Debuff Master

Chapter 549

“What in the world...?” Siegfried muttered in disbelief with his mouth slightly agape. He never imagined a day would come when his own allies would pose an even greater threat than the enemy.

However, he should have expected this already, as the Adventurers had one hundred thousand reasons to stab him in the back.

“These bastards...” Siegfried gnashed his teeth in anger after seeing the Adventurers fighting over his bounty.

How dare they start trolling when they were about to win the battle?

“I’m going to smash their heads first,” Siegfried growled before darting toward those who dared to stab him in the back.

The Adventurers used their most powerful skills to try and retaliate, but it was to no avail. They might stand a chance against him in an ambush, but there was no way they could defeat him in a straight-up melee combat.

Smack! Smaaack!

Siegfried swung his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp and smashed the heads of the Adventurers open. Then, he cut off their heads and threw them not to the enemy but to his own allies.

“I’m going to say this once. Come out now if you want a piece of me,” Siegfried said with utmost ferocity.

Not a single Adventurer uttered a peep. Siegfried’s domineering aura told them that he was serious. He would seriously smash their heads open—and loot their items—if they dared to go against him.

“Come try your luck if one hundred thousand gold is worth it in exchange for quitting the game. I swear on my life I’ll make you quit this game,” Siegfried warned.

Whoosh!

He threw the remaining heads of the traitors at the enemy Adventurers and charged at them.

***

After the battle...

“Move!”

“Nobody approaches the Supreme Commander!”

“Stay ten meters back! Anyone who approaches the Supreme Commander without permission will be executed on the spot!”

Siegfried was surrounded by the coalition forces knights.

“Your Majesty! Are you alright?!” Prince Kyrix asked in a voice full of worry.

“Yes, I am alright,” Siegfried replied, waving his hand. Then, he added, “Can you ask your knights to go away? It feels suffocating to be surrounded.”

“No! I cannot do that!” Prince Kyrix retorted. Then, he argued, “Your Majesty is the most important figure in our coalition! The entire coalition will be in danger if something happens to Your Majesty!”

“I told you I’m fine.”

“No! I will protect Your Majesty even if I have to–”

“Shh...” Siegfried raised a finger between his lips. Then, he whispered, “It’s very lucrative, so let them be.”

“L-Lucrative...?”

“They’re coming bearing gifts and offerings, so why would you stop them?”

“W-What do you mean by...?” Prince Kyrix asked, sounding baffled.

“Ah...” Siegfried groaned, sounding frustrated. Then, he said, “If they come at me then...”

“Then...?”

“I have justification to kill them, no?”

“Yes, you are right, but how is that related—”

“And they will drop five artifacts upon death.”

“E-Ehhhh?!”

“Now you get it? They’re offering five artifacts for free, so why would you stop them? I mean, put yourself in my shoes. Will you stop them?”

“Then you mean...?”

“Let me have some side hustle, will you?”

“Oh my god...”

Prince Kyrix could not believe what he was hearing. Who in their right mind would put themselves in danger just to take the artifacts of those trying to assassinate him?

“This is what we call a creative economy. Hohoho!”

“B-But if something happens to Your Majesty, then...”

“That’s not going to happen, so don’t worry about me.”

“Hmm...”

“I’ll be dead whether or not I’m careful or not if they’re hell-bent on killing me. The only difference that time will be if I will die alone or will I die together with your knights. That’s what matters the most to me.”

“Your Majesty...”

“I will come back to life after a few days, but that’s not the case for the knights. We are already at a disadvantage in numbers, so every soldier counts, not to mention knights.

"So why would you ask them to follow me around? That’s a huge waste of precious manpower.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Just make it look like I’m being protected but don’t mind me.”

“A-Alright...”

“Tsk... Why don’t they just give me the money instead of putting a bounty...”

“Excuse me?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Siegfried left Prince Kyrix baffled before going to the tent that was prepared for him.

***

Inside the tent...

“Hmm... I don’t think we can have any more of these easy victories...”

Siegfried was troubled while looking at the map. He was racking his brains, trying to come up with their next move.

“Hyung-nim! Hyung-nim!” Seung-Gu screamed as he rushed into the tent.

“Huh? What’s up?”

“The bounty has been increased!”

“What? My bounty?”

“Yes, they increased it to two hundred thousand gold if you’re killed and one million gold if you’re captured alive.”

It was then.

“DIE! Kyuuuu!” Hamchi suddenly got up and kicked him.

“Hey! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why are you joining them?!”

“Kyuuuuu!”

Siegfried kicked Hamchi away. Then, he looked at Seung-Gu with a very serious face.

“Hey, Seung-Gu.”

“Yes, hyung-nim?”

“Can you go ask the Immortal Kingdom if they’re going to pay if I kill myself?”

“...”

“Or even better. Will they give me the one million gold if I walk in there alone?”

“Haha... Hahaha...”

“Tsk... They should give that money to me instead,” Siegfried grumbled. He knew there was no way he could get his hands on the bounty, so that made him sulk like a kid.

“I think you’ll have to be careful from now on, hyung-nim.”

“Do I have to? They’re marketing on my behalf, so I’m actually grateful to them,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“Huh?”

“I’ll gain more items the more gamers attack me first.”

“...”

“And the stronger they are, the better the items will become. Hoho! I can already smell money in the air!”

“Y-You’re really something...”

Seung-Gu was sincerely amazed at how Siegfried was able to use the bounty placed on his head as an opportunity to make serious cash.

‘Wow... I never knew money could make a person so optimistic. As expected, there’s a reason he’s successful. I should learn these kinds of things from him.’

“Anyway, I got what you mean. Go on and do your stuff.”

“Okay, hyung-nim.”

Siegfried sent Seung-Gu back and redirected his focus to the map, trying to come up with something.

Two hours later, Siegfried decided to go for a walk to cool his head. He was on his way to the drill ground when–

Shwik!

—A sword suddenly pierced through a tent and made a beeline for his side. It seemed that someone had been waiting for him, and they thrust their sword toward him the moment he walked past the tent.

“Hmm?” Siegfried took a sidestep to evade the sword before ripping down the tent cloth.

Then, he looked at the assassin and said, “Wow~ This was quite ingenious.”

He was genuinely impressed by the idea the assassin—no, the Adventurer wearing the coalition forces uniform had come up with.

“Even I wouldn’t think of waiting in a tent and stabbing the moment they walk past it.”

“D-Damn it...”

“I admit you’re smart, but...” Siegfried said. Then, he flashed an insidious smirk and added, “It’s time to pay the price, right?”

“C-Can you let me off the hook just this once...?”

“Nope~ Can’t do that~” Siegfried said playfully before swinging his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp and smashing the head of the Adventurer.

“Kyak! Kyak! Kyak!”

An apparition appeared and picked up the items dropped by the Adventurer.

“Sweet!” Siegfried exclaimed with a grin.

The King God General Supernatural Three-Legged Crow was indeed sweet, as he no longer had to run around picking up the loot after killing his enemies.

“Lalala~” Siegfried hummed a tune and skipped. His mood was so good these days, as he was basically minting free money thanks to the donations he was receiving.

His life was still under threat despite that, but he remained unfazed—no, he was actually happy, as the number of items in his inventory increased by the minute.

“Hoho! I’m starting to think I’m making much more from these items than what the bounty is!” Siegfried was extremely satisfied. Yes, it was a hassle having to deal with them, but he could not say no when these Adventurers were offering their items to him.

Thus, he managed to amass an astronomical fortune in just these couple of days.

“Ah... How I wish this can go on for the entire year...”

Right now, Siegfried van Proa was probably the happiest man on the continent.

***

A week later...

“Hyung-nim?” Seung-Gu entered the tent to report that the soldiers were ready to mobilize.

Flap!

“H-Hiiik!” Siegfried shrieked when the tent flap opened.

“W-What’s wrong, hyung-nim?”

“Ah, it’s just you. Phew...!”

“...?”

“I thought it was another assassin.”

“Haha... Hahaha...”

“Ugh...” Siegfried groaned and grabbed his head as if he was in agony.

“But what’s wrong, hyung-nim? Why do you look so tired?”

“Wouldn't you be tired if you were in my shoes?!”

Siegfried looked like a drug addict right now. He had large eyebags, hollow cheeks, bloodshot eyes, and pale blue lips. Anyone could tell that he was exhausted to the point that he looked extremely pitiful.

“Hyung-nim...”

“One hundred ninety-eight!”

“Huh?”

“That’s the number of assassins that came after me!”

“Heok?!”

“I was sitting on the toilet this morning, and a spear came down from the ceiling!” Siegfried despaired while holding his head. He had to defend himself against nearly two hundred assassins just this past week, which resulted in him barely getting any rest.

At first, he was delighted. The Adventurers were coming to him to offer their items as gifts, so there was no way he would not be delighted. He had obtained more than two hundred items from the high-level Adventurers, and the total value of the loot far surpassed the bounty.

However, his thoughts changed after a week. He had to be alert and could not catch a break whenever he was online.

“H-Hyung-nim? Why don’t you rest for a bit?” Seung-Gu asked.

“Yeah, I plan to do that. I’ll probably take the day off after this battle. I’m too exhausted.”

“Okay...”

“We’re mobilizing right away, so make sure the men are ready.”

“Alright.”

Siegfried left his tent around ten minutes later and led the coalition forces in another battle against the Immortal Kingdom.

Nothing special happened during the battle. An Adventurer from the coalition forces attempted to assassinate him, but the attempt was so pitiful that it miserably failed.

Thanks to that, Siegfried was able to exert his full power against the enemy.

It was then...

“Huh?”

Siegfried noticed a group of adventurers enter the area of Irradiate. There were around twenty of them, and they were wearing the uniform of the Immortal Kingdom.

Surprisingly, none of them seemed to be affected despite walking straight into the thick green fog caused by Irradiate.

“They’re fine? They’re not affected by Irradiate?” Siegfried muttered in disbelief.

Then, he decided to find out who these people were, as he could tell they were no ordinary people.

However, finding out who they were proved to be easier than he thought it would be. The reason was that every single one of them had an insignia on their chest that looked similar to the Union Jack.

Siegfried grimaced and muttered under his breath, “United... Guild.”