Debuff Master
Chapter 927

Chapter 927

“Cough! Cough!”

Baroque spat out blood and writhed in agony after being recalled to the Demon Realm.

“Argh...”

His entire body was covered in severe burns.

The flames wielded by Archangel Auriel were conjured of pure spiritual divine energy, meaning they scorched not only Baroque's manifested form but even his true body in the Demon Realm.

On top of that, both demons and angels suffered tremendous damage whenever they were forcibly recalled, doubling Baroque’s pain.

“Damn it... That bastard actually brought dragons into our fight—argh!” Baroque gnashed his teeth in agony.

However, that lasted only for a short moment.

‘Archangel Auriel... Damn those wretched angels... Why are they in the Human Realm? This isn’t normal, not at all. What’s going on?’ Baroque took this encounter very seriously.

And for good reason. The angels appearing in the Human Realm was no small incident, and it could be described as a monumental event.

Since the holy war, the angels couldn’t appear in the Human Realm, while demons could roam freely under certain conditions.

‘This isn’t just some minor issue. Could this be the prelude to another war between the angels and demons?’

The angels and demons cut all contact after the holy war, but their animosity toward each other was still there. They were divided into good and evil since the dawn of time, so it was in their very nature to loathe each other.

‘I need to investigate this.’

Baroque decided to keep a close eye on the movements of the angels in the Human Realm.

‘But for now... I hope Hyungseokius can successfully complete his mission—argh...’ Baroque grimaced while channeling magic to heal his wounds.

Getting killed in the Human Realm and forcefully recalled not only dealt significant damage to him but also drained a massive amount of mana. He also lost an entire division of demons.

If he failed to claim Credos’ soul as well, then the losses would be devastating.

Thus, he had to ensure the contract with Credos was fulfilled no matter what, so he could claim ownership of the soul of a Master.

“Argh! Bring the healers right now!”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness!”

At his command, his subordinates rushed off to summon the healers to Baroque’s chambers.

“Ughh...” Baroque groaned in agony and collapsed onto his bed.

Even as the son of a demon lord and a high-ranking demon, the burn wounds he suffered from Archangel Auriel’s flames would definitely leave scars even after being fully healed.

Well, this was not a bad thing for him, as male demons tended to be rugged and battle-hardened. For him, he could simply brush off the scars as most demons would consider them as marks of honor.

“Haa... I finally found a promising contractor, and now this... Tsk.. Siegfried van Proa... That bastard...!”

Bam!

The doors to his chamber were kicked open.

“Who dares to open my chamber doors like that?!” Baroque roared in anger.

However, the one standing before him was not someone he could defy.

“You insolent fool!”

“...!”

“How dare you lie down when your father stands before you?!”

“Gasp! F-Father?!” Baroque bolted up from the bed.

The Demon Lord of Vengeance, Vernas, was standing before him. He was leaning on a staff and was being supported by attendants.

***

Vernas was furious.

“Baroque! You fool!”

His roar shook the entire chamber.

“You dare lead an entire division of my army without my permission?!”

“...!”

“Have you lost your damned mind?! Our forces in the 7th domain are already severely weakened! But you went ahead and squandered an entire division?! What the hell were you thinking?!”

Vernas’ rage was completely justified. The 7th Domain had been in decline ever since he suffered severe injuries and was forcibly recalled four hundred fifty years ago.

For and a half centuries, he had been bedridden and teetering on the brink of death, which inevitably caused the downfall of the 7th Domain. However, Baroque had gone and thrown away an entire division without even reporting what he was about to do.

This was enough to make Vernas grab the back of his neck in sheer frustration.

However, the biggest problem was that he was still the demon lord. For his mere son to move the army without permission was a grave crime—a crime punishable by death.

If Vernas wanted to, he could execute Baroque right here and now.

“A-Ah! Father! This is a misunderstanding! I was just—!”

“Silence, you fool! We have to hunker down just to survive, yet you had the gall to waste an entire division?! Tell me, what are you going to do about this?!”

“But—!”

“Have you no sense at all?!”

“...”

“You couldn’t even retrieve the Demon Sword: Avenger! And now you expect me to overlook this?! What were you even thinking?!”

“Kuheok—!”

Vernas coughed up blood and staggered. His health was already failing to begin with, but the sudden rage had taken a toll on him.

“Your Majesty!”

“Are you all right, sire?!”

The attendants panicked and rushed to support him.

“Baroque... You miserable fool... Not only did you fail to retrieve the Avenger...”

“Father...!”

“When will you grow up...? How can I entrust... the throne to you...? Even your imbecile... of an elder brother... never made a mistake... this big...”

That was it.

“Escort His Majesty to his chambers!”

“Quickly! Move!”

Vernas collapsed and lost consciousness, and his attendants escorted him away swiftly.

“...”

Baroque stood frozen, watching as the attendants carried away his father.

His father's words echoed in his mind over and over again.

“When will you grow up...? How can I entrust... the throne to you...? Even your imbecile... of an elder brother... never made a mistake... this big...”

Baroque suddenly realized that he was in grave danger.

The Demon Sword: Avenger was no different than in Metatron’s hands, and it meant that the throne was slipping away from his hands.

***

The Radioactive Ghoul version of Chae Hyung-Seok obeyed Siegfried’s every command without question.

“All right, off you go.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Make sure to deliver my gift to Baroque, okay?”

“As you command, sire.”

Of course, this was no longer Chae Hyung-Seok, but rather, his character, Hyungseokius.

‘W-What the hell?! My character’s completely out of control!’

Chae Hyung-Seok tried all sorts of things to regain control over Hyungseokius, but his efforts were in vain.

[Alert: Self-Destruction sequence initiated!]

[Alert: Commencing in 167 hours, 59 minutes, 51 seconds!]

[Alert: Commencing in 167 hours, 59 minutes, 50 seconds!]

[Alert: Commencing in 167 hours, 59 minutes, 49 seconds!]

Chae Hyung-Seok was now nothing more than a nuclear bomb waiting to explode.

“Hyung-Seok! Let’s play again next time!” Siegfried exclaimed, waving cheerfully at him.

Then, Siegfried turned around and went to the group of dragons waiting for him.

“Are you finished?” Gerog asked.

“Yes, Elder. Thank you very much for your help,” Siegfried replied, bowing respectfully and expressing his gratitude.

Had Gerog not helped, Siegfried would not have been able to rescue his family in time.

“No need to thank me. You protected us, dragons, right? Besides, preventing the demons from invading this world is just as crucial for us dragons, as it’s a duty entrusted to us by the Creator. It is a part of our destiny that we cannot avoid.”

“Haha...”

“Ah, and one more thing. I almost forgot that I’ve brought you a gift you might like,” Gerog added.

“A gift...?”

“See for yourself.”

With those words, Gerog conjured a small magic circle and summoned something through it.

Thud!

Something fell out of the warp gate, and it was none other than the King of the Sacon Kingdom, Ganeva the Third.

He frantically looked around the moment he dropped out of the warp gate in the hope of making sense of his surroundings, only to lock eyes with Siegfried.

“W-What?! S-Siegfried van Proa?!”

“Oh?” Siegfried muttered. Then, his lips curled into a chilling grin after seeing Ganeva the Third delivered to him and said, “Well, well... It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Uh... W-Well... Haha... H-Hello, King Siegfried! I may have gone a little too far this time... I deeply apologize for that. Hahaha!”

“Hmm?”

“Anyway, I sincerely reflect on my actions and promise nothing like this will ever happen again.” Ganeva the Third put on his most desperate expression and even grabbed Siegfried’s hand out of desperation. “I will offer a formal apology at a later time. For now, I must take my leave. My people are waiting for me—”

“Hold it. Where do you think you’re going?”

Ganeva the Third was about to leave when Siegfried cut him off, causing him to stop in his tracks.

“Uh? W-Well, obviously back to my kingdom...?”

“And who said you could leave?”

“...?!”

“You’re not getting out of here even as a corpse,” Siegfried said icily. Then, he shot a glance at the Proatine Kingdom’s soldiers.

“Yes, sire!”

At once, the soldiers moved in and bound Ganeva the Third.

“H-Hey! King Siegfried! Just hear me out for a moment! King Siegfried!” Ganeva the Third shouted desperately.

A knight exclaimed, “Silence!”

“Oof!”

“You’re a criminal now. Act accordingly and follow us!”

Without sparing another glance, the Proatine knights dragged Ganeva the Third away, ignoring his desperate pleas.

“You’re dead,” Siegfried muttered, making a mental note to deal with him properly.

He could punish him right now, but there was a simple reason he chose not to. He had just finished playing with Chae Hyung-Seok, so he lacked the energy and motivation to torment Ganeva the Third.

“Thank you for everything,” Siegfried expressed his gratitude once again, bowing once more.

“What’s with all the formalities between us? Hahaha! You’re an honorary dragon! You’re practically one of us! Consider this just a little favor between kin!”

“Hahaha!”

“If anything, we should be thanking you! If we hadn’t known about this incident in advance, the demons would have grown even stronger. And that would’ve been a serious headache for us dragons.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

“Kekeke!”

Siegfried further strengthened his relationship with Gerog and the dragons through this ordeal.

But the dragons were not the only ones waiting for him.

“Her Highness, Princess Irene von Posteriore has arrived!”

Knights of the Marchioni Empire appeared, announcing Irene’s arrival.

‘Oh right, she was here too,’ Siegfried remembered after seeing Irene approaching him.

Siegfried appreciated the fact that Irene had brought the 8th Corps to the Eternal Forest to assist him. He could have handled things just fine on his own, but he still appreciated the gesture nonetheless.

“Thank you for coming all this way despite the difficulties in the empire, Your Highness,” Siegfried greeted with a slight bow.

“W-What’s there to thank me for?” Irene stammered, and her face flushed red. Then, she looked away and said, “I didn’t come here for you or anything. His Imperial Majesty sent me, so I was merely following his command.”

“Regardless, I sincerely appreciate it.”

“W-Well, good then.”

For some reason, Irene found it difficult to act like herself in front of Siegfried. No, it was more like she did not even feel like throwing a tantrum in the first place.

“A-Anyway, let’s go,” Irene said.

“Go? Where...?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion.

“Where else? To the Proatine Kingdom.”

“Why would Your Highness be going to the Proatine Kingdom instead of returning to the Marchioni Empire...?”

Irene looked at him and answered firmly, “Today is our first day.”