Debuff Master

Clop! Clop! Clop!

They boarded a carriage waiting for them and sped into the distance.

‘Siegfried van Proa! Today will be the happiest day of your life, you damned bastard! Kekeke!’ Carlisle snickered while looking at the baby sleeping in the bassinet.

What kind of face was Siegfried van Proa going to make once he realized his beloved daughter became a follower of the organization that sought to sow discord and spread chaos throughout the world—the Church of Osric?

“Kekeke! Kekekeke!” Carlisle couldn\'t stop himself from cackling.

Could there ever be a more perfect revenge than this?

It was made even sweeter by the fact that this wasn\'t the end of his revenge. The Church of Osric promised to show their gratitude to Carlisle by providing special training for him to become stronger, and he planned to immerse himself in this special training and threaten Siegfried in the future with his newfound powers.

Carlisle’s goals changed from his personal vendetta against Siegfried to causing the downfall of the Proatine Kingdom with his own two hands.

“Are you… that happy?” Jessie asked.

“Of course!” Carlisle replied with a grin, and then he exclaimed, “I’ve achieved revenge that seemed impossible! Hohoho!”

“I see...”

“What about you? Aren’t you happy?”

“Not really.”

“Hmm?”

“I am merely following the orders of the church.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I will feel a sense of accomplishment from completing my task, but it’s not to the point where I feel bliss like you do.”

“I see.”

“To be honest, the Proatine Kingdom offered far better job benefits compared to the Church of Osric. Everyone is nice and the pay is quite nang nang.”

“Nang nang?”

“Ah, that means a lot,” she explained as he did not understand her, “It’s a common phrase used by the Adventurer from a nation called Korea.”

“Huh?”

“Anyway, I lost such a good job.”

“I guess you could think of it that way from your point of view.”

Carlisle did not like the fact Jessie was not celebrating with her, but he decided to forget about it.

After all, everyone had their own circumstances, right?

“That’s true,” she replied.

“A nang nang salary is always sweet like honey, after all.”

“The Proatine Royalty is quite generous in the wages of its people, and the maids are getting paid more than the maids working in the royal castles of far greater nations.”

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“Who knows? The church might send me somewhere else, or they might ask me to—“

“Heup!”

Carlisle suddenly lunged at her and forced his lips on hers.

She was shocked at his sudden actions, but she instantly reacted by trying to push her away. Unfortunately, pushing him away with her strength was impossible as there was no way a mere maid like her could overpower a trained knight like Carlisle.

Right after he was done kissing her and backed away…

“What… do you think you’re doing?” Jessie asked in a repulsed tone while wiping his saliva off of her lips.

“I love you,” Carlisle said in absolute seriousness.

“What did you just say?”

“I said I love you.”

“Ha!” she scoffed and glared at him before asking, “And what do you mean by that?”

“I just… fell in love with you. I was surrounded by enemies in the castle, but you were my only—“

“Shut up,” she cut him off and snarled, “You’re making me sick.”

“…!”

“I won’t forgive you if you pull something like that again. Do you understand?”

“I-I’m sorry… I thought you liked me, too, so–” he meekly replied.

“Shut it.”

“…”

“You’re pathetic,” she said while glaring at him with eyes full of disdain, and then she continued, “How dare you do—“

Neiiighhhh!

The horses pulling the carriage cried out, and the sound of people shouting could be heard outside.

“Halt!”

“Halt! Stop the carriage!”

“You may not pass from here!”

It seemed that the border guards had stopped them.

“Damn…” Carlisle groaned as he grabbed his sword.

However, Jessie grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“No, the coachman will take care of them. You don’t have to get involved.”

“The coachman?” he grimaced and wondered.

“Ack!”

“Aaack!”

“Kuheok!”

The dying screams of the border guards echoed a second later.

‘What was that?’

He hurriedly checked outside the window only to find the border guards dead on the ground.

“W-What?!”

“Did you really think the church wouldn’t have prepared this much?”

“I see…”

“Get some sleep. We have a long trip ahead of us.”

“A-Alright,” he docilely agreed to her suggestion. After all, he was quite embarrassed right now after the harsh rejection, so he found it more comfortable to close his eyes for now.

And that was how the carriage carrying Carlisle, Jessie, and Verdandi managed to slip past the Proatine Kingdom’s borders.

***

Five hours later, the carriage stopped in front of a warp gate that seemed to have been installed ages ago, judging by its weathered appearance. He followed Jessie into the warp gate and found himself somewhere he had never seen before.

“How much further do we have to go?” he asked.

“We’re almost there. The church’s secret hideout is hidden in that forest over there,” she replied while pointing at a forest up ahead.

“I see…”

He followed her into the forest, and they walked for three hours more. It was around the time that daybreak started that they finally reached a mountain fortress with towering wooden palisades surrounding it.

“Halt! Who goes there?!”

“Identify yourselves!”

The soldiers stationed atop the wooden palisade shouted with hostility in their voices. All of them had their faces covered with a cloth, so it was impossible to see their faces, but the armor they were wearing had the symbol of the Church of Osric drawn on it.

“I have come under the orders of the church,” Jessie said as she took out a seal that proved her identity as a follower and showed it to the soldiers, and then she said, “Please open the gate.”

The soldiers no longer asked any other questions after seeing the seal.

“Is this the headquarters of the church?” Carlisle asked.

“It’s only one of many,” she curtly replied.

Ten minutes later.

“So, you must be Carlisle.”

They were greeted by a man who held the position of White Cardinal within the Church of Osric. He was appointed as the new White Cardinal after Siegfried killed Leaz, the previous White Cardinal. He was in charge of brainwashing the talented individuals whom the church had abducted from all over the continent.

“I’d like to first express my gratitude to you for joining our cause. Siegfried van Proa’s kingdom has been a thorn in our church’s side, and we were making preparations to attack them. I guess I should thank him for bringing such a talent to us?”

“Not at all.”

“Alright, where is the High Elf?”

“Here she is,” Carlisle replied as he showed the bassinet, but…

“Kyu?”

There was a large hamster in the bassinet instead of the Proatine Kingdom’s princess.

‘What the…?’ Carlisle doubted his eyes for a moment.

Why would a hamster be in the bassinet that Siegfried van Proa’s daughter should be in…?

“Kyuuu?”

However, the hamster looked up at him with its large, innocent, sparkling eyes.

“T-This can’t be…! There’s no way…!” Carlisle exclaimed.

The White Cardinal grimaced and asked, “Is there a problem?”

“W-Why is there a hamster—Ah! You’re that…!”

“Kyu! My name is Hamchi! Hamchi!”

“Damn it!” Carlisle was infuriated after realizing what was going on.

Hamchi. It was the pet of his archnemesis, Siegfried van Proa.

“No way…” Carlisle muttered one of the words known to raise a flag.

“A-Ambush!”

“It’s an ambush!”

“Prepare for battle! The enemies are here!”

Screams abruptly filled the entire secret hideout.

“What’s going on?!” the White Cardinal shouted.

“Damn it!” Carlisle cussed as he threw the bassinet to the ground.

“Kyu! Why did you throw me away?!” Hamchi protested.

“Shut it, you damn rat! Where’s Siegfried van Proa’s daughter?!”

“She’s with yo momma! Kyu!”

“Did you bring up my—”

Pukeok!

Carlisle was about to retort, but Hamchi suddenly grew to the size of a bear and smacked him with his huge front paw.

“Kuheok!” Carlisle gasped and fell to the ground after getting smacked by the gigantic hamster.

The White Cardinal glared at Hamchi and screamed, “What is this insolence?!”

Thud! Thud! Boom!

The wooden palisade was smashed open, and Siegfried walked over the debris.

“Ack! You are!”

“S-Siegfried van Proa!”

Both Carlisle and the White Cardinal exclaimed after recognizing him.

“Good morning~ Lovely weather today!” Siegfried said with a smile.

“N-No way…!” Carlisle muttered as he instinctively looked behind him.

He was looking at the maid who plotted the kidnapping plan with him—Jessie.

“I’m sorry,” Jessie apologized and said, “I didn’t mean to trick you. It just turned out this way.”

“You bitch!” Carlisle raged and lunged at her with his sword. He felt his rage was not going to be quelled even in the afterlife if he did not manage to at least kill the traitorous wench, but…

Clang!

A Proatine Knight suddenly appeared and blocked his sword before shoving him back.

The knight, Oscar, stared down at him and said in a chilling voice, “Know your place.”

“Hey, Hamchi,” Siegfried called out.

“Kyu?”

“Give him a good beating, but make sure you don’t kill him.”

“Okay! Kyuu!”

Hamchi immediately got to work by grabbing the back of Carlisle’s neck and beating the living daylights out of him.

“W-What’s happening?! Don’t tell me… You wench! Have you betrayed our church?!” the White Cardinal screamed while pointing a finger at Jessie.

“Bingo~” Siegfried said with a smile, and then he grimaced and added, “Who would want to risk their lives for pieces of trash like you guys? Even I would betray you without thinking twice.”

“Don’t speak ill of our church!” the White Cardinal screamed while spitting saliva.

Siegfried replied in a mocking tone, “Don’t speak ill of our church~”

Then, his expression changed to one that would scare even the most hardened criminals. He looked like a serial killer—no, the devil himself right now.

“You dare try to kidnap my daughter?”

He almost had his daughter stolen right under his nose by the Church of Osric, and there were no words that could describe the amount of rage boiling inside of him.

“I’ll make sure you’re neither alive nor dead,” Siegfried said in a threatening and diabolic voice.

“Ha! You dare threaten a cardinal of the—“

Bam!

Siegfried did not even let the White Cardinal finish talking as he swung Horse Fly.

“Kuheok!”

“You talk too much.”

“Ugh…”

“You picked the wrong guy to mess with,” Siegfried said before he turned around and called out, “Dame Oscar.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Don’t kill a single one of the cultists here. I want all of them captured alive.”

“I, Oscar, will faithfully carry out Your Majesty’s command!” Oscar exclaimed before she left to command the Proatine Forces together with Jessie. Then, Siegfried turned toward Carlisle and the White Cardinal and revealed a spine-chilling smirk.

“I’m going to make your life exciting from now on. Okay?”

“W-What do you mean…“ Carlisle stuttered as an ominous feeling gripped him.

“Just look forward to it,” Siegfried said with a gentle, innocent smile.

***

Siegfried headed to his bed chambers as soon as he returned to the Proatine Kingdom.

Brunhilde was soundly sleeping on the bed that was large enough for ten people to sleep on, and Verdandi was soundly sleeping in her cradle next to the bed.

‘Ah! They’re so adorable!’ Siegfried found the two of them sleeping to be extremely cute, and he decided to press the record button to film them sleeping.

However, there was a hint of sadness on his face right now.

A person would record things to enjoy them later on as precious memories, but it was different for him. He was recording him in preparation for the day he would never get to see them again.

BNW was going to close its servers one day, and it would be the day his happiness would come to a halt. Thus, he was leaving all these records for that fateful day when everything would disappear from his fingertips.

All of a sudden, a maid called out from outside the door, “Your Majesty, are you inside?”

“I’m coming,” Siegfried replied and left the room just in case Brunhilde and Verdandi would be woken by the noise.

“What is it?” he asked.

“A man called Amundsen is requesting an audience with Your Majesty,” the maid replied.

Amundsen. It was the name of the explorer Siegfried had met during his time at the Great Jungle in the southern region of the continent.