Debuff Master-Chapter 806

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Captain Baroque’s Fleet and Captain Bellatrix’s Fleet exchanged volleys of cannon fire, causing the sea between them to light up from the fierce explosions.

For a moment, chaos reigned over the entire sea around them.

However, the status quo did not last for long.

The Swordfish Pirates capitalized on their superior speed to swiftly close the distance between themselves and Bellatrix’s Fleet. Their ships, designed for speed and agility, dodged most of the cannon fire as they weaved through the barrage with impressive precision.

A few ships were struck by cannon fire and sank, but Baroque remained unfazed.

“Prepare to board them!” Baroque shouted, his booming voice ringing out across the deck.

“Boarding ready!”

“Ready!”

The Swordfish Pirate crew tightened their grips on their swords and axes, bracing for hand-to-hand combat.

Baroque turned to Siegfried with a huge grin and called out, “Captain Francis de Drake!”

“Yes, Captain Baroque?”

“It’s soon your time to shine! Your grand—”

It was then.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out from behind, and the ships of the Swordfish Pirates sank one after another.

“That bastard Joshua! We haven’t finished Bellatrix yet!” Baroque roared in fury, and his eyes blazed with rage.

“Could he have sided with that witch?” Baroque growled, his voice dripping with venom, suspecting that his temporary ally had colluded with their target.

And that was when he saw it...

Joshua’s fleet was busy bombarding Bellatrix’s main fortress rather than the Swordfish Pirates’ ships.

“What the hell...?” Baroque muttered, looking utterly confused. If Joshua wasn't the one attacking him, then who was attacking him? The navy? No, that was not possible.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of cannon fire thundered once again, and Baroque immediately turned toward where the explosion had come from.

“...!” He froze in disbelief the moment he identified the culprit.

The attacks were coming from the flagship of Golden Rat Pirates, the Temeraire.

Shock and betrayal filled his face as he turned to Siegfried, trembling with fury.

“Y-You...! You trai—!”

Sukeok!

Siegfried replied by using Quick Draw, creating a massive gash in Baroque’s lower body in one swift motion.

Thud!

Baroque collapsed to the deck, and the impact echoed loudly amidst the stunned silence.

The title "I Am Backstabbing" shone brightly above Siegfried's head, making the scene look even more ironic.

“AAAARGH!”

Baroque’s anguished screams split the air as his men erupted into fury.

“You bastard!”

“Die!”

“Kill the traitor!”

They rushed at Siegfried with their weapons raised, but none of them managed to get anywhere near him.

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Shwiiiik!

Siegfried summoned the ice shurikens from the Blood Frost Orb and unleashed them onto the attacking pirates. The ice shurikens mercilessly pierced the pirates, killing them in mere moments.

“D... Drake! You son of a—” Baroque choked out while seething with pain and rage.

Siegfried stared down at him and said icily, “Shut it.”

Pukeok!

Then, he kicked Baroque’s head like a ball, causing the Pirate Lord’s whole body to fly backward and land on the deck.

The white mask covering Baroque’s face flew away and shattered into pieces.

“Damn... So that’s why you've been wearing that thing,” Siegfried muttered after noticing the shattered white mask.

Baroque’s face was so grotesque and disfigured that it was beyond hideous. It was so bad that Siegfried would dare say that he had never seen anyone uglier than him.

“Ah, I get it now. I guess that mask was not for show only,” Siegfried muttered, shaking his head in pity.

However, sympathy was not going to change the facts. Baroque was a murderer, a pillager, and a monster. Not even his hideous looks would spare him from his sins.

“Time to stop the bleeding,” Siegfried said with a grin.

He channeled fire attribute energy into his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp and used it to cauterize Baroque’s wounds.

He wanted to make sure that the Pirate Lord wouldn't bleed out just yet, and he even poured the top-tier healing potion from the Infinite Flask over the burns to heal him.

Then, he grabbed Baroque by the collar and dragged him across the deck.

He was not sparing Baroque out of kindness—no, the reason he was sparing him was quite simple. The Pirate Lord had a bounty so massive that he was practically a massive treasure in human form.

“Let’s go, Hamchi!”

“Kyuuu! Head! Chest! Stomach!”

Hamchi was still in battle and was having fun pummeling a pirate repeatedly in the solar plexus despite shouting other body parts.

“Hey, quit it! We’ll get blown to bits if we stay here!” Siegfried shouted, gesturing at the incoming cannon fire.

“Kyuu! All right!”

Hamchi tossed his opponent into the sea like a rag doll before scrambling after Siegfried.

***

Siegfried spread his +10 Black Crow Wingsuit and soared through the air before landing smoothly on the Temeraire.

Boom! Boom!

The Temeraire along with Seung-Gu’s Iron Golems bombarded Baroque’s fleet with cannon fire. The barrage was so intense that the ship rocked from the recoil whenever a salvo was unleashed.

“Hey! Get us out of here!” Siegfried shouted, tossing Baroque onto the deck like a ragdoll.

With that, the Temeraire turned, starting its retreat from the chaotic battlefield.

Shwooong! Boom!

A cannonball shot by Baroque’s fleet smashed into the bow of the Temeraire, shattering a portion of it.

“Faster!” Siegfried shouted, urging the men to row faster.

Despite their best efforts, the ship’s speed was abysmal. The barnacles clinging to the hull made it harder for the ship to move, and Siegfried’s refusal to invest in upgrades—to save money—made the Temeraire extremely sluggish and poorly equipped.

Shwooong! Kaboom! Boom!

Two more cannonballs struck, leaving the Temeraire barely floating on the water.

“Kyaaaaak! I told you to upgrade this piece of junk, owner punk!” Hamchi shrieked in anger.

“S-Sorry...” Siegfried stammered, looking embarrassed.

“We will be fish food at this rate! Kyuuuu!” Hamchi continued.

Unfortunately, scolding Siegfried was futile, as it did not improve the ship’s speed, nor did it stop the incoming cannon fire.

Siegfried grimaced at his penny-pinching and muttered, “I should’ve invested a little bit—”

It was then.

“Now! Turn them into swiss cheese!”

Bellatrix’s keen insight over the battlefield caught the chaos within Baroque’s fleet, and she immediately seized the opportunity to counterattack.

The number of cannonballs hurtling toward the Temeraire dwindled rapidly as Bellatrix’s fleet unintentionally provided cover fire for the Golden Rat Pirates.

Baroque’s fleet was so preoccupied defending and firing back at the Medusa Pirates that they ceased their assault on the Temeraire.

“Now’s our chance! Row! Row like your life depends on it!” Siegfried shouted.

“Aye! Row! Row harder!”

The Nordic Marines descended below deck and began rowing with all their might.

Gradually, the sluggish Temeraire gained momentum that made it wade through the waters faster, allowing the crew to narrowly escape the battlefield.

Boom! Boom!

Siegfried maneuvered the ship, steering it away from the battlefield and toward a nearby uninhabited island.

Why?

It was all because in the uninhabited island approximately twenty kilometers away from the Temeraire’s current position lay hidden the treasure left behind by Pirate King Freydlief.

***

Siegfried arrived at the waters surrounding the uninhabited island an hour later.

The legacy of the Pirate King, Freydlief, was said to be hidden here.

Unfortunately, this marked the Temeraire’s final voyage. After sustaining multiple hits and enduring an arduous journey, the ship ultimately sank.

“You did well...”

Siegfried was riding the Aqua Runner toward the island when he glanced back at the slowly sinking Temeraire and offered her a sincere farewell.

She was an old retired warship.

The Proatine Kingdom was a landlocked kingdom lacking a coastline, and its naval forces were limited to the ones patrolling the Piaro River. The Temeraire had once been a part of that modest navy yet she served faithfully for numerous years.

She was an aging soldier who had fought for her beloved nation till the very end.

When Siegfried used her as a pirate ship, she was already being prepared to be deconstructed for spare parts. Today, she sunk in service one last time, dying as honorably as any soldier would in battle.

Perhaps that was why Siegfried felt a tinge of regret while watching the ship sink. In the past month, he had grown fond of the Temeraire. Thus, he could not help but feel guilty for not upgrading her, especially when the reason he hadn't was to save some money.

“Salute to our fallen comrade,” Siegfried said, raising his hand in a formal salute to the sinking ship.

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty!”

“Loyalty!”

Hamchi, Seung-Gu, Lionbreath, and the Nordic Marines followed Siegfried’s lead, offering the Temeraire one final farewell befitting a fallen soldier. It was the least they could do to honor the fallen ship that faithfully served them valiantly until her last moments, ferrying them to dry land before she sank into the depths.

With their farewell complete, Siegfried landed the Aqua Runner on the island’s beach and unfurled the Treasure Map: Pirate King’s Legacy. He linked the map to Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance and began scanning the island for any clues.

“Stay here for now. I’ll be back soon,” he told the men. Then, he turned and added, “You too, Seung-Gu. Stay put and wait for me. I won’t take long.”

Leaving Lionbreath, Seung-Gu, and the Nordic Marines behind, Siegfried set off in search of Freydlief’s treasure, taking only Hamchi with him.

Why did he leave them at the beach?

The reason was quite simple. He had no idea what kind of dangers lurked ahead, so he could not risk the lives of Seung-Gu and the others accompanying him, especially the slaves whom he had just rescued.

The entrance to the Pirate King’s tomb began inside a cave hidden behind a massive waterfall.

Shwaaaa!

Siegfried passed through the roaring waterfall and entered the cave. He followed the path that led him deeper into the cave.

According to the Treasure Map: Pirate King’s Legacy, Freydlief’s tomb was not on the island itself. It lay beneath the sea, accessible only through the cave hidden behind the waterfall.

In other words, the tomb was located in an underwater cavern.

“Hey, Hamchi. Can you hold your breath long enough to dive deep?” Siegfried asked.

“Kyuuu! Hamchi’s great at holding his breath! I can go for more than five minutes!” Hamchi replied enthusiastically.

“Good. It’s a long way down, and even if we swim fast, we will need at least five minutes to reach it.”

“No problem! Kyuuu!”

Both Siegfried and Hamchi possessed superhuman physical prowess that far surpassed the limits of ordinary humans and animals, so holding their breath for five minutes was not that difficult for either of them.

Taking deep breaths, Siegfried and Hamchi dove into the waters.

***

The interior of the underwater cavern was surprisingly well-lit.

True to its title as the Pirate King’s final resting place, the walls of the cave were adorned with glowing magic stones, illuminating the space as if it was bathed in direct sunlight.

Siegfried and Hamchi swam through the luminous cave, heading toward the nearest surface.

It was then.

‘Hmm?’

In the distance, Siegfried spotted something long approaching at high speed. It was at least seven to eight meters in length, and there was more than one creature surging toward them.

‘A monster? Is it a sea serpent?’

Siegfried immediately transformed his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a harpoon and prepared to defend against the incoming attack. When the creatures drew closer, Siegfried realized that they were not sea serpents.

These long serpentine creatures were actually eels.

Dozens of them, perhaps fifty or more, had fully surrounded Siegfried and Hamchi before they realized what was happening.

‘Let’s finish this quickly,’ Siegfried thought and thrust the harpoon at the eels.

He planned to make quick work of these eels and continue searching for the Pirate King’s Legacy.

But—

Bzzzt!

A sudden surge of electricity lit up the water.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

A warning message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes, followed by a string of warnings.

[Alert: You have been electrocuted!]

[Alert: You have been stunned!]

[Alert: You are unable to control your character for 3 seconds!]

It turned out these were not ordinary eels. They were electric eels wielding powerful electricity capable of paralyzing both Siegfried and Hamchi.