Debuff Master

Chapter 692

“Tsk... I guess these guys don’t get it. There’s really no time to waste...” Siegfried grumbled to himself. Then, he narrowed his eyes at the approaching demon guards as if he couldn't be bothered to make a move against them.

Eventually, he waved his hands dismissively like they were mere pests.

Swiiiik!

Blue shurikens burst forth from Siegfried’s hand, streaking through the air before embedding themselves in the skulls of the demon guards with deadly precision.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The demon guards collapsed one by one, totally lifeless.

Shwiiik!

Then, the shurikens flew back to Siegfried’s hand just as fast as they shot out, vanishing without a trace as if they had never existed to begin with.

“Hmm... Not bad,” Siegfried said with a shrug, barely glancing at the carnage he caused. He was more interested in the performance of his new weapon, the Blood Frost Orb. The ice shurikens moved as if they were sentient, twisting and turning in the air to hit their targets.

Handling them felt different from all the other projectile weapons he had handled up until now. It felt as if they were living creatures rather than just mere objects. Siegfried did use Flying Sword to control the shurikens, but he only used it a little bit, as the shurikens themselves were capable of moving with lethal precision.

The test just now had confirmed Siegfried's suspicion. The Blood Frost Orb was not just a mere tool; was a living, breathing, and sentient weapon of destruction.

“Hey,” Siegfried called out to the inmates watching him with a mix of awe and confusion. Then, he explained, “The prison’s done for. It will be officially shut down by the Immortal Armada of the Marchioni Empire in a few minutes.

"So if you value your life and want to live then get on this elevator right now. Otherwise, you're going to get obliterated with this hellhole.”

His words sent a shockwave through the crowd of inmates.

“The Marchioni Empire is bombing us...?”

“What did he say? The prison is closing down?”

“Wait, does that mean... we’re finally free?”

Siegfried shook his head in disbelief, appalled by how slow-witted these people were.

“Yes, you’re free! That’s only if you start rushing and get off this island before it gets blown to bits!”

Fortunately, it seemed to do the trick.

“Let’s go, quickly!”

“Freedom!”

“Screw it! I’m going!”

The inmates rushed toward the massive elevator after seeing that they had no other choice, but not everyone did so. Some of the inmates hesitated while some of them looked strangely calm despite receiving news of their impending doom.

“What’s the point of leaving?”

“Dying here doesn’t sound too bad.”

“This place is... my home...”

“You all go ahead. It’s been... fun...”

To Siegfried’s surprise, some of the inmates actually turned away and headed back to their cells, willingly choosing to stay behind.

“What the hell...? What are they doing?” Siegfried muttered, completely baffled by their actions.

“They’ve... gotten used to the life here.” A voice echoed from behind, and Siegfried recognized it as Quandt’s voice.

“Gotten used to it? To prison?”

Quandt nodded and explained, “For them, this is home. This is where they worked, lived, and slept... it’s the only place they've ever known.”

Siegfried stayed silent, pondering over Quandt's words.

“These people have nowhere else to go. Think about it. Why were they imprisoned in the first place? Some were framed, while others had lost everything in power struggles. Leaving? If they do that, they’ll be returning to a world where they have nothing and nobody waiting for them,” Quandt added.

“Ah...”

“And if they do escape, they’ll be hunted down by those who had put them here. I can guarantee you that the next prison they will be incarcerated in won’t be as nearly comfortable as this one.”

“I see... so they’d rather die here since it’s the first place in a long time where they found peace...”

Siegfried finally understood the meaning behind Quandt's words. It made sense, as these prisoners had no dreams of freedom. The only thing awaiting them beyond these prison walls was their adversaries.

“Alright,” Siegfried said after a pause. Then, he activated the elevator, sending Quandt and the rest of the inmates up to safety.”

“S-Siegfried! What about you?!” Quandt exclaimed after seeing that the elevator was activated but Siegfried had hopped off of it.

“I’ll be right behind you! The knights are waiting for you at the top to escort you to safety!” Siegfried replied, waving his hand.

He watched the elevator ascend before turning his attention back to the inmates who willingly chose to stay behind. There was only one thing on his mind right now, and that was the flickering prompt from the quest, Great Escape, right in front of his eyes.

The quest had one particular reward that caught his eyes, and this was the chance to recruit talented individuals.

In other words, some of the inmates in this floor were highly skilled talented individuals that he could recruit for the Proatine Kingdom.

‘If they were brought here to work on opening the Gate of Hell, then they must be top-tier talents,’ Siegfried recognized their potential even though they were prisoners.

They might be inmates right now, but they were definitely talented enough that they would be brought here by the demons.

Thus, letting them die a futile death here was a huge waste.

‘Yeah, no way I’m letting them go to waste. I’ll bring them back to Proatine and put them to work,’ Siegfried made up his mind.

He was prepared to bear the annoying inconvenience of convincing them if it meant for the sake of his kingdom’s future. He was going to leave this place together with these talented individuals–whether they wanted to or not.

***

“Hold on a second!” Siegfried called out to the inmates who had given up on escaping right after sending Quandt and the others up.

“Come on, let’s all escape together!” Siegfried exclaimed.

The first to respond to him was Professor Logic—a renowned expert in explosives and demolition.

“I thought we've made it clear that we’re not leaving,” Professor Logic said in a cold, lifeless voice.

The other inmates seemed to agree with him as they muttered to themselves.

“Yeah, I’m comfortable here...”

“I’ve been stuck in this place for over thirty years now...”

Siegfried understood why they were reluctant to leave, but he wasn’t going to give up that easily.

“I understand why you don’t want to leave,” Siegfried said.

“Do you? You don’t even know who we are, yet you claim to understand us?” Professor Logic sneered, sounding unimpressed by his poor attempt at empathizing.

“You are thinking, what's the point of escaping just to get caught again, right? And that you have nowhere to go even if you managed to get out of here.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“Then what if I promised you that you wouldn’t get caught again?”

“Hmm?”

“And what if, even though you can’t return to your old lives, I can give you a new place to start anew? What would you say to that?”

“Well...” Professor Logic hesitated for a moment as if considering Siegfried’s proposal. Then, he replied, “I suppose... that might be worth a shot.”

“Then let’s go,” Siegfried said. Then, he reassured them once again just in case they hesitated, “I will make sure you are not thrown into another prison. You have my word that I will help you start over in a new place.”

“That’s impossible,” Professor Logic scoffed. Then, he frowned and said, “Are you claiming to be the Marchioni Empire’s Emperor? All of us have been branded as dangerous criminals, so there’s no safe place for us on the continent—”

“Well, His Imperial Majesty does seem to have a bit of a soft spot for me,” Siegfried interrupted with a smug smirk.

“What?”

“I have racked up quite a few achievements recently. Trust me, he will overlook this if I ask him.”

“Hmm...”

“Plus, I rule a small kingdom myself. I will provide you with both a home and a job. You can start anew there.”

“T-That’s...!”

The idea of being sheltered and given another chance at life was so tempting that the professor’s interest was piqued.

Siegfried jumped onto the descending elevator and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Listen up! I will speak to His Imperial Majesty and help you to the best of my abilities! This is your last chance to escape! You must hurry! We are running out of time!”

Siegfried's voice reverberated throughout the floor.

The inmates still looked hesitant, but they soon started to board the elevator one after the other.

“Alright, let’s go...”

“I guess it’s better than getting buried alive here.”

“Screw it! I’m in!”

Unfortunately, not everyone hopped aboard the elevator. Some of the inmates remained behind, still indifferent to the prospect of hope and freedom. They were the ones who had long lost hope and had grown accustomed to their life in imprisonment that they could not even imagine stepping foot outside these prison walls.

‘Well, there’s nothing I can do about that,’ Siegfried thought.

He was not going to waste time dragging along people who didn't want to be saved. What was the point of dragging them out when they didn't have the will to start anew?

They would need to at least show some drive to rebuild their lives if they were worth saving at all. Siegfried was not going to squander his precious time and risk himself just for those who had already given up on life.

“Here we go,” Siegfried said as he pulled the lever.

Rumble!

The elevator hummed to life and shot up, carrying Siegfried and the inmates toward their new chance at freedom.

***

The siege had plunged the fortress into absolute chaos.

The unshackled inmates mercilessly butchered the demon guards. On the other hand, Adventurers were running rampant, driven by the promise of carnage and rewards, killing anything that granted them experience points.

However, the massacre did not stop there.

The lines between enemy and ally blurred during the chaos, and soon enough, brawls erupted between inmates and Adventurers, causing another layer of madness to this already chaotic battleground.

To make matters worse, the pounding bass from the upbeat music Ninetail left playing echoed throughout the prison from the magical speakers, transforming into a piece of background music that made the carnage look even more chaotic.

“Ha... What a mess,” Siegfried muttered after stepping off the elevator.

Then, several soldiers from the Proatine Forces appeared. They saluted their king and quickly formed a path to usher him.

“Your Majesty! We have come to escort you to safety!”

“Kyuuu! Hey, owner punk! Why did you leave Hamchi behind?!” Hamchi exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere and visibly fuming.

“I can’t bring pets into prison, you know?” Siegfried replied with a shrug, looking unbothered.

“Kyuuu! What the heck do you mean by that?! Hamchi could’ve disguised as a criminal too!” Hamchi screeched.

“Alright, alright. Sorry about that.”

“Kyuuu! Don’t even think about leaving Hamchi behind next time!”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Siegfried replied nonchalantly, trying to calm the giant hamster down.

However, he had a different reason for not bringing Hamchi with him.

‘I couldn’t use mana here, so I wouldn’t have been able to protect you...’

Actually, he had chosen not to bring Hamchi to the Fortress of Hell due to the risks, and there was also no need to bring Hamchi to such a dangerous place.

“Let’s go,” Siegfried said.

“Kyuuu!”

They made their way toward the Proatine Kingdom’s airship with the rescued inmates following behind them. There were a few demon guards who had attempted to block their path, but the Proatine Forces made short work of them.

[Alert: Bombardment will commence in 9 minutes and 56 seconds!]

[Alert: 9 minutes and 55 seconds!]

[Alert: 9 minutes and 54 seconds!]

The clock ticked down but the evacuation proceeded smoothly without any problems.

“Half of you board the airships! The other half will head to the Aqua Runners! Move at a steady pace and remain calm, nice and easy!”

The Proatine Soldiers guided the inmates quite calmly, leading them toward their designated escape routes.

“Slow and steady!”

“Nice and easy!”

“Keep moving, keep moving!”

Siegfried’s men managed to maintain order despite the chaos.

“Hmm?”

A familiar corpse caught Siegfried’s eyes, causing him to scratch the back of his head.

There, sprawled out dead on the ground, was the senior guard of Block F, Orleius. He had staked his entire fortune on Siegfried in hopes of rising through the ranks, but he now lay cold, clutching his betting slip.

Someone—probably an Adventurer—had taken him down.

Why?

It was all because a demon provided sweet Experience Points.

“Poor guy. You’d have turned your whole life around if you had made it out,” Siegfried muttered without a hint of sympathy in his voice. He knew that Orleius' fate was sealed the moment he had put his plan in motion.

However, Siegfried didn't feel any remorse for sentencing the demon who had worked with him. Orleius was still a demon, after all, a creature who had spent centuries tormenting and indirectly killing humans just to harvest their souls.

Why would he feel any pity toward such a demon?

“I guess it doesn’t matter how you start. How you finish is what’s really important—”

It was then.

“Halt!” a voice interrupted him.

A group of armored heavy knights appeared and blocked Siegfried’s paths. These were not just any ordinary knights, as they were members of the Peacekeeping Forces deployed by the World Peace Conference.

“Is there a problem?” Siegfried asked, gazing straight into the eyes of the knight captain.

“Leave the prisoners and go. We have decided that no prisoner from this facility will be allowed to escape,” the knight captain commanded icily.

“Hmm?”

“Leave them behind and go in peace.”

“And what if I refuse?” Siegfried asked. His voice sounded calm, but there was obvious tension in the air as soon as his words fell.

The inmates he had rescued weren't just nobodies. They were talented individuals who would serve as invaluable assets who would one day make great contributions to the Proatine Kingdom.

Siegfried had promised them a new life and home, and he had no plans of going back on his words.

“It has been decided that no prisoner may leave this island. They’re to be left to their fate,” the knight captain continued.

“So you’re telling me... you want them all dead?” Siegfried asked, his voice tinged with hostility.

“Think what you will. I’m just following orders,” the knight captain replied bluntly.

Siegfried narrowed his eyes and asked, “And what if we force our way through?”

“Immediate execution,” the knight captain replied firmly. Then, he added without missing a beat, “Even if you succeed, you will be branded a criminal, an enemy of all nations.”

“Tsk...” Siegfried clicked his tongue in response.

‘Damn bureaucrats. I know these knights are just doing their job, but this is a problem...’ he thought.

The knight captain raised a hand and said, “Look, I don’t want to cause unnecessary—”

“Ah, screw it,” Siegfried grumbled. In a split second, Siegfried suddenly swung his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp without any warning; the blunt weapon struck the knights with vicious precision.

Smack, smack, smaaack!

Siegfried took them down without breaking a sweat.