Trash of the Count's Family Vol 2. Chapter 463: Now, Let Us Begin the Deal (2)

“...Oh. Jackpot.......”

Cale had no choice but to mutter that.

“Pardon?”

When Hitelis turned back, Cale shook his head.

“It is nothing.”

He did not know what the Pope’s usual personality was like, but for now he simply spoke solemnly.

“Yes.”

Hitelis politely bowed her head and took the lead again.

There was a reason she had not heard Cale’s words properly.

WHOOOOOO—

There was a cave in the direction they were heading.

The sound of wind pouring out from inside that cave was so loud that Cale’s voice had not reached her properly.

Wind-Borne Chaos is inside that thing.

Through this dream, Cale was now watching the process by which the Pope had acquired Wind-Borne Chaos, that divine relic.

I thought it was originally something the Order {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} of the God of Chaos already had.

WHOOOOOO—

The cave stood alone in a remote spot halfway up a rugged mountain, without a single tree around it.

Even if there had been one, it would have been caught in that wind, shattered, and broken down.

Hitelis stopped walking at a certain distance away.

“Pope.”

And the highest-ranking holy knight, who had been standing before the cave, approached the Pope.

“Shall I bring it?”

Cale looked at the highest-ranking holy knight once, then shifted his gaze to the cave.

Entering that place would be difficult for most holy knights.

“Do so. Bring it.”

“Yes.”

The highest-ranking holy knight headed into the cave with a blunt expression and firm strides.

WHOOOOOO—

The wind shook his hair, but it did not shake his body.

Watching him move farther away, Hitelis opened her mouth.

“If it is the highest-ranking holy knight, he will not be swayed by wind carrying chaos.”

“Yes.”

Cale answered vaguely.

Hitelis glanced at him, then, with a faint smile, revealed a secretive anticipation.

“Now all the divine relics have been gathered.”

Cale’s gaze turned to her.

Her eyes reflected the Pope’s indifferent face.

Hitelis spoke in a subtle tone.

“Will you be crossing into the Demon World?”

Ah.

So after obtaining this divine relic, he had gone to the Demon World.

“Yes. I must go. The great plan must be unfolded. Should the Demon World not be covered in chaos?”

Covered in chaos, my ass.

That was not going to happen.

Still, Cale answered roughly in a way that fit the situation.

Hitelis reacted.

“Hehe. That is correct. The Demon World and New World. All places will be covered in chaos.”

New World would not be covered in chaos either.

Because Cale had overturned the holy land.

“But, Pope. Will you leave the celestials as they are?”

Hm?

What was this all of a sudden?

Cale looked at Hitelis in puzzlement.

Seeing the question on his face, Hitelis seemed frightened and hurriedly lowered her head as she answered.

“Of course, the celestials will not be able to defy the God of Chaos in any way. However, are the celestials not extremely cunning?”

“Why do you think so?”

Cale asked calmly.

Celestials.

Those who lived in the heavenly realm, another world alongside the divine realm and the Demon World.

Cale had very little information about them.

I was told the celestials eradicated the ancient powers.

Aurora, the head of the mediator group and the previous Demon King’s only bloodline, had told him something.

One’s own power. The celestials called it “unique power.”

And in ancient times, when some humans began to possess that power—

The celestials thought those powers would someday threaten them. Or perhaps they felt humans were daring to trespass into their domain.

So they had made a pact with several gods, she had said.

They made it so humans could no longer possess those powers.

Aurora herself did not know the contents of that pact.

As a result, ancient powers remained, but humans were no longer able to possess their own unique powers by themselves. That is what I know.

But a problem had occurred with that pact.

Choi Han and the Heavenly Demon.

Two humans had come to possess individualities.

Though Choi Han cannot yet be said to fully possess an individuality.

Even so, those two humans had that power.

“The celestials, those bastards, pretend to be good on the surface, but they absolutely loathe seeing their authority collapse, do they not? That is why they dared to propose a deal instead of obeying the command given by the God of Chaos.”

A deal?

A strange light passed through Cale’s eyes.

“Yes. They dared propose a deal.”

Cale spoke to Hitelis in a subtle tone.

As if telling her to insult the celestials more.

Hitelis, the loyal one who understood that well, continued speaking.

Though it seemed she herself disliked the celestials quite a bit.

“Their behavior is truly arrogant. They weighed the God of Balance and us against each other, then ultimately took our hand.”

The heavenly realm joined hands with the God of Chaos?

Cale felt a question arise.

He did not think the God of Death had said anything like that.

So Cale tossed out a remark.

“Still, is that not unfortunate for the God of Balance’s side?”

“Yes. That is true.”

Hitelis scoffed.

“The God of Balance’s side is probably still unaware that they betrayed them, ordering the celestials around and using them recklessly. Does the God of Balance not treat the celestials almost like servants?”

“That must be why the celestials secretly joined hands with us.”

“Yes. When the time comes, the God of Balance will be stabbed in the back by the celestials and lose everything.”

Hitelis let out a low laugh, unable to hide her pleasure as though imagining that future.

And as Cale listened, one thing suddenly came to mind.

The God of Death.

He remembered what that damned god had said.

I might die.

He had said he might be erased within six months.

At the time, Cale had simply thought the hunter bastards had found a way to erase gods and had cooperated with the God of Chaos to erase the God of Death.

This might be tied to the heavenly realm.

If the heavenly realm had joined hands with the God of Chaos while outwardly cooperating with the God of Balance’s side and preparing to stab them in the back—

This is a big problem.

Not only would the gods led by the God of Chaos and the God of War win, there was a high chance the gods of the opposing faction would suffer major damage.

I need to tell the God of Death about this.

Yes.

He had no reason to get involved in a fight between the divine realm and the heavenly realm.

It would probably be good enough to tell him about this.

Right! There’s no reason for me to get involved in that fight too!

Even though he could not just watch the God of Death die.

Even though the God of War was an enemy to the Water that Devours the Sky.

That was no reason to get involved in a fight between gods, was it?

“Yes. It is none of my business.”

“Pardon?”

Oops.

For a moment, he had forgotten Hitelis was listening.

He had been making that firm resolution over and over so deeply that he forgot.

“.......”

Cale did not know what to answer, so he simply stared at her.

Hitelis must have felt something in that gaze, because she said, “Ah!” and answered vigorously.

“Yes. We need only continue the great plan.”

“Yes. In any case, the celestials are truly arrogant.”

“That is correct. To dare bring up a deal. In the end, they also want to bring down the Demon World. And they want to eradicate the individualities of the Wanderers. They are truly ridiculous.”

Individuality.

At that word, Cale’s gaze moved away from Hitelis.

Looking at the cave, he spoke in an indifferent tone.

“Not all Wanderers possess individualities, yet they react sensitively.”

Neither Choi Jung Gun nor Choi Jung Soo, both Wanderers, had individualities.

The Wanderers with individualities that he had encountered so far had only been from the Five Colored Blood family. There were certainly others beyond them, but he had not met them yet.

“That is true. But the celestials consider individualities their own great power, so they likely could not stand by and watch the Five Colored Blood family run wild.”

“That makes sense. That must be why they want to bring down the Five Colored Blood family through us as well.”

“Correct. The Demon World and the Five Colored Blood family. They can bring both down, so it must be killing two birds with one stone. Though I do understand why they are anxious.”

Following Cale’s gaze, Hitelis looked toward the cave and continued.

“They say the power of the pact is weakening, do they not?”

The pact.

The pact by which several gods and the heavenly realm had joined together to steal unique powers from humans.

That is weakening?

A strange light passed through Cale’s eyes.

He could understand why individualities had manifested in Choi Han and the Heavenly Demon.

“Yes. I hear it has weakened.”

“Of course, the God of Justice broke the barrier of the Pact of Possibility and fled, did he not?”

“Mm.”

The five ancient gods.

Hope. Balance. Chaos. Justice. Negativity.

The God of Justice, one of them, had disappeared after leaving behind a single note.

<The divine realm is full of Negativity. I will bring down the hammer of Justice.>

Cale realized what the God of Justice had done before leaving that note.

He broke the pact and ran.

This god bastard was also somewhat unpleasant.

And the God of Justice is connected to the first Wanderer, the first Emperor, too, isn’t he?

The first Wanderer was the head of the Five Colored Blood family, the first Emperor.

Through the God of Death, Cale had heard the suspicion that the God of Justice might have entrusted him with the mission of erasing gods.

In any case, the God of Justice is not on either side.

He was not on the God of Balance’s side, nor on the God of Death’s side.

He was simply a bastard stirring up various things on his own.

Was this not what a lunatic was?

I must not get involved with him.

Cale decided he absolutely must not get entangled with the God of Justice.

“But, Pope.”

Cale was about to react to Hitelis’s words when he froze at the sound coming from the cave.

WHOOOOOO—

The wind grew even fiercer.

BANG!

A roar rang out.

“It seems the highest-ranking holy knight has captured the divine relic!”

“I see.”

For some reason, Cale’s instinct told him.

The moment the divine relic enters my hand, this dream will end.

So this dream seemed likely to end soon.

Because of that, Cale opened his mouth.

“What were you about to say just now?”

Hitelis had clearly called to the Pope a moment ago.

“Ah. It is nothing much.”

“Speak.”

“Yes.”

She glanced at him, then spoke carefully.

“But even after negotiating with the Demon World, you will leave the seeds as they are, will you not?”

Cale’s expression hardened.

Seeing that, Hitelis flinched, then blurted out her words.

“Th-that is right! Of course we must leave them as they are. As long as those seeds exist, we can stain the Demon World with chaos again at any time.”

She continued speaking while nervously watching his expression.

“Still, though the probability is extremely low, among the humans in whom seeds are planted, do those with good compatibility with chaos not occasionally germinate the seeds themselves and stain their surroundings with chaos?”

Damn it.

Cale could not hide his sigh.

In this dream, he had just heard something more important than the pact, the celestials, the God of Justice, or any of that.

Seeds.

The seeds planted all throughout the Demon World to stain the Demon World with gray sickness were inside the bodies of “demons.”

And even without using Wind-Borne Chaos, there was an extremely small chance that they could spread gray sickness around them on their own.

“Damn it.”

Cale cursed roughly without realizing it.

“Pardon?”

As Hitelis stared at him blankly—

Step, step.

The highest-ranking holy knight was coming out of the cave.

In both of his hands was the orb of Wind-Borne Chaos.

“Hey.”

Looking at him, Cale spoke to Hitelis.

“Pardon?”

She was startled by the Pope’s tone.

“Let me ask one thing.”

But the dream would soon end, so Cale asked what he was most curious about.

The many pieces of information he had heard so far.

The God of Chaos and the heavenly realm had joined hands.

The heavenly realm wanted to bring down the Demon World and the Five Colored Blood hunters.

The God of Justice had done something to the pact.

Based on all of that, Cale asked the thing that mattered most to him, the thing he absolutely had to know.

“If the celestials learned that a human possessed unique power, what would happen?”

When Hitelis could not say anything because Cale’s behavior was too different from the Pope’s—

“Answer.”

At Cale’s firm attitude, she stammered and replied.

“They would certainly kill that human.”

Choi Han and the Heavenly Demon.

Beings who, despite being human, possessed or would come to possess individualities.

“I see.”

That was all Cale needed to hear.

“Pope.”

At that moment, the highest-ranking holy knight arrived with the divine relic, and Cale naturally held out his palm.

Without any particular suspicion, the highest-ranking holy knight placed the orb on Cale’s palm.

CRACK.

At that moment, cracks began to form in the orb.

Cale felt the world of this dream collapse.

At the same time, a voice reached him.

—I’m full.

It was the gluttonous priestess’s voice.

—I ate too much chaos.

The truth was, she was still in the middle of digesting the water of chaos, which condensed forty-three rituals from Primordial Night in the holy land.

She still had more than five months left before that was digested.

On top of that, she had eaten the Pope’s chaos, and even a divine relic she was only supposed to store.

Cale’s mouth opened.

“Slowly—”

Digest it slowly.

That was what he wanted to say.

“Hrk!”

Cale inhaled without realizing it.

It’s hot.

His entire body was hot.

As if he had caught a severe flu, his whole body was burning like a ball of fire, and even breathing was difficult.

“Human!”

Raon’s voice reached him.

“Young master.”

He could also hear Ron’s voice. Only belatedly did Cale realize his eyes were open.

He had returned to reality.

But his whole body was hot, and his head was dizzy.

“Haa. Haa.”

The breaths he exhaled without realizing it were rapid.

Cale tried to sit up, but the sudden dizziness made even that difficult. When he unconsciously waved his hand through the air—

“Young master.”

Ron helped him sit up.

“Cale. Let us purify first.”

Only now did Cale’s vision clear properly.

He looked down at his body.

He could see his arms stained by chaos.

His shoulders and collarbone were probably gray as well.

That was why it hurt.

Yes. It hurt.

But this is not because of that.

The reason his whole body was hot and his head dizzy right now was not that chaos.

Cale, Kim Rok Soo, had experienced this before.

Record.

Or “Instant.”

When Kim Rok Soo used his ability, he ran a fever and felt dizzy.

He had some idea what side effect was causing his current state.

“...The corruption... isn’t the problem.......”

The moment he said that while gasping for breath—

—Correct.

The Ancient Tree spoke with a sigh.

—This is indigestion.

“!”

As Cale’s eyes widened, the gluttonous priestess spoke in a gloomy tone.

—I’m full. My stomach feels heavy. I feel stuffed.

The gluttonous priestess had gotten indigestion.

But why am I feverish and dizzy?

In response to his question, the Ancient Tree answered evenly.

—We have no way of knowing what form the side effects of the glutton’s indigestion will take on you.

Mm.

That was true.

—And it is fortunate that it is only this much. The crybaby and I are both fine.

For Cale, who had overdone it massively this time, that was fortunate.

He had nothing to say about this situation, but even so, he disliked being this hot and dizzy.

—Still, it is all right. It seems she is like that because she overate, so she should improve once a little time passes.

Was that a relief, at least?

As Cale thought that, Raon came closer and held out an apple pie to him.

“H-human! Eat something! If you eat, you will feel bet—”

Raon could not finish speaking.

The moment Cale saw the glossy surface of the apple pie, his stomach grew heavy.

His stomach did not merely feel stuffed. It churned.

“Urgh—”

He turned away from the apple pie and ended up vomiting.

There was no helping it.

Thud.

With a shocked expression, Raon dropped the apple pie.

“O-our human seems very, very, extremely sick!”

Meeeeeeow!

Raon and Hong’s shock-filled cries filled the bedroom.

Even then, Cale endured the dizziness and tried to open his mouth.

It is indigestion.

So after a little while, once it digests, I will be fine.

That was what he meant to say.

However—

Knock, knock.

Along with an urgent knock, Aurora, the head of the mediator group, entered the room.

The previous Demon King’s only bloodline spoke with a hardened face.

“The Demon King has requested a meeting.”

Cale had ended up in a situation where he had to go meet the Demon King.