Debuff Master - Chapter 1114
Chapter 1114
Thus began the game of Hardstone.
“Kyuuu! Hamchi will deal the cards!” Hamchi exclaimed, shuffling the deck with nimble paws and dealing the cards out to the ones on the table.
Meanwhile, Siegfried casually pressed himself against Beowulf, rubbing shoulders and nudging him like a drunkard.
He was doing it all on purpose in order to activate the unique ability of the Dark Abyss: Necklace of Greed and Betrayal, Kleptomania.
“S-Siegfried? Is there something wrong?” Beowulf asked, clearly uncomfortable by the sudden physical contact.
“Oh, just trying to get a little closer to you,” Siegfried replied, flashing a mischievous grin.
“P-Pardon…?” Beowulf muttered, blinking.
“You know, building camaraderie is quite important. Besides, we Grandmasters should get along, right?” Siegfried said, waving his hand. Then, he leaned in even closer and whispered, “Relax. I’m not trying to peek at your cards or anything.”
“…”
Beowulf was speechless and did not say anything further. It was already a well-known fact that Siegfried had a playful and cheeky side to him, so he just decided to think that Siegfried was being himself.
“Let’s have a drink. Cheers,” Siegfried said, raising his glass.
After that, he bumped glasses with Beowulf, nudged him with an elbow, playfully tapped his arm, and constantly initiated all sorts of physical contact.
However, Kleptomania simply refused to activate.
There was nothing strange about it, as Kleptomania had an absurdly low activation. Siegfried could rub shoulders with someone all day and still not get it to trigger once.
After all, it was a broken skill that allowed him to steal an item in someone else’s inventory. From a balance perspective, it was important that such a broken ability could not be abused at will.
‘Come on! Just activate already!’ Siegfried fumed inwardly in frustration.
Out of all the times the necklace could activate, this was the most critical moment. Siegfried needed it to come through for him far more than any other time.
As if sensing his desperation, however, the Dark Abyss: Necklace of Greed and Betrayal remained stubborn and refused to activate Kleptomania.
‘Damn it…’
Two hours into the Hardstone session…
“Let’s take a break.”
“Yeah, let’s rest up a bit.”
The game came to a pause.
“Hey, Han Tae-Sung. Got a minute?” Cheon Woo-Jin leaned in and whispered.
“Sure,” Siegfried replied.
Cheon Woo-Jin led him a short distance away. Then, he turned to him and asked, “So, what do you think?”
Siegfried furrowed his brow and asked, “What do I think about what?”
“What do you think about Beowulf?”
“Well, I’ve been trying to swipe that rabbit-foot pendant of his, but no luck yet. The skill refuses to activate. And we’re running out of time.”
Verdandi was expected to completely dispel the barrier within a few hours, so stealing it now would be ideal.
“What about you? You’ve been watching him, too, right?” Siegfried returned the question.
“He’s very suspicious, alright. I’ve been keeping an eye on him, and he seems to be hovering around Verdandi,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied.
“What?” Siegfried muttered, narrowing his eyes.
The fact that Beowulf kept prowling around Verdandi could be interpreted as him waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
“But let’s be real. Beowulf is insanely strong. Obviously. I mean, he’s a Grandmaster after all. Also, he’s not conditionally strong like me.”
“Okay, and?”
“Well, it won’t be that strange for someone like him to stay near your daughter. I mean, it makes sense if he’s an ally, no?”
“Hmm…”
“I couldn’t really tell, so I just stuck close to him. Who knows what kind of mess he might cause if left alone?”
Cheon Woo-Jin was not wrong. If Beowulf went rogue, then Cheon Woo-Jin was most likely the only one capable of stopping him.
“But there’s still a chance he’s innocent, so I kind of feel bad assuming the worst.”
“No,” Siegfried shook his head. Then, he said firmly, “I’m half-convinced he’s an enemy.”
“Why do you say so?”
“You’re a special case. But him? He’s different.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s done nothing noteworthy. No great feats, no accomplishments, yet he’s a Grandmaster? For someone ranked that high, there’s simply no information about his past.”
“Yeah, good point.”
“It’s always the shady ones with something to hide. Anyway, keep your eyes on him. Meanwhile, I’ll try to swipe that pendant.”
“Got it.”
With that, Siegfried returned to the table and sat beside Beowulf.
‘Just once. Please, just trigger once.’
He clung to that single desperate hope that Kleptomania would activate.
***
An hour later…
“The barrier will be dispelled in two hours,” Brunhidle whispered.
“Got it,” Siegfried replied with a nod.
He wanted nothing more than to rush over and cheer Verdandi on, but he forced himself to stay put. Right now, stealing that rabbit foot pendant from Beowulf was a far more important priority.
“Okay, enough playing around. Let’s get ready for battle,” Siegfried said, flipping the table to bring the game to a halt.
“Kyaaaak! You bastard!” Hamchi snarled, his fur standing up.
“That’s messed up, hyung-nim!”
“Seriously!”
“That was uncalled for, oppa!”
The others erupted in protest, too.
And rightfully so, as Siegfried had been losing badly in that final round and was about to lose all of his chips. Just as the game was about to head to his demise, he used the excuse of battle preparations to end the battle by flipping the table.
Given the circumstances, it was no wonder that his teammates were up in arms.
“Oh, come on! Is some petty gambling more important than saving the world?” Siegfried said, brushing them off with a cheeky smirk.
Then, taking advantage of the distraction, he discreetly guided Beowulf away.
“Let’s go.”
“Ah, sure…”
With that, the preparations for battle had officially begun.
The Adventurers stopped their activities and followed the orders, forming into their respective units.
“We’re taking the vanguard, right at the center. Let’s fight side by side,” Siegfried said.
“It would be my honor,” Beowulf accepted without hesitation. It made perfect tactical sense to have the two strongest warriors take the vanguard at the frontlines.
“I’m looking forward to fighting alongside you,” Siegfried said, extending his hand.
“As am I,” Beowulf replied, shaking his hand.
It was then.
Ding!
A notification popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.
[Alert: Kleptomania has been activated!]
Siegfried almost exclaimed in joy.
‘Finally!’
Still, he kept his cool and pretended like nothing had happened.
While keeping up his poker face, he peeked into Beowulf’s inventory.
It was full of items so expensive that it made Siegfried clench his jaw in envy. Each item looked like it was enough to buy a small guild, and one of them, the Dawn of the Morning, was a legendary weapon that was recently sold for over thirty billion won.
‘Gulp!’
Siegfried’s eyes trembled. He almost gave in to the temptation to snatch the legendary weapon on the spot.
‘No! Focus!’
Exerting superhuman self-control, he snapped himself out of it.
He couldn’t let some item—well, a very expensive item—distract him from his real goal.
Siegfried pushed down his greed and kept scanning the inventory.
“…!”
He froze after seeing a certain item in the very last row of Beowulf’s inventory.
[Rabbit Foot of Regression]
The very item he had been searching for and the reason he had come to suspect Beowulf of being the leader of the Illuminati was sitting in the Inventory.
***
Badump! Badump! Badump!
Siegfried’s heart pounded. Adrenaline surged throughout him the moment his suspicions were confirmed.
‘This bastard… It really was him,’ he growled inwardly.
Flashing a grin, he swiftly swapped out the Rabbit Foot of Regression sitting in Beowulf’s Inventory with the counterfeit copy crafted by Quandt.
Ding!
[Alert: You have obtained the Rabbit Foot of Regression!]
Just like that, a Universal-rated item landed in Siegfried’s hands.
“I’ll go do a quick sweep of the troops and see if they need anything,” Siegfried said casually, playing it cool.
“You’re always working so hard, Siegfried,” Beowulf replied with a smile.
“I’m just doing what needs to be done,” Siegfried said, flashing a smile with a different meaning before turning and walking away.
Beowulf didn’t follow, as he had no idea that the Rabbit Foot of Regression had just been stolen from right under his nose. Once the coast was clear, Siegfried ducked into a quiet spot, opened his Inventory, and examined the item he had just stolen.
‘Let’s see…’
It was his first time clapping his eyes on a Universal-rated item, so his heart raced with anticipation. With trembling hands, he flashed his Rune of Insight at the item.
[Rabbit Foot of Regression]
[A mystical pendant imbued with the power of regression.]
[Using this pendant allows one to turn back time to a designated point.]
[However, the consequences of using it are entirely unpredictable.]
[Type: Accessory]
[Rating: Universal]
[Durability: 1/1]
[Warning 1: This item will disappear after use.]
[Warning 2: Use with caution.]
“Holy shit… I can’t believe an item that lets you rewind time actually exists,” Siegfried muttered in disbelief as he read the item’s description.
If Beowulf had this and activated it, the consequences would be obvious. He would have enough time to eliminate every potential threat. Then, he could immediately open the Celestial Gate to let the angels descend into the Middle Realm.
‘This item has to be destroyed,’ Siegfried thought, knowing that the item couldn’t fall back into enemy hands. He had no intention of using it himself, as he was not someone who clung to the past.
Sure, his past had been harsh and even painful, but he was happy now. He believed that the future ahead would be even brighter than anything he could imagine, so the idea of turning back time held no appeal to him.
‘Hmm… I’ll hang onto it for now and then destroy it.’
No matter how powerful a Universal-rated item could be, it was just a piece of garbage until it was used. Thus, Siegfried resolved to destroy the Rabbit Foot of Regression and got moving again.
‘This is the last hurdle cleared. All I need to do now is fight through this,’ he thought. Now that he held the Illuminati’s final trump card, all that remained was the battle ahead.
Once Verdandi finished dispelling the barrier, they would confront the Holy Alliance and the Illuminati head-on to stop the opening of the Celestial Gate.
Should they succeed, then this long and bitter war that threatened the existence of the world would finally come to an end.
‘We can do it. We can win this,’ Siegfried thought, certain of it.
He had just ascended to the realm of Grandmaster, so his confidence was brimming from him like a blazing sun. He could feel his blood heating up as he started itching to test his newfound powers and prove himself on the battlefield.
For Siegfried, this final confrontation was the perfect stage to make his debut as a Grandmaster.
‘Time to wrap things up. I’m going to end this once and for all.’
Bzzz Mmm!
Just then, a surge of blue light burst from the barrier surrounding Felix.
It was a clear sign that the dispelling of the barrier was nearly complete, and this could only mean one thing…
‘It’s time.’
Realizing that, Siegfried hurried toward the barrier.
“Huff… Huff…”
Ten minutes later, Verdandi finally collapsed from exhaustion—
Shhhh… Shhwaaa…
And the barrier around Felix grew thin.
Once it was dissolved, the hidden landscape of the city slowly came into view.
“All forces, prepare for battle,” Siegfried commanded in a low voice that somehow echoed like a thunderclap, but…
“Huh?” Siegfried blinked in confusion.
The scene before him was not what he had expected at all.
He thought the battlefield would be a city soaked in blood with people writhing in agony as the ritual to open the Celestial Goat unfolded.
However, the scene that appeared before his eyes the moment the barrier dissipated was completely different.
He saw rows of fully armed angels waiting silently in formation.
Unfortunately, this could only mean one thing, and that was—
‘I-It’s already open…?’ Siegfried thought.
He instinctively tilted his head at the sky over Felix.
Flash!
Krwaaaang!
A bolt of lightning illuminated the heavens as thunder echoed overhead.
And there, looming ominously in the sky above Felix, was a massive golden gate.
The Celestial Gate was wide open and was radiating an insane amount of divine power.
