On and Hong exchanged nods and spoke to me and Raon respectively.

“We’ll handle this area.”
“Brother! You can go knowing we have this covered!”

I looked into the siblings’ unwavering eyes and asked.

“If it gets dangerous?”
“We’ll scatter!”
“We scatter! And hit them from behind!”

At that moment, Vicross, who had infiltrated in chef’s attire, removed his mask and spoke curtly.

“It doesn’t seem like there will be any danger, though.”
“That’s true.”

At my dismissive words, the Cat Tribe Chief and Lion King Dorf’s faces hardened. Regardless, I paid them no mind and spoke to Raon.

“Let’s go.”
“Got it, human!”
“Oof, oof!”

King Bakehe lifted into the air, seized by the scruff by Raon’s front paw.
Whoooosh—
Simultaneously, a whirlwind coalesced around my ankle, and I kicked off the ground.

“You think I’d just let you go!”

The Cat Tribe Chief rushed forward, but Ron blocked his path.
Clang!
Dagger clashed against dagger.

“This bastard…!”

The Chief ultimately retreated, evading Ron’s blade. But Lion King Dorf cried out.

“Stop Kale Heniatus! Save King Bakehe!”

The Lion Tribe warriors beside him moved swiftly.
Roughly fifty of them—not all the Lion Tribe, but Dorf’s most elite warriors positioned closest to him.

“That’s not happening.”

But before those Lion Tribe warriors appeared Vicross and a masked figure in janitor’s garb. Bud.

“Ha! Just two of you will stop us?”
“The Mercenary King, is it? Relying on being a Sword Master to act so boldly?”

The Lion Tribe warriors grimaced and rushed at them without hesitation.
That was when it happened.

“Captain!”
“We’ve arrived!”

Countless figures emerged from the forest.
The Ranger Unit—the Mercenary Guild’s elite forces.
Nearly three hundred of them appeared, all stained with blood.
At that moment, the Cat Tribe and Lion Tribe realized the screams from the forest had ceased.

“…Ugh.”

Simultaneously, a faint cry escaped as another Cat Tribe warrior collapsed. Yet there was no one visible who had struck him down. He had vanished silently into the shadows.
The Cat Tribe and Lion Tribe grasped one more truth from this sight.

‘…If the Mollan Family had done the killing, there would have been screams like this!’
‘Surely, a different, a different force was responsible.’

Then the answer was obvious.

“…You bastards…!”
“That’s right, we killed them.”

A Ranger Unit member twisted their lips in response to the Lion Tribe warrior’s words.
Fifty or so Lion Tribe warriors were beginning to be surrounded by hundreds of Ranger Unit members.
And at the vanguard stood.

Kwang!
Vicross, driving his greatsword into the ground with a thunderous boom.
Uuuuung-
The Mercenary King Bud, radiating a blue aura.
Vicross and Bud. The two of them stood like gatekeepers before the path Kale had taken toward the peak.

“No one can pass us.”
“That’s ridiculous!”

The Lion Tribe warrior scoffed at those words.
Because Lion King Dorf was here. One of the two subordinates cherished by White Star.
The king would surely resolve all of this!

“My lord-”

But the moment the warrior turned to look at him, he had to pause.
Lion King Dorf.
Before him stood a half-shaved man in a slovenly stance.
And he spat out words in a rather delinquent tone.

“Hey, are you the one who devoured that Dark Spirit and wields Dark Spirit power?”

But Dorf’s expression was not favorable.

“…A dragon.”

The half-shaved dragon Rashil stood across from Dorf, smacking his lips.
Simultaneously, at the base of the mountain.

“Everyone maintain formation and advance! We must save His Majesty at all costs!”

Ahhhhhhh!
Along with battle cries, the voices of the Knights Order and Sezes Kingdom forces climbing up the mountain could be heard.

“Damn it!”

Kale’s Group. The Mercenary Guild. The Molan Family. And even the Sezes Kingdom.
The Cat Tribe Chief’s face contorted as he opened his mouth.

“Attack! Kill them all right now!”

At the same time, his body reacted with lightning speed, drawing short daggers in both hands.
Crash! Bang!
After two successive thunderous sounds, the Chief could see Ron looking at me with a cold smile.

“It seems you’ll be the first to die.”
Meowwww.
Meow!

Along with Ron’s gentle voice, the cries of On and Hong echoed out.
Simultaneously, fog and poison swirled behind Ron, rising with unstoppable momentum.

Nexus Mountain, shrouded in the fog of the Fog Tribe.
A crimson fog of an entirely different hue began to rise there, expanding its domain.
A distant future. The crimson fog that would occasionally rise from the Dark Forest and appear in daylight in a new form—it was destined to become the mark of the Molan Family.

* * *

“Human, we’re almost at the mountain peak!”

Stone Mountain.
Kale’s eyes fixed on the summit of the rocks that soared toward the sky without a single blade of grass.
A large hole had been bored through it.

“Ugh, ugh!”

The struggling King Bakehe was being grabbed by the collar not by Raon’s front paws, but by someone else’s hand.

“Nothing but stone!”

It was Dodori with her pink, curly hair.
Dodori, who possessed the attribute of stone.
I opened my mouth.

“Once we rescue the hostages, we collapse the prison immediately.”
“Yes!”
“Yes, Commander!”

Voices responding in succession behind me.
The Ranger Unit of the Mercenary Guild.
In total, roughly five hundred Rangers had survived after being smuggled away by Vampire Duke Fredo.
Half of them were engaged in combat with the Lion Tribe midway up the mountain, while the remaining half followed behind me toward the summit of Stone Mountain.

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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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