Debuff Master

On Mount Kunlun…

“Master!”

“What brings you here so soon? It hasn’t been that long since you descended the mountain!”

“Some things came up, so I will have to brazenly ask for your help, Master.”

Siegfried smiled as brightly as he could in response to Deus’ question.

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“Please take this first. Your disciple has prepared a small gift for you,” Siegfried added as he offered the ‘Blood Tears of Revenge’.

“You managed to find this precious thing again?”

“How can I come empty-handed when your benevolence is as wide and vast as the ocean? Hehe!”

“Hoho! Look at this cheeky little fellow! Do you really think that this great me will listen to your request just because of some gift?”

“That will always depend on your will, Master.”

“What are you talking about? I should grant your request! You are my one and only beloved disciple, after all, so how can I turn a blind eye to your plight?!”

“Thank you very much, Master!”

“Ah, I’m not doing this because this brandy is extremely delicious or anything, so you better don’t get the wrong idea. Do you understand?”

“Of course, Master.”

“Alright, what do you need from me?”

“May I borrow Elder—no, Blockhead for a while?”

This was Siegfried’s main objective behind coming to Mount Kunlun once again. He wanted to use Deus’ manservant, Betelgeuse, to mesmerize the entire Nordic Tribe.

Why?

Betelgeuse was ‘strong’; that was why!

It would be extremely easy to convince the Nordic Tribe if he put the Sword Emperor Betelgeuse, who was one of the Five Star Heaven, in front.

“Hmm? What do you need that blockhead for?”

“That is…” Siegfried explained what happened so far.

“Oh! Do you want to borrow his name instead of his strength? Is that what you’re saying?” Deus asked, seemingly intrigued.

“Yes, Master. Why should your disciple rely on Blockhead’s strength? I will forge my own path to invincibility with my own two hands!” replied Siegfried while clenching his fists.

“Excellent!” Deus nodded with a satisfied look before saying, “You need to strategize from time to time instead of charging head-on with only strength. Of course, a strategy would be meaningless if you’re already in the same realm as me, but this is all a part of growing, don’t you agree? This is going to be a good experience for you.”

“Then, are you giving me your permission, Master?”

“Of course, why shouldn’t I approve it when my disciple is trying to act shrewd and use his brain for a change? Go ahead and take that blockhead with you.”

“Thank you very much, Master!”

“In return, you will have to send him back quickly. Blockhead is too dumb to reach the realm of a Grandmaster, so every second of training counts for him.”

Siegfried successfully managed to borrow Deus’ manservant, Blockhead.

“Elder Blockhead,” Siegfried called out.

“Aigoo! Welcome, Young Master! What brings you here today?”

“Let’s go.”

“Pardon me? Where are we going?”

“Vacation.”

“V-Vacation…? Has the great elder allowed me to go on vacation?”

“Yes, Elder Blockhead-nim. You may go on vacation for a week starting today, so let’s hurry up and go.”

“Am I dreaming right now?”

Blockhead couldn’t believe it.

“Let’s hurry up before Master changes his mind! We can’t do anything if that happens!”

“H-Hiiik!”

“A vacation tastes the sweetest right before you get fired, right?”

“Y-Your humble servant will lead the way!” Blockhead exclaimed as he ran down the mountain.

“You insolent fool! I graced you with a vacation, but you dare run away without even greeting me?! I should teach you a lesson that you will never forget!”

Blockhead was beaten up by Deus once again because he tried to leave without paying his respects.

***

“H-How can this be?! Sword Emperor Betelgeuse is your distant relative?!” Lionbreath screamed in surprise.

Who was Sword Emperor Betelgeuse? Was he not the one who fought for the title of the strongest among the Five Star Heaven?!

To think that one of the Masters of the continent was a distant relative of his sworn brother!

Lionbreath was flabbergasted.

“Are you the king of the Nordic Tribe? Nice to meet you, my name is Betelgeuse,” Blockhead greeted.

“It is a great honor to meet you! I never imagined that I would get to meet a Master like you in my lifetime! Oh my god!” Lionbreath cried out as he grabbed Blockhead—no, Betelgeuse’s hand with both hands as he bowed multiple times. Then, he slapped himself a few times just to confirm that he wasn’t dreaming.

“Hyung-nim,” Siegfried explained the plan he had to Lionbreath, whose eyes had already turned into hearts long ago. “What do you think of negotiating with the Immortal King through Betelgeuse-nim over here? We will open the way for the Immortal King to go to the continent. That way, the Nordic Tribe won’t suffer any losses, and you will no longer have any reasons to continue this reckless war as well.”

“I-Is that really possible? Will the Immortal King easily accept that proposition? I’m not so sure—”

“The Immortal King will. Betelgeuse-nim is extremely powerful, so even the Immortal King will be under pressure in his presence.”

“That makes sense—no, it makes perfect sense…!” Lionbreath exclaimed with a nod.

“I think that the leaders of the north will agree to this plan as soon as they meet Betelgeuse-nim,” Siegfried added.

“That goes without question!”

“So, what do you think, hyung-nim? Do you think my plan is worth giving a shot?”

“Yes! Let’s go with your plan! What do we have to be afraid of when we have a Master on our side? Bwahahaha!”

At that moment, Siegfried finally confirmed that his idea would work exactly how he wanted it to work.

***

“…So we will open the way for the Immortal King,” Siegfried explained to the Nordic Tribe officials.

Siegfried’s prediction about how the Nordic Tribe officials would react was right on the money.

“Bullshit! Go feed your plan to the dogs outside!”

“You just want us to stop our invasion of the continent!”

“Do you really think that this will work?”

“Why would the Immortal King accept such a ridiculous proposition?”

“It sounds good in theory, but I don’t think it’s realistic at all…”

“Don’t worry about that, everyone,” Betelgeuse said as he made a dramatic entrance, and then he introduced himself to the Nordic Tribe officials, “Greetings, I am a distant relative of this man here, Siegfried. My name is Betelgeuse.”

At that, the Nordic Tribe officials started to noisily murmur among themselves.

“Betelgeuse…?”

“Don’t tell me…”

“Is he claiming to be that Sword Emperor Betelgeuse?”

“One of the strongest people alive on the continent?!”

Betelgeuse pulled out his gigantic blade, which was also his trademark weapon, and showed it to the Nordic Tribe officials.

“Look! This sword is me, and I am this sword! This is the Blade of Permanence that is also the symbol of I—the Sword Emperor! I will help you force the Immortal King!” Betelgeuse exclaimed before unleashing his aura at the Nordic Tribe officials.

This was a theatrical play that Siegfried had requested in advance. He wanted Betelgeuse to enamor the Nordic Tribesmen with his tremendously powerful aura.

Siegfried’s expectation was spot on.

“Oh!”

“This plan will work if Betelgeuse-nim is with us!”

“Ha! The Immortal King lost to the Heavenly King of the North, Vlotron, last time! The Sword Emperor Betelgeuse is as strong as the Heavenly King of the North, right?! I’m certain the Immortal King is going to accept our proposition!”

“What an excellent idea!”

The Nordic Tribe officials instantly agreed to the plan after seeing Betelgeuse with their own eyes.

Now, they just had to execute the plan.

The name of the plan was ‘Operation: Fadlan Passing’.

***

The next morning, Siegfried attempted to establish communications with the Immortal King’s territory.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

However, it wasn’t easy establishing a communication channel with them.

‘Do we have to go there personally? But that’s a bit too dangerous…’ 

While he was thinking about what he should do, a Nordic Signalman shouted, “We have established communications with the Immortal King’s territory!”

— What do you want, foolish barbarians? Why are you calling me? Have we ever had the need to communicate about anything?

A magic hologram device projected the Immortal King.

[Immortal King]

[An evil black magician who ran away from the continent three hundred years ago.]

[He entered into a contract with Vernas, the Demon Lord of Vengeance, and turned into a Necrolich.]

[A Necrolich specializes in controlling undead monsters.]

[The Immortal King is dreaming of continuing his failed invasion three hundred years ago.]

[Type: Undead Monster]

[Level: 280]

[Class: Necrolich]

[Rating: Boss]

[Title: Immortal King of Darkness, Immortal of Vengeance.]

The Immortal King gave off a gothic impression with his horned helmet and extravagant robe, and he was a powerful Level 280 undead monster befitting his class as a Necrolich. However, he wasn’t as strong as he used to be in his prime. After all, he had just resurrected.

“Are you the Immortal King? Nice to meet you. Wow, I heard you resurrected after three hundred years. How does it feel to get some fresh air after being stuck for so long? Does the air feel fresh in your nose?” asked Siegfried with a snicker.

— What did you just say?!

The Immortal King exclaimed in disbelief.

— They say that fools rush in where angels fear to tread! You insolent little fool! How dare you speak that way to me, the Immortal King?!

“Hey, calm down now. I just asked how you were doing. Geez… Why escalate it so far…”

— Are you playing games with me?! I will see to it that you will regret your insolence! I—the Immortal King—will soon raise an army to teach you fools a lesson!

“Really? You might regret it. I mean, do you want to get beaten up and thrown back to where you came from?”

— Where is your baseless confidence coming from? I already know that you don’t have anyone like Vlotron among you!

It seemed that the Immortal King had been diligently collecting information about his surroundings.

— Why would I—the Immortal King—be defeated when you don’t have anyone as powerful as Vlotron among you? Just wait, foolish Nordic Tribe! I will be taking my revenge for the shame you have given me three hundred years ago! I will not spare a single one of you. I will turn all of you into my undead—

“But we have one,” Siegfried cut the Immortal King off.

— You have one? What do you mean, little insolent fool?

“I mean, we have someone really strong with us.”

— Bwahaha! I thought you were only insolent, but I see that you’re also a liar! My information tells me that—

“Tada~!” Siegfried pulled Betelgeuse toward him before asking, “Guess who this is?”

— Hmm?

“I’m sure you have heard of him, right? This man right here is none other than the Sword Emperor Betelgeuse, who is one of the few Masters on the continent as well as one of the Five Star Heaven.”

— F-Five Star Heaven?!

“Oh, right. Vlotron was one of the Five Star Heaven three hundred years ago, right? This could be something like a pseudo reunion between the two of you, then.”

With that, Betelgeuse greeted the Immortal King. “Nice to meet you, Immortal King. I am one of the current Five Star Heaven, Sword Emperor Betelgeuse. Ehem… Ehem… This is a bit embarrassing for me to say with my own mouth, but you can say that I am the strongest one among the Five Star Heaven for now.”

— Lies! There’s no way that big old man is one of the Five Star Heaven! Do you expect me, the Immortal King, to believe such an outrageous lie?!

The Immortal King vehemently retorted Siegfried and Betelgeuse’s claims.

“Why don’t you see for yourself if you find it hard to believe?” Siegfried nonchalantly sneered, and then he added, “I will give you exactly thirty minutes, so why don’t you go and check, then call me back?”

— Ha! I, the Immortal King, will not be fooled by such petty tricks!

“Anyway, I’m hanging up now. Oh, you have to call me back in thirty minutes. Otherwise, Betelgeuse-nim will go there and beat you up.”

— You insolent…!

“Bye~” Siegfried said before hanging up.

“Young Master?”

“Yes, Elder-nim?”

“Do you really think that the Immortal King is going to call us back? Your humble servant thinks that he did not buy what I said just now. I believe it will be better for us to go and meet him in person instead because it is difficult to gauge someone through a communication channel…”

Betelgeuse’s words made perfect sense.

Communication magic couldn’t communicate one’s aura, so it was only natural that the Immortal King couldn’t sense Betelgeuse’s might.

“He’s going to call us back.”

However, Siegfried seemed certain that the Immortal King would call them back.

“Why do you think so, Young Master?”

“Because he has an informant...”

“Hmm?”

“Think about it. How did that numbskull know that there was no Master among the Nordic Tribe? And who would have resurrected that numbskull after three hundred years? There can only be one answer, and it is obvious.”

“Are you telling me that there is someone behind that numbskull?”

“Precisely.” Siegfried smiled and added, “The person behind him will confirm whether you really are the Sword Emperor or not, and the Immortal King will have no choice but to call us back…”

Siegfried was about to finish his words, but the communication device started ringing once again.

Ring! Ring!

The Immortal King appeared as a hologram.

— W-What are your demands…?

The Immortal King looked dejected for some reason, which was a stark contrast to his confident demeanor just a few moments ago.

‘Excellent. Shall we start the negotiations?’ Siegfried thought with an evil grin.