Debuff Master-Chapter 1033

Chapter 1033
After the meeting, Siegfried headed straight for the prison.
In the capital of the Proatine Kingdom, Preussen, was a large prison known as the Aoji Prison[1].
The Aoji Prison housed not only criminals from the Proatine Kingdom but also war criminals and prisoners of war captured from enemy nations during wartime. It was one of the most notorious facilities on the entire continent, and that was because the prison was not an average detention facility.
It was essentially a labor camp.
The prisoners were forced to work in the mana stone mines located in the mountain behind Preussen. They were also forced to manufacture war supplies, industrial materials, and even do just about every form of backbreaking labor imaginable.
Most people would think that being subjected to such harsh labor would kill the inmates sooner or later, but there was one problem with this notorious facility—it had notoriously good welfare.
The Proatine Kingdom did not allow the inmates in the Aoji Prison to simply die off. Far from tormenting or torturing them, they provided them with balanced meals and regular rest.
While this sounded like a humane way of treating inmates, they were actually fostering an environment where the inmates would have no choice but to work. As a result, the inmates spent the rest of their lives laboring in good health and would only be freed from it the day they died.
This was a fate that some might find even more excruciating than death itself.
They were forced to work every single day, endlessly, until their mouths ran dry with exhaustion, only to be nursed back to work the next day.
It was an endless cycle of hell.
“
Ughh...!”
“You there! Move it!”
“Damn it... We have to finish all of this today? Just kill me instead!”
As always, the Aoji Prison was
peaceful
.
“Ah, very nice,” Siegfried said, smiling in satisfaction while enjoying the sight before him.
The inmates were working hard to earn money for him, and that alone made him very pleased.
“Welcome, Your Majesty!”
“Where are the felons being held?”
“This way, sire!”
Siegfried made his way to the part of the facility that housed scum so vile they were not even allowed to work.
This was where the felons who couldn’t be controlled by any means, and whose lives were not even worth sparing were imprisoned.
In other words, the war criminals who had committed atrocities such as murder, rape, arson, or looting during wartime were imprisoned here.
“Round up all of those on death row and bring them to the grounds.”
“As you command, sire!”
Thirty minutes later, roughly three thousand felons, bound tightly, were forced to kneel before Siegfried in rows. Each and every one of them had committed heinous crimes, so they were either set to be executed or tortured in the near future.
“...”
Silence fell among the felons the moment Siegfried appeared, and not a single one of them uttered a single word.
Why?
It was all because every single one of them were tightly gagged.
Thus, all they could do was stare at Siegfried with anxious eyes.
“Bring the first felon,” Siegfried commanded.
“Yes, sire!”
At Siegfried’s command, the soldiers dragged a felon from the front row over to him.
“Oh?” Siegfried let out a satisfied murmur after examining the first felon with his Rune of Insight.
The man was a Level 299 knight, a perfect material to be converted into an Irradiator.
“Excellent! I approve!”
“
Mmph! Mmpfh! Mmpf!”
The felon tried to scream, but with the gag in his mouth, no proper words could come out.
Well, not that it mattered anyway, as even if he could speak, he had zero say in what would happen to him from now on.
“I’ll make a new man out of you.
Hehehe!”
With those words, Siegfried grabbed the felon by the head and injected his radioactive microbes into him.
“
Mmph! Mmmmphf!”
The man’s eyes rolled far back as he began trembling violently before he collapsed, completely limp.
Roughly thirty seconds later...
“Remove his gag,” Siegfried ordered.
“As you command, sire.”
At Siegfried’s command, the soldiers removed the gag.
“I greet my master.”
The felon had been reborn as a loyal slave and dropped to one knee before Siegfried.
“Next,” Siegfried said, waving his hand.
After converting the first felon into an Irradiator, Siegfried began converting more and more of them.
It was easy at first, but the longer it went on, the more grueling the process became.
Each Irradiator required a large quantity of radioactive microbes for conversion, so mass producing them was quite the grind.
Still, there was no turning back now.
“Next!”
“Welcome, customer!”
“Next customer, please!”
“Step right in!”
“I’ll give you the special!”
Siegfried devoted his entire day to mass producing Irradiators.
And as a result...
“I greet my master.”
“I greet my master.”
“I greet my master.”
He came to command a special unit made up of nearly three thousand Irradiators.
One of the officers turned to Siegfried and asked, “What shall we call them, Your Majesty?”
“
Hmm...
Let’s see...” Siegfried pondered for a moment. Then, he replied, “Let’s call them the Suicide Bombing Blackmail Unit.”
And so, the Irradiators received their official name as a group.
The Suicide Bombing Blackmail Unit.
***
The Holy Alliance was busy preparing a grand coronation ceremony to celebrate the ascension of Pope Bismarck II.
Meanwhile, the Proatine Kingdom was also busy with its own affairs.
After consulting with their numerous allies, they formally established an alliance and began assembling a massive coalition army that would soon be combat-ready.
At the same time, preparations for Siegfried’s coronation also began.
“Now then, from this moment on...”
Siegfried had gathered three thousand Irradiators from the Suicide Bombing Blackmail Unit and was briefing them for the operation.
His plan involved the following...
1. Siegfried would infiltrate deep into the heart of the Holy Alliance.
2. Once there, he will use Inzaghi’s Door Handle to open a small warp gate.
3. Siegfried and the Suicide Bombing Blackmail Unit would then remain hidden within the Holy Alliance until Bismarck II’s coronation ceremony began.
4. As soon as the coronation began, the three thousand members of the Suicide Bombing Blackmail Unit would self-detonate, triggering an explosion on the scale of a nuclear bomb.
5. Siegfried would casually walk away, completely unharmed.
‘
Bismarck II will be so thrilled that he wouldn’t know how to react! Hohoho!’
In other words, Siegfried intended to celebrate Bismarck II’s rise to the papacy with a massive
bang.
‘A-Ah! Aaah Aang! Nng~! T-Too good...! It feels too good!’
He trembled involuntarily, overwhelmed by the surge of adrenaline and dopamine flooding his system.
“Now, what we have to do after entering the enemy territory is...” Siegfried murmured with excitement and enthusiasm as he laid out the plan to the Irradiators.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Commander of the Proatine Kingdom’s army, Oscar, was formulating military strategies in preparation for the war to come.
“Have you called for me?”
Ninetail entered Oscar’s office after being called.
“Yes, Director Ninetail.”
“What is it about?”
“I would like to request all agents to concentrate solely on the war effort against the Holy Alliance for the time being.”
The coming war between the Allied Forces and the Holy Alliance would determine the fate of the world’s balance of power. It was a war they had to win no matter what, so focusing all intelligence efforts was unavoidable.
“
Hmm...
That might be a bit of a problem,” Ninetail replied.
“And why is that?”
“Well, this is the reason,” Ninetail replied and handed the document she had been holding to Oscar.
This ■■’s ■■■ ■■■■■■■ is said to be, ■ the world■■ ■■■ an event ■■■ that ■■■■ ■■■■■ something of ■■■ significance.
(
omitted...
)
■ ■■■ ■■’s ■■■■■ among ■■■■■ must always be ■■■ ■■■■ and must never ■■■■■■ be allowed ■■■.
(
omitted...
)
Thus, ■■■ ■■ ■s■■■■ is to be stationed ■■■ permanently reside at ■■■■■■ and must ■■■■■■ ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ with ■■■■■■. However, ■■■ ■■■■■■■■ modif■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ be ■■■■■■ only under ■■■■■ ■■■■■■ and ■■■■■■ from ■■ and ■■.
The document was none other than the Secret Document: 006 of the Marchioni Empire that Siegfried had retrieved long ago from the Death’s Carnival dungeon within the Northern Great Rift.
“Our intelligence department is currently devoting all of our resources to decoding the contents of this document. And we’ve already made some small breakthroughs.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but the war with the Holy Alliance takes priority. Information can turn the tide of war, so please, I ask for your cooperation on the matter.”
“But...”
However, Ninetail still couldn’t bring herself to comply with Oscar’s request.
‘
This document... It's not normal. There’s a massive secret hidden in it. I can sense it.’
Her instincts were telling her that the Secret Document: 006 contained a monumental secret, so she wanted to—no, she needed to dig just a little deeper to get to the surface of it.
However, with Oscar requesting full-scale support from the Intelligence Bureau, it was only natural that Ninetail, as its director, agreed to her request.
“Please, Director Ninetail.”
“...All right.”
In the end, Ninetail gave in to Oscar’s earnest plea and agreed to temporarily suspend the decoding of the Secret Document: 006.
Just as Oscar said, preparing for the war against the Holy Alliance had to take precedence over the Secret Document: 006 for now.
***
A few days later, an enormous crowd gathered at the capital city of the Proatine Kingdom, Preussen.
Why?
It was all because today was the day Siegfried would ascend the throne with the official endorsement of Emperor Stuttgart.
Thanks to that, the entire Proatine Kingdom was in a frenzy from the break of dawn.
Every servant and maid was rushing around in preparation for Siegfried’s coronation, while knights and soldiers remained alert in case of a possible terrorist attack. Even the royal family members were busy carrying out their respective duties.
The Chief Chamberlain, Metatron, and his deputy, Chaos, returned to the kingdom.
“
Ah!
Chief Metatron!”
“Deputy Chief Chaos!”
Metatron and Chaos dropped everything in the Demon Realm and came rushing back as soon as they heard Siegfried was going to be crowned an emperor.
Of course, they couldn’t come in their original forms.
Meanwhile, Siegfried quietly slipped away a few hours before the coronation.
“Your Majesty? Where are you headed?” Metatron asked, spotting Siegfried sneaking off while preparing his ceremonial garment.
“
Ah,
well... I need to use the restroom,” Siegfried replied awkwardly.
“Understood, sire,” Metatron replied with a shrug, taking his word without a hint of suspicion.
“Let’s go, Hamchi.”
“
Kyuu!
Got it!”
Just like that, Siegfried snuck out of the palace with Hamchi and headed to the nearest warp gate.
From there, he warped to the site of Bismarck II’s coronation.
As fate would have it, Siegfried’s and Bismarck II’s coronation were held on the exact same day, so he had no choice but to excuse himself for a bit.
***
One hour later, Siegfried and Hamchi arrived in the capital of the Hadashite Kingdom.
Just like in the Proatine Kingdom, the streets were flooded with people who had come to witness the grand coronation.
“Wow... This place is like a flea market on steroids.”
“
Kyuu!
You’re right, owner punk!”
“Hey, Hamchi.”
“
Kyu?”
“You go in here for now,” Siegfried said, opening his pocket slightly.
“
Kyuu?
Why?”
“I can disguise myself, but you can’t. Everyone on this continent knows who you are, right?”
“
Kyuuu!
Sounds about right!”
Siegfried and Hamchi’s fame was perfectly proportional. Wherever Siegfried went, Hamchi was always right there beside him, so it was only natural that they both rose to fame together.
“Hurry up and get in then.”
“
Kyu!
Got it!”
Following Siegfried’s orders, Hamchi shrank his body and slipped into Siegfried's pocket.
‘
I should put on a disguise too,’
Siegfried thought as he took out his Metamorphosis Mask to alter his face and hide his identity.
Some of the high-ranking Adventurers hired by the Holy Alliance as guards for the event tried to inspect him from time to time, but none of them could see anything out of place about him.
Siegfried was a Master, so unless the one scanning him with the Rune of Insight was also a Master, they wouldn't be able to notice anything amiss.
Thanks to that, Siegfried could stroll boldly through the heart of enemy territory without being stopped at a single checkpoint.
‘
Awesome,’
Siegfried thought with a smirk as he made his way toward the royal palace, where the coronation would soon take place.
He was quite pleased with how smoothly and easily he had infiltrated the enemy.
Just then...
Thud!
While walking down the street, he brushed shoulders with an Adventurer.
Ding!
A notification suddenly popped up in front of Siegfried's eyes.
[Alert: Kleptomania has been activated!]
[Alert: You may inspect the target’s Inventory and steal any item of your choice!]
[Alert: Would you like to browse the target’s Inventory?]
1. This was the Aoji Mines before, but author-nim changed it to Aoji Prison. ☜