Debuff Master

Chapter 443

“Argh!” He coughed blood after crashing to the ground....

“H-How is this possible...?! Impossible! How can a brat like you—!”

“Why is it impossible?” Siegfried retorted as he ran toward Duke Taranis.

“...!”

“Time for you to get a beating,” Siegfried said. Then, he grabbed a handful of Duke Taranis’ hair and smashed the latter\'s face into the ground.

Bam!

Siegfried didn\'t stop at slamming Duke Taranis’ face into the ground.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Siegfried proceeded to make a spectacle out of Duke Taranis by slamming his face into the ground over and over again.

“Argh!”

“There’s one more left,” Siegfried said.

He was about to slam Duke Taranis’ face one last time, but...

Zap!

Duke Taranis used Lightning Boots to escape from Siegfried’s clutches. Then, he clenched his +16 Thunder God’s Knuckles and kicked off the ground.

Bzzzzzt!

Duke Taranis unleashed a tremendous amount of lightning energy as he swung his fist at Siegfried. The powerful tempest of lightning seemed more than enough to reduce Siegfried to ashes.

“You dare...! You... DARE!” Duke Taranis shouted. He used Lightning Boots consecutively to close the gap between them, and then he threw a barrage of punches at Siegfried.

“Bring it on,” Siegfried said, preparing his +13 Horse Fly.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The +13 Horse Fly and +16 Thunder God’s knuckles clashed multiple times, and the collision generated powerful shockwaves.

‘This crazy bastard actually managed to enhance his gear?! How did he achieve all this in just two weeks?!’ Duke Taranis reeled in absolute shock. His +16 Thunder God’s Knuckles had easily overpowered Siegfried just two weeks ago, but it was no longer the case.

Siegfried’s +13 Horse Fly was standing its ground against the +16 Thunder God’s Knuckles—no, it was actually overpowering the Legendary artifact.

This was the difference between an Epic artifact and a Legendary artifact. The rating difference alone was more than enough to make up for the enhancement level gap.

“Argh!” Duke Taranis gritted his teeth after realizing that he was getting pushed back.

“It’s time to end this,” Siegfried said.

“What?!”

“I’ll be serious from now on.”

Shwaaa!

Swoosh!

Siegfried placed down Shadow Swamp and Blaze Field at the same time. The debuff fields enveloped the entire Barrier of Victory, but Siegfried wasn\'t done just yet.

Woooong!

Siegfried activated Waves of Oppression, preventing Duke Taranis from casting any skills and interfering with the flow of energy to hinder the latter\'s Lightning Force.

Duke Taranis immediately noticed that something was off with the flow of his mana.

Bzz... Bzzt...!

The Thunder God’s Descent skill switched repeatedly on and off as Duke Taranis slowly lost control over it.

Siegfried\'s Wave of Oppression was interfering with Duke Taranis\' Lightning Force and was trying to dispel his transformation by force.

“What is this—?!”

“I told you; I’m just getting started,” Siegfried replied, smirking. Then, he placed down all of his debuff skills, covering the entire Barrier of Victory with debuffs.

Shwaaa1

The ground turned white as an icy breeze swept past it. Then, a blinding light erupted and engulfed Duke Taranis.

Flash!

Absolute Zero.

The Debuff Master’s skill that froze everything. It seemed as though everything inside the Barrier of Victory had their time forcibly halted.

However, Duke Taranis wasn\'t an easy opponent with his Thunder God\'s descent. He lived up to his title as the Descendant of Thunder God Vajra by withstanding Absolute Zero, unlike the countless other creatures and humans who had fallen victim to it.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Duke Taranis wouldn\'t be able to endure it for long.

“Argh... What is this absurd—Argh...!” Duke Taranis gritted his teeth as Absolute Zero’s cold aura crept up his legs. His body no longer moved according to his will, and his encumbered limbs creaked like a rusty old machine, which was proof that the numerous debuffs used against him were doing their part.

“Let’s end this already, okay?” Siegfried said while walking toward Duke Taranis. Then, he channeled mana into his +13 Horse Fly.

Woooong!

“N-No! T-That skill is...!” Duke Taranis cried out after recognizing the skill. He could still remember how he had almost died after getting hit by Death’s Touch; the only reason he survived was that he managed to activate Thunder God’s Descent just in time. He would have been reduced to a pile of meat if he had failed to activate Thunder God’s Descent in time.

With that in mind, what would happen if he were to try and withstand such a skill while weakened? To make matters worse, Siegfried was buffed inside the Barrier of Victory, so Duke Taranis knew that he would die without a shred of doubt.

“M-Mercy! Have mercy!” Duke Taranis exclaimed.

“Nope. Fuck off,” Siegfried replied curtly.

Whoosh!

Then, Siegfried swung his +13 Horse Fly at his immobilized opponent’s abdomen.

The moment Horse Fly connected with its target...

Boom!

The mana gathered in the +13 Horse Fly erupted, and the explosion completely devoured Duke Taranis.

Thud!

Duke Taranis fell to the ground—more accurately, his upper body fell to the ground. His entire lower body had disappeared without a trace, decimated by Death’s Touch.

***

Ding!

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

[Alert: You have defeated the Descendant of Thunder God Vajra!]

[Master’s Regret]

[Type: Quest]

[Details: Find and crush the seven successors of the people known as the strongest eight on the continent five hundred years ago.

[Progress: 28.50% (2/7)]

[Descendant of Thunder God Vajra 0/1] ?

[Descendant of Sword Saint Murcièlago 0/1]

[Descendant of Great Sage Sieghart 0/1]

[Descendant of Blood Master Berserk 0/1]

[Descendant of Enlightened King Maugris 0/1]

[Descendant of God Arrow Windforce 0/1]

[Descendant of Supreme King Braum 1/1] ?

Siegfried had finally defeated two out of the seven descendants and had increased his quest progress to 28.5%.

Of course, Siegfried would have earned more quest progress if he had defeated the descendants of God Arrow Windforce and Blood Master Berserk the last time he met them, but it was something he could always work on later.

Naturally, there were more messages for Siegfried to read.

[Alert: Congratulations!]

[Alert: You have killed the Leader of the Rebel Faction, Duke Taranis!]

[Alert: You have reached MAX Contribution Points!]

[Alert: You have been crowned the MVP of the Kyiv Civil War!]

Siegfried was named the event’s MVP after killing Duke Taranis, and his contribution points skyrocketed. He was pushed out of the contribution rankings after spending two weeks doing absolutely nothing in the war, but killing Duke Taranis reversed his plight completely.

Why was this possible?

Because killing Duke Taranis was tantamount to ending the Kyiv Civil War...

“I guess this is the end...” Siegfried muttered.

[Alert: The Barrier of Victory will be canceled!]

[Alert: You\'ve defeated your enemy!]

[Alert: Your HP has recovered!]

[Alert: The cooldown of Grand Duel has been reset!]

The battle had ended, so the Barrier of Victory vanished.

“Kyu! Owner punk! You killed Taranis!” Hamchi cried out.

“Yeah,” Siegfried nonchalantly replied.

“Good job! Kyuuu!”

However, Hamchi wasn\'t the only one who welcomed Siegfried back.

“Kill him!”

“Where’s His Highness?!”

“You dare!”

The Rebel Faction’s knights lunged at Siegfried.

‘I don’t feel like fighting these guys, though...’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly. He was currently stuck behind enemy lines. Yes, he had killed Duke Taranis, but it didn\'t mean that there weren\'t any more things to do.

Once the Rebel Faction\'s knights discovered that he had killed their lord, it wouldn\'t be strange for them to surround and attack Siegfried. After all, wasn\'t that the most obvious outcome?

Knowing that, Siegfried placed down Shadow Swamp to slow down the knights before inwardly shouting, ‘Time to run!’

Siegfried hurriedly picked up the +16 Thunder God’s Knuckles on the ground and threw it into his Inventory.

[Alert: You have obtained +16 Thunder God’s Knuckles!]

Siegfried didn\'t stop there.

‘Ugh... It’s a bit disgusting, but...’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly before transforming his +13 Horse Fly into a saber.

He walked over to Duke Taranis’ remains and beheaded it before going over to the corpses of the Rebel Faction’s nobles and decapitating them, too. Siegfried stored their heads in a large sack and shouted, “Let’s go, Hamchi!”

“Kyuuuu!”

Siegfried activated Pesky Brat and ran like the wind.

***

It took Siegfried two hours to escape from the Rebel Faction’s camp and return to the Kyiv Kingdom’s castle.

“King Siegfried! You\'re back! Thank heavens nothing has happened to you!” King Allen exclaimed, welcoming Siegfried warmly.

Duke Undertaker and Taycan ran up to Siegfried as well.

“Your Majesty! Congratulations on your safe return! But... What happened to the mission...?”

“Hey, Siegfried! How did it go? Were you successful?”

“Ah, that is...” Siegfried didn\'t bother explaining the details of what had transpired. Instead, he flipped the sack in his hands upside down.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The heads of the Rebel Faction’s officers poured out of the sack.

“...!”

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the bloody heads rolling on the floor, but their eyes widened into saucers upon seeing the final bloody head that emerged from the sack.

“T-That\'s...!” Taycan exclaimed while pointing at the final bloody head. “T-Taranis! That’s Taranis’ head!”

A deafening silence fell upon the throne room as everyone was overwhelmed by stupefaction. The decapitated head of the traitor responsible for instigating the rebellion, Taranis, was rolling on the floor.

“O-OOOOH!” Duke Undertaker exclaimed, and he fell to his knees with a loud thud before crying out, “Y-Your Majesty! Your Majesty...! The traitor, Taranis, is dead! The kingdom is safe!”

“Argh!”

“F-Finally...! This war is over!”

“Oh my god! Taranis is dead!”

The nobles cried out upon coming back to their senses. Was it because of sheer happiness? Every single one of the Kyiv Kingdom’s nobles cried tears of joy.

King Allen shot up from his throne and ran to embrace Siegfried. He didn\'t care about keeping up his appearance as the king as he held Siegfried tightly and cried out, “King Siegfried! Thank you! Thank you very much! You\'ve protected me and my kingdom!”

“Haha...” Siegfried laughed awkwardly in response.

“I will never forget what you\'ve done for us! From now on, King Siegfried is my uncle!” King Allen declared to the nobles.

Taycan couldn\'t hide his joy as he exclaimed, “Hey, Siegfried! Thanks a bunch!”

Duke Undertaker then knelt in front of King Allen and exclaimed, “Your Majesty! I, Undertaker, will hang the heads of these traitors on our walls!”

“Please do so at once,” King Allen replied with a smile.

“Yes! Your Majesty!” Duke Undertaker gathered the heads of the traitors and ran out of the throne room.

***

The Kyiv Civil War was as good as over.

Those who had sided with the Rebel Faction laid down their arms and scattered after the head of their leader, Taranis, along with the other officers, were hung on the city gates. Their justification for this civil war was that Taranis had the legitimacy as the uncle of King Allen to act as his regent, but that justification was no longer valid now that Taranis was dead.

The next morning, Siegfried found himself in the middle of a tea session with King Allen.

‘Hehe... It’s time for me to get rewarded now that the war is over!’ Siegfried snickered to himself.

However, their peaceful tea session was interrupted by a servant’s utter nonsense.

“The rebels are preparing to attack!” the servant reported.

“Huh? Preparing to what? Does that even make sense? All of their officials are dead now, so how are they going to fight?” Siegfried grumbled out of sheer disbelief.

The Kyiv Civil War was supposed to end the moment Taranis died, so what kind of nonsense was this?

The servant hesitated before he continued, “T-That\'s...! George the Third of the Salut Kingdom has gathered his armies at our borders! It seems that the Rebel Forces have allied with the Salut Kingdom!”

“DAMN IT!” Siegfried screamed out of frustration as his expression turned incredibly ugly.

George the Third was truly the epitome of pettiness. He had slapped Oscar during the World Peace Conference just because Oscar had asked him to stay quiet.

Siegfried then proceeded to scam him during the auction, and Emperor Stuttgart even chased him out for causing a scene. George the Third had retreated peacefully at the time, but he was back—back to avenge himself.