Debuff Master

Chapter 808

“It’s all over...”

Captain Bellatrix felt a wave of despair crashing down on her.

All that remained of her once-mighty fleet that was feared by all pirates were five ships, and even these five ships were in quite bad shape.

One was starting to sink, while another was starting to split apart, and even her flagship was taking on water after getting hit by four cannonballs.

She even went as far as hoisting the white flag of surrender, but the bombardment from the Great White Shark Pirates showed no signs of stopping. In fact, it even intensified, as if they intended to exhaust their remaining ammunition to annihilate them.

“This is... it,” she murmured, resigning herself to what felt like an inevitable fate. She didn't give up and tried her best to escape, but Captain Joshua’s relentless pursuit had finally cornered her, pushing her fleet to the brink of annihilation.

“Sink everything except the flagship!” Captain Joshua commanded. His voice cut through the chaos and made his intentions clear—total annihilation.

To him, the white flag meant nothing.

Most would say that he was being rash and reckless. The clear winner of this battle was already decided, so capturing and subduing the enemy would have been the wiser choice.

After all, the true purpose of going into battle for the pirates was not to destroy everything but to take something of value.

Victory was already in his hands, so seizing the remaining enemy ships to bolster his fleet would have been far more beneficial for him.

Another reason to cease this senseless destruction was that the indiscriminate destruction would only weaken the overall power of the Green Isles once the dust had settled.

Even if he claimed the title of Pirate King, his reign would be short-lived, as he would only be the Pirate King in name but would still have the same power—no, he'd be weaker than usual, as he, too, had suffered losses in the pursuit.

However, Captain Joshua had no interest in such trivial things. His main focus was becoming the sole supreme ruler of the Green Isles, and he was prepared to pay whatever price he had to pay.

In his eyes, consolidating control over the region now was more critical than preserving its future power.

“Fire! Fire everything! Sink them all!” Captain Joshua roared, and his voice carried his madness as it reverberated throughout the skies.

It was then.

Whoosh!

Twelve Aqua Runners burst onto the scene. They sliced through the waves like hungry apex predators and stormed into the Great White Shark Pirates.

“Charge!”

“Kill them all!”

“Leave no one alive!”

The Nordic Marines leaped from their Aqua Runners and onto the pirate ships. As soon as they touched the deck, they began a brutal massacre. The Nordic Marines were battle-hardened warriors through and through, so their combat prowess completely overwhelmed the pirates.

There was a massive difference in their gear alone. The Nordic Marines were armed with cutting-edge weapons from the Bavarian Workshop and clad in impenetrable armor crafted by the Autonika Workshop. In other words, they were fully equipped for war.

On the other hand, the ragtag pirates wielded crude makeshift weapons that were poorly maintained.

The result of the clash?

Every single deck of the Great White Shark Pirates was painted with blood, and the Nordic Marines mercilessly massacred the pirates.

“Arghh!”

“H-Help!”

“Spare me!”

The pirates fell like flies, utterly outmatched by the Nordic Marines’ ferocity and superior equipment.

What followed after that was pure chaos resulting from a one-sided slaughter. The Great White Shark Pirates desperately scrambled for survival, but they were mercilessly struck down by the battle-hardened veterans.

“Drake! You bastard!” Captain Joshua screamed, and his furious voice tore through the noisy battlefield.

To him, this was the ultimate act of betrayal.

The Golden Rat Pirates had made quick work of Baroque, and now they were clearly coming for him.

It was another betrayal!

Captain Joshua couldn't help but think that he was stabbed in the back over and over again.

***

The intervention of Lionbreath and the Nordic Marines breathed new life into the Medusa Pirates. The naval battle that seemed all but lost suddenly took a turn, making it seem like there was hope.

Their arrival was like a lifeline that rescued Captain Bellatrix from the brink of annihilation. With their support, she narrowly escaped the threat of her fleet’s total destruction, giving her time to regroup and form a defensive line to launch a counterattack.

“What are you planning... Drake?” Bellatrix murmured, and her voice was tinged with obvious confusion.

The Golden Rat Pirates had once again come to her aid, leaving her baffled. Not only had they betrayed Baroque, but they had betrayed Joshua as well!

Ironically, unbeknownst to her, Siegfried actually had no intention of helping her. He was currently so busy deep inside a cavern beneath the island, hunting for the Pirate King’s legacy, that he couldn't give a damn about what was happening to the Medusa Pirates.

From Bellatrix’s perspective, however, Lionbreath and the Nordice Marines were like a blessing in disguise, akin to rain falling on parched land.

‘This is my chance!’

Seizing the momentum, Bellatrix set her sights on counter-attacking with the three pirate ships under her command that were still capable of fighting. The mayhem caused by the Golden Rat Pirates presented a rare opportunity that would never come again in this battle.

“All ships! Fire at will!” Bellatrix commanded at the top of her lungs.

With her command, her ships roared to life as their cannons locked onto a single target.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

BOOM! BOOM!

The barrage of cannon fire tore through the air, ripping one of the Great White Shark’s ships apart and leaving it riddled with gaping holes.

“All gunners! Reload!”

“Aye! Aye! Reloading!”

“Prepare to fire again! Three! Two! One! Fire!”

Under Bellatrix’s command, her fleet focused their fire on the remaining targets while carefully avoiding the ships around the Golden Rat Pirates.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Kaboom!

Another salvo exploded across the battlefield, sending yet another of Joshua’s pirate ships plunging into the depths of the waters.

“Brave Warriors of the North! Board the next ship and send them to their demise!”

Lionbreath instinctively understood Bellatrix’s intentions and led his Nordic Marines to leap onto another vessel. They cleared the deck and the cannoneers, making room for Bellatrix to unleash her full firepower.

The Nordic Marines vacated the ships as quickly as they cleared the deck, and the Medusa Pirates immediately rained cannon fire onto the abandoned ships.

Although there had been no prior coordination or training between the two, the synergy between Bellatrix’s artillery strikes and the Nordic Marines’ relentless assaults was almost like a well-orchestrated symphony.

Before long, the battle unfolding off the coast of the uninhabited island where the Pirate King’s legacy lay hidden grew increasingly bizarre.

Friend and foe became indistinguishable in the utter chaos. The stage for the final clash over the supremacy of the Green Isles was nothing short of a maelstrom of violence, confusion, and desperation.

Here, before the tomb of the Pirate King, the ultimate battle for his title was underway.

***

“Curse you! Francis de Drake!” Captain Joshua bellowed, his voice laced with anger and venom.

Meanwhile, Siegfried was busy in the midst of battling Karibna, the guardian of the Pirate King’s tomb, when he suddenly felt his ear itch.

The itch was so unbearable that even in a life-or-death battle, he ended up scratching his ear absentmindedly.

‘Eh? Is someone cursing me?’ Siegfried thought, wondering who was cursing him.

But then again, the possibilities were endless, as there were countless people in this world with some beef with him. If the old saying about how one's ears would itch whenever someone spoke ill of one were true, then Siegfried’s ears would be itchy twenty-four-seven all year round.

Unfortunately, his itchy ear wasn't the only distraction right now.

Ding!

Out of nowhere, his title, "I Am Backstabbing," appeared above his head and shone in a dramatic fashion.

‘Wait, what? But I didn’t do anything!’ Siegfried felt extremely wronged that his title had activated, even though he hadn't done anything. ‘Ah, forget it! I don’t have time for all this nonsense!’

He shook off the thought and focused on the battle.

“Intruders that dare to disturb the Pirate King’s rest shall face divine punishment!” Karibna roared, her voice echoing throughout the cave.

The disc-shaped creature began spinning ferociously before hurling itself forward like a massive boomerang.

Siegfried knew instinctively that Karibna’s spinning attack was dangerous–no, his instincts screamed danger and warned him that he could potentially die from the incoming attack.

‘I’m dead if I get hit by that thing!’

He quickly placed down Shadow Hell to slow down Karibna. He also summoned the Frost Hydras and Night Stalkers to restrain it, but...

Flash!

Karibna activated a skill that granted her Super Armor, which allowed her to resist the slows. Then, she bulldozed through the Frost Hydras and Night Stalkers, shattering them into pieces before hurtling herself back toward Siegfried.

“Are you kidding me?!” Siegfried screamed, leaping aside just in time to avoid the devastating spin attack.

Boom!

Karibna slammed into the cavern wall, carving out a massive crater more than a meter deep. Then, she ricocheted off the cavern wall like a coiled spring and shot toward Siegfried once again.

Boom!

Karibna went berserk. She obliterated through Siegfried’s Frost Hydras and Night Stalkers while completely disregarding the slowing debuff of Shadow Hell as she rampaged throughout the cavern with reckless abandon.

“Damn it!”

Siegfried had no choice but to sprint wildly around the cavern and keep dodging Karibna’s relentless attacks.

‘That thing can deal quite the damage, and debuffs don’t even stick on it! This is absurd!’

To make matters worse, the radioactive energy of the Eraser Swarm was utterly ineffective against Karibna.

Why?

It was all because she was technically classified as a rock-type monster.

‘If that doesn’t work then... I just have to strip her of her buffs and weaken her with debuffs! That’s how I roll!’

Siegfried activated Wave of Truth, a skill that dispelled buffs to nullify Karibna’s Super Armor buff.

After getting stripped of her defensive buff, she fell prey to the Frost Hydras’ icy breath attacks, and the Night Stalkers bound her tightly in place.

“How dare you!” Karibna shrieked in anger.

She attempted to counter with another spinning attack, but it was futile.

Wooong!

Siegfried swiftly unleashed Wave of Oppression, interrupting Karibna’s channeling.

‘Now’s my chance!’

Seizing the moment, Siegfried dashed forward. He placed down Blaze Field, shredding Karibna’s Defense and Magic Resistance, and then he transformed his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a pickaxe.

Why a pickaxe?

It was all because rock-type monsters in BNW were extremely susceptible to pickaxe-type weapons.

‘Time to smash!’

Siegfried raised the pickaxe high above his head before slamming it down with all of his strength.

Thunk!

And he was just getting started.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk... THUNK!

With Machine Gun Smash activated, Siegfried transformed himself into a mining machine that repeatedly smashed Karibna with pinpoint precision.

His strategy was perfect.

‘Look at that damage!’

The one hundred twenty percent bonus damage from the pickaxe combined with the debuff effects of Blaze Field made each strike deal devastating damage.

“A-AAARGH!”

Karibna unleashed an ear-splitting scream with unbearable pain visible on her face.

But Siegfried did not stop...

‘Deeper! Harder! Faster!’

The moment Machine Gun Smash ended, and the rigorous thunking stopped, he raised the pickaxe high above his head once again and swung it down with all of his might, driving it forty centimeters deep into Karibna.

And then...

‘Time to finish her off!’

With the pickaxe still embedded inside her, Siegfried unleashed Splitting Heaven and Earth from inside her.

“...!”

Karibna felt something hot inside her, and it pervaded her from deep within.

And that was the final sensation that she'd ever feel...

Kaboom!

Karibna exploded into countless fragments as her once-impenetrable body was reduced to rubble. The guardian of the Pirate King’s tomb met her demise, scattering into thousands of stones.

As for Siegfried...

“Ow!”

One of the flying debris struck him squarely in the forehead, and a large bump immediately appeared on his forehead.

“Kyuuu! Are you all right, owner punk?!”

“No, I’m not! It hurts like hell!”

“Kyuuu! Hold still!”

Hamchi rushed over and applied ointment to Siegfried’s forehead. Then, he pulled out a bandage from his pocket and started wrapping it around his head.

“Hey! Be careful! It stings!”

“Kyuuu! Quit squirming, owner punk!”

“H-Hey! Ow! Go easy!”

While Siegfried and Hamchi bickered like children yet again, a soft blue orb floated up from the remains of Karibna’s shattered body.