Debuff Master-Chapter 829

The reason Siegfried immediately suspected the Adventurers was simple. Hunting the most formidable and intelligent beings in existence, the dragons, was a risk only those blinded by greed would even consider.

Moreover, Adventurers were beings who had descended from another dimension, so they could simply revive and try again even if they had failed. In contrast, an NPC failing to hunt a dragon could cost them not only their lives but everything they held dear.

At the very least, failure could lead to their friends and family being slaughtered. At worst, it could bring about the destruction of their entire kingdom.

In other words, no one but the Adventurers would be reckless enough to hunt so many dragons systematically, as NPCs would never dare touch dragons due to the heavy price they might have to pay.

At least, that was what Siegfried thought.

— No, Your Majesty. It is not the Adventurers.

“Huh? Not the Adventurers? Then who? It can’t be the Marchioni Empire, right? They’re in the middle of a civil war, aren’t they?”

— Yes, it is not them. The Dragon Hunter is not an Adventurer or a kingdom.

“Then who is it?”

— It is a single individual.

“A-A single person?!”

Siegfried could not believe his ears.

An NPC was single-handedly hunting down dragons? And not just one but three in a single month? This was beyond anything he could ever imagine.

During the last battle at the Suzdal Empire Ruins, a single red dragon had required two Grandmasters to join forces just to bring it down. The two Grandmasters sustained severe injuries and had been bedridden since then.

Using that battle as a comparison, it would require at least three Grandmasters to consistently hunt mature dragons.

“Are you sure that a single individual pulled this off? Is that even possible?” Siegfried asked.

— It must be, or those dragon parts would not have appeared on the market.

“Who is it? Is it a Grandmaster?”

Siegfried speculated that a Grandmaster might be involved in this situation.

Unfortunately, his assumption was wrong this time again.

— No, Your Majesty.

“What? Not even a Grandmaster?”

— The Dragon Hunter is just an ordinary boy.

“What?!”

— Phoenix de Urunas. He is a noble from the small and remote Kingdom of Rubiton.

“A noble from a minor kingdom is a Dragon Hunter?”

— Yes.

“Then he’s a Grandmaster, right?”

— Nope.

“...?”

– He is just a regular knight. Not only is he far from being a Grandmaster, but he has not even reached the level of a Master. No, to put it more accurately, you could choose any knight from the Proatine Kingdom, and they would easily beat him in a duel.

“...What the hell are you talking about, Ninetails? How can someone like that hunt dragons?”

— It is possible, though.

“How?!”

— Because he is a true Dragon Slayer.

***

To be precise, the title of "Dragon Slayer" was not something awarded to people who had successfully hunted dragons. Nowadays, it was given to those who achieved the incredible feat of hunting dragons, but in truth, a genuine Dragon Slayer was born, not made.

True Dragon Slayers were individuals born with a mysterious power. They often appeared quite ordinary, but many of them possessed the power to hunt dragons.

In fact, throughout history, many Dragon Slayers were ordinary people who had never even held a sword in their lives. They lived their days unaware of their innate power until the moment they encountered a dragon.

For example, a humble butcher in a small village could suddenly awaken his power as a Dragon Slayer upon getting attacked by a dragon. They would then use it to vanquish the mighty creature.

“So... you’re telling me there are people who are born with the power of a Dragon Slayer?”

— Yes, Your Majesty.

“And this Phoenix guy awakened with that power and started hunting dragons?”

— That is correct.

“How does that even work?”

Siegfried struggled to understand. According to Ninetails, most Dragon Slayers would burn out and perish shortly after awakening their powers. They were like bees that died after stinging, but it seemed that Phoenix was different. Even after awakening his power as a Dragon Slayer, he was still alive and was hunting dragons down.

— I do not know the details either. But all I can say for certain is that when it comes to dragons, he is invincible.

“Hmm...”

— What should we do?

“What else can we do? We have to liquidate everything.”

— Right now? But we will incur massive losses if we do that.

“If he’s that strong, then he’s bound to kill even more dragons. If that happens, prices will only fall further, not rise. So unless you’re planning to sit on the stockpile of inventory for years, we don’t have a choice but to sell.”

— I guess that makes sense.

“Tell Schmidt to sell everything as fast as possible.

— Understood.

“Tsk... Of all times for someone like this to pop up, he decided to pop up now and ruin my business,” Siegfried clicked his tongue and grumbled in frustration.

— You are not planning to... uh, take care of him, are you?

“What? Take care of him? What are you talking about?”

— You know... eliminate him to stabilize the price of dragon parts...?

“Hey! Do I look like a murderer to you? You think I’d kill someone over something like that?

— Eh? You were not?

“Hey!”

— Hehe~ I was joking.

“This little...”

— Oh, right! There was something else important I needed to report. I think you should hear it now.

“What is it this time?”

– We received intelligence from the Lambda Kingdom.

“The Lambda Kingdom? You mean that old man, King Leonid?”

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— Yes.

“What is it about?”

— It seems that the Naval Alliance is planning to invade the Green Isles.

***

The moment Siegfried heard the report, he had a hard time making sense of it.

‘Huh? How could they possibly know this place’s location? Had they infiltrated it with spies disguised as pirates like what I had done?’

He had no idea how the Naval Alliance had discovered the location of the Green Isles.

This was a mystery not only to him but to everyone else, as the identity of the informant who supposedly promised to guide the Naval Alliance to the Green Isles was highly classified information known to only Claude and his aide.

“All right, I will talk to Claude myself.”

— Understood, Your Majesty.

Siegfried immediately called the Grand Marshal of the Naval Alliance.

— Hello! It’s been a while, Captain Drake. How have you been? Ah! Congratulations on your recent coronation as Pirate King!

Grand Marshal Claude greeted him so warmly that most people would think they were best of friends. He appeared as though he wasn't about to invade the Green Isles or anything like that.

‘Tsk... What a sly fox,’ Siegfried marveled at Claude’s acting skills, but he maintained his composure and feigned ignorance. “How have you been, Supreme Commander?”

— Oh, I’ve been well. Thanks to you, the seas seem more peaceful these days.

“Have you received the official letter I sent?”

— I certainly did.

“What is the Naval Alliance’s official stance on that letter?”

— Opinions are divided.

“What?”

— I’m doing my best to persuade everyone to reach a peaceful resolution and to help the Green Isles thrive as a maritime kingdom. Just give me a little more time.

“Hmm...”

– Patience, my friend. I’ll do everything I can to support your noble vision.

Siegfried barely managed to suppress the urge to snarl and tell him to cut the nonsense.

However, if he were to lash out now, it would only give the Naval Alliance justification to accuse the Lambda Kingdom of leaking their military secrets, which would put the Lambda Kingdom in a difficult position.

“Supreme Commander.”

— Yes, speak.

“I genuinely want the Green Isles to become a law-abiding maritime kingdom.

— And I respect your aspirations.

“I sincerely hope the Naval Alliance will actively cooperate to make that happen.

— Of course. There are some hardliners among us, but I’ll do my best to convince them otherwise.

“I would truly appreciate it.”

— Is there anything else you wish to discuss?

“No, that’s all.”

— Alright then, I must hang up now. Things are quite hectic on my end. Enjoy your weekend.

Claude ended the communication with a brilliant smile.

“Hah...” Siegfried let out a sigh after seeing the old man’s audacious insincerity.

He could perfectly understand Claude’s position, but it did not mean that he'd hand over the Green Isles without a fight.

‘So he plans to stab me in the back while smiling at my face?’ Siegfried growled inwardly. He racked his brains for a while. Then, his lips curled into a chilling grin upon realizing something.

The animosity between the Green Isles and the Naval Alliance stretched too far back and was too deep to resolve peacefully.

In that case...

‘We’ll fight.’

The only answer was war.

Power against power. Iron against iron.

That was the only solution to this predicament...

***

After finishing his call with Claude, Siegfried immediately sought out Captain Bellatrix.

“From this moment forward, the entire Green Isles is to prepare for war,” he declared without a hint of hesitation.

“W-What? What do you mean by that all of a sudden, Your M-Majesty?” she asked.

“The location of the Green Isles has been exposed.”

“What?! Is that true?!”

Captain Bellatrix’s eyes widened in shock.

The location of the Green Isles was nearly impossible to uncover unless one was a major pirate. For centuries, this veil of secrecy helped keep the Green Isles safe from the Naval Alliance, as they could not wage war against an enemy whose base they could not locate.

However, the Green Isles' location had been compromised, so it was now a whole different story.

“Could there be a spy among the major pirates?” Bellatrix asked.

Siegfried shrugged and replied, “Who knows? I don’t have the answer to that. But what I do know is that the Naval Alliance will soon be assembling their fleet to come after us.”

“But if we fight now... it might be impossible for us to win...” she muttered, her expression darkening.

It was no secret that the Green Isles were currently in a weakened state.

Siegfried shrugged again and said calmly, “We don’t have much of a choice. We can’t just sit here and take the beating, right?”

“Well, that is true...”

“Don’t worry. We’ll win,” Siegfried said confidently. Then, he smirked and said, “Besides, isn’t this actually a good thing for you?”

“...For me?”

“At least for the next few days, you won’t have to deal with paperwork, right?”

“That is true,” Bellatrix replied with a chuck, smiling faintly. Then, she let out a sigh and added, “I was starting to think I’d rather die fighting an enemy and be buried under the seas rather than be buried under those papers.”

“Then there’s no problem, is there? Let’s get started. We can’t be unprepared and get caught off guard once they’re here.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

And so, the Green Isles began its preparations to face the invasion of the Naval Alliance.

***

Three days later, the Navala Alliance amassed a massive armada and departed from their naval base.

Their destination? It was none other than the Green Isles.

Shockingly, the sheer size of the armada was staggering. There were a total of two hundred fifty warships, and the scene of them passing through the waters in a single formation was a spectacle that exuded both grandeur and authority.

It was as an armada the continent had never seen before in centuries, and their overwhelming presence alone seemed to fill the vast ocean.

Meanwhile, aboard the Nemesis, the Flagship of the Naval Alliance, Grand Marshal Claude stood at the helm gazing out at the ocean. Unusually, the Nemesis was leading the armada from the very front despite being the flagship.

This was highly unorthodox, as a flagship that commanded the entire fleet would usually stay behind, protected by multiple layers of escort vessels.

However, for this voyage, the Nemesis had no choice but to take the lead.

Why?

This was because only the Nemesis knew the precise location of the Green Isles—more specifically, someone aboard the Nemesis knew that crucial piece of information.

“Are we on the right course?” Claude asked, turning to the figure beside him.

The individual, wearing a robe that covered from head to toe, replied calmly, “Yes, we are getting closer.”

“You can sense it then?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’m counting on you,” Claude said with a nod, showing his trust.

The fact that he sat back, relaxed with a cigar in hand, made it clear that he had absolute confidence in this mysterious informant. Thus, led by the Nemesis, the Naval Alliance’s fleet set its course toward their elusive adversary, the Green Isles.