Debuff Master

Chapter 657

“Argh!”

The roar caused Siegfried to fall to the ground, covering his ears.

He felt like every muscle in his body was spasming from the roar.

“A-Argh... M-My heart is...!”

He felt that even his heart, which was a piece of muscle, was spasming as well.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You have been afflicted by Numbness!]

[Alert: Your muscles are spasming!]

[Alert: Your mind and body are shuddering in fear!]

“What in the world was that...?” Siegfried muttered weakly while using his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp as a cane to get back up to his feet.

“Kyuu... O-Owner punk...”

Hamchi seemed to be affected by the roar as well. He was squirming in pain on the ground.

They weren't the only ones suffering from the roar. In fact, the Oberg Guild members around them were in a much worse state than them.

“Kuheok!”

“Argh! M-My body won’t–!”

“Aaaack!”

They were on the ground trembling, and some of them had already died from a heart attack.

“W-What in the world is—argh...!”

“Kyuu... Owner punk... This is... Dragon Fear...” Hamchi said, still struggling.

“Did you just say Dragon Fear? Argh...!” Siegfried asked, doubting his ears.

“Y-Yeah... I can hear it... from there...” Hamchi replied, pointing in the distance.

“Hey! Why the hell would a dragon be here?!” Siegfried lashed out at the nonsense. Then, he looked at the direction Hamchi was pointing and said, “Eh? T-That’s a real dragon!”

A ginormous red dragon around one and a half kilometers tall stood up slowly in the distance.

Fwaaah! Fwaaaah!

Its entire body was covered in flames, and it looked like it was telling everyone that it was—without a shadow of a doubt—a red dragon.

“What the hell... is that thing...?” Siegfried muttered. He raised his hand and flashed his Rune of Insight at the red dragon.

[Red Beard Vulcanus]

[A dragon that has existed since time immemorial.]

[Vulcanus is one of the dragons born with the creation of the world, and he is the ancestor of all red dragons.]

[He gifted fire to the dwarves and taught them how to melt metals with it.]

[The dwarves regarded him as the God of Blacksmiths.]

[Type: Named Neutral Creature]

[Race: Ancient Red Dragon]

[Age: 112,123]

[Level: 998]

[Class: Demigod]

[Titles: God of Blacksmiths, Old Dragon, Living Fossil, Flaming Dragon, Flame Creator, Sleepy Dragon]

“He’s one hundred eleven thousand years old?! And he’s Level 998?!”

Siegfried was shocked upon seeing that Red Beard Vulcanus was a whopping Level 998 dragon, which was just one level shy of Deus’ level.

The Level 999 Hidden NPC was by far the being with the highest level among the powerful beings he had ever met, which meant that Vulcanus was second only to Deus.

“C-Crazy... What the hell is happening...?” Siegfried muttered out of sheer shock.

It was then.

“Who is it? Who dared disturb my slumber?” Red Beard Vulcanus asked in a commanding voice.

***

“Who was the one that disturbed my sleep and awakened me?”

Nobody replied to the dragon’s question.

The Mandate of Heaven Guild?

The Oberg Guild?

The mercenaries participating in the war?

None of them dared to open their mouths.

Why?

It was all because they instinctively knew that they'd be burnt to ashes or be devoured alive the moment they babbled in front of the mighty creature.

“Is no one going to answer me? Are my words being ignored?” Vulcanus asked.

However, none of the Adventurers dared to respond to his questions.

“These insignificant humans dare to—”

It was then.

“We can fight it!” Chae Hyung-Seok shouted, interrupting Vulcanus. Then, he screamed with bloodshot eyes, “It’s a dragon! Our lives will turn around if we kill it! We can afford to spend as much as we want for the rest of our lives even if we divide the spoils! What are you hesitating for?! Prepare for battle!”

Shockingly, Chae Hyung-Seok rallied the Oberg Guild members and cast his buffs on them.

“Y-Yeah!”

“Fuck yeah! What’s a dragon going to do against our numbers?!”

“It’s not every day you get to raid an ancient dragon!”

The Oberg Guild members agreed and prepared for battle.

“Hey! Old Man Tae-Pung! Let’s hunt that thing!” Chae Hyung-Seok shouted.

“What? You want to hunt that?” Yong Tae-Pung replied, bewildered.

“Forget about the Geyser of Life! We can just share the loot! Why should we miss out on this golden opportunity?! Let’s work together and grab it!”

“Hmm...”

Yong Tae-Pung now had a dilemma after listening to Chae Hyung-Seok. They were up against a Level 998 ancient dragon, and there was no way it would be an easy monster to raid.

The reason that he was in a dilemma was that he was a gamer. An NPC would never dare to hunt a dragon—no, they would already be on the ground, bowing and attempting to get on the dragon’s good side.

However, that was not the case for gamers, as they were creatures that would attempt to hunt a god if they had the chance to. They were bound to salivate at the opportunity of hunting a Level 998 ancient dragon. After all, they wouldn't hesitate to hunt even a god.

Moreover, there were no records showing just how strong an ancient dragon was, so this was definitely well worth a shot for them.

“This is not the time to hesitate, Old Man Tae-Pung! Now! Now’s our chance!”

“I think...” Yong Tae-Pung was torn.

It was then.

“Hmm... What an interesting bunch of creatures,” Vulcanus said, looking surprised.

His reaction was quite normal, as such humans didn't exist fifty thousand years ago, which was when he was last awake. However, what really fascinated him was the fact that these humans, who did not really look like ordinary humans, were talking about attempting to hunt him.

‘What are these creatures that they are attempting to hunt me, a dragon that has existed since time immemorial?’ Vulcanus wondered, completely befuddled.

Unfortunately, his curiosity did not last long.

‘Hold on. They dare to hunt me?’ Vulcanus raised a brow as anger started raging inside of him.

Whoosh!

Siegfried ran like the wind toward Yong Tae-Pung and shouted, “Uncle!”

“Hmm?”

“We’re all going to die!”

“Die? All of us?”

“Yes! Don’t even think about hunting that dragon! Hurry up and get on the ground if you wish to live!”

“But...”

“What’s the point of fighting if we can’t even lay a finger on it?! Just bow on the ground!”

Siegfried hurriedly, quickly, and rapidly bowed on the ground faster than anyone else right after telling Yong Tae-Pung to do the same. He personally knew just how powerful a Level 999 Hidden NPC, Deus, was, so he had a very good idea on how powerful the Level 998 ancient dragon was.

“This insignificant creature greets the Mighty and Majestic One!” Siegfried exclaimed at the top of his lungs.

Yong Tae-Pung was flabbergasted at what he was witnessing, ‘Why is he giving up before even trying?’

He thought Siegfried would be burning with fighting spirit and determination, so the last thing he expected was for Siegfried to get on the ground and grovel.

‘Bah! I don’t know anymore! I’ll just do what this guy is doing!’ Yong Tae-Pung grumbled inwardly.

He wanted to test out how strong the ancient dragon was, but he decided to get on the ground and grovel just like Siegfried was doing.

“This insignificant creature greets the Mighty and Majestic One!”

Then, the rest of the Mandate of Heaven Guild members followed, bowing with their heads on the ground and raising their voices as loud as they could.

“This insignificant creature greets the Mighty and Majestic One!”

“This insignificant creature greets the Mighty and Majestic One!”

“This insignificant creature greets the Mighty and Majestic One!”

Chae Hyung-Seok was speechless after seeing how Siegfried, Yong Tae-Pung, and the rest of the Mandate of Heaven Guild gave up before even trying.

“Those fuckers! They call themselves men?! How could they pass up on this once in a lifetime opportunity?!” he growled under his breath, thinking that they were a bunch of idiots.

It was then.

“Burn, you insignificant creatures,” Vulcanus said with obvious anger in his voice.

Fwaaaa! Fwaaaaah!

Flames started shooting up from the ground all over the battlefield and...

“Aaaack!”

“M-My body...! I’m burning! Help!”

“It’s hot! It’s too hot! Aaaack!”

The Oberg Guild members caught fire in an instant, and Chae Hyung-Seok was one of them.

“W-What the fuck is this?! Why am I on fire?! A-Aaack! Aaack!” Chae Hyung-Seok screamed out of horror after seeing the flames on him. Shockingly, the flames had manifested out of thin air rather than flying toward them.

“Ack! Aaaack! What the hell?!”

Chae Hyung-Seok and the Adventurers who had refused to bow to Vulcanus were set alight with just a single word from the ancient dragon. The flames lasted until they were reduced to nothing but ashes.

They had to pay a heavy price for not knowing their place.

“W-What was that...?” Yong Tae-Pung muttered under his breath while glancing at what little remained of the Oberg Guild.

He could not believe that just a single word was capable of burning the high-level Adventurers to ashes as if they were logs doused with gasoline.

“See? What did I tell you? It’s instant death if you try to go against that thing,” Siegfried whispered.

“Y-You were absolutely right,” Yong Tae-Pung replied with a whisper, his voice trembling. On the other hand, he felt relieved that he decided to listen to Siegfried at the very last second. What would have happened if he had tried to be a hero and stood up against the ancient dragon?

A chill traveled down Yong Tae-Pung’s spine at the mere thought of it.

“B-But what should we do now?”

“What else? I will try to appease that dragon.”

“Huh?”

“I am very good at appeasing scary and powerful people, so just leave it to me,” Siegfried said and slowly stood up with his head still down.

He was absolutely right about this.

Why?

It was all because Siegfried had experience appeasing Deus, who was a level higher than the Ancient Red Dragon, Vulcanus.

***

“O Mighty and Majestic One,” Siegfried greeted the ancient dragon with his head still down.

“This insignificant creature once again greets the Mighty and Majestic One I am not worthy to be in the presence of!” Siegfried exclaimed and bowed low to the ground once again.

Was this effective on the ancient dragon?

“Hmm... You’re quite the well-mannered creature,” Vulcanus said with his tail slightly lifted up. Then, he asked, “Who are you? You don’t seem to be a normal human being to me.”

“It is, as you have said, Mighty and Majestic One. My name is Siegfried van Proa, and I am not from this world. This insignificant creature is from another world.”

“Oh? But I don’t think dimensional magic is something you creatures can easily use.”

“Yes, Mighty and Majestic One. We, Adventurers, did not cross from our dimension, but we are merely controlling these temporary bodies we call Avatars.”

“Hmm... I see...”

“I am a traveler from another dimension, but it is truly a great honor to meet the one and only, the mighty and majestic, Lord Vulcanus!”

“Keke! What mighty and majestic? I’m just a dragon! Kekeke!”

Vulcanus had denied being mighty and majestic, but he did not show signs of disliking Siegfried's praises.

“So, why did you awaken me from my slumber, Adventurer?”

“I am not sure of what happened, as we were merely fighting on this battlefield.”

“Is that so?” Vulcanus asked, raising a brow.

“We just arrived here in hopes of retaking these lands, so I am afraid I have no idea which of those insolent creatures dared to awaken my lord from his sleep, but...” Siegfried trailed off. Then, he banged his head on the ground and exclaimed, “It is undeniable that we are all sinners, guilty of disturbing my lord!

"Although we had no idea that such a mighty and majestic being was resting in this place, we dared to turn this place into a battlefield, disturbing my lord’s sleep as a result!”

“Oh!”

“O Mighty and Majestic One! Please grant me death to atone for my sins!” Siegfried exclaimed at the top of his lungs.

The rest of the Adventurers followed suit.

“O Mighty and Majestic One! Please grant us death to atone for our sins!”

“O Mighty and Majestic One! Please grant us death to atone for our sins!”

“O Mighty and Majestic One! Please grant us death to atone for our sins!”

“Oh!”

“If punishing us, insignificant creatures, will appease my lord’s anger, then we will gladly accept death a hundred times over! Please grant us death to atone for our sins!”

Siegfried and the Adventurers tried their best with their lives on the line to appease Vulcanus and get on his good side.

How effective was this going to be?

“Hmm... It is unforgivable that my slumber was disturbed, but how can I punish you lot when you’re repenting for your mistakes? I will forgive you of your sins so you need not be afraid of me, humans from another world,” Vulcanus said with a smile.

Siegfried’s plan turned out to be super effective on the Ancient Red Dragon.