Debuff Master - Chapter 1222

Chapter 1222

Bzzzzzzt!

The electric current unleashed by Berth surged through the water, releasing a stunning one hundred billion volts, which was enough to turn any creature into roasted meat in the blink of an eye.

For comparison, a lightning strike would dish out around one billion volts, which meant that Berth’s attack was a hundred times stronger than a bolt of lightning.

“A-Aarghhhh!”

Siegfried convulsed as the electric current ran throughout him.

“A-Aaagh…!”

Even with the Shield of Malice activated, his resistance was not enough to withstand the electric current. The sheer force of one hundred billion volts was not something even he, a Grandmaster, could endure.

[Siegfried von Proa]

[HP: ■■■■■□□□□□]

Half of his HP was erased in the blink of an eye, but that was not the end of it.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: Your character has been electrocuted!]

[Alert: All damage received is increased by 500% for 300 seconds!]

The status ailment turned Siegfried into glass—someone fragile enough that even a light tap could kill him.

However, he didn’t even have time to worry about that.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: Your character has been stunned!]

[Alert: You have lost control of your character for 30 seconds!]

The one hundred billion volts of electric currents stunned him as well.

Siegfried was rarely ever stunned, which was a testament to the power of Berth’s electric attack.

“Kieeeeek!” Berth shrieked and lunged at him.

Shwaaaa!

The colossal catfish opened its massive jaws wide, ready to swallow Siegfried whole.

“Kyaaaak! What the hell do you think you’re doing, you overgrown catfish?!”

Hamchi grew larger and swam with shocking speed. Then, he slammed into Berth before it could chomp down on Siegfried.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

His massive paws hammered down on Berth’s head again and again, just like a professional fighter pounding on their opponent.

“K-Kieeek! Kyaaaaghk!”

The colossal catfish writhed in pain, stunned after getting repeatedly struck on the head.

It was truly an unbelievable sight.

Berth was the size of a blue whale, while Hamchi was closer to an elephant in scale.

Hamchi grew to his largest size possible, but the gap between them remained enormous. Despite that, Berth was stunned by the gigantic elephant-hamster’s relentless attacks.

Even while underwater, where water resistance slowed every movement, Hamchi’s attacks carried devastating force. His attacks were strong enough to stun one of the Ten Calamities.

‘Good job, buddy!’

Thanks to him, Siegfried remained untouched even while paralyzed and helpless.

[Alert: Stun duration has ended!]

[Alert: You have regained control of your character!]

Siegfried soon regained control over his character.

“Kyuuuu! Use World of Despair, owner punk!” Hamchi suddenly screamed.

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

“We’re underwater, you dumbass! There’s no water in your World of Despair! How strong do you think a catfish out of water is?! Kyuuu!”

“Ah!”

“Use your brain for a change, will ya?! Kyuuu!”

The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. Siegfried decided to do what Hamchi said and swam toward Berth as fast as he could.

The colossal catfish had yet to recover from being stunned by Hamchi’s relentless strikes, so it was vulnerable right now. That meant that this was the perfect moment for Siegfried to drag it into his domain—the World of Despair.

Woooong!

Siegfried cast the World of Despair and dragged Berth into his domain.

***

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Berth thrashed violently.

“…!”

The colossal catfish instantly realized that something was wrong. Its one remaining eye went wide after seeing that it was no longer underwater. It looked around frantically in search of water, but instead of water, there was only an endless void around it.

At that moment, Berth realized that it had been dragged into a completely different world.

The mighty Level 720 boss monster that gave even Siegfried a hard time was now lying helplessly in place. Now that it was out of water, all it could do was flap around, just like an ordinary fish.

“Kieeeek! Kieeeek!” Berth shrieked and spewed a flood of toxic red blood from its gills like a geyser.

As expected of a Level 720 boss monster, it seemed that it was trying to create its own water, as there was no water around it.

The colossal catfish spewed out toxic red blood, as if it was intent on filling the entire place with a sea of venomous blood.

“Hehe…” Siegfried chuckled, finding the desperation cute.

That was all the reaction he gave. He didn’t bother saying anything and just chuckled from amusement.

He had to give it to the colossal catfish; its improvisation was indeed clever.

But was he sacred? No!

Was he worried? Not in the slightest!

Why? It was all because this was no longer Berth’s home court. The World of Despair was the domain ruled by the Invincible Emperor, a space where Siegfried was absolute.

No matter how much toxic red blood the colossal catfish spewed out, it was not going to fill this place up. All Siegfried had to do was expand the space around them—endlessly if he had to—until the colossal catfish eventually got tired or ran out of blood to spit out.

“I gotta give it to you, that’s really creative. Unfortunately, it’s futile,” Siegfried said icily.

With a flick of his hand, he warped the terrain and opened void pits right beside Berth’s gills.

Glug! Glug! Glug!

The toxic red blood spewed out from the boss monster’s gills gushed straight down into the void. Then, Siegfried stretched the space to infinity, making it expand as far as the eye could see.

It was his way of showing the colossal catfish that this place would never get flooded, no matter how much toxic red blood it spewed out.

“…!”

Berth froze, shocked at the futility of its effort. However, it refused to give up.

Bzzt! Bzzzzt!

It charged up its electric currents once again, preparing to unleash yet another devastating electric attack.

“No, you don’t!”

Siegfried instantly activated Wave of Oppression, shutting down the electric discharge.

Bzzzzzt!

Surprisingly, the Wave of Oppression couldn’t stop the electric current.

Why? It was all because the electric current wasn’t the result of a spell, but rather, the result of a biological reaction. In other words, it was not something that could be dispelled.

‘Oh? Fine then. I’ll just dodge it.’

The moment a spark was unleashed at Siegfried, he jumped back and widened the gap between them.

Krwaaaang!

A bolt of lightning charged toward Siegfried, but he was untouched this time.

The only reason Siegfried was electrocuted a while ago was that they were underwater at that time. Now that they were on dry land, the attack was a piece of cake for him to dodge.

“Are you done throwing tantrums?” Siegfried sneered with a smirk.

Then, he charged up his Primordial Force and unleashed Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain.

Shwiiiiik!

Tens of thousands of flaming swords rained down from the sky, unleashing a storm of hellfire aimed squarely at the floundering colossal catfish.

He did not stop there. As a little bonus, Siegfried cast Infernal Hellscape as well.

“Catfish tastes the best when grilled,” he muttered with a grin.

Tssssss!

Berth’s slimy skin began to sizzle and the air was now filled with the stench of roasting fish.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The colossal catfish writhed and thrashed about in agony, but the merciless inferno only burned hotter.

The heat not only sizzled the colossal catfish’s skin, but it also began cooking it from the inside.

Tssss…!

Minutes later, Berth wasn’t just charred black—it was now a living bonfire, as its entire body was engulfed in flames.

Siegfried did not even have to move a single muscle.

Why would he bother? The fire would finish the job for him anyway.

Ding!

[Alert: You have killed Berth of the Blood Sea!]

[Alert: You have gained experience points!]

[Alert: You have leveled up!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 552!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 553!]

Siegfried’s experience points bar was almost full after defeating Agnes of Hunger, and the amount of Experience Points he gained from killing Berth, a Level 720 boss monster, was enough to fill it up twice.

Thus, he gained two whole levels at once.

[Alert: Your quest progress has increased!]

[Alert: The Ten Calamities progress has increased to 20%! (2/10)]

Clatter!

From Berth’s burning corpse, a single pitch-black kettle dropped.

Siegfried flashed his Rune of Insight at it to check the item’s details.

[Kettle of Calamity: Blood Sea]

[A kettle containing the powers of Berth, one of the Ten Calamities.]

[Pour its content into any river or sea, and it will transform into a vast sea of blood.]

[Type: Kettle]

[Rating: Mythic]

[Durability: 1/1]

[Note: This is a single-use item. Once opened, the kettle will break and cannot be used again.]

Now, alongside the Jar of Calamity: Locust Swarm, he had obtained the second Mythic calamity item.

[Alert: You have obtained Kettle of Calamity: Blood Sea!]

“Just wait a bit longer,” Siegfried muttered, clenching his teeth. His fury burned hotter than the flames that had grilled Berth, and it was directed to none other than the Marchioni Empire.

Once he defeated all Ten Calamities and gathered their items, he planned to unleash them all at once and drown the Marchioni Empire in an apocalypse.

***

After killing Berth and claiming the Kettle of Calamity: Blood Sea, Siegfried immediately released the World of Despair.

Shwooong…

The World of Despair receded, revealing the world outside.

“Kyuuuu! Did you finish it off, owner punk?!” Hamchi asked while paddling in the water.

“Why are you even asking? Of course I did, you little punk,” Siegfried replied with a grin.

“Good job, owner punk! Let’s get outta here!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Siegfried grabbed Hamchi by the scruff and flung him over his shoulder. With one kick, they soared up from the depths.

Splash!

Hamchi shook his fur vigorously, spraying water everywhere.

“Hey, watch it, punk!” Siegfried shouted, glaring at the hamster.

“Kyuuu! Look at that, owner punk!” Hamchi exclaimed in response and pointed at the river.

Siegfried shifted his gaze to the river that now reverted to its natural hue.

Unfortunately, the stench of blood still faintly lingered in the air, and the countless dead fish were still floating belly-up.

Still, the damage was not as catastrophic as it could have been, as the river had not been tainted for a long time.

With time, nature would slowly restore the ecosystem on its own.

“Haaa…”

Siegfried sat down on the riverbank to catch his breath.

He had been stuck in-game for over thirty straight hours now, so the fatigue was starting to gnaw at him.

Unfortunately, rest was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

While he had slain two boss monsters that had escaped from the rampaging Ancient Dungeons, one still remained on the loose.

He had to deal with it as quickly as possible, as these ancient monsters grew stronger the longer they were left unchecked.

The only way to minimize casualties was to strike fast and kill them before they had the time to grow stronger.

In other words, Siegfried couldn’t take a break now.

“Ughh…”

He forced his body, which weighed as heavy as lead, to stand.

“Let’s go, Hamchi.”

“Kyuuu?! A-Are you sure, owner punk? I think you really need to take a break!”

“I’ll rest when I’m dead.”

With those words, Siegfried trudged toward the nearest warp gate.

‘Just one more. I’ll kill this last one and then I’ll take a few days off…’

Even though he tried to act as if he was fine to Hamchi, his mind was already consumed by a single thought—rest.

***

A few hours before dawn.

Flash!

Siegfried emerged in the region where the third rampaging Ancient Dungeon was located. It was rampaging in the city of Vanquish, which was hailed as the second capital of the Proatine Empire.

Vanquish was a masterpiece of urban planning, as the city’s architecture blended seamlessly with the natural landscape, making it the textbook example of an elegant harmony of civilization and nature.

For now, Vanquish was peaceful.

Ribbit… Ribbit… Ribbit…

The sound of frogs croaking peacefully could be heard from the distant rice paddies.

Aside from that, the city itself was quiet. The whole city, with its millions of inhabitants, was fast asleep with dawn only hours away.

‘Hmm… It doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong here…’ Siegfried thought.

Of course, he did not let his guard down. Disaster could strike in any form at any moment without warning, so he had to kill the boss monster before it could even unleash any disaster upon the city.

“Let’s scout the area, Hamchi.”

“Kyuuu! Roger that!”

Siegfried unfurled his wings and ascended into the skies above the city to begin his aerial sweep.