Debuff Master

Chapter 749

The Proatine Alliance breached the defensive walls of the Zavala Kingdom’s capital, Feiogh.

“Saha Shizu Moktar!”

“Saha... Shizu... Moktar...!”

Right after replenishing his mana with the High-Speed Mana Charger, Duke Decimato cast a spatial distortion spell over the entirety of Feiogh.

Woooong!

A translucent barrier covered the entire capital, and it immediately activated its spatial distortion effect. Feiogh was now an isolated zone where teleportation, warping, and gateways were disabled completely.

The reason for doing this was quite simple. Siegfried had asked Duke Decimato to cast this barrier to trap King Frederick and the nobles of the Zavala Kingdom. It was unavoidable if some of them had already fled, but from this moment onward, no one would be able to leave, as their last escape route was cut off.

“Huff... Huff...”

Duke Decimato collapsed after casting the spatial distortion magic over the entire city. The spell demanded immense mana to be used, and his mana was completely drained by it.

However, this was a monumental feat, even for a Great Wizard, as casting such a vast spatial distortion barrier over an entire metropolis was not easy at all.

Doing something of this level would require at least dozens—no, hundreds of magicians working together. But Duke Decimato did it all alone and, with just a single cast at that, was indeed a testament to his magical prowess.

Duke Decimato’s spatial distortion barrier was extremely effective.

King Frederick and his officials were attempting to flee through the warp gate inside the Iron Palace. They could have escaped sooner, but they did not do so, and the reason was clear—neither King Frederick nor his officials had imagined, even in their wildest dreams, that the Iron Fleet would betray them and bombard their own capital.

They also did not expect that the Proatine Alliance would invade the city as soon as the fleet broke through Feiogh’s barrier. In other words, they failed to grasp the situation in time, and they ended up losing their chance to escape.

Wooong...! Wooong...!

The warp gate glowed faintly but did not respond any more than that. It refused to transport King Frederick and his officials to Shotain City, the kingdom’s secondary capital.

The captain of the royal knights shouted, “Y-Your Majesty! The warp gate is unresponsive!”

“What?! If the warp gate doesn’t work, then use a warp scroll!” King Frederick retorted in frustration.

“Yes, sire!”

At the king’s command, the captain of the royal knights hurriedly tore a warp scroll, but the result was not what they were expecting.

Flash!

The scroll let out a blinding flash of light, but King Frederick and his officials were still in the Iron Palace.

“...!”

The king and his officials finally understood what was happening after even the warp scroll failed.

“Y-Your Majesty! It appears that the enemy has cast spatial distortion magic over the—” the royal knight captain said.

“Silence!” King Frederick snapped at the royal knight captain. Then, he snarled, “You think I don’t know that already?!”

“A-Apologies, sire!”

“We need to escape—now! I cannot die here! The Lion King, Frederick, will not meet his end today!” n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Yes, sire!”

King Frederick and his officials hurriedly fled from the Iron Palace guarded by the royal knights.

***

Meanwhile, Siegfried landed lightly in Feiogh with Hamchi on his shoulder, thanks to his +10 Black Crow Wingsuit.

Awaiting him was an elite unit of the Proatine Kingdom’s knights and soldiers...

“Salute to His Majesty the King!”

“Loyalty!”

The Proatine Forces greeted Siegfried with salutes and resounding voices as he descended.

“At ease,” Siegfried returned their salute with a smile. Then, he said, “Thank you all for your hard work and sacrifices.”

“It is our honor to be at Your Majesty’s service,” Oscar replied, leading the group and dropping to one knee to show respect. Then, she exclaimed in a resounding voice, “Congratulations on your victory, sire!”

“Your Majesty! Congratulations on your victory!”

As his men congratulated him, Siegfried responded calmly, “Thank you. But it’s not over yet. Don’t let your guard down until the end.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” the elite troops replied in unison.

“Dame Oscar,” Siegfried called.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Oscar promptly replied.

“From this moment onward, focus our men’s efforts on securing all of Feiogh.”

“As you command, sire.”

“Make sure not even a single ant escapes. If anyone resists or dares to attack us, then... eliminate them without any hesitation.”

Siegfried’s command might sound cold, but Oscar solemnly vowed to carry them out. It seemed merciless, but they had no other choice. The Zavala Kingdom was a great power, and they were still a formidable foe despite the setback that they had suffered.

If the Proatine Alliance gave them even a moment’s respite, the war could drag on indefinitely. Thus, Siegfried had to establish his dominance decisively and bring this war to a swift end.

“Proatine Force and three knight squads, with me! Our mission is...” Siegfried said. Then, a smile crept on his face as he continued, “...Is to hunt down King Frederick.”

Capturing the king alive was of paramount importance.

The Zavala Kingdom had connections, whether open or covert, with the Church of Osric, so interrogating King Frederick and getting whatever information they could out of him was necessary.

“Follow me!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Siegfried advanced toward the Iron Palace leading the Proatine Force, three knight squadrons, and approximately one thousand soldiers.

‘Did he already escape?’ Siegfried was concerned that he was a step too late and King Frederick had already escaped.

He activated Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance.

[Alert: You have activated the Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance!]

[Alert: The durability of Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance has decreased by 1!]

[Alert: The Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance has 61 charges remaining! (61/100)]

“Tsk... Not that many uses left. I’ll need to use it sparingly from now on. Not all of it belongs to me, after all,” Siegfried grumbled, clicking his tongue after checking the messages.

The Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance didn't belong completely to Siegfried. Two parts belonged to him, while the third was on loan from Beowulf. Which meant that he'd have to return it eventually.

With this in mind, Siegfried typed King Frederick into the search box.

Woooong...!

Moments later.

[Alert: Location of King Frederick has been found!]

According to the minimap, King Frederick, along with his officials and knights, was moving swiftly within the Iron Palace.

“Let’s go!” Siegfried exclaimed.

“Kyuuuu!” Hamchi cried out in response.

Siegfried and Hamchi rushed forward, chasing after King Frederick upon confirming the latter's location.

***

The Proatine Alliance seized control over the capital, Feiogh, and they advanced rapidly to conquer the Iron Palace. The Zavala Kingdom’s remaining troops put up a desperate fight to defend the palace, but their efforts were ultimately futile.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Iron Fleet and the Proatine Alliance unleashed brutal bombardment, showing no regard for civilian casualties as they rained down shells.

“Arghh!”

“Nooo!”

The Zavala soldiers were unable to withstand the onslaught. They were decimated while trying to defend the Iron Palace. With the skies fully under enemy control, they had no shelter or anywhere to regroup and were left helpless.

Thanks to the relentless bombardment, the Proatine Alliance swiftly conquered Feiogh and drove the Zavala troops into a circle while encircling the Iron Palace.

Meanwhile, Siegfried was the first among the allied forces to set foot in the Iron Palace.

“Halt! Stop right there!”

“Hold them back!”

“Don’t let them through!”

The Zavala Kingdom’s knights charged at Siegfried and his subordinates, but they were no match for them.

Shwiiik!

Siegfried unleashed a flurry of ice shurikens from his Blood Frost Orb and cut down the knights blocking his path into the interior of the Iron Palace.

However, the defenders put up a fierce resistance.

“You scoundrels!”

“Do you even know where you are stepping foot right now?!”

“How dare you?!”

“Get lost!”

The loyal servants of the Zavala Kingdom grabbed any weapon they could find and lunged at Siegfried. Even the palace maids joined in, clutching daggers as they rushed forward.

Shwiiik!

With a flick of his wrist, Siegfried shot more ice shurikens at them, dispatching them effortlessly.

Those who lacked the courage to attack trembled as they watched, and none of them could even think about confronting Siegfried and his men as they marched further deeper into the palace.

“Let’s keep going,” Siegfried said.

He did not harm those who did not resist. He would have struck them down mercilessly if they dared to attack him, but he spared them, as they had already surrendered to him.

Surprisingly, this approach proved to be the right choice.

The few remaining Zavala Kingdom personnel stopped putting up resistance after seeing that Siegfried ignored those who didn't attack them.

A few staunch patriots rushed forward despite knowing the risk, but that, too, only lasted for a while.

In the end, the remaining resistance dwindled after they witnessed their foolish comrades die in the blink of an eye.

“Hold position here for a moment,” Siegfried instructed after stepping into the Iron Palace.

He used Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance to pinpoint King Frederick’s exact location, only to be met by something amusing.

‘Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,’ he thought with a faint chuckle.

Through the minimap, he could see that Ninetail had already snuck into the Zavala Kingdom’s treasure vault and was helping herself to a private feast.

‘So that’s where she has been hiding this whole time. I guess she was having her little party in here all this time,’ Siegfried thought with a smirk.

However, he decided to let her be, as Ninetail had played an enormous role in this war and accomplished tremendous feats on the battlefield. Letting her enjoy the treasures seemed a fitting reward rather than being reprimanded.

‘Go ahead and help yourself,’ Siegfried thought. He left things at that and redirected his attention to his friends.

“First Squadron, head this way. Second Squadron, take the opposite route. Third Squadron! Circle around that side. Lastly, Proatine Force members secure these points here, here, and here.”

“Yes, sire!”

Without a single hesitation, Siegfried’s forces easily obeyed his commands.

“Perfect,” Siegfried said with a smile.

His smile grew even more after seeing them move into position. He had sent them precisely to block every escape route King Frederick might take. No matter where the king attempted to flee, he'd run into the Proatine troops one way or another.

Running was pointless. King Frederick had nowhere left to hide, as he was already trapped within Siegfried’s grasp.

“Alright, let’s head this way,” he said.

“Kyuuu! Hunting time! Let’s hunt King Frederick down!” Hamchi squealed with excitement as they went toward the spot shown on the minimap.

***

While Siegfried was busy tracking down King Frederick, the Proatine Alliance forces secured control over Feiogh. The troops scoured every nook and cranny of the city, focusing mainly on the city’s secluded alleyways and tall buildings to eliminate any remaining Zavala soldiers.

The Zavala soldiers were driven to seek refuge from the Iron Fleet’s artillery bombardment, which forced them to hunker down in places that offered some semblance of protection from the dangerous skies up above.

In a quiet residential area of Feiogh...

“Over there!”

“They’re over there!”

“Leave no survivors!”

“After them! Don’t let a single one escape!”

The Proatine soldiers shouted as they pursued the Zavala soldiers, who were fleeing desperately.

During the chase, a Proatine soldier named Corporal Randleman stopped in his tracks upon noticing an odd sound coming from a nearby drainage.

“What are you doing? Keep moving!” his comrade shouted at him.

“Hold on,” Randleman replied, raising a fist to signal a halt. Then, he pointed and said, “See that drainage over there?”

“Yeah? What about it?” his comrade asked.

“Any problems?” another asked.

“I think I heard something there. It might be one of the enemy soldiers hiding,” Randleman replied.

“Let’s check it out.”

The soldiers approached the drainage grate cautiously.

Shwaaaak!

A red slimy tentacle shot out from the drainage and wrapped itself around Randleman and his comrades in the blink of an eye.