Debuff Master

Chapter 1168

Siegfried couldn’t believe his eyes. His vision was so sharp that he could clearly distinguish things even in the absence of light, so seeing in the dark was no challenge to him at all.

Yet even with his keen eyesight, he couldn’t make sense of the sight before him. In the end, he was forced to channel his Primordial Force into the mana stone embedded in the ceiling of the chamber.

Wooong…!

With a low hum, the mana stone flared to life, illuminating the entire chamber.

“K-Kyuuuu?!” Hamchi shrieked in horror.

“…This can’t be happening,” Siegfried muttered, his face aghast.

The sight revealed before them was simply far too horrible.

Gerog was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there lay a massive corpse, remains of a dragon, who had to have been the Dragon Lord, Gerog.

A huge hole was blasted in the middle of the corpse’s chest, and the Dragon Heart that was supposed to be there was missing.

It looked like someone had killed Gerog and ripped out his Dragon Heart.

“T-This… How is this possible…?” Siegfried muttered, staring blankly at the remains, as he couldn’t compose himself.

Gerog was the strongest sentient creature in the Middle Realm, second only to Deus when it came to sheer might. However, he became nothing but a cold, lifeless corpse, just a few days after Siegfried last saw him.

“T-This can’t be happening, owner punk…! Gerog is dead?! This can’t be real! Is this some kind of prank?! Kyuuuu!”

“What the hell happened here…?”

Siegfried snapped out of shock and immediately pulled out a pendant from his Inventory. The pendant was an emergency contact device that the dragons could use to call him whenever a Dragon Slayer had appeared.

[Missed Calls: 87]

When he checked the pendant, he saw that Gerog and many other dragons had desperately tried to reach him. Unfortunately, Siegfried was on the Coral Planet, so their calls couldn’t reach him at all.

No matter how powerful a dragon’s magic was, it couldn’t cross another world.

‘The Dragon Slayers came here and killed Elder Gerog…’ Siegfried thought, burying his face in his hands. Gerog was not just a mere ally or a comrade in battle. He was like a grandfather to Siegfried, caring for him just like how one would care for their grandson.

Siegfried felt like he was being torn apart, and his heart was full of grief and regret.

‘If only I hadn’t been on the Coral Planet. If only I were here to answer his call… I could have saved him…’

Guilt poured into his heart, weighing it down like heavy lead.

It was only natural that Siegfried couldn’t suppress the wave of guilt and sorrow.

The Dragon Lord, Gerog, would always help him whenever he asked, but when it really mattered, he wasn’t there to protect him.

Siegfried would have immediately dropped everything and returned if the calls had reached him, but unfortunately, the calls couldn’t reach him at all.

“Ah…”

Siegfried left the chamber and staggered toward the lair entrance. He sat down on the stone steps at the mouth of the cave and sat there, staring blankly at the air for a long time.

The scenery before him was pure white, as the final heavy snowfall of this winter was covering the Hugo Mountains. It was as if nature itself was mourning the passing of the Great Dragon Lord.

***

Siegfried sat in silence for a long time, staring at the heavy snowfall around him.

Hours passed just like that, yet he remained seated at the lair entrance.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, elder. But I swear… I swear I’m going to make them pay for this,’ he thought, clenching his fists.

With fury burning in his heart, he finally stood up.

“Hmm… Something’s not right, owner punk,” Hamchi said, catching Siegfried’s attention.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Aren’t the Dragon Slayers all under the Illuminati? Kyu?”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“But look at Elder Gerog. Doesn’t it look like he got done in by Dragon Slayers? Kyuuu?”

“Dragon Slayers… Illuminati… And the one pulling their strings is…”

Siegfried’s mind raced as the pieces fell into place at lightning speed.

“T-That means?!”

“Kyuuu! That bastard must be the one behind this!”

“Lee Geon… killed the dragons?”

“Kyuuu! Yes!”

“But wait! Is Lee Geon the only one who stands to benefit from killing the dragons? In addition, the Dragon Slayers made their move while I was on the Coral Planet.”

“Kyuu?”

“What if… Lee Geon and the Marchioni Empire are in this together?”

“Kyuuuu?!” Hamchi shrieked, his fur standing on end at the thought of it.

“Think about it, man. The dragons are a huge thorn in the empire’s side. If word ever got out that they deceived and used the dragons, then even the mighty empire would be finished.”

Even if the Marchioni Empire was the most powerful nation in the world, incurring the wrath of the dragons could spell their demise.

If the dragons decided to raze the Marchioni Empire to the ground, then the mighty empire would be forced to its knees by the fiery breaths coming their way.

“What if the Marchioni Empire teamed up with him to wipe out the dragons? Doesn’t it make sense?”

“Kyuuuu?!”

“The timing is too convenient. The Dragon Slayers attacked right when I was away… Doesn’t this look like a scenario written by the empire?”

“Now that you mention it… it does add up! Kyuuu!”

“Damn it… This is worse than I thought…”

He was merely speculating for now, but if the Marchioni Empire had truly joined forces with Lee Geon, then…

“Kyuuu! This is a disaster! We have to turn back time! Hurry! Use the rabbit foot!” Hamchi exclaimed.

“Use the rabbit foot to turn back time?”

“Kyuuu! Yes! Then Elder Gerog will come back to life!”

“No,” Siegfried shook his head. Then, he said, “I’ve thought of that too just now. But that could be a trap.”

“Kyuuu? How?”

“Because he knows… Lee Geon knows that I have the Rabbit Foot of Regression, yet he went ahead with this anyway. He’s probably prepared countermeasures for when I use the Rabbit Foot of Regression.”

“Kyuuu?”

“Not yet. The Rabbit Foot of Regression is my last resort. I can’t waste it now,” Siegfried said. Then, he added, “I need more answers. I’ll just fall into another trap if I act rashly now.”

Siegfried stayed calm and cold. He knew that he would just be playing right into Lee Geon’s hands if he let his rage get the better of him. Thus, he decided to be careful for now and wait until he had more information.

‘But what now? Telling the dragons the truth and having them crush the empire is no longer an option… So what do I do next?’

Siegfried racked his brains for quite a while.

‘More importantly, is Lee Geon in cahoots with the Marchioni Empire? Are they after me?’

“Kyuu? Hey, owner punk. I can hear something. Someone’s here and I think they’re spying on us,” Hamchi whispered in a small voice.

“Where?” Siegfried whispered in response.

“Kyuuu. Over there,” Hamchi glanced in a certain direction.

Siegfried stole a glance in the same direction and finally noticed it, too.

Someone was definitely hiding there. They were moving around with advanced stealth abilities.

Based on the level of stealth, they were, without a doubt, either an assassin or a spy.

“Let’s catch that rat first,” Siegfried said.

Then, he slipped back into Gerog’s lair as if nothing had happened.

With his teleportation skill ready, he prepared to pop up behind whoever was lurking in the shadows and spying on them.

***

“Who are you?”

The spy hiding in the bushes flinched at the voice that came from behind him.

“…!”

His eyes went wide in shock, but immediately afterward—

Crack!

He bit down on a poison capsule hidden in his mouth.

Shockingly, he chose to kill himself rather than let himself get caught the moment he realized that Siegfried had somehow appeared behind him.

“Not so fast.”

Before the lethal toxin could spread throughout him, Siegfried grabbed the man’s head and unleashed a surge of radioactive microbes into him. An Irradiator was, by nature, completely immune to poison. In other words, the man’s suicide plan would fail if Siegfried managed to turn him into an Irradiator before he died.

“I greet my master.”

The man dropped to his knees in reverence. He had become an Irradiator.

“Who are you?”

“I am an intelligence operative of the Marchioni Empire.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Siegfried clenched his jaw after realizing that the Marchioni Empire had an agent watching over Gerog’s lair.

“What was your mission?”

“To observe Master’s movements near Gerog Lair.”

“Why?”

“I do not know all the details, but my main mission was to monitor your reaction to the dragon extinction operation.”

“Dragon extinction operation…?”

“While you were away on the Coral Planet, the Marchioni Empire decided to hire the Dragon Slayers to wipe out the dragons. Our bureau’s job was to watch how you would respond to their deaths.”

At those words, Siegfried felt his suspicion take substance and turn into a grim certainty.

The Marchioni Empire wasn’t just untrustworthy—it had teamed up with Lee Geon.

In other words, they were now Siegfried’s enemies.

‘So I’m their next target?’ Siegfried wondered, narrowing his eyes. Then, he commanded his new Irradiator. “Go back and report nothing. Tell them I never came here today. Okay?”

“Yes, Master.”

The agent vanished into the shadows, blending into it like a true professional.

“Kyuuu! What are you going to do now, owner punk?! Can we even hold out against the Marchioni Empire?!”

“Honestly… I’m not sure anymore,” Siegfried replied with a low, bitter laugh.

He wasn’t sure that he could win a war against the Marchioni Empire. The Proatine Empire was strong without a doubt, but it was not strong enough to face the greatest superpower head-on.

“First, I need to talk to the Corals.”

“Kyuu? What for?”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Siegfried replied, his voice sounding cold. Then, he added, “If the Corals collapse here today, we will be next. I have to find a way to stop this.”

“Kyuuu! That’s true!”

“These bastards… They lied to me, used me, and wiped out the dragons, and now they’re working with him.”

“Kyuuuu…”

“But they won’t get rid of me just yet. For now, I’ll play dumb and act like I know nothing.”

“This isn’t looking good, owner punk. It’s looking really bad.”

“That’s power for you,” Siegfried replied with a twisted grin. Then, he added, “Power makes families kill each other. So why won’t the empire pull this on me? I’m sure they’re trying to use me to the fullest and toss me aside once they get what they want.”

“Kyuuu! Humans are so evil! All they do is crave for more, more, and more!”

“That’s just how it is. Anyway, I need to go back to the Coral Planet and speak to them,” Siegfried said flatly.

“Kyuuu! Got it!”

Then, he turned on his heel with his heart heavier than ever.

The dragons he trusted were gone; the Marchioni Empire was getting ready to discard him; and Lee Geon was waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Siegfried had enemies on all sides, making it feel like he had a thousand guns aimed at him all at once.

‘You think I’ll just roll over and die? Watch me. All of you are gonna pay for this—every single last one of you,” Siegfried thought, clenching his fists. Even if he was going to go down in the end, he had no intention of going down the train at all.