Debuff Master

Chapter 1235

‘Oops… Did I tease him too much?’ Siegfried belatedly realized that Michael was about to cry.

Michael’s nature was so good and genuine that he could hardly tell a lie. Otherwise, how could he have been blindsided by Lucifer in the past and fallen from grace, losing his position as the Chief Archangel?

While his pure and honest disposition was his greatest strength, it was also the reason Lucifer managed to take advantage of him.

“S-Siegfried… That’s not it,” Michael said, seemingly ready to burst into tears at any moment.

Unable to resist, Siegfried decided to tease him one last time, “Really? Are you sure?”

“All of the angels tremble in fear whenever you come. And many of them haven’t been able to sleep for days and were struggling with nightmares after you left,” Michael said, lowering his head.

“Is… Is it that bad?”

“Yes. The Celestial Realm is very weak right now. Just your presence alone makes everyone shiver in fear for days.”

“Ah…”

“Your influence as the Demon King over the angels is that overwhelming,” Michael said. Then, he continued, “As for me, I am always happy to see you, and I don’t care whether you are the Demon King or not.

“I’ve told my brothers and sisters countless times not to fear you, that you are a friend of ours. But the fear engraved into their instincts cannot be erased with mere persuasion.”

“I see…”

“That’s why I rushed over here. My brothers and sisters will fear you less if I stay near you because my presence suppresses yours.”

That was the reason Michael had come running to meet Siegfried. It wasn’t to draw a line with Siegfried, but to make sure that the angels wouldn’t tremble in terror and suffer.

Of course, Siegfried was already aware of that. Even so, he couldn’t help but have some fun at Michael’s expense. The two of them were comrades who had once fought side by side against the Fallen Angels. They fought together across the Celestial Realm, the Middle Realm, and even the Demon Realm.

When Michael seemed to be acting distant toward him, Siegfried couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed. This small mischief was his way of exacting petty vengeance against the Chief Archangel.

“Please do not misunderstand, Siegfried,” Michael said with a bow.

“Come on now. Why take a joke so seriously? I can’t even joke around with you anymore,” Siegfried said nonchalantly, waving his hand as if to say it was no big deal.

“Huh?”

“I’m not misunderstanding anything, so don’t cry.”

“Hahaha…”

“Anyway, how have you been these days?” Siegfried asked.

“Everything is well. The reconstruction of the Celestial Realm is proceeding smoothly, all thanks to your support,” Michael replied.

“Ah, please. I really didn’t do much.”

“But what brings you here? Ah, I don’t mean to say that you’re not welcome here. It’s just that… for you to show up so suddenly could only mean that something bad must have happened. Could it be…?”

“Yes. It’s because of the demonic monsters that escaped from Purgatory,” Siegfried replied with a nod.

Michael bit his lip and asked, “Who is it this time?”

“I actually have no idea,” Siegfried replied with a shrug. Then, he proceeded to explain about the mysterious incidents happening in the Middle Realm, where all living creatures in the cities, towns, and villages were mysteriously dying en masse in their sleep.

“Ah, I know which one is responsible for that,” Michael replied confidently.

“Oh? You do?”

“And catching him won’t be that difficult,” Michael said with a smile.

“Really? But who is it?”

“He is a demon who reaps death. His name is Fiend, also known as the Harvester of Death.”

“The Harvester of Death, Fiend?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of demon is he?”

“This demon called Fiend… is a creature without an ego.”

“Is that even possible? How can a demon not have an ego?”

“I’m not too sure of it myself. But I do know that he is nothing more than an evil spirit that appears at night where living beings gather and steal their lives away. There’s no malice in his actions; he simply does what his instincts tell him to.”

“I see.”

“That’s why he’s foolish and easy to catch.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Catching himself is very easy. But the only question is whether you can defeat him in battle or not.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m always confident when it comes to fighting,” Siegfried replied confidently.

Regardless of what enemies he had faced until now, he had always emerged victorious against them. In other words, Siegfried’s confidence wasn’t exactly strange.

However, capturing the Harvester of Death, Fiend, was a whole different matter.

This demon could rob living beings of their lives without being found, even when the entire village was full of patrolling troops, including Siegfried. It was a creature so elusive that it was capable of stealing a man’s nose while he was wide awake.

And yet, Michael was claiming that Fiend was easy to catch?

“How do you catch him?” Siegfried asked.

“With just this,” Michael replied, handing him a kitchen utensil—a sieve.

A sieve was made of mesh, commonly used to rinse boiled noodles under cold water.

“What do I do with this…?” Siegfried asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“You will understand once you use it,” Michael replied with a smile.

***

While Siegfried was at the Celestial Realm to seek Michael’s advice, Ninetail was putting all her efforts into rescuing Irene.

Late at night, Ninetail slipped once more into Irene’s bedchamber. She quietly woke Irene up and conveyed her thoughts using the secret hand signs known only to the members of the Posteriore Family.

‘I believe Emperor Stuttgart is planning to use your death to boost his approval rating,’ Ninetail signed.

‘How?’ Irene asked in response.

‘It’s obvious. They will fabricate a story that you were in fact carrying His Imperial Majesty’s child, and that out of shame and despair… you took your own life.’

‘…’

‘Then the anger of the citizens of the Marchioni Empire will naturally be redirected toward the Proatine Empire.’

The people of the Marchioni Empire were already so consumed by rage that they could hardly think straight.

With the natural disasters and outbreaks of disease occurring one after another, unrest would certainly sweep throughout the empire, causing the buildup of resentment and rage.

On top of all those, what if news broke out about how the imperial princess, Irene von Posteriore, was toyed with by Siegfried von Proa, resulting in her getting impregnated with an illegitimate child before eventually being driven to make a drastic decision such as taking her own life?

The pent-up fury would be redirected at the Proatine Empire, and the people of the Marchioni Empire would rally behind Emperor Stuttgart. Of course, neither side was in a position to wage war immediately, so a large-scale full-out war would not break out.

However, a cold war would become inevitable by then.

‘Emperor Stuttgart had originally planned to ambush our empire. But something unexpected happened. Disaster struck repeatedly, his approval rating plummeted, and even the people turned their backs on the emperor. Now, out of fear of rebellion, he’s resorting to this reckless and underhanded tactic.’

‘But why?’

‘He has no other choice but to do this. Unless he manages to rally public support, rebellions will start erupting throughout the empire.’

‘So he’s redirecting internal discontent to an external entity to preserve his power…’

‘While it’s underhanded and reckless, it’s efficient and effective. The Marchioni Empire’s history proves it.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Emperor Stuttgart has no other choice but this right now.’

‘Then, I absolutely must not die—no matter what.’

‘Yes, that is correct. If you were to die, then the Marchioni Empire would have the perfect justification to put all the blame on the Proatine Empire. Emperor Stuttgart may not have wanted relations with the Proatine Empire to sour this early, but right now, even he cannot help it.’

‘What should I do then?’

‘You must escape.’

With that, Ninetail took out a large sack from the ceiling. From within it, she pulled out a woman who looked exactly like Irene.

“…!”

Irene recoiled in shock at the sight of the figure that was an exact copy of her.

‘W-What is this thing…?’

‘A bio-doll created using alchemy.’

‘…!’

‘It was made using the alchemic knowledge recorded in the Emerald Tablet. This doll possesses a structure one hundred percent identical to a human body. While it is nothing more than a lump of flesh without a soul, it is still quite effective at deceiving others.’

‘Ah…’

‘We will use this doll to make it seem that you have died, which is exactly what the emperor has plotted. Then, the Marchioni Empire will start spreading rumors that His Imperial Majesty defiled you, which ended up in you becoming pregnant and taking your own life in despair.’

‘I see…’

‘And then, we will reveal the truth to the people—the Marchioni Empire had fabricated a vile scheme, slandering the Proatine Empire.’

‘Ah…!’

‘If we pull this off, then the people will support the Proatine Empire instead of the other way around,’ Ninetail signaled and flashed a sly smile.

As the one responsible for the Proatine Empire’s intelligence network, she was skilled in infiltration, theft, escaping, schemes, and political maneuvering.

‘Shall we begin?’

With that, Ninetail set her plan into motion.

***

After hearing from Michael about how to capture the Harvester of Death, Siegfried immediately returned to the Middle Realm. Then, he headed to a large city where the next incident was likely to occur and tried using the method Michael had taught him.

“Pardon me, sire? I believe I must have misheard.”

The division commander in charge of the city’s defense doubted his own ears at Siegfried’s sudden and absurd order.

“I cannot seem to fathom Your Imperial Majesty’s profound intentions. The command you just gave is a bit—”

“No, you heard me correctly,” Siegfried said with a smile. Then, he continued, “Tell them to hang objects with many holes on every door handle of every house and building. It can be a sieve or even an insect screen—the smaller and the more numerous the holes, the better. Have them hang whatever fits the description. Aside from that, everything else must remain the same. Have the people sleep outdoors just in case.”

“But why…?”

“You’ll understand once you see.”

“A-As you command, sire! Loyalty!”

Even though the division commander couldn’t make sense of Siegfried’s order, he carried it out without question.

‘I wonder what kind of surprise His Imperial Majesty is preparing this time? Hahaha!’

The division commander simply followed Siegfried’s order with blind faith.

Part of it was due to the hierarchy of the military, where rank reigned absolute. After all, there was no way a mere division commander could go against the orders of the emperor.

However, more than that, the division commander’s faith in Siegfried was so strong that it was almost like he revered him as if the latter were a god.

Siegfried’s order was nonsensical, but the division commander was prepared to risk his life to carry it out.

‘Hehe… I’m not so sure about this myself either.’

Ironically, the division commander had no idea that even Siegfried himself couldn’t understand the order he had just given out.

Michael told him that it would work against the Harvester of Death, but the Chief Archangel never bothered explaining why or how.

‘It doesn’t matter. I’m sure Michael knows his stuff.’

After issuing the order, Siegfried climbed onto the roof of the city hall located at the very center of the city.

There, he waited in silence until night came.

“Kyuu! Are we going to catch it tonight, owner punk?” Hamchi asked.

“Maybe? If Michael was right, then we would definitely catch it,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“Kyuuu! I guess we have to wait and see then!”

“Yup.”

“ZzZ… Zzz…”

As time went on, the unfaithful giant hamster, Hamchi, fell asleep first, leaving Siegfried wide awake throughout the night all alone.

Siegfried was sleepy, too, but he was patiently waiting for the Harvester of Death to appear. In fact, he even activated Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance to keep watch over the entire city.

At around thirty past two in the morning…

“Oh?!”

Siegfried suddenly spotted a red dot on the mini-map and shot to his feet.

The red dot was moving at incredible speeds as if it were traveling a thousand kilometers per second.

‘Ah… So that’s why no one even realized it had already come and gone…’ Siegfried thought, understanding why the previous operation had failed.

‘Eh?’

The red dot labeled “Harvester of Death: Fiend” had stopped in front of a certain building.

The Harvester of Death ought to have raced around the entire city at the speed of light, draining the lives of every living creature inside buildings before disappearing without a trace.

But now? It was standing still for some reason.

Siegfried found this odd and couldn’t understand why it had suddenly come to a halt.