Debuff Master - Chapter 1126

Chapter 1126

Michele was honestly stunned at how Siegfried came up with a detailed plan on how to handle the oncoming refugees so quickly.

‘They say the position maketh the man… I guess that’s true. He really does think in a different way now.’

He thought back to the first time they had met.

Back then, Siegfried had been a complete novice when it came to politics. He was completely clueless when it came to politics.

He was a warrior, through and through. He lived and breathed on the battlefield; he was definitely not a suitable ruler.

However, Siegfried von Proa had changed drastically and now?

‘To think he’d present a policy that easily, just like that…’

“Hey, what are you staring at me for?” Siegfried grumbled.

“H-Huh?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I-It is nothing, sire.”

“Nothing? Yeah, right,” Siegfried scoffed. Then, he narrowed his eyes and said suspiciously, “Hey, you…”

“Y-Yes, sire?”

“You’re thinking that I’ve gotten smarter, aren’t you?”

“T-That is…!”

“You didn’t expect me to say all that stuff. That’s why you looked so surprised that a guy like me came up with something like that, right?”

“N-No! Not at all!”

“Yeah, right! Do you take me for a fool?” Siegfried growled in response. Then, he grimaced and said, “You think I can’t tell what you’re thinking just by the way your eyes are twitching? Ha?!”

“H-Hiiiik!”

“Ever heard of reading body language?”

“P-Pardon me…?”

“I can see right through you if I wanted to do so.”

“A-Ahem! Ahem!”

Michele started clearing his throat while trying his best to avoid Siegfried’s death glare.

“Are you… clearing your throat to my face right now?”

“N-No, sire! My throat just got itchy all of a sudden!”

“And my hammer’s getting itchy. You better watch it, punk.”

“I… I do not quite follow…”

“Let’s leave it at that,” Siegfried said with a smirk. Then, he continued in a gentler tone, “Anyway, I know you’re swamped with the postwar recovery efforts, but make sure you take care of yourself too.”

“Your grace is immeasurable, sire.”

“And start preparing to celebrate. It’s a victory, after all. There are a lot of people who went through hell during this war, so we will have to hand out plenty of rewards.”

“As you command.”

“At least it looks like things will finally quiet down for a bit.”

It was then.

“Your Imperial Majesty!”

A voice came from outside the chamber.

“Chief Archangel Michael requests an audience.”

“…Huh?” Siegfried muttered, blinking in surprise.

He hadn’t expected to see Michael, who had returned to the Celestial Realm, to show up again so soon.

“Let him in.”

“As you command, sire.”

Moments later, Michael walked in. He looked like an ordinary human, as he had no wings nor divine aura radiating from him. This made sense, as no angel could descend into the Middle Realm with their full power without any open Celestial Gate.

Michael, too, couldn’t descend with a shred of his powers, so he had taken on the form of a normal human being.

“Welcome, Michael,” Siegfried welcomed him warmly.

“Hello, Siegfried. How have you been?” Michael replied with a smile in return.

“I’m doing great. But… it hasn’t even been that long, has it? What, six days now?”

“Haha! I suppose you’re right.”

“You’re missing me already?” Siegfried teased. Then, he said, “I imagine the Celestial Realm must be a mess. You’ve probably been running around nonstop.”

“Yes, the Celestial Realm is in shambles. It will take hundreds of years to fully restore it. But it’s fine, my brethren have returned to how they were, so we will rebuild our home slowly and surely.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Hahaha!”

“But Siegfried… There’s something urgent I need to discuss—” Michael said, his tone suddenly shifting to a serious one.

“Stop. Don’t,” Siegfried cut him off.

“…Excuse me?” Michael muttered and blinked. He was caught off guard by the bluntness.

“Just don’t. I don’t want to hear it,” Siegfried said, immediately standing up and trying to leave.

“Siegfried! Please! Just let me explain—”

“La la la~ I can’t hear you! La la la la la!”

Siegfried plugged his ears with his fingers and refused to listen.

‘Nope! Not again! No way!’

He could already tell just by looking at Michael’s reaction that something big had happened again.

And he was having none of it.

The continent had just started settling down, and the last thing he wanted was to get dragged into another massive incident without even being able to enjoy the little rest he finally obtained.

“I know that you must be very tired, Siegfried. I understand…” Michael said, staring at him as if he was pitiful.

“Nope! Not listening!”

“Yes, I know that you have suffered enough, Siegfried. I shouldn’t bother you anymore… It wouldn’t be right if I did that.”

“I’m not listening~ Lalala~”

“I suppose we will have to resolve this with our own strength. I guess we’re on our own to recapture the ancient monsters that escaped from Purgatory…” Michael said, sniffling with teary eyes.

“…”

Siegfried was completely speechless. He had not expected Michael, of all people, to pull the sympathy card on him. The Chief Archangel looked so pitiful, just like a puppy drenched in the rain.

‘Damn it… So even someone as noble and pure as him can resort to a dirty trick if they’re desperate… Just what the hell did he learn during his stay here?’ Siegfried thought, shaking his head. He was stunned by what the Middle Realm had done to the archangel.

Ironically, the one who taught these things to Michael was none other than Siegfried himself. But of course, he was completely oblivious to that fact.

***

Siegfried really didn’t want to hear whatever was about to come out of Michael’s mouth, but he gave in and decided to listen, at least, as he couldn’t ignore him forever, anyway.

“So… the ancient monsters escaped from Purgatory, the Celestial Prison?”

Yes, that is correct, Siegfried. This is a grave situation,” Michael replied solemnly.

“Well, can’t you just round them up and throw them back in?”

“That’s the problem… The monsters that were sealed inside Purgatory are as terrifying as the Four Apocalypses that you defeated before. There’s a reason even we couldn’t destroy them in the past, and all we could do was seal them in the Celestial Prison.”

“What? They’re really that dangerous?”

“Yes, they are extremely dangerous.”

“Even you can’t kill them, Michael?”

“No, Siegfried. I can neither control nor defeat them even if I were to use all my powers as the Chief Archangel.”

“Damn…”

“If even someone as powerful as Lucifer couldn’t handle them and only managed to seal them in Purgatory, that should tell you all there is to know about just how scary they are, right?”

“Yeah, that’s seriously bad…” Siegfried grimaced and muttered. Then, he asked, “So what now? Are they rampaging through the Celestial Realm? Hold on, but you wouldn’t be here in person if that were the case, right? No way… That’s not it, right? Tell me what I’m thinking right now is wrong…”

“…”

“Please, tell me I’m wrong, Michael.”

“…I’m sorry,” Michael said, lowering his head. Then, he explained, “It seems that the ancient monsters that escaped have… fled to the Middle Realm. I truly apologize for burdening you again…”

“…”

“I truly apologize…”

“…”

“Siegfried…?”

Michael noticed that there was something wrong with Siegfried’s expression.

Thud…!

“S-Siegfried?!”

“Let me go! I said, let go!”

“No! You mustn’t, Siegfried!”

“I swear I’m going to throw myself out that window!”

“Siegfried!”

Michael had to struggle for ten full minutes just to stop Siegfried from jumping out of the window.

Ten minutes later…

“So what you’re saying is… the Middle Realm is about to be turned into a war zone again?”

“Yes.”

“Not even a week since we stopped the invasion?”

“…That’s right.”

“Oh my poor fucking luck…” Siegfried groaned.

At least during the past incident, he managed to hold the line thanks to his power to transform, but that power was no more.

In other words, he had to fight with nothing but his own strength against the ancient monsters that neither Michael nor Lucifer could defeat.

“There must be a way… But how…?” Siegfried muttered under his breath, looking lifeless.

“My brethren and I will do anything we can to help,” Michael said with a mix of guilt and resolve.

“I know you will,” Siegfried nodded.

He never doubted Michael’s sincerity and reassurance.

Unfortunately, it did not change the fact that the situation was extremely grim.

There had been warning signs, prophecies, and even omens before the fallen angels invaded the continent. That gave Siegfried and the others plenty of time to prepare, and he also had Michael, who guided him through it all.

But what about this time?

All they knew was that the ancient monsters had escaped from Purgatory and were now somewhere in the Middle Realm—that was it.

They were going into this blind, which made this awful situation even worse.

“The ancient monsters that were sealed in Purgatory are creatures from the dawn of creation. You will need to fully prepare yourself for the horrors you will be facing, Siegfried,” Michael warned, his voice sounding grave.

As soon as his words fell…

Ding!

A notification popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: A new scenario has been unlocked!]

[Alert: One of the main scenarios of Brave New World, the Legacy of the Creator, has now begun!]

The third main scenario of the game—after the Cult of Chaos and the Holy War—had finally been unlocked.

***

It was only natural that Siegfried, the main protagonist of the game, was the first one to unlock the next main scenario.

‘Legacy of the Creator? What kind of scenario is this one supposed to be?’ he wondered.

Unfortunately, there was no way for him to know anything about it for now. Thus, he decided to focus on what was in front of him, which was the postwar recovery efforts.

“All right, I get it. I’ll do what I can to stop it,” Siegfried said.

“I’m forever grateful to you, Siegfried,” Michael said, bowing his head.

“Hey, don’t mention it. It’s not like this is your fault.”

“I’m still ashamed.”

“Really, it’s fine. For now, just concentrate on rebuilding the Celestial Realm while I figure things out here in the Middle Realm.”

“Okay…”

With that, Michael returned to the Celestial Realm after warning Siegfried.

Hamchi looked up at Siegfried with worried eyes.

“Kyuuu! Is it another disaster, owner punk? Why is there never a peaceful day in this world?”

“Tell me about it,” Siegfried replied, sighing in agreement. Then, he added, “And just when the Coral Race campaign is still going on too…”

The Marchioni Empire was still locked in a fierce war against the Coral Race.

Fortunately, Emperor Stuttgart had realized that a battle with the alien invaders would be inevitable and decided to preemptively strike by launching a counter campaign to their planet.

This proved to be an extremely wise move, as the battlefield had shifted away from the continent to the home planet of the Coral Race.

It would indeed cost them a fortune and many lives sacrificed, but at least the continent would not be devastated by the war.

There was a saying that the best kind of war was one that happened on someone else’s land.

Even the Proatine Empire had rarely fought wars on its own territories since its founding, and that played a huge part in the nation’s rise to power.

Preserving national infrastructures and farmlands was crucial to a nation’s growth, and avoiding any wars in their own lands was key.

‘Emperor Stuttgart is fighting his own battle to protect the world, so that means I have my own role to play. But I didn’t expect it would be to fight against the ancient monsters that escaped from Purgatory, damn it…’

While Siegfried was thinking that way…

“Your Imperial Majesty.”

Michele, who had briefly stepped out, returned with a report.

“Emperor Stuttgart has issued an imperial edict.”

“Huh? What is it about?”

“Would you like to read it? Well, there is nothing much in it.”

“What does it say?”

“Emperor Stuttgart is summoning you.”

“…Me?”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“When?”

“He asks that you come to the Marchioni Empire’s imperial palace as soon as your schedule allows you to.”

“Really? I guess I’ll go now.”

“A wise decision, sire.”

“Eh? Why is that a wise decision? I’m just going because he called me and I’m free right now.”

Michele smiled faintly and replied, “That is the smartest thing you can do right now, sire. To bow your head and show absolute submission to Emperor Stuttgart.”

“Huh? What’s that all about suddenly?” Siegfried asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“No, it is not sudden at all, sire,” Michele replied, shaking his head.

“What do you mean by that…?”

Michele sighed as if he couldn’t believe he was asked the question and asked in response, “Who do you think the greatest threat to Emperor Stuttgart is right now?”

“Well, obviously, it’s whoever the leader of those Coral—”

“No, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“Eh?”

“It is you.”

“….What?”

“The number one person Emperor Stuttgart will be keeping his eye on is none other than you, Your Imperial Majesty.”