Debuff Master

Chapter 586

Siegfried couldn't help but think of showing respect for their efforts by allowing them to kill him.

The three Mercenary Kings, Red Cardinal Vladimir, Chae Hyung-Seok, the Adventurers messing with the warp gate, bombing the warp gate, and even bringing with them a flock of Frozen Drakes—their efforts were commendable indeed.

The Church of Osric had prepared meticulously just to kill him, and he would have just allowed them to do so if it weren't for the penalty that he would have to take for missing the Super Rookie Tournament.

He'd end up getting banned from the game for six months if he died and missed the group stages. He was not willing to suffer that setback, so he gnashed his teeth and looked for ways to survive this predicament.

Crack!

He gritted his teeth and threw his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp as hard as he could at an oncoming Frozen Drake, but—

Thud!

—The +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp bounced off of the Frozen Drake and was deflected back to Siegfried.

The Frozen Drake was just half the size of a real dragon, but it was still a dragon-type monster, so there was no way it would die from mere physical damage.

‘Damn it!’ Siegfried was furious.

Swoosh!

The Frozen Drakes opened their jaws and unleashed a torrent of cold waves.

Shwiiiik!

Siegfried immediately descended to evade the breath attack.

Swoosh!

A beam of cold breath passed mere inches away from his nose.

“Ack!” Siegfried screamed while twisting in mid-air.

C-Crack...!

A few strands of his bangs froze up before crumbling into nothingness.

‘W-What the hell?! That’s crazy!’

The Frozen Drake’s cold mana had instantly frozen his hair and destroyed it.

What if the breath attack was just five centimeters closer to him?

A chill traveled down Siegfried’s spine at the thought of what could have happened.

The character’s hair was permanent in BNW, as it would not regrow even after the character died and respawned. Seung-Gu was an excellent example of this, as his hair never grew again after it was dissolved by a man-eating plant’s acid.

In other words, Siegfried was mere centimeters away from having to live as a baldy for the rest of his life.

“I’d rather die!” Siegfried screamed and flew even faster.

However, the enemies did not let up one bit.

Bang! Bang!

The enemies on the ground aimed their muskets at the sky and tried to shoot him down while he was being chased by the Frozen Drakes, but that was not all.

“Kill him!” Chae Hyung-Seok roared, and a variety of ranged magic spells shot toward Siegfried.

‘Damn it!’ Siegfried gritted his teeth and tried his best not to get shot down. He knew he would be surrounded by the enemy the moment he was shot down from the sky. In other words, everything could end with just a single mistake, so he could not afford to lose concentration right now.

It was then.

Rumble!

Siegfried spotted a waterfall around fifty meters high and five hundred meters wide one kilometer away from him.

‘Damn it...’

He knew he had no other choice right now, so he headed straight for the waterfall. He flew as fast as he could then suddenly dove straight down the moment he got near the waterfall.

‘What’s the worst that can happen?!’

Those were his last thoughts before diving straight into the water underneath the waterfall, where one hundred sixty-eight thousand cubic meters of water crashed down per second.

Splash!

“Gwuuu Oooh!”

“Kyaaak!”

“Kyak! Kyaaaak!”

The Frozen Drakes were forced to pull up and circle the air above the waterfall, but they did not just fly around and do nothing.

Sseuuuuu!

They shot their freezing breath attack at the base of the waterfall, freezing the water.

However, all their efforts were in vain, as the immense water crashing down from the waterfall shattered the ice before it could fully freeze, making it impossible to freeze it.

“That little rat,” Vladimir grumbled, looking down at the water.

Crack! Crack!

The vapor from the waterfall splashed like hail, but Vladimir kept his eyes on the river snaking away from the waterfall.

“Chase after him. He shouldn’t have gotten far,” he commanded. Then, he leisurely walked alongside the riverbank and muttered, “You’re not getting away this time, Siegfried van Proa.”

Red Cardinal Vladimir had no plans of letting Siegfried escape this time.

***

Meanwhile, Michele was tapping on his desk with a grimace.

He was waiting for a certain someone in his office.

“Hmm...”

Tik, tok, tik, tok...

He checked his wristwatch and saw that it was already four in the afternoon.

Siegfried had promised him he would be back by three-thirty in the afternoon, but he was already late by thirty minutes.

“When did His Majesty leave the castle?” Michele asked.

“His Majesty left four hours ago. He ate lunch and had a call with an Adventurer named Cheon Woo-Jin before leaving for the Bavarian Workshop,” the maid replied.

“What was His Majesty’s purpose for his visit to the Bavarian Workshop?”

“His Majesty was going to collect an artifact set he commissioned to the Bavarian Workshop. He said he had no other plans, so he would be back early.”

“Hmm...” Michele grimaced. Then, he muttered under his breath, “Four hours is enough time for him to make two trips to the Bavarian Workshop...”

Did it make sense he would require four hours to collect an artifact set from the Bavarian Workshop? The answer was an obvious NO.

It wasn't a direct warp, but Siegfried would have returned a long time ago if he had used the warp gates. Also, Siegfried would never dare to be late whenever Michele told him to be present at a given time to sign important documents for the kingdom.

“Hmm... I wonder where he wandered off to...” Michele muttered under his breath.

In the end, he decided to head to the communications room and call the Bavarian Workshop to check on Siegfried’s whereabouts.

“So His Majesty collected the artifacts and left three hours ago? Ah, I see... Thank you.”

Michele's eyes narrowed after hearing that Siegfried had already left the Bavarian Workshop three hours ago. He could not understand what was happening, and the more he thought about it, the more questions popped up in his head.

“Oh well, I guess he had some other things to do.”

In the end, Michele shrugged and went back to his office.

***

“Argh...!”

Siegfried crawled out of the river, groaning in agony. The currents carried him dozens of kilometers away from the waterfall, and he looked extremely haggard after the ordeal that he had just gone through.

[Alert: Warning! Warning!]

[Alert: You have suffered serious fractures!]

[Alert: You have suffered serious external wounds!]

[Alert: Your body temperature is too low!]

[Alert: Your character’s stamina is rapidly reducing!]

Siegfried was a mess after diving straight down into the waterfall. The impact from crashing into the water at immense speeds was one thing, but what really messed him up were the plants and rocks in the river.

The river’s flow rate was extremely high, and the current was extremely strong due to the waterfall. Siegfried was swept away by the rapid currents, and he was slammed into rocks or cut by razor-sharp plants in the process.

But that was not the end of it...

The Tundra Forest was a very cold place, so the coldness of the waters drastically reduced his body temperature, putting him at risk of hypothermia. His hair, eyebrows, and other parts of his body were already frozen solid, and it felt like his hand would shatter into pieces if he clenched it a bit too hard.

‘I should log out and ask help from Seung-Gu and Cheon Woo-Jin,’ Siegfried thought before hurriedly activating his Black Crow Wingsuit and heading into the forest.

He had chosen to waste his mana and fly instead of walking so that he would not leave any footsteps on the snow that could be used to track him down.

“Kyaaak!”

“Gwuuu Ooooh!”

“Kyak! Kyaaaak!”

The Frozen Drakes circled the sky, searching for any traces of Siegfried. He would surely be hunted down even before he could log out if they spotted any of his tracks.

“Argh...!” Siegfried squeezed every single bit of his mana to fly toward a large tree. Then, he hid himself underneath it by transforming his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a shovel and digging a small hideout for him in the snow.

“Haha... This reminds me of old times...” Siegfried muttered with a weak laugh.

He remembered the time he was running from the Genesis Guild in the past. Those experiences made him very good at running away and using guerilla tactics against his pursuers. He had obtained his own set of techniques, skill sets, and know-how on how to retaliate against larger groups of enemies when he was alone and in hiding.

“Bring it on. Let’s see if you can catch me or not,” Siegfried growled under his breath.

He crawled into the hideout and covered the entrance with snow. Then, he left a tiny hole just barely large enough to let oxygen into the hideout. The hideout blended perfectly with the surroundings, and one's eyes would have to be extremely keen for them to locate it.

“Phew...” Siegfried finally let out a sigh of relief. He took out a variety of potions from his Inventory and chugged them all down. Then, he tapped the log-out button.

“Let’s see who’s going to win, you bastards.” Siegfried gnashed his teeth at the Church of Osric one last time before logging out from the game.

***

Tae-Sung hurriedly got out of his VR capsule and called Seung-Gu. He planned to ask Seung-Gu to send reinforcements to the Tundra Forest.

– The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep.

Unfortunately, he could not get a hold of him.

“Is he playing the game? I don’t think he was playing earlier...?” Tae-Sung muttered anxiously.

Then, he tried calling him again.

– The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep.

As expected, he could not get a hold of Seung-Gu.

“Pick up, will you?!” Tae-Sung exclaimed out of frustration.

He tried calling him several times after that, but the result was still the same.

“Okay, I choose you!”

He decided to settle for less and call Cheon Woo-Jin instead, as Seung-Gu was not answering his phone.

– The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep.

Unfortunately, it was the same with Cheon Woo-Jin.

“Pick up the phone, damn it...”

Tae-Sung called Seung-Gu and Cheon Woo-Jin alternatingly for two hours, but it was to no avail.

“Ah...” Siegfried grimaced and let out a gasp out of frustration.

The group stages of the Super Rookie Tournament were starting tomorrow, which meant that he had less than twenty-four hours to arrive at the nearest Martial God’s temple.

It sounded easy, but the problem was his current location. He was currently stranded in the Tundra Forest, which was in the middle of nowhere, so it was impossible for him to reach a Martial God’s temple without someone else’s help.

“I guess I have no choice but to wait... Ugh...”

In the end, he decided to wait until either of the two called him back.

Why?

It was all because the chances of him getting found and dying were extremely high if he logged in—no, it was a certainty that he would die if he did so.

It would not be too late for him to attempt to break through his current predicament without any outside help later. However, it was something he had to reserve as his last resort; Siegfried would only do it once his options were exhausted.

In the end, he decided to wait for Seung-Gu or Cheon Woo-Jin’s call, as it was his best option at the moment.