Debuff Master - Chapter 1199

Chapter 1199

Siegfried’s party dug into the ground and waited for the storm to pass overhead.

Whoooooosh!

Fwoooooosh!

Shwiiik!

After about two hours, the sound of raging winds finally reached them.

“Stand by.”

Siegfried waited until the eye of the storm perfectly aligned directly above the pit they were hiding in.

Fwooooooooosh!

As the storm passed over the pit, a vicious gale passed right above their heads.

Even though they were hiding underground, the winds generated by the storm were so vicious that they created a vortex.

Digging a pit and hiding underground had lessened the danger, but it could not completely negate the storm’s winds.

“Hold on tight! Don’t get blown away!” Siegfried shouted.

The party members jammed their weapons into the earthen walls and clung on with all their strength, struggling not to be swept up by the winds.

Just then…

“Hyung-nim! Uwaaaah!”

Seung-Gu was the first to be sucked up by the vortex and dragged out of the ground.

“Uwaaagh!”

“Uwaaaah!”

“Kyaaaaah!”

One by one, the other party members were also sucked out by the vortex and flung out, just like Seung-Gu.

The storm’s winds were so overwhelmingly powerful that they extracted the ones hiding inside the pit.

With each roar of the vicious winds, a dozen party members were uprooted from their spots.

In the end, the only one left holding on was Siegfried.

It was anything but easy even for him.

“A-Arghhh…!”

Siegfried drew upon his Primordial Force, strengthening his body and fighting with everything he had not to be swept away by the winds.

“Kyuuuu! Hold tight! Hold on, or you will be blown away, owner punk!”

“I know that already!”

After enduring the vicious winds for about fifteen minutes…

“Huh?”

Siegfried sensed that the winds were quieting down.

The winds were so vicious just a while ago, but they suddenly died down. It was like Siegfried had suddenly found himself in the middle of a peaceful, windless day.

‘This is it!’

Siegfried realized that the eye of the storm was now positioned directly above him.

He carefully climbed out and saw a massive, swirling portal.

‘That’s it.’

He instinctively knew that this portal was the eye of the storm, so he hurled himself into it without any hesitation.

[Eye of the Storm: World of Chaos]

A notification marking his current location popped up in front of his eyes.

He had successfully infiltrated the dungeon without breaking through the vicious winds.

Unfortunately, he was alone. The one thousand party members he brought along with him weren’t around him anymore. All of them had been swept away by the winds, leaving Siegfried with no choice but to attempt to clear the dungeon by himself.

While he did enjoy solo plays more than party plays, this dungeon was far better suited to raid with a full raid squad.

As the saying went, “one hand cannot do the work of ten.”

Siegfried would prefer to have his companions with him this time, as it would make the raid easier and increase the chances of completing it.

Failing to clear this Ancient Dungeon meant that the Proatine Empire would be decimated by the storm and wiped off the face of this world, so he needed to clear this dungeon no matter what.

Thus, Siegfried was starting to feel the absence of his comrades far more than before.

‘It can’t be helped. There’s nothing I can do about it now.’

As soon as he decided to make his move…

Ding!

A quest notification popped up in front of his eyes.

***

The quest details were as follows…

[Subdue the Storm!]

[Defeat Gricale, the boss monster of the Hill of Storms dungeon.]

[Type: Time Attack Quest]

[Time Limit: 120 hours]

[Progress: 0% (0/1)]

[Reward: Eye of the Storm]

[Warning 1: The Proatine Empire will be destroyed if the quest is not cleared within 120 hours.]

[Warning 2: The storm will grow even larger and sweep across the entire world.]

“W-What?!”

Siegfried’s eyes widened after seeing that the quest reward was none other than the Eye of the Storm.

The Eye of the Storm was the last material he needed to complete the final masterpiece of the Legendary Blacksmith, Herbert.

[Herbert’s Blueprint]

[A blueprint of the most powerful weapon of mass destruction. A Grandmaster blacksmith will easily understand it, and they will be able to complete Herbert’s final masterpiece as long as they have the following ingredients.]

[Type: Recipe (Universal Weapon)]

[Materials:]

[Rod of God × 1 ✓]

[Omnipotent Mechanical Gear × 1 ✓]

[Horn of Chromatic Dragon × 1 ✓]

[Soul of the Vampire Lord × 1 ✓]

[Eye of the Storm × 1]

[Universal Rated Mana Stone × 3 ✓]

[Heart of the Demon King × 1 ✓]

At present, Siegfried had collected every single material he needed except for the Eye of the Storm.

He had hit a dead end and was unable to find any lead on where he could obtain it, but now, the final piece of the puzzle had appeared before his very eyes.

“Kyuuuu! What’s wrong, owner punk? Why are you so shocked?” Hamchi asked.

“Well… If I clear this dungeon, I can obtain the Eye of the Storm,” Siegfried replied, still looking stunned.

“Kyuuu?! T-Then owner punk will get a Universal-rated weapon?!”

“I-I think so…?”

“Kyuuuu! Then owner punk will be truly invincible! Invincible Owner Punk!”

“Being invincible doesn’t sound bad at all…”

Siegfried couldn’t help but like the idea of becoming invincible after obtaining a Universal-rated weapon.

Even now, just wielding a Sanctified-rated weapon, the +10 Sky Piercer, was already a huge boost to his power.

What if he obtained a Universal-rated weapon? In that case, he would, without a doubt, become exponentially more powerful.

By then, perhaps no one would be able to stop him, unless they, too, possessed a Universal-rated weapon.

‘If I complete this, I’ll truly be invincible. Yes, this is the chance to complete it.’

The quest to finish Herbert’s final masterpiece had been waiting for nearly four years now.

Now, by clearing the Hill of Storm dungeon, he would finally complete this quest.

“Let’s go!” Siegfried exclaimed, sounding thrilled.

“Kyuuuu! Let’s go, Invincible Owner Punk!”

Thus, Siegfried and Hamchi set off toward the core of the Eye of the Storm: World of Chaos.

The interior was extremely peculiar and could only be described as bizarre.

Structures built with architectural styles from different eras were jumbled together, strange plants never seen on the continent before sprouted everywhere, and massive houses hung upside down in the sky.

It was like entire cities from different eras were scrambled together and mashed into one giant chaotic world.

‘I wonder what kind of monsters live here?’ Siegfried wondered.

It was then.

Whooooosh!

From a distance, hundreds of giant pinwheels came rapidly toward Siegfried.

[Blood Pinwheel]

[A monster inhabiting the Eye of the Storm: World of Chaos]

[These gigantic pinwheels are harbingers of bloodshed and terror.]

‘Eh? Isn’t this a bit too… childish?’ Siegfried thought. He gripped his +10 Sky Piercer. Then, he activated Karma Flare and Embrace of Despair, afflicting the approaching Blood Pinwheels with debilitating debuffs.

After stacking debuffs on them, he charged straight in to attack, but…

Shwiiiik! Shwiiiiik!

The Blood Pinwheels seemed to spin in place after being slowed down by Embrace of Despair, but then they suddenly spun rapidly and unleashed a storm of razor-sharp blades.

“What?!”

Caught off guard by the rain of blades, Siegfried quickly activated Invincible Spear Art and blocked every single one raining down on him like a storm.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Invincible Spear Art truly lived up to its name. It was truly a martial art that transcended human limits, as it automatically intercepted even the blades that Siegfried would have otherwise missed.

“…!”

The Blood Pinwheels came to a stop, seemingly confused by the fact that their attacks failed to hit their mark.

However, they soon bared their aggression once more, and their second assault proved even more threatening than the first.

Shwiiiiiiik!

The Blood Pinwheels spun wildly and threw themselves straight at Siegfried.

“Eh?” Siegfried muttered, tilting his head in confusion.

The Blood Pinwheels were moving at a snail’s pace just moments ago, but they were not moving as if they were not being slowed down at all.

“Ah!”

Siegfried immediately realized the reason after taking a closer look. The spinning Blood Pinwheels were cloaked in Hyper Armor, a skill that granted immunity to status ailments while it was active.

Debuffs and knockbacks wouldn’t work against enemies with Hyper Armor, which meant…

‘I’ll just smash them to pieces then.’

Siegfried activated Discharge and amplified the effects of Karma Flare. Then, he unleashed a barrage of spear strikes upon the Blood Pinwheels charging at him.

From experience, Siegfried knew that the surest way to subdue enemies like these was to crush them with overwhelming damage.

Of course, dodging the attacks of the Blood Pinwheels while attacking was no easy feat, as the angles and trajectories of their attacks were so erratic that they were nearly impossible to predict.

However, his monstrous reflexes and combat instincts made it possible for him to dodge the attacks while his Invincible Spear Art blocked the ones that he missed.

After that fierce battle—

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

(omitted…)

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

Siegfried gained a massive amount of Experience Points, but he shrugged it off and immediately set off to find the boss monster, Gricale.

“Let’s go, Hamchi.

“Kyuuuu! Got it!”

He had no time to waste.

Obtaining the final material required to complete the Universal-rated weapon was one thing, but the fact that the Proatine Empire would be wiped off the face of the world if he failed to clear this dungeon was an even more pressing matter for him.

In other words, every second mattered to him right now, and he did not have a single second to waste.

***

On the way to find the boss monster…

“This dungeon’s concept is… just pure chaos,” Siegfried grumbled as he looked around.

Shwiiiiing!

The sound of something flying reverberated in the air before being followed by—

Kaboom!

A shell landed and exploded out of the blue.

“…!”

Siegfried and Hamchi immediately jumped to the side.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Artillery shells bombarded where they stood mere moments ago, turning it into rubble.

‘Artillery fire? Out of nowhere?’

Siegfried pressed himself against the wall of an old building while analyzing the situation.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Out of nowhere, more than two hundred Iron Golems appeared, and leading them was none other than Seung-Gu, who was piloting Reventon.

“Huh? Isn’t that Seung-Gu? What’s that punk doing here?” Siegfried muttered, tilting his head in confusion.

He thought that Seung-Gu had mistaken him for a monster and opened fire, so he decided to step out from behind the old building.

“Hey! Seung-Gu! It’s me!”

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The moment Siegfried came out of hiding, all two hundred Iron Golems aimed their cannons and unleashed a barrage of artillery fire at him.

“Hey! Seung-Gu! What the hell are you doing, man?!” Siegfried screamed while ducking for cover.

Just then—

Shwiiiik!

An arrow suddenly came from out of nowhere and struck Siegfried in the back.

The arrow packed quite the power that his back would have been pierced through if his defenses had been even a bit weaker.

“Argh!” Siegfried groaned and staggered.

Swiiiiiiish!

A rain of arrows came pouring down upon him.

Sure enough, the one firing the arrows was none other than Gosran.

Seung-Gu and Gosran.

The very comrades who were swept away by the storm before entering the dungeon had reappeared as dungeon monsters.

But that was not the end of it…

“Intruders… must be eliminated…”

“Unforgivable…”

“Eliminate the intruders…”

The other Adventurers who were blown away by the raging winds showed up and joined the battle.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Countless soldiers of the Marchioni Empire also emerged and rushed at Siegfried.

The one thing they all had in common was the fact that every single one of them were among those who vanished after being swept away by the massive storm.

But even that was not the end of it…

Fwooosh!

Shwoooosh!

Dozens of small whirlwinds suddenly formed in thin air and began closing in on Siegfried at terrifying speed.

It was a complete catastrophe—utter chaos.

Siegfried found it extremely difficult to defend himself against so many different types of enemies. To make matters worse, they were charging at him all at once.

‘There’s no way I’m backing down from something like this!’

Clenching his teeth, Siegfried activated the third stage of Overclocking.

Bzzt! Bzzzzt!

Then, he activated the Shield of Malice and explosively increased his Defense.

‘I’m going to wipe them all out and clear this damn dungeon!’

With that resolve, he unleashed Infernal Hellscape and Frozen Hell.

Fwaaaaaah!

Shwoooo…!

Right after his area of effect skills were unleashed, Siegfried began slaughtering every enemy that came charging at him, regardless of who they were.