Debuff Master

Chapter 690

“This is how you use it. Not like you, just randomly puking it all over the place,” Siegfried said. Before the words could even fully leave his mouth, a green mist rapidly enveloped the area around Pyryno.

“See that?” Siegfried asked, sounding condescending as if he was taunting his opponent.

The sight was nothing short of comical in a way. A mere human was lecturing a dragonkin of a green dragon lineage on how to use radioactive energy.

The sight was hilarious, but the dragonkin was not laughing at all.

“W-What is this?!” Pyryno gasped, recognizing the green mist around him.

This was not just any normal mist; it was radioactive energy. This was the very same power that only dragons like him could wield, but this lucky human was using it against him.

Pyryno was so shocked that he had completely forgotten about the fact that one couldn't use mana in the Fortress of Hell.

“A human... is using radioactive energy...?” Pyryno muttered in sheer disbelief.

“Yeah, so what?” Siegfried asked with a shrug.

“Impossible...!”

Radioactive energy was exclusive to the green dragons and black dragons. Nobody else, especially a human, could access that power.

“Y-Y-y-ou must be... a dragon!” Pyryno stammered.

“What?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion.

“You’re playing a game, aren’t you?” Pyryno asked in a shaky voice.

“A game? What game?”

“You’re pretending right now, aren’t you?” Pyryno insisted, accusing his opponent of being a dragon in disguise.

Dragons were known to assume the form of other creatures from time to time. This was some sort of a game they played to experience different lives, and it was a widely known fact.

There were even historical records about how a blue dragon had once disguised itself as a deer just to graze among a herd on an emperor’s hunting grounds.

‘I can’t believe I ran into a dragon playing one of their games...!’ Pyryno thought, accepting what he now firmly believed to be the truth.

His assumption was not baseless at all. It was a deep-rooted belief that only green dragons and black dragons could use radioactive energy yet Siegfried, a mere "human," was using that very same power.

“Are you... a black dragon?” Pyryno asked, his voice faltering with dread as he resigned himself to what he thought was an inevitable fate.

“Huh?” Siegfried muttered, looking at the dragonkin with utter confusion.

“I apologize for not realizing it sooner. I did not mean to offend you... during your game,” Pyryno said, lowering his head to the ground as if showing that he was submitting to the "dragon."

“Hey, for the last time! I’m not a dragon!” Siegfried protested.

However, Pyryno was already utterly convinced, so there was no point in trying to convince him otherwise.

“You're denying it, but I understand how the roleplay works,” Pyryno said with confidence. He had misinterpreted Siegfried’s denial as a part of a dragon’s game.

Siegfried shook his head in disbelief, bewildered. “What the hell is this lizard talking about...?”

Alas, Pyryno had already given up. There was no point in fighting back if Siegfried was really a black dragon, as there was no way a mere dragonkin like him could ever hope to defeat a true dragon, especially not one who was playing some kind of twisted sadistic game by locking himself up in this prison as a mere human.

“To be killed by a dragon... by the most superior of our kind... This is a great honor to me and my family...!” Pyryno exclaimed, bowing his head and accepting his fate.

Siegfried scratched his head in confusion, still baffled by the sudden turn of events.

“I mean... If you want to die so badly, then I guess...?”

In the end, he shrugged and cast Eraser Swarm, surrounding Pyryno with his deadly radioactive mist.

“Argh!”

Pyryno collapsed, clutching his throat and convulsing in agony the moment the mist touched his body. He could not withstand the immense power of Siegfried’s radioactive energy.

The power gap between them was simply too big. The reason was that Siegfried’s radioactive energy didn't come from a random dragon—it was the fusion of the green dragon’s power and the primordial energy of First Black Dragon Inkarthus.

Pyryno lay dying, yet he looked up at Siegfried in awe and reverence as he uttered his final words, “Such powerful... radioactive energy... I knew it... you are without a doubt... a black dragon...”

Thud...!

And with that, he was dead. His lifeless body slumped to the ground, dying after being convinced that Siegfried was a black dragon in disguise.

“I’m really not a dragon, though...” Siegfried muttered, sounding tired after trying to convince the dragonkin otherwise.

However, what could he have done? The dragonkin was too convinced that he was a dragon, and the guy died believing what he wanted to believe.

“The winner is! The lucky guy! The man of fortune! Seung-Guuu!” the commentator’s voice boomed throughout the arena.

However, no one in the audience cheered.

Siegfried’s victory?

Yes, it was surprising.

However, what was even more surprising was what had just happened in front of their very eyes.

“What the hell was that green mist...?”

“Did he just use... a spell?”

“Impossible! You can’t use mana here!”

“Then what did he do just now?”

“More importantly, how did he do it?”

Every inmate watching the match had the same thoughts in their mind.

How did the cunning lucky human use a power that no one but a dragon was supposed to possess?

It was a sight that the Fortress of Hell had never seen before in its entire history.

***

The chaos in the crowd didn't settle down at all.

“Is it some kind of ability unrelated to mana?”

“Maybe it’s not a spell? What if it’s just some green poison he kept hidden and sprayed onto his enemy?”

The entire crowd went rowdy out of sheer confusion, unsure of what to believe anymore.

Just then...

“Hey!” Siegfried shouted. Then, he raised his hands and said, “Try using mana! I’m telling you, it works! Look at this! Mana flows! You can use it, too!”

He demonstrated by unleashing several skills, and showing them off to the prisoners.

“Mana... can be used?”

“In here?”

“No way...”

“That’s impossible.”

Despite their skepticism, some of the prisoners tried tapping into their mana reserves out of pure curiosity.

“Huh? I can feel my mana!”

“Whoa?!”

“It’s real! It’s mana!”

“We can use mana again!”

They quickly realized that they could indeed use their mana again, just as the cunning lucky human said.

And this could only mean one thing...

Beeeeeeep!

Ninetail took to the stage for what was supposed to be the award ceremony. She was still in her Succubus disguise as she grabbed the mic and shouted, “Listen, you tough guys! It’s party time! A wild, chaotic party! Go wild now that you can use mana! This is your chance to break free! But remember~ Tonight will be your only shot to escape!”

Ninetail's words echoed throughout the arena, and the ground vibrated with the sudden pulse of deafening beats.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Ziiiiing!

Boom!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The magic speakers blared fast-paced music that made the hearts of each inmate thump wildly against their chest.

“W-What’s going on?”

“What is this feeling...?”

The inmates stood frozen initially, unsure of how to respond, but their hesitation lasted only for a minute.

The realization that they could use mana once again and the heart-pounding melody reverberating throughout the arena created the perfect storm that stirred the primal instincts in their hearts.

Thus, the frenzy began...

“ESCAPE!”

“Die, you bastard!”

“Come here, you filthy demon scum!”

“Not so tough now, eh?”

“Kill them! Destroy everything!”

The inmates erupted into pure chaos, brutally attacking the prison guards like a pack of rabid dogs. Thus, the first-ever riot in the entire history of the Fortress of Hell occurred.

The inmates, armed with mana, rampaged throughout the prison, utterly overwhelming the demon guards assigned to watch over them. The reason the demon guards were so easily overpowered was quite simple—they were mostly low-ranking demons.

In addition to being outnumbered, each and every one of the inmates was a criminal who got locked up in here for committing heinous crimes that society deemed to be too vicious.

Armed with mana, these vile criminals ruthlessly massacred the demons.

On the other hand...

“Your Majesty! Now is our chance!” Ninetail sprinted toward Siegfried, her voice filled with urgency.

“Yeah! Let’s go!” Siegfried replied and immediately took off.

Their destination?

The elevator that would lead them to the twentieth basement floor.

***

The atmosphere had never been this tense.

“You did awesome!” Siegfried shouted, glancing at Ninetail running beside him.

This situation was all thanks to Ninetail. While Siegfried was busy participating in the Warden Martial Competition disguised as an inmate, she had been busy sabotaging the Mana Suppressor Devices scattered throughout the Fortress of Hell.

“No need to thank me, Your Majesty!” Ninetail replied, panting slightly.

“Did you deliver my message?!” Siegfried shouted.

“Yes! The Adventurers should be storming in any minute now—” Ninetail replied.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

However, Ninetail couldn't finish her sentence as explosions echoed throughout the Fortress of Hell. The Adventurers poured into the prison, mercilessly slaughtering the demons in their path.

‘Perfect. The Fortress of Hell raid is a success!’ Siegfried thought, satisfied with how his plan was falling into place.

Two days ago, he commanded Ninetail.

“Go to the World Peace Conference and inform Emperor Stuttgart that the Fortress of Hell is a trap set by Demon Lord of Deception, Dantalion. Tell him that it’s all just a ruse, a tunnel that will be used for the invasion of the Nurburg Continent. If you do that, he will most likely issue an attack on the Fortress of Hell—no, he might even lead the army himself.”

“As you command, Your Majesty.”

“And don’t forget to place a commission with the Mercenary Guild. Rally as many Adventurers as possible. Tell them that it’s a dungeon swarming with demons. That should do the trick.”

“Understood.”

Siegfried realized early on that the situation in the Fortress of Hell was far too big for him to handle alone. He needed to inform the other rulers on the continent that if the Gate of Hell were to open, it would be the start of a catastrophic war between the demon world and the human world.

His decision to rally the entire continent was a prudent one, as the world would have been engulfed in chaos and turmoil if he had attempted to resolve this alone and failed.

However, that was not the only thing that he had done...

“Hey, everyone! I found a new juicy dungeon!”

He had been going online on his channel to promote the new dungeon, A.K.A the Fortress of Hell, for the past two days. He had been busy creating and marketing the video to make it go as viral as possible.

Luckily, his video was featured as a trending video on streaming platforms, and the news of a brand-new dungeon spread across the globe. Thus, the Adventurers swarmed into the prison in droves, each of them trying to get a piece of the demons.

‘Prisoners starting a riot and the Adventurers raiding the prison... Hmm... Everything is happening just as I planned. The Fortress of Hell is as good as fallen, so all that’s left is going down and destroying the Gate of Hell. Oh, I have to rescue Quandt-nim too,’ Siegfried thought as he sprinted faster.

Ding!

Then, a message popped up in front of his eyes.

[Alert: You have received the Quest – The Great Escape!]

[The Great Escape]

[Description: Escape from the Fortress of Hell with Quandt before the Immortal Armada of the Marchioni Empire bombards it.]

[Type: Time Attack Quest]

[Rewards: 33.3% share in the Bavarian Workshop, Chance to hire Quandt and many other other talents, +15,000 Reputation, -10,000 Infamy.]

[Time Remaining: 60 minutes!]

[Warning: You will not be able to hire Quandt and the other talents if you fail this quest! Hurry!]

The quest was quite straightforward, but the rewards could only be described as massive.

However, Siegfried was more focused on the mention of the Immortal Armada.

“The Marchioni Empire’s fleet is coming...? If that’s the case...”

Then, his eyes instinctively shot up toward the sky.

“Holy shit... What the hell...?”

What he had witnessed took his breath away. Hundreds of colossal warships, at least three to four times the size of most battleships, were in the airspace above him, but what was truly shocking and awe-striking was their numbers—there were so many of them that they blotted out the sky.

There seemed to be at least five hundred of them circling above the Fortress of Hell.