Debuff Master

“What? Gringore has been abducted?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Who the f—“ Siegfried was about to exclaim and bang his fist on the table, but he stopped himself just in time.

He couldn't raise his voice in front of Verdandi and the Fairy Dragon. After all, it was common sense for a parent not to say cuss words or destroy things in front of their own children.

“Y-Your Majesty!”

“Y…”

“Your Majesty…?”

“My m… ey…”

“P-Pardon me, but I cannot understand what Your Majesty is saying.”

“My money…”

“Your Majesty’s money?”

“Who dares to steal—I mean, abduct my money…?”

“…”

“Do they know how much he's worth?!”

Gringore was the continent’s most famous celebrity, and all the Proatine Kingdom had to do when they needed money was to force—no, send Gringore on a continent-wide tour.

Gringore also had the Hidden Class, Phantom Singer, and his class had this strange mechanic where he would gain experience points the more audience he had. In other words, Siegfried could kill two birds with one stone by forcing—no, sending Gringore on a continent-wide tour, as it would encourage the latter’s growth and earn the kingdom sgold.

And that was why it wasn't strange that Siegfried saw Gringore as money.

“Who dares to…”

“Sure.”

Siegfried placed Verdandi in Brunhilde’s care and headed to Michele’s office.

***

Siegfried met up with Michele and discussed the incident.

“Welcome, Your Majesty.”

“Who is it? Which fucking bastards did it?” Siegfried asked immediately as soon as he entered the office.

Michele shook his head and replied, “We are yet to pinpoint the mastermind, but this is a clear provocation to our kingdom—no, this is no different from an act of invasion, plundering, and destruction of our property! Therefore, we will have to prepare to retaliate as strongly as possible and make them pay.”

“Huh? Invasion? Plundering? Destruction of property? I thought this was about one of our nobles being abducted?” Siegfried said while tilting his head in confusion.

It turned out that Michele had the exact simpression of Gringoire as Siegfried, with just a slight difference.

Siegfried nodded in agreement and said, “Oh, you’re absolutely right. I also thought that someone stole my money—”

“So please refrain from any thoughts of using his talents for Your Majesty’s personal benefit and instead focus on saving him.”

“H-He’s mine!”

“Anyway, please read this letter first.”

“Letter?”

“The kidnapper has sent their demands.”

“Lethave a look.”

Siegfried took the letter and read its contents.

“Daedalus Great Labyrinth…? Hey! How the fuck do you expectto go there, you crazy shithead!” Siegfried screamed the moment he read the location demanded by the kidnapper.

The Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth was a dungeon no Adventurer had ever conquered—no, not a single Adventurer managed to return alive after going down the dungeon’s basement.

Swould think that it was not a big deal, as an Adventurer could simply respawn at the nearest respawn point, but the Adventurers who dared to venture into the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth never returned. In fact, most of the Adventurers gave up and quit the galtogether after getting stuck in the dungeon for months.

Interestingly, there were swho persevered and were still wandering around the dungeon to this day. One example of it was an Adventurer with the ID TigerGrills, who had been livestreaming his adventure stuck in the dungeon for two years now.

However, the kidnapper was actually asking Siegfried to cto such a place? This could end up as a dangerous journey that could potentially force him to quit the game.

“Those bastards have no shame! There are so many other places on the continent, but they chose that place of all?! Why?! Who the fuck are those shitheads?! Wow! What a bunch of crazy bastards!” Siegfried roared and unleashed his pent-up frustration.

***

Meanwhile, at the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth...

“I think Siegfried van Proa has read the letter you have sent, my lord,” Chaos reported.

“Yes, he should have received my message by now,” Metatron said.

Chaos frivolously nodded in agreement and added, “My lord just has to wait for Siegfried van Proa to bring Avenger here!”

“But something is bothering me…”

“What is it, my lord?”

“Anyone that steps foot in this place won’t be able to leave for eternity. Well, it’s different for you and me, as we have the ability to find our way here. But will that greenhorn cto such a place? Don’t you think he will be scared of getting trapped in here for eternity?”

“Ah! Truly discerning and insightful of my lord!” Chaos exclaimed. Then, he grinned and said, “But based on what I have found out, my lord does not have to worry about that.”

“How so?”

“Siegfried van Proa is someone who would not hesitate to sell his soul for money if he could.”

“Really? Let’s suppose he is indeed obsessed with money, but do you really think he will risk it all just to save this… clown?” Metatron said while looking down at Gringore, who was bound and gagged.

“You need not to worry, my lord! He is infamous for being crazy—no, obsessed over money that speople suspect he died from poverty in his previous life!”

“Oh!”

“Also, that greenhorn possesses the artifact Inzaghi’s Compass, so he will find it probable to challenge venturing into this place.”

“I see…”

“Please trust your humble servant’s judgment. That brat obsessed with money will definitely chere to save that clown.”

“Alright.”

***

“Hmm… Should I just abandon him? Yeah, money is important, but my life is more important, right? What if I can’t cback from there? What am I going to do with money when I have to kiss my life goodbye?”

Siegfried seriously contemplated abandoning Gringore, as going down to the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth was just too dangerous. Well, he would not have thought twice and run for the dungeon if either Brunhilde or Verdandi were the ones who got kidnapped, but it was different for Gringore. He was one of Siegfried’s most precious subordinates, but he wasn't as precious as Siegfried's wife and kid.

Of course, he would run over without a second thought if it were anywhere but the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth.

“Ah… What should I do? I still have to save him…”

“Yes, we do have to…”

The two were now in a dilemma, and it was then...

Siegfried gasped upon thinking of a brilliant idea.

“There was that option!”

“Have you thought of something, Your Majesty?”

“Yeah, I think we have a solution,” Siegfried replied with a nod.

“What is that solution?”

“Wait here. I have to go somewhere,” Siegfried said as he rushed out of the office.

***

Three days later, Siegfried stood in front of a cave located in the northern region of the Nürberg Continent, and a message popped up in front of him.

[Nürberg Continent Northern Region: Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth]

In the end, Siegfried cto the dungeon to save Gringore, but he was not alone.

Siegfried dragged Hamchi with him, and the reason he did so was…

Siegfried knew it would be very lonely and boring if he had to wander the dungeon on his own.

“Hey! I already told you we’re not going to be trapped! Don’t you trust me?!”

“…”

“Oh? Is that something you should be telling me?”

Siegfried dragged Hamchi with all of his strength and ran toward the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth.

“Shut up!”

Siegfried jumped into the dungeon with Hamchi.

A minute later, Siegfried felt nothing beneath his feet.

“Huh?”

Siegfried suddenly found himself in a free fall.

“So you’re already pulling tricks from the start?!” Siegfried lashed out at the labyrinth's designer. Who would have imagined the start of the labyrinth would be a trap that would make those foolish enough to challenge it fall to their demise?

However, Siegfried wouldn't get done in by something like this.

Siegfried activated his thrusters and slowed down his fall enough to not die from it, but that wasn't the end of his problems.

“W-What…? Just how much deeper are we going to fall…?”

He was in a freefall with no end in sight. Yes, his fall was slow, thanks to his thrusters, but it seemed that the hole was endless.

One minute, two minutes, five minutes, and ten minutes…

Siegfried was in freefall for ten minutes now, but there still seemed to be no end to the hole.

Twenty more minutes passed, and he finally landed after a total of thirty minutes in freefall.

[Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth: Entrance]

A message notifying him of his current location popped up in front of his eyes.

“Is this it?”

“I don’t want to.”

“I already told you it’s going to be fine!”

Both of them bickered while walking into the dungeon, but…

He could feel something crack under his feet.

“Huh…?” he looked down at his feet. Then, his face turned ghastly pale as he screamed, “W-What the hell is this?! Why are there so many of them?!”

He was stepping on bones, and there was a mountain of bones in front of him. These were the people who died after venturing into the Daedalus Underground Great Labyrinth, only to fall to their deaths the second they stepped into it.

“Just how many people had died here—Hmm? What’s that?”

Siegfried noticed there was something that resembled a handle buried among the bones. He took out a torch from his inventory and lit it up.

The torch illuminated his surroundings, and…