Debuff Master-Chapter 1074

Chapter 1074
“S-Sire...!
Argh!”
Michele was clearly in agony. Siegfried was radiating an energy that was so overwhelming that it wouldn't be surprising if a weak person were to die from it on the spot.
“Oh, my bad," Siegfried said, noticing that Michele was writhing in pain due to the energy that he was radiating.
It was then.
Badump! Badump! Badump!
Siegfried suddenly staggered and winced as a sharp pain radiated from his chest.
As it turned out, what the saintess said about cracks forming throughout his mana hall was no exaggeration at all.
‘
Damn it... This is driving me crazy...’
Siegfried realized just how dire his situation was.
The worst-case scenario of his mana hall completely shattering might actually happen even if he did not use the Demon Lord’s Descent skill.
‘
This can’t go on. I have to become a Grandmaster no matter what,’
Siegfried thought, gnashing his teeth. He recalled Deus mentioning that his body would undergo remodification once he became a Grandmaster.
“My disciple.”
“Yes, Master?”
“Once you ascend to the realm of Grandmaster...”
“Yes?”
“You will stop aging and even regain your youth at will.”
“Whoa?! R-Really?!”
“When have I ever lied to you?”
“N-No, Master!”
“Becoming a Grandmaster means undergoing true metamorphosis. Your entire body will be rebuilt from the inside out.”
“Whoa!”
“Your physical abilities will improve by about twenty percent. But that’s not all—your mana hall will expand by roughly one and a half time, becoming significantly more durable.”
“That is amazing, Master!”
Siegfried came to a single conclusion after recalling Deus’ words.
If he wanted to fix the mess that his mana hall was in, then he had no choice but to ascend to the realm of Grandmasters.
Rebuilding his physical body by undergoing true metamorphosis was the only solution.
‘
I’ve got to lay low for now. I need to play it safe or else I might get really screwed...’
With that thought in mind, Siegfried turned to Michele.
“So, what exactly did the rat say?”
“He said they are yet to come up with a detailed plan.”
“
Huh?
Then?”
“He will again once they draft an actual plan. Fortunately, the rat seems to have clearance on this specific operation.”
Those words came as a huge relief to Siegfried. Thanks to Ragdoll IV being involved in the plan to abduct Verdandi, they could prepare for the Illuminati rather than having no idea what was going on.
Of course, there was no way Siegfried would let Verdandi get taken away without a fight, even if he was caught off guard, but knowing ahead of time was still far better than being in the dark.
“Tell him to anything, no matter how trivial it is. Don’t ignore even the smallest thing.”
“Yes, sire.”
“And tell him to in real-time. If he judges the situation to be urgent, then he should right away, even if it’s not easy. He must prioritize ing above all else, even if he risks blowing his cover.”
“As you command, sire.”
Michele fully understood what Siegfried meant. This was a matter concerning Verdandi’s safety, so obtaining information on the enemy’s plans was far more important than anything else, even if it meant sacrificing an invaluable spy like Ragdoll IV.
“I’m going to destroy them. I’ll make sure anyone who dares lay a finger on my daughter will pay dearly,” Siegfried growled under his breath with murderous intent radiating from him.
***
Siegfried went to see Quandt after Michele finished his .
“Welcome, sire.”
“I have a favor to ask.”
“Just say the word.”
“You know about that Rabbit Foot of Regression, right?”
“Yes, sire.”
“Could you make one for me?”
“...Excuse you?” Quandt blurted. Then, he blinked a few times and asked, “How could I possibly recreate such an artifact?”
From Quandt’s perspective, Siegfried’s request was downright absurd.
He was unable to complete the masterpiece left behind by Herbert due to not having the proper materials, yet Siegfried was asking him to make something similar to another Universal-rated artifact.
“
Ah,
to be precise, I want you to make a replica,” Siegfried said, quickly realizing how misleading he sounded.
“A replica, sire?”
“Yes.”
“What do you intend to use it for, though?”
“So what happened is...” Siegfried proceeded to explain the whole situation.
How Beowulf was likely the leader of the Illuminati, that he was in possession of an item believed to be the Rabbit Foot of Regression, and also the fact that the Dark Abyss: Necklace of Greed and Betrayal possessed the ability to steal items from others.
“So... you’re saying that you will swap that artifact Beowulf possesses with a fake one?”
“Exactly,” Siegfried replied with a nod. Then, he added, “It will be a problem if he notices it was stolen.”
“But wouldn’t it be enough just to take it? There’s nothing he can do if you already took it, no?”
“True, but...” Siegfried trailed his words. Then, he flashed a cunning and mischievous grin before continuing, “Imagine this, though. He’s in a pinch and decides to activate his precious artifact as a last resort.
Ta-dah!
It’s a dud!”
“T-That would be... devastating for—”
“Just thinking about it makes you smile, right?”
“
Erm...”
“Kekeke!
That would be a real slap in the face, right?”
Siegfried was practically cackling in delight just from imagining the whole thing.
‘
Is he... actually a demon? Has he been hiding his identity this whole time?’
Quandt shuddered and wondered.
Even if Beowulf was their enemy, was there a need to devise such a plan?
“So, is it possible? Can you create me a replica?”
“Hmm... How precise do you require it to be?”
“Let’s see... Maybe something that could fool the Rune of Insight?”
“...Excuse you?”
“He shouldn’t realize that it’s been swapped. He
has
to be blindsided.”
“
Ahem!
That won’t be easy,” Quandt cleared his throat while stroking his beard.
“Oh?”
“Deceiving the rune is not that easy.”
“Oh...”
“Crafting it will be incredibly complicated.”
“So you
can’t
do it?”
“I didn’t say that, sire. While it won’t be a perfect copy, it’s possible if all you need is a replica convincing enough to deceive the Rune of Insight. If that’s the case, then yes, I can definitely pull it off.”
“
Ooooh!
”
“But it will take more than a month.”
“That’s fine with me. We have more than enough time.”
“But we have one problem...”
“What is it?”
“I’ve never seen the real pendant myself. I will need to see it to replicate its appearance accurately. Making it from the old records alone would be a challenge...”
“
Ah,
don’t worry about that. I can provide reference materials for that.”
Siegfried had a habit of recording all of his gameplay sessions to get content for his channel. As a result, the scene showing the pendant, which he believed was the Rabbit Foot of Regression, was captured in those recordings.
All he had to do was isolate that footage and show it to Quandt, and it would serve as more than enough reference material.
“In that case, I will have it ready within a month,” Quandt said confidently.
“Thank you,” Siegfried replied with a smile.
Then, that smile slowly turned into a twisted one at the thought of having a replica that would fool Beowulf.
Of course, he still needed to ascend to the realm of Grandmasters in order to actually steal the real artifact from Beowulf, but that was a problem for another day.
***
The global war entered a new phase after Siegfried defeated Zerachiel.
The Archangel of Death was gone, so the Marchioni Empire, which had suffered a string of defeats, was finally able to regroup and put pressure on the Holy Alliance.
The number of Fallen Angels had been drastically reduced thanks to the efforts of the Alliance Forces led by Siegfried, and this gave the Marchioni Empire enough breathing room to fight on the battlefield.
As a result, the Holy Alliance was forced to shift its stance from offense to defense, while the coalition did the opposite by switching from defense to an all-out assault.
It started with a small ripple, but the tide had turned.
The Holy Alliance, which declared war on the entire world, now found itself on the back foot.
And that small ripple that caused the tide to change was none other than Hansen.
Just before the snow began to fall, Hansen made a brilliant strategic move by mobilizing the coalition forces early to secure the high ground. This allowed the coalition to leave Pallas Fortress and advance toward enemy territory with ease.
‘
Hmm... I don’t think there’s anything I can add to this,’
Siegfried thought.
He was now back with the coalition army and was leaning comfortably in his chair as he watched Hansen lead the strategy meeting in his stead.
“The blizzard forced the Holy Alliance to...”
Hansen had crafted excellent strategies even without Siegfried’s help. His tactical insights were quite profound, so much so that Siegfried had nothing to add to whatever he devised.
Everything Hansen came up with was either aligned with Siegfried’s way of thinking or even better than what he could come up with.
In other words, there was nothing for Siegfried to correct or revise.
‘
I should promote this guy,’
Siegfried thought. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he dozed off. He couldn’t skip the strategy meeting, as he still had to fulfill his duties as the Supreme Commander of the Alliance Forces, but staying there without saying anything made him unbearably sleepy.
And so, just as usual...
ZzZzZz... Zzz... ZzZzz...
Siegfried fell asleep in the middle of the meeting.
“...”
“...”
The officers stared at him, bewildered and speechless.
However, none of them dared to wake him up. Even if Siegfried would nap during meetings, they all knew that he could achieve the impossible on the battlefield—the kind that could only be described as miracles.
A few hours later...
“Your Imperial Majesty?”
“Mmm...?”
Siegfried woke up at the sound of Hansen’s voice calling out to him.
“Please return to your tent and get some proper rest, sire,” Hansen said gently.
“W-What time is it?” Siegfried asked, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth.
“It is already one in the morning, sire.”
“W-What?! I slept that long?!”
“Yes, sire.”
“T-Then what about the meeting?” Siegfried stammered.
Hansen glanced around and replied, “It has already been adjourned, sire.”
“
Hahaha...”
Siegfried laughed sheepishly after realizing he had slept for hours. Then, he thought, ‘
Ah, I should’ve just skipped the meeting and grinded it out at a dungeon or something.’
He regretted the time that he unknowingly wasted, but he knew it was meaningless, as he couldn’t turn back time.
‘
Oh well, I guess I’ll just log out and rest for today,’
he thought with a shrug.
With that thought, he stood up and called out, “Hey, Hansen.”
“Yes, sire?”
“I’m promoting you to Major. Keep up the good work.”
“
E-Ehh?!”
Hansen was so stunned at the sudden promotion. He had only been promoted to the rank of Captain recently, yet he was being promoted to the rank of Major so soon.
“B-But, sire—”
“
Shhh...”
Siegfried gently placed a finger to Hansen’s lips and hushed him. Then, he said, “It makes no sense for our strategist responsible for devising strategy and tactics to just be a Captain. Honestly, you’re already worthy of a star, but I think there would be backlash if we went that fast. Anyway, let’s start with Major and slowly go up, okay?”
“S-Sire...!”
“I’ll be counting on you from now on. Ah, you’ve been keeping up with your private lessons, right?”
“Y-Yes, sire! I have been diligently studying!”
Recently, Hansen had been learning military science from numerous instructors Siegfried had arranged for him.
He never got the chance to attend an academy, so he needed all the private tutoring he could get to keep up with his rank.
“I-I am overwhelmed by your grace, sire! Your grace is immeasurable!” Hansen cried out, throwing himself on the floor and then...
Wooong!
He suddenly shone brightly.
“
Eh?!”
Siegfried jumped back in shock. Then, he took a closer look and stammered, “I-Isn't that the visual effect... when changing classes...?”
Hansen was now experiencing the same phenomenon that would occur whenever an Adventurer had changed their class. He had unknowingly accumulated enough Experience Points, and the promotion triggered one of the prerequisites for him to finally obtain a class.
[Alert: Congratulations!]
[Alert: Hansen has successfully changed class!]
A notification popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.
[Alert: Hero Unit has obtained the class Divine Strategist!]
Shockingly, Hansen had just acquired a Legendary Class.
It wasn't a non-combatant class, but it was still a high-tier class that only a chosen few could ever hope to obtain.