Debuff Master - Chapter 1156

Chapter 1156

A split-second from death…

‘I have to hold out! I can’t die here!’

Siegfried activated the only defensive skill he had remaining, the new skill he had obtained after becoming the Invincible Emperor, the Shield of Malice.

[Shield of Malice]

[Even defense must become offense at times.]

[A defensive skill of the Invincible Emperor.]

[This skill cannot be interrupted or dispelled.]

[While it is a defensive skill, it is also the ultimate offensive skill.]

[Type: Active Buff Skill]

[Level: 1]

[Effects:]

— Reduce all damage received by 90% for 1 minute.

— Anyone who attacks the Invincible Emperor while this skill is active will receive a debuff. The debuff stack increases with hit count.

— The Invincible Emperor will receive Hyper Armor. Hyper Armor cannot be broken while this skill is active.

Siegfried cast Shield of Malice and received Sigurd’s blow head-on.

Shwik, shwik, shwik!

Sigurd’s spear landed on him multiple times, but none of them managed to pierce him.

The massive damage reduction and the Hyper Armor allowed Siegfried to tank every single attack.

‘It’s my turn now!’ Siegfried kicked Sigurd hard and sent him several meters back.

He used Flying Sword to lift his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp off the floor. Then, without missing a beat, he cast Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain, conjuring tens of thousands of aura blades infused with chilling frost aura.

He unleashed the skill before Sigurd could interrupt it with Wave of Oppression.

Sigurd got back to his feet and asked, “What was… that skill?”

“Oh? You don’t know about this?” Siegfried asked in response, tilting his head in confusion. Then, he added, “It’s something I learned from my master.”

“Master… taught you a defensive technique…?” Sigurd asked with a mix of disbelief and surprise in his voice.

“Not sure I’d call it defensive,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

After all, the Shield of Malice was hardly just a defensive skill. It was an insane skill that stacked debuffs on whoever attacked the Invincible Emperor, making it closer to a weapon than a shield.

“A pathetic fool like you… learned a technique I haven’t learned…?” Sigurd muttered, looking shocked. His calm, nonchalant face disappeared, replaced with one of anger.

He was upset upon hearing that Siegfried was taught a skill that was unfamiliar to him.

In his eyes, Siegfried was a talentless, unsalvageable piece of trash. A hopeless fool with a mediocre physique and little potential. Yet such a pathetic fool was actually taught a technique that he had never even heard before?

He was both jealous and furious.

“I’ll kill you. I’m going to kill you and take every technique you have,” Sigurd growled.

Apparently, Sigurd had the ability to absorb the skill of anyone he killed, and there was a high chance he could do the same to Siegfried, as the latter was using the same skillset as him.

‘I have to slow him down. That’s my only chance.’

Siegfried planned to unleash the torrent of aura blades, aiming not at damaging Sigurd but to stack the slowing debuff on him.

‘I have to reduce his elemental resistance, too.’

Siegfried cast Elemental Shower to lower Sigurd’s elemental resistance right before unleashing the Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain.

Shwaaaaa!

Tens of thousands of freezing aura blades rained down on Sigurd.

“A fancy trick. I’ll give you that, junior brother,” Sigurd said, watching the torrent of aura blades raining down on him. Then, he flashed a grin and sneered, “But did you really think your parlor tricks would work on me, junior brother?”

Shwiiiiik!

Sigurd thrust his spear toward the sky in a flurry.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He intercepted every single aura blade, spearing them out of the sky with monstrous precision.

“W-What?!” Siegfried exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock.

He knew that the Invincible Spear Art was broken, but to swat away tens of thousands of aura blades was just absurd.

“Do you finally see the difference between you and me? You’re nothing compared to me. I am in a whole different league,” Sigurd said.

Despite swatting away tens of thousands of aura blades, there wasn’t even a single scratch on him.

Then, he gathered mana at the tip of his spear and…

Rumble!

The air around it warped and twisted.

Siegfried’s eyes widened the moment he recognized this phenomenon. It was the ultimate offensive skill that he had used countless times to finish off his enemies—a move that pulverized the soul of a being.

Sigurd was charging up the Touch of Death.

***

Badump! Badump! Badump!

Siegfried’s heart pounded like crazy at the sight. It was a natural reaction, as no one knew that skill’s destructive power better than he did. Just brushing against it was more than enough to result in instant death, and a direct hit meant the obliteration of one’s soul.

Thus, it was only natural for him to be wary of it.

‘What do I do?’

Siegfried’s mind spun as Sigurd closed in with his spear charged up. He couldn’t come up with any solution to the predicament he was in.

However, dying like this was not an option.

‘I guess I just have to go for it.’

Siegfried used Discharge and cranked up his Embrace of Despair. Then, he cast Frozen Hell and turned the entire field into an arctic wasteland.

Slow, slow, and even slower.

If he wanted to defeat Sigurd’s Invincible Spear Art, he had to cripple Sigurd’s Attack Speed, Movement Speed, and Casting Speed.

And it worked…

Sigurd’s movements slowed down visibly.

“Do you think this will stop me?!” Sigurd roared.

While Siegfried was riddled with debuffs, Sigurd’s situation was far worse. Thanks to the Shield of Malice, Sigurd had multiple stacks of a debuff on him.

‘I have a chance of winning now,’ Siegfried thought, charging up Touch of Death.

Rumble!

The space around his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp warped, as the same soul-decimating power charged up at its tip.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

The two charged up their most powerful offensive skills.

Touch of Death versus Touch of Death.

‘Here we go!’

Siegfried charged at Sigurd.

“Are you a moth?! Why are you charging towards your demise?!” Sigurd sneered. Then, he unleashed his domain and dragged Siegfried into it.

Whoooosh!

A dark aura spread out from Sigurd and swallowed both of them up, sending them over to the World of Despair.

[Alert: Your Defense has been reduced!]

[Alert: Your Magic Resistance has been reduced!]

[Alert: All stats have been reduced by 50%!]

Siegfried suffered a further hit to his stats after getting dragged into Sigurd’s domain.

‘You’re not the only one who can do this!’

He cast World of Despair as well, dragging Sigurd into his domain.

It was absurd, but Siegfried’s World of Despair actually manifested inside Sigurd’s World of Despair.

[Alert: World of Despair has been dispelled!]

When the two similar energies collided, the two domains canceled each other out.

Now, only one question remained—whose Touch of Death would land first?

‘Focus! I’m gone if that thing hits me first!’ Siegfried poured every ounce of concentration into dodging the incoming attack and unleashing his own at the same time.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Sigurd struck first, thrusting his spear toward Siegfried. He even switched up his attack patterns and swung his spear like a soul-reaping scythe, as even a graze of the spear was enough to obliterate Siegfried.

Siegfried was forced to evade the oncoming barrage of attacks.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Just then, a small opening presented itself for a split second.

‘Now!’

Whoosh!

He swung his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp with all of his strength—

Booooom!

The attack landed on Sigurd’s skull.

“…!”

Siegfried froze, surprised that he had actually landed the hit.

He hadn’t expected that his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp would be a fraction of a second faster than Sigurd’s.

His Touch of Death landed on Sigurd first, which meant that he won this battle.

“…I warned you, didn’t I?” Sigurd muttered. His neck was bent at an awkward angle from the impact.

C-Crack…!

Sigurd looked at Siegfried straight in the eyes and flashed a spine-chilling grin.

“I told you, junior brother. I am immortal.”

“…!”

“I have gained true immortality. I have already warned you, haven’t I?”

“T-This can’t be…!”

“It’s time to die, junior brother.”

With those words, Sigurd thrust his spear—charged up with Touch of Death—toward Siegfried’s heart.

***

Siegfried was without a doubt the worst enemy Siegfried had ever faced.

He was a true immortal, and it was proven by how he survived a direct hit from Touch of Death.

Siegfried had no way to win against him, except for one.

‘I still have one last trick up my sleeve.’

Dodging Sigurd’s spear, Siegfried pinned his hopes on the final skill he had gained and was yet to use—Ten Steps to Invincibility.

It was all he had left.

Ssseuuu…!

His +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp glowed red and grew hotter until it turned pure white.

‘Dodge the attack…’

Siegfried twisted and avoided the spear.

‘…And strike!’

Then, he landed his first blow.

Bam!

The +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp struck Sigurd.

“I told you! It’s futile, junior brother!” Sigurd roared. He had cranked up his slowing debuff, reducing Siegfried’s Movement Speed into a snail’s pace. Then, he thrust his spear forward, which was still emanating the aura of Touch of Death.

Whoosh!

‘Dodge… And counter!’

Siegfried dodged the spear once again and struck Sigurd for the second time.

Bam!

Third, fourth, fifth, sixth—

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

—Seventh, eighth, and ninth.

He dodged the spear and struck again and again.

“You’re not only pathetic, but you’re a stubborn fool! How many times must I say it? I am immortal! It’s futile!” Sigurd roared. Then, his eyes gleamed as he thrust his spear toward Siegfried’s heart.

‘I-I have to hit him!’

Siegfried twisted, narrowly dodging the spear. Then, he grabbed the spear shaft with his left hand and swung his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp at Sigurd’s head.

Boom!

The tenth blow landed.

“How many times must I tell you?! I am immortal!”

“Argh—!” Sigurd groaned and staggered, clutching his chest.

He looked utterly confused as he dropped to his knees and collapsed flat on his back.

“H-How…? I am… an immortal…”

“Ten Steps to Invincibility. Anything and anyone will die after ten hits, no matter who or what you are,” Siegfried said.

This was the true ultimate skill of the Invincible Emperor.

[Ten Steps to Invincibility]

[No tree remains standing after ten swings of the axe.]

[The Invincible Emperor’s ultimate skill that unleashes immense power with every strike.]

[A target hit ten times will be sentenced to death—no matter who or what they are.]

[The cooldown time and number of strikes required to kill the target are reduced the higher the skill’s level.]

[At MAX level, the skill will evolve into Absolute Invincibility, a skill capable of instantly killing the target with a single strike.]

[Type: Active]

[Level: 1]

[Hit Required: 10]

[Cooldown: 24 hours]

[Effect:]

— The target will die on the tenth hit regardless of their identity.

— Even immortals will die after getting hit ten times.

“T-Ten Steps… to Invincibility…?” Sigurd uttered, forcing out the name of the skill that killed him. Then, he closed his eyes and said, “In the end… I never managed to… attain the power of… invincibility… I couldn’t attain it… even after becoming… an immortal… The true successor was… not me… it was… you…”

Those were the final words of the man who wielded both immortality and Deus’ techniques.

His head went limp.

Thud!

As soon as his head hit the ground, Sigurd’s body exploded like a bomb.

Kaboom!

He was obliterated into nothingness, and not even a trace of him was left.

“Haa…”

Thud!

Siegfried dropped to his knees the moment Sigurd was obliterated, as he was utterly drained of strength.He was on the verge of certain death just moments ago, but he somehow survived the entire ordeal.