Debuff Master

Chapter 681

A Succubus was a type of demon that would appear in dreams of humans to suck their life force. They would always take on the form of a very attractive female and would go after male humans.

These demons would suck the life force of their victims by appearing and seducing them in their dreams or by fornicating with their victims while they were awake.

They would grant extreme pleasure to their victim, which would make their victims completely oblivious to the fact that their life force was being away. In the end, they'd wither away to their deaths.

A Succubus was like a thorny rose that attracted others while pricking them, and this was the reason they'd always dress seductively.

Why would they have to dress seductively?

It was all because they had to seduce their prey.

On the other hand, the opposite of a Succubus was an Incubus, and these demons would go after female humans by appearing in male form that women would most likely get attracted to.

“So you’re telling me that you’re disguised as a Succubus...?” Siegfried asked.

“Is it not obvious?” Ninetail asked while swaying her tail seductively and pointing at her horns.

“Oh? You have horns, too?”

“I plan to infiltrate the Fortress of Hell by disguising myself as one of the Succubus working there as a guard.”

“Oh, I see...” Siegfried muttered with a nod. Then, he said confidently, “I guess I’ll be an Incubus? But what kind of clothes do they wear? I’ve never seen an Incubus before in my life so...”

“Hohoho! Ninetail let out a laugh. Then, she smirked and said, “Your Majesty does not need a disguise.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Because Your Majesty will not be a guard like me but a prisoner.”

“Huh? Prisoner? Me?”

“Yes.”

“Why though? Can’t I be a guard, too?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because that is the plan...”

“What kind of plan is that?!”

“I believe Your Majesty has given my full authority over this operation, am I mistaken?”

“Y-Yeah, I did, but...”

“Then trust in me and the process. I will make sure that this operation is successful.”

“A-Alright, if you say so...”

Siegfried did not like the idea that he would be disguised as a prisoner, but he decided to follow the plan Ninetail had come up with. He was the king, but she was the only one capable of rescuing Quandt from the Fortress of Hell.

Thus, it was only right for him to follow her commands in this operation regardless of whether he was the king or not.

“Then shall we get going?”

“Sure.”

“Can Your Majesty turn around for a second?”

“Huh? Like this?”

It was then.

Click... Clack!

Ninetail cuffed both of his hands with a handcuff.

“We have to make sure Your Majesty is disguised properly, right?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Okay...”

That was how Siegfried was dragged by a Succubus, who was actually Ninetail in disguise, to the Fortress of Hell.

***

Right after taking control of the Bavarian Workshop, Avant started a massive sale, providing a twenty-five percent discount on all artifacts.

A premium brand like the Bavarian Workshop going on sale might bring immense profit in the short term, but it was bound to prove costly in the long run.

A premium brand relied on the quality of its products and its image as well. There was no doubt that providing discounts on their products would reduce the consumer’s opinion of their products in the long run.

Well, people would flock to buy their products whenever they were on sale, but the consumers would eventually get used to the discounted price until they'd refused to buy their products unless it was on sale.

Avant was aware of that, but he decided to continue with the discount. In fact, he even sold the expensive artifacts that hadn't been sold for quite a while due to their immense price on a whopping fifty percent discount.

“The discount rate is too high, Head Blacksmith. The public image of our products are going to take a hit at this rate,” Kink said worriedly.

“It doesn’t matter,” Avant replied nonchalantly.

“Sir?”

“I could give even more discount if it means we could get rid of these rubbish as quickly as possible.”

“H-Huh? Rubbish...?”

“Kink.”

“Sir?”

“Do you think these artifacts on sale are artifacts of our proud Bavarian Workshop?”

“That is...”

“I don’t think so. These are not artifacts crafted by the Great Bavarian Workshop.”

“...!”

“These are nothing but garbage,” Avant said icily. Then, he added, “The spirit of our workshop is not in these artifacts. We have strived to craft artifacts that are highly lethal, yet you won’t find any traces of that in those garbage. If those aren’t garbage, then what are they?”

“S-Sir Head Blacksmith...! As expected! I knew it! Only you, sir, are worthy of leading our great workshop!” Kink exclaimed, looking at Avant in awe and reverence.

“That is correct. Only I am worthy of being the Bavarian Workshop’s head blacksmith, and I will be the only one fulfilling the ultimate wish of our forefathers,” Avant said smugly. He did not even bother acting humble.

“Indeed!”

“I will sell all of these garbages piled up in our sacred workshop and craft new artifacts. These new artifacts will contain our workshop’s spirit, and they will be artifacts born for bloodshed and only bloodshed!”

“A-Aah!”

“I want you to go and hire some powerful Adventurers.”

“Sir? Why do we need to hire Adventurers?”

“We need Adventurers that will promote the lethality of our artifacts.”

“...!”

“I will give these artifacts crafted with the spirit of our workshop as gifts to those Adventurers once we get rid of all the garbage. Those Adventurers will wreak havoc across the continent, which will elevate our workshop’s status, making everyone clamoring to get their hands on our artifacts.”

“Oh!”

“The infamous Devil’s Weapons crafted by our workshop will soon come back to life.”

“A-Aah! Finally! Sniff! Sniff!”

Kink started tearing up with a big smile.

The Death Crafters were a bunch obsessed with the lethality of the artifacts they crafted, and they wanted to craft weapons that would be truly worthy of being called artifacts crafted by the Bavarian Workshop.

“Kink.”

“Yes, sir?! Sniff!”

“The Adventurers armed with our artifacts will need a target to massacre.”

“Precisely! They will need to have a target that would serve as an example of the greatness of our artifacts!”

“Siegfried van Proa.”

“...!”

“And the Proatine Kingdom will be their target...”

This was Avant’s plan. His plan was to arm the Adventurers with the highly lethal artifacts crafted by his new Bavarian Workshop and tell them to crush Siegfried and the Proatine Kingdom.

It would send a message to the entire continent that he—Avant—was the new Head Blacksmith of the Bavarian Workshop, and that their artifacts were the most lethal and ruthless artifacts there are on the continent.

He would get rid of Siegfried while promoting his artifacts, which was the best-case scenario in his eyes.

“Ah! It is impossible to fathom your wisdom, sir!”

“This is nothing. I can’t call myself the head blacksmith of our proud workshop if I can’t even come up with this, right?”

“I respect you from the bottom of my heart, sir!”

“Thanks, Kink,” Avant said with a smile. Then, he commanded, “Make sure you hire Adventurers that harbor ill will toward Siegfried van Proa. Our artifacts plus their personal grudge will guarantee that kid and his pathetic kingdom’s downfall.”

“As you command, Head Blacksmith!” Kink exclaimed in response and rushed out to carry out Avant’s commands.

He was going to comb through the entire continent in search of Adventurers who harbor a grudge against Siegfried. Then, he'd arm them with the new artifacts of the Bavarian Workshop.

***

The Fortress of Hell was located on an uninhabited island southeast of the continent. To be precise, the uninhabited island was more like a floating fortress, and this was where the notorious prison had gotten its name from.

In other words, the Fortress of Hell was an entire island rather than a single building.

“Whoa... Look at this fog. Why is it so eerie here?” Siegfried muttered, grimacing at the thick fog.

“Because it is currently nighttime,” Ninetail replied with an eyebrow raised.

“No, I mean, how can the fog be this thick at night that it’s completely hindering our vision?”

“This place has always been like this.”

“Eh?”

“We will reach the dock soon,” Ninetail said, pointing at a lantern in the distance.

“Okay,” Siegfried replied and followed closely behind her.

[Southeast Nurburg Continent: Devil’s Dock]

A message informing Siegfried of his current location popped up in front of his eyes.

‘Are we almost there?’ Siegfried wondered while looking into the distance. He could not see much due to the thick fog, but he could hear the sound of waves in the distance and the smell of saltwater tickled at his nostrils.

It was then.

“Halt, who goes there?” A deep voice resounded from within the fog. Then, a boatman wearing a big hat appeared. He was sitting on his old weathered boat while puffing smoke from his pipe.

“My name is Roxanna, and I will be working in the Fortress of Hell from today. You must be the boatman, Vergilious,” Ninetail replied.

“Ah, you must be a newbie. Are you a Succubus?” Vergilious asked.

“Yes, I am.”

“Hoho... Is the Demon King of Dreams doing well these days?”

“I would not know,” Ninetail replied with a shrug. Then, she said, “It would be strange if a lowly Succubus like me would know how the higher-ups are doing, right?”

“Hmm... That makes sense,” Vergilious replied before puffing out a cloud of smoke. Then, he said, “Anyway, welcome, newbie. This is probably the best place you could ever work at. You don’t have to run around granting wishes just to enter into a contract with the humans. You just have to do your job and wait, then poof! Their souls will land on your lap.”

“I agree. Hohoho!”

“I suppose that human is a prisoner? What crime is he sentenced for?” Vergilious asked, looking at Siegfried.

“He’s a scammer.”

“A scammer? I doubt this is a place they would send someone for conning a few people?”

“Yes, but it would be a different story if he scammed countless poor people by selling them get-rich-quick dreams while extorting them down to their last coin.”

“Oh?”

“The number of people who got conned by him and ended up taking their own life after losing their entire fortune.”

“Wow... That’s quite evil for such a young man...”

“Right? And he used his looks to seduce women by promising them marriage only to take their money and bodies.”

Siegfried felt wronged after listening to the made-up crimes Ninetail had mentioned. ‘Hey, why don’t you just tell him I beat someone up or stole something? Being a scammer is too pathetic!’

He didn't like the crimes listed by Ninetail but decided to just remain quiet and go along with it for now.

“I see. Well, I guess scamming someone of their fortune is akin to murder. Those humans would rather die than live a pathetic poor life.”

“Precisely.”

“Al; right, hop on board.”

“Thank you. Ah, this is for the ride,” Ninetail said, passing three purple coins to Vergilious.

[Soul Coin]

[The currency used by the demons in the demon world.]

[They may trade this coin with another living creature’s soul.]

[Type: Currency]

[Rating: Unique]

[Note: This coin is only being circulated in the demon world and it is completely useless to humans. However, it is possible to trade with demons using this coin.]

‘Huh? How did she get her hands on the currency of demons?’ Siegfried wondered after seeing the Soul Coins.

Meanwhile, Vergilious finished all preparations and said, “I will set sail now.”

The boatman slowly rowed the old weathered boat into the fog, and it seemed that the fog was sucking the boat in.

‘Just wait a little while longer, Quandt-nim...’ Siegfried thought while sitting on the boat and looking up at the silhouette of the Fortress of Hell where Quandt was waiting to be rescued.