Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 645

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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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Chapter 135. We Cannot Avoid This

Whoosh—
Where black smoke had billowed moments before, Kale Heniatus and Raon materialized.

“Human, they’ll all manage just fine, won’t they?”
“Yeah. Of course.”

Strategy fell to Ron, Bud, and Gashan. Raw power to Dodori and Rashil.
Vicross, On, and Hong would provide support between them, along with countless other troops.
Dealing with the Lion Tribe and Cat-Human Race on Nexus Mountain would be no challenge for them whatsoever.

‘Even I can’t deny the unease of leaving things unfinished.’

Having begun this operation with the conviction that it would be my final battle, I wanted to see every detail through to perfect completion.
Yet there were times when one had to entrust the rear guard to comrades.

“…It’s eerily quiet.”

And this was one of those times—when something far more dangerous and urgent demanded attention.
My gaze turned toward the Sinkhole, one of the Eastern Continent’s three Forbidden Zones and home to the Endable Kingdom—the Gate of the Demon Realm.

I had teleported to a location just outside the Endable Kingdom, the very same spot where Alberu had brought me before to retrieve the Black Sphere in which he’d imprisoned me.

Shhhhh—
Wind rustled through the grass, leaves trembling in its wake.
The silence was absolute.

“Human, should we infiltrate immediately?”

Not even a single guard was visible.
Raon found this absence more unsettling than anything else. A note of urgency crept unbidden into his voice, betraying his unease.

“Yeah. Let’s go now.”

I shared his sentiment entirely.
The Endable Kingdom.
A place inhabited by races of darkness and countless others. Yet despite the hour being midday, an eerie silence pervaded everything.

Something was about to unfold.

Whoooosh—
Wind swept rapidly around Raon and Kale Heniatus, carrying them upward to the cliff edge that marked the entrance to the Sinkhole.

“Human! That palace looks strange! It seems like the roof was definitely destroyed?”

The Royal Palace where the White Star had dwelt. The roof that had been shattered during the rescue of the Wolf Tribe Children was hastily covered with white cloth, obscuring what lay within.

“Something is definitely suspicious, human!”

Kale Heniatus, sharing the same sentiment, nodded and opened his mouth to speak.

“Raon, use invisibility magic too—”

That was when it happened.
Kale Heniatus stopped mid-sentence and turned his gaze toward the source of the sound.

Beeeep—
A sharp warning alarm asserted its presence, shrieking fiercely.

“It’s the Crown Prince!”
“Connect it.”

Kale Heniatus could not refuse a call from Rowan.
Before teleporting from Nexus Mountain to this location, Raon had left messages for key figures through video communication devices. It must be Alberu, having received that message, urgently reaching out.

‘While others may not need it, it would be good to explain the situation to the Crown Prince and Choi Han.’

Time was pressing, but this was a call from someone to whom the situation needed to be conveyed, even if only for one or two minutes.

-Kale.

The moment the connection was established, the scene of what appeared to be a conference room entered Kale Heniatus’s vision. A long table. Alberu, seated at the head of it, opened his mouth to speak.

-Another summoning ritual might have occurred in the Endable Kingdom?
“Yes.”
-Four monsters— No. There’s no need to unnecessarily repeat what we already know.

Alberu opened his mouth with a stern expression.

-If four of them teleport to Pursulsi, how long can the city hold out?

Alberu had faced only one unranked monster before. Even then, it was merely providing support from the side while Kale and the other Earthlings had already handled a significant portion of it.
He watched Kale and the entrance to the Endable Kingdom Sinkhole beyond his shoulder, waiting anxiously for Kale’s response.
Kale opened his mouth shortly after.

“One hour.”

If all four came to Pursulsi, the city could hold for one hour.
At those words, the conference room instantly descended into chaos. Kale could hear the voices of several people.

-Your Majesty! That is absurd!
-Did you see the former commander spouting nonsense?! Good heavens, one hour?! What in the world-
-…Hah. How strong must these monsters be… Are they like those things from mythology? W-why is this happening…?

At the same time, Kale’s mouth opened.

“If everyone evacuates, that is.”

The corners of Alberu’s mouth lifted, and silence fell over the conference room.

“If we mobilize every resource we can draw from within and beyond the Roan Kingdom, even four monsters—we could contain them in Pursulsi for three hours. Three hours.”

Silence descended once more.
Though the time had tripled, the fact that they could only contain four monsters in Pursulsi for merely three hours left everyone at a loss for words.

And if the monsters broke free from Pursulsi after that time?
The entire Roan Kingdom could become a wasteland. Cold sweat beaded on the spines of the leadership.
Then, Kale’s mouth opened again.

“That’s the worst-case scenario.”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward Kale.

“I came here to destroy the four remaining statues. So we must prepare for the worst, but there’s no need to be afraid beforehand.”

Only then did the leadership exhale shallow breaths of relief.

‘That’s right. Now that Kale Heniatus is making his move, he’ll definitely achieve some results.’
‘The worst-case scenario is unlikely to occur. There’s no need to panic prematurely.’

As the thought of being overwhelmed by fear seeped in, the people shook off their dread and gradually regained their composure.
It was a mindset possible only for the people of Roan, who had experienced several wars beginning with the Heniatus Territory conflict and had overcome them all.
In that moment, a voice broke the silence.

-You went alone?

The attendants’ gazes turned toward the chair where Alberu sat.
Choi Han stood there.
Kale gazed at me and smiled wickedly at the question.

“I came with the most reliable and greatest mage.”
-Human! Am I reliable? Really?

Raon, who was holding a communication crystal across from Kale while cloaked in invisibility, spoke with an excited voice despite the urgency.
Rather than answering, Kale gave Choi Han an instruction.

“You go to Pursulsi.”

A different kind of silence descended upon the conference room.

‘Only two of them?’
‘They’re going with just two people to the summoning site of that monster who can destroy Pursulsi in three hours…?’
‘…Even if it’s just destroying a statue, will it be alright?’

Could just two of them really destroy the statue?
As concern arose, they recalled Kale, who had always overcome situations that seemed disadvantageous. Given what Kale had demonstrated thus far, he would surely achieve results.
But still.

‘…How strange. The commander is going to such lengths, yet I allowed fear to grip me.’
‘Kale Heniatus truly is—’

As they thought of Kale attempting to infiltrate the most dangerous location, their hearts grew heavy.

-Why only two?

At Alberu’s question, Kale slowly turned his back and answered. Now he had to cut off communications and enter Endable. The silence all around meant he could not delay any longer.

“There is much cleanup to be done at Nexus Mountain, so I’ve instructed our forces to handle the aftermath before moving out.”

Alberu opened his mouth as he watched the figure heading toward Endable.

-Right. Time is of the essence, and we cannot afford to be delayed for long- Why is something wrong?

He stopped mid-action just as he was about to cut the video communication, catching sight of Kale Heniatus.
Kale Heniatus had suddenly frozen completely.

Crack.
A strange sound pierced Kale Heniatus’s ears. He turned his gaze toward the source of the noise.
Crack. Crack. The sound of something shattering continued relentlessly.

-You, human!

Raon’s face drained of color. The young dragon’s eyes, like Kale Heniatus’s, turned skyward. In that same instant, without thinking, Raon moved his front paw, and the sky above filled the video communication screen.

Crack. Crunch, crack.
It was not the sound of something breaking.
The sky. In the empty space directly above the Endable Kingdom, a tiny gray mouth was forming. That mouth was slowly chewing on something.
Crack.
It was not the sound of shattering—it was the sound of that mouth chewing through something in the void. And that gray mouth was growing larger by the moment. It was a bizarre and grotesque sight.
In that instant, Kale Heniatus understood.

‘Ah.’

The summoning has begun.
That was when it happened.

Boom- thud- boom, thud-

The sound of drums was emanating from the Sinkhole. It was not the sound of a single person striking them. It was as if dozens were beating them at once, causing the ears to ring with the vibration.

“Damn it!”

Whoosh—
A whirlwind wrapped around Kale Heniatus’s body at tremendous speed.
Already, both Kale Heniatus and Raon were moving toward the interior of the Sinkhole.

-Human! That, that thing! The ceiling cloth is—!

Just as Raon cried out, the white cloth began to tear slowly. The moment Kale and Raon noticed it, the cloth ripped apart at an accelerating pace.

Riiiiip—!
White light streamed through the gap. It was a familiar white radiance.

‘Bear King Sayehr…!’

The Bear King Sayehr’s Ancient Power was of the light attribute, and when that light attacked like arrows or spears, it took this form.

“They’ve noticed us.”

The enemy had discovered our invasion.

‘As expected, Dorf already informed them.’

That’s why the summoning began so quickly, and why Sayehr attacked Kale, who hadn’t managed to turn invisible in time.
I turned my gaze.
The communication crystal in the still-invisible Raon’s hand was visible to me.
The attendants shot to their feet, staring at me. Their faces were all etched with shock. They must have witnessed everything.

Kale opened his mouth as he observed Alberu, the only one still seated alongside me, and Choi Han, whose gaze pierced through us both.

“We’ll meet again in Pursulsi.”

At the same moment, a silver shield materialized to block the white spear of light, filling the communication crystal’s view. With that image, the crystal went dark, and Raon hastily shoved it into subspace before unleashing his mana.

“Human! I’ll hold them off!”

Uuuuu—
With a resonant boom, black mana erupted explosively from Raon. Dozens, then hundreds of black arrows materialized, and as Raon blocked the spears of light, he pointed toward Sayehr positioned beneath the torn cloth.

“Fire!”

The black arrows shot straight toward Sayehr and the enemies in his vicinity.

“Human! I’m cutting through a path!”

A smirk played at the corners of Kale Heniatus’s lips. Raon had grown so much that he accomplished things without needing to be told—truly dependable.
His gaze shifted toward the center beneath the torn fabric.
Four statues shrouded in gray smoke came into view.

“Let’s go.”

Kale Heniatus and Raon advanced toward the statues.

* * *
Meanwhile, in the Roan Royal Palace conference room, the officials stood frozen, staring blankly at the severed video communication screen.
A torrent of radiant light. A shield blocking it. Simultaneously, a summoning ritual unfolding.
It was literally breathtaking.

Tap! Tap!
But at the sight of Alberu’s fingers drumming against the table, everyone exhaled the breath they had been holding.
The Crown Prince—the only one who had remained seated quietly from beginning to end—opened his mouth as he looked upon his officials.

“Knight Commander.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“Except for the minimum personnel needed to protect His Majesty the King and the Royal Family, send everyone to Pursulsi.”
“As you command!”
“And Magic Captain.”
“Yes.”
“To Pursulsi as well. And the Foreign Affairs Ministry—contact our allied nations immediately.”

Alberu’s orders flowed forth in a calm voice, yet with urgency. Choi Han observed him silently from behind his back.

‘…He surely knows the Dark Elves were taken as sacrifices.’

As Choi Han recalled Alberu’s inner thoughts, his chest tightened painfully. The Alberu he had come to know harbored feelings toward the Dark Elves as deep and complex as those he held for the Roan Kingdom itself.
And now, before his very eyes, a summoning ritual was beginning—one that would sacrifice the Dark Elves.
How many lives rested upon this man’s shoulders?
Choi Han wanted to rush to where Kale Heniatus and Raon were and join the fight immediately, yet he could not bring himself to speak.

“Choi Han.”

Then Alberu suddenly turned his gaze toward Choi Han.

“Have our teacher go to Young Master Kale Heniatus.”

Choi Han read the concern for Kale in Alberu’s eyes. He hadn’t said anything when told that he and Raon would fight alone, but Alberu must have been deeply worried.
Choi Han observed this quietly before shaking his head.

“I am a person who serves Lord Kale.”

The Roan Kingdom.
Pursulsi lay in the Northeast Rowan Kingdom, close to the Heniatus Territory.
If Kale was the person Choi Han knew, then the reason for leaving him here wasn’t a desire to fight, but rather a wish for him to protect the people in case something went wrong.
Just as Kale had many precious people in the Heniatus Territory, the Roan Kingdom, and the Western Continent, so did he.

“Lord Kale’s orders take precedence over mine.”

The corners of Alberu’s mouth twisted upward in a peculiar smile.
It was as if Choi Han was refusing the orders of the Crown Prince himself, yet Alberu could understand both Choi Han’s heart and, by extension, Kale’s.
He rose from his seat, observing Choi Han—the only one who had ever defied his orders—and the retainers who waited for the moment when all instructions were complete before they could act.

“Everyone, make haste. Send military forces and communications to Pursulsi, everything else remains at the Royal Palace! And I shall go to Pursulsi myself, so in case of emergency, the Foreign Affairs Ministry and Administrative Ministry are to take initial measures through His Majesty the King or the Second Prince!”

The moment his words ended, objections erupted.

“Your Highness! You’re going to Pursulsi? This war carries a danger far greater than any before!”
“Pursulsi is an empty city—all the territory’s residents have evacuated to nearby territories or cities kilometers away! Those who evacuated outside the city will soon be moved to nearby territories! Yet how can Your Highness possibly go to such a place!”
“Would it not be wise for Your Highness to retreat?”
“Precisely! We do not mean you should flee. We mean you should command operations from here. If something were to happen to Your Highness, the very system of Rowan would collapse!”

With four monsters invading, they could hold out for three hours at most.
Pressed by the weight of that number, the retainers tried to dissuade Alberu. They had determined that even if Pursulsi fell, Rowan could rise again as long as Alberu endured.

“Then you’re telling me to simply watch as the soldiers, knights, and mages I send to fight are slaughtered?”

At Alberu’s calm voice, silence fell over the conference room once more.

“The monsters will certainly be of tremendous size, and that battle will be extraordinary.”

Deafening roars and tremors, explosions would likely follow. There was no way to guarantee how much damage Pursulsi would sustain.
That devastation would surely spread across all of Rowan.

Alberu closed his eyes.
He recalled the final scene from the video communication.
Kale’s retreating figure as he rushed toward Endable.
As that unwavering image came to mind, another scene surfaced.
Kim Rok-soo’s back as he faced an unranked monster.
That back suddenly came to him.

A soft chuckle escaped.
A quiet laugh spilled from his lips. He stepped forward without hesitation.

“I cannot.”

At least not in the Roan Kingdom.

“I cannot flee.”

And.

“I must not.”

Just as the people of Seo-myeon Shelter fought watching Kim Rok-soo’s back.

“…They must fight watching my back.”

These people would fight watching his back. Like the sun rising between the two cliffs, they would draw strength from that light.
He wished to remain willingly as the sun of Roan.

“Your Highness! This cannot be!”
“…There is no choice. I understand, Your Highness.”
“Your Highness, please reconsider this once more!”

Then, Alberu could see Choi Han standing beside him. With his sword sheath in hand, standing silently at his side, Alberu thought.

‘If I were alone. I might have felt fear and confusion.’

Three hours.
No one here felt the terror that number brought more acutely than Alberu. The thought of his people who might perish left him gasping for breath.
But Alberu calmed his heart by thinking of one person.
Because there was no escape. He knew someone—a comrade—who walked forward without hesitation to protect, to defend.

“I’m not alone.”

A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Soon after, Albert Crossman led all his forces toward Pursulsi.
He prayed that Kale Heniatus, who had taken that step without hesitation and without seeking to avoid it, would emerge unscathed. And that his other precious comrades would do the same.

* * *

Boom— thud! Boom boom—
Between the beats of the war drums, Kale Heniatus descended to the ground.
With only one ally—Raon—at his side, Kale faced the hostile gazes of hundreds upon hundreds of enemies arrayed against him.

—————
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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