Trash of the Count's Family Book 2: Chapter 382: I'm sure it was not enough (7)

<I'm sure it was not enough (7)>

The situation appeared grave.

“Your Majesty!”

“What is this? Why did his Royal Highness-!”

Queen Tamahi yelled once more at the royal family and her guards.

“Step back! Do not come here!”

She had distinctly heard Alberu's words.

‘He's about to explode.’

Sir Hin Pao's state was indeed dire.

The gray spear clutched in his hand vanished.

Goooooooou— guuuoooooooo—

In its place, a gray aura enveloped his body, emitting a chilling sound akin to the ominous gray fumes rising from a volcano moments before eruption.

This gray aura, seething like molten magma…

…revealed Sir Hin Pao's face dimly within it.

“Ahhhhh—!”

Pain tormented him.

“Ha-”

A flood of emotions overwhelmed Queen Tamahi.

Prince Consort Hin Pao. Their bond held no love or fondness.

She never took his hand unless in public.

Yet—

“Ahhhhhhhh—!”

She must have grown somewhat accustomed to his presence.

Though she had planned to eliminate him one day as the foe, the years of seeing his face had woven some subtle tie, leaving Tamahi with a bitter ache as she beheld his suffering.

At least she felt no grief, which brought relief.

Truthfully, Tamahi's mind stayed remarkably clear and logical now.

“Everybody evacuate the island right now!”

Her inner ki amplified her command.

“Prepare to cast a barrier outside the lake!”

The order carried to the Palace Guards stationed beyond the lake.

“Cha Run!”

“Yes, your Majesty!”

Cha Run swiftly began guiding the royal family members away.

“Your Majesty, you must evacuate now!”

This menacing gray aura…

Cha Run recognized Tamahi stood no chance against it and urged her to flee, but…

“I will be the last one.”

She refused with a shake of her head.

Cha Run could only lead the rest of the royal family to safety.

“Ahhhhh-!”

Hin Pao roared in fury amid the chaos.

‘It is not that his body is in pain.’

Queen Tamahi sympathized for a specific cause.

‘His mind is breaking.’

Hin Pao.

Physical agony evaded him; instead, mental despair consumed his thoughts.

‘As for the other side-’

Her eyes shifted to Cale and Alberu clashing with Hin Pao.

“Ugh-”

Dark crimson blood surged from Cale's mouth once more.

"Do you want me to pat your back?”

Cale shot Alberu a fierce glare, and Alberu replied earnestly.

“I'm not messing around.”

He propped up Cale, helping him regain his footing.

Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—!

The haunting noise around Hin Pao intensified.

Alberu glimpsed a shadowy figure amid the gray aura shrouding Hin Pao's form.

‘Eyes.’

Choi Han said that eyes appeared when they faced the God of Chaos.

Hin Pao would perish once those eyes fully manifested.

‘Based on the speed, he will probably explode in less than a few minutes.’

They had to act fast.

He spoke to Cale.

“I can use magic here.”

Magic worked on this island.

That meant-

“I'll try to stop it. You don’t overdo it and run away. Run as far as you can.”

Alberu had a way to intervene.

He told Cale this, then glanced at Queen Tamahi.

He intended to leave Cale in her hands.

"Let's decrease the damage as much as possible.”

Fully halting Hin Pao proved impossible.

Still, Alberu could reduce the devastation sufficiently for others to flee.

Squish, squish-

The sounds of people splashing through the lake in escape reached his ears.

“Aahh–, oh god-!

It happened then.

Alberu tensed sharply.

Guuuuuuuuu—

At the core of the gray aura's eerie clamor…

Hin Pao's face alone surfaced.

Gray tears streamed as he cried out.

“Lord–, why have you forsaken me—!”

Death itself held no terror.

It was simply—

"Was my faith lacking?”

Unfairness gnawed at him.

"Why?! Why—!”

His stare fixed on Cale.

Cale barely held himself upright, drenched in blood.

This man wielded an aura laced with chaos.

An overwhelming force that choked Hin Pao instantly.

Not the Saint’s power.

Yet this man also harnessed the early power of the Saint.

All signs pointed to one truth.

“Why, why have you bestowed a new chaos to someone like this……?!”

The figure before him…

The God of Chaos granted this wretch not merely the Saint’s power but crafted a fresh one for him too.

A might undreamt by one of Hin Pao's stature, who devoted his life to chaos!

Such immense power!

Awarded to this stranger he'd never encountered.

“Why?! For what reason?!”

Disbelief gripped him.

His cries bore despair, dread, and anguish far beyond the fear of death's approach.

I-

Was I abandoned by my god?

Those words stuck in his throat unspoken.

Thus, engulfed by chaos, he vented his resentment in these cries.

"Why-”

Right then…

“I'm sure it was not enough.”

Hin Pao, shedding gray tears, caught a indifferent voice.

“Ahem.”

The faint voice, barely uttering words amid coughing up blood, stayed soft yet resolute.

Hin Pao turned his gaze to the root of all this turmoil, the one who delivered him chaos and hopelessness.

Cale kept on talking.

“Your faith.”

Your faith surely wasn't sufficient.

After saying that, Cale smiled.

Bloodied all over, he still managed a smile.

It resembled a mocking sneer.

‘Motherfucking bastards.’

The Night of the Beginning.

While mapping the route to the Holy Land of Chaos, Cale had witnessed connected visions.

Among the scenes from Hin Pao’s memories...

Holy Land.

The Night of the Beginning.

That location served as a tomb.

A tomb devoid of any grief.

An execution site designed purely for chaos.

In certain aspects, it resembled a battlefield.

Countless lives perished right there.

The guide brought not just believers to that spot.

Hin Pao had forced numerous people, countless lives, into that mayhem.

With an impassive stare, Cale regarded the guide.

Cale uttered the words that would wound deepest for someone feeling forsaken by his worshipped god.

“Your faith was lacking.”

Your faith was lacking.

“Cough.”

More blood came up with his cough.

A slight improvement in his condition now.

Pain hadn't hit from the start, however...

Guuuuuuuu—

“No! My faith was not lacking!”

Centered on the shrieking Hin Pao...

Guuuuuuuuuu, guuuuu—!

The gray aura rumbled fiercely.

Explosion loomed imminent.

Straightening his posture, Cale rose.

Alberu provided some support, naturally.

‘Nooo, I said, nooooooooo—!”

To the howling Hin Pao...

Cale pressed on with his words.

Your faith was lacking.

“And I gained power despite not believing.”

Hin Pao's shrieks came to a halt.

“…What?”

Fear and turmoil shook Hin Pao's voice this time.

Repeating what he heard proved impossible.

Yet Cale went on with his intended message.

“The God of Chaos, that crazy bastard. I really hate that motherfucker.”

“……!”

Despair and fear no longer showed on Hin Pao's face.

He appeared as one hearing the inconceivable for the first time, unable to grasp it.

True chaos defined him.

Peaking in his mental disarray...

Guuuuuuuuu—!

The creepy noise ceased.

Escaping people jolted and paused briefly upon noticing the silence.

All eyes shifted to the quieted Hin Pao.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

With only water sounds breaking the hush...

The sight caught their eyes.

‘An eye.’

Within the gray smoke enveloping Hin Pao fully, an eye emerged.

This inexplicable form, identifiable solely as an eye, stared straight at them.

That notion struck everyone.

Each felt the eye fixed precisely on them.

And... Their bodies froze solid.

Blink.

The eye blinked once.

Though brief, it seemed to crawl slowly, binding their stares inescapably.

Movement eluded them.

This chaotic aura dwarfed what bishop Serisa had unleashed.

The eye entranced the crowd.

Not all fell under its sway.

Blink.

Another blink followed.

Right before the third...

"Snap out of it!”

Silence shattered from one voice.

Alberu Crossman.

“Duck!”

His shout rang out...

“!”

“……!”

Instinct drove people to act.

Reason escaped them.

A sudden warmth enveloped their forms.

Only then did they sense their prior chill.

It mimicked the gentle heat of breath on skin.

No chance arose to identify it as sunlight's embrace.

Not even Alberu recognized it.

“I said duck!”

His command echoed again.

Blink-

As the third blink occurred...

Freedom from the enchantment came.

Awareness of action dawned too.

Running wasn't feasible.

Thus, they crouched, arms shielding faces on impulse.

They huddled tightly.

Amid the frenzy, a peripheral glimpse remained.

Alberu.

Sunlight-pure mana bursting from his palm.

The barrier trapping the detonating Hin Pao.

Plus another...

A pristine silver strand extending from Cale's hand beside Alberu.

Shield and vast silver wing materializing at its tip...

Against the foreboding chaos...

This silver glow emitted comforting warmth on sight, plus a crisp aroma.

The pair of lights blended seamlessly, claiming their positions.

These beacons ascending through turmoil...

Evoked images of fresh growth piercing filth.

Gazes locked blankly on the radiance.

Baaaaaang–

The blast's roar drowned Hin Pao’s cries.

Bodies coiled defensively tight.

“Mm.”

A groan escaped Alberu.

Raon's style he mimicked.

Multi-layered shields he forged.

Drip.

Blood trickled from his lips.

‘Ha.’

‘Forget Raon, my magic can’t even reach Rosalyn's level.’

Each shattering shield twisted Alberu's guts.

“Ugh-”

Groans slipped out uncontrollably.

Still, endurance prevailed.

Additional shields he summoned.

More upon their fracture.

How many times had he repeated the action?

Crack.

Alberu kept going without pause, even as numerous highest-grade magic stones shattered.

He desired to test his own boundaries.

And—

‘Crazy bastard!’

Cale Henituse.

Even with blood staining his mouth, this guy stood upright, bearing a larger share of the explosion's aftershocks than Alberu.

Alberu’s shields held firm without breaking easily.

Therefore, Cale’s outer shield endured an even greater portion of the blast's remnants.

‘When did he become so powerful?’

Alberu had witnessed Cale deploy the shield initially.

Compared to back then…

‘This is driving me nuts.’

Cale had genuinely grown stronger.

He appeared several times more formidable than when they defeated the White Star.

“Mm.”

Yet Alberu lacked the opportunity to dwell on it.

He couldn’t indulge in such thoughts at the moment.

After a short while…

It had likely been mere minutes.

Drip.

When the blood trickling from Alberu’s mouth darkened…

“Haaaaaaaaaa-”

He exhaled a heavy breath.

“…….”

He glanced to his side.

Cale clutched his weary shoulder.

Nevertheless, Cale Henituse’s shield glowed brilliantly still.

“Huuuuuu-”

Alberu released a deep sigh.

His internals raged as if his mana had been drained dry from the intense sudden usage.

‘If it was me—

I wouldn’t have managed against Hin Pao.

Yet Cale Henituse handled him with ease.

He did spit up blood, but—

I suppose this punk aims to confront the God of Chaos after all.’

No one like him could be bullied by the likes of Hin Pao, who wasn’t even a bishop, let alone a Saint.

Though Alberu was aware of this—

‘Then what of me?’

He couldn’t avoid pondering it.

“Mm.”

Still, Alberu’s thoughts were cut short by a wave of dizziness like motion sickness.

He merely stood there, feigning composure.

‘I’m certain I can’t conceal this from Cale Henituse—’

That explains the insolent look he’s giving me—

‘!’

Alberu’s mind went blank.

‘What’s this?’

A bizarre, inexplicable sensation arose.

Warmth flooded his entire body.

Instinctively, he sought the origin of that warmth.

‘…The sun……-’

The light pouring down on him…

He’d never found the sun warm before.

Truth be told, as a quarter Dark Elf, he avoided sunlight most days.

But now, bathed fully in the sun’s rays—

That light felt toasty—

‘How weird.’

Truly an odd feeling.

“…….”

His roiling guts settled.

Boooooooom-

Even with the ground quaking from the explosion’s lingering effects… the sunlight upon Alberu stayed unwavering.

It was fitting, since the sun itself never wavered.

‘Something—’

He felt on the cusp of seizing it.

However, Alberu sensed the time hadn’t come.

He looked away from the sun.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

The only sound was rushing water.

Not a trace remained of Hin Pao’s position, not even gray smoke.

Just the radiant wing and the shield filled his view.

Alberu abruptly remembered first seeing this shield.

He mused inwardly.

One unchanged element from that first sight was Cale Henituse.

“It’s worth trying.”

Along with his rude, haughty attitude.

That hadn’t shifted a bit.

“Ha, haha-”

Alberu couldn’t suppress his laughter.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

His carefree chuckles echoed over the Silent Lake’s surface.

“…….”

“…….”

The Lan Royal Family members watched Alberu and Cale in total bewilderment.