Debuff Master

The owner of the ninety-ninth floor was a tall man who towered almost three meters tall, and his stature was big enough to make the Descendant of the Undefeated King, Cesc, run for his money.

His skin was also not something one would see on a human. His skin was glistening, and Siegfried could see upon closer look that there were scales forged out of what looked like metal covering his entire body.

However, it wasn\'t the end of the surprise. He looked like a human but with two long horns that looked exactly like a dragon’s protruding from his head. He also had a long, powerful-looking tail along with a pair of wings on his back.

The boss monster of the Sky Tower was not a human but a Dragonoid.

Siegfried flashed his Rune of Insight at the boss monster.

[Dragon General Comodos]

[The Ruler of the Tower residing on the ninety-ninth floor of the Sky Tower.]

[He is a renowned war veteran who achieved numerous victories for the empire, and he volunteered to become a wandering spirit locked in the Sky Tower to help nurture the next generation of the empire’s knights.]

[Type: Named NPC]

[Race: Dragonoid]

[Level: 270]

[Class: Dragonian Warrior]

[Titles: Immortal Loyalty, Empire’s Shield, Reincarnation of Loyalty]

[Warning: He is a war veteran with more than one hundred victories in his career. He is stronger than his level depicts him to be.]

The opponent this time was a Dragonoid that possessed a whopping Level 270.

“Welcome, young one,” Comodos greeted him.

“Ah, hello,” Siegfried replied with a nod.

“I applaud your resilience coming all the way here.”

“Thank you for your kind words, but it was not that difficult, so…”

“It was not that difficult?”

Comodos’ eyes flashed at those words.

“How long did it take you to reach this floor?”

“Let’s see…” Siegfried muttered as he checked the time and replied, “I think it took seven hours?”

“Seven hours?”

“Yes.”

“I hope you are not joking with me.”

“But it’s true…”

“Are you asking me to believe that it only took you seven hours to reach the pinnacle of the Sky Tower?”

“Yes.”

“I find that hard to believe. It will take ten days at most to reach this floor or three days at the earliest…”

“Maybe it depends on the person?”

“I guess you’re right,” Comodos replied with a shrug, and then he added, “If you are indeed not lying, then it must mean that you were strong enough to climb this tower in just seven hours.”

“Is that what it sounds like? I do not think I am that strong—“

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Comodos interrupted him and unsheathed his saber. It was a humongous saber that would easily cut someone like Siegfried in half in a single strike.

“Come, young challenger. I, Comodos, will be the judge of your strength.”

“I will not refuse the offer,” Siegfried said as he readied ‘Horse Fly’.

“Come!”

“I’m coming!” Siegfried shouted in response as he charged at Comodos.

***

—NKSG: His movements are?!

—Olosn69: Omg;;;

—Urn: Holy…

—NaturalLump: Wow… I think I just came;;;

The duel between Siegfried and Comodos was an eye treat for the viewers as it was not the kind one could easily see elsewhere. The viewers were on the edge of their seats as they watched the intense exchange of blows between Siegfried, who possessed superhuman reflexes, and the Dragonoid, who was too agile for his size.

What made the duel even more spectacular was the fact that neither Siegfried nor Comodos used a single skill. It seemed like they were trying to one-up their opponent purely with their martial prowess.

It seemed like the two of them had agreed to settle this with just normal attacks.

“Hap!” Comodos shouted as he swung his saber in a downward motion while sneakily sweeping his leg across Siegfried\'s feet.

Bam!

The simple yet clever plan worked as his leg connected with Siegfried’s feet.

“Heok!” Siegfried lost his balance and spun three-sixty degrees in the air.

Comodos’ kick carried so much power that spun Siegfried’s lightweight body like a pinwheel, but Siegfried wasn\'t someone who would do nothing and wait for Comodos’ gigantic saber to cut him in half.

He anchored his hand to the ground and pushed it with all of his strength to shoot up like a geyser, turning danger into an opportunity to attack.

Smack!

Horse Fly connected with Comodos’ chin.

‘It\'s not enough!’ Siegfried didn\'t stop there.

Shwiiik!

Siegfried spun in mid-air to swing Horse Fly at his enemy’s waist.

Whoosh!

However, Comodos wasn\'t an easy opponent at all. He evaded Siegfried’s second attack by twisting himself. Shockingly, he avoided Siegfried\'s second attack, even though he had yet to recover from the uppercut that Siegfried had given to him.

Comodos then moved in one fluid motion to attack with his gigantic saber.

‘Heok!’ Siegfried sensed the oncoming danger and transformed his Horse Fly into a shield to block the attack. He did not have the luxury of being disappointed that his attack didn\'t work because Comodos’ counterattack had come out of nowhere.

His head would be severed from his shoulders if he failed to block it.

Bam!

Comodos’ saber descended from above and crashed into Horse Fly, which was a shield now.

“Ack!” Siegfried screamed unknowingly when the pain traveled all the way down to his feet.

Baaam!

Siegfried couldn\'t breathe as Comodos slammed his long thick tail on the shield and sent Siegfried flying several meters away.

Baaam! Thud…!

Siegfried crashed into the wall and was left fully exposed. However, Comodos didn\'t attack this time. Instead, he wasted the opportunity by revealing a content smile and praising his opponent.

“You are truly gifted with amazing talents, young knight. You must have endured quite a few hardships to reach that level of skill despite your young age.”

“Keuk…”

“What is your name, young—“ Comodos was about to ask his opponent’s name, but he suddenly stopped.

Chiik…!

A sharp pain suddenly radiated from his waist.

‘When did he…?’ Comodos was perplexed after seeing blood flowing out of a vertical wound on his left waist. He had no recollection of getting hit by his opponent, which perplexed him even more.

“What the—“

“Can I say we’re even… Argh! Are we?” Siegfried asked while forcing himself to his feet.

“I think so,” Comodos said as he smiled in disbelief and nodded. Then, he asked, “Tell me, when did you cut me? Though, I don’t recall there being such an opening…”

“I managed to cut you because there was an opening, right?”

“Hmm?”

“This doesn\'t look like a weapon, but this is a weapon as well,” Siegfried said as he fluttered his Blood Butterfly’s Wings as if showing it off to his opponent.

“Are you telling me that you used your cape like a sword? In that split of a second?”

“Yes.”

“So you’re a walking armory. Wow, I thought that weapon was something, but I didn’t imagine that your cape would be a weapon, too,” Comodos said, seemingly impressed.

It was understandable that Comodos would think of Siegfried as a walking armory after seeing his shape-shifting weapon and his cape that could double as a sword.

“But I don’t think you’re only relying on your weapon. Your skills aren’t something one can learn overnight. Tell me, what kind of path have you walked to be so skilled at such a young age?”

“Are you praising me?” Siegfried asked.

Comodos smirked and replied, “I’m more than praising you. Not only are you skilled, but you are quite experienced, too. Now tell me, how can someone as young as you possess such skills and experience?”

“My master is pretty good,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“I can sense your pride and respect for your master, but I don’t think that’s the only secret to your strength.”

“Hmm… Maybe because I\'ve always been fighting against enemies stronger than me?”

“Ah! Fighting against those stronger than you is bound to be excellent nutrition indeed!” Comodos exclaimed and nodded in agreement to Siegfried’s response. One wouldn\'t grow stronger without fighting against stronger opponents. Forget about becoming stronger; one could end up becoming weaker if they only fought against those weaker than them.

The phrase about how the journey to the summit of any path would be a lonely journey was true. It was the same when fighting against those on par with oneself. Fighting against those with equal skills as oneself was meaningless if the goal was to become even stronger.

However, challenging those stronger than oneself was going to bring far different results that would boost one’s growth almost exponentially. Of course, there was a chance one could lose their life or fall into the pits of despair from the difference in power, but great rewards awaited those who would persevere and survive against the strong.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw someone like you,” Comodos said with a smile.

Siegfried smiled brightly and courteously replied, “Thank you very much for your compliment.”

It had been a long time since he smiled so genuinely toward an opponent. Comodos was indeed strong, and Siegfried felt good to receive the praise of such a powerful opponent.

“So, shall we get serious now?” Siegfried asked.

“That is what I want,” Comodos replied with a nod.

Fwaaaa! Fwaaaa!

Comodos\' words had yet to finish echoing when Blaze Field appeared and covered the entire floor. They were done testing each other out—it was now time for the real duel.

In other words, the two of them were going to unleash every skill available in their arsenal, so it wasn\'t strange that the trademark skill of the Debuff Master had made an appearance here.

“Come, young one!”

“Here I go!”

Siegfried and Comodos clashed once again, this time surrounded by the flames of Blaze Field.

***

The moment both of them restarted the duel…

‘Why the hell is he so strong?!’ Siegfried screamed inwardly.

Comodos was so strong that Siegfried could not get through his Defense even though Blaze Field was active. Siegfried realized that Comodos was a true powerhouse.

‘I can’t go all out because this isn’t the last floor for me!’

Siegfried found his current predicament to be extremely frustrating. It was important that he defeated the boss of the tower, Comodos, but that wasn\'t his main goal for coming here.

The Sky Tower’s peak.

He still had to climb to the peak and face the Church of Osric after defeating Comodos.

But what was going to happen if he used up all of his weapons in this duel and he had to face someone powerful from the Church of Osric at the peak?

He wouldn\'t be able to fight them properly if all of his core skills were on cooldown and he no longer had enough HP, Mana, and Stamina.

Still, it didn\'t mean that he could fight Comodos while holding back.

Thus, Siegfried was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

‘What should I do…?’ he pondered.

And Comodos exploited that brief opening.

“Fwoooom…!” He inhaled a large amount of air and unleashed a beam of molten lava from his mouth toward Siegfried.

“Fwaaaaaaaah!”

Dragon Breath!

It was not on par with a real Dragon Breath that could obliterate an entire city, but it was strong enough that it couldn\'t be underestimated at all.

Shwaaaaaa!

The molten lava gushed forth as it tried to roast Siegfried like a roasted pig[1].

Siegfried hurriedly transformed Horse Fly into a shield and blocked the oncoming attack..

Shwaaaa!

Unfortunately, the heat from the breath attack couldn\'t be blocked with just one shield.

‘C-Crazy!’

Siegfried\'s HP dropped rapidly, so he used his Blood Butterfly’s Dance and somehow withstood the breath attack for an entire twenty seconds.

“Phew…!”

Comodos finally ended his breath attack, but he immediately followed it up with a question.

“Young one.”

“Yes…?”

“Why aren’t you using your full strength? Why are you hesitating? I know that this isn’t everything you got.”

“That is…”

It was then.

‘Huh?’

An idea popped up in Siegfried’s head, and it was an excellent idea that could potentially grant him an easy victory.

“Comodos-nim.”

“How do you know my name? I don’t recall us introducing ourselves?”

“I have a special ability that allows me to know another’s name without speaking to them.”

“Oh, really?”

“My name is Siegfried van Proa.”

“Royalty? The fact you’re so strong at your age is already surprising, but you are royalty, too? Are you a prince?”

“Well, yes… something like that?”

Siegfried did not see a reason to explain in-depth about the Rune of Insight or his status as king.

Instead, he made a proposition to Comodos.

“Comodos-nim.”

“Is there anything you want to say?”

“Do you want to have a wager with me?”

1. The raws actually just said roasted, but I was imagining a delicacy called ‘Lechon’. Shout out to those who know what that is! ☜