Debuff Master

Chapter 543

Siegfried pointed at the map and said, “The enemy doesn’t need supplies since they are undead monsters. Therefore, placing soldiers here and here thinking they will come to pillage our supplies is useless.”

“Y-Yes... I agree with Your Majesty’s opinion.”

“Also, they will field ten times our army’s size. Think of it this way so you can picture it properly. We are up against the entire populace of a kingdom, not just their soldiers.”

“Y-Yes... That, too, I concur...”

“And they won’t tire, right? I mean, they are undead after all.”

“Yes...”

“Fighting these kinds of enemies in wide open terrain is just... asking all of us to go die together.”

General Schwerin felt like hiding in a hole somewhere. There was a saying that if one knew one's enemy and knew oneself, then one need not fear the results of a hundred battles, but the general had completely forgotten about that saying, even though it was the most basic of all principles in the art of war.

“Also, we need to have an eight to two ratio of offense and defense to win this war,” Siegfried added.

“By eight to two ratio of offense and defense, you mean...?”

“It will obviously be eight defense and two offense, right?”

“But why?”

“The enemy is ten times our size, yet you want to fight them head-on? Do you really think that will work?”

“...!”

“If I were them... I’d split my forces and attack your kingdoms while you’re busy fighting against the main army.”

Everyone in the meeting room stiffened at Siegfried's words.

“Oh my god...”

“What are we supposed to do now...?”

“If they attack our kingdom, then... Haha...”

The officers were at a loss for words after realizing what the overwhelming numerical disadvantage meant. What could be scarier than having their kingdoms ransacked while their armies were away?

“What can we do to stop that?” Prince Kyrix asked.

“We need to focus on defense and keep farming,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“F-Farming...?”

“We need to kill them to arm our men. We can’t do anything on the battlefield without otherworldly energy.”

“Oh!”

“We will face them on the battlefield, but our main priority is to acquire otherworldly essences. Meanwhile, the rest of the troop will focus on defending this fortress.”

“But what if they decide to bypass this fortress and go directly to our kingdoms?”

“I have a solution for that, too.”

“What is it?”

“We will send several elite detachments of Adventurers.”

“...!”

“They will be stationed on narrow chokepoints to plug it up while we arm our men with otherworldly energy.”

“That means...”

“Yes,” Siegfried nodded and said, “It is not an exaggeration to say that our chances of victory or defeat in this war will depend entirely on how long we can stall for time.”

“Stall for time...”

“I will explain my plan in detail, and please let me know what you think afterward.”

“All right.”

“First of all...” Siegfried proceeded to explain his plan to the coalition forces.

***

Nobody opposed the Anti-Immortal Kingdom plan that Siegfried had proposed. This was understandably so, as none of the officers could come up with a better plan than the one he had proposed.

Some would think that Siegfried was extremely smart and the coalition forces officers were all incompetent, but that was far from the truth. The sole reason he could come up with an impeccable plan was that he was familiar with the Fragment of Apocalius. On the other hand, the coalition forces officers were facing it for the first time, so they had no information whatsoever as to what they were up against.

Of course, there were also those who thought that Siegfried was very cunning and shrewd compared to normal people. Thus, the Anti-Immortal Kingdom plan was set in motion with the Axion Fortress as the base of operation, and the elite detachments of Adventurers set out to their respective positions.

Meanwhile, the Immortal Kingdom was having its own strategy meeting.

“Hmm... We will surround their main forces and annihilate them. Then, our remaining troops will simultaneously invade their kingdoms,” Death Fog said while looking at the map.

“A wise choice, my lord.”

“This world has a saying that one hand can’t win against ten hands. I plan to use their own knowledge against them.”

“Outstanding plan, my lord!”

“Conscript all of our soldiers throughout the kingdom and attack the enemy’s rear the moment we—”

It was then.

“My lord! We have urgent news!”

An undead herald rushed into the throne room and knelt in front of the bone throne.

“What is it?” Death Fog asked.

“We are under attack! Several groups of Adventurers are wreaking havoc across our kingdom as we speak!”

“What?!” Death Fog doubted his ears. Then, he asked, “The Adventurers are wreaking havoc in our kingdom?”

“Yes, my lord!”

“How are they wreaking havoc that you are causing such a ruckus?”

“They are massacring our people without regard to whether they are young, old, or women!”

“What?!”

“Some of our barracks have been breached, and our soldiers were murdered, too!”

But that was not the end of their problems...

“My lord!”

“Urgent news!”

“The Adventurers are!”

“I come bearing grave news!”

The same reports of the Adventurers massacring the citizens poured in from all over the kingdom, and the total number of reports exceeded more than a hundred in an instant.

The reason for this was very simple. In the eyes of the Adventurers, the Immortal Kingdom was the largest and currently the hottest hunting ground on the continent. The Immortal Kingdom had appeased the NPCs on the continent by offering gifts, which was an extremely effective strategy devised by Death Fog, but there was one major flaw in it.

And that flaw was that it did not have the same effect on the Adventurers...

The Immortal Kingdom was one massive hunting ground that provided an immense amount of experience points for the Adventurers.

The Adventurers were beings who only cared about becoming stronger, and they would come in droves whenever news broke out of a new hunting ground. Thus, the Immortal Kingdom’s offer to give gold in return for being left alone was not that attractive to them—no, they would even be willing to pay to get the chance to hunt in this hunting ground.

Moreover, Siegfried had poured gasoline on the Adventurers’ burning desire by asking the coalition forces to issue repeatable quests in collecting the Black Otherworldly Essences, which rewarded the Adventurers with a small amount of gold in exchange for the essences dropped by the undead monsters.

The result of this was the current massacre ongoing throughout the entire kingdom.

“Damn it! Bribe those Adventurers at once! I don’t care how much it costs!” Death Fog lashed out.

“B-But my lord...! The Adventurers won’t be easily convinced even if we promise them more gold,” the lich replied, looking troubled.

“What?!”

“The Adventurers care more about their growth by obtaining this mysterious energy they call Experience Points than gold, my lord.”

“Experience points? What’s that?”

The NPCs in the game had no idea what experience points were.

“That is... It is an energy awarded to the Adventurers whenever they kill something, and that energy makes them more powerful once it accumulates.”

“So?”

“Our kingdom’s people have all been turned to undead. Therefore, the Adventurers have decided our people to be an excellent source of this experience point.”

“Argh! What nonsense is that?!”

“I believe it will be difficult to attack the enemy’s rear in our current situation. We should instead focus on stopping the Adventurers from massacring our people, my lord.”

“Those damned Adventurers...!”

“Our main force will have to crush their army for us to make further advances.”

“Argh!”

“Aside from that, we have no other choices unless we manage to stop the Adventurers running rampant within our borders...”

“At once...” Death Fog growled. Then, his eyes flashed coldly as he said, “Mobilize all of our forces and crush those Adventurers! Kill every single one of them!”

“Yes! My lord!”

“Those pesky bastards...! I’m going to expel every single one of you from this world once I regain my powers!” Death Fog growled under his breath.

The meeting concluded with Death Fog swearing to kick out every single Adventurer from the continent once he had collected all of the fragments and had become Apocalius.

***

The mobile smithy of the Bavarian Workshop sent to the Axion Fortress was extremely busy. They did not even have the time to blink, as they had to refine the Black Otherworldly Essences the Adventurers had brought back and drill holes into the soldiers’ weapons. On top of that, they had to craft the essences into Requiem Crystals, which made their workload even heavier.

The Bavarian Workshop had to send a total of twenty mobile smithies to the Axion Fortress just to keep up with the demand.

“Things are progressing faster than expected,” Siegfried said, looking satisfied by the progress the mobile smithies were making. Then, he added, “We won’t have to worry about them at this rate.”

“Oh my god...” Prince Kyrix muttered in awe.

Even the other officers were completely shocked by what was happening.

The Adventurers they recruited had gone behind enemy lines and had wreaked havoc while the Black Otherworldly Essences that they had brought back were refined into Requiem Crystals.

The combat power of the coalition forces had increased dramatically. More importantly, the Immortal Kingdom could not even dream of launching any attacks or even raids on the coalition forces, as they were busy trying to stop the Adventurers from massacring their citizens throughout the kingdom.

“We will set out tomorrow.”

Siegfried finally gave the order to attack.

“Please make sure to do your best in your respective roles,” Siegfried said before going around to check things one last time before setting out.

***

The next morning, Siegfried fielded a massive army and set out from the Axion Fortress toward the capital of the Immortal Kingdom. Their march was extremely grueling from the start. Siegfried refused to pass through any of the open plains and stubbornly stuck to only mountains or forests.

Why?

Because they would be instantly surrounded the moment they got caught out in the open...

‘One single loss is enough to end this campaign.’ Siegfried thought. He was constantly reminding himself to be very careful.

He had no other choice. The Immortal Kingdom was practically limitless. The undead monsters did not have to rest, eat, drink, or sleep. And they could replenish their numbers with the enemies they killed in battle.

Meanwhile, it would be over for the coalition forces the moment they were wiped out—no, even a single loss could be catastrophic, as they were already at a severe numerical disadvantage.

Having their fallen comrades join the Immortal Kingdom as undead monsters would further put them at a disadvantage. What if the coalition forces ended up getting wiped out? Siegfried would have an even harder time obtaining the Fragment of Apocalius.

Thus, he did not dare do anything reckless with the army he was leading.

‘We will have to reach the enemy territories and lay siege to them. That’s the only way we can maximize our advantages...’

Unfortunately, that was only his wishful thinking...

There was no way things were going to be that easy.

‘No, sieging the cities will be impossible. They won’t stay cooped up in their castles and fight a battle of attrition when they could just sally out and fight. Damn it... I can’t even siege the enemy with these numbers...’

“Sigh...” Siegfried let out a sigh.

‘I have to find a way to bring all of these soldiers behind enemy lines and—’

It was then.

‘Hmm?’

A thought crossed his mind, and he came to a halt.

“What is the matter, King Siegfried?” Prince Kyrix asked. Then, he walked toward him and asked, “Is there a problem?”

“Shh! Wait,” Siegfried raised a finger between his lips and hushed him.

“Huh?”

“I need to think.”

“Hmm?”

“So we... that... we will...”

“...?”

Siegfried pondered for a while before he finally said, “All right, we will form a defensive line in this forest.”

“Eh?” Prince Kyrix doubted his ears and asked, “We will not be advancing any further? But we just mobilized to—”

“Yes, we won’t be advancing.”

“Then what are we going to—”

“We won’t be advancing by walking.”

“...?”

“Please instruct all forces to form a defensive perimeter around this forest and wait,” Siegfried instructed. Then, he looked around and called out, “Signalman!”

“Yes! Supreme Commander!”

A signalman ran over to Siegfried.

“Connect me to the Proatine Kingdom at once.”

“Yes, sir!”

The signalman immediately operated the communication device and called the Proatine Kingdom.

“What are you planning on doing...?” Prince Kyrix muttered under his breath. He could not understand what Siegfried was planning. Well, it was more like he could not understand what the man was thinking at all.