Debuff Master

Chapter 809

“Hmm? Did it drop something?”

Siegfried did not expect Karibna to drop any items, but his hand reflexively reached out for the floating orb.

[Alert: You have obtained Hydro Reactor!]

Then, the item’s details appeared in front of his eyes.

[Hydro Reactor]

[An energy core containing the power of the ancient sea monster, Karibna.]

[Type: Orb]

[Rating: Legendary]

[Note: A highly valuable resource essential for unlocking new skill trees for specific classes such as Mages, Summoners, or Golem Masters.]

“What the heck...?” he muttered while examining the Hydro Reactor with his Rune of Insight.

Then, a sudden realization hit him. This item was perfect for Seung-Gu.

Yes, Decimato, a powerful mage, was one of the potential owners of this orb, but Siegfried instinctively felt that this belonged to Seung-Gu alone, no one else.

“Yeah, this is for him.”

With that thought in mind, Siegfried carefully stored the Hydro Reactor in his Inventory while imagining Seung-Gu’s reaction upon receiving the item.

“He’s going to love this, I’m sure of it,” Siegfried thought, chuckling to himself with a grin.

Just then, Hamchi’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Kyuuu! Look over there, owner punk!”

“Hmm? What’s up?” Siegfried asked and looked back.

He turned toward where Hamchi was pointing and froze instantly.

“...Oh, crap.”

Thousands of ghostly figures were slowly advancing toward him. He could tell from their tattered appearance alone that these were the vengeful spirits of long-dead pirates who failed to find eternal rest.

But what really shocked Siegfried was the one leading these pirates.

“Who dares disturb my eternal rest?” A commanding voice boomed, resonating throughout the cavern. At its source was a towering specter, exuding an aura of majesty and dominance.

“Pirate King Freydlief...” Siegfried murmured under his breath.

He did not need anyone to tell him the towering specter's identity, as it was, without a doubt, the Legendary Pirate King, Freydlief.

[Boss: Pirate King Freydlief]

By defeating Karibna, Siegfried had inadvertently awakened the very ruler of this place, who had become a vengeful specter with his spectral crew in tow.

“Ugh...” Siegfried groaned as he felt the tension in the air.

What tension?

‘He’s pissed,’ Siegfried thought.

It made sense. From the Pirate King’s perspective, an intruder had barged into his sacred resting place, stirred chaos, and even slew his guardian.

Anyone would be furious in the Pirate King's shoes.

Still, Siegfried could not help but feel wronged.

‘How the hell was I supposed to know he’d still be here as a ghost?!’ Siegfried screamed inwardly in frustration. Then, taking a deep breath, Siegfried decided to try a different approach—diplomacy.

“My sincerest apologies,” he said with a bow. Then, he shook his head and said with utmost courteousness, “I did not realize that you would still be resting here. I thought this place was abandoned therefore I—”

“Silence!” Freydlief’s voice boomed, cutting him off. Then, he growled with obvious disdain, “You dare defile my resting place, disturb my rest, and covet my treasures?!”

Siegfried scratched his head awkwardly and said, “I will not deny that I have my eyes on your treasures. But I swear on everything dear to me that I had no intentions of—”

“Enough! You will pay for your insolence!”

Unfortunately, the Pirate King’s fury was unrelenting, and Siegfried could tell that there was no point in trying to resolve this through dialogue.

“Fools like you deserve punishment for desecrating the eternal peace of I, the Legendary Pirate King, Freydlief!”

Still, Siegfried tried one more time just in case he could reason with the Pirate King.

“W-Wait! Can’t we just resolve this peacefully—”

However, his words were cut off by Freydlief’s booming command.

“Attack! Slay the rat!”

Kyaaaaah!

The ghostly pirates charged at Siegfried with chilling screams.

“Tsk! Damn it!”

Realizing that negotiations were impossible, Siegfried infused his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp with light attribute energy.

Against undead-type enemies, this was his best bet, but before he could do anything with it...

“Be cursed, fool!” Freydlief roared.

A blood-red aura radiated from the Pirate King’s palm and swept through the battlefield like a storm.

[Alert: Pirate King Freydlief has cursed you!]

[Alert: You have been afflicted by the Curse of the Pirate King!]

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You have been afflicted by Scurvy!]

[Alert Your character feels lethargic!]

[Alert: Your character’s skin is rapidly losing moisture!]

[Alert: Your character is suffering from internal bleeding!]

[Alert: Your character’s bones have become brittle!]

[Warning: Even a small impact may cause fractures!]

[Alert: Your teeth are loose and will fall out at even the slightest bit of stress!]

“W-What the hell is this?! A curse that causes a pile of debuffs?!” Siegfried shrieked in horror.

Then, he stumbled upon getting hit by a sudden wave of fatigue. Although the curse didn't really affect his stats, his movements felt sluggish, and his limbs felt like they weighed a ton.

‘What kind of Pirate King uses debuffs?!’

Putting his frustration aside, Siegfried placed down Blaze Field and Shadow Hell, unleashing his own debuff fields to counter Freydlief’s debuffs. Then, brandishing his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp, he began bashing at the ghostly pirates charging at him.

One, two, and three...

He fought relentlessly, cutting through the spectral horde of pirates like a man possessed, but this was just the beginning of his battle against the Legendary Pirate King, Freydlief.

***

While Siegfried was locked in battle with the Pirate King’s legion of ghost pirates, the naval battle in the waters of the uninhabited deserted island was reaching its climax.

“Damn it! My money is sinking!”

Lionbreath could no longer stand idly by when he saw that the Great Shark White’s pirate ships were getting destroyed by the cannon fire. He had been thoroughly infected

As a result, he decided to step in, as he had no intention of watching his gold sink to the depths of the waters.

“Hear me, my valiant warriors! Capture the enemy ships! Don’t let them sink!”

“Yes, sir!”

At Lionbreath’s command, the Nordic Marines systematically captured the Great White Shark’s pirate ships. They boarded one ship after another and secured the deck.

The size of the Great White Shark’s fleet was being reduced over time. They were either sunk by the volleys from the Medusa Pirates or seized by the fearsome Nordic Marines.

“T-This... this can’t be happening! This has to be a nightmare!” Captain Joshua screamed in disbelief, his voice cracking.

He was so close to victory and attaining the coveted title of "Pirate King."

However, it was snatched away from him just as he was about to have a taste of it.

“Drake! Francis de Drake! You filthy scoundrel! Bastard! Go to hell! I damn you to hell!” he hurled curses after curses at Siegfried, unaware that the recipient of these heartfelt curses was not even present.

Ironically, he was cursing Siegfried, who had never given any orders to attack the Great White Shark Pirates.

Meanwhile, for Captain Bellatrix, this was more than a miracle.

This was the opportunity of a lifetime.

‘Can we actually win this? No... we will win this! These warriors... they’re unstoppable!’

Upon witnessing the Nordic Marines' legendary combat prowess that would surely be passed down as legends in the Green Isles, Bellatrix regained the confidence she had lost.

“Don’t fire indiscriminately! Aim carefully and focus on containing the enemy ships!” she commanded.

“Aye, aye! Captain!”

Bellatrix adjusted her strategy and supported the Nordic Marines rather than sink the enemy ships. She concentrated her fleet’s cannons on suppressing the Great White Shark Pirates while making sure not to stir up unnecessary chaos on the battlefield.

As more and more of Joshua’s ships were captured, it became increasingly difficult not just for the Great White Shark Pirates but for everyone to distinguish between friend and foe.

“Is this how—” Joshua muttered. The only thing he could do was watch helplessly as his once-mighty fleet was reduced to a few ships, and his despair further deepened upon witnessing the Nordic Marines drenching the decks of his ships in the blood of his men before capturing them.

The tide had clearly turned against him, and decisively at that.

“No, I can’t let it end like this... Not like this...” Joshua murmured. His voice was trembling as he spoke in a trance. Moments later, he slowly pulled out an old worn pocket watch from inside his coat.

Sseuuu...

An ominous black smoke began to seep out from the pocket watch.

“This is my chance... the first one in centuries to be this near to becoming the Pirate King. I, Joshua, cannot let this opportunity slip away... even if it costs me my soul.”

With those final words, Joshua drew a dagger from his belt and slashed his palm. Then, he clenched his fist to let his blood drip onto the pocket watch.

The contract... is sealed...

A chilling ominous voice emanated from the watch. Soon, thick storm clouds gathered across the previously clear skies.

And then—

Whoooosh!

Massive whirlpools formed all around the waters near the island. One by one, the bows of ancient ships rose from the depths, piercing through the waters and surfacing in dramatic fashion.

Ship after ship emerged from the whirlpools until they gradually formed a fleet.

Flap! Flap! Flap!

Their sails unfurled, revealing white flags emblazoned with a crowned skull.

“N-No way!” Bellatrix gasped in sheer terror at the sight of the fleet that had risen from the depths.

The reason she gasped in terror was that those flags bore the unmistakable insignia of the Black Crown Pirates. This was the infamous fleet that clashed with the Pirate King, Freydlief in the battle for dominion over the seas centuries ago.

***

Meanwhile, Siegfried was struggling with scurvy.

The Pirate King’s curse, which caused this status ailment, was not fatal, but the debuffs, such as lethargy, fatigue, internal bleeding, weakened bones, dry skin, and more, were pretty effective.

The crippling debuffs weighed down on Siegfried, and he was having a hard time focusing on the battle because of them.

‘Focus... Stay focused on the battle!’

Han Tae-Sung, the player, fought desperately to maintain his fading consciousness, but his vision swirled with increasing dizziness.

To make matters worse, for some odd reason, his ears were itching again while his title, "I Am Backstabbing," shone brightly above his head, further distracting him.

‘Get a grip, Han Tae-Sung!’

It was then.

A ghost pirate swung an axe at him.

“Argh!”

Siegfried cried out in agony upon blocking the axe with his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp in shield form.

Crack!

As soon as the axe collided with his shield, he felt his arm snap.

Was the ghost pirate that strong? No, this was due to the Pirate King’s Curse that had severely weakened his bones, causing them to fracture under what was supposed to be a negligible amount of damage.

“Argh...!”

Siegfried quickly switched the +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp to his left hand while wincing in pain.

‘Damn it...! There are too many of them!’

He needed an area-of-effect attack to deal with the legion of ghost pirates, but using Splitting Heaven and Earth was out of the question. He could safely unleash it earlier inside Karibna’s body, but using it out in the open would risk collapsing the entire cavern.

His only other area-of-effect skill was the Eraser Swarm, but it was useless against these spectral enemies.

‘I’ll cut them all down in one sweep,’ Siegfried transformed his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a saber.

Then, he shouted, “Hey, Hamchi! Buff me up a little—”

“Huh? H-Hamchi...?”

However, Siegfried realized that Hamchi was nowhere to be seen.

Where did he go? He was sure Hamchi was fighting alongside him just a few moments ago. It was impossible to miss the hamster, as he had grown in size and was swatting away scores of the ghost pirates.

No matter where Siegfried looked, however, there was no sign of his trusty companion.

“Hamchi! Hey! Hamchi!” Siegfried called out repeatedly, and his voice echoed loudly throughout the cavern.

Unfortunately, no response came.

“Oh, greedy tomb raider.” Instead, the Pirate King, Freydlief, replied to him in a booming voice. “Has nobody taught you that greed only leads one to ruin? How foolish you are, how blind. In the end, even your little pet abandoned you because of your foolishness and greed.”

“A-Abandoned me...?”

“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes. Your pet fled, leaving you behind, all alone.”

“...!”

“You will meet a lonely and pitiful end... brought about by your insatiable greed.”

“T-That’s impossible!”

Siegfried couldn't believe his ears. The thought of Hamchi abandoning him was simply absurd. After all, he always believed, with absolute certainty, that Hamchi would never leave his side, no matter what situation they were in.