Debuff Master

‘How…?’

He had no idea how the thing was able to approach him without him noticing.

‘I didn’t sense anything a while ago?’

Unfortunately, he did not have the time to think as the thing swung a metallic object at him.

Chwak!

Siegfried decided to cover his body with his Blood Butterfly’s Wings instead of avoiding the attack.

Puuuk!

A sharp object struck his back.

“Keuk!”

He felt as if a large fang belonging to a hungry predator was trying to penetrate through his defenses and devour his flesh. Fortunately, the Blood Butterfly’s Wings defense was so good that he avoided getting a fresh new hole in his body.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

However, his back still throbbed in pain from the impact.

“What the hell…?” Siegfried grumbled and turned around while simultaneously flashing his Rune of Insight.

[Hunterian]

[A monster inhabiting the Great Jungle.]

[It is an evolved primate that exists solely to hunt.]

[Type: Monster]

[Race: Hunterian]

[Level: 250]

[Class: Mad Hunter]

[Remarks: It possesses an excellent camouflaging ability to approach unsuspecting victims. It is pretty good in combat as well.]

The monster that attacked Siegfried just now was called a Hunterian. It was two meters tall and weighed at least one hundred eighty kilograms, which made it quite big for a primate.

“B-Be careful! Those guys are quite strong!” Amundsen exclaimed.

“It certainly looks like it,” Siegfried replied in a dry voice.

Kwak…!

He tightly gripped his +15 Gaia’s Fist and growled in anger, “You dare try to punch a hole in my back?”

The fight between Siegfried and the Hunterian started.

‘Huh?’ Siegfried was taken aback as soon as the fight started.

‘This thing is fast… and—Argh! Too strong!’

The Level 250 Hunterian’s strength and speed were far beyond what Siegfried thought.

Badump! Badump!

His hands throbbed whenever his mace clashed with the Hunterian’s attacks, and he was eventually forced to simultaneously place down both Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp.

Woooong!

Siegfried’s mana spread out in a circle around him.

Fwaaa! Fwaaaah!

Seuruk… Seuruk…!

Both Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp were cast on the ground.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Siegfried managed to drive the Hunterian into a corner thanks to the combined effects of Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp.

Pukeok!

In the end, Siegfried was successfully able to slam his +15 Gaia’s Fist on the Hunterian’s skull and put an end to the battle.

Thud!

The Hunterian fell to the ground,

“Grrrruk!” The primate growled and showed its resolve to keep fighting despite having half of its skull bashed in.

“Tsk… What a stubborn fella…” Siegfried clicked his tongue and grumbled before he raised his +15 Gaia’s Fist and prepared to deliver the final blow to the primate.

Pukeok!

[Alert: You have obtained experience points!]

Perhaps it was because the primate’s level was quite high, but it gave Siegfried a lot of experience points. Of course, it was not enough to level him up as the total experience points he required to reach the next level were in the nine digits.

“Oh~ You defeated a Hunterian! You must be a powerful Adventurer!” Amundsen exclaimed.

“I’m not that strong,” Siegfried curtly replied.

“Nonsense! A Hunterian is a fierce monster, and defeating it so easily is… Anyway, thank you very much! Thank you so much!”

It was then.

Ding!

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Conversation with The Lost Explorer]

[Ask the Lost Explorer, Amundsen, regarding the whereabouts of the Dragonian Mango.]

[Reward: Information on the whereabouts of Dragonian Mango]

The quest was like a pillow to Siegfried while he was sleepy.

[Alert: Do you wish to accept the Quest – ‘Conversation with The Lost Explorer’?]

[Alert: Yes/No]

[Alert: Yes!]

Siegfried immediately accepted the quest.

“Let’s get out of here before anything,” he said.

“Y-Yes! Let’s do that!” Amundsen hurriedly replied and followed after him.

***

Meanwhile, the trio held captive by the Amazoness, Hamchi, Seung-Gu, and Gringore, were all being treated differently.

First off, Seung-Gu was getting treated very well.

“Hmm… He’s a bit ugly, but he seems quite useful. Put him in as a B Grade.”

He didn’t get labeled as A Grade or S Grade, but he was labeled as a B Grade breeding stallion, which sent him to a nice pen with perks and benefits.

“What a cute hamster. We will raise it as our pet.”

Siegfried was right on the money when he thought that Hamchi was going to be spared and have the honor of becoming the barbarian women’s pet, thanks to his fluffy cuteness.

Meanwhile, Gringore’s fate was…

“He looks good on the outside, yet he’s nothing but an empty shell. Label him as the worst quality and lock him up with the pigs.”

Gringore was one of the continent’s most handsome men, but he had to go through the shame of being labeled as the worst quality among them.

“I-Impossible! I can’t accept this!”

“Silence, trash!”

“Kuheok!”

“How dare you raise your voice when you don’t seem to be able to perform at night! Guards! Gag this piece of trash and throw him in with the pigs!”

“Aaack!”

Gringore’s beauty was not appreciated by the Amazoness Tribe. These barbarian women preferred men with bulky muscles and thick thighs, but the most important thing for them was the thickness of a man’s waist.

In other words, they preferred muscular men.

It wasn’t strange that a skinny man like Gringore would be classified as a piece of trash in their society while Seung-Gu was graded higher than him. Seung-Gu wasn’t muscular, but he had quite a large frame and large thighs, making him desirable to a certain degree in the eyes of the barbarian women.

The barbarian women graded men as muscular–pig–anchovy.

“Kekeke! Sir Gringore! What happened to you? You were always so full of your looks!”

“W-When did I?!”

“Have fun rolling in the mud with the pigs while I enjoy my harem! Mwahahaha!” Seung-Gu exclaimed in an excited voice.

“Kyu! Have fun with the pigs, Gringore! Hamchi is going on a tour around the village! Kyuuu!”

Hamchi went around the village with the Amazoness Tribe children as their pet.

“Heuup! Heeeup!” Gringore cried out while he was gagged.

‘I’m a piece of trash? This can’t be! I refuse to acknowledge this!’ He bemoaned his fate of being labeled as a piece of trash trapped in a pig pen, and he could not bear this humiliation he was experiencing for the first time in his life.

Meanwhile, Seung-Gu was getting treated better than he ever did in his entire life.

“Hoho! This is the life!”

His arms were bound, but he was currently being bathed by young and sexy Amazonesses while being fed all sorts of delicacies.

‘Hohoho! Why did I never come here before? I should probably take my time and rest for a month here… No, should I just settle down here?’

Seung-Gu was seriously contemplating whether to live with the Amazoness Tribe after experiencing treatment he never experienced in his entire life.

One hour later…

“Send him to the elders!”

An order was given to send the well-fed and well-bathed Seung-Gu to the senior homes of the Amazoness Tribe.

“E-Elders?! Not the beauties?!” Seung-Gu exclaimed and froze on the spot.

“Ehehehehe!”

“Aigoo! He’s so adorable!”

“This young one looks quite tough and delicious!”

The women waiting for Seung-Gu were not young beauties but old women in their sixties who were known as the tribe’s Elder Warriors.

“Elders! We found a young male for you! Please enjoy him to your heart’s content!”

They were basically grandmothers. Seung-Gu became a tribute to the old women of the tribe instead of the young beauties he had been fantasizing about.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

And the last thing heard about him was his screams that reverberated across the entire tribal village…

***

“Thank you for saving me! Thank you!”

The lost explorer, Amundsen, grabbed Siegfried’s hands and sincerely thanked him.

“I thought I was a goner, but I survived thanks to you.”

“Don’t mention it…”

“My name is Amundsen, and I am an explorer who travels to the remotest parts of this world. What is your name?”

“My name is Siegfried.”

“Siegfried… I will definitely repay this debt one day… But if I may ask, what is an Adventurer like you doing here? I believe you Adventurers don’t venture anywhere near this jungle…?”

“I’m looking for the Dragonian Mango.”

“The Dragonian Mango?”

“Have you heard of it?”

“Why, of course!”

“Oh!”

Siegfried’s face brightened after hearing that the lost explorer knew of the fruit he needed but had no idea how or where to get it from.

‘Alright! Is this what they meant by you will be blessed if you do good deeds?’ he thought while rejoicing inwardly.

He could have ignored the plight of the lost explorer and gone on his way, but he had chosen to help him instead. He was rewarded with information about the mango that he had been looking for.

“The Dragonian Mango… Why are you looking for that fruit of the devil?”

“I need it to cure someone important to me.”

“Hmm… You know the energy stored within the Dragonian Mango is so massive that it earned the fruit the title fruit of the devil, right?”

“Then by any chance… Do you know where I could find it?” Siegfried asked with eyes full of hope.

“Yes, I do.”

“Oh!”

“The Dragonian Mango is at the ruins of the Ishuka Empire.”

“The Ishuka Empire’s ruins? Was there a country in this place, too?”

“Yes, a thriving civilization once existed in these jungles around one thousand five hundred years ago. Although, it was not the kind of empire we would imagine.”

“Oh? Well, I suppose that makes sense,” Siegfried replied.

Actually, he was not interested in what kind of an empire the Ishuka Empire was. It was quite amazing that a civilization existed in this vicious environment, but that was not important to him.

The only thing that mattered to him right now was to get his hands on the Dragonian Mango, and that was it.

“So, where is this ruin of that empire? May I ask you to lead the way if that’s alright with you?” Siegfried asked.

“No, that is not possible,” Amundsen replied while shaking his head.

“Why? Don’t tell me you don’t know the way…?”

“Not at all. I was at the outskirts of the ruins just now when I came running away all the way here.”

“Then why can’t you guide me there?”

“The ruins of the Ishuka Empire have turned into the base of the Hunterians. The Dragonian Mango is with the King of the Hunterians, the Hunterian King, so it’s impossible as of—”

“Please just lead the way for me,” Siegfried said as he cut him off before grabbing his arm.

“H-Hey! Do you really plan to go there? You’re walking to your death! That place is teeming with Hunterians! Forget about the Hunterians; what are you going to do against the Hunterian King?! That creature is strong enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the powerful people on the continent!”

“Please don’t worry and just lead the way,” Siegfried confidently said as he dragged Amundsen toward the direction he came from.

‘What about the Hunterians? I’ll just kill them all and grab the Dragonian Mango. Easy as that,’ he thought while dragging the fear-stricken Amundsen. Siegfried was prepared to massacre every single Hunterian in this jungle if it meant saving Brunhilde and his child.

What did it matter whether the monsters were going to go extinct or not when his wife and child were fighting for their lives right now?

However, Siegfried’s enthusiasm to massacre the Hunterians and smash the Hunterian King’s head vanished after five hours of walking.

“W-Wow…”

Those were the words that escaped from his lips after arriving at the ruins of the Ishuka Empire.

Amundsen was right. The ruin was now the base of the Hunterians, and there were at least two thousand Hunterians visible to his naked eyes alone. Not only that, the Hunterian King leisurely sitting on the throne was a jaw-dropping Level 300, too.

“So, do you still wish to go in?”

“N-No…” Siegfried frivolously shook his head.

‘I’ll die a meaningless death if I go in there…’

He couldn’t possibly fight a Level 300 boss monster while simultaneously dealing with thousands of powerful monsters.

‘What should I do? Should I request reinforcements from the kingdom…?’

He was conflicted about requesting support from the Proatine Kingdom. The Huracan remained safe and intact thanks to its armor, but there was no guarantee that the kingdom’s airships could withstand the absurd power of those primitive spears.

The primitive spears were as powerful as canons, and there was a chance the airships would get shot down from the skies if he hastily brought them here.

‘Do I have to ask Decimato to use large-scale warp magic…?’ He thought of the Great Wizard training under Daode Tianzun. It was the only way he could quickly bring his forces all the way to the Great Jungle from the Proatine Kingdom.

“What if you attempt the Jungle Challenge instead if you really need the Dragonian Mango…?” Amundsen suddenly made a strange suggestion that Siegfried couldn’t quite understand.