Debuff Master-Chapter 896

“Hold on,” Siegfried said, observing the map.

‘Hmm... There won't be any fights in this place, let alone skirmishes. Tsk... Why not just tell me what’s going on?

'I know it’s important to keep information under wraps during a war, but it’s frustrating not knowing the reason behind these weird orders,’ he grumbled inwardly.

He looked all over the map, trying to make sense of the orders, but he could not find any reason why he was ordered to move to that location.

‘I’m sure there’s a reason behind it...’ Siegfried was certain that there was a reason behind the command.

“Tell the guys to get ready to mobilize at once, Carell.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Siegfried did not ask any questions and prepared to move out just as he was ordered to.

A soldier lived and died by command, and anyone wearing a military uniform had to obey their superior's commands even if those commands made no sense at all.

‘I wonder what they’re thinking.’

Siegfried continued wondering even while marching with his comrades.

‘We have around two thousand five hundred troops, but you can say we are worth ten thousand troops since all of us are Adventurers. Even the empire can’t discount us that easily, but why are they sending us to somewhere remote just like this? Not using us in battle is wasteful.’

While walking, he racked his brains to deduce the meaning behind the order.

‘I’m sure there’s a reason, but they’re just not telling me due to security concerns.’

With that in mind, he could not afford to just sit around and do nothing.

“Hey, Carell,” Siegfried called out after arriving at their new location.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Make sure everyone’s prepared for battle at all times and the sentries are not slacking off. There’s something fishy going on, and I’m certain we will be given a big mission soon.”

“Really?”

“Why else would they waste a formidable fighting force like us? It just doesn’t make sense not giving us any orders.”

“I do agree, sire.”

“I have a feeling that... we’re the ambush.”

“Pardon me, sire?”

“Something’s coming,” Siegfried said. Then, he continued, “I don’t think it will be a large attachment of enemies. They wouldn’t be only stationing us here if it was a large force. They would’ve deployed a fleet or artillery regiment alongside us.”

“Then that means...?”

“It’s probably a small detachment being chased down. Not just some stragglers but someone important. It might possibly be...” Siegfried paused for a second. Then, he continued in a low voice, “The leader of the rebels, Giorgetto von Posteriore, could be heading this way."

“...!”

“I know the chances of that happening are slim. Capturing the enemy’s leader is a top priority, so the empire will be sending their elite forces after him. I suppose the odds of him coming here are less than ten percent.”

“Then...?”

“It’s inevitable that the ones being chased down will split into smaller groups, right?”

“Yes.”

“One of those smaller groups might end up here.”

“Oh! As expected of Your Majesty! You deduced all that without any information?” Carell exclaimed in awe.

“It’s nothing, really. I mean, everything sort of points that way if you piece things together, no? Well, it’s also possible they’re just moving us around to make it look like we’re doing something rather than just get a free ride through the war.”

“Huh?”

“What I’m trying to say is, even I’m not sure what their exact intention is. But for now, let’s stay alert.”

“In that case, I will tell our patrols to be on high alert and tell our people to prepare for battle at all times.”

“Good. We have no idea when we will be called to battle, so be ready to fight at a moment’s notice.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

With that, the division under Siegfried’s command was in a tense state at all times while waiting for the unknown.

***

The next morning, Tae-Sung slept roughly three hours before logging back into the game.

However, nothing much changed.

The Adventurers were either dozing off or playing Hardstone.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Meanwhile, the deafening explosions were still echoing in the distance.

Siegfried flew up into the sky to scout around and found that an area around two to three times the size of Seoul was burning.

‘C-Crazy! This is on a whole different level!’

He could not help but be flabbergasted at the sheer scale of the battle. Even though he was witnessing it from more than one hundred fifty kilometers away, it was clear to him that the destructive war between the Proatine Kingdom and the Zavala Kingdom was nothing but mere child’s play compared to this.

‘Ah, I really want to see what’s going on,’ Siegfried thought, itching to watch the battle between the empire and the rebels.

After all, being able to witness the most powerful military in the world going full force against an enemy was not something one could witness even if they paid a lot of money.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Siegfried, and witnessing such a battle would open his eyes to a whole new world.

‘I guess it can’t be helped. Tsk... It’s still a shame I’m missing out on such a great opportunity to learn a few things...’

He was indeed disappointed, but he decided to stay faithful to the task given to him.

With a heavy heart, he returned to camp and waited until further orders were given.

Time passed, and night fell, yet the deafening roar of explosions, as well as the flashes of blinding light, remained unceasing.

Shwiiiiing... Kaboom!

Just then, a signal flare shot up into the night sky, brightly illuminating it.

“Your Majesty! Sire!”

Siegfried was dozing off when Carell’s urgent shouts shook him away.

“W-What’s going on?!”

“They are coming!”

“Huh? Who?”

“The enemies are coming, sire!”

“What?!”

Siegfried darted into the sky the moment Carell gave the report.

‘That’s a lot!’

A massive army of at least ten thousand soldiers roughly three kilometers away were marching toward the forest located at the foot of the hill where Siegfried and his comrades held their position.

Siegfried

“Your Majesty! Command has instructed us to defend our position!”

At that moment, Carell urgently reported after Siegfried landed.

“I know,” Siegfried nodded. Then, he immediately issued a command, “Tell everyone to be prepared for battle.”

“Yes, sire!”

“I’ll be going ahead.”

“Huh? Where are you going, sire? Are you not going to fight alongside the others?”

“Nope. I have the upper hand in the forest,” Siegfried said with a grin.

“Huh?

“Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

With those words, Siegfried left for the forest on foot.

He did not bother to use his +10 Black Crow Wingsuit this time.

Why? Because it would be a problem if the enemy spotted him mid-flight and shot him down.

Siegfried immediately activated Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance and scanned his surroundings the moment he entered the forest. Unsurprisingly, the entire forest was crawling with rebel soldiers.

‘Hmm... I guess they’re not that important,’ he thought.

He made this deduction based on the fact that the empire was not chasing after them. These were probably stragglers that broke away from the main forces after getting chased down, and they were most likely not important at all.

But that did not mean Siegfried was simply going to ignore them.

He activated Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance just to double-check everything. The search bar appeared in front of his eyes, and he entered the name Giorgetto von Posteriore into it.

His chances of finding him were bleak, but he figured it would not hurt to give it a shot.

And the result was—

[Alert: Searching...]

[Alert: 10%... 30%... 95%...]

[Alert: Search Complete!]

[Alert: Giorgetto von Posteriore has been located!]

A message popped up in front of his eyes, pinpointing the current location of the rebel leader, Giorgetto von Posteriore.

“W-What the hell?!” Siegfried shrieked in horror and fell on his butt.

He was not expecting much from the search and simply checked on a whim, but he did not expect the leader of the rebellion to be actually here in the forest.

‘T-This is a jackpot! He’s a walking jackpot!’

But before he could even process what was going on, a quest message popped up in front of his eyes.

[Alert: You have received a new quest!]

[Alert: Emperor's Persona has been changed to Hero of the Empire!]

The new quest details popped up in front of his eyes.

[Hero of the Empire]

[Fire a signal flare and capture the leader of the rebellion, Giorgetto von Posteriore, alive!]

[Type: First-Come First-Serve Quest]

[Progress: 0% (0/1)]

[Rewards: ???, +75,000 Reputation, +200% Church of Heroes Followers Growth]

[Warning: You must clear this quest faster than anyone else or risk having it stolen from you!]

‘Fire a signal flare? Ah! Right, I have to tell them he’s here,’ Siegfried realized.

Not reporting his findings and rushing into action, hoping to monopolize all the glory, was the worst thing a soldier could possibly do. Thus, before anything else, Siegfried had to fire the signal flare and alert the empire that Giorgetto von Posteriore was here.

What was going to happen after that?

The empire’s elite forces would rush to the forest.

From there on out, it was a race to see who could capture Giorgetto von Posteriore first, which was the precise reason why the quest was labeled "first-come, first-serve."

‘I should fire a signal flare first.’

Siegfried took out a signal flare provided to him by the empire. He was given different kinds of signal flares for various purposes, but he chose the Empire’s Call, which was only to be used in true emergencies.

Shwoooong...

The signal flare shot straight up—

Boom!

—And exploded, drawing the Marchioni Empire’s insignia in the night sky.

Wooong!

The night sky suddenly distorted, and a hidden observation vessel appeared. It had been staying hidden, cloaked, the entire time, and its massive figure emerged right after the signal flare was used.

***

“W-What?!” Siegfried shrieked in shock after seeing the vessel.

[Observation Vessel: Empire’s Eye]

[An unmanned observation vessel of the empire.]

[It was created using the most advanced magic available, and it is deployed during wartime, making it impossible to hide from the Empire’s Eye.]

[However, it has low durability, making it an easy picking.]

[Type: Machine]

[Class: Non-combat Unmanned Observation Vessel]

[Durability: 5/5]

[Skills: Cloaking, Teleportation]

“T-That’s crazy... Isn’t that a drone?!’

Siegfried was stunned after witnessing once again the might of the Marchioni Empire. He finally understood why the Marchioni Empire was the most powerful nation on the continent.

If they could operate unmanned observation vessels like that, then their technology would likely be far beyond what anyone could imagine.

However, this was no time to stay awestruck.

Wooong!

The Empire’s Eye suddenly fired a beam of light toward the ground.

It wasn't a laser beam or anything related to combat.

Wooong!

It was a warp gate.

[Alert: Observation Vessel: Empire’s Eye has created a warp gate!]

[Alert: 5 minutes until warp gate is completed!]

[Alert: 4 minutes 59 seconds...]

[Alert: 4 minutes 58 seconds...]

Shockingly, the Empire’s Eye was not just a vessel used for reconnaissance.

“Ah...” Siegfried gasped after realizing why the Marchioni Empire had given him commands that made no sense.

‘This is insane! How the hell is anyone supposed to compete with them?! They have total control over the battlefield!’

With the Empire’s Eye, the Marchioni Empire had not only perfect surveillance over the entire battlefield, but they could also deploy warp gates when required.

In other words, the tactics they used in war were on a completely different scale compared to any other nation.

“Oh crap! There’s no time for this!”

Siegfried snapped back to reality. The empire’s elite forces would be warping in at any moment now, which meant he had just a few minutes to capture Giorgetto von Posteriore before they swooped in and took his prey.

‘Time to move!’

Siegfried ran as fast as he could to where Giorgetto von Posteriore’s location was being shown. A smirk spread across his lips while he was running. The Empire’s Eye was truly impressive, yes, but right now, he held the advantage.

Why?

It was all because he could track Giorgetto’s exact location in real time using the Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance. What did that mean? Even if Giorgetto somehow managed to escape from the empire, there was no way he could escape from Siegfried.

He was already as good as caught.

‘You’re mine, Giorgetto,’ Siegfried thought with an evil smirk.

However, that smirk soon turned into a huge grin, as he wondered about the immeasurable reward that he would receive from Emperor Stuttgart once he caught the enemy rebel leader, Giorgetto von Posteriore.