Chapter 689

Chapter 689

Siegfried continued his life in the prison as if nothing had happened. The only difference was that he logged out quite often compared to before. He would usually play for at least twelve hours straight, but after meeting Quandt, he only stayed in the game for four or five hours at a time before logging out.

Two more days passed.

“Once you win tomorrow’s match, your obligation to our contract will be over,” Orleius said while sipping on coffee. Then, his eyes glimmered as he asked, “Do you think you can win?”

“Are you seriously asking that? Do I even have to answer that question?” Siegfried asked in response with a confident smirk.

“But your opponent is—”

“A dragonkin?”

“You know he won’t be easy to beat, right?”

“That’s true,” Siegfried acknowledged with a shrug without a hint of hesitation.

His final opponent, Pyryno, was a dragonkin. A dragonkin was a half-human and half-dragon creature, and they were renowned for having the strongest physical prowess out of all beastkin.

Pyryno was without a doubt a formidable opponent even for Siegfried, as there was no way he could surpass the raw physical prowess of a dragonkin, no matter how much he had enhanced his stats and strengthened his body through recomposition.

In fact, Pyryno had shown his overwhelming power in the tournament by bulldozing through his matches; not a single match had lasted more than three minutes. He was also described as brutal by most of the spectators, as he had killed every single one of his opponents in the tournament.

However, what truly made him fearsome was...

Munch! Munch!

He even bit off his semi-final opponent’s head in front of the entire crowd and devoured it as if it were a snack.

“Do you really think I’m going to lose to him?”

“Hmm...”

“Well, you can just choose not to bet if you’re scared. I mean, you haven’t placed your bets yet, so you can still pull out with your winnings in your pocket,” Siegfried said with a chuckle.

There was still an hour left until the betting window closed, and Orleius had a decision to make.

Should he trust the cunning human and go all-in with every bit of his wealth—no, take out more loans to grasp this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Or should he just stop here and be satisfied with his winnings and focus on helping the cunning human and his friend escape?

The choice was entirely on Orleius.

The only thing Siegfried needed from him was help in escaping with Quandt, so it did not matter whether Orleius placed the final bet or not.

‘I’d actually prefer it if he stopped now. That way, I wouldn’t have to bother with the finals,’ Siegfried thought. He was hoping that Orleius would get cold feet and quit, as Siegfried could simply forfeit the final match and avoid wasting time that way.

“I’ll do it.”

Contrary to Siegfried’s hope, Orleius did not back down.

“I guess sometimes you just gotta see things to the end.”

“Oh?”

“This is my last chance. The odds are rising fast, and everyone’s betting on Pyryno to win.”

“Really?”

“The odds are ninety-nine to one.”

“What? Are they freaking serious?”

Siegfried was slightly offended and appalled by how much he was being underestimated. Sure, he had been acting weak all this time, but he did not expect to be dismissed like this.

“It’s not that you’re weak. Pyryno is just really strong.”

“Oh?”

“Maybe you should have put on a show like Pyryno did if you’re so upset about the odds? Who knows? Maybe that would have convinced a few to bet on you?”

“That’s not really my thing,” Siegfried replied dismissively, scrunching his face in disgust. Then, he asked, “So what now? Are you betting because the odds are good?”

“Some of the guards are planning to bet on you, but no one, not even a single demon, is putting their entire fortune on the line like I am.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“If you win this match...” Orleius muttered. Then, his voice rose in excitement, “I could become a high-ranking demon, possibly even a count...”

“Hmm?”

“This might be the last chance I will ever get in my pathetic life. I can’t give up now... I have to go...”

“Go where?”

“TO THE MOOOOON!” Orleius suddenly screamed, unleashing his desire to turn his life around.

Siegfried’s attacks rained down on Pyryno, causing the massive dragonkin to stagger back. Then, Siegfried jumped up and landed a high kick straight to the dragonkin’s skull.

“Argh!” Pyryno spat blood and tumbled to the ground.

Siegfried’s kick carried enough power to send even a monstrous creature like Pyryno flying.

However, the dragonkin was not easily beaten.

“Haaaa!” Pyryno exclaimed and got back to his feet.

Surprisingly, he looked barely fazed, as it seems that his dragonkin body protected him from the blows he suffered.

“So you were hiding your strength this whole time? Not bad at all,” Pyryno said with a smirk before wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

“Did you seriously think I’d gotten this far just with pure luck? Sure, I’m a lucky guy, but all the way to the final round with just luck? Come on, man,” Siegfried said, shrugging casually.

It looked like he had dropped his guard, but his muscles were tense, ready to strike at any given moment.

“I didn’t want to eat you before, but now... I’m going to chew you up, bones and all!”

“Hey, man... That’s gross...”

“You’re dead!”

Pyryno unleashed a barrage of attacks carrying the rage welling up inside of him.

‘Damn it! This guy is really strong!’ Siegfried thought while narrowly dodging the attacks. He attempted to counterattack by relying on his superior reflexes, but Pyryno’s brute force was simply far too overwhelming.

“Argh!” Siegfried groaned in agony. He was sent sprawling to the ground after getting struck by Pyryno’s tail from an unexpected angle. He struggled back to his feet, but Pyryno was already looking over him with his jaws wide open.

Sseuuuuu!

A stream of green gas billowed out from Pyryno’s mouth, and the gas enveloped Siegfried in a cloud of toxic fumes.

Poison Breath.

This was the signature move of the dragonkin, which was based off of a dragon’s breath attack. In Pyryno’s case, his lineage tracing back to the green dragon made his breath capable of melting flesh and bones alike.

***

The Poison Breath ability used by Pyryno was not magic, nor was it a technique that drew upon mana. It was an innate ability that dragonkins had inherited from the dragons.

This was the reason Pyryno could unleash this devastating ability, even though there were restrictions preventing the use of mana in the Fortress of Hell.

Sseuuuu!

The Poison Breath of the green dragons was infamously known as a vicious combination of highly corrosive acidic toxins mixed with radioactive energy. This was similar yet different from the breath attack of black dragons, as green dragons specialized in acidic toxins while black dragons specialized more on radioactive energy.

Regardless, Siegfried had just taken the full brunt of Pyryno's deadly Poison Breath.

“Haha! He should be nicely marinated now,” Pyryno sneered with saliva pooling on the edges of his long reptilian mouth. Then, he chuckled and said, “Tasteless human flesh needs a little sauce for that extra kick. Hehehe...”

Pyryno stopped his breath attack and walked toward Siegfried, who lay motionless on the ground after taking the full brunt of the breath attack.

But then...

“Huh?”

Pyryno’s eyes shot wide open in shock when Siegfried stood up slowly.

‘T-This human managed to stand back up after taking my Poison Breath?’ Pyryno was bewildered by what he was witnessing. The corrosive acid was supposed to melt Siegfried’s skin and muscles within seconds, long before the radiation poisoning could set in.

However, Siegfried had casually wiped away the greenish liquid smeared across his face. Then, he glared at Pyryno and growled, “Hey, you. Did your parents not teach you any manners? How can you go around spitting your nasty phlegm on others like that?”

“P-Phlegm...?” Pyryno stammered, visibly confused and outraged.

“Ughh... That was so gross...” Siegfried grumbled under his breath. He looked disgusted by the breath attack, but it looked like he didn't take even the slightest damage from it, much less crippled by it.

“T-This doesn’t make sense!” Pyryno exclaimed, finding it hard to believe what he was witnessing. A human exposed to his Poison Breath ought to have melted by now, but this human managed to emerge unscathed from it.

Then, Siegfried smirked as his eyes gleamed like an apex predator. He reached into his inventory and pulled out his weapon, the +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp, and tightly gripped it.

“Hey, you’re not using your radioactive energy properly, buddy,” he sneered.

“W-What did you say?” Pyryno asked, doubting his ears this time.

“This is how you really do it,” Siegfried said smugly.

The next second, Siegfried’s body began to emit a green fog of his own, and an ominous glow surrounded him as he prepared to unleash something far more sinister than the dragonkin’s breath attack.

Sseuuuu...!

A bizarre hissing noise filled the air as Siegfried finally unleashed his true power.