Debuff Master-Chapter 891

“Why... Do we have to move the lake?” Seung-Gu asked, sweating profusely.

“Hmm? Why not?” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“I don’t see a point in it, though...?”

“Hey, listen here. Do you really think I’d ask something like this for no reason at all?”

“Eh?”

“Michael’s wings are in there.”

“Ah!”

“But how can we possibly search this whole place? Not only is it wide, but it looks really deep, too.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“So I’d rather just drain the water and move it over there.”

“Hahaha...” Seung-Gu could not help but laugh in disbelief.

“Also, I noticed something,” Siegfried said. Then, he brought up his minimap and pointed at it. “Look at the area around this place.”

“Hmm?”

“Those places always lack water during farming season.”

“Oh, you’re right. It’s quite far from the lake,” Seung-Gu replied with a nod.

“Right? It’s far from the main water supply, so farming is difficult. Hell, forget about farming, having clean drinking water is a challenge for them.”

“I bet.”

“I noticed it when I was in one of the villages. They were drinking beer rather than water just because clean water is harder to come by.”

“Whoa...”

“That’s why I’m thinking of moving the lake to find Michael’s wings and constructing a dam to supply water to this region. Aren’t we killing two birds with one stone if we do that? We get Michael’s wings back and improve the lives of our people.”

“Is that why you’re asking us to move the lake?”

“Yup.”

“Hahaha...” Seung-Gu laughed in disbelief. Then, he clenched his fists and said confidently, “Leave it to me, hyung-nim! I’ll move that lake to where you want me to!”

“Thanks. And let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“Okay, hyung-nim,” Seung-Gu replied with a nod. Then, he turned to the soldiers and laborers gathered.

“His Majesty wants us to move this lake!”

“Yes, sir!”

“We will now commence Operation: Move the Lake!”

“Yes, sir!”

None of the soldiers and laborers looked flustered, even after hearing that they had to move the massive lake before them. Ironically, they sounded enthusiastic about the idea of moving a lake through manual labor.

This was the discipline drilled into the elite forces of the Proatine Kingdom. They would move mountains when asked to, move lakes if they had to, and jump to their deaths if commanded to.

“Move out!”

The soldiers and workers immediately sprung into action, forming a plan and getting to work.

Upon closer investigation, moving the lake turned out to be much easier than they had initially expected.

Right beside the lake was a small hill, and beyond that hill was a deep basin. All they had to do was build a waterway that would direct the water from the lake to the basin, and the job would be done.

However, the hill was the problem.

They had to demolish this hill, which was the size of a small mountain, and that was no simple task.

“Blow it up with dynamites and blast it down,” Seung-Gu commanded.

He was planning to use dynamites to blow up the mountain, followed by an artillery strike from the airships flying in the sky.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The operation went smoothly, and two-thirds of the hill were obliterated in an instant.

“Damn...” Siegfried muttered, impressed by what he witnessed.

The soldiers and laborers were hacking away at the remaining rocks with pickaxes, and their work rate was simply surreal.

“How are these guys so good at this?” he muttered under his breath, clearly amazed by the sheer speed at which they were hacking away at the rocks.

But that was not all...

The dwarves serving under Quandt in Preussen appeared from the magic circle, and they joined the demolition of the hill.

The hill rapidly began to collapse under the combined efforts of the dwarves, soldiers, and laborers.

“Your Majesty!”

A soldier approached Siegfried and saluted.

“Loyalty! The villagers from a nearby village seek an audience with you, sire!”

“Hmm? Bring them to me.”

“Yes, sire!”

It turns out that the villagers, who traveled great distances to fetch water, were bewildered by the sudden turn of events.

“Ah, it’s nothing to worry about. We’re building a dam to redirect the water flow nearer to your villages. You won’t have to walk this far to get water anymore in a month or two,” Siegfried explained.

“Oh!”

“Truly a wise and benevolent king!”

“Your Majesty’s grace is as vast as the ocean!”

“May Your Majesty be blessed forever!”

Overcome with gratitude, the villagers fell to their knees and bowed repeatedly, worshiping Siegfried.

The water shortage was one of the greatest hardships the people in this area suffered, yet their king had personally stepped in to resolve it.

How could they not kneel in reverence to such a benevolent ruler?

Ding!

Then, a message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: You have completed the Quest – 12 Tasks!]

The last task he had to resolve was to resolve the drought in this area, and it ticked itself off after the construction of the waterway started.

[Alert: Congratulations!]

[Alert: You have leveled up!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 311!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 312!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 313!]

Just like that, Siegfried gained three levels from clearing such an easy quest.

[Alert: Your Divine Power has permanently increased by 3,000!]

On top of that, he gained a massive boost to his Divine Power as well.

‘Oh yeah! Jackpoooot!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly and felt like dancing after receiving the rewards.

Just then...

“Erm... We have a problem, hyung-nim,” Seung-Gu approached him and said.

“Hmm? What problem?”

“There’s this really massive boulder blocking the connecting part between the lake and the waterway. It won’t budge no matter what we do.”

“Oh?”

“We tried to plant charges of dynamite, but the pickaxes won’t even scratch it. Even the tools used by the dwarves broke while trying to work on it.”

“Eh?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion.

The pickaxes used by dwarves were no ordinary tools. They were enchanted tools, making them capable of tearing through solid rock like a hot knife going through butter.

But those enchanted pickaxes broke? That could only mean that the boulder was not just hard—it was absurdly hard.

“Take me there.”

“Okay, hyung-nim.”

Siegfried followed Seung-Gu to where the ridiculously hard boulder was.

***

The construction site suddenly became the Ultimate Rock Smashing Tournament.

“Hiyaaaah!”

A dwarf swung its pickaxe with all of its strength.

Thunk!

The pickaxe shattered, and the force of the rebound sent the dwarf tumbling backward.

“Bwahaha!”

“I told you it won’t work!”

“Did you really think you could do it when I couldn’t? Bwahaha! What a funny fella!”

It turned out that the workers started a competition to see who would manage to destroy the boulder.

“Your Majesty!”

Quandt suddenly appeared and rushed over.

“Huh? What are you doing here, Quandt-nim?” Siegfried asked.

Lately, Quandt had been busier than he ever was in his entire life, working tirelessly to rebuild the Bavarian Workshop in its new home and developing new weapons for the Proatine Kingdom.

“I heard there was an exceptionally tough boulder here, so I rushed over.”

“Eh?”

“A rock even we dwarves don’t recognize is something worth investigating.”

Quandt was a blacksmith on the cusp of becoming a Legendary Blacksmith, and he possessed nearly unparalleled knowledge when it came to metals and minerals. If anyone could identify this abnormally tough boulder, then it was him.

“Please allow me to take a closer look at it,” Quandt said before wearing a pair of goggles equipped with thirteen different lenses, adjusting them as needed as he carefully examined the rock’s surface.

He dripped various liquids on it, lightly scratched the surface, and even studied how it reacted to light taps.

About five minutes later...

“O-Oh my god...” Quandt gasped.

“Why? What is it?” Siegfried asked, intrigued by the old blacksmiths’ reaction.

“T-This boulder is...”

“...?”

“It’s made from an incredibly rare and mysterious mineral known as Omnistone.”

“Huh? Omnistone? What’s that?”

“The Omnistone is the hardest mineral known to exist, and it basically has virtually limitless uses based on how it is processed.”

“Hold on. What do you mean exactly by that?”

“It can be spun into fibers or forged into weapons like one would with metals.”

“Oh?”

“And with a bit of basic alchemy, it can even be transformed into entirely different materials!”

“Wait, so does that mean... we could turn this rock into gold?”

As always, Siegfried’s mind was filled with thoughts of gold.

“Yes, it is possible.”

“Oh!”

“We can even turn it into something scarily identical to a dragon’s bones.”

“W-What?!”

“You can’t turn it into something that does not exist, but you can turn it into nearly anything as long as it exists in this world.”

“Oh!”

“This boulder is... worth far more than an entire A-Grade mana stone mine. Of course, it depends on how it’s processed.”

“AWOOOOOO!” Siegfried howled in excitement at those words.

An unexpected jackpot landed right on his lap.

All he planned to do was to carve through the mountains, drain the lake, and build a dam for the people. Instead, he found an insanely tough boulder that turned out to be a mineral with astronomical value.

Of course, this was no pure coincidence.

Siegfried had the title "Great King’s Blessed Lands," and it allowed him to uncover hidden resources and rare minerals.

“But how do we mine it out? We have to do something about this thing, or else we can’t open the waterway,” Siegfried said, looking around.

Technically, they could dig another waterway and alter the course of the water. But if they did that, there was a chance the water would veer off course in an unpredictable direction.

They could easily direct the lake into its new home if they somehow managed to remove this massive Omnistone that was the size of a small building, which was the reason why the workers were trying to break it up in the first place.

“The only option is to cut it piece by piece,” Quandt said.

“But don’t you think that will take too long?” Siegfried asked in response. Then, he paused for a moment and pondered before suddenly saying, “Ah, you know what? I’ll just do it myself.”

“Huh?”

“Everyone! Clear the area! Now!”

“Y-Your Majesty?!”

Before Quandt could even stop him, Siegfried launched himself straight into the lake.

***

Siegfried jumped into the lake and dove deep underwater.

He had near-zero visibility even with his enhanced eyesight, as the murky water made it almost impossible to see beyond his arm’s length.

To make matters worse, the lake was at least five hundred meters deep. This meant that it was pitch black deep underwater, almost like the abyss of the oceans where not even a sliver of light reached.

‘No wonder they couldn’t find the wings,’ Siegfried thought, fully understanding why Michael and the others failed to recover them.

Then, he transformed his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a saber.

‘It’s not going to be easy. I have to focus and go all out in one clean strike.’

It was only natural that his movements would be restricted underwater, so he tightened his grip on the hilt and steeled his resolve.

‘The angle should be slightly diagonal and... three, two, one...!’

It was then.

Chwaaaak!

The ultimate technique of Sword Emperor Betelgeuse, Heaven Splitting Slash, shot toward the Omnistone, and...

‘Eh?!’

Siegfried was shocked. Eighty percent of his HP, Mana, and Stamina was drained in an instant. As expected of a Grandmaster’s ultimate technique, the recoil from unleashing Heaving Splitting Slash at full power was overwhelming.

The recoil was so intense that Siegfried could barely keep his body stable underwater, as his limbs were trembling.

However, the skill was undeniably effective.

C-Craaaack!

A diagonal line appeared on the Omnistone before it broke into large fragments.

And then...

Shwaaaaaa!

The lake water surged, pushing the Omnistone fragments aside and rushing through the waterway toward the basin.

“Huff!” Siegfried swam against the current with all of his strength before kicking hard to propel himself toward the surface.

The moment he burst above the water, he immediately activated his +10 Black Crow Wingsuit and soared into the sky.

“Whoaaaaa!”

“Wow!”

“Long live His Majesty!”

“Glory to the king!”

The people erupted into cheers the moment they saw Siegfried shoot into the sky. None of them expected that Siegfried would slice apart the gigantic boulder and open the waterway at the same time.

Krwaaaaang!

With the Omnistone out of the way and the waterway opened, the lake water gushed forth like a mighty flood, emitting thunderous roars as it dropped into the basin.

Just as Siegfried predicted, there was no risk of flooding the area around them, thanks to the waterway being barely wide enough. Still, due to the narrow waterway, it would take a long time for all the lake water to drain out into the basin.

“We should bring some net and wait,” Siegfried said.

It would be easy if the wings simply sunk into the lakebed and waited to be retrieved once the lake emptied. If it got swept away by the current and fell into the basin, then it would be like searching for a particular grain of sand in the ocean.

Of course, they could simply excavate the basin and search every inch of it, but time was a luxury they could not afford right now. With the invasion of the angels looming closer every second, they had to recover Michael’s wings as quickly as possible.