Debuff Master - Chapter 1170
Chapter 1170
The sight of the Coral Emperor kissing Siegfried’s dirty boots was nothing short of shocking.
“…!”
Everyone in the throne room froze in shock.
“Y-You Imperial Majesty! What are you doing?!”
“M-My lord!”
The Coral Emperor’s left and right hands, Archmaine and Maximus, were so shocked that they cried out at him.
Siegfried, too, was just as shocked as they were. He expected a firm handshake at most, so he had never imagined that he would be faced with something like this.
“W-Wait! Hold on! What are you doing?!” Siegfried exclaimed. Then, he hurriedly got down and tried to help the Coral Emperor to his feet, “Come on! Please, get up!”
However, the Coral Emperor stayed prostrated right in front of Siegfried, refusing to budge.
“O Savior. I, the Emperor of the Corals, greet the Savior.”
“Eeeh?!”
“You are our only hope. You will bring deliverance to our entire race. Please, let me offer you my utmost respect.”
“Me? I’m the what now? N-No, don’t do this. Please, get up first,” Siegfried stammered, forcing the emperor to stand. Then, he said, “I honestly don’t know what’s going on right now, but please don’t do this.”
“You are the one who will save our entire race. It is only right for me to show respect to you, Savior,” the Coral Emperor replied with a smile.
“Excuse me? Me? Savior?”
“It is a long story to explain.”
“Huh?”
“Please, come with me.”
With that, the Coral Emperor led Siegfried away from the throne room to another place.
‘What in the world is this guy thinking?’ Siegfried wondered.
He was honestly quite confused. It just didn’t make sense for him to suddenly be called “Savior” out of nowhere and be treated with such respect.
“Kyu? You’re a savior again, owner punk? Why are you always going around saving something? Should I call you savior punk now?” Hamchi asked in a whisper.
“Shut up. Do you really think I want to crack jokes right now? My head’s about to explode,” Siegfried growled, shooting a glare at him.
“Kyuuu?”
“You think I like doing nice things for other people for free? Damn it…”
Siegfried was still furious about getting stabbed in the back by the Marchioni Empire.
Not only had the Marchioni Empire deceived him into fending off the fallen angels without their help, but they even tricked him into playing mercenary for them. As if that was not enough, the Marchioni Empire had been lining their own pockets behind the scenes and was even plotting to stab him in the back.
Thus, it was only normal for him to be furious.
‘Anyway, let’s just hear him out first,’ he thought.
Siegfried started, asking, “Sorry, but why are you calling me a savior? I’m not your savior.”
“You are the Savior,” the Coral Emperor replied. Then, he smiled and added, “I have no doubt whatsoever.”
“But we literally just met today, didn’t we? How could you say something like that when we just met?” Siegfried asked, dumbfounded by the absurd response he got.
“I can see the future.”
“What…?”
“And in the future I saw, you were the one who saved our entire race.”
“W-What do you mean by that…?”
“You are the only one who can stop those wicked invaders.”
“You must have seen that wrong, very, very wrong.”
“No, I am certain of what I saw. You will save our people.”
“I don’t wish for your people to be enslaved, so I do want to help. But if you single me out like this as some savior, then—”
“I will make it so.”
“Huh? Make what?”
“I will tell you how to save us.”
After saying that, the Coral Emperor flashed a smile that seemed to hold far more meanings than it showed.
***
Meanwhile, Ninetail returned to the Proatine Empire and informed Michele of what she overheard at the Palace of Blood.
Since Siegfried was away on the Coral Planet, the one in charge of making decisions was none other than Michele.
“In the end… The Marchioni Empire was not one to consider having a rival…” Michele muttered, biting his lower lip.
This was the very scenario he had feared, and his fears had finally come.
“I know. I know that very well,” Ninetail replied with a nod. She knew plenty about the history of the world due to her former occupation as a legendary thief. Studying valuable artworks naturally led to her studying their history, too, and by extension, she got to discover far more about the continent’s secrets than most people.
In fact, her knowledge of history far surpassed that of most historians.
“I have always been worried about this. The bigger our empire grows, the more uneasy I become, as we never know when the Marchioni Empire might point their sword at us,” Michele said.
“I feel the same.”
“I’ve been warning His Imperial Majesty about this. Fortunately, His Imperial Majesty never ignored my advice even once. He tried hard to keep his head down before the Marchioni Empire and maintain good relations with Emperor Stuttgart.
“But… It seems the Marchioni Empire has already made plans to bring our empire down. After all, we are the final obstacle standing in the empire’s dream of unifying the continent under one rule.”
Ninetail grimaced and asked, “But do they have to go that far? Do they really have to rule over the entire continent? I know the Marchioni Empire is powerful, but going against us is going to cost them dearly, too.”
“Well… It will cost them much more if they wait any longer, don’t you think so?” Michele replied.
“Ah…”
“From the Marchioni Empire’s point of view, it’s only natural for them to crush us as quickly as possible and unify the continent.”
“I guess we can’t avoid a fight then.”
“But we can delay it. His Imperial Majesty has become a burden that even the Marchioni Empire finds hard to deal with. They will most likely hesitate to strike us right away.”
“Then what will they do?”
“Just as you’ve discovered, they will first try to turn public opinion against His Imperial Majesty. Then, they will quietly prepare to strike us, most probably after they have conquered the Coral Planet.”
“This is bad. That means we don’t have much time left.”
“Before anything else, we must inform His Imperial Majesty and come up with countermeasures. In addition, we must keep an eye on the Marchioni Empire’s troops stationed in our empire.”
An entire corps of the Marchioni Empire, led by Princess Irene, was currently stationed in the Proatine Empire.
They had initially been stationed under the pretext of protecting the Proatine Empire, but they had not returned to their homeland even now, despite the fact that all threats were no more.
“Princess Irene does view His Imperial Majesty favorably, but she can’t disobey Emperor Stuttgart’s commands. Hence, we must keep a close eye on the Marchioni Empire’s troops and wait for instructions from His Imperial Majesty.”
“Okay,” Ninetail nodded and hurriedly left the office.
“Ah… Not a single day goes by without something happening…” Michele muttered bitterly, feeling drained.
It was always one problem after another.
Just when he thought he could finally catch a break, a new danger loomed on the horizon. To make things worse, the threat this time was one other than the most powerful nation on the continent, the mighty Marchioni Empire.
Michele couldn’t help but be filled with anxiety at the thought of going against such a juggernaut.
***
“I will tell you what to do from now on, Savior.”
“Tell me… what to do?”
“First, you must kill me.”
“…Eh?”
Siegfried couldn’t believe his ears.
The Coral Emperor ruled over an entire planet, but he was now asking a total stranger—who was an alien from their perspective—to kill him out of nowhere.
“Are you perhaps… insane? Or maybe senile?” Siegfried grimaced and asked. Then, he said, “If you’re suffering from mental health issues, then you should go see a psychiatrist instead.”
“I am not insane nor senile, Savior. I am simply telling you what must be done. You must kill me for my entire race to survive.”
“But why? What does me killing you have to do with saving your people?”
“Kill me, take my head, and bring it to the invaders.”
“Huh?”
“Earn their trust and support.”
“W-What did you just say…?”
“You know better than anyone that those invaders will turn their swords on you as well eventually. But if you show them my head, if you gain their trust as the hero who ended the war, then they cannot move against you so easily.”
“So you want me to… buy time?”
“Precisely. In the meantime, my people will endure.”
“And then?”
“Once the time comes… We will awaken the Ancient Corals who sleep somewhere on this planet and drive out the invaders.”
“Ancient Corals?”
“They are our ancestors, perfect beings left in place in case invaders from another world ever threatened our planet.”
“Oooh!”
“Once they awaken, they will be more than enough to drive the invaders off our world.”
“And what about after that?”
“Your strength combined with the strength of our ancestors—with those two powers combined, we can defeat the invaders.”
The Coral Emperor clearly had a plan in mind, and it sounded as if he had really seen the future.
“Besides, I do not have much time left to live anyway, as I have been excessively using Forced Blooming.”
“I see…”
“So kill me first. Take my son, bring him to the invaders, and offer him up as a hostage.”
“E-Even your son…?”
“You must become a war hero among the invaders and buy time for the Ancient Corals to awaken. With their powers, we will be able to overcome this crisis.”
“But wouldn’t it be better if the Coral Race just held out a bit longer instead? If this place ends up under colonial rule, the Marchioni Empire will have absolute reign over everything,” Siegfried said. Then, he added, “Also, I’ll be in danger once the war here is over. With no one else to fight, they will surely turn on me.”
“We want to hold out, too, but we cannot. Also, our race will have to pay an even greater price if we do.”
“Hmm…”
“More bloodshed is meaningless. Bowing low and waiting for the right moment is the only way to survive this,” the Coral Emperor said. Then, he added, “Besides, the invaders will not be able to easily turn their swords on you.”
“Huh? How do you know that?”
The Coral Emperor closed his eyes and gently said, “I can see it. Those invaders still need you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Soon, terrifying beings will appear in your world. Those who were imprisoned in the prison of the heavens will soon bring chaos upon your world. Those invaders will need your power and cannot make any move against you.”
As soon as the Coral Emperor uttered those words…
‘T-This guy is the real deal! Holy shit!’ Siegfried shrieked inwardly.
He was stunned that the Coral Emperor—an alien on another planet—was aware of what had happened on the continent.
The prison of the heavens that the Coral Emperor had mentioned could only mean Purgatory, and the terrifying beings were, without a doubt, the monsters that escaped from it.
In other words, the Coral Emperor’s claim that he could see the future was no lie, as the ancient monsters escaping from Purgatory were a secret privy to only a few. It was not something that anyone could find out through ordinary means such as espionage.
“I will show you the way, Savior. Please, believe in me and lend us your strength,” the Coral Emperor pleaded to Siegfried in an earnest voice.
“First… Give me one day,” Siegfried replied.
“One day?”
“I can’t trust you a hundred percent yet, so I’ll have to verify things first.”
Siegfried thought of using the Sword of Truth: Fragarach that Oscar possessed to verify whether the Coral Emperor was lying to him or not.
After all, the Marchioni Empire had already deceived and used him, and he couldn’t afford to make the same mistake again.
He intended to use the lie detector to find out whether he could trust the Coral Emperor completely or not at all.
