Debuff Master

Chapter 324

“What was that?!” Siegfried exclaimed and jumped up after the impact.

Then, the captain of the Huracan, Brigadier General Velkanto exclaimed, “Your Majesty!”

“What’s going on?” Siegfried asked.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The Huracan trembled upon being struck once more.

Siegfried couldn’t even finish asking his question.

“Are we under attack?”

“Yes, Your Majesty! The enemy is attacking our airship!”

“Who’s our enemy?”

“T-That is…” Velkanto hesitated and bit his lips.

“What is it?! Hurry up and report the situation!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

In the end, Velkanto was forced to make the report.

“The barbarians are throwing their spears at our airship! They started attacking as soon as we disabled Stealth Mode!”

“W-What did you say…? I know we’re under attack, but they’re throwing spears at us…?” Siegfried muttered as he doubted his ears.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Brigadier General Velkanto.”

“Yes…?”

“Are you joking with me right now?”

“…!”

“What the hell do you mean by spears?! Are you telling me those spears thrown by the—Ack!”

Siegfried was interrupted by another violent trembling.

“Y-Your Majesty! I am telling the truth! Please take a look for yourself!” Velkanto exclaimed and pointed at the window.

‘Ha? He really should’ve come up with a better excuse,’ Siegfried grumbled as he glared at the captain, but he decided to take a look just for the sake of taking a look.

He looked out the window and saw a bunch of flimsy-looking spears flying toward the Huracan at scary speeds, and what happened next was…

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The airship trembled once more.

“I-Is this for real…?”

Siegfried couldn’t believe that those flimsy spears actually managed to shake the Huracan.

‘Did the Dragon Lord screw up again?’

He started doubting the Dragon Lord.

However, Brigadier General Velkanto stepped forward and said, “I believe it is due to the barbarians’ monstrous strength. The airship is trembling, but the airship’s external armor has suffered no damage, Your Majesty.”

“I-Is that so?”

“This airship seems to be protected by sturdy plates crafted from special metals, and it will not be damaged even if it was hit by a barrage of cannon fire.”

“So what you’re saying is that it’s not getting damaged, but it’s shaking because it’s too light?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What should we do, then?”

The Huracan quivered as the barbarians threw their spears without rest while Siegfried was discussing the situation with Velkanto.

“I will activate Stealth Mode and dive into the river,” Velkanto replied.

The Great Jungle had a major river called the Pirarucu River that flowed through its entire length, and this vast river was at least fifty meters deep or even deeper at some points.

However, the problem was not the river’s depth but the fact that airships were not designed to go underwater in the first place.

“Dive? Is that even possible?” Siegfried asked.

“Yes, it is possible, Your Majesty,” Velkanto replied.

“No wonder it looked something like a submarine…”

“I believe we should leave this place and search for a suitable spot in the river to submerge. Attempting to rappel down in a place like this could prove catastrophic for our forces, Your Majesty.”

“I agree. I wouldn’t want to become a porcupine while on the way down from the airship,” Siegfried immediately replied.

He found the idea of rappelling down while those spears with insane force behind them flying around to be quite bad. Not only was his mobility going to be affected while dangling from a rope, but he was also literally going to be a sitting duck in mid-air.

“Then, we will now dive down, Your Majesty.”

“I’ll leave it to you, Captain.”

Siegfried allowed Brigadier General Velkanto to man the Huracan and stepped back.

Ten minutes later…

— Commencing descent!

— We are now thirty meters underwater!

Siegfried, Hamchi, Seung-Gu, and Gringore exited the Huracan and swam upward.

Fortunately, everyone in Siegfried’s party knew how to swim, so they easily reached the riverbanks.

“Phew… What kind of barbarians are that good with the spear? I should be careful here,” Siegfried muttered after reaching the riverbank.

“H-Hyung-nim?”

“Hmm?”

“Isn’t that an otter?”

“An otter?”

Siegfried turned toward where Seung-Gu was pointing.

“Hiiik!” He shrieked in horror after seeing an otter voraciously feasting on something.

But what shocked Siegfried was not the gory scene but rather the size of the otter.

“Isn’t that… larger than a leopard?”

The otter Seung-Gu had found was larger than most large-sized dog breeds.

[Great Jungle Giant Otter]

[A giant otter that inhabits the Great Jungle.]

[This creature possesses enough strength to make tigers wary of it.]

[Type: Neutral Creature]

[Level: 100]

[Remarks: It usually travels in groups, so be careful not to pick a fight with it.]

The Great Jungle Giant Otter was a Level 100 creature despite being an otter, and it was strong and large enough that most goblins or orcs would be wary of it.

“Hey, Seung-Gu.”

“Yes, hyung-nim?”

“Are otters that big…?”

“That’s not possible, hyung-nim.”

“I hope this place isn’t full of larger-than-average creatures…”

Siegfried felt slightly concerned after seeing the Great Jungle Giant Otter feast on a fish that was visibly larger than average.

The Great Jungle was a mysterious place that both Adventurers and NPCs avoided, so it would not be strange to see anything out of the ordinary in such a place where information was so scarce.

‘But we don’t have time…’ Siegfried thought as he remembered his wife, Brunhilde.

“Let’s go; we don’t have time to waste like this,” he said as he walked ahead.

“Yes, hyung-nim,” Seung-Gu replied and followed after him.

Hamchi and Gringore naturally followed after them.

Rustle… Rustle…

It was right after Siegfried’s party left that a group of people appeared from the thicket.

The one who seemed to be the leader of the group said, “We’re following them.”

The group followed Siegfried’s party discreetly from a distance, and they were so discreet that neither Siegfried nor Hamchi noticed them.

***

It was truly difficult to navigate through the Great Jungle without any information. The Great Jungle was an extremely vast rainforest with trees towering above, blocking even the sun and the sky, which made the place look quite dark and damp.

This forced Siegfried’s party to make sure that their lamps wouldn’t go out while they were carefully walking through lush vegetation.

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 1!]

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 1!]

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 1!]

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 1!]

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 1!]

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 1!]

Siegfried tilted his head in confusion at the sudden string of messages that popped up in front of his eyes.

“Huh? Why is my Mana going up?”

He hadn’t eaten anything that would increase his Mana, and he hadn’t allocated his stat points as well. However, his Mana was going up in real time. It was going up by just one point, but the fact that it was increasing was quite baffling to him.

“Hyung-nim! It’s the same for me!” Seung-Gu exclaimed after seeing the same message pop up in front of his eyes.

“Huh? Why is it going up?”

“I… have no idea?”

However, Siegfried and Seung-Gu wasn’t the only one who felt empowered.

“Kyuuu! Hamchi likes it here! Hamchi can feel the Great Nature!”

“I feel like singing a song of life, Your Majesty. I have not felt such a powerful essence of life before…”

Hamchi and Gringore could feel it as well.

“Kyu! Owner punk! This Great Jungle is full of mana! It’s teeming with life!”

“R-Really?”

“This is my first time stepping foot in a place with this much life force in the human realm! Kyu! This place is a prime location!”

Hamchi further explained that the mana in the Great Jungle was at least three times denser compared to other places on the continent.

“Ah, is that why my Mana increased? That’s probably the reason why that otter was so big…”

“It should be! Kyuu! Creatures thrive in these kinds of places! Humans are stronger, too! This is a blessed land!”

“H-Hyung-niiiiim!” Seung-Gu suddenly screamed and interrupted the conversation between the two.

‘Is it an enemy?’

Siegfried immediately turned toward Seung-Gu.

“W-What?!”

“Aack! Aaaack! AACK!”

“H-Hey! What the hell are you doing?!” Siegfried shouted after finding Seung-Gu stuck in a flower.

[Giant Venus Flytrap]

[A Venus Flytrap native to the Great Jungle]

[It preys on not insects but carnivorous mammals such as wolves or jaguars.]

[Type: Neutral Creature]

[Level: 120]

[Remarks: The Giant Venus Flytrap’s digestive enzymes are highly potent. It is capable of melting a human.]

The mana and lifeforce in the Great Jungle were three times denser than in other places, and it turned an ordinary Venus Flytrap into something like a monster.

“Hey! Seung-Gu!”

“H-Hyung-nim! My scalp! Aaaaack!”

Seung-Gu’s head was slowly reaching the Giant Venus Flytrap’s acid.

“Damn it!”

Siegfried swung his Blood Butterfly’s Wings and cut the Giant Venus Flytrap’s stem, which was thicker than the waist of most adult males.

Boom!

The Giant Venus Flytrap fell to the ground.

Pshhh…!

Its stomach enzymes poured out on the ground and melted the grass growing on it.

As for Seung-Gu, who almost got devoured by the Giant Venus Flytrap…

“M-My head! My hair!” he cried out while clutching his bald head.

“Hahaha!”

“Kyu! Bald Seung-Gu! Kyuuu! Seung-Gu is bald!”

“Sir Seung-Gu… Please cheer up. The wig technology on the continent has made great improvements in recent years…”

Siegfried, Hamchi, and Gringore all took turns to offer words of consolation or outright laugh at him after he became bald.

“Keuk…!”

Seung-Gu shed a tear and muttered, “My face is already a mess, but I’m now bald on top of that…? W-will my hair grow back, hyung-nim?”

“W-Who knows? I guess it’ll grow back once you die? I mean, your limbs grow back after you die, right?” Siegfried replied.

“R-Right?”

“Maybe?”

An Adventurer could have their body torn into pieces and die but still respawn forty-nine hours later with all of it intact, but Siegfried had no idea if hair was included in the package.

“P-Please…” Seung-Gu desperately pleaded while grabbing his head.

“Kiriiik!”

“Kideuk! Kideuuuuk!”

“Kiiiiik! Kiriiik!”

While the party was having fun teasing or consoling the bald Seung-Gu, a swarm of gigantic spiders suddenly appeared from behind the bushes in front of them.

[Great Jungle Giant Tarantula]

[A tarantula inhabiting the Great Jungle.]

[It is highly aggressive and powerful after receiving the Great Nature’s mana.]

[Type: Neutral Creature]

[Level: 230]

[Remarks: Caution is advised when facing it due to its highly venomous nature.]

The Great Jungle Giant Tarantulas, which were larger than a bull, shot out spider webs from their mouth and jumped dozens of meters while coming for Siegfried’s party.

“What the hell is wrong with the animals here?!” Siegfried screamed out of frustration, but he maintained his cool and beat the spiders down one by one.

“Kyuuuu! Kyuuuuu!”

“Hyung-nim! Let’s exterminate these bugs!”

“Aaah~ Aaah~ Aaaaah~ Aaaaaaah~”

Hamchi, Seung-Gu, and Gringore joined the fray and fought against the Great Jungle Giant Tarantulas.

When Siegfried’s party was about to deal with the Great Jungle Giant…

Whiiiish!

A noose came flying out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Siegfried’s neck.

“Keuk!” Siegfried gasped in agony.

“Amazoness! Hunt those men down!”

A high-pitched yet strong voice reverberated in the air before a group of barbarian females appeared and came charging at Siegfried’s party.