Debuff Master

Chapter 228

“If you look here…” Siegfried pointed at the map after analyzing the information he extracted from Crypt Human 009 and explained, “We will split our forces and attack this spot and this spot.”

“I thought you said we would attack three places at once?” Lieutenant General Woodbridge asked.

“I will take care of that spot with my subordinates if you provide me one hundred Adventurers.”

“What?! You plan to defeat that swarm with a bit more than one hundred people? Look here, Lieutenant Colonel Sieg… That’s too risky…”

“It is possible. In fact, I will gladly put my neck on the line for it. You may execute me if I fail this mission,” Siegfried said confidently. He was confident because he had Decimato and Gringore with him.

What if Siegfried’s debuff was cast before these two monsters used their skills?

‘They’re stronger and more efficient than any other soldier,’?he was planning to use every single card up his sleeve, and they were definitely going to be more than enough.

“Put your neck on the line… that’s the best way a soldier can prove their will…” Lieutenant General Bridgewater muttered, looking conflicted.

“Please trust me.”

“Ah, I?want to, but… you’re an Adventurer, so you’re going to come back to life even if you lose your head, right?”

“Oh… right…” Siegfried muttered. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head and chuckled. “Hahaha! I completely forgot about that… hahaha…”

“…”

“Anyway, I will sweep that area if you leave it to me.”

“All right, I guess I have no choice but to trust you.”

“Then…”

“Let’s do it. The full-scale offensive.”

The 3rd Field Army accepted Siegfried’s proposal to continue the full-scale offensive against the Cryptids.

Around two hours later…

[…]

Hundreds of thousands of Cryptids were hiding in their burrows.

They had been waiting for the third army to come over the last seventy-two hours.

However, the humans were still missing.

Nevertheless, they continued waiting in their burrows without moving an inch.

Why?

Simple.

Most of the Cryptids weren’t intelligent creatures. They were only driven by their insatiable hunger and aggressiveness, and every other life form was an enemy to them except for their fellow Cryptids. In fact, the Cryptids even recklessly threw their lives away if it meant that they could accomplish their task of killing their enemies.

The vast majority of them were just killing machines with no intelligence, so they just waited and waited until the human army appeared.

They continued waiting…

The swarm of more than one hundred thousand Cryptids simply waited until either the human army appeared or a high-ranking intelligent Cryptid gave them a different command.

Yes, they did not move an inch while their house was about to get ransacked by their enemies…

***

While the Cryptids were lying in wait, the 3rd Field Army started ransacking their empty lair.

—All forces! Attack!

Lieutenant General Bridgewater replaced General Overlock during his absence and gave the command to attack through the loudspeaker.

“WAAAAAAH!”

“Let’s go, boys!”

“Kill them all!”

The soldiers and Adventurers charged toward the Cryptid Great Lair while letting out battle cries.

Meanwhile, a battalion led by Siegfried went to target another important facility of the Cryptids. However, the soldiers and Adventurers in the battalion cursed inwardly while following behind Siegfried.

‘Fuck! Is he asking us to die with him or what?!’

‘I couldn’t disobey orders but… isn’t this a bit too much…?’

‘What does he plan to do with such a small battalion?’

It was only natural for them to question him as it was logically impossible for a single battalion to occupy one of the Cryptid’s important faculties. Everybody knew that an entire division was necessary to at least have a chance of succeeding, but Siegfried brought less than three hundred men for this operation.

Just what in the world was he planning?

The soldiers and Adventurers that weren’t a part of Siegfried’s party could not help but suspect that this operation was nothing short of a suicide operation.

However…

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Dozens of Iron Golems appeared out of nowhere and stood at the forefront. Then, they started to smash the Cryptids that tried to get close to the battalion. The sight significantly increased the morale of the troops.

Fwaaaaa! Fwaaaaaaaa!

Siegfried activated his Quad-Turbo Set to place an enhanced version of Blaze Field smack in the middle of the enemy, and a handsome NPC followed it up by singing a song that sent soundwaves toward the Cryptids.

“Kyuuuuuuuuu!”?Hamchi shot out a golden beam from his mouth to disintegrate the Cryptids.

Shwaaaaa!

However, the troops were surprised the most by the snowstorm that raged toward the Cryptid. It was an unbelievable sight because it was late spring with the sun high up in the sky.

Blizzard.

It was a powerful water attribute area-of-effect spell that only those at the pinnacle of magic could cast.

The Blizzard engulfed everything and sent chills down the spines of the troops.

‘What was that?!’

‘Look at that damage!’

‘So this was not a suicide squad…?’

Ironically, the surprise didn’t end there. There was still one final surprise—the commander of the battalion—Siegfried.

“I’m going to kill every single one of them,” he said with a smirk before running into the fray where the Cryptids and Iron Golems were slugging it out.

The Adventurers couldn’t believe their eyes. They were certain that the mace Siegfried was holding was highly enhanced, judging by the luster it was giving off.

“W-What in the world?!”

“O-One shot…?”

“H-He’s cheating!”

The Adventurers were shocked when Siegfried swung his +15 Gaia’s Fist.

One shot, one kill!

A Cryptid died whenever Siegfried swung his +15 Gaia’s Fist, and he swung it like a battle-crazed maniac leaving behind a trail of dead Cryptids.

Of course, he was able to kill them in one hit, thanks to his debuffs, but this was still a great lair. The Cryptids in the great lair were at least B-rank Cryptids, and there were even some S-rank Cryptids in the mix.

In other words, the Cryptids were extremely powerful.

However, Siegfried managed to kill every Cryptid standing in his way with just one swing of his mace.

Siegfried finally killed a hundred Cryptids, and he jumped into the air and slammed his mace into the ground upon landing.

Tak!

“…!”

The Adventurers were stupefied.

The Cryptids were flung into the air, lightning bolts came crashing from the sky, a powerful shockwave slammed the Cryptids to the ground, and finally, the earth was shattered open.

Siegfried triggered a massive natural calamity with a single strike of his mace.

Siegfried had been stacking the Earth’s Strength stack of the +15 Gaia’s Fist before using his area-of-effect skill. The Debuff Master’s Splitting Heaven and Earth dealt lightning attribute damage, and this was followed up by an Earthquake that was triggered by the stacked Earth’s Strength, which dealt massive earth attribute damage.

The outcome was a calamity.

“Kireuk!”

“Kyaaahk!”

“Kieeeek! Kieeeek!”

Thousands of Cryptids fell into the massive crater created by the +15 Gaia’s Fist. The crater was so deep that the hideous creatures found it difficult to climb out of it.

“I’ll leave the cleanup to those who can use magic,” Siegfried told the magicians before unleashing a green fog and walking toward the remaining Cryptids.

The magicians fired their magic spells into the crater to finish off the Cryptids.

[Alert: You have gained experience points!]

[Alert: You have gained experience points!]

[Alert: You have gained experience points!]

They easily killed thousands of Cryptids.

“What is this battalion…?” An Adventurer muttered in disbelief, “I think the firepower of those few individuals is equal to an entire division… or am I imagining things…?”

Everyone thought the same, aside from Siegfried’s party members.

***

An hour later, Lieutenant General Woodbridge gave the command to retreat to the 3rd Field Army.

—All forces! Retreat! The Cryptids’ reinforcements are on the way! I repeat! All forces retreat!

Why?

He had received reports from the scouts that the Cryptids waiting in the burrows had started making their way back to the great lair.

In other words, there was no longer a reason for the army to continue fighting here.

Why?

The army had already destroyed fifty percent of the Cryptid Great Lair, so there was no reason for them to overextend and clash with the swarm of Cryptids. They had dealt more than enough damage to the Cryptids, and retreating without any casualties was the best-case scenario for the army.

“Retreat! We are retreating!”

“Get ready to retreat!”

“Retreat quickly!”

The troops immediately retreated as soon as the order was given.

—All forces! Retreat to Zone 911! I repeat! Retreat to Zone 911!

Lieutenant General Woodbridge’s voice reverberated throughout the battlefield. The zone he was talking about was the exact same place where the hundreds of thousands of Cryptids were lying in ambush a while ago.

This meant that the master plan was to lure the Cryptid swarm to the great lair so that the army would easily reclaim the logistic route. Of course, the person who came up with this wise—cowardly—strategy was none other than…

‘Lieutenant Colonel Sieg… Your strategy is truly frightening. I finally understand why General Overlock has been holding you in great regard…’?Lieutenant General Bridgewater thought.

…It was none other than Siegfried.

“The Cryptids waiting in their burrows to ambush us will definitely come back if we hit their empty lair, right? Then, we just have to retreat and go back to reclaim the logistic route we initially lost. What do you think? It’s easy, right?”

Siegfried wasn’t great at a lot of things, but he was definitely talented when it came to making a fool out of other people. And his target’s race didn’t matter at all…

***

Siegfried’s battalion finally destroyed the target facility.

“Owner punk! The army is retreating! I think the Cryptids are on the way here!” Hamchi shouted.

“Really?”

“Yeah! Lieutenant General Woodbridge has given the order to retreat!” Hamchi replied while standing with his ears perked up.

Hamchi’s Meerkat~! skill was now able to reach distances of numerous kilometers after he started leveling up along with Siegfried.

“Hmm… Then I guess we have to retreat as well but… ugh…”?

However, Siegfried didn’t give the command to retreat, and it was all because of a certain living structure that he had discovered.

[Cryptid Tunnel]

[A tunnel that leads all the way down to the Cryptid’s main base underground.]

[The tunnel itself is a living creature.]

The tunnel resembled a human being’s tunnel that was used to excrete feces, and Siegfried had the opportunity to become the first Adventurer to enter the Cryptid’s main base.

The issue was that the tunnel looked hideous.

“Ah… How the fuck am I supposed to go in there…? That looks like ass…” Siegfried grumbled. He wanted to infiltrate the Cryptid’s main base, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel repulsed at the thought of diving into a butt hole.

Ding!

Surprisingly, a quest popped up in front of his eyes.

[Martyr’s Rescue Operation]

[Infiltrate the Cryptid’s main base through the tunnel and rescue General Overlock along with the other high-ranking officers.]

[Progress: 0%]

[Reward: ?]

Siegfried grimaced and cursed inwardly. ‘Don’t tell me that the reason why the quest is called Martyr’s Rescue Operation is because I have to dive into that butt hole…?’

He feared that the quest was asking him to take a leap of faith into the butt hole.

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