Debuff Master

George the Third started to sweat profusely.

How come he hadn't thought of that?

He had purchased the Curse of Decay from Siegfried for a ridiculous sum during the Ruler’s Auction, only for the latter to screw him over by selling the vaccine and cure to everyone else at a reasonable price.

He was fine with losing a lot of gold as his kingdom was affluent enough to earn it back, but the problem was that he couldn't purchase the vaccine and cure at that time. Yes, it was indeed foolish of him not to purchase it, but he had his reasons.

First of all, he never imagined in his wildest dreams that Siegfried would unleash the Curse of Decay in his kingdom.

Secondly, he did not bother to spend money to develop the vaccine and cure due to the first reason. Thirdly, he could have bought the vaccine and cure for a reasonable price, but his pride did not allow him to do so. Fourthly, Siegfried would have probably laughed at him or extorted him if he tried to purchase the vaccine and cure.

Lastly, he did not have the opportunity to purchase the vaccine and cure, as he had been dragged out after causing a ruckus at the conference.

The reasons listed above and his attitude caused a butterfly effect that brought about today's disaster.

“Y-Your Majesty! The curse has spread! Ghouls are appearing all over the kingdom as we speak! We must contain the curse before it spreads any further!”

“DAMN IT!” George the Third screamed and despaired. Then, he went hysteric, “That fucking Adventurer! That scoundrel! From a pathetic! Backwater! Piece of shit! KINGDOM! Dares to do this to me and my glorious kingdom?! Fuck! Fuck! FUUUUCKK!”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“R-Retreat... We will go back... Retreat AT ONCE!” George the Third screamed and slammed his fist on his armrest.

Bam!

In the end, George the Third was forced to recall his armies even before getting the chance to fight a single battle in the Kyiv Kingdom.

“I will take the Warp Gate to return, so... You stay here and bring our armies back...” George the Third ordered the commander.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” the commander replied.

George the Third hurried back to his castle.

***

Meanwhile, in the Kyiv Kingdom... freew ebnov el

“Uncle! We have received word that the Salut Kingdom’s armies have retreated!” King Allen exclaimed.

Siegfried was still busy playing Hardstone with Hamchi when he received the news.

“Really? Hmm...” Siegfried replied without even sparing a glance at King Allen. His eyes were still focused on the pair of cards in his hand.

“Uncle! What kind of magic did you use?!”

Siegfried smirked and asked coyly, “Who knows?”

“Please teach me too!”

“But I really didn’t do anything special. Let’s just say I sprinkled something on them?”

“Huh? Sprinkled? What did you sprinkle?”

“There’s something like that. Hmm... I think I lost this round...”

“...”

“Anyway, those rebels are going to break soon, so make sure you clean them up and listen to whatever Duke Undertaker says. Ah, you’re the king, so you’ll probably be the one calling the shots, but you know what I mean.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

“Let’s talk again later.”

Siegfried did not bother explaining the details to King Allen.

Why? Because he was too young...

He was talking like an adult and all, but he was still barely old enough to enroll in primary school.

He had already gone through enough hardships at his age, so Siegfried thought it was for the best to spare him the details of how they had used a biological weapon of mass destruction to make the enemy retreat.

Right after King Allen left...

“Kyu! Owner punk! Are you upset about something?” Hamchi asked.

“Huh? Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“Because that wasn’t like you! Kyuu! I didn’t expect you to unleash such a scary curse on them! You’re not a fan of harming innocent people, right?!”

“Of course, I’m not,” Siegfried grimaced. Then, he grumbled, “Do you really think I enjoyed harming those innocent people? Do you think I’m some sort of a psychopath?”

“Then why did you go so far? Kyuu!”

“Why? Do you have a problem with what I did?”

“That’s not what I meant! Hamchi is a Great Spirit! I don’t care if humans kill each other or not! Kyu! I was just curious, that’s all!”

“Well, I did that because I’m fucking pissed,” Siegfried growled.

“Kyuuu?”

“Do you remember how he slapped Oscar? He slapped her in front of everybody and berated her.”

“Kyuuu! He did! He did!”

“Let’s say that’s fine. After all, I did make him pay an expensive price for that. However, I can’t overlook him sprinkling chili powder on my food. You know better than anyone how hard I worked for my food, right? Why the hell would I let some dirty beggar dip his dirty spoon in my rice bowl?” Siegfried said, pouting in disgust. Then, he continued, “Why would I sit around and do nothing when I’m about to lose? Also, it’s not like I can mobilize the Proatine Kingdom’s military in someone else’s war.

"Even if I could, it wouldn't be an easy fight since the Salut Kingdom is a powerful kingdom, regardless of its king's incompetence.”

“That’s right! Kyuu!”

“That’s the only solution I could think of. I mean, I can’t think about his kingdom’s people when I’m the one about to be screwed, right? Also, don’t forget our allies are the ones who will pay the price if I hesitate,” Siegfried said with a shrug.

“We need to take a hard stance at times. Besides, we were bound to clash with him sooner or later, as that bastard’s not going to forget about what happened at the conference. He was probably looking for an opportunity to attack me ever since he came back from the conference.”

“So, are you saying it somehow worked out in your favor? Kyu!”

“Well, something like that?” Siegfried replied and smiled bitterly. Then, he explained, “Don’t forget, I’m a king too. Mass murder? I won’t hesitate to do something like that if needed. Of course, killing innocent people doesn’t sit well with me, but I can’t act all upright and just when my people are the ones who would end up paying the price.”

“Kyu... I guess you’re right...”

“I’m planning to give them the cure once this is over, so it’s not really mass murder per se. I don’t really want to kill those innocent civilians, you know?”

“Kyu! That’s a good idea, owner punk!”

“Stop right there!” Siegfried suddenly shouted and grabbed Hamchi’s front paw. Then, he glared at him and asked, “We’re switching cards, aren’t we? Eh?”

“K-Kyuuu?!”

“I caught you red-handed!” Siegfried exclaimed. His eyes shot wide open as he flipped Hamchi’s paws.

“What do we have here? Why are these two cards hiding in this hand?” Siegfried asked. fr(e)ewebn(o)vel

“K-Kyu?! I-It’s a misunderstanding! An honest mistake!” Hamchi cried out.

“Ha! I thought something was fishy when you started asking me all those questions!” Siegfried scoffed and smirked. Then, he laughed and said, “Did you really think that you could fool me? Why would a rat like you be interested in what humans do? Hoho! Did you really think I’d fall for that?”

“O-Owner punk... This is a misunderstanding... Kyu...!”

“Don’t try to weasel your way out of this o—“ Siegfried said.

Suddenly, Hamchi screamed, flipped the table, and ran away.

“Kyuuuuuu!”

“Hey! Stop right there, you filthy rat! STOOOOP!”

“Kyuuuuuuu!”

“You’re dead if I catch you!” Siegfried screamed while running after Hamchi with his +13 Horse Fly in his hand.

***

George the Third convened an emergency meeting as soon as he returned to his palace and requested help from his allies, but...

— Hoho... We only have enough for our own people, so...

— That’s truly a shame... Don’t lose hope, King George. Our people will keep you in our prayers.

— I apologize, but I’m currently very busy, so I can’t respond to your call. Please try again later.

Every single one of them came up with an excuse to avoid helping the Salut Kingdom, even though the only thing George the Third had requested was for them to send him some of the cure and vaccine in their possession. In fact, some of the kings he deemed his close friends even outright ignored his calls.

George the Third had been ruling for quite a while now, and he was a pretty shrewd individual, so he knew what was going on.

“Those damned bastards... Are they telling me to fuck off? They must be having so much fun watching me suffer! Those fucking assholes!”

George the Third raged after realizing that none of his allies wanted to help him.

“Hey! Tell our doctors to come up with a cure and vaccine for that damned curse! I’ll give them two weeks to develop it, and they better do it before my patience runs out!”

“B-But Your Majesty! Making both the cure and the vaccine in two weeks is impossible!”

“Damn it! Then do you want everyone in our kingdom to turn into ghouls?! Is that what you’re saying?!”

“P-Please kill me, Your Majesty!”

“Two weeks! Tell them to have it ready in two weeks! I don’t care if they die from overworking or not! They MUST do it for the kingdom and its people!” George the Third screamed at his innocent subordinates.

It was then.

“Your Majesty! The King of Proatine, King Siegfried van Proa, has requested to speak with you!”

“What? That bloody bastard dares to call me?”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“That son of a whore! That son of a bitch! That fucking son of a whoring bitch!” George the Third screamed every single curse word in his dictionary before answering the call from Siegfried.

***

“Hello~ How are you~?” Siegfried greeted in the most annoying voice he could come up with after seeing that George the Third’s anger gauge had hit MAX. He tried to sound as annoying as possible so that George the Third would die from high blood pressure.

It was super effective.

George the Third was trembling, and his bloodshot eyes showed just how enraged he was at the moment.

“So, have you reflected on your—“

— You son of a bitch!

“Hmm?”

— Hey, you fucking son of a whore!

“Whaaat~?”

— I’m going to fucking kill you no matter what, so sit right there and wait for two weeks! Got that, you fucking bastard? I’m going to stabilize my kingdom in two weeks and invade your pathetic kingdom!

“Wow...” Siegfried muttered in amazement and shook his head after seeing how George the Third refused to repent at all. Then, he clicked his tongue and grumbled, “Tsk... I’m amazed how this bastard is so delusional...”

— Delu.. sional...? Ha! You dare insult me? My soldiers are going to trample everything you own! You, your family, and even your kingdom! Not a single soul will survive!

“I’m sure you can do that—in your dreams,” Siegfried retorted without blinking an eye. He shook his head once again and said, “Yeah, it seems like you still haven’t come to your senses, and I don’t think you will anytime soon. Sigh... I guess I have no choice...”

— Hahaha! Let’s see about that, you fucking bastard! I will...

Beep!

Siegfried one-sidedly hung up the call and did not bother listening to whatever tirade George the Third was about to make. Siegfried then muttered, “I guess I’ll have to start the next phase of my plan. I can’t disappoint him by not giving it to him when he’s begging for it, right?”

Siegfried activated the communication device once again and called someone.

***

Two days later...

“When will you finish developing the vaccine and cure?! WHEN?!” George the Third screamed at his officials.

His outburst was understandable, as ten percent of the Salut Kingdom was already overrun by ghouls. They had to develop the vaccine and cure as soon as possible, or the entire kingdom would soon be overrun by ghouls.

One of the officials stepped forward and said, “Please give us more time, Your Majesty. Our researchers are doing their best to develop the vaccine and cure for the—“

"You...!" George the Third’s face turned red. He was about to berate the official, but...

A messenger rushed in and shouted, “Your Majesty! An emergency!”

“What emergency is it this time?! What else can be more urgent than this?!” George the Third screamed.

“Y-Your Majesty! It is indeed an emergency!” the messenger replied.

“Our allies... They have crossed our borders! They have invaded us! We are under attack!”

“...!”

“Eight kingdoms have invaded our lands, Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty! Sir!”

The other officials called out to George the Third as soon as the messenger finished reporting because...

Thud!

George the Third had grabbed the back of his neck and had collapsed to the ground.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freewebnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺