Debuff Master

“…!”

Siegfried was stupefied to see that his very own Torrential Flower Rain was making a beeline for him, even though he had cast it just now himself.

Oh my god!

Who would have imagined that one of his main skills, Torrential Flower Rain, would end up getting reflected back to him? Stupefaction was one thing, but the bigger problem was that Siegfried had no idea how to stop his own projectiles from hitting him.

A flower rain of death occurred. Siegfried felt intimidated as he stood before the one thousand razor-sharp projectiles flying toward him.

How was he supposed to block one thousand projectiles zipping through the air at speeds he could barely follow with his eyes?

However, he refused to drop dead here.

He used Flying Sword to keep the projectiles from coming near him and used the Energy Buster skill attached to his Great Champion’s Belt to shoot them down.

Unfortunately, the flower rain of death showed no signs of stopping as they fought through his Flying Sword skill.

Then…

The projectiles flew past him one by one, leaving cuts all over his body.

The Torrential Flower Rain completely enveloped him.

It mercilessly slashed at him without showing any signs of stopping.

In the end, he collapsed to the ground after falling victim to his very own skill—Torrential Flower Rain.

[Siegfried van Proa]

[HP: ◧⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜]

He had less than ten percent HP remaining after taking the full brunt of Torrential Flower Rain—to be exact, he had fifty HP remaining.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You have been afflicted by Bleeding!]

[Alert: You are losing too much blood!]

[Alert: Your bleeding is not showing any signs of stopping!]

[Alert: You will die from excessive bleeding in ten seconds!]

[Alert: 10… 9… 8…]

Siegfried's vision started to darken, but he could still see Chae Hyung-Seok haughtily looking down at him with a sleazy arrogant smirk.

“No, no, you can’t die, Han Tae-Sung. I get to choose when you die,” Chae Hyung-Seok said before opening his inventory and taking out a variety of options. Then, he poured the liquid inside the potions into Siegfried’s mouth.

[Alert: Your HP is recovering!]

[Alert: Your HP is recovering!]

[Alert: Your HP is recovering!]

Siegfried’s monochrome world started to become filled with colors as he drank more potions.

“Chae Hyung-Seok, you bastard…!”

“S-Shut up!”

[Alert: Your bleeding has stopped!]

[Alert: You are no longer afflicted by Bleeding!]

The dozens of potions Chae Hyung-Seok had made him drink managed to heal his wounds, sparing him from death.

“Hey, Han Tae-Sung.”

“…”

“Fuck…” Siegfried cursed under his breath.

***

“Honey…”

Brunhilde was watching Siegfried from afar.

Brunhilde tried to fight back her tears, but the sight of her beloved getting pummeled was still too much for her to bear.

“Child.”

“G-Grandfather-nim!” Brunihlde jumped up in surprise after hearing someone call her.

“You don’t have to be so worried,” Deus said.

“But… He looks to be in so much pain…”

“He won’t be dying, so you don’t have to worry so much. Besides, it’s only normal for a boy to get beaten up a few times, right? This is all a part of his journey to become stronger.”

“…”

“I have my reasons for doing this, so don’t worry and focus on my granddaughter,” Deus said. Then, he smirked and added, “Also, that guy can be quite perverted, so you really don’t have to worry about him.”

“Pardon me? What do you mean by p-perverted—“The source of thɪs content is ɴovᴇl(F)ɪre.ɴet

“Most people will give up when things become too difficult, but that guy has the tendency to keep struggling as if he’s enjoying it.”

“I do not follow what—“

“You will see soon enough.”

“Yes, Grandfather-nim.”

In the end, Brunhilde was forced to walk away.

Deus seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the sight of Siegfried getting pummeled to death by Chae Hyung-Seok.

***

The Rebel Faction achieved a string of victories while Siegfried was away, and every single victory was an overwhelming landslide victory.

Duke Taranis took to the battlefield armed with his newfound power and his overpowered weapon to sweep not only the soldiers and knights of the Royal Faction but also the Adventurers that they had hired.

“This is absurd! Why the hell does an NPC have a +16 weapon?!”

“Run! Run for your lives! We can’t stop that madman!”

Needless to say, the Adventurers were helpless against Duke Taranis. Duke Taranis wielded the power of the Thunder God Vajra, who was one of the most powerful people to have ever walked the face of the continent four hundred fifty years ago.

It would take numerous individuals with special skills to fight Duke Taranis equally, but the fact that he was armed with a +16 weapon only made things much more difficult.

The atmosphere within the royal palace was reminiscent of the air in a funeral home.

“Y-Your Majesty… The traitor, Taranis, has called…”

“…”

“What should we do, Your Majesty?”

“…”

King Allen was unable to decide whether he should answer the call or not.

“Please do not speak to the traitor, Your Majesty. That traitor is surely going to utter deceitful words that will only dishearten Your Majesty,” Duke Undertaker said to not let his liege waver.

“I will… refuse uncle’s call,” King Allen listened to the advice and rejected the call.

“Duke Undertaker.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Do we have… any chances of winning this war?”

“My son has informed me King Siegfried van Proa is coming up with a solution.”

“…”

“Your Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa is a mighty warrior who nearly killed Taranis in their last encounter. There are also rumors stating that he is cunning like no other. I am ashamed to say this, but I believe putting our hopes on him is the only thing we can do right now.”

“Understood, I will hold out for as long as I can then,” King Allen replied, nodding.

“Please be of strong heart, Your Majesty,” Duke Undertaker tried his best to lift his liege’s spirits.

The Kyiv Kingdom had exhausted all of their options, and Siegfried was their only remaining hope to stop Duke Taranis, who was going on a rampage on the battlefield.

***

Meanwhile, Siegfried was still getting one-sidedly pummeled by Chae Hyung-Seok.

Today was Siegfried's tenth day of eating Chae Hyung-Seok's knuckle sandwiches, and he had yet to win even once against the latter.

Chae Hyung-Seok kicked Siegfried's torso.

Siegfried was blasted a few meters away before crashing to the ground.

“…”

Siegfried did not retort—no, it was more like he couldn't retort. He was a complete mess right now, and his stamina had hit rock bottom. He didn't have the energy to utter even a single word. His daily routine was a repeat of logging into the game, getting pummeled, logging out, and struggling with nightmares of the beating he had been receiving.

Getting beaten up by Chae Hyung-Seok was taking a toll on his mental health.

Siegfried had tried every single thing he could imagine while getting pummeled for more than a week, but he knew deep down inside that he had no chance of winning against him.

There was no hope, and nothing was going to change, no matter how much he struggled. The fact that he was going to get beaten up and ridiculed over and over again was not going to change.

“I’m disappointed, Han Tae-Sung.”

“…”

“…?”

“Maybe your wife or your daughter?”

“…!”

“What do you think? It’s a brilliant idea, right?”

Something snapped in Siegfried’s head, and a fierce killing intent welled up in him.

Siegfried's fighting spirit burned once again in the face of Chae Hyung-Seok's threat to mess with his family.

“You fucking bastard!” Siegfried growled while forcing himself to his feet.

“How dare you threaten my family…!”

“Why? Can’t I? I think it’s going to be fun—“

Crimson flames burst out of Siegfried.

“I’m going to kill you…” Siegfried roared with clenched fists; his killing intent, fighting spirit, and his desire to win burned brightly.

Siegfried's pent-up emotions were about to burst out of him when a message popped up in front of his eyes. Then, the mana stored within his mana hall rampaged and swirled around his body like a vortex.

[Alert: You have obtained a new skill!]

A bunch of words that were probably from the Debuff Master’s skill book flashed in front of Siegfried’s eyes.