Debuff Master

Chapter 435

A resounding success! It was evidenced by the laughing background music coming from the enhancement machine.

[Alert: The enhancement requested by Siegfried van Proa-nim has succeeded!]

[Alert: Siegfried van Proa-nim has successfully enhanced the +10 Vanquisher’s Grasp to +11 Vanquisher’s Grasp!]

Fortunately, the enhancement ended up being a success.

Siegfried struggled so much with Horse Fly that he had to use a +10 Enhancement Coupon to enhance it. He was worried that his Epic weapon was shit-stained, as he had slipped up so many times before, but everything was fine now.

Why?

Because he had successfully enhanced it to +11, which was the first step for an artifact becoming what Adventurers called a highly enhanced weapon...

Sseuuu...!

Siegfried held his +11 Horse Fl while it was still steaming.

[Alert: You have obtained +11 Vanquisher’s Grasp!]

The +10 Horse Fly was now +11 Horse Fly.

The Gear Protection Coupon didn\'t end up getting consumed, as Siegfried was successful in the enhancement.

“Congratulations, owner punk! Kyuuu!”

“Thank you,” Siegfried replied with a smirk.

“Are you going to use the enhancement coupon now?!”

“H-Huh?”

“You can enhance it to +12 with the coupon now that you’ve enhanced it to +11, right?! Kyu!”

“T-That\'s...” Siegfried stuttered.

He was now facing a dilemma, ‘What should I do...?’

It was good that he managed to enhance it to +11, but the problem was from here on.

He still had the protection coupon, so it was feasible for him to attempt to enhance it one more time, as Horse Fly would not be destroyed in the event the enhancement failed. All he had to do was enhance it back to +10 and use the enhancement coupon to enhance it to +11, even though it was one level shy of his target enhancement level.

Alternatively, he could just bring his +11 Horse Fly to Quandt and play it safe by enhancing it with the coupon.

“Kyu? Owner punk?” Hamchi tilted his head in confusion and called out.

However, Siegfried stood still and did not respond to his call.

Then, Hamchi grabbed the hem of Siegfried’s pants and exclaimed, “Owner punk! Kyuuu! Owner punk!”

Siegfried’s mind had already wandered too far away for Hamchi’s voice to reach him, and in his mind were two voices fighting for supremacy.

‘Let’s not get greedy more than this, Siegfried. +12 is more than enough,’ Good Siegfried tried his best to talk some reason into him.

On the other hand, Evil Siegfried begged to differ, ‘+12? How’s that enough? You need at least +13 to call it a weapon! Where are you going to use +12?’

‘You can beat Taranis with +12! It’s an Epic item, so just getting it to +12 will make it extremely powerful! Why do you want to take the risk?’

‘Hey, isn’t it only right to grab every opportunity you can get? That’s how the world works! No pain, no gain! You can’t achieve anything if you’re too scared of pain! You can easily overpower Taranis and everyone else with a +13 weapon!’

‘Just be satisfied with a +12 weapon. That way, you can either save or sell the protection coupon, right? You’ve already profited a lot, so why be greedy and risk it all? Do you really want to risk getting bankrupted by this single mistake?’

‘Hey! Man! Let’s say that you failed! So what? There’s no difference between +11 and +12! What are you hesitating for when the opportunity is right in front of you?! Man up!’

Good Siegfried and Evil Siegfried started to fight in Siegfried\'s head, and they even resorted to cursing at each other.

‘Hey, you son of a bitch! Why don’t you just pray that he ruins himself?! Why are you tempting him to go for more when this is more than enough?! Ah... You want to see him despair, is that it?’

‘Coward! That’s why Siegfried can’t become stronger! It’s scaredy-cats like you who\'s holding him back! Remember, it’s not guaranteed he can win against Taranis with a +12 weapon! It’s not enough!’

Ah! What was this thing called enhancement that it was actually capable of making someone fight with themselves?

Siegfried was completely cut off from the world and was having his own internal strife.

What would he do? Would he play it safe and be satisfied with +12? Or would he risk it and try to go for +13?

‘Should I or should I not...?’

While Siegfried was racking his brains trying to make up his mind...

Smack!

Hamchi jumped up and smacked his face.

“Ack! Hey! What was that for?!” Siegfried screamed.

“Get a grip, owner punk! Kyuuu!”

“Huh?”

“What’s gotten into you?! You wouldn’t respond no matter how many times I called you!”

“D-Did I?”

“Yeah! Kyu!”

“...”

“Get a grip, will you! Get a grip! Kyuu!”

“Alright, punk... Still, you didn’t have to hit me so hard. Ugh... It hurts...” Siegfried grumbled.

“Kyuuu!”

“Hey, get out of the way.”

“Kyu? Where are you going, owner punk? What are you going to do?”

“What else?” Siegfried smirked and replied.

“Kyu?”

“You only live once, kiddo,” Siegfried said before he placed his +11 Horse Fly and entered the Gear Protection Coupon serial number into the enhancement machine.

[Alert: A Gear Protection Coupon has been identified!]

[Alert: The artifact will not be destroyed despite a failed enhancement!]

Wooong!

The enhancement machine vibrated vigorously and started the enhancement process.

Chik! Chik! Poof!

Chik! Chik! Poof Poof!

The machine spat out steam as if it was waiting for this moment, and Hamchi’s cry could be heard along with the machine.

“KYUUUUU?! Are you crazy, owner punk?! What are you going to do if it fails?! Kyuuu!”

“Nah, no idea,” Siegfried replied with a shrug, and then he added, “I’m not a fan of contemplating.”

“Kyu?”

“It’s best to face these kinds of dilemmas head-on and forget about them. If it fails, it fails!” Siegfried confidently said. Then, he narrowed his eyes and threatened under his breath, “I dare you to fail. I’m going to take you apart piece by piece and pulverize you...”

The threat did not faze the enhancement machine as it rigorously shook and puffed out steam while enhancing the +11 Horse Fly.

***

Meanwhile, Duke Taranis went back to the frontlines after reoccupying the Montegro Fortress from the Royal Faction.

However, he was not in the condition to do anything and was forced to rest.

“Keuk...! Siegfried van Proa... That damned bastard...” Duke Taranis growled and gnashed his teeth in anger.

He lost one-third of his Lightning Force after using the Thunder God’s Descent without learning all of the secret techniques, and his Stamina hit rock bottom right now. On top of that, his entire body was riddled with wounds, and he wouldn\'t stop bleeding.

It was quite fortunate his wounds were not deep, but they were not simple wounds either. Each and every one of these wounds could have been fatal if they were one or two centimeters deeper.

“Argh...!”

Duke Taranis gritted his teeth as he applied bottle after bottle of potions.

“I didn’t imagine that brat would be capable of such a deadly attack...” he muttered as he recalled the moment Death’s Touch had "touched" him.

Shwiiiiik!

The tacky rainbow-colored hammer ferociously came at him, and the deadly force it carried was simply—

Chill!

He felt a chill travel down his spine just thinking about it.

What if he had been second late in activating Thunder God’s Descent?

There was no question that he would have died instantly, and the only valid question would be whether his body was intact after that blow or not.

“I never thought I would face such humiliation in my life... Tsk... If only I had the mana regulation technique of the Thunder God...”

Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets. He had already used a third of his Lightning Force. Still, he could consider himself lucky to have escaped with his life in exchange for a third of his Lightning Force.

“I guess I have no choice,” he muttered. Then, he finished patching himself up and walked outside. Ten minutes later, he was standing in front of a chest located in the deepest part of his treasure room.

Click...! Clack!

He opened the chest, and within it was a small golden round object the size of a billiard ball.

Bzzt! Bzzzt!

Surprisingly, that round object was surrounded by sparks, and it was definitely no ordinary object. This was called a Lightning Core, and it was an extremely rare object crafted from a Blue Dragon’s heart that possessed immense lightning energy.

Duke Taranis could convert the Lightning Core’s mana and replenish his Lightning Force if he consumed this Lightning Core.

“What’s the point of saving this?” he muttered before forcing the Lightning Core down his throat.

A minute later...

Bzzt! Bzzzt!

Kwachik! Kwachik!

Sparks crackled all over Duke Taranis’ body. The sparks slowly grew stronger and stronger until a powerful current enveloped his body. Then, he screamed in agony like a wounded beast.

“Keuk! Aaargh...! Ugh... Gwuaaaah!”

The massive lightning energy from the Lightning Core surged and ran amok within his body.

“S... Siegfried... van Pr—Gwaaah! Arghhh...! I’ll kill... y-you...! You will... feel pa—Argh! Double the—Gwaaaaah!”

He felt as if every single cell in his body was getting destroyed, yet he continued to endure the pain and focus on absorbing the lightning energy.

Why would he self-inflict such agonizing pain to himself?

Because he had to replenish his Lightning Force...

He had to endure four hours of hell just to absorb the lightning energy.

“Haa...”

The pain finally subsided after he absorbed every bit of the Lightning Core.

Duke Taranis opened and closed his right hand. “Hmm...”

The lightning energy from the Lightning Core was swirling within his mana hall, and this meant that he had successfully converted it into his Lightning Force.

Bzzt! Kwachiiik!

A spark incomparably stronger than the ones he had been emitting before crackled on top of his right palm. Duke Taranis smiled and said, “My, my... I was thinking of replenishing my Lightning Force, but I didn’t expect to obtain so much of it.”

The result was a resounding success.

He had managed to absorb a massive amount of lightning energy from the Lightning Core and convert it into his Lightning Force, and his current Lightning Force was at least 1.5 times the amount he possessed before activating Thunder God’s Descent.

In other words, he had become much more powerful than before.

Heh.

Duke Taranis smirked.

Thud... Thud... Thud...

He then walked out and convened a meeting.

“Recall the Commander and Vice Commander from our southern front and tell them to focus on defending the frontlines. As for the southern front... I will personally command it.”

Duke Taranis became absolutely certain that no one could stop him now.

***

Siegfried had two reasons for risking the +12.

First, he found it impossible to resist the temptation. Second, the difference between +11 and +12 was not that great, but the second reason was the main reason why he had chosen to risk it.

Yes, the power of an artifact would exponentially increase starting from +11, but the gap between +11 and +12 was still not that big. There wasn\'t any huge difference whether the artifact was a +11 or +12, so the risk of failing was not that big.

However, +13 was a completely different story. This was the enhancement level where the power gap would significantly widen, and this meant that risking enhancing a weapon from +12 to +13 might sound very risky, but it was definitely worth the risk.

This was the reason Siegfried placed his +11 Horse Fly into the enhancement machine once again. He was planning to use his enhancement coupon if this enhancement ended up being successful so that he could enhance Horse Fly to +13.

Afterward, Siegfried swore that it would be the end of his greed.

‘I don’t care if it’s a success or failure. Just hurry up and tell me the result,’ Siegfried thought with eyes shut tight.

The die was cast.

Wooong!

The enhancement machine vibrated vigorously and started the enhancement process.

Chik! Chik! Poof!

Chik! Chik! Fwoooooosh!

The enhancement machine cried out...

Chik! Chik! Poof!

Chik! Chik! Fwoooooosh!

The enhancement machine released a cloud of steam and let loose a resonant cry.