Debuff Master - Chapter 1219
Chapter 1219
“Do you have a solution to this crisis our empire faces?” Emperor Stuttgart asked.
“Yes, I do, Your Imperial Majesty,” Lee Geon replied with a nod.
“How?”
“The various plagues spreading throughout the empire are by no means natural in origin.”
“Then are you suggesting that this is a biochemical attack from an enemy nation?”
The enemy nation Emperor Stuttgart referred to was basically the Proatine Empire.
“I do not know for certain,” Lee Geon replied. Then, he added, “While it is possible that an enemy nation is the one behind it, it is unlikely to be the direct cause.”
“What do you mean?”
“We must first realize that it is impossible for such a wide variety of plagues to erupt simultaneously across the empire.”
“That is true.
“Yet no nation in the world possesses the biochemical technology to unleash so many different plagues all at once. Even the Marchioni Empire does not have the capacity to carry out a biochemical attack of this scale, does it?”
“That is also true.”
“In that case, the likely cause of this crisis must surely be the work of a monster that burst forth from an Ancient Dungeon that had rampaged.”
“Hm?”
“And there is a strong likelihood that someone incited that monster to do what it is doing right now.”
“I see… And the one who incited the monster is?”
“To be honest, that is of little importance. Even if we were to ask that monster, the chance of it revealing the truth is close to none. I mean, it would not have agreed to listen to a mere human in the first place, so it’s highly likely it is under some sort of control or obligation.”
“That makes sense.”
“So the most important thing is to find the monster that caused this crisis, slay it, and obtain the cure.”
Lee Geon had seen right through the crisis and came up with a solution.
His decades of gaming experience armed him with the insight to grasp the truth behind this crisis without even having to investigate it.
“Then can you quell this crisis?”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. While I cannot guarantee it one hundred percent, there is a very high probability that I can resolve this situation.”
“I will grant you a great reward if you can do that. Say what you desire, and it shall be yours.”
“Then, would you grant me the authority to command the imperial army?”
“Hm? The authority to command the imperial army?”
Emperor Stuttgart was honestly surprised by the unexpected request. The command over the imperial army was the privilege of the emperor, and it was merely briefly entrusted to capable commanders during times of war.
“And why do you desire command over the imperial army?”
“As Your Imperial Majesty would be aware, the Proatine Empire is my enemy.”
“And what does that have to do with this?”
“I do not have a power base of my own. If Your Imperial Majesty entrusts me with the authority to command a portion of the imperial army, then I will bravely lead your troops into battle in the future war against the Proatine Empire.”
“That is not a difficult request to grant. The imperial army is composed of five field armies, and I shall appoint you commander of one of them if you succeed in this mission.”
“Your grace is immeasurable. I will complete my mission and save the empire,” Lee Geon said with a bow.
“One more thing,” Emperor Stuttgart said. Then, with a look of suspicion, he asked, “Were you not the one who led a wicked secret society and sought to destroy the world? Why then do you now wish to contribute to its salvation?”
“I was mind-controlled by the secret society’s leaders back then, so I tried to destroy the world. But I have now regained my sanity after being freed from their grasp,” Lee Geon lied.
“I see.”
“Of course, that does not make me a hero. I simply despise Siegfried von Proa and wish to see him ruined.”
Naturally, Emperor Stuttgart did not believe a single word he said.
After all, he intended to eliminate Lee Geon once he had destroyed Siegfried and the Proatine Empire.
***
While the Marchioni Empire was suffering disaster after disaster, the Proatine Empire quietly strengthened itself.
They invested enormous sums into military spending to train their armies, while also developing the next-generation strategic weapon that combined the technology of the Coral Race’s mothership and the Invincible Battleship of the Marchioni Empire.
However, military spending was not the only thing they did. Michele frequently visited neighboring countries to solidify their alliances with other nations that were anti-Marchioni.
The diplomatic strategy used was quite simple.
Michele argued that if the Proatine Empire was to fall, then the fate of the surrounding nations was obvious: either surrender of their own accord or be razed to the ground by the Marchioni Empire’s imperial army.
Eventually, the world would fall into the Marchioni Empire’s hands and be ruled with an iron fist.
Thus, the neighboring nations had no choice but to band tightly together under the Proatine Empire’s flag.
This new bloc of alliance was on top of the already numerous blood alliances the Proatine Empire had. Now, all of them would rush to join the Proatine Empire’s side once war against the Marchioni Empire broke out.
Meanwhile, Siegfried focused on his own growth.
He knew full well that, in the end, the only thing he could truly rely on was his own strength.
With that resolve, he devoted himself to raiding the Ancient Dungeons within the Proatine Empire’s territory and leveled up as much as he could.
In just one short week, he accomplished the astonishing feat of clearing ten Ancient Dungeons, gaining eight levels in the process.
Not only did he clear more than one Ancient Dungeon in a single day, but he even averaged more than one level a day.
While taking a break from the game, he would edit the footage of his raid into a highlight reel and upload it to G-Tube, delighting his fans and generating immense revenue for him.
Everything was going good—up to that point.
Unfortunately, Siegfried was still human, so he had his limits.
“Ugh… I’m exhausted as hell…”
After clearing another Ancient Dungeon and returning to the Proatine Empire, Siegfried collapsed onto his throne.
Just then, a messenger rushed into the throne room to report.
“Your Imperial Majesty! A dungeon in the southern region of our empire is about to rampage!”
But that was not all.
“A dungeon in the eastern region of our empire has rampaged, sire!”
“I bring grim news! A dungeon previously undiscovered has suddenly rampaged!”
It was then.
‘Is this some kind of sick prank?’ Siegfried wondered, thinking that someone was messing with him.
The fact that three Ancient Dungeons would simultaneously rampage all at once was simply too hard for him to believe.
***
What would happen once an Ancient Dungeon was allowed to rampage?
Two Ancient Dungeons had rampaged on the most powerful nation in the world, the Marchioni Empire, and it led to the destruction of a tenth of its territory. Its entire western region was wiped out by a storm, and plagues were raging across its lands.
The whole empire was thrown into chaos, even though only two Ancient Dungeons had gone on a rampage, and the dungeons hadn’t even gone on a rampage at the same time.
Yet the Proatine Empire had three Ancient Dungeons rampaging all at the same time?
No matter how much stronger they had grown, they would without a doubt be destroyed in the blink of an eye.
“Ah…” Siegfried groaned and buried his face in his hands. Even if he were to rush out right now, it would be meaningless, as the damage was already done. His only option was to stop the looming disaster before it grew even worse.
The problem was that Siegfried only had one body.
No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t possibly resolve outbreaks happening in multiple places at once.
It wasn’t like he was Sun Wukong, capable of creating numerous clones of himself.
“Let’s go, Hamchi.”
Even though he was utterly worn out, he forced his heavy body up from the throne to go and contain the crisis.
“Kyuuuu… Aren’t you going to rest, owner punk?” Hamchi asked, sounding concerned.
“Do you think I don’t want to take a break? But what choice do I have? No one else can contain a rampaging dungeon,” Siegfried replied, his face hollow and lacking any trace of vigor.
“Kyuu…”
“Well, there goes tonight’s sleep.”
In the end, Siegfried had no choice but to drag his feet out of the throne room and head toward the rampaging Ancient Dungeon.
“Kyuuuu! You will overwork yourself to death at this rate! What are you doing?!”
“What else can I do?”
“Kyuuu! This is all the Marchioni Empire’s fault! Damn them!”
“Huh?”
Just before stepping into the warp gate, Siegfried tilted his head at Hamchi’s accusations.
“Are you saying that the dungeons are rampaging because of the Marchioni Empire? That doesn’t sound right to me, though?”
“Kyuuu! Why wouldn’t it be?!”
“I mean, the dungeon rampaging isn’t their doing, no? Enemy or not, there’s a line between what’s their fault and what isn’t. We can’t just blame all of our problems on them, don’t you think so?”
“Kyaaaak! Wrong! How can you be so smart and stupid at the same time, owner punk?! Do you know why you’re so busy? It’s because of the Marchioni Empire! They’re paying the Adventurers big money to raid their Ancient Dungeons, so all of the strong ones went there!
“That’s why we don’t have enough Adventurers left to keep our Ancient Dungeons in check!”
“Oh?”
Siegfried finally realized why the Ancient Dungeons within the Proatine Empire were so unpopular. Of course, the Proatine Empire had offered rewards too, but it was nothing more than a drop in the bucket compared to what the Marchioni Empire promised.
Naturally, the Adventurers flocked first to the Marchioni Empire.
Why?
It was all because the rewards for simply attempting to clear a dungeon were far more than what they could get for clearing a dungeon in the Proatine Empire, and the Marchioni Empire rewarded them even if they failed.
“Ptooey! This disgusting and filthy capitalistic world! Death to all greedy bastards!” Siegfried raged, spitting in disgust.
“Kyu?”
“How are poor people supposed to live with dignity in this world?”
It wasn’t that Siegfried himself was poor nor that the Proatine Empire was financially struggling. The gap in the economic power between the Marchioni Empire and the Proatine Empire was simply too vast.
Siegfried knew that there was nothing he could do, as the Marchioni Empire was a superpower that had been established for five centuries, but that did not help with the sting of humiliation he was feeling.
With tears streaming down his face, Siegfried stepped into the warp gate.
‘Just wait. I’m going to land a real blow on you soon,’ he gnashed his teeth and swore.
Recently, Siegfried had been plotting to exterminate en masse the magicians of the Marchioni Empire.
He planned to topple the Magic Tower and wipe out their magicians, which was akin to removing one of the pillars supporting the empire.
For now, stopping the monsters pouring out from the rampaging Ancient Dungeons took absolute priority.
Ironically, despite the mass casualties and destruction caused by the rampaging dungeons, it was the only reason there was still peace on the continent.
Both the Marchioni Empire and the Proatine Empire were too busy dealing with the crises erupting within their own borders to have the luxury to start a war against the other.
***
Siegfried headed to the eastern region first. To the east was the Espadrille Province, the food basket of the Proatine Empire, making it a place that had to be defended at all costs.
Sixty percent of all food produced in the Proatine Empire came from the Espadrille Province, which was the reason why Siegfried prioritized it above all else.
Upon arriving at the Espadrille Province, Siegfried noticed that it was quiet. Its lush green wheat swayed gently in the night breeze, and not a single commotion could be heard in the vast plains.
In fact, it was too quiet to the point that it was eerie.
‘Where is it?’
Siegfried scanned his surroundings, looking for the monsters that should have emerged from the rampaging dungeons, but he couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.
‘Could it be that they have already fled to another place?’ he wondered.
It was then.
Buzz~ Buzz~ Buzz~
His sensitive ears picked up the sound of buzzing, just like the ones emitted by insects.
‘Eh? Damn it… Those pesky flies are back to bother me again?’ he grumbled inwardly.
He assumed that it was just the usual swarm of flies that occasionally hovered around him, no thanks to his title.
Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Buzz~ Buzz~
What first sounded like the faint flutter of flies grew louder and louder, until it turned into the roar of an entire swarm of bees.
Buzz! Buzz! BUUUZZZ!
Siegfried paused and wondered if he had disturbed a beehive somewhere. He glanced around to check his surroundings, but he couldn’t find any disturbed hives. He tilted his head in confusion and wondered, ‘Huh? What was that then?’
All of a sudden, Hamchi suddenly jumped and squealed, “K-Kyuuuu?!”
“Hm? What is it?” Siegfried asked.
“L-Look over there, owner punk! Kyuuu!”
“What?”
Siegfried followed Hamchi’s gaze without much thought—
“…!”
And he jumped in shock as well…
BUUUZZZ! BUUUZZZ!
There, in the distance, a swarm of locusts that seemed to number in the billions was rolling forward like a tsunami toward the plains, blotting out the night sky with an even darker shade of black.
