Debuff Master - Chapter 1153

Chapter 1153

Hansen was buried in a mountain of work he had to do.

While Siegfried only needed to go wherever he was told to go and rampage to his heart’s content, Hansen was not so lucky.

Though his title was merely that of a strategic advisor, he was actually the one commanding the imperial army these days.

The empire’s top generals had entrusted him with strategizing after witnessing just how capable of a strategist he was. Hansen kept coming up with tactics they never would have thought of themselves, so they saw no reason to intervene.

All they did was review the reports Hansen had submitted and sign off on them.

As a result, Hansen had to work more than twenty hours a day without taking a single day off, but he never complained once.

‘A nobody peasant like me was given the chance to command the army of the world’s greatest empire… Who would even believe this? I guess all sorts of things are possible in this world…’

Hansen thought of this opportunity as an honor, no matter how tired he was.

He was a slash-and-burn farmer just like his father before him. He could never have dreamed of standing where he was now. Thus, instead of grumbling and complaining about the workload, he focused on fulfilling his duty with everything he had.

As if rewarding his efforts, the war slowly turned in the imperial army’s favor.

His strategies and Siegfried’s combat prowess created a synergy that was nothing short of monstrous, allowing the imperial army to enjoy a string of victories against the Corals.

‘I’ll just check over these documents, then catch a few hours of sleep.’

Hansen focused on his work until dawn, and then he finally dozed off for a short rest.

No matter how motivated he was, he was still human, so he needed to sleep at least three hours a day to keep his mind sharp.

“Sir! We have an emergency!”

“Hm? What is it?”

Hansen was woken up by his aide’s shouts after barely getting an hour of rest.

“One of our front defensive lines has fallen!”

“What?! Which one?!”

Hansen shot up from his bed in shock.

“The reports state that the defensive lines at Erika Valley have been overrun!”

“What happened?!”

“We do not know the full details yet! All communications with the troops stationed there have been completely cut off after they were attacked!”

“What in the world…”

Hansen nearly lost his composure at the report that they lost one of their most important defensive lines. It was a position he considered vital—one that had to be held at all costs.

‘We will have to overhaul our entire strategy if the Erika Valley ends up falling into the enemy’s hands.’

With that thought, Hansen turned to his aide and said, “Let’s get a clear grasp of the situation first. Send out scouts and instruct them to give a detailed report on what’s happening at Erika Valley.”

“Yes, sir!”

“But how many troops did the Corals send? It should’ve been at least a hundred thousand—”

“No, sir. The last report we received said that there was only a single enemy.”

“What…?” Hansen muttered, his eyes widening. Then, he asked, “Say that again? What do you mean by that?”

“They only got to report that a single unidentified enemy appeared. Nothing more came through after that.”

“That can’t be… how could one person bring down our entire defensive line?”

Just then, an idea popped up in Hansen’s mind. ‘No, it is possible…’

He could think of one person who could single-handedly destroy a strategic stronghold defended by tens of thousands of troops.

‘His Imperial Majesty is definitely capable of that. Which means… this one enemy is as powerful as…? Is that even possible?’

Hansen came to the conclusion that whoever attacked the Erike Valley was on Siegfried’s level or perhaps even stronger than him.

They were no different from a walking weapon of mass destruction.

“First, we must regroup and assess the—”

“Sir! We have another emergency!”

Hansen was just about to give his instructions when another aide came running in.

“The Artrak Fortress is under attack, sir!”

“What?! How many enemy troops? I want answers, now!” Hansen demanded.

“Only a single enemy, sir!”

“…!”

“The reports state that he is tearing through our defensive lines with ease! He’s so strong that our forces are being slaughtered one-sidedly!”

“Deploy the knight order immediately!” Hansen commanded. Then, he immediately went to look for Siegfried. Right now, there was only one person who could face this unidentified enemy, and that person was none other than Siegfried.

***

Meanwhile, Tae-Sung had logged out and fallen into deep sleep.

After schooling Cain and accomplishing his third class advancement, he went to sleep without a care in the world.

Tae-Sung had no idea what was happening inside the game at the moment. He was not some NPC who could stay logged in twenty-four hours a day. He needed to sleep, eat, exercise, and enjoy at least a bit in the real world.

He also needed to go out on dates.

Tae-Sung had a wonderful girlfriend, and spending quality time with her helped him relieve the stress he was getting from the game.

Yong Seol-Hwa was the daughter of the legendary pro gamer, Yong Tae-Pung, and she understood Tae-Sung’s needs. She always cared for him as well.

She was so sweet and caring that no one could say a bad thing about her. On top of that, she was a stunning beauty admired by countless people.

‘Ah, I’m so happy…’

After waking up, Tae-Sung met up with Yong Seol-Hwa at a cozy cafe just outside Seoul.

‘Hmm… I want to do something for Seol-Hwa too…’

He glanced at Yong Seol-Hwa, who was sitting next to him and taking selfies of herself.

‘How can I make her happy? Is there anything I can do for her…?’

He was always grateful to her. He knew just how much he owed her for always understanding him and caring for him, even though he was so absorbed in playing the game most of the time.

Unfortunately, Tae-Sung had no clue how to treat a girl properly, so he couldn’t figure out what to do for her.

‘Hmm… Maybe I should take about two weeks off and spend that time completely with her? Perhaps we could go on a trip overseas?’

He thought that perhaps that was what she wanted the most.

One of the few regrets he had in his relationship was how little time they actually spent together compared to other couples. They were so busy that they usually saw each other only once a week or once every two weeks if things were hectic.

Once they were finally around each other, they rarely had time to stay together for long. They would only spend about five or six hours with each other before calling it a day.

In truth, the main reason they couldn’t spend more time together was solely due to Tae-Sung’s schedule.

Yong Seol-Hwa was busy as well, but she was not as busy as Tae-Sung.

‘Yeah, that sounds like a great idea,’ Tae-Sung thought.

“Hey, Seol-Hwa?”

“Yeah?”

By now, the two had grown much closer that they both started speaking comfortably and casually with each other.

“How about we take about two weeks off and go on a trip together sometime soon?”

“Huh?! A t-trip?! For two whole weeks?!”

“Yeah. I was thinking somewhere in Europe? What do you think? Ah, we won’t be playing BNW while we’re there.”

“Y-Yes! I would love that! Let’s go to Europe!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

Tae-Sung was slightly taken aback by her enthusiasm, as she agreed without a moment’s hesitation and looked like she would run to the airport right that instant.

“Are we really going to Europe, oppa?”

“Yup!”

“For two whole weeks?”

“Of course!”

“I love that!”

Yong Seol-Hwa suddenly threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

“W-Whoa!”

“I love that, oppa!”

Yong Seol-Hwa was far happier with the idea than Tae-Sung expected.

Why?

It was all because she knew just how busy he was and how he had to put his needs before hers. She wanted to go on trips just like other couples, but she had to suppress them in order to support him.

When he took the initiative and offered to go on a trip, Yong Seol-Hwa was overjoyed, as it felt as if he knew about the feelings she had been bottling up for quite a while now.

“I can’t wait!” Yong Seol-Hwa exclaimed gleefully.

“Me, too,” Tae-Sung replied with a smile.

“…!”

Their lips met just then.

***

Siegfried was in an excellent mood the moment he logged into BNW.

He had gotten a good night’s sleep, set up travel plans with Yong Seol-Hwa, and came back feeling fresh in both body and mind.

Unfortunately, his good mood would not last long, as grim news awaited him.

“Huh? What did you just say? I think I misheard you. There’s no way, right?” Siegfried muttered, doubting his ears.

“Kyuuu! Want me to clean your ears for you, owner punk?!” Hamchi suddenly butted in and exclaimed with a spoon in hand.

“Hey! How the hell are you supposed to clean your ears with that?!” Siegfried lashed out.

“Kyuuu?”

“Do you think I’m a dragon or something?!”

After lashing out at Hamchi, he turned back to Hansen.

“I must have heard wrong, right?”

“I am afraid you have heard right, sire,” Hansen replied, lowering his head.

“No, come on. How is that possible? How did we lose five major strategic points overnight? Are you pranking me right now?”

“Far be it from us to fabricate such lies just to prank you, sire…”

“Ah…” Siegfried grabbed the back of his neck and groaned in frustration.

The fact that they lost those strategic points meant that all the running around that he had done for more than twenty days went up in smoke overnight. The places hit by the enemy held extremely critical facilities, and losing them would, without a doubt, heavily impact their war efforts.

“There is an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, sire. All reports are consistent. A lone enemy stormed in and wreaked havoc,” Hansen said.

“That’s insane… So such a monster is out there somewhere…” Siegfried grumbled, visibly annoyed.

“Yes, sire.”

“That guy’s probably as strong as me… or maybe even stronger. Ah, he could be one tough opponent,” Siegfried muttered.

Siegfried was always confident in his own skills, but he was never arrogant.

Based on his assessment, the unidentified enemy was the real deal.

Siegfried’s tactics usually involved sneaking in, striking hard, then quickly retreating.

However, the unknown enemy hadn’t done anything like that. Instead, they tore through the entire defensive line at terrifying speed and slaughtered everyone en masse.

It was clear that this individual possessed immense combat prowess and devastating area-of-effect skills capable of wiping out huge numbers of people in an instant.

‘Did the Corals produce such a monster? Is it one of their elite warriors?’ Siegfried wondered.

Then, he turned to Hansen and said, “I’ll be on standby for now.”

“Pardon me, sire?”

“We’re screwed if I’m out on a mission and that bastard suddenly shows up somewhere, right? It would be like getting caught with our pants down,” Siegfried said with a shrug. Then, he added, “And honestly, that guy seems stronger than me. I have a feeling we will be the ones losing if we get caught blindsided by that guy.”

“Then…”

“Yeah. I’ll wait here for now. And if he shows up, then I’ll move out. That’s the only way.”

It was the best option.

Monsters like Siegfried, who had far transcended the realm of being normal, couldn’t be stopped by thousands of foot soldiers.

Only someone of equal rank or at least a Grandmaster could stop them.

“As you command, sire. I will immediately report the moment we get word of this individual being seen,” Hansen said with a bow.

“Good. Now we play the waiting game,” Siegfried replied with a nod.

And so, Siegfried was forced to stay put at the command center. He had to wait for the unidentified individual who had obliterated five strategic key points overnight to appear again.

The waiting game was not something Siegfried wanted to put up with, as every minute and second counted.

Unfortunately, he was forced to bear the unbearable itch of being stuck doing nothing. Not only that, it was infuriating to watch all his hard-earned progress crumble to dust overnight.

However, he did not let anger take hold of him. In fact, he felt a thrill he had not felt in a long time.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

His heart pounded

‘Who is it? How strong is that guy?’

The thought of clashing with this unknown enemy filled Siegfried with excitement.

He had been itching to test out the new skills he had obtained after becoming the Invincible Emperor, and now, the perfect chance to test those skills had come.

Plus, a fight against another monster was the best, as he would definitely obtain a ton of Experience Points upon defeating such an enemy.

“Let’s go play some Hardstone while we wait, Hamchi.”

“Kyuuu! Got it, owner punk!”

Siegfried passed the time playing Hardstone with Hamchi as he waited.

After a while…

“Maybe I should just log out and take a nap instead?”

Siegfried was about to log out. He was already feeling bored and sleepy.

“Your Imperial Majesty! Sire!”

Hansen’s aide rushed in a panic.

“One of our defensive lines is under attack, sire!”

“Is that so? Okay, let’s go.”

Siegfried stood up and headed straight for the command center.

‘Just wait right there, you bastard.’

With determination in his eyes, Siegfried made haste toward the command center, determined to crush this unidentified powerful enemy with his own hands.