Debuff Master - Chapter 1110
Chapter 1110
The sheer pressure unleashed by Deus pressed down on Siegfried. Both of Siegfried’s legs trembled like leaves in the wind, and his skin prickled all over as if a swarm of fire ants were biting him.
With just his presence alone, Deus managed to apply immense pressure on Siegfried.
‘T-This is insane! How is this even possible?!’
It had been three years since Siegfried had acquired the Hidden Class known as the Debuff Master. Since then, he had been fighting against countless powerful opponents.
However, none of them could ever compare to the crushing pressure Deus was exuding right now. Deus simply turned around and looked at Siegfried, and yet the weight of his presence alone was already overwhelming.
‘I have to push through this.’
Siegfried drew upon the energy sources in his mana hall and forcibly pushed back against the suffocating pressure Deus was unleashing.
When his energy pushed back against the pressure, he found it a little easier to breathe.
‘Anyone else would’ve dropped dead by now,’ he thought, relieved.
The only reason Siegfried did not collapse on the spot was that he was standing right at the doors to the realm of Grandmasters. Had it been anyone else, they would have sprawled flat on the ground and foaming from their mouths by now.
“Phew…” Siegfried steadied his breathing and tightened his grip on the +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp.
“Hoho…” Deus chuckled and flashed a mocking smile. Then, he said, “So, you think you’ve grown enough to resist me now, is it?”
“No, Master. I still need to breathe, right?”
“Not wrong at all. Hohoho!”
“I am… ready, Master.”
At that moment, a quest notification popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.
[Alert: You have accepted the Hardcore Epic Quest – Crossroads of Life and Death!]
[Alert: This quest cannot be abandoned once accepted!]
[Alert: Warning! Warning!]
[Alert: Proceed with caution!]
[Alert: Your character will be permanently deleted if you die during this quest!]
Several warning notifications popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.
‘Fuck off,’ he cursed and waved the notifications away.
Right now, he was not his character, Siegfried von Proa. He was Han Tae-Sung, the gamer who was staking everything he had to face this trial, so threats like that were the last thing he needed.
“Very well. Let the test begin,” Deus said and walked slowly toward Siegfried.
“Yes, Master,” Siegfried replied.
“I hope you’re ready to put everything on the line and—”
It was then.
Boom!
Siegfried activated the third stage of Overclocking and launched himself at Deus like a bullet.
“Strike first when the odds are stacked against you, take the initiative to attack, and you will lose eventually if you use all your energy to defend.”
These were Deus’ teachings, and Siegfried had not forgotten about them.
Thus, he dared to launch a surprise attack even against such an overwhelmingly powerful opponent. Unfortunately, Deus was far from an opponent who would get caught by surprise.
Whoosh!
With just a slight twist, Deus easily avoided Siegfried’s lightning-fast surprise attack.
“Not a bad decision at all,” Deus muttered.
Boom!
Deus rammed his shoulder into Siegfried’s chest, and the impact sounded like an explosion had gone off.
Siegfried was blasted away, slamming into the ground with incredible force just from a mere shoulder check.
“You’re too slow and full of openings, my disciple.”
“Ghaaak!” Siegfried coughed up a huge amount of blood.
Deus did not even use any skill, yet he dealt immense damage to Siegfried.
“Tsk, tsk…” Deus clicked his tongue in disappointment as he watched Siegfried retch on the ground.
“Bleuuurgh!”
“Is that all it takes to put you down?”
Fwoosh!
Countless aura swords of light suddenly rained down toward Deus.
Despite getting blasted away, Siegfried activated Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain and aimed for Deus’ blind spot.
‘I have to keep the pressure on,’ he thought, planning to use the skill to create an opening he could exploit, but…
“Hohoho! There was no mention of rain in today’s forecast,” Deus joked, chuckling.
Unsurprisingly, he remained composed even when facing a storm of aura blades.
The aura blades infused with frost energy couldn’t harm him—no, it was more like they were not trying to hit him on purpose.
Each aura blade bypassed him and embedded itself into the ground, as if they were avoiding Deus for some reason. It looked like some invisible force was making the aura blades avoid him, but Siegfried was not shaken.
Why?
It was all because he had a plan.
‘Now!’
He channeled his mana into the aura blades embedded on the ground around Deus, commanding them to explode.
The aura blades failing to land a single direct hit on Deus was already something he had planned ahead for, but…
‘Huh?’
Siegfried’s eyes widened as none of the swords responded to his command.
‘Why aren’t they exploding…?’
It was then.
“My disciple,” Deus smirked and called out to him. Then, he asked, “The heart of swords is shaping mana into an object using your willpower, right?”
“Y-Yes, it is, Master…”
“Well, then…”
Deus waved his hand, and something shocking happened.
Whoosh!
The thousands of aura blades embedded on the ground around him floated up into the sky.
“If they are formed using willpower, then it is only natural that the strong can command them, is it not?”
“N-No way…!”
“My willpower is stronger than yours. That’s why I can command these blades as I please.”
As soon as those words left his mouth…
Fwoooooosh!
The Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain turned and poured down on Siegfried.
***
‘C-Crazy!’
Siegfried was shocked to see the Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain being redirected toward him. The sight of having tens of thousands of aura blades coming at him was nothing short of terrifying.
Was this how his enemies felt fighting against him? Had their minds gone blank, just like what was happening to him?
Siegfried had no idea how to react. Of course, this was not his first time being targeted by the Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain, as he had once fought against Shakiro, who used the same skill on him.
However, the Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain cast by Deus was simply on a whole different level, even when compared to the one used by Shakiro.
The aura blades flew at insane speeds and bizarre trajectories that made them far more lethal than the ones controlled by Shakiro or Siegfried.
’T-This isn’t something I can block!’ Siegfried shrieked inwardly.
However, he was not going to sit around and wait to be turned into a porcupine.
’I have to charge!’
In the end, he decided to charge atDeus.
Why?
It was all because he wouldn’t be able to block the oncoming aura blades, and he couldn’t evade them as well.
Thus, his only option was to engage Deus in melee combat, which would force the aura blades to steer clear of them.
Deus would have no other choice but to turn away the aura blades unless he wanted to be turned into a porcupine together with Siegfried.
”A good decision, my disciple,” Deus said with a satisfied grin after witnessing Siegfried’s solution.
The decision to charge straight at him was both wise and logical.
But that was about it…
“So you decided to step into the tiger’s den?”
Deus performed a flurry of kicks at Siegfried.
‘T-This is a scam! This is too broken!’ Siegfried shrieked inwardly.
He felt like shotgunning and quitting the game altogether after seeing Deus’ insane kicks.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Deus’ kicks struck with pinpoint accuracy, hitting only Siegfried’s blind spots. Not only that, but his kicks were so precise and efficient that there were no wasted movements at all.
One of Deus’ kicks landed on Siegfried’s face.
”Kuheok!”
Bam!
An explosion echoed, and Siegfried was blasted away once again.
This was the second time he was knocked down.
“Tsk… Your body can’t seem to keep up with your judgement,” Deus grumbled, clicking his tongue.
”Argh…”
”I repeatedly reminded you not to be complacent and keep training hard,” Deus said. Then, he looked down at him and continued, “It seems that you’ve become complacent and have been relying too much on the superior skills I have given you and those strange powers you have obtained along the way.”
“M-Master…!”
Siegfried wanted to say something in response, but he couldn’t find the words to refute the accusations.
Why?
It was all because he had been running around resolving all kinds of problems that he barely had time to focus on his training these days.
He could argue that he was doing it for the good of the world, but he did not dare utter such words, as he knew deep inside that spending just an hour sparring with Bruce daily would have made a huge difference.
He would perhaps not be on the receiving end of Deus’ cold gaze if he had been training with Bruce every day.
”I… was wrong, Master. I will not be complacent and will diligently train from now on,” Siegfried said, hanging his head down in shame. Rather than choosing to make excuses, he chose to accept his wrongdoings.
”Yes, that’s how it should be,” Deus replied with a nod. Then, he flashed a grin and said in a mocking tone, “That is if you manage to survive this trial.”
”…”
”Come at me again,” Deus commanded.
Siegfried wiped the blood dripping from his nose and stood up. Then, he bowed and replied, ”Yes, Master.”
Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
He immediately cast Karma Flare and Embrace of Despair around him.
”Here I come, Master.”
”What are you waiting around for? Hurry up and come at me.”
”Yes, Master!”
Siegfried charged at Deus once again—but there was a problem.
’Nothing seems to be working against him…!’ Siegfried thought.
Neither Karma Flare nor Embrace of Despair could get anywhere near Deus
”Oh? So you’re using debuffs this time? Do you think you can weaken me?” Deus scoffed.
Whoosh!
Siegfried responded by swinging his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp, but Deus lightly flicked it away with his fingers.
Wooong!
Just then, a red aura unleashed by Deus suddenly engulfed Siegfried.
[Alert: Status Ailment!]
[Alert: The Red Aura is decreasing your defense!]
[Alert: Your Defense has been reduced!]
[Alert: Your Defense has been reduced!]
[Alert: Your Defense has been reduced!]
(omitted…)
[Alert: Your defense has been reduced!]
Siegfried’s Defense was more than just reduced, as it actually became negative.
But that was not the end of it…
Wooong!
A blue aura engulfed Siegfried.
[Alert: Status Ailment!]
[Alert: The Blue Aura is decreasing your speed!]
[Alert: Your Casting Speed has been reduced!]
[Alert: Your Attack Speed has been reduced!]
[Alert: Your Movement Speed has been reduced!]
’Argh!’
Siegfried couldn’t move even a single step forward.
The effects of the slow debuff cast on him by Deus were so powerful that he couldn’t move even a single muscle. Siegfried struggled with all of his might and barely managed to take one step after struggling for ten whole seconds.
”A sloth would be faster than you,” Deus scoffed before pushing him on the forehead with a single finger.
’Huh? He isn’t flicking me this time—’
BAAAM!
Siegfried felt as if a hammer had struck him squarely on his forehead, and he was flung several meters away.
[Siegfried von Proa]
[HP: ■■■■■□□□□□]
He lost fifty percent of his HP from that single attack.
After being afflicted by the debuff cast by Deus, Siegfried’s Defense got so low that even a light tap was enough to deal critical damage to him.
***
‘Is this quest… even possible to clear?’
Siegfried was starting to suspect whether the game wanted him to clear the quest or not. The Level 999 Hidden NPC, Deus, was clearly on a whole different level, and it was doubtful whether Siegfried could even land a single hit on him.
After experiencing Deus’ might, Siegfried was starting to wonder whether his master was an invincible NPC created by the system through some sort of bug or if somebody was pulling the strings from behind in order to force him to quit the game altogether.
Of course, none of those were the truth, as they were just Han Tae-Sung’s desperate thoughts in hopes of making sense of his predicament.
Deus was another NPC created by the system’s Doppelganger Algorithm, and he was neither a bug nor some evil plot by some hidden mastermind.
Deus was just that overwhelmingly powerful.
It was like there were four invisible walls between Deus and Seigfried, and even a single one of those walls was insurmountable, even if he were to train for an eternity.
Who knew hitting Deus even once would be impossible?
’No, there’s nothing impossible in this world. I can do it. Not being able to deal a single hit doesn’t make sense,’ Siegfried thought as he struggled back to his feet.
Yes, there were insurmountable walls between them, but giving up was never an option for him.
’Let’s keep trying. If I can’t do it, then I’ll just die trying!’
Siegfried knew that Deus was going easy on him, as he would have died long ago if Deus truly wanted to kill him. In fact, he would have died not even a second after the quest started.
”I will… try again, Master,” Siegfried said with a slight bow.
”Go ahead,” Deus replied with a nod.
’Let’s go!’ Siegfried steeled his resolve.
He kicked off the ground and charged at Deus, but he was unable to do so. His body seemed to have already submitted to Deus’ overwhelming power. It refused to listen to him and wouldn’t budge an inch.
