Debuff Master

Chapter 1132

After getting ambushed by the Coral Rangers, the Adventurers could have gotten completely wiped out had it not been for Siegfried’s overwhelming power turning the tide around.

“Grrk!”

“Agh!”

One after another, the Coral Rangers fell after taking a hit from Siegfried.

“Tsk… Even their blood is pink,” Siegfried clicked his tongue and grumbled, shaking his head. The Coral Race had skin that had a delicate hue of pink rose, almost like a flamingo, and it seemed that their skin tone was due to the pink tint of their blood.

“Damn you… wicked alien scums…!”

The only surviving Coral Ranger, who was clearly the guerrilla squad leader, glared at Siegfried with hatred burning in his eyes.

“Hey, who are you calling an alien? Have you ever looked in a mirror, you freak?” Siegfried narrowed his eyes and retorted.

“Shut up! You’re the ones who invaded our planet! Evil extraterrestrial filth!”

“Oh really? What about that little stunt you pulled trying to invade our world? You’re crying foul now after getting caught red-handed?”

“T-That was…!”

The Coral squad leader choked on his words, unable to retort.

Siegfried was correct. The Coral Race had been scouting the universe, looking to expand their territory, when they discovered the Middle Realm, to be more specific, the Nurburg Continent.

After studying the continent for a while, they quietly backed the rebel faction within the Marchioni Empire as a prelude to their full-scale invasion.

If the rebel coup had succeeded and seized control of the Marchioni Empire along with the rest of the continent, then the continent would have effectively become a colony of the Coral Race.

Thus, the aggressor was the Coral Race, and the inhabitants of the Middle Realm were merely defending their home from the invaders.

“So it’s okay when you do it, but not when others do?”

“…”

“Tsk… Always with the double standards.”

Siegfried scoffed and pulled out a rope from his inventory, tying up the Coral squad leader. Then, without missing a beat, he began looting the corpses for gear. Loot was an even bigger priority for him right now.

Interrogating the alien could always come later, after all.

[Alert: You have obtained Coral Ranger Pauldrons (Mid-Grade)]

[Alert: You have obtained Coral Ranger Boots (Low-Grade)]

[Alert: You have obtained Coral Ranger Knife (Top-Grade)]

[Alert: You have obtained Coral Ranger Pants (Low-Grade)]

[Alert: You have obtained Coral Ranger Pants (High-Grade)]

[Alert: You have obtained Coral Ranger Shirt (Low-Grade)]

(omitted…)

Since the Coral Rangers were guerrilla fighters, most of the armor was crafted from the hide of some beast.

‘Let’s see what these can do.’

Siegfried flashed his Rune of Insight to inspect the Coral Ranger gear, and what he discovered was shocking.

‘What? It boosts skill level?’

Each of the armors had the unique effect of boosting skill levels, which was definitely something amazing, in theory, at least. What was the problem, then? The skills it boosted were completely random, and not a single one from the armor Siegfried looted raised any of his skills.

[Twilight Blade Dance +2]

[BangBangBang! +5]

[Lewd Embrace +7]

[F5 +9]

[Wicked Tongue +1]

(omitted…)

“What the hell is this…?” Siegfried grumbled aloud.

A nearby Adventurer approached and explained, “That is how it is. Coral gear comes with randomized skill codes.”

“Skill codes?”

“It’s totally RNG, and getting something with your actual skill on it is pretty much a miracle.”

“Whoa…”

“What we do is pick up whatever drops, then sell or trade it with someone who needs what you’ve got.”

“Ah! That’s a great idea!”

“But that one is quite insane. I don’t know whose skill that is, but nine levels? Whoever has that skill will without a doubt pay good money for it.”

The explanation helped Siegfried understand how item farming worked in this place. One would either get lucky with obtaining an item with their skill code or trade with others to get the ones they needed.

‘Maybe there’s an item giving ten levels to Karma Flare around somewhere…’

With a drop system like this, it was not entirely impossible for an armor to boost even Touch of Death. Perhaps it was lying unclaimed in someone’s inventory or in an auction house.

The system was purely RNG, but nobody complained much as the items were tradable.

‘Let’s look for it later.’

Siegfried decided to start searching for items tailored to his skill set later.

For now, it was time to interrogate the prisoner.

Finding Betelgeuse and Daode Tianzun was important—after picking up all the loot, of course. To find the two, he needed more information.

***

Two hours after the ambush, Siegfried began interrogating the Coral Ranger squad leader.

“Talk.”

“I-I ain’t saying anything!”

“Oh? You’re not going to say anything?”

“Just kill me instead, you filthy alien scum!”

“Are you asking me to beat it out of you? Sure, if you say so.”

Siegfried beat the Coral Ranger so badly that it was nothing short of brutal.

Thwack! Bam! Bam! Baaaam!

The Coral Ranger rolled across the ground, screaming in pain from the merciless beating.

Surprisingly, he did not pass out or die despite being on the receiving end of such a brutal beating, which was a testament to the hardiness of the Coral Race. As expected of these aliens, their muscles were incredibly dense and tough.

“Not bad! Hitting you has quite a nice feel to it!”

“Aaaagh! Aaaack!”

“Talk.”

“W-What—ack!”

“I said talk!”

“Argh! At least tell me what you want to—ackk!”

“Start talking already.”

“Gyaaaah!”

“Hurry up and talk or you will die.”

The Coral Ranger was utterly flabbergasted while being beaten to a pulp. Yes, the pain was unbearable and agonizing, but his confusion was even greater.

‘What the hell is with this psycho alien?! I don’t even know what the hell he wants! He’s just screaming at me to talk and is beating me senseless! How the hell am I supposed to talk when I don’t know what you want?!’

Siegfried had never asked him any questions and was just beating him up for the sake of it.

“Erm… I think you need to ask something first, Siegfried.”

“Is he just doing this for fun?”

“He’s just beating the guy to a pulp…”

Even the Adventurers watching from the sidelines were at a loss for words.

“I-I will tell you anything! Please! Just stop—ack!”

“Oh? And what exactly do you know?”

“I… I am only a junior officer, so I do not really have any valuable information…”

“Hmm… Fair enough,” Siegfried replied with a shrug. Then, he asked, “Okay then, do you at least know where the prisoners are taken?”

“Prisoners…?”

“Our people. The ones you guys captured.”

“I believe they are held in a separate prisoner camp.”

“Oh? That’s interesting…” Siegfried muttered. Then, he smirked and handed the Coral Ranger a map and said, “Where is this prisoner camp? Mark it on the map.”

“I do not know the exact coordinates… but I have heard it is somewhere around here.”

“What do they do with the prisoners?”

“They undergo a process called re-socialization there.”

“Resocialization? What’s that?”

“We use our technology to erase the memories of the prisoner, turning them into obedient combat units.”

“What?!”

“We have a small population, so we repurpose captured enemies for military use.”

“So you’re brainwashing them?”

“Correct.”

“And once it’s complete, they become loyal slaves to you, Corals?”

“Exactly.”

Siegfried ended the interrogation there.

“Let’s finish this, please. I’m a warrior… And you have humiliated me enough.”

“Yeah, no. Shut up,” Siegfried sneered before placing a hand atop the Coral Ranger’s head.

Wooong!

He channeled the Primordial Force in his mana hall and summoned his radioactive microorganisms—the ones he used to create Irradiators—and injected them into the Coral Ranger’s head.

This was an experiment. He wanted to see if a Coral could also be turned into an Irradiator and be bound to his will.

“Grrk! A-Aargh! Gaaaah!”

The Coral Ranger’s eyes rolled back, and he shook violently as if he had been struck by lightning. Then, his limbs went limp, as he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Hmm… I guess it doesn’t work on them,” Siegfried muttered, inspecting the seemingly lifeless body.

It was then.

Thud…

The Coral Ranger rose to his feet.

“I greet my master.”

It worked. The Corals, too, could be turned into Irradiators.

“Nice,” Siegfried muttered with a grin. Then, he commanded, “Head back to base for now.”

“Yes, my master.”

“Tell them your unit was wiped out in combat and you barely survived.”

“As you command, Master.”

“And if you come across any useful intel, report it at once.”

“As you command.”

The Coral Irradiator bowed and left to carry out Siegfried’s command.

“What the hell…?”

“How did he do that?”

“That’s crazyyy!”

The Adventurers were shocked at what they witnessed and flocked toward Siegfried.

“How did you do that?”

“What was that?!”

“That was awesome!”

They peppered him with questions from all sides.

Based on what they knew, Siegfried was just a melee DPS fighter, but seeing him mind-control an enemy in a matter of seconds completely changed their opinion of him.

“Ah, that was nothing special. Anyway, let’s head back now.”

However, Siegfried brushed it off casually and began leading the party back to headquarters. He had the intel he needed now, so it was time for him to lead a strike force to the prison camp.

Why? It was all because rescuing Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse was now his top priority.

***

Siegfried passed the intel he had obtained from the Coral Ranger over to the command center. Then, he decided to take some rest while the operation to storm the prison camp was being prepared.

Preparing the mission was no easy task.

First, scouts had to be dispatched to the vicinity of the prison camp to gather intel.

How many troops were stationed there, what kind of defensive structures were in place, and many other questions had to be answered first.

In the meantime…

‘I might as well do a little trading while I wait…’

Siegfried made his way over to the barracks area, where other Adventurers were gathered, hoping to find any Coral items with skill bonuses that matched his own skill set.

“Selling belt with Death Gas Level 5!”

“Buying any armor with Level 3 or higher!”

“Looking to buy gear with at least Level 3 of Ultimate Suppression Skill!”

The area outside the barracks was buzzing with a lively crowd.

As gamers began collecting Coral items from defeated enemies, a natural marketplace was made centered on such items.

‘Let’s see…’

Siegfried put on his Metamorphosis Mask to disguise himself and adjusted the security setting of his Rune of Insight so that no one could recognize him.

This was a wise move, as anyone would try to extort more gold from him if they knew that Siegfried was the buyer.

His name alone would double the price immediately.

In truth, the Coral items were all over the place. Even if an item had a high skill level attached to it, the item’s value would still be essentially trash if the skill itself was of a low-tier one.

However, unless the skill was well-known, it was difficult to tell how important a unique skill was to a particular class, so pricing was always subjective and negotiable.

In other words, some deals would be overpriced, but there was always a chance to luck out and obtain the desired item at a low price.

‘Let’s take a look around.’

Having decided on finding a bargain, Siegfried browsed through the marketplace.

It was then.

“Selling shoulder guards with Level 10 Elemental Shower!”

An Adventurer was advertising an item with a whopping Level 10 skill level bonus for Elemental Shower, which was one of Siegfried’s debuff skills.

‘Oh? Elemental Shower?’

The skill shredded the enemy’s elemental resistances. It was definitely useful, yes, but not a high priority for Siegfried. In fact, he had only invested the bare minimum skill points into it, as he had other skills that were far more important.

‘Meh, I might as well grab it.’

Siegfried approached the seller and said, “I’ll take the shoulder guards with Elemental Shower.”

“Huh? You need this? Awesome! I’ve been waiting forever for a buyer!”

The seller seemed elated to finally find a buyer for the shoulder guards. The item had a huge bonus of ten skill levels, but since it was tied to such a niche skill, no one had shown any interest in it.

“How much?” Siegfried asked.

The seller suddenly changed and tried sizing him up, “Hmm… How much are you thinking? I mean, it gives ten skill levels, so I can’t let it go too cheap.”

“It’s not that important for me,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

This was true. After all, Elemental Shower was not a game-changing skill, unlike Karma Flare or Touch of Death.

The seller’s face dimmed with disappointment as he remarked, “Ah, I see… I thought I’d cash in big with that Level 10 roll… I guess not.”

“I’ll still pay a fair price,” Siegfried said with a smile.

The seller pondered for a few seconds before giving his price, “Hmm… Then how about…”

“I’ll give you a bit more.”

“Really?”

“You’ve waited a while here, haven’t you? Consider it a tip for your patience.”

“Thanks, man!”

In the end, Siegfried successfully purchased shoulder guards that gave ten skill levels to Elemental Shower for a very reasonable price. While it wasn’t a game-changing purchase, it was still a solid purchase.

‘Let’s keep looking.’

Convinced that there could be more out there, Siegfried walked through the marketplace, searching for more armor that boosted his skills.

Who could say for sure that he wouldn’t find an item that would enhance his Karma Flare or even his ultimate skill, Touch of Death, among the clutter? It was a hassle, but putting in some effort was key to finding treasures in a marketplace like this one.