Debuff Master

Chapter 542

‘Tsk... That left a bad taste in my mouth...’ Siegfried grumbled while walking away.

Palisade the Second and the rest of the officials were nothing but undead monsters in his eyes, but that was not the case for the NPCs. This was especially true for Prince Kyrix, who was the son of Palisade the Second. He would have had a hard time executing his own father, even though his father had already become an undead.

Thus, Siegfried decided to take matters into his own hands and executed Palisade the Second himself.

‘These NPCs think just like humans, so... Argh! This game is too high-quality for its own good!’ Siegfried grumbled, blaming the developer and distributor of BNW.

Meanwhile, the prince had a completely different reaction to what happened. ‘Y-Your Majesty... Thank you... Thank you very much... I did not expect you to be so mindful of me...’

The prince was overwhelmed with gratitude while looking at Siegfried’s back. He could not bring himself to kill his own father regardless of whether he was an undead monster or not, but Siegfried had taken that burden off of him and killed his father in his stead.

Who would have known that this man—King Siegfried van Proa—was not only wise but was empathetic as well?

‘I will never forget this, Your Majesty. I will definitely repay your grace one day,’ Prince Kyrix swore. The prince then composed himself and got up slowly. Then, he looked at his knights and commanded, “Collect my father’s remains and... send it home for a proper burial.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the knights replied in unison.

Their king, Palisade the Second, had died, so Prince Kyrix was now their new king. They heeded their king’s command and proceeded to collect Palisade the Second’s remains.

***

Meanwhile, at the Immortal Kingdom...

“What? Axion Fortress has been conquered?” Death Fog asked, doubting his ears. He was confident the fortress would be defended after the swarm of Adventurers they recruited, yet he received news of its fall just two hours after the siege had started.

Death Fog decided to ask, just in case. "What did the Adventurers we hired do? Did they join the battle?”

“Y-Yes, my lord.”

“Hmm... There must be a reason why we lost...”

Surprisingly, Death Fog was wise enough to find the cause of their defeat rather than lash out. He knew that there was definitely a big reason behind the fall of a heavily defended fortress, especially when it had fallen in just two short hours.

He decided to focus on that first before anything else.

The lich bowed and replied, “We believe the Adventurers dying without putting up any resistance was the cause.”

“And why were they unable to put up any resistance?” Death Fog asked.

“It is due to the Adventurer, Siegfried van Proa, my lord.”

“Siegfried van Proa?” Death Fog muttered. Then, he went through his memories, and a face popped up, “Ah! It must be that pesky brat. He was quite the shrewd and cunning one, right?”

“Indeed he was, my lord.”

“So you’re saying he is the cause behind our defeat?”

“Yes, my lord. And we obtained an interesting report.”

“Hmm? What is this report you speak of?”

“The reason Siegfried van Proa was able to garner such merit was all thanks to the radioactive energy he was unleashing. The Adventurers we hired were all killed by that energy.”

“And why is this interesting?”

“Well, the secret behind his energy’s overwhelming power was that it possessed a powerful Kokuras Force in it.”

“A powerful Kokuras Force? Then are you telling me that pesky brat got his hands on the fragment’s powers?”

The Kokuras Force was the energy used by the race serving Apocalius, and it was something similar to the mana used on the continent.

“That was not the only issue, my lord. The reason the enemy killed our soldiers easily was due to the crystals they possessed, which contained a dense amount of Kokuras Force in it.”

“Then that means...”

“Yes, my lord. Based on what I have found, the enemy owns two fragments. It seems that the fragments that fell on the Southern Great Jungle and Northern Great Forest are in their possession.”

Bam!

Death Fog slammed the armrest and exclaimed. “What?! Damn it! Go and retrieve my fragments at once! Find out who is holding onto my fragment!”

“Y-Yes, my lord!”

“Ugh... It seems things will be troublesome from now on...” Death Fog grumbled, gritting his teeth. He planned to buy time and collect all of the fragments to become whole and reclaim his true powers. Unfortunately, two of his fragments had fallen into the Adventurers’ hands, which was definitely not good news.

He could go and find the fragments scattered on the continent easily; all he needed was time. However, it was a completely different story if he had to forcibly take them from someone else.

“Focus on finding the location of my fragments...”

“Yes, my lord.”

“And prepare the Immortal Legion. We will sweep them away.”

“My lord’s wish is my command!”

The Immortal Kingdom got ready for an all-out war against the invading humans.

***

The humans were preparing for an all-out war against the undead monsters as well.

The coalition forces sent the remains of their deceased officials, who had been captured and executed when the fortress was conquered, back to their respective kingdoms. The mourning lit a fire in them, and they mobilized more troops, arming them with the weapons required to defeat the undead monsters.

Where there was war, there was opportunity—the Bavarian Workshop profited the most in this war. The Bavarian Workshop reaped immense profit from drilling sockets into the weapons of the coalition forces and slotting them with Black Otherworldly Crystals.

Needless to say, Siegfried also enjoyed a cut from all of the profit that the Bavarian Workshop was raking in.

“Our workshop has finally managed to get out of the red! This is all thanks to you!” Quandt exclaimed. He looked extremely happy while staring at the bustling mobile smithy.

“I really didn’t do that much! Hohoho!” Siegfried replied with a peal of boisterous laughter. Then, he whispered, “I hope you haven't forgotten my cut, though, have you?”

“Preposterous! Don’t worry! The exact amount will be deposited into your account every single time the coalition forces pay us!”

“Hohoho! This is why I like you! You know how to do business!”

“Kekeke!”

Quandt and Siegfried became military contractors supplying the coalition forces with weapons, allowing them to earn a hefty profit in the process.

‘Kyuu... Owner punk has become a true businessman...’ Hamchi thought. He was actually impressed by Siegfried’s creativity in making money, and he thought that the money-minded human would be capable of doing business even if he were stuck in the middle of a barren desert.

Who would have known he would make the coalition forces sign an exclusive deal with the Bavarian Workshop and get paid a commission in the process?

However, neither Prince Kyrix nor the coalition forces’ officers knew about his scheme.

They were genuinely in awe of him.

“Oh my god... He brought the Bavarian Workshop?!”

“Where did he get this amazing connection?!”

“I didn’t imagine he would be capable of calling the Bavarian Workshop on short notice and even asking them to arm our entire army... Just what are Siegfried van Proa’s limits?”

The coalition forces officers were shocked because the Bavarian Workshop was one of the top three workshops on the continent. They were not the kind an individual could call and ask to arm an entire army unless the said individual was very influential.

The coalition forces troops could now use the otherworldly energy after receiving Black Otherworldly Crystals.

Meanwhile, a strategy meeting was convened to discuss the next actions of the coalition forces.

“They are asking you to attend the strategy meeting, hyung-nim,” Seung-Gu said.

“Alright. Let’s go,” Siegfried replied.

Both of them went toward the meeting room where the strategy meeting was taking place.

***

“I shall now convene the strategy meeting now that His Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa, is here,” Prince Kyrix said as soon as the duo arrived in the meeting room.

However, a problem occurred just five minutes into the meeting.

“Y-Your Majesty...?” Prince Kyrix called him.

“...”

“K-King Siegfried?”

“...”

“Are you sleeping, Your Majesty?”

“...”

“Ah...” Prince Kyrix was rendered speechless after seeing his role model sleeping with his head on the table.

Seuruk... Seuruk...!

Siegfried’s body started to flicker, which meant that he had fallen asleep in his VR capsule, too.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Everyone in the meeting was speechless. How could somebody fall asleep just five minutes into a meeting?

“Your Majesty? Your Majesty...?” Prince Kyrix called out once again. Then, he carefully attempted to wake him up, “Your Majesty?”

“Mmm... Mmnyaa...”

“Your Majesty!”

“Mmm...?” Siegfried finally opened his eyes.

“Your Majesty? It seems you are quite tired. Did you not get sleep last night?” Prince Kyrix asked.

“I did.”

“Huh?”

“I slept like a baby last night.”

“T-Then why are you...?”

“Ah, I have a habit of falling asleep whenever a meeting starts.”

“...”

“Ah~ I always try to stay awake, but that’s a battle I can’t seem to win. Yaaawn~” Siegfried said before opening his mouth wide and yawning.

“...”

“...”

“...”

His response made the prince and the officers speechless once again.

“Ah, where were we?” Siegfried asked.

“We were about to appoint Your Majesty as the Supreme Commander of the coalition forces. I am aware that we are being shameless in asking this favor from Your Majesty, but may you please lead our coalition forces as our supreme commander?”

This was unprecedented. The three kingdoms were all big and strong kingdoms, yet they had chosen to appoint an outsider as a battlefield's supreme commander? However, nobody opposed Siegfried’s appointment as the supreme commander.

Why?

Because they had seen with their own eyes just how capable he was...

“So... Will Your Majesty lead our coalition forces as the supreme—”

“For free?”

“Pardon...?”

“I’ll be very busy if I become the supreme commander. I hope you’re not expecting me to do that for free?”

“...”

“I need to know what’s in it for me, you know?”

“W-We will pay Your Majesty accordingly.”

“Yes, that’s more like it,” Siegfried said, smiling.

‘Alright! Things are going according to plan! They can’t troll if I have command, and I get paid while doing that!’ Siegfried cheered inwardly. The last thing he wanted to deal with was the coalition forces trolling, and he had been aiming to gain complete control of the entire army at one point.

It was perfect timing that they offered him the position of Supreme Commander, and the payment offer was a cherry on top of everything.

“Then to commemorate me becoming your supreme commander...” Siegfried said while rubbing his eyes. Then, he let out a yawn, walked to the front, and said, “I’ll make a major overhaul.”

“What do you mean by that?” Prince Kyrix asked.

“This strategy... who came up with it?” Siegfried asked in response.

“General Schwerin came up with it,” Prince Kyrix replied, pointing at a four-star general.

Siegfried looked at the general and said, “General Schwerin.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“I apologize, but may I make some changes to this?”

“C-Certainly.”

The general indeed felt offended, but he easily agreed, as Siegfried had been appointed their supreme commander. Well, Siegfried could change the plan however he wanted, even if the general said no, as rank triumphed over anything in the military.

“Alright, let me explain why I want to make changes to our strategy,” Siegfried said. Then, he pointed at the map and said, “First of all, attacking through this point is tantamount to committing suicide.”

“Huh?” General Schwerin doubted his ears. The reason he was surprised was that the route was the safest route they could take to attack the Immortal Kingdom. This route was basically so safe that there were zero risks involved in using it.

“Why do you think so, Your Majesty?” General Schwerin asked, looking confused.

Siegfried asked in response, “The reason you chose this route was because it’s easy to attack, convenient to field a massive army, and has access to the enemy’s forts nearby, right? So basically, because it’s wide open?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We can also easily supply our army with—”

It was then.

“...!”

General Schwerin’s eyes shot wide open. He felt a shiver travel down his spine, which instantly pervaded him.