Debuff Master

The barbarian who called out to Siegfried was a dark-skinned skinny barbarian with long slender eyes. He was wearing various trinkets, and there was a skull of a goat on his head. He was also holding a staff with three skulls hanging from it. Anyone could tell that he was the Chieftain of the Dahomey Tribe just from his looks.

“Welcome,” Siegfried greeted Nascimento, and then he said, “How did you think of coming all the way here out of your own volition? I can’t praise you enough for that.”

“…?”

“Alright, what do you want? Do you wish to surrender?”

‘This crazy bastard is the Grim Reaper of the Plains…?’

Nascimento was dumbfounded at Siegfried’s words.

He was Siegfried’s enemy, so how could Siegfried greet his enemy with such a bright smile? It was as if he was welcoming his enemy and that he was glad to meet him.

Nascimento was dumbfounded. After all, he wasn’t aware of Siegfried’s true motives.

“Are you the Grim Reaper of the Plains?” Nascimento asked.

“Maybe?” Siegfried gave a somewhat half-hearted response. He felt embarrassed to say that he was the ‘Grim Reaper of the Plains’.

“I will ask you again. Are you the Grim Reaper of the Plains? I’m asking you if you are indeed the ruler of the small kingdom that invaded our lands?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Hmm…”

“Why did you come? Do you want to surrender?”

“No way,” Nascimento replied with a snicker. His eyes turned sharp as he said, “I came to fight, Grim Reaper of the Plains.”

“You came to fight me? One-on-one?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Ah… I see…” Siegfried muttered with a hint of disappointment in his voice, “I thought you came to surrender… tsk…”

“…”

“Well, it doesn’t matter whether you came to surrender or not. Alright, let’s fight. How do you wish to fight? Right now? Oh, wait…” Siegfried said before he dismounted from his horse and said, “Let me ask you one thing.”

“What is it, Grim Reaper of the Plains?”

“Do you perhaps… have something that has been passed down generation after generation in your tribe? The mind sapphire is a blue gem, so I heard…”

“Are you talking about this?” Nascimento pointed at his earrings.

[Wail of Wraith]

[An accessory with the power to call forth ghosts.]

[Type: Accessory (Earrings)]

[Rating: Legendary]

Siegfried checked the details of the earrings with his Rune of Insight, and he could immediately tell that the Nascimento’s earrings were an artifact crafted from the mind sapphire he needed to acquire.

“Ah, that’s right. That’s what I’m looking for,” Siegfried said while nodding. He then smirked and said, “Hey, you’re quite prepared. Wow, I’ll tell you that I’m very impressed.”

“Prepared? What do you mean by that?” Nascimento asked.

“I was about to go take that from you. I kind of need that, you see… so…” Siegfried trailed off as if he was hinting at something before continuing. “Hey, why don’t you hand that thing over?”

“What?!”

“In return, I will spare you and your tribe. What do you think?”

“You’re pushing it with your bullshit…!” Nascimento retorted in disbelief.

‘I really think he’s insane. Hmm… there’s nothing to gain out of talking to a madman like him,’ Nascimento thought. He gripped his bone staff and said, “I don’t wish to exchange words with you. Come, fight me, Grim Reaper of the Plains. I, the chieftain of the Dahomey Tribe, Nascimento, will be your opponent.”

“If that’s what you want…” Siegfried muttered with a sigh as he walked toward the barbarian while grumbling inwardly, ‘How come not a single one of them wants to take the easy way out…?’

He had already annihilated four barbarian tribes, but none of them even thought of surrendering.

“Then, we’re really going to fight.”

“Bring it on, Grim Reaper of the Plains!”

“Okay,” Siegfried replied as he slowly walked toward the barbarian chieftain.

***

‘Hehe… Grim Reaper of the Plains, I admit that you are strong, but…’ Nascimento thought with a smile.

Nascimento was unfazed in the face of the man called the ‘Grim Reaper of the Plains’. It was all because he had already completed the forbidden spell that had been passed down from generation to generation in their tribe.

In fact, he was actually pretty confident of his victory.

Swhoooosh…!

A white aura started revolving around Nascimento’s body, and…

Kyaaaaaaah!

Heuk… heuk… heuk…!

Kiii…! Kieeeee…!

Wraiths slowly appeared one by one and started encircling him.

Wraith Summoning!

Nascimento had used the live sacrifices to complete his evil spell and call forth a legion of wraiths from the Underworld.

“Go, my wraiths! Go and cling to that foolish human!” Nascimento confidently commanded the legion.

The wraiths numbering in the thousands flew toward Siegfried at the barbarian chieftain’s command.

***

‘What the hell is that?!’ Siegfried was shocked at the swarm of wraiths flying toward him.

He tried to avoid them, but he couldn’t avoid them. The wraiths were extremely fast, and they phased through everything, so he couldn’t seek refuge behind anything nor block them with his weapon.

[The Counterattack of the Dead]

[The wraiths have clung onto you.]

[Your stats will decrease by a small amount (0.1 defense and magic resistance) for every wraith clinging to you.]

The wraiths summoned by Nascimento instantly surrounded Siegfried.

[Alert: The wraiths have clung onto you! Your defense and magic resistance has been reduced by 0.1!]

[Alert: The wraiths have clung onto you! Your defense and magic resistance has been reduced by 0.1!]

[Alert: The wraiths have clung onto you! Your defense and magic resistance has been reduced by 0.1!]

Almost a thousand messages popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

“Haha! You are now weakened!” Nascimento said with a triumphant smile before he confidently declared, “I will fight you now and emerge victorious!”

Afterward, he summoned five hundred Wraith Warriors, a swarm of locusts, and a flock of frogs to attack Siegfried.

Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.

An army of Wraith Warriors, a swarm of locusts, and a flock of frogs. The army summoned by Nascimento was weak individually, but their overwhelming numbers were more than enough to overwhelm their enemies through accumulated damage.

“You will soon turn into a pile of bones!” Nascimento triumphantly exclaimed.

Seuuu…!

However, Nascimento was interrupted by Siegfried’s radioactive energy. Siegfried unleashed his radioactive energy and instantly decimated the swarm of locusts and the flock of frogs.

“Ha! Stop resisting! The Wraith Warriors will—” Nascimento was interrupted once again.

Flash!

It was Siegfried’s lightning attribute skills Lightning Smite and Lightning Flying Spur. The two skills unleashed a wave of lightning, which decimated the wraiths clinging to Siegfried.

The wraiths possessed the darkness attribute, so the lightning attribute skills were extremely effective against them.

“Hii… Hiiik!” Nascimento cried out in surprise.

***

‘Tsk… Tsk… He calls this a debuff?’ 

Siegfried clicked his tongue. He thought that the barbarian chieftain was pathetic.

The thousands of wraiths summoned by the barbarian chieftain tried to reduce his defense and magic resistance, so they were meant to debuff him. However, he managed to instantly eliminate those wraiths, which freed him from the debuff.

The debuff Nascimento had prepared, which was likely his trump card, was child’s play when compared to the Debuff Master’s unavoidable debuff skills. And the effects of the wraiths’ debuffs were laughable compared to the effects of the Debuff Master’s debuffs.

‘Let me show you what a real debuff looks like,’ Siegfried thought with a sinister smile as he placed his debuff field underneath the barbarian chieftain.

Woooong!

Nascimento was taken aback by the strange energy that suddenly enveloped him.

‘What is this…?!’

His body suddenly felt heavy, a migraine struck him, his muscles ached all over, and both of his feet felt like they weighed a ton.

Shiver…!

A chill went down Nascimento’s spine, and he started profusely sweating as if he had caught the flu.

‘Did I… become weaker…?’ Nascimento realized as his instincts cried out.

The reason for his sudden weakness was obvious…

“Hey.”

“Heok…!”

“Shall we see who is weaker now?” Siegfried asked as he slowly approached Nascimento.

“D-Don’t tell me!”

“Am I weaker, or are you weaker? What do you think?” Siegfried asked with a sinister smile.

He was openly mocking the barbarian chieftain for trying to cast a pitiful debuff in front of the Debuff Master.

“Shall we test it out?” Siegfried asked before swinging his hammer at Nascimento.

***

Thud!

Nascimento’s corpse rolled on the ground with his head caved in. It was the price he had to pay for trying to act strong in front of someone stronger than him.

“Pathetic,” Siegfried said while looking down at Nascimento’s dead body.

[Alert: You have obtained the item ‘Wraith’s Wail’]

[Alert: You have satisfied the quest requirements of ‘For the Torrential Flower Rain!’ after obtaining the ‘Wraith’s Wail’!]

[Alert: You have completed the Quest – ‘For the Torrential Flower Rain!’]

[Alert: Bring the ‘Wraith’s Wail’ to Quandt!]

Siegfried smiled after reading the string of messages. He was glad that Nascimento came looking for him since he would have wasted a few days chasing after Nascimento if the latter had decided to go on the run.

“Congratulations on your victory, Your Majesty!” Oscar approached Siegfried and congratulated him.

“Congratulations on your victory, Your Majesty!”

The Proatine Forces also congratulated him at the top of their lungs.

“Don’t mention it,” Siegfried replied with a smile and waved his hand in dismissal. Then, he asked, “Shall we press on?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” the Proatine Forces replied with resounding enthusiasm.

Siegfried had no plans of leaving the barbarian tribes alone.

***

Two days later…

‘I’m currently Level 83, and I’ve accumulated 80% of the required Experience Points for the next level… I think I can gain two more levels today as long as they don’t surrender…’ Siegfried thought after he logged in to the game.

He seemed to be more interested in whether he could level up or not rather than in the subjugation campaign itself.

The barbarians weren’t the type to easily bend their knee against a conqueror.

Surrender?

They didn’t even know what that was as it didn’t exist in their dictionary.

The reason Siegfried continued to offer them the option to surrender was that he wasn’t really fond of committing a massacre. However, it seemed that there simply was no difference no matter how many barbarian tribes he wiped out.

In fact, the barbarians grew even more aggressive. Most of them attempted to ambush or raid the Proatine Forces from the back lines.

Fortunately for Siegfried, the aggressive attitude of the barbarians gave him a boost. He was able to power level thanks to them.

‘They’re going to be a nuisance come winter, so I might as well clean them up while I’m at it,’ Siegfried thought.

The barbarians would surely invade his lands when winter arrived, and their historically proven actions of pillaging and burning villages were a huge risk factor as well if he turned around and let them be.

“Your Majesty!” Oscar exclaimed as she rushed into Siegfried’s tent and said, “I have something to report.”

“What is it, Dame Oscar?”

“The chieftains of the barbarian tribes have requested an audience with you.”

“Tell them to line up and wait,” Siegfried said, seemingly annoyed. Then, he added, “Or you can tell them to gang up on me. Anyway, just tell them to wait, and I’ll be right there after I’m done allocating my additional stat points…”

“Your Majesty, I don’t think they’re here to ask for a duel against you.”

“Then?”

“The barbarian chieftains have agreed to a surrender.”

“Surrender…? They will surrender…?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Ah… why are they surrendering now?” Siegfried grumbled with a grimace.

“Your Majesty? Are you not glad of this news?”

“Not at all.”

“W-Why…?”

Oscar was taken aback by Siegfried’s response. It didn’t make sense how Siegfried wasn’t happy at the enemy’s surrender. She really couldn’t understand her liege’s thoughts.

“No, tell them not to surrender.”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“Why are they surrendering now? They did not listen when I told them to! No way, never, I’m never going to accept it. I will kill them all, all of them.”

“Your Majesty! Please show your mercy to the ignorant and foolish barbarians!”

“No way, nuh-uh. I have no intentions of accepting their surrender, so tell them to hurry up and leave.”

“Y-Your Majesty!” Oscar exclaimed. She wanted to change Siegfried’s mind.

“…I’m just kidding,” Siegfried said with a smirk before adding, “I should accept it if they want to surrender, right? But it would have been much better if they surrendered much earlier. Fewer people would have died that way… tsk…”

“Is… Is that so? I thought that Your Majesty wasn’t going to accept the barbarians’ surrender…”

“C’mon, there’s no way I will do that. Well… I could grow much stronger after wiping them out,” Siegfried said while caressing the Rune of Transcendence at the back of his hand before he added, “But still, I should at least listen to what they have to say since they have decided to surrender, right? Come, let’s go and meet them.”

Siegfried left the tent to go and meet the barbarian chieftains.