Debuff Master

The second mistake Count Arial made was hiring Mercenary King Dreyfus, of all people, to escort his daughter, Spinel, to the Capucines Territory.

Well, it was a bit of a stretch to call it a mistake. The news of the three Mercenary Kings getting destroyed by Siegfried at the Tundra Forest and one of them ending up as his "foreign currency laborer"was not known to the outside world.

A few hours ago…

“The Mercenary King, Dreyfus, has brought Count Arial’s daughter with him!”

“Oh!”

Siegfried had easily kidnapped Count Arial’s daughter, Spinel, thanks to the "monopoly" he had over the Mercenary King market.

‘Tsk… I’m not really a fan of going after people’s families, but…’ Siegfried grumbled, clicking his tongue.

Count Arial was his enemy, but he really did not want to go as far as kidnap his daughter, Spinel, who was innocent. However, there was something he had to check, so he had no other choice but to hold Spinel hostage.

‘Aigoo…! I’m sorry, but your father is a madman, so you will have to hang in there for a little bit, young lady,’ Siegfried thought, justifying his own actions while apologizing inwardly to Spinel.

“You dare…!” Count Arial muttered with obvious rage. Then, he glared at Siegfried and said icily, “You dare go after my—you dare go after God’s daughter?”

— God, my ass.

Siegfried sneered. Then, he grinned from ear to ear and laughed sheepishly.

— Hehe… Did you really think you’re a real god just because you combined Sieghart’s Dragon Speech and the soul fragment?

“H-How did you know about that?!” Count Arial was shocked.

Nobody knew the Gray Family’s secret, but this young man, Siegfried, somehow knew about it. The fact that they were the descendants of Great Sage Sieghart was a secret that not even the Marchioni Empire was aware of, but Siegfried was actually aware of it.

— No, that’s not what’s important right now.

Siegfried interrupted Count Arial’s thoughts.

— This fine young lady is your daughter, right? Slurp!

“...!”

— Slurp! Slurp! Bluu! Bluu! Bluu! Slurp! Schlick! Schlick!

Count Arial felt his blood pressure skyrocket upon seeing Siegfried wriggle his tongue like a disgusting sleazy pervert at his beloved daughter’s face.

“YOU DARE! You dare defile god’s daughter in front of my eyes!” Count Arial roared in anger.

— Ahuehuehue!

“You son of a bitch! Curse you! Curse you to eternal damnation!” Count Arial roared and hurled all sorts of curses at him. Unfortunately, Siegfried showed no signs of stopping, and what Count Arial witnessed next was…

— Sniff! Sniff! Ahuehue! Your hair smells really nice! Sniff!

— Eup! Mmpf! Mmpf!

— Ahuehuehue! Hold still, and this will all be over soon! Ahuehue!

— Euuuup! Mmpf!

Count Arial’s eyes turned bloodshot upon seeing the despicable things that Siegfried was doing to Spinel.

“Siegfried… van Proa…! I’m never going to forgive you…!” Count Arial growled in anger.

— I thought you were omnipotent? Keke!

Siegfried stopped the disgusting things he was doing to Spinel and took out a dagger.

Then, he pressed the dagger against Spinel’s neck just close enough to make it bleed.

— Try spouting more of your nonsense.

“...!”

– Your beautiful daughter is going to have a scratch on her neck. What do you think is going to happen then? Blood would probably gush out from this smooth white neck of hers, right? Ahuehue!

“Siegfried van Proa…!”

— Oh? Maybe you don’t care? Is it because you’re an omnipotent god?

Siegfried sneered at the count.

– Ah, maybe you don’t care. That’s right, you can just resurrect her if she dies, right? I mean, if her father is an omnipotent god, then he can just resurrect her back to life, right? Mr. Omnipotent I-will-resurrect-anything-and-anyone God.

Siegfried applied more pressure to the dagger on Spinel’s neck, causing the cut to grow even bigger and bleed more.

If the dagger went just half a centimeter deeper, an artery would be cut, and she would—

“E-Enou—” Count Arial was about to cry out, but he stopped after sensing something strange within him.

Of course, Siegfried did not miss that slight change in the count’s demeanor.

— Okay, that’s a wrap.

“...!”

— I get it now, so stop with your internal conflict. I’m starting to feel sorry for you, man.

The reason Siegfried said that the count was having an internal conflict was simple.

Count Arial would be admitting his ability to bring the dead back to life was just a facade if he were to beg for Spinel to be spared, but his love and affection for his only daughter made it excruciatingly painful for him to watch her get defiled and killed.

He wanted to save his daughter no matter what, but he had already come too far to give up. He could only blame himself for not abandoning his daughter from the start, as that would have spared her from being humiliated by Siegfried.

“I swear on my life I will—”

— Have a nice day!

Siegfried hurriedly ended the call just before Count Arial could say what he wanted to say.

Immediately after the call, Count Arial screamed at the top of his lungs, “Siegfried van Proa…! I’m going to… I’m going to kill you! I’ll make you burn in the pits of hell! I’ll rip you to shreds! I’ll kill you! I’LL KILL YOU!”

***

“Alright, that’s enough.” Siegfried was finally relieved. He had just confirmed that Count Arial’s powers weren't real.

‘It’s not real. It looks like he’s bringing them back to life, but they didn’t really come back to life. The reason he was so shaken when his daughter’s life was at stake was that he knew that his resurrection of the dead wasn't a real resurrection.’

Deus was right.

Count Arial was not omnipotent, and he had simply employed some kind of trick to revive the dead.

The trick was still unknown to Siegfried, but he was certain that it wasn't a perfect trick.

‘Then there’s no reason for us to be too scared,’ Siegfried thought. He made up his mind to be more proactive from now on.

Then, he looked at Spinel.

“...”

Spinel was still gagged, and she was crying without making a sound.

“Hey,” Siegfried called out to his men.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Get the wound on her neck patched up and send her to Daode Tianzun Elder-nim. Tell him to erase her memories of what I did to her just now.”

“As you command, sire!”

“Also, make arrangements for her so that she could live happily and comfortably in a small remote village somewhere on the continent.”

“Yes! Your Majesty!”

Siegfried did not kill or do anything bad to Count Arial’s daughter, Spinel. Instead, he made arrangements for her so that she could start a new life.

Why?

It was all because she was innocent. Unfortunately, she was bound to come back seeking revenge if he just let her be, so he decided to erase her memories and let her live somewhere else on the continent.

“Tsk… Why the hell did he do all this if he had a daughter to care for…” Siegfried grumbled.

“I agree! Kyu!” Hamchi exclaimed in response. Then, he grimaced and added, “Humans are foolish! They’re capable of selling their own flesh and blood for their ambitions! Kyuuu!”

“Yeah, they’re blinded by their greed… tale as old as time…” Siegfried muttered. Ironically, he seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he was one of the biggest monsters that capitalism had given birth to.

“Ah, I feel like I’m going to get sick… I’m really not great with that kind of acting…” Siegfried groaned and felt sick by what he had done to Spinel.

But…

“H-Huh?” he flinched upon realizing that the atmosphere in the room had changed.

“...”

“...”

“...”

The people in the room revealed expressions that were… difficult to put into words.

“N-No! I was just acting! It was all an act!” Siegfried exclaimed. Unfortunately, nobody said anything, and they simply looked at him with scornful eyes. “I’m not that kind of a person! I don’t sniff other people’s hair or wiggle my tongue at their faces! It was an act! I was just acting!”

Despite his desperate explanation, nobody seemed to believe him. The female officer in charge of the communication room and even Oscar were looking at him with scornful eyes full of disgust.

‘Your Majesty… Is that how you usually act when you're outside…?’

‘D-Disgusting! He’s a piece of trash!’

The two of them could not help but feel disgusted by Siegfried’s acting. They knew he was doing it to extract information from Count Arial, but the way he acted looked so natural that they could not help but become suspicious of him.

“No… I said I’m not…” Siegfried muttered while on the verge of tears.

Unfortunately, his tears failed to convince anyone.

***

Siegfried was done gathering information, and all that was left was to wait for the arrival of the churches' armies while maintaining the encirclement around the Capucines Territory.

‘I’ve already gathered all of the information I need, so it’s now time to find out more in battle.’

One day passed, two days passed, and it was on the third day that one hundred fifty thousand troops gathered at the headquarters of this war, the Cabochon Territory.

Siegfried’s expectation was on point as seventeen out of the twenty churches on the continent had sent their armies for the upcoming holy war.

The Proatine Kingdom opened its treasury to prepare accommodations and the highest-quality buffet catered for the one hundred fifty thousand crusaders.

How much did it cost in total? Well, the price wasn't important to the Proatine Kingdom.

After all, these crusaders were the ones who'd bleed on the battlefield instead of the Proatine soldiers. Fortunately, the Proatine Kingdom’s unsparing efforts did not go unnoticed, as the heads of each church thanked Siegfried for his lavish support.

On that same evening, Siegfried met with the leaders of each armies that had gathered at the Cabochon Territory.

“Thank you for your unsparing support. May the blessings of the gods be with you!”

The top-ranking inquisitor of the Church of Martial God, Cardinal Shrink, represented the leaders and thanked Siegfried on their behalf.

Cardinal Shrink was the supreme commander of the crusaders sent by the numerous churches.

‘Amazing…’ Siegfried was in awe after seeing Cardinal Shrink’s details.

Cardinal Shrink was a whopping Level 299, which meant that he was on the cusp of becoming a Master. He had yet to overcome the wall to become a Master, but he still looked strong nevertheless.

The cardinal definitely lived up to the Church of Martial God’s reputation. As expected of Martial God Ares' follower, he looked pretty powerful.

Siegfried shook his head and replied, “Not at all. I am grateful that all of you have gathered to help our kingdom get rid of these rebels. We requested help, as our kingdom is not strong enough to deal with those heretics, but we are indeed surprised to see that so many of you, holy warriors, have gathered and come to our aid.”

Siegfried did not bother mentioning anything about the Proatine soldiers not shedding blood in this battle.

Surprisingly, Cardinal Shrink could see right through Siegfried’s intentions, but he was not offended at all. In fact, he was grateful that the Proatine Forces encircled the Capucines Territory and waited for the crusaders to arrive.

Why?

It was all because this was an issue that the religious orders throughout the continent had to handle. Count Arial had blatantly challenged every single god on the continent by performing miracles, so it would only be a matter of time before the churches had their rice bowls taken away if they were to dilly-dally.

It was definitely better to deal with these kinds of things earlier and nip it in the bud rather than letting it grow, allowing it to become a headache later on.

In addition, the fact that Count Arial was a mere human yet arrogantly proclaimed to be a god was not something they could just sit around and watch, too.

“These kinds of cults are like the plague. They cannot be left to spread and have to be eradicated immediately,” Cardinal Shrink said with an air of authority.

“Yes, I agree with you, cardinal,” Siegfried nodded and replied. Then, he smiled and added, “Our kingdom will not just sit on the sidelines and watch. We will spare no efforts in supporting our brave crusaders, so I hope we will be of some help in eradicating those heretics.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Cardinal Shrink replied, slightly lowering his head.

It was then.

A servant rushed in and cried out, “Your Majesty! The rebel leader, Count Arial, seeks an audience with Your Majesty!”

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