Debuff Master-Chapter 805

“Kyuuu! You said we need to be quiet, so why are you yelling, owner punk?!” Hamchi cried out, his eyes flaring in anger as he scolded Siegfried.

“Hey, listen! There’s a dragon sleeping under the mine!” Siegfried snapped back.

“Kyuuu?! A d-dragon?!”

“Yeah! It’s sleeping down there!”

“Kyuuu! Why would a dragon be sleeping here?!”

“How the hell should I know—?!”

Ding!

A message suddenly popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes, interrupting him.

***

[Alert: You have triggered an Emergency Time Attack Quest!]

[Alert: You have received the Quest – Do Not Tickle the Sleeping Dragon’s Whiskers!]

The details of the quest were so ominous that it was more than enough to make Siegfried feel nervous.

[Do Not Tickle the Sleeping Dragon’s Whiskers]

[Stop the mining slaves from detonating dynamite to ensure the dragon remains undisturbed in its slumber.]

[Type: Emergency Time Attack Quest]

[Time Limit: 5 minutes]

[Warning: Failure to complete this quest will render the "On a Mission! Hero to the Rescue!" unfinishable!]

Siegfried knew exactly why failure was not an option. If the dynamite exploded over the dragon’s head and ended up waking the slumbering beast, the Silver Dragon was surely not going to remain calm.

What if that monstrous dragon woke up and got upset?

Siegfried didn't even need to guess what would happen next.

The quest, "On a Mission! Hero to the Rescue!" would become impossible to complete, as Sam, Mischa’s father, would undoubtedly become one of the dragon’s first victims.

[Alert: 4 minutes and 58 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 4 minutes and 57 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 4 minutes and 56 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 4 minutes and 55 seconds remaining!]

The timer ticked down, marking every passing second.

‘Damn it!’ Siegfried cursed inwardly and took off immediately.

Forget about the Epic Quest; if the Silver Dragon woke up agitated from its sleep, then even his own life would be on the line!

“Let’s go! Hamchi!”

“Kyuuu?!”

“Run, you little punk!”

Siegfried charged toward Sam’s location, shouting and running full speed. He ran as fast as he could in order to stop the imminent disaster, but his path was soon blocked.

“Halt! Who goes there?!”

“What are you doing down here?!”

Captain Baroque’s guards stationed in the mine stepped forward. They had yet to receive the commands to let Siegfried roam freely, so they failed to recognize him.

“Get lost!” Siegfried growled. He swung his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp, obliterating the guards in a single strike.

Then, he shoved over a cart full of raw mana stones, spilling its contents onto the floor before hopping on and pushing it downhill at full speed.

[Alert: 4 minutes and 45 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 4 minutes and 44 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 4 minutes and 43 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 4 minutes and 42 seconds remaining!]

Time was running out fast, so reaching the end of the tunnel as quickly as possible was all that mattered now.

***

Deep inside the mine...

“I miss you so much...”

Sam, a mining slave, had been enduring each day by thinking of his beloved daughter, Mischa. The thoughts of her were the only thing keeping him alive, as the work in the mines was brutal.

Slaves with weak bodies rarely lasted more than a month before succumbing to dehydration, illness, and death. Even the strong ones were not spared, as many were crushed under the collapsing tunnels and buried beneath piles of rubble.

“If only... I could see her one more time before I die...” Sam murmured to himself as he rose from his spot.

“Move it!”

“What are you waiting for?! Five minutes have passed! Get back to work!”

The pirates overseeing the slaves barked orders, and their voices sounded sharp and cruel.

“Faster! Faster!”

“Captain Baroque won’t tolerate useless slaves!”

Despite their exhausted state, the slaves continued installing dynamites throughout the tunnels under the pirates’ watchful eyes.

About an hour later, Sam and the other slaves reached the edge of the tunnel. They needed to clear a safe distance before detonating the dynamite, as today’s charges were set to break apart a single massive rock.

The explosion would not be too powerful, but still, the slaves moved about five hundred meters away from the blast site just to be safe. They even flipped over mining carts and hid beneath them just in case the tunnels ended up collapsing.

They were clinging to the hope of survival even though not even a faint glimmer of hope could be seen in these dark tunnels.

“One... two... three.”

A slave lit the fuse connected to the dynamite.

Tssss...!

The spark raced down the fuse at breakneck speed.

Rumble!

Just then, a mine cart came tearing down the tunnel before screeching to a halt with sparks flying from its brakes.

“Huh?”

“What the hell?”

The slaves and pirates stared dumbfounded at the cart.

One of the pirates, the first to come back to his senses, shouted, “What’s going on?! Is something—Gah!”

Siegfried jumped down the cart and threw an ice shuriken squarely into the pirate’s chest, causing the pirate to collapse, never to rise again.

The other pirates didn't fare any better.

Shwiiik!

The shurikens sliced through the pirates, severing arteries and piercing brains with lethal precision.

Not a single one of them survived...

“...!”

“Phew!”

Siegfried let out a sigh of relief while scanning the area.

“Thank god I wasn't—”

Tsssss...!

But before he could finish, he spotted the spark racing along the fuse, heading straight for the dynamite.

“Damn it!”

Without hesitation, Siegfried bolted after it, moving like lightning.

Tssss...!

The spark was fast. In fact, far too fast. It surged down the fuse at twice the speed Siegfried could run.

‘No! Faster! Faster! I have to go faster! More!’

Then, it happened.

‘Huh?’

Siegfried felt a strange sensation as if he had teleported. When he snapped back to his senses, he found himself standing directly in front of the spark. In mere seconds, he covered almost one hundred meters.

Thud!

Without wasting another second, he slammed his foot down, extinguishing the spark just a meter away from the dynamite.

Disaster was just a second away. If he had been even a second slower, then the dynamite would have detonated right above the sleeping dragon’s head.

‘What was that just now...?’

Instead of feeling relieved, Siegfried was more focused on what had just happened.

‘Was I always this fast?’

The answer was simple—no. He had never been able to teleport before, not when he was an Elemental Mage and even after becoming the Debuff Master.

Just then, he noticed something.

‘Eh?’

His Divine Power gauge had dropped significantly. The white bar representing his Divine Power had fallen to less than half, as about seventy percent of it had disappeared.

‘Again?’

It was just like the war against the Zavala Kingdom. His Divine Power had activated without his control, allowing him to perform things beyond his usual capabilities that were nothing short of a miracle.

And that was the reason why he was so determined to complete this Epic Quest...

The secret behind his Divine Power—how he could control it. He was certain that the answers he was searching for awaited him at the end of this quest.

‘I will finish this quest no matter what.’

Siegfried stomped out the remaining sparks on the fuse for good measure before turning toward the group of slaves.

***

“Is there a man named Sam here? Sam from Barnacle Village?” Siegfried called out, scanning the weary faces of the slaves.

“Sam, who has a daughter named Mischa?”

Siegfried continued calling out when an older man hesitantly raised his trembling hand.

“I-I am Sam... but why do you ask?”

Siegfried approached him and said in a reassuring warm voice, “Mischa sent me.”

“W-What?!”

“She asked me to rescue her father.”

“I-Is that true?”

“Yes, and I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Oh, thank the heavens...”

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Sam collapsed to his knees, and tears started streaming down his face, feeling overwhelmed.

[Alert: You have completed the Quest – On a Mission! Hero to the Rescue!]

[Alert: Escort Sam back to Mischa in Barnacle Village!]

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

‘Sam secured!’

He double-checked the quest log before turning to the rest of the slaves.

“Follow me, all of you. We need to escape. I’ll lead you out.”

With that, Siegfried began escorting the group of miners, determined to free every last one of them.

He could not leave anyone behind—no, not really. It was more like silencing these witnesses was far too impractical.

They moved through the mining tunnels carefully until they reached a safe point.

Once there, Siegfried set off a dynamite, causing a section of the mine shaft to collapse to make it look like an accident happened. Then, using a hidden path, they went all the way back to the Temeraire.

“You will need to stay hidden on the ship for a few days. It's going to be uncomfortable, but I’ll make sure you guys get enough food and water,” Siegfried told the slaves, including Sam.

After that, the Temeraire quietly departed the mining island.

***

“The tunnel collapsed!”

“Move! Quickly!”

“Hurry up!”

Back on the island, the pirates were in absolute chaos. They thought that the collapse was just another mining accident, so they rushed to salvage whatever they could.

Meanwhile, the Temeraire slipped away unnoticed, and its sails billowed out in the wind.

‘But why was the Silver Dragon sleeping i,n there to begin with?’ Siegfried wondered.

Unfortunately, there was no way to find the answer to his question, as it was possible that the dragon had built its lair in the mines centuries ago.

‘Oh well, not my problem,’ he shook off his curiosity.

Then, he turned his attention to their next destination, Captain Baroque’s main fortress.

***

Captain Baroque was not particularly concerned about the tunnel collapsing. After all, accidents were common in the mining industry, so he thought nothing of it.

Thanks to this oversight, Siegfried managed to successfully hide Sam and the rescued slaves without raising any suspicion.

Two days later, Baroque led his fleet, including the Swordfish Pirates, toward Captain Bellatrix’s territory.

The Swordfish Pirates were sleek and fast, as their hulls were designed for speed. Armed with heavy cannons mounted on the prow, they didn't have to broadside enemies like other ships did and could simply charge head-on while unleashing devastating firepower.

In comparison, the Temeraire was painfully slow. Siegfried hadn't invested any money in upgrading the ship, which meant that it lagged heavily behind. Thus, Siegfried had no choice but to reluctantly board the flagship of the Swordfish Pirates.

Aside from this, Baroque had paid him handsomely upfront, so his expectations of Siegfried’s performance were sky-high; he wanted to see him in action with his own two eyes.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do today, Captain Francis de Drake,” Baroque said, addressing him with a smug grin.

“Haha,” Siegfried chuckled in response.

“I even prepared a special symphony just for the occasion,” Baroque added, gesturing proudly toward the ship’s bow.

A white grand piano stood there, absurdly out of place but polished to perfection. It seemed that Baroque planned to play the piano during the battle to heighten the atmosphere.

‘This guy’s really something else,’ Siegfried thought, disguised by Baroque’s eccentricity.

Just then...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the distance, the cannons of Captain Bellatrix’s Medusa Pirates erupted, sending fiery projectiles soaring through the air.

The battle had finally begun.

Siegfried was now caught in the war for dominance over the Green Isles.