Debuff Master

“What should we do?” Cheon Woo-Jin asked.

“What else can we do? We’ll chase after him,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“But do you know where he went?”

“It’s gotta be the Capucines Territory, no?”

“Oh?”

“We have to find out where he went. If he really went to the Capucines Territory, then our men over there would be in danger. I have to warn them to evacuate before something happens,” Siegfried grimaced and said. Then, he shouted, “Signalman!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Call our men at the Capucines Territory immediately.”

“Yes, sire!”

Meanwhile, The captain of the Proatine Marines, First Lieutenant Kevin, had received a call from the Paraffin Territory.

“A call from His Majesty has arrived!”

“Line secured!”

“Greetings, Your Majesty! First Lieutenant Kevin at your service!”

— How are things in the Capucines Territory?

“Count Arial has arrived with a huge crowd and—”

“...!” First Lieutenant Kevin was shocked upon seeing Count Arial. ‘Something’s off!’

Kevin immediately noticed that he was in danger and tried to draw his sword, but it was too late.

“Die,” Count Arial said.

“Kuheok!” Kevin groaned and clutched his chest before collapsing to the floor.

Thud…! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Kevin and the other marines suffered cardiac arrest at Count Arial's single world. It was as if the count had used a legendary spell, Power Word Kill, that could kill a target by just uttering a single word.

— First Lieutenant Kevin! Report your current situation!

Siegfried shouted at the communication orb after Kevin suddenly disappeared from view, and someone finally appeared on the screen.

However, the one that came on was not Kevin but Count Arial.

“Siegfried van Proa,” Count Arial said, smiling icily and staring straight at him.

— You bastard…!

Siegfried growled at the count. His anger had reached its maximum threshold after seeing one of his men killed right in front of his eyes.

“You do try whatever you want, but it will all be futile, Siegfried van Proa,” Count Arial said with a smug smirk.

— Do you really think so?

“I am God.”

— You’re God…

“Only divine punishment awaits those who dare go against a god. Aren’t you aware of that?”

— Keke… Kekeke!

“...?”

— You’re quite the funny bastard.

Siegfried snickered in response, which was proof that he had already gone over his threshold.

— Hey, you fucking brainwashing cult bastard.

It had been a long time since he cursed.

— I’m going to teach you a lesson soon, so just sit tight and wait.

“How foolish.”

— We’ll see who’s foolish, so just wait right there. You fucking son of a bitch.

“I am omnipotent, you foolish one. Don’t even dream of going against me—”

It was then.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

Count Arial couldn't finish what he wanted to say, as Siegfried had one-sidedly ended the call upon unloading whatever curses he wanted to say.

“Keke… Kekeke…” Siegfried started snickering with his head bowed immediately after the call.

“H-Hey, what’s wrong with you…? You’re scaring me, man,” Cheon Woo-Jin said, feeling uneasy. Then, he thought, ‘Ah, damn it… Nobody knows what this madman is capable of when he’s angry.’

Cheon Woo-Jin was actually scared of the madman from time to time, and there was no difference whether it was Siegfried in the game or Han Tae-Sung in real life.

“It’s been a long time since someone managed to make me this mad. Hehe… Hehehe…!” Siegfried muttered, snickering like a madman.

“Haha… Hahaha…” Cheon Woo-Jin awkwardly laughed along with him.

“Ah, this game is really fun,” Siegfried said before walking away.

“H-Hey! Where are you going?!”

“I’m going to make preparations.”

“Wait for me!”

“You go and take control of the airspace above the Capucines Territory while I encircle them from the ground. We have to wage war and attack them now. Time is of the essence in this battle. Things will grow out of control if we give them too much time.”

“A-Alright.”

“See you later,” Siegfried said goodbye and headed for the warp gate leading to the Cabochon Territory.

“Sigh…” Cheon Woo-Jin let out a sigh after Siegfried left. Then, he grumbled, “It seems like we found our match this time… But I’m more worried about what that guy will do now that he’s mad…”

Cheon Woo-Jin was more scared of his own ally, Siegfried, rather than the self-proclaimed god, Count Arial.

***

Cheon Woo-Jin returned to Heaven’s Eye and instructed the Guardians to seize control of the airspace above Capucines Territory just like Siegfried requested.

Unfortunately, they were unable to seize control of it, no matter how much they tried.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The latest cannons developed by the Marchioni Empire guarded the walls of the Capucines Territory, so the airships of the Guardians could not get anywhere near the walls.

“How does that even make sense…?” Cheon Woo-Jin grumbled in disbelief after seeing the number of cannons increase more than tenfold overnight.

The Guardians checked every nook and cranny of the Espadrille Province in search of the soul fragment, so they knew the exact number of cannons installed on the walls of the Capucines Territory.

“Send out the Firebird. We need to check if those cannons are real or not.”

“Yes, sir!”

Cheon Woo-Jin decided to check if the cannons on the Capucines Territory’s walls were real or just a hallucination conjured by magic by sending out Firebirds, which were unmanned light aircraft often used by the Guardians on missions.

The Firebirds were remotely controlled by high-ranking fifth-circle magicians, and only the Guardians had the ability to build and deploy these unmanned fighter jets.

Five minutes later…

“O-Oh my god!” Cheon Woo-Jin gasped in horror after watching every single one of the Firebirds get shot down by the cannons. Then, he muttered weakly, “T-Those aren’t hallucinations…?”

The Firebirds were extremely fast and light aircraft that were arguably the fastest fighter jets in this day and age. However, they were nothing but paper planes against the cannons installed on the walls of the Capucines Territory.

Why?

It was all because the cannons shot blankets of flammable shells, creating a vast net to descend upon the Firebirds. To put it simply, the dozens of cannons mounted on the walls had fired simultaneously to cover the sky with so many shells that the Firebirds had no space to maneuver at all.

“Just what in the world is in that soul fragment…? Is it really omnipotent…?” Cheon Woo-Jin muttered in disbelief while watching his Firebirds crash to the ground. He had an ominous feeling that this soul fragment wouldn't be so easy to retrieve.

***

Meanwhile, Siegfried convened an emergency meeting back at the Cabochon Territory with all of the high-ranking officials of the Proatine Kingdom.

“I declare a state of emergency from this moment onward,” Siegfried said, causing the officials to be flustered.

This sudden declaration of a state of emergency would definitely shock anyone, as this was the first time Siegfried had done something like this.

Michele raised his hand and asked, “May you please enlighten us on what is happening, Your Majesty?”

“I believe all of you remember the otherworldly demonic creature, Apocalius, that came to this world.”

Siegfried mentioned Apocalius to his subjects and explained that Count Arial had absorbed one of its soul fragments. In addition, he did not forget to mention that the count had raised the dead and used that to deceive the people into following him.

“Then what do you think about forming a coalition with the powerful kingdoms and—” Michele suggested.

“No,” Siegfried cut him off. Then, he explained, “The soul fragment is immensely powerful. We have no idea what it's capable of doing, and we can't let it fall into the hands of an influential being.

"If a major kingdom uses their technology to try and extract the powers of the soul fragments… The other kingdoms won’t sit idly and watch that happen. If that happens, then the entire continent will be engulfed in turmoil and war.”

“Hmm…”

“We should not trust anyone when it comes to retrieving and destroying the soul fragments. This is a classified mission only our kingdom and the Guardians should be aware of, and we can’t seek help from anyone aside from a few trustworthy Adventurers.”

“I understand, sire.”

“I apologize for putting such a heavy burden on all of you,” Siegfried said. Then, he explained his honest thoughts regarding the matter, “Our kingdom is not that powerful; we are still an up-and-rising kingdom, but I've brought too much burden to it despite lacking myself.”

He was ready to carry this heavy burden of protecting BNW from the worst-case scenario as an Adventurer.

But what about the Proatine Kingdom?

It was a completely different matter for the Proatine Kingdom and its citizens. They were forced to fight against the danger that threatened to destroy the world just because they were the citizens of a kingdom ruled by an Adventurer who possessed an Epic Code.

“Not at all, Your Majesty. You are our king, so it is only right for the kingdom to follow your will. Also, we are aware that Your Majesty is fighting for world peace and for the safety of your people, so how can we refuse the honor of fighting alongside you?” Michele replied.

Then, Oscar knelt on one knee and said, “I, Oscar, will choose to fight alongside Your Majesty until my last dying breath, and I will keep fighting even after my death.”

The rest of the subjects knelt on one knee.

“Your Majesty’s will is the kingdom’s will.”

“Please do as Your Majesty sees fit.”

“The people will follow Your Majesty’s decision, and they will find it an honor to do so.”

Fortunately, the Proatine Kingdom’s officials chose to follow Siegfried’s will even though this was a task with so little honor that nobody on the continent would recognize.

Siegfried almost cried at their words, but he held his tears in. Then, he addressed them, “Alright, I will no longer mention anything about that. From this moment onward, I hereby declare Count Arial the head of the rebels, and we will surround the Capucines Territory. This is the official start… of the Proatine Kingdom’s civil war.”

A civil war…

Just like that, the first civil war since the founding of the Proatine Kingdom was declared.

The supreme commander of the Proatine Forces, Oscar, said, “I shall command our men to be ready to mobilize, sire.”

“Yes, Dame Oscar. Instruct our men to completely encircle the Capucines Territory and make sure no one gets in or out.”

“I shall carry out Your Majesty’s commands without fail.”

“Also, there’s one thing that you should keep in mind at all times, Dame Oscar.”

“What is it, sire?”

Siegfried smiled and said, “The Proatine Forces will not be participating in this war, so make sure to avoid any clashes with the enemy and just focus on encircling the Capucines Territory.”

“Pardon me, my lord? This is our kingdom’s civil war yet our own army will not be participating?” Oscar asked, doubting her ears.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But why…?”

It was then.

“I am once again amazed by Your Majesty’s wisdom,” Michele said with a bow as if he understood Siegfried’s intentions.

‘This little punk. He's pesky at times, but he’s the only one who really understands me,’ Siegfried thought with a smile.

“Sir Michele. What is His Majesty’s will?” Oscar asked.

“That, Dame Oscar… His Majesty is planning to use the established religions on the continent to deal with the rebels,” Michele replied.

“...!”

Every single official in the meeting room was stunned by Michele's words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Siegfried’s plan was so impeccable that they were at a loss for words.

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