Debuff Master

Chapter 1218

The items dropped by Lee Geon were worth so much that Siegfried had practically earned enough money to buy a skyscraper right in the heart of Gangnam.

Of course, he was not planning on selling them any time soon.

Why?

It was all because if these items were to hit the market, Lee Geon would easily trace the seller.

Thus, it was far safer to release it gradually over time rather than all at once. However, the amount of money he stood to gain even by slowly selling them one at a time was still quite a lot.

‘I guess I’m going to donate it.’

Siegfried decided he would sell the items and donate the proceeds to those in need.

Yong Seol-Hwa’s kindness had influenced him, and he had become interested in giving a portion of his immense fortune back to society.

After all, Siegfried already possessed such immense wealth that even three generations of his descendants wouldn’t be able to spend it all.

To him, sharing some of it with people in need did not feel like a loss at all.

‘Anyway, that’s that.’

Once he was done picking up the items, Siegfried turned around and unleashed a barrage of debuffs at Akharacho.

With Sensory Eye activated, the monster’s figure was laid bare before him, so fighting it was not difficult at all.

Wooong!

He charged up Touch of Death, condensing its energy at the speartip of the +10 Sky Piercer.

“Stop being a nuisance and just get lost.”

Krwaaaang!

Touch of Death struck Akharacho right in the chest, triggering a massive explosion that warped space itself.

[Akharacho of Illusions]

[HP: □□□□□□□□□□]

As expected, Akharacho couldn’t withstand the destructive force unleashed by Touch of Death.

The boss monster disintegrated and met its end.

And as a result—

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have leveled up!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 541!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 542!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 543!]

Siegfried gained three whole levels at once after striking down the boss monster of the Illusion Village: Javiern.

This was a huge profit for him, as all he did was land the finishing blow after Lee Geon had already leashed the boss monster for him.

From Lee Geon’s perspective, it was like having his meal stolen right under his nose by someone else. Needless to say, the fact that he stole Lee Geon’s boss kill only made Siegfried’s mood even better.

“Mwah! Sweet as honey!”

Siegfried picked up the loot dropped by Akharacho.

[Alert: You have obtained Relic: Orb of Hallucination!]

[Alert: You have obtained Relic: Guckkasten!]

[Alert: You have obtained Relic: Illusionist’s Butterfly Robe!]

Since relics were fetching astronomical prices on the market at the moment, he stood to earn a massive profit from these items as well.

“Lalala~”

Siegfried was in extremely high spirits after having secured Caiphos, dealt a blow to Lee Geon, slain the boss monster, and profited massively from it.

With light steps, he skipped through the dungeon and made his way back to the Proatine Empire.

***

“D-Damn this… F-Fuuuuck!”

Lee Geon went berserk and hurled everything within reach. Consumed by fury once again, he grabbed the chair beside him and proceeded to destroy everything around him.

“Who was it?! Who the fuck was that?! I’m going to kill him! I’m going to hunt that bastard who ambushed me, and I’ll fucking kill him!”

Blinded by rage, Lee Geon smashed his VR capsule worth billions of won and threw every object in the room, reducing the room into a wreck.

Facing the boss monster, the Akharacho of Illusion, demanded his full focus. He did not possess a skill like the Sensory Eye, so he had to fight the boss monster without holding back.

And yet, in the middle of the boss raid, someone snuck up on him from the shadows.

He was killed in an instant; he died so fast that he couldn’t even see his murderer. In fact, he still had no idea if the assailant was another Adventurer or some unknown monster.

Regardless, the attacker dealt so much damage that he died in practically an instant.

Lee Geon replayed the moment over and over again, but he still had no way of determining what had actually killed him.

However, he was certain of one thing after reviewing the footage—the assailant was not a monster.

He had already encountered nearly all of the monsters roaming around the Illusion Village: Javiern, and none of them had the ability to inflict such explosive damage in the blink of an eye.

Even the Chameleon Assassins, which were notorious for their ambushes, had barely scratched him due to his immense stats.

‘It was definitely a gamer. Someone with insane burst damage… Was it an assassin-class player?’

He tried to recall if any of the top-ranked assassins could unleash that much burst damage at him, but he couldn’t think of a single one. They specialized in dealing lethal ambushes, but their burst wasn’t so high that they could kill him in an instant.

Thus, the list of suspects was eventually narrowed down to a single person.

‘Was it… Han Tae-Sung?’

The thought gnawed at him, and his instincts screamed at him that he was correct. Only a handful of players in the entire game could humiliate him like this, and among them, Han Tae-Sung was the most likely culprit.

‘That damned bastard…’

Lee Geon thought of Han Tae-Sung and gnashed his teeth.

Surprisingly, he slowly calmed down, suppressing the anger raging inside him as if nothing had happened.

‘Sigh… Just you wait. I’m going to drag you down from your throne and raze everything you own to the ground. I will drag you through hell and grind you to dust.’

Fueled by that burning hatred, Lee Geon vowed to bide his time until he achieved his vengeance.

The animosity between Lee Geon and Siegfried had turned into a blood feud, and their clash was destined to continue until one of them lay in utter ruin.

***

Siegfried returned to the Proatine Empire and went to see Caiphos at once.

“Y-Your Imperial Majesty…” Caiphos stammered, seemingly bewildered.

‘I guess it’s only normal for him to act like this,’ Siegfried thought.

He understood just how confused Caiphos had to be right now, as he had been living his whole life as a herbalist, but then he suddenly learned that he was the youngest son of the late emperor and empress of the most powerful nation in the world.

Moreover, the fact that he learned of this secret from none other than Emperor Siegfried von Proa added to the shock.

“You must be very confused right now, aren’t you?” Siegfried said with a gentle smile.

“Y-Yes, I am…”

“But you have no choice. You have to accept it. This is the fate you were born with, and it’s not something you can change.”

“…”

“Live here for a while and learn a few things. You said you never went to school, right? I will assign teachers for you, so just relax and study.”

“R-Really?!” Caiphos exclaimed, his eyes sparkling.

Ironically, it seemed that he was far more excited at the thought of being able to study than when he learned the secret behind his true identity.

“Of course. It’s not that hard for me to assign teachers to you. The hardest part is on the student, the one who has to learn.”

“T-Thank you!”

“Eh? You’re that happy?”

“Yes!” Caiphos nodded frantically. Then, he explained, “I really wanted to go to school, but I was too poor to go. When the kids in my village went to school to study, I had to chop wood and gather herbs.”

“I see…”

“I will do my best to not disappoint you,” Caiphos said with utmost enthusiasm.

“That’s good. But do it for yourself, not for me,” Siegfried replied with a smile. Then, he continued carefully, “By the way…”

“Yes?”

“Do you feel any anger or hatred? Emperor Stuttgart killed your father and mother. Because of that, you have to live your whole life as a poor herbalist.”

“To be honest, it does not really hit me at all. Perhaps because I have lived as a herbalist my whole life? It feels like someone else’s life—not mine.”

“Hmm… That’s actually for the best. If you bind yourself to a past you don’t even really know about, then you will only end up with hatred and stress yourself out.”

“Yes, I agree, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“Just study what you want and think about what you want to do with your life. Don’t worry about tuition or other costs. I will sponsor you generously.”

“Thank you very much!”

“Okay, that will be all. Good luck.”

Siegfried entrusted Caiphos to the attendants and left.

***

Meanwhile, the Marchioni Empire had fallen into utter chaos.

The storm and volcanic eruption had completely obliterated the western region of the empire, and now, various plagues were running rampant and laying waste to the rest of it.

Facing such a disaster of unprecedented scale, it was only natural that the Marchioni Empire was in shambles.

Even the capital city was stricken by the plague, forcing the empire to clear out hundreds of carts filled with corpses every single day.

The recorded death toll had already reached about fifteen million, and this was without a doubt the greatest crisis since the founding of the empire.

As a result, Emperor Stuttgart’s standing was greatly weakened.

Emperor Stuttgart had the full support of the military, nobles, and even the people. This granted him absolute authority within the empire, making his powerbase as solid as it could be.

However, that was no longer the case.

Cracks began to form in the emperor’s authority after the empire suffered disaster after disaster.

The plague had made it almost impossible to mobilize the imperial army, as the entire military could be wiped out if they contracted one of the plagues during their march.

With the military crippled, the local nobles, who secretly harbored resentment against the emperor, started taking advantage of the situation and slowly plotting for a rebellion.

Moreover, the people no longer supported the emperor, as they were disappointed by the emperor’s the lack of solution to the recent calamities.

In the past, they would have rallied behind the emperor without question and believed that he would resolve everything. After seeing his ineffective response to the disasters, they were utterly disappointed.

Emperor Stuttgart knew about the public opinion shifting against him.

The longer the crisis dragged on, the more his authority would crumble.

If things continued this way, then he would eventually lose all authority, marking the end of the great Marchioni Empire.

“This is quite a difficult position we are in…”

Emperor Stuttgart pondered day and night, but he still couldn’t come up with a solution to the crisis he was facing.

What was the point of having the most powerful military in the world when the natural disasters and plagues couldn’t be subdued with force?

The imperial army was currently confined to its garrison, unable to mobilize for fear of catching the plague.

In other words, even the world’s most powerful military was utterly powerless in such circumstances.

To make things worse, the Ancient Dungeons within the empire’s territory were like ticking time bombs, and any one of them could go berserk and unleash another catastrophe at any given moment.

Due to the empire’s vast lands, it had far more Ancient Dungeons than any other nation.

Ironically, the vast territories that acted as one of the pillars of the empire had become a curse that could cause its downfall.

‘Should I ask my brother for help?’

The situation was so dire that Emperor Stuttgart even considered turning to Siegfried for help. Unfortunately, that was out of the question.

Why?

It was all because Siegfried’s popularity had already risen to the point where the people, including the citizens of the Marchioni Empire, had begun to deify him.

What would happen if the Marchioni Empire turned to him for help and he ended up resolving this crisis?

His popularity would soar so high up that it would reach heights that even Emperor Stuttgart could not hope to rival. Even if the Marchioni Empire were to survive, it would be impossible to wrest back the people’s love and reverence from Siegfried’s hand.

In short, Emperor Stuttgart would only be setting the stage for Siegfried if he were to ask for the latter’s help.

Besides, Siegfried would come up with some excuse to refuse even if the emperor asked him for help.

‘It will take at least six months to come up with a cure for the plagues. But the empire will be ravaged into extinction in six months. What should I do…?’

The chamberlain waiting outside entered the emperor’s office and reported, “Your Imperial Majesty, Adventurer Beowulf requests an audience.”

“Hm? Beowulf?”

“Yes, sire.”

“Tell him to wait.”

“As you command, sire.”

Emperor Stuttgart immediately left his office and headed for the throne room.

“Greetings, Your Imperial Majesty,” Lee Geon greeted with a bow.

He had come to the Marchioni Empire to seek an audience with Emperor Stuttgart the moment he had revived after being killed by Siegfried.

“What brings you here today, Beowulf?” Emperor Stuttgart asked.

“I have come to resolve the plagues afflicting the empire, sire,” Lee Geon replied.

“…!”

A look of astonishment flickered in the emperor’s eyes.

He was someone who never showed his emotions in front of others, regardless of whether what they said was shocking or not.

However, the plagues had put the empire in a position so dire that the empire’s five centuries of absolute rule teetered on the edge of ruin. Things were so dire that he subconsciously reacted to the flicker of hope.

Of course, even Emperor Stuttgart had never imagined that the hope he desperately wanted would come from none other than Beowulf—Lee Geon.