Debuff Master

Chapter 125

‘What bullshit is this?! Why is there another Master with them?!’?the Immortal King protested inwardly after his informant confirmed that the large old man he had just been speaking with was indeed Sword Emperor Betelgeuse.

It felt like the entire world was crumbling down for the Immortal King.

How long had he painstakingly been waiting to be resurrected?

The Immortal King planned to finally achieve the three hundred years old vengeance he did not manage to achieve last time and teach the Nordic Tribe, who stopped him last time, a lesson while he was at it.

However, who could have known that those barbarians would have another Master with them this time around?!

The Immortal King could not help but feel pressured after confirming that there was another being as strong as the Master who stopped him three hundred years ago. No, he was actually scared.

He knew very well that there was no way that he would win against someone like the Sword Emperor when it hadn’t even been a year since he was resurrected.

‘Is this how it’s going to end again? I waited for so long to come back to life… but why did I have to meet a Master from the get-go?! Why?!’?the Immortal King lamented.

However, he couldn’t wallow in his sorrow. He decided to snap out of it and call back that insolent little greenhorn.

Why?

It was all for the sake of survival.

“What do you want?” the Immortal King asked Siegfried.

— Who knows? We were planning to barge in and crush that thick skull of yours~

“…”

— I mean, it only makes sense for us to beat you up when you’re still weak, right? That’s going to make us suffer fewer casualties, too.

Siegfried shrugged and spoke quite nonchalantly to the point that he was starting to look arrogant. However, the Immortal King did not have the liberty to think of anything else aside from the fact that he had made the right choice in accepting the initial call from the Nordic Tribe.

‘Phew! That was a close call… A close call worth three hundred years!’?he thought while letting out a sigh of relief. He couldn’t help but imagine what would have happened if he didn’t answer the call, and the Nordic Tribe came rushing in with a Master with them.

Moreover, the assault was going to be a very effective ambush since he had no idea that they had a Master with them.

“You could have just come and ended me right away. What is your purpose for calling me?” the Immortal King asked a logical question to Siegfried, and he proved that he was indeed an intellectual being.

— Oh? That’s a very good question.

“…?”

— I’m sure you know what happened three hundred years ago when we were fighting you, right? You know, the one where nobody from the continent helped us.

“I am well aware of that. It made it easier for me to wage war against you.”

— Then, let’s be realistic and smart about this whole thing. Why do we have to fight in the first place? What you wanted from the start was to take revenge, right? You wanted to take revenge against those on the continent, am I right?

“Y-Yeah, I guess?”

— You could have just gone straight to the continent instead of picking a fight with us and getting beaten up in the process. Geez…

“Ehem!?You do have a point…”

The Immortal King was slowly getting convinced by Siegfried’s logic.

— So, what do you think about cleanly letting bygones be bygones? Well, we do have some bad blood between us, so we won’t be able to cleanly let go of the past, and that is going to make it difficult for us to enter into an alliance. However, we can just ignore each other and continue with our lives, right?

“W-What do you mean by that…?”

— We will open the way for you to go to the continent.

“…!”

— Go ahead and get your revenge on whoever you want to get your revenge on. We don’t really care what you do over there, to be honest.

“Hmm… That is quite intriguing… but why are you making such a good offer in the first place?”

— The only ones who got screwed three hundred years ago were you and us. Those cowards on the continent got away scot-free, right? I mean, think about it! They forced you into this island and grabbed popcorn while watching us fight it out to the death. If you look at it from our perspective then you will understand that those bastards are sly, cheeky assholes.

“Are you telling me that we are both victims?”

— Precisely! Finally, we’re on the same page! The only ones who will profit if we fight again are those sly bastards on the continent! That’s what I’m saying!

“Yeah! You’re absolutely right!”

— And we would definitely win if we fought you, but we would suffer heavy losses as well. So why should we bleed for no reason at all? In the end, we will be getting the shorter end of the stick if we fight!

“Oh! Exactly! I, the Immortal King, agree with your logic!”

— Anyway, just go and do your own thing. We will let you pass scot-free since we don’t really feel like fighting for no reason.

“Do I have your word?”

— Hey… Did you even understand what I’ve been saying this whole time…? I already told you we have nothing to gain from fighting you, so why would we even stab you in the back?

“Hmm… I guess you are right now that I think about it. You’ll gain nothing from stabbing me in the back…”

— Then, can I assume we have reached an agreement?

“Alright, I will invade the continent with my army once you open the way for me, and there will be no more wars between us.”

— Deal.

Siegfried smiled brightly after reaching an agreement with the Immortal King.

***

There was a grand and exotic sight on Fadlan Island a week after Siegfried and the Immortal King came to an agreement.

The sight was the Immortal King and his undead legion. The tens of thousands of undead monsters marched from the north of Fadlan Island and passed by the Nordic capital as they made their way south.

The surprising thing was that the Immortal King and the undead monsters did not lay a single finger on the Nordic Tribesmen while marching south.

.

‘Wow! Was something like this even possible?’

‘King Siegfried is indeed a wise and powerful man!’

‘I somewhat knew that he was not a normal person the moment he became our king’s sworn brother, but who could have known he was capable of carrying out such a miracle?’

Thanks to that, the Nordic Tribe’s respect toward Siegfried increased exponentially.

Not that it mattered to him anyway…

“Hey! Immortal King!” Siegfried shouted toward the Necrolich leading the march and cheered in a loud voice. “Take care! You got this! You better get your revenge! We’re rooting for you!”

“Thank you, young one! I will most definitely repay your good wishes by successfully achieving my revenge!” the Immortal King replied while waving toward Siegfried.

It seemed that his eyes and mouth were smiling, even though he only had a skull with no features.

“Hey, Immortal King! I wish you victory! Go and teach those bastards who persecuted you a lesson!” shouted Betelgeuse, who tagged along as nothing but a menacing tool.

“Hoho!?What in the world are you, brother?” Lionbreath asked. He found the entire exchange to be quite awe-striking.

“Hmm? Me? Why are you asking that all of a sudden?” Siegfried asked while tilting his head in confusion.

“I have never seen a man like you in my fifty years in this world. You not only possess strength at such a young age, but you’re quite the heavy drinker, and your sexual stamina is—”

“C-Can we drop the talk about that?” Siegfried muttered with his ears turning red.

“Not only are you quite the strategist yourself, but you are even related by blood to the Sword Emperor! Not to mention, you have balls of steel to be able to treat the Immortal King as any other bumpkin on the street!”

“Aren’t you praising me a bit too much?”

“Not at all! I’m still young, so I still have a lot of things to learn, but you are one of the people I sincerely respect.”

Ding!

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: The Nordic King, Lionbreath’s Affinity with you has increased by +10,000!]

[Alert: The Nordic King, Lionbreath’s Affinity with you has changed from ‘Trust’ to ‘Complete Trust’!]

[Alert: Congratulations! You have earned the trust of not only the Nordic King, Lionbreath but the trust of the entire Nordic Tribe as well!]

[Alert: Lionbreath and the Nordic Tribe have complete loyalty toward you!]

Siegfried had built a strong relationship with the Nordic Tribe just like he did with Betelgeuse, even though it wasn’t really his goal.

‘Why is it I’m only getting these messages from old men? It must be a coincidence, right…? It shouldn’t mean anything, yes…’?he convinced himself that it was all nothing but a big coincidence.

***

“Hurry up and get going…” Siegfried muttered while looking at the southern beach.

Splash! Splash!?

The undead legion of the Immortal King was diving into the sea one by one as they headed for the continent south of Fadlan Island. The undead had no issues marching underwater for as long as they wanted because they didn’t have to breathe.

“What are your plans now, brother?” Lionbreath asked.

“What do you mean?” Siegfried asked in response.

“It seems that we have successfully convinced the Immortal King, but he is going to come back stronger very soon. What if he recovers his former strength and comes back…”

“You cannot trust him because he is an evil undead at the end of the day, is that right?”

“Exactly.”

“Am I crazy? Why would I keep my promise with a filthy undead? I’ll rather do a pinky swear with a goblin.”

It seemed that Siegfried did not have the slightest bit of intention to honor his promise to the Immortal King.

“T-Then… Do you plan to stab the Immortal King in the back?!”

“Of course, we have to do that.”

“Then, I will immediately mobilize our army and…”

“This isn’t the right time. We will have to be patient for now.”

“Hoho, you are quite an unpredictable one.” Lionbreath clicked his tongue.

“Hyung-nim.”

“Yes, brother?”

“Who are our enemies?”

“The Immortal King is without a doubt our—”

“It should be the Immortal King AND the damned cowards who stabbed us in the back three hundred years ago, right?”

“Hmm…?If you look at it that way, then yeah. They are the reason why the Immortal King came to be, but they did not even bother to help us at all. Moreover, they even attacked us after we cleaned up their mess,” Lionbreath said with a hint of anger in his voice.

“We just have to pay them back. Please do not tell me that the Nordic Tribe is filled with a bunch of people who do not know how to take revenge?”

“Ha!?We want nothing more than to get back at those bastards for what they did to us!”

“Then, just wait patiently and watch. I will ensure that you’ll be able to pay them back for what they did, and with interest at that,” Siegfried said with a sinister smile.

***

It had been a week since the Immortal King started making his way toward the continent. The city-state Hommetown, Pilos, and the small kingdom Hermates. These were the three main culprits behind the birth of the Immortal King as well as the ones who stabbed the Nordic Tribe in the back.

They were currently in great danger against the invading undead legion, and their complacency was the reason they were helpless against the multitude of undead monsters.

Hommetown, Pilos, and Hermates could have never imagined that the Immortal King could get resurrected. As such, they never made any preparations. Honestly, even if they knew that the Immortal King would come back to life, they still wouldn’t have made any preparations.

Why?

They expected the Nordic Tribe to act as their shield once again. These three nations did not station any scouts or spies in the Black Islands, and they also didn’t try to establish any diplomatic relations to collect information regarding the Immortal King.

It was all because of these that the Immortal King’s undead legion was successful in their ambush against the three nations. They suffered devastating damage from the Immortal King’s first wave of attacks.

“Those useless barbarians!”

“What is going on? Has the Immortal King wiped out those barbarians already?!”

“What are those useless buffoons doing letting the Immortal King launch an ambush against us?!”

The officials and leaders of these three nations gathered together to make sense of the situation, but they only spent their time blaming the Nordic Tribe without even realizing what actually happened.

Their assumptions were instantly shattered by the words of a messenger.

“The Nordic Tribe has sent an envoy!”

The coalition forces could have never imagined that the barbarians would send an envoy to them.

Why?

They had been certain that the Immortal King had already annihilated the Nordic Tribe.