Trash of the Count's Family Vol 2. Chapter 512: I Descend! (3)
Previously on Trash of the Count's Family...
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Cale tapped the Wanderer Mujeon’s video communication orb.
“Hmm~”
And he even had a rather pleased look on his face.
Gulp.
But Mujeon’s face twisted further and further as he swallowed.
The God of Death?
He had not only joined hands with the Demon World, but with the divine realm too?
At present, the divine realm had all but split into two sides: the God of Chaos faction and the God of Balance faction.
Of course, there were also quite a few neutral or secluded factions that were not taking part in the divine realm’s war, but either way, the divine realm was currently at war.
And on top of that, the Saint of the God of Chaos and the Pope have fallen.
In other words, the hunter family’s allied forces had decreased, while Cale’s side had gained more allies.
Drip.
Cold sweat ran down Wanderer Mujeon’s cheek.
Wanderer Cho.
The words that rude, immature brat of a younger brother had said came back to him.
The thing that broke down the third Emperor’s power was only one of the countless powers Cale Henituse possesses.
Did that make any sense?
He wanted to ask that back, but he could not.
Because he knew that if he wanted to survive, he had to stay as silent as a dead mouse for now.
At least until the second Emperor arrives, our brothers can’t win.
The third Emperor’s three sworn younger brothers.
Wooho, Soyeon, and Mujeon.
Wooho and Soyeon were not enough to beat Cale.
No. If it’s Brother Wooho—
Because he had hidden his strength.
Perhaps he might not fall short of the third Emperor, Dragon King.
He had only used power at roughly the Transparent-grade level until now, but—
That cannot be all there is.
Brother Wooho was definitely very strong.
He was an existence Mujeon could not measure. There was a reason the third Emperor especially cherished only Wooho.
But what do I do?
Mujeon did not even have the leisure to pay attention to cold sweat in the face of the problem immediately before him.
If this keeps going, everything will be exposed!
Third General Wooho was asking Mujeon how he had handled the matter while mentioning the contact from the Seventh General.
What kind of excuse can I make here?
The Third General would easily notice that something had happened to Mujeon or that a variable had appeared in the work.
If this goes wrong, beyond Brother Wooho, even the second Emperor—the people of the Five Colored Blood family may move.
When measured across countless dimensions, something enormous might occur on this tiny island in this tiny sea.
No matter what I do, I’m dead, aren’t I?
At that thought, Mujeon’s whole body even began to tremble. He truly did not want to die again.
Mujeon was terrified. Because of that, he failed to see Cale’s cold eyes looking down at him.
“Cho. Ryeon.”
“Yeah.”
“Yes.”
“And Mujeon?”
“......!”
The three Wanderers looked at Cale.
Tap. Tap.
Cale, still looking at the message Third General Wanderer Wooho had sent, opened his mouth.
“Are the second Emperor and the third Emperor close?”
Cale had thought of something good.
“I’d like you to tell me everything you know about the relationship between the three Five-Colored-grade Wanderers.”
Cale spoke gently, but his smile somehow looked murderous.
Was that why?
“Cho.”
Unlike usual, when Cale asked Cho instead of asking his sister Ryeon first, Cho answered immediately without even realizing it.
“The second Emperor and third Emperor both follow the first Emperor as their lord! But the second Emperor is sincerely devoted to the first Emperor, while the third Emperor tends to move according to profit.”
“Really?”
When Cale showed interest, Cho nodded and quickly spoke.
“The second Emperor dislikes the third Emperor because she thinks he has no loyalty! And the third Emperor looks down on the second Emperor for being blindly devoted to the first Emperor, saying she has no convictions of her own!”
“Is that really true?”
Cale’s gaze turned toward Mujeon.
“.......”
Mujeon could not answer and only watched for the right moment.
“I’m asking you.”
The moment Cale said that, Mujeon stopped watching for cues and answered.
“Yes! My eldest brother, I mean the third Emperor, Dragon King, disliked the second Emperor! In particular, he was very dissatisfied that she was called the second Emperor, a number earlier than his own, simply because she followed the first Emperor before he did, even though she was not especially strong!”
“Oh.”
When Cale showed interest, Mujeon poured out more words with even greater fervor.
“The Oceanic Alliance matter originally belonged to the second Emperor’s side, but the Dragon King coveted it and stepped forward to take it on himself! He coveted both the Demon World side and the Oceanic Alliance in order to increase his own power no matter what! He is an extremely greedy bastard!”
Mujeon spoke without hesitation about the Dragon King, whom he had once served as his eldest brother.
Cale quietly stared at him, then threw out a remark.
“You insult someone you once followed quite easily.”
“!”
Mujeon’s pupils shook.
Because that sounded like, “Will you betray me just as quickly if you come under me?”
“N-no, that is not—”
“Enough.”
Cale had no reason to listen to Mujeon’s excuses. He looked down at the being rubbing its body against his feet.
Whine!
The water dragon met his eyes and acted even more desperately cute.
Cale asked the water dragon with an indifferent expression.
“You can grow back to your original body, can’t you?”
......!
This time, the water dragon’s pupils shook.
“You ate the chaos corruption I purified—those waters—very diligently.”
......!
“Of course, you probably haven’t recovered all your strength. But you can return to your original size, right? Even if you can’t use your power.”
Wh-whine—
The water dragon looked away from Cale and mumbled.
In truth, the water dragon had judged that Cale was weak to cute beings, so it had done its best to maintain a cute appearance all this time.
On, Hong, Raon, and even Eden Mir.
Unlike when he looked at others, Cale’s gaze looked particularly pleased when he looked at cute children.
The water dragon had not missed that.
It had the perceptiveness trained into it under the eccentric Dragon King.
“Why? You can’t?”
That was why the water dragon knew it had to react immediately when Cale tossed out those words with a smile.
Whine! Whimper!
It could! It could do it!
At that eager response, Cale smiled with satisfaction and patted the head of the water dragon in its small thread-snake form.
“Good. I’m not going to tell you to fight. Even if you can’t use power like before, it’s enough if you can just show your old size.”
Whine, whimper!
The water dragon drew a number on the floor with its tail.
Water droplets gathered and displayed that number.
<2>
“Oh. You’re saying you have enough strength to maintain your size for about two hours?”
Nod!
At the water dragon’s action, Cale drew a satisfied smile. Then he pulled the third Emperor, Dragon King’s seal from his pocket.
“No way!”
Wanderer Ryeon, who had been watching, spoke without realizing it. Because the thought that suddenly came to her was far too shocking.
Grin.
Cale smiled and looked at Ryeon.
“Looks like you noticed?”
Ryeon got goosebumps.
Cale spoke to her in a leisurely tone.
“From now on, I’m going to entrust the third Emperor’s seal and a document containing a message to the water dragon. And the water dragon will deliver it to Third General Wooho.”
Whine?
The water dragon tilted its head.
In contrast, Ryeon’s face gradually hardened.
“In that document, it will say that the Dragon King deliberately created this situation in order to draw in the second Emperor.”
“!”
Wanderer Mujeon’s eyes widened.
He realized what was about to happen.
Meanwhile, Cale continued speaking.
“It will say the reason he created this situation is that the second Emperor joined hands with an unknown existence and injured him in the Demon World. However, because he failed to obtain evidence, he has to draw in the second Emperor this time and seize that evidence.”
By this point, Wanderer Cho had also figured out how the situation was unfolding.
“The reason the Dragon King is alive now is because the Demon King’s side saved him. At present, he is recuperating at the Demon King’s castle.”
Cale shrugged.
“Well, I’m thinking of revising and supplementing it a little more before delivering a message along those lines.”
Looking at Cale’s bright smile, Wanderer Cho murmured without realizing it.
“A wedge tactic......”
Strictly speaking, it was not a wedge tactic.
He was not driving a wedge between the Third General and the second Emperor.
The overly loyal Third General would simply point his blade at the second Emperor.
Cale’s smile deepened at the picture that had grown a little clearer.
“In any case, if this goes well, the Third General will actively try to draw in the second Emperor, right?”
And in addition,
“Until he learns the truth, the Third General will be on our side.”
Because he would think they were the Dragon King.
“Water dragon, can you do it?”
Wh-whine!
As the water dragon answered with determination—
“I’ll go too.”
Wanderer Ryeon suddenly raised her hand and stepped forward.
“Sister?”
Cho looked puzzled.
Because if the truth was exposed to the Third General, she would have to pay the price.
But Ryeon was calm.
“Wooho knows that my brother and I followed the third Emperor to the Demon World. If I step forward too, it will make the story more believable. Also, in place of the water dragon, who has difficulty communicating through speech, I will be able to deliver the message more properly.”
“...It will be dangerous.”
At Cale’s low question, Ryeon answered with a composed face.
“If I’m going to go from enemy to ally, I think I should do at least this much.”
Well now.
Cale let out an admiring sound.
At present, the Wanderer siblings Cho and Ryeon were attached to Cale’s side, but there were many areas where they fell short of being trustworthy allies.
“You’re smart.”
At Cale’s words, Ryeon merely shook her head.
“I’m only looking for ways to survive.”
Cale was even more impressed by that answer.
“I-I want to go too!”
And at his sister Ryeon’s action, Cho immediately realized something as well and raised his hand.
He could not send only his sister into a dangerous place, and he had been the one who clung to Cale first.
He, who had wanted to see those beautiful memories Cale showed him, was clearly the beginning of all this movement.
“Sure.”
Cale readily nodded.
“I’ll trust you with it.”
For the first time, the Wanderer siblings Cho and Ryeon felt that Cale was showing them a smile he had not falsely painted on.
It was quite a strange feeling.
“Ah, but listen. If it looks like you can’t complete the mission, just run.”
Cale was relaxed.
“Water dragon, you run too.”
Honestly, even if the Third General judged that the situation was flowing strangely, what could he do?
Even if they failed to draw in the second Emperor right now, once it became known that the great general had revived and stabilized the Oceanic Alliance, the second Emperor would have no choice but to come looking for the great general.
So in the end, clashing with the second Emperor was an inevitable future.
It was only a matter of whether they handled it all at once or in parts.
“Now then, let’s move before daybreak.”
Of course, even so, the corners of Cale’s mouth lifted in a grin at the fact that discord might break out between the Third General and the second Emperor.
Enemies fighting among themselves was always a welcome thing.
“.......”
“.......”
......
On the other hand, the Wanderer siblings Cho and Ryeon, and the water dragon, only looked at Cale without answering the final order—or request—he had given them.
Each of them wore a complicated expression.
It was fine even if they failed to complete the mission, so they should run anytime.
Run.
It was an awfully flippant way to put it, yet strangely, the words landed heavily in their hearts.
Was it because it was an order they had never once heard before?
The three beings did not know the answer.
*****
Third General Wooho and Soyeon had to come to an uninhabited island in a remote place with no people because of those who had secretly come to them in the middle of the night.
ROOOOOSH—
And the moment they reached that small island beyond anyone’s line of sight, they saw a being surge up from the sea.
Kreeee—
A dragon looking down at Wooho with a solemn face.
“...The water dragon—”
The water dragon lowered its head and opened its mouth. Wooho could see the message resting inside the water dragon’s mouth.
“So it is true—”
The anger contained in his mutter could not be hidden. He could not bring himself to reach toward the document that would contain the message.
Instead, he looked at Wanderer Ryeon.
The recording orb in her hand.
—Ugh......
The image showed the third Emperor, Dragon King, groaning without regaining consciousness.
He was lying on an elegant, fine bed, but his complexion was terribly haggard, as if he had suffered greatly.
As though he had been beaten badly, his face was bruised and swollen.
—Since the third Emperor is in no state to come to his senses, this is the only way I can show him to you.
Beside the third Emperor in the recording, the Demon King was speaking with an indifferent face.
—After leaving the message, the third Emperor lost consciousness. Of course, our side is doing everything in our power to treat him. At the very least, he should regain consciousness today or tomorrow.
The move Cale had prepared to make the Third General believe him was the Demon King’s assistance.
—I do not know what the third Emperor is aiming for. I am merely keeping my promise because he asked me to deliver this sight to Wanderer Wooho.
The Demon King acted as though he wanted to have nothing more to do with it.
That appearance instead strengthened Third General Wooho’s belief.
“Ryeon. You said that footage is from three days ago?”
“Yes. The third Emperor will come to Island 1 sometime tomorrow.”
Third General Wooho’s gaze, which had been on the calm Ryeon, turned toward the message the water dragon was trying to hand over.
“...The second Emperor—”
That fanatic must have been the one who made the third Emperor like this.
“That woman always doubted our eldest brother’s loyalty.”
She had disliked him, saying the Dragon King’s loyalty toward the first Emperor was insufficient.
“How dare she......!”
Wooho could not doubt this situation.
His gaze turned toward Ryeon.
“...You said the force that joined hands with the second Emperor is presumed to be the Order of the God of Chaos?”
“Yes. Because of that, the Demon World suffered severely from chaos corruption.”
As evidence, Ryeon had already shown the Third General a crystal orb containing footage of the corrupted. It was data the Demon King’s castle had kept after collecting it.
“If you’re going to deceive someone, do it properly.”
It was a crystal orb delivered along with those indifferent words left by the Demon King.
“Give it here.”
Wooho accepted the paper the water dragon handed over.
Rustle.
He unfolded the sealed paper.
He had heard the circumstances from the Wanderer siblings Cho and Ryeon, but even so, there should be something left behind by his eldest brother, the Dragon King. He had to confirm it.
“......!”
And when Wooho saw it, his eyes opened wide.
Only one sentence was written there.
<I will make the sea into a grave.>
“Heh, haha, hahahaha—!”
Joy and heat filled Wooho’s eyes.
“As expected of our eldest brother!”
At the words the third Emperor had left without any long-winded explanation, Wooho’s heart pounded.
It was as though he could see red rain falling over the sea.
“Hahahaha!”
Wooho could not stop laughing.
Watching him, Wanderer Cho glanced at his calm sister and swallowed.
Oh. So that is the kind of personality he has? Then a line like that would suit his taste.
The information about Wanderer Wooho’s temperament and personality that they had heard from Wanderer Mujeon.
Based on that, Cale had entrusted the explanation to Ryeon and written only a single sentence.
Scary.
To Wanderer Cho, Cale—who had pierced through a person’s mind with terrifying accuracy—was truly more frightening than Wooho, who was laughing like a madman in front of him.
He really knows how to handle lunatics.
He handled Choi Han and Clopeh Sekka well too.
Cale Henituse seemed to understand the personalities of lunatics very well.
That was truly scary.
Wanderer Cho stood quietly, sincerely deciding that he should diligently become Cale Henituse’s ally.
“Hahahahaha!”
And after laughing for a long while, the Third General secretly returned to the ship and immediately acted.
In order to follow the will of his eldest brother, the third Emperor, Dragon King.
Beeeeep—
Soon, a message was sent to the second Emperor.
<They say someone who can break the soul prison has appeared on Island 1. It is believed to be true.>
In order to draw the second Emperor into the sea.
“...The ruler of the sea desires a sacrifice.”
The ruler of the sea Wooho thought of was the Dragon King.
If that person desired a sacrifice, should he not gladly offer his entire body?
Third General Wooho’s eyes flashed as he murmured softly.
*****
“We delivered it properly.”
Whine!
Cale nodded at Ryeon’s words and stroked the water dragon’s head before rising from his seat.
He spoke to Asiprang, the great general’s youngest son.
