Debuff Master - Chapter 1172
Chapter 1172
“So…”
Duke Neighdelberg started the discussions with the newly-crowned Coral Emperor, Theodosius.
“You’re saying that instead of fighting, you will surrender and willingly become a hostage?”
“Yes,” Theodosius replied with a nod. Then, he said firmly, “In exchange, I ask that you stop the ruthless slaughter of my people.”
“Hmm…”
“As long as I remain your hostage, my people will not dare rebel against you.”
“I will believe it if you say so.”
Duke Neighdelberg did not doubt it, as he knew well what the Coral Emperor meant to the Corals. If the Coral Emperor cooperated with them, then ruling the Corals would be a trivial matter for the Marchioni Empire.
This was their greatest weakness. The Corals had absolute faith and devotion toward their emperor, so if their emperor was made a puppet or hostage, then they would have no choice but to obey.
“But on one condition,” Theodosius suddenly said. Then, he pointed at Siegfried and continued, “I will become a hostage of this man. I will not become a hostage of your empire.”
“W-What?! M-Me?! B-But why me?” Siegfried jumped in surprise and stammered.
“You are the hero of the invaders and the one who assassinated my father, the late emperor. If I must be taken hostage, then it has to be by you,” Theodosius said firmly.
“That’s a bit…”
Siegfried sounded flustered. He shrank back at the burning will for vengeance unleashed by Theodosius.
Meanwhile, Duke Neighdelberg pondered about what to do with the unexpected request.
‘Hmm… How should I react to this?’
This was a war between the Marchioni Empire and the Coral Race.
Naturally, the Marchioni Empire ought to be the one to hold Theodosius captive, as that would make it easier to manage the colony.
Thus, the duke made up his mind and decided to reject the condition.
“That is not possible. You must remain in our empire and—”
Theodosius cut him off and said, “I do not trust you nor your empire.”
“Hm?”
“You tried to murder Maximus through cowardly means.”
“T-That was…!”
“How can I trust you enough to let you hold me hostage after knowing that? I want to guarantee my safety.”
“…”
“As the Coral Emperor, I must remain alive. I have no heir yet, as I have yet to marry. If I die, then that is the end of my bloodline.”
“Ahem!”
“Hence, send me to a third nation instead of your own empire. Ensure my safety. If you do that, my people will obey your rule without question.”
“Haha…” Duke Neighdelberg laughed, unable to respond immediately. As long as the Corals stayed under control and served as obedient slaves, where Theodosius stayed didn’t really matter.
All the Marchioni Empire needed was control over the Coral Planet—and that was it.
‘It seems our reckless attempt to kill Maximus came back to bite us. No wonder the Coral Emperor doesn’t trust us anymore. But of all people, he wants to stay as a hostage of Siegfried von Proa?
‘Is it to get revenge for his father? To stay close and wait for a chance to strike?’
It made sense to the duke, as Theodosius obviously had every reason to resent Siegfried. Even though Siegfried was just a mercenary and the Coral Emperor’s grudge ought to be against the Marchioni Empire, Siegfried was still the one who had personally killed the late Coral Emperor.
‘Fine. We will leave him with the Proatine Empire for a few months and watch. If they can’t keep him in check, then we will have an excuse to swoop in later.’
With that thought, Duke Neighdelberg made up his mind.
“Very well. In that case, you may stay with the Proatine Empire as requested. But the Marchioni Empire will control the Coral Planet, so even while you reside in the Proatine Empire, you are expected to fully cooperate with us.”
“I will… do so,” Theodosius replied with a nod.
It was then.
“E-Excuse me? Just a second?” Siegfried interjected. Then, he said, “I am not really comfortable with this arrangement…”
The duke turned to him and said, “This is in service of helping your sworn elder brother, His Imperial Majesty. Surely you were not about to refuse?”
“Well, that’s… still…”
“Please, just look after the Coral Emperor for a while.”
“Ughh…”
Siegfried pretended to be hesitating, and he even appeared to be flustered, but the truth was that everything was going exactly as planned.
‘Good. Everything’s going according to plan,’ he thought and smiled inwardly while keeping his mask up.
“Fine. I will take him,” Siegfried said, sounding reluctant.
“Your grace is truly immeasurable,” Duke Neighdelberg replied, bowing respectfully.
***
Meanwhile, certain rumors were spreading throughout the continent, and these rumors concerned none other than the Holy Hero Emperor, Siegfried von Proa.
“Hey, did you hear the news?”
“What news?”
“That news! You know, that news!”
“Huh? Just say it. What news?”
“They say Siegfried von Proa slept with a woman from the neighboring village!”
“Oh really? That village woman must be quite the beauty, then. Lucky her! Getting the favor of such a person means—Hold on! She will probably be brought to the imperial palace to become a concubine!”
The culture on the continent resembled that of a medieval society, so to sleep with someone of royal or imperial blood was considered an immense honor and fortune.
Even if she could not become the empress, becoming a concubine and gaining the status of a consort was a huge step up in rank.
“That’s not it at all!”
“Hmm? Then what is it?”
“Siegfried von Proa had actually forced himself on a married woman!”
“Are you telling me to believe that nonsense? Why would such a great hero commit such a vile act?”
“I’m telling you, man! They say Siegfried von Proa is a shameless womanizer and a downright pervert!”
Rumors about Siegfried abusing his power and committing sexual assaults wherever he went started to spread throughout the continent, but in reality, he was busy running around the Coral Planet with barely any rest.
But that was not all…
“They say someone greeted Emperor Siegfried the wrong way and lost their head for it!”
“Did you hear? They say Siegfried got drunk and burned an entire village to the ground!”
Stories began to circulate that Siegfried had been committing every atrocity imaginable against innocent civilians across the continent.
The Adventurers had been wreaking more and more havoc every day. It became common for them to torment, kill, enslave, and sell off powerless NPCs as if they were nothing more than livestock.
As a result, the NPCs grew to hate and fear the Adventurers day by day.
Originally, the NPCs were friendly toward the Adventurers. They would ask for their help and offer small rewards whenever they faced difficulties, and the Adventurers would gladly agree to help.
They had a mutually beneficial relationship, but those days were no more. When some of the Adventurers began treating the NPCs worse than animals by committing every kind of crime imaginable, even the decent Adventurers were starting to receive hate from the NPCs.
“Get out!”
“Leave our village at once!”
“Kill them! Kill all those Adventurer bastards!”
Whenever an Adventurer would show up in a village, the NPCs would respond by throwing stones or lynching them with farming tools. They no longer saw the Adventurers as heroes who would help them, but rather, they treated them as potential criminals to be driven out or outright killed.
“Perfect.”
Lee Geon, who was currently disguised as Siegfried while committing all sorts of crimes, smiled when he heard how the NPCs were becoming more and more hostile toward the Adventurers.
“I’ll turn the whole world into your enemy, Han Tae-Sung. Let’s see how you’ll like that. Keke! Will you still hold on to your beliefs?”
Lee Geon was dying to see the look on Siegfried’s face, but he had to calm himself down for now.
The right time had yet to come. Even someone like him had that much patience, so he decided to bid his time and wait. While waiting, he planned to continue committing atrocities as Siegfried.
***
Siegfried’s journey on the Coral Planet came to an end.
The Marchioni Empire’s expedition to the Coral Planet was brought to a close after Siegfried killed the Coral Emperor and took the newly-crowned Coral Emperor, Theodosius, back to the Proatine Empire as hostage.
The war between the two sides was effectively over with the Marchioni Empire emerging victorious.
Thus, all the Marchioni Empire needed to do was to suck the Coral Planet dry, stripping it of all its resources, using the Corals as slave labor.
‘Damn… What a headache…’
After returning to the Proatine Empire, Siegfried headed straight for his office, sat down, and buried his head in his hands.
As it turned out, the Corals were not his enemy. The most powerful nation in the world, the one he had once believed was his ally—the Marchioni Empire—turned out to be his enemy.
On top of that, the ancient monsters that had escaped from Purgatory were about to make their move on the continent.
Siegfried was standing before one mountain after another.
If there was any silver lining, then it would be the fact that he had grown even stronger after the expedition on the Coral Planet.
Upon becoming the Invincible Emperor and acquiring the Invincible Spear Art, Siegfried was now so powerful that it was hard to find someone who could rival him.
However, the Marchioni Empire was not an opponent that could be defeated with brute force alone.
Why?
It was all because the Marchioni Empire would grow far more powerful by monopolizing the resources on the Coral Planet. Just imagining how powerful they would become was horrifying in itself.
‘I need to meet with Emperor Stuttgart first, before anything else,’ Siegfried thought.
He decided to report what had happened on the Coral Planet personally to Emperor Stuttgart. The emperor had been deceiving him and using him thoroughly. As if that was not enough, he was now planning to get rid of him.
Stuttgart von Posteriore was truly the cold-blooded ruler he was. The true nature of the man who had slain his entire family and even his relatives to seize the throne had not changed one bit.
Siegfried didn’t even want to see that man’s face anymore, but unfortunately, he had no choice in the matter.
“Your Imperial Majesty.”
Just then, Theodosius, the newly-crowned Coral Emperor, came to see him.
“Oh, welcome,” Siegfried greeted him warmly. Then, he thought, ‘This guy must be a wreck inside…’
He couldn’t help but feel sorry for Theodosius.
His once peaceful planet had been invaded. A fierce war raged, resulting in the deaths of countless of his kin, and his father, the late Coral Emperor, was decapitated with his head delivered as a trophy.
As if that was not enough, his entire planet had become a colony of the Marchioni Empire, and he was also being held hostage in a foreign world.
How bitter could that feel? How painful could it be to endure such a thing?
“Are you… doing all right?” Siegfried asked carefully.
“Yes, I am. My people must now live under the rule of the vile invaders. Compared to their suffering, this much is bearable,” Theodosius replied with a bitter smile.
“Ah…”
“My pain is nothing when I think about the pain my people will have to endure.”
Siegfried could see a true monarch in Theodosius just as he did with his late father.
The father and son were truly different compared to the monarchs on the continent.
Perhaps it was a racial trait, but their mindset as monarchs was something extremely rare among human monarchs.
The fact that they were ready to sacrifice themselves at any moment for the sake of their people indeed made them true monarchs.
“Please, take this, Your Imperial Majesty,” Theodosius said, holding out a bundle of parchments.
“Huh? What’s this?” Siegfried asked, tilting his head in confusion.
“These are… the blueprints to build the pride and joy of my race. It is the blueprint to build the Coral Battleships.”
“W-What?!” Siegfried cried out, jumping in shock.
The battleships used by the Corals were strategic weapons so powerful that they could even go toe-to-toe with a dragon. In fact, it was this very weapon that wounded the dragons so badly, which eventually caused their demise.
