Debuff Master

Chapter 1216

‘But why?’

Siegfried couldn’t understand at all why Lee Geon was killing the knights of the Marchioni Empire. Considering that the Marchioni Empire and Lee Geon were supposed to be working together, it was hard to guess his intentions.

‘What is he scheming this time?’

Siegfried thought deeply about why such a thing was happening.

His ability to deduce things was at times astonishing, and when he mulled over a situation long enough, he would often manage to grasp it with remarkable accuracy.

‘The Marchioni Empire’s intention is clear. They are here to capture Caiphos. But why is Lee Geon here then? And why is he killing the imperial knights?’

After much thought, Siegfried laid out the facts that he had so far, one by one.

‘There’s no reason for Lee Geon to come all the way to such a remote place without any good reason. He’s already busy enough clearing the Ancient Dungeons within the Marchioni Empire.

“But he came all the way to this rural backwater province? A place where it wouldn’t really matter even if an Ancient Dungeon were allowed to rampage. That doesn’t make sense at all. Which means…’

Finally, he reached a conclusion.

‘Lee Geon knows about Caiphos and that he is here, too. Otherwise, there is no reason for him to come all the way here. He also needs Caiphos for something. How did he get hold of this top-secret information? Who told Lee Geon about Caiphos’ existence and location? The answer has to be… Neighdelberg.’

He concluded that there was a secret connection between Lee Geon and Neighdelberg.

‘Neighdelberg is in a precarious position after his continuous failures. He must be trembling in fear right now, not knowing when he will lose his head. In other words, he has a motive. And Lee Geon came here for that very thing.’

Now that he had identified the link between the two, he decided to deduce their goal.

‘All of that somewhat makes sense. But what are they going to do with Caiphos? Why do those bastards need Caiphos? For what purpose?’

“Ah!”

Siegfried finally realized what Neighdelberg and Lee Geon were plotting.

“Of course. That’s it. Those bastards are planning something big. Hehehe!”

“Kyu? What’s up with you all of a sudden, owner punk? Did you figure something out?”

“I did,” Siegfried replied with a nod. Then, he smirked and said, “It seems that Neighdelberg and Lee Geon are dreaming of staging a coup against Stuttgart.”

“Kyuuu?!”

“They’re planning to take Caiphos with them and secretly prepare for a coup.”

“Do you think that’s even possible?! Why would you think that?! Kyuuu!”

“Well, it goes like this. The two of them must have joined forces, but Neighdelberg is in a precarious position, and he’s almost at the gallows as we speak.”

“Kyuuu! Then why would Lee Geon help someone like that?”

“Use that big head of yours for a change, will you?! Isn’t it obvious? Lee Geon needs power!”

“Kyu?”

“Think about it for a second. What do you think will happen to Lee Geon if the Marchioni Empire destroys the Proatine Empire?”

“Kyu? Isn’t that what he wants?”

“No, you idiot! That would mean Lee Geon has to face the Marchioni Empire all alone! He knows that he will be the next target once we’re dealt with!”

“Kyuuuu?!”

“I’m absolutely certain that he wants the Proatine Empire and the Marchioni Empire to fight each other to the death, bleeding each other dry until both sides suffer irreversible damage.”

“Kyu?!”

“That’s why he’s coaxing Neighdelberg into staging a rebellion. He’s manipulating him right now.”

“Kyuu! So that’s it!”

“But the problem is… Lee Geon won’t be stopping at just a rebellion. That bastard has the ability to actually seize control of the Marchioni Empire.”

“K-Kyuuu?!”

“He might actually succeed in killing Emperor Stuttgart and putting Caiphos on the throne. Then, he would swallow the Marchioni Empire whole, controlling it from the shadows.”

“Wouldn’t that be disastrous for us? Kyuu!”

“That’s why we have to find and secure Caiphos first.”

With those words, Siegfried hurried his steps.

The thought of Lee Geon taking control of the Marchioni Empire was terrifying.

No matter what he had to do, Siegfried had to prevent that from happening at all costs.

Thus, Siegfried was determined to find and secure Caiphos von Posteriore no matter what before Lee Geon could get anywhere near him.

If, on the off chance that he couldn’t take Caiphos with him, then it would be better for Caiphos to die instead.

A person carrying the imperial blood held enormous strategic value. Siegfried was not going to let Caiphos fall into anyone else’s hands, especially into Lee Geon’s hands.

***

Unfortunately, making haste was not easy. Without the Mind’s Eye, it was difficult to even move properly in this place where one’s eyes were rendered useless.

If not for Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance, he would have already been ambushed dozens of times by the Chameleon Assassins. He would have surely died at their hands by now, as there were just too many of them nearby.

Even after becoming this strong, he had yet to reach the realm where he could use the Mind’s Eye.

‘Just how does one even attain the Mind’s Eye?’ he wondered while walking. Thanks to his heightened senses, he could already fight enemies with his eyes closed.

However, he had yet to reach the level where he could grasp the terrain and environment without depending on his eyes.

‘I can fight without my eyes thanks to my sharpened senses. But the problem is what comes after that…’

At what point could he fight perfectly with his vision sealed? What did he have to do to obtain the Mind’s Eye skill?

Those were the questions troubling Siegfried right now. A truly powerful warrior was someone capable of exerting a hundred percent of their combat abilities under any circumstances.

Now that he was placed in this situation, he couldn’t help but wonder what he had to do to obtain the Mind’s Eye.

And that was, in fact, a very good question.

The two greatest sources of growth and motivation were the curiosity to continuously ask questions on how one could grow stronger as well as a thirst for strength to chase after it.

“Kyuuu! What are you wondering so hard about, owner punk?”

“Hm? Ah, I thought that moving around here is so inconvenient, so I got curious about what exactly the Mind’s Eye was.”

“Kyu? You still don’t know that, owner punk?”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“I have no idea what the Mind’s Eye is. But being able to sense terrain even with your eyes closed is actually much simpler than you think! It’s not that complicated! Kyuuu!”

“H-How do I do it…?”

“Vision is just our eyes taking in reflected light, isn’t it? Kyuuu!”

“And what about it…?”

“You can just use something else instead of light! Bats emit sound waves and then analyze the returning waves to make sense of their surroundings! That way, they can sense the terrain even with poor eyesight! Kyuuu!”

“Are you talking about something like a radar?”

“Exactly! Kyuuu!” Hamchi exclaimed. Then, he suggested, “Why not try emitting your energy? Try making your energy bounce off the surrounding terrain! Kyuuu!”

“I guess it’s worth a shot?”

“You can detect things through that! Kyuuu!”

“Emitting energy to sense my surroundings… If I focus all my senses on the energy I emit, then…”

Just when he felt as if he was starting to grasp the concept—

Ding!

A notification popped up in front of his eyes.

[Alert: You have acquired the skill Sensory Eye!]

The description of the newly obtained skill appeared afterward.

[Sensory Eye]

[A skill that allows one to accurately discern the surrounding terrain and objects with eyes closed.]

[It is not a perfect form of the Mind’s Eye, but it is more than practical enough.]

[Type: Self Buff Skill]

[Duration: 60 seconds]

[Cooldown: 60 seconds]

[Level: 1 (fixed)]

“Ooooh?”

Siegfried was delighted to have acquired another one of the skills of the Invincible Emperor. At this point, it was a pattern. The teachings passed down to him by Deus would naturally turn into a skill as soon as he was enlightened to them.

‘Let’s try it out.’

Siegfried immediately activated Sensory Eye and closed his eyes to sense his surroundings.

Wooong…!

Even with his eyes closed shut, he could perceive the terrain around him with exact clarity.

Since that was the case, then…

“Hop on, Hamchi.”

“Kyuuu?”

“I’m going to start running from now on.”

Siegfried grabbed Hamchi and threw him on his back before running.

As long as Sensory Eye was active, he could run at full speed without worrying about the terrain, so he carried Hamchi on his back and charged full speed ahead.

Shwooong!

Siegfried dashed forward at full force.

[Alert: The duration of Sensory Eye has ended!]

Once the skill had ended, Siegfried stopped and waited in place for another minute.

Sensory Eye allowed him to sprint at full speed for one minute, so there was no reason for him to stumble around like a blind man while the skill was on cooldown.

Besides, the skill had a rather short cooldown of just one minute, so it was better to wait for it.

‘This is awesome. We’re going full speed ahead from now on.’

Once the Sensory Eye was off cooldown, Siegfried activated it again and started running full speed ahead.

He repeated the process of running at full speed, taking a short break during cooldown, and running again once it was off cooldown, all while following the green arrow.

***

Two hours later.

‘I found him!’

Siegfried saw the green dot tagged with the name Caiphos von Posteriore drawing closer toward him.

He broke into a full sprint, running even faster than before.

The reason he pushed himself to run even faster was simple…

‘I have to get there as quickly as possible!’

Caiphos von Posteriore was wandering around, and he was currently heading toward a place swarming with Chameleon Assassins.

If Siegfried arrived even a fraction of a second late, then that would surely be the end of Caiphos.

Of course, Siegfried would not really be bothered even if Caiphos died in this dungeon, as his death would ruin Lee Geon and Neighdelberg’s plans too.

Still, securing Caiphos would prove to be quite helpful if he thought about the future.

He would prove invaluable in shaking up the Marchioni Empire. His presence alone could rally rebel forces and cause a civil war to break out within the Marchioni Empire.

Another use for him was to enthrone him as a puppet emperor after the war between the Proatine Empire and the Marchioni Empire was over.

To sum it up, Caiphos was not an absolute necessity for Siegfried, but he would be an invaluable asset to have—if alive.

‘Stop! Don’t go that direction, damn it!’ Siegfried screamed inwardly and ran even faster after seeing that Caiphos was heading straight into an area teeming with Chameleon Assassins.

About five minutes later…

“Ack!”

Caiphos collapsed on the ground with a scream after being ambushed by a Chameleon Assassin.

Siegfried immediately used his teleportation skill to teleport beside him.

Whoosh!

The Chameleon Assassin swung its dagger to deal the killing blow on Caiphos, but…

Clang!

The +10 Sky Piercer deflected the dagger away.

“…!”

Caiphos’ eyes widened after he realized that something had intervened to protect him, even though there was nothing in front of him.

Siegfried took off the Shoddy Crude Chameleon Suit he had been wearing and asked, “Are you Herbalist Johan?”

“W-Who are you…?” Caiphos asked.

“Who else? I’m the one who came to save you,” Siegfried replied with a smirk.

Then, he clenched his +10 Sky Piercer.

[Alert: 15 seconds remaining on the duration of Sensory Eye!]

Although the duration of Sensor Eye was almost up, it did not matter.

The Chameleon Assassins had notoriously low Defense, so killing them was easy once he pinpointed their position.

And right now, he could see them clearly thanks to Sensory Eye…

Since that was the case…

‘Ten seconds is more than enough.’

Siegfried instantly activated Embrace of Despair and inflicted a debilitating slowing debuff on the Chameleon Assassins.

Then, he unleashed his Invincible Spear Art and swung his +10 Sky Piercer.

Shwiiiiik!

Countless thrusts rained down upon the Chameleon Assassins, covering their bodies with holes in mere seconds.

[Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!]

(omitted…)

[Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!]

In mere seconds, all of the Chameleon Assassins were killed.

“You’re lucky they missed the vital points. Your artery would have been severed if the cut was any deeper, and you would’ve bled to death.”

“W-Who are you…? Do you know me?”

“Of course. I know you very well.”

“…?”

“For now, just stay still. I’ll have to tend to your wounds first.”

With that, Siegfried opened his Inventory and took out medical needles, surgical threads, alcohol, painkillers, and a potion.

Caiphos had luckily avoided fatal injury, but the wounds were not the kind that would heal on their own if left untreated. His wounds could cause all sorts of complications later, so emergency treatment was necessary.