Debuff Master

“The main forces and the Tiger Squad are going to maneuver and attack the enemy’s base! Tulip Squad, to the front! Alligator Squad, to the left flank!”

The command was given.

“Alligator Squad! All forces to the left flank!”

“To the left flank!”

The Alligator Squad was able to catch a breather thanks to the order that required them to move out of the frontlines and to the left flank. There were fewer Cryptids attacking from the left flank, so they were finally able to catch a break after a long time.

“Private Sieg-nim.”

“Yes?”

“It seems that the battalion commander has issued a fair order for once. Thanks to this, our forces are able to take a break.”

“Ah, yes…” Siegfried muttered in response after smashing a few Cryptids with his hammer. He had switched off Irradiate a while ago, so he had to resort to smashing them apart.

Gulp! Gulp! 

He drank a bottle of Mana Potion before saying, “It is indeed a relief, but something seems off…”

Siegfried had the word ‘skeptical’ written all over his face.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Carell asked after he split a Cryptid into two.

Carell was only able to do that since he had gotten a lot stronger after being beaten—no, trained by Siegfried in the past few days.

“The front line has to push the enemy back a bit for the main forces and the Tiger Squad to maneuver around.”

“S-So…?”

“But they shifted us, who have the strongest firepower, to the left flank and assigned the front lines only to the Tulip Squad. Don’t you think something is off about it?”

“Huh?” Carell tilted his head in confusion before he finally realized what Siegfried was trying to say. “It is indeed strange now that I think about it. Why did he send us to the left flank, even though it’s relatively calm here?”

All of a sudden, one of the lieutenants screamed.

“Sq…. Squad leader-nim!”

“What is it, Lieutenant Randell?”

“Look… Look over there!”

“Hmm?”

“In front… In front of us!”

Siegfried and Carell turned their heads at the same time.

“I knew it.”

“Ah…”

Siegfried flashed a cold smile while Carell stared at the sight with despair written all over his face.

“Kyaaaaak!”

“Kwuek! Kweuuuuuk!”

“Kiruek! Kiruek!”

A swarm of B Rank Cryptids was headed toward the left flank.

***

Two hours later, a small struggle broke out in front of the battalion commander’s tent.

“Private Sieg! Return at once! You may not meet the commander without a prior appointment!”

“C’mon, I’m sure he isn’t that busy. Just let me meet him for a minute.”

Siegfried was having an argument with Captain Sorscimus de Smallball.

“Look here, Private Sieg. This is the army. We have to abide by military law.”

“So?”

“If you want to meet the battalion commander, then you have to report to your platoon commander first, then to the squad commander, and then…”

“Even if I want to meet him for a minute and have a cup of tea?”

“It is impossible under any circumstances without any prior arrangements. Return at once.”

“Ah, he is playing hard to get…”

“Silence! How dare a private say such…”

Captain Sorscimus was about to teach Siegfried a lesson when Fallshcirm suddenly spoke from within the tent, “Let him in.”

“Go ahead...” Sorscimus stepped aside.

“Hello, Battalion Commander-nim,” Siegfried greeted Fallschirm, who was enjoying a scrumptious-looking steak and a glass of wine.

“Salute your superior officers, Private Sieg,” Fallschirm said before adding, “You might be an Adventurer, but you are my subordinate as well.”

“Ah, of course. Salute!” Siegfried saluted.

“Salute,” Fallschirm responded with a slight nod, and then he said, “You are quite the obedient one. I thought you weren’t going to salute me.”

“There is no reason for me not to,” Siegfried replied with a shrug before he added, “We salute to the rank and not to the person, right sir?”

Fallschirm raised a brow and thought, ‘Oh? Look at this bastard.’

It was clear as day that Siegfried had dealt a blow to Fallschirm just now, and the first round of their battle of wits ended in Siegfried’s victory.

“Well, I won’t fuss over it since you aren’t wrong. So, why did you want to see me? I hope you’re not here to stir up trouble for what happened a while ago. You should return to your squad if that’s what this is for…” Fallschirm said.

“Huh? Why would you think that?” Siegfried asked in response.

“Why would I think that? That’s because…” Fallschirm started, and he almost blurted out, ‘That’s because I pushed your squad to the jaws of death and ran away alone.’

‘Where did this damned bastard even come from…?’ Fallschirm inwardly cursed.

“Did I say something that hit a sore spot?” Siegfried asked.

“No. All commands are given after careful consideration of tactics and strategy, and there is nothing that we can do about it even if there were an error somewhere.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Why? Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not at all,” Siegfried shook his head before saying, “Why would the forty-nine casualties of the Alligator Squad be the battalion commander’s fault? It was a decision made to make it easier to retreat after all.”

The battle that occurred two hours ago ended up with forty-nine NPC soldiers and twenty-one Adventurers dead out of the eighty-nine squad members. It was impossible to save the entire squadron against the B Rank Cryptids even if Siegfried used Irradiate, Torrential Flower Rain, and all of his debuffs.

“Is that the reason you came looking for me? I’m disappointed if that were the case,” Fallschirm said with a sleazy smile before adding, “But aren’t you an Adventurer? You’re getting stronger the more battles the Alligator Squad gets involved in, thanks to that ancient rune you guys have, right?”

“I am very thankful for that,” Siegfried said with a smile.

“If you came all the way here because of those dead soldiers, then I find that humorous of you.”

“What’s so funny about it?”

“Isn’t it funny? A person from another world getting all sentimental just because one of our soldiers died,” Fallschirm said with a shrug.

And Siegfried finally decided at that very moment…

‘I’m going to kill this bastard.’

He decided to kill Fallschirm with his very own hands.

***

The NPCs in BNW could see, hear, speak, and think just like normal humans. As such, Siegfried had never treated the NPCs like trash. However, that wasn’t the case for Fallschirm, who was an NPC himself. He thought of them as nothing more than disposable pawns, and he was willing to sacrifice an entire squad if it meant his safe retreat from danger.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Fallschirm was the worst kind of superior one could ever meet in an army.

“Private Sieg, you should mind your own business, and I will mind my own. Then, I will win my battles, and you will grow stronger. Isn’t that a win-win situation for both of us? Don’t you think so?”

“Well, yeah, sure,” Siegfried replied with a shrug before he added, “Then, please take good care of me from now on.”

“I hope I can live up to your expectations,” Fallschirm replied with a sleazy smile.

They glared at each other while respectively thinking…

‘I’m gonna kill you.’

‘You can’t do anything against me. Hehe. You’re a weakling getting emotional all over the death of some disposable pawns, tsk tsk… You still have a long way to go.’

***

“H-How did it go?” Carell asked as soon as Siegfried entered the tent.

“What do you mean by how did it go? I just went to check something,” Siegfried grumbled in response.

“What do you mean by checking something…?”

“Whether to kill Fallschirm or not.”

“T-Then your decision is…?”

“I plan to kill him,” Siegfried replied.

“You cannot do that.”

“Why not?”

“You will be wanted by the kingdom if Your Majesty kills Fallschirm. Then, the Proatine Kingdom and our Macallan Kingdom will end up waging war against each other.”

“I never said I’m going to kill him myself.”

“Huh? Then how do you plan to kill Fallschirm?”

We are bit.ly/3iBfjkV, find us on google.

“Have you ever heard of riding out the storm?”

“R-Riding out the storm...?”

“Yeah, it basically means we will tough things out.”[1]

“Ehh…?”

“We need to ride out the storm right now. We will just keep enduring it, and Fallschirm will end up drying himself out.”

“I do not follow what you mean by that…”

“Just wait and see. Fallschirm will end up drying himself out,” Siegfried said with a sinister smile.

Siegfried had a lot of experience serving—no, hunting in this place.

What did that mean?

He knew very well how the ecosystem of the Arachnid Temporary Outpost worked.

“I guarantee that in probably… two weeks? Fallschirm is going to be in a difficult position within that time,” Siegfried confidently said.

His ‘prophecy’ was a direct result of his confidence in his experience.

***

That afternoon, another mobilization order came, and it seemed that Fallschirm was hell-bent on squeezing everything he could out of the Alligator Squad for his own benefit. To be exact, he was taking full advantage of Siegfried.

“Another mobilization?”

“Just kill us!”

“That damned battalion commander!”

“That son of a bitch!”

Fallschirm wasn’t interested in the likes of Carell. He was simply mobilizing the squadron where Siegfried was assigned so that he could continuously ‘harvest’ victories for his track record.

Of course, this drove the Alligator Squad members insane.

“Let’s go.”

Siegfried completed his duties without a fret.

“Issue a mobilization order to the Alligator Squad,” Fallschirm said. He diligently issued mobilization order after mobilization order to the Alligator Squad as he greedily built up his reputation off the back of Siegfried’s efforts.

The intense exchange between Fallschirm, who was abusing the Alligator Squad for his own gain, and Siegfried, who was silently carrying out all missions assigned to his squad, was like seeing a clash between a spear and a shield.

A few days later…

“First platoon! Support the left flank! Third platoon! Keep enduring! Second platoon! Drive the enemies back until Private Sieg recovers his mana!”

Carell was reborn as a skillful commander who knew how to lead his men in battle.

[You have reached Level 94!]

[You have reached Level 95!]

[Alert: You have five levels remaining before you may learn a new skill!]

Siegfried was about to reach Level 100, but that wasn’t all.

“They’re coming. We’re going to stab them in three. One… two… three… stab!”

“Stab!”

The Alligator Squad fought against the Cryptids with minimal movement.

“Someone go and help Sieg-nim replenish his mana!”

“Tankers! Forward!”

“AOE magic ready to be fired!”

The Adventurers in the squad diligently worked to fight against the Cryptids.

The entire Alligator Squad was obviously growing stronger. Time and time again, they were pushed to the brink of death, which turned the surviving soldiers into hardened veteran soldiers.

And that wasn’t the only change that occurred to the Alligator Squad.

“Corporal Tasty Daughter-in-law! Reporting for duty!”

“Sergeant Shevchenko! Reporting for duty!”

“Sergeant Blancpain! Reporting for duty!”

The adventurers with the ID Tasty Daughter-in-law, Shevchenko, and Blancpain were the first Adventurers to transfer to the Alligator Squad, and they were soon followed by a swarm of Adventurers fighting for a spot in the squad.

Physical DPS?

Sorted out!

Magic DPS?

Sorted out as well!

Even the elusive Healers and Buffers signed up for the Alligator Squad.

“W-What is going on…? Your Majesty, is this really happening? Is this a dream? The Adventurers are signing up for our squad of their own volition!” Carell exclaimed, seemingly surprised at the sudden change.

“Ah, that? It’s only natural,” Siegfried nonchalantly replied.

“N-Natural…?”

“The Adventurers have the privilege to ‘choose’ their squad.”

“That’s something I am aware of as well, but…”

“Do you know what squads the Adventurers want to join?”

“That’s… probably a strong squad that can fight well?

“That’s why they are signing up for our squad.”

“I-Is that how it is now?”

“If not, what is it then? Do you really think that there are squads in the C Rank area that are as strong as us?”

“Well… of course… there aren’t any… ah!” Carell gasped in surprise upon finally realizing what Siegfried was trying to say.

“The Adventurers want a squad where they can hunt one more monster with ease since that’s the only way they can grow stronger through their Rune of Transcendence. Now, where do you think the Adventurers in this area will gather? Isn’t the answer obvious?”

“I see…”

“How do you think the battalion commander will react? Our squad has more than two hundred Adventurers, including the reserves. I think we can now be considered a battalion judging by the number of Adventurers we have, am I right? Haha!” Siegfried said with a smirk.

1. The raws use the Korean word 존버 which means ‘endure the fuck out of something,’ but it sounded kinda off in English. ☜