Debuff Master

Chapter 523

“...!”

The Phantom Thief thought her heart was going to stop—no, her heart actually stopped for a second just now.

Why?

It was all because she was certain that she had escaped, but the Lazy Donkey was sitting in her room and was smiling straight at her.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

The Phantom Thief’s heart started beating wildly against her chest as soon as it restarted. It was beating so wildly that even Siegfried could hear her heartbeat.

‘How...?’

The first thing to flash through her mind was how she was tracked down so quickly. Her escape plan was airtight, and the route she had taken was not something that could be tracked down.

“How did you... track me?” she asked.

“I put a tail on you,” he replied with a shrug.

“A tail?” she muttered.

“Look beside you,” he said while pointing beside her.

Seuruk...!

Then, a Night Stalker appeared beside her. In other words, Siegfried had tasked a Night Stalker to follow the Phantom Thief, making it easy for him to track her down.

“Shall we stop this game of cat and mice?” Siegfried said icily. Then, he added, “Ah, can you please put some clothes on before that?”

“Huh?”

“I feel embarrassed looking at you.”

“...?”

The Phantom Thief could not understand what Siegfried meant by that.

Then, she remembered she was in the process of unzipping her tights when she was interrupted. She looked down and noticed the front zipper pulled all the way down to her belly button, and through the opening were her breasts...

Exactly one second later...

“DON’T LOOK! YOU PERVERT!” she screamed and hurriedly pulled her zipper up. Then, she glared at him and growled, “What are you looking at?! You lazy pervert!”

“What? Lazy pervert? Ha! I’m not interested even if you beg me to look!” Siegfried scoffed and retorted.

“Liar! Who wouldn’t want to see my beautiful voluptuous breasts—”

It was then.

‘Ah!’ she belatedly realized that she had let the narcissist inside her out.

“Wow, talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Hey, don’t you think you’re making it too easy for me?” Siegfried sneered.

“What? S-Shoot what?!”

“Hey, there are plenty of women more beautiful than you in this world. Don’t you think you're being too overconfident?”

“Why you!”

“And I was really serious. I’m not interested even if you beg me to look, so can we stop this charade already?” Siegfried said. Then, he took out a silver handcuff and added, “It’s time for you to wear these.”

“Ha! Do you really think that you can catch me?!” she exclaimed.

Then, the Phantom Thief lunged at Siegfried and unleashed a barrage of attacks, showing off her hand-to-hand combat skills.

***

The Phantom Thief was powerful.

[Selena Dubrowna]

[The top thief in the industry. Her persona, the Phantom Thief, is hailed as a legend among thieves.]

[Type: Named NPC]

[Level: 299]

[Class: Legendary Sif]

[Affiliation: N/A]

[Note: This NPC can also steal from your Inventory under the right conditions.]

The Phantom Thief had a whopping Level 299, which was just one step away from becoming a Master. However, Siegfried remained calm even though the Phantom Thief was attacking him.

‘She’s weak,’ Siegfried thought, coming to the conclusion that the Phantom Thief's attacks weren't a threat to him at all.

However, it wasn't really strange. The Phantom Thief’s class specialized in stealing things, unlike Siegfried, who had a combat-oriented class. In other words, the Phantom Thief was not as strong as other Level 299 combat-type classes due to its class characteristics.

Every class was bound to have their own strengths and weaknesses. A Level 299 Magician would not win against a Level 299 Knight in melee combat, while the same was true if the roles were reversed and they were fighting in long range.

The Phantom Thief’s class was such a case, and the only offensive skills she possessed were striking skills using her hands and feet.

What did that mean?

‘Easy.’

There was no way she could defeat Siegfried, as he had learned how to fight with his body directly from the Grappling Master, Leonid.

Bam! Bam!

Siegfried parried the attacks quite easily. He continued to do so while waiting for an opening, and he immediately threw a punch the moment an opening presented itself.

Puuuk!

His fist connected with her waist.

“Heok!” the Phantom Thief gasped the moment Siegfried's fist connected with her waist. Then, she felt crippling pain radiate from her waist throughout her entire body, causing her to get stunned by the pain.

Unfortunately, this proved to be very costly for her.

Kwachik!

Siegfried grabbed her arm and used a grappling move to twist it at an awkward angle.

“...!”

She had yet to recover from the punch, and the grappling move caused her to feel immense agony to the point that she could not even utter a sound.

“Don’t move. Your arm might break if you do,” Siegfried warned.

“A-Argh...!”

“Let’s just wear these handcuffs if you don’t want your bones to pop out of their joint socket, okay?”

“I-Impossible... How can someone like you...!” she groaned.

“Hey, can you stop that? Is it your hobby to speak without thinking?”

“Someone like you...”

“...?”

“I won’t get caught by someone like you!” roared the Phantom Thief.

C-Crack!

She twisted herself abruptly.

CRACK!

Siegfried held onto her arm even as she twisted her body, causing her arm to twist in a grotesque angle. The Phantom Thief chose to have her arm dislocated rather than get caught by him.

“I can beat you with one arm!” she growled.

“But you couldn’t win with both arms...?” Siegfried replied while looking flabbergasted.

“Shut it!”

The Phantom Thief did not give up and unleashed a barrage of attacks at him with one hand. Unfortunately, Siegfried had a point, as there was no way she could win against him with one hand when she failed to do so with both hands.

Shwiiiik!

However, the Phantom Thief seemed hell-bent on not getting caught, as she even took out a dagger and started swinging it at Siegfried. Every swing of her dagger carried the intent to kill, and it seemed that she had resolved to break her rule of not killing anyone just so she wouldn't get caught by him.

Thirty seconds later...

Kwachik!

Siegfried threw a knee kick at the Phantom Thief’s back, causing her to crash on the floor, effectively ending the fight.

“L-Let go! Let go of me!”

“Here comes your silver bracelets~”

“Let go! I said let me go, you pervert! It hurts when I’m lying face down because of my breasts!”

“No pain, no gain, they say.”

The Phantom Thief thrashed and resisted, but Siegfried cuffed her mercilessly and shackled her legs.

Meanwhile, Siegfried couldn't help but wonder, ‘Why does everyone call me a pervert whenever I do something...?’

He couldn't understand why he'd always end up getting called a pervert, even when he hadn't done anything bad.

***

Right after Siegfried arrested the Phantom Thief...

Siegfried passed a piece of cloth to her and said, “Bite this.”

“What’s this? Why are you giving me this dirty piece of cloth?” she growled in response.

“It’s going to hurt though.”

“What?”

“Just bite it.”

“Eup! Eup!”

Siegfried shoved the dirty piece of cloth, which was actually a rag left behind by the maid cleaning the room, before grabbing the Phantom Thief’s dislocated arm. Then, he gripped it tightly before popping it back into its socket.

“...!”

The Phantom Thief’s eyes shot wide open from the immense pain. Her face turned red, and she broke out into a cold sweat. Moreover, it seemed as if her eyeballs were about to pop out from their eye sockets any second now.

Having her dislocated arm popped back into place was so painful that it would be more effective than any kind of torture method available.

“Hang in there a bit more,” Siegfried said. He took out a large syringe from his Inventory, and this was what he used to extract the blood of monsters. He filled it up with vodka to disinfect it before discarding it and filling it back up with potion.

Puuuk!

He stabbed the syringe into the shoulder he had just popped back in place and injected the potion into it.

‘K-Kill me! Just kill me now, you fucking asshoooooole!’

The Phantom Thief screamed in agony inwardly and cursed Siegfried for his absolutely brute yet effective treatment method.

Who in their right mind would forcefully pop a dislocated arm back and inject a potion directly into it with a large syringe used to extract monster blood? Yes, this was indeed effective, but she could not help but feel for some reason that he had purposely used such a brutish method to inflict as much pain on her as possible.

It turned out that the Phantom Thief was quite sharp, as her suspicions proved to be correct.

‘Mehehe! It hurts, right? That’s why you should watch your mouth! Kekeke!’

Unsurprisingly, Siegfried had decided to get his revenge for being called a donkey and a pervert by inflicting as much pain as possible under the guise of treating her dislocated arm.

The painful treatment finally ended after he had inflicted as much pain as she could humanely handle on her.

Siegfried pulled out the rag in her mouth before smiling brightly and asking, “How do you feel? Do you feel better now?”

“You... bastard...”

“Hey, you should be grateful I fixed you up. I mean, I know you’re going to die soon, but you should enjoy the best your body can offer until then, right?”

“What are you talking about...?”

“Come on, why are you acting like an amateur all of a sudden?” Siegfried smirked. Then, he sneered, “You’re going to have to pay the price for stealing from Emperor Stuttgart’s favorite personal collection, don’t you think so?”

“T-That is...”

“Stealing from the emperor is no different than challenging the imperial family’s authority. You’re going to get executed. Perhaps by hanging if you’re lucky or by getting burnt on a stake if you’re not. Well, if you’re really unlucky then you'll be bound up and—whoa! Just thinking about it is giving me the chills!” Siegfried closed his eyes and feigned shivering to express how scared he was.

“Are you making fun of me right now?”

“No, I’m not.”

“You’re not?”

“I’m just telling you the truth.”

“...”

“Hey, you stole from Emperor Stuttgart of all people. Isn’t it obvious what’s going to happen to you?”

“That is...” the Phantom Thief trailed off.

“I suggest you write down your last words if you have any,” Siegfried suggested. Then, he added, “Ah, before that, where did you lock up Marquis Keitel?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?”

“If you want to save Marquis Keitel, then let me go! You won’t find anything about that painting of yours without Marquis Keitel–”

“Go ahead, kill him.”

“What...?”

The Phantom Thief was stunned by Siegfried's coldness. She did not imagine, even in her wildest dreams, that this lazy pervert would tell her to kill someone without batting an eye.

“Marquis Keitel? What I need is the people under him and not him.”

“...”

“Do what you want with him. That’s entirely up to you. But remember this—those kinds of deals aren't gonna work on me.”

“You’re quite different from how you look...”

“What was that? Your shoulder hurts? You want me to treat it again?”

“N-No!”

“Let’s not suffer unnecessary pain before you die, okay?”

It was then.

Knock! Knock!

Someone knocked on the door.

“Your Majesty, it is I, Oscar.”

“Come in.”

“I, Oscar, greet Your Majesty,” Oscar paid her respects first. Then, she congratulated him, “Congratulations on catching the Phantom Thief, Your Majesty.”

“Ah, you’re welcome.”

“What do you plan to do with the Phantom Thief?”

“I’ll bring her back to Artiur and hand her over to Duke Randoll.”

“Then allow me to bring the criminal to Duke Randoll.”

“Oh? I’ll be grateful if you could do that for me.”

Siegfried and Oscar were deliberating how to wrap up this situation when the Phantom Thief made an earnest plea.

“W-Wait! Please don’t hand me over to the Marchioni Empire! Please!” the Phantom Thief cried out, begging.

Siegfried looked at her with cold eyes and said icily, “You must pay for the crimes you committed. I’m sure you made your resolve before starting all of this, no?”

“Please... Spare me...”

“Hmm... That’s a bit difficult for me–”

“My treasures! I’ll give everything in it to you!”

It was then...

“Dame Oscar.”

“Yes! Your Majesty!”

“Do it.”

Oscar drew her Sword of Truth and used it to find out the location of the Phantom Thief’s treasures and the password to enter the storage. On top of that, Oscar also found out the location where Marquis Keitel was being held and even the whereabouts of the Portrait of Evil Ghost.

“I-Impossible...” The Phantom Thief couldn't believe that she had divulged her own secrets so easily. The cumulative value of the treasures she had stolen thus far was enough to establish a small kingdom with some surplus, but she ended up revealing their location so easily.

“Do you know why I let you escape?” Siegfried asked. Then, he flashed a sinister smile that would even give the devil goosebumps and said, “Because I can’t slurp up all of the treasures you've stolen if I hadn't let you escape!

"You see, I’ll either have to share or outright give up all of your treasures if I had caught you right there and then. Also, I can’t interrogate you in front of everyone and reveal the location of the treasures.

"I can’t do that, right? So, I decided to let you escape. Simple as that.”

It was then.

The Phantom Thief felt as if she was hit by a hammer on her head. The young punk she thought was nothing but a lazy pervert had turned out to be a formidable foe.

However, it was too little too late, as she was already dancing on his palm by the time she realized just how terrifying Siegfried was.

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