Debuff Master

‘I can do it,’ Siegfried was confident that he could defeat Mercenary King Dreyfus, who was Level 299.

Siegfried had lost only by a thin margin against the Weapon Seeker, who was stronger than an ordinary Master. Thus, there was no reason for him to cower against Dreyfus, who had yet to surpass the insurmountable wall that separated ordinary people and a Master.

Perhaps it was the reason why Siegfried decisively swung his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp toward Dreyfus.

‘H-He’s fast!’ Dreyfus was shocked by his opponent’s insane speed and was forced to jump to the side to dodge the attack.

However, the Mercenary King was not going to go down without a fight. He threw a kick to force Siegfried to defend and counter-attacked by swinging his sword.

Unfortunately, Siegfried was faster than Dreyfus.

Whoosh!

Dreyfus was forced to jump back upon seeing the +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp right in front of his face.

Thud…!

However, he noticed blood flowing down from the tip of his nose.

“...!”

‘I didn’t get hit, but I'm bleeding?!’ Dreyfus was shocked, and a chill traveled down his spine. He was certain that he did not get hit. He had clearly dodged the attack by a hair's breadth, but the tip of his nose still ended up getting ripped.

What if he had ended up getting hit by the attack?

‘That destructive attack would have ended me,’ Dreyfus thought, realizing just how powerful Siegfried’s attacks were, and the realization made him tense up.

“Whoa? You dodged that?” Siegfried said in awe. “I thought I got you just now.”

“...”

“Most people would be dead by now. Ah, you really are amazing.”

“Cut the chatter,” Dreyfus growled. Then, he rushed toward Siegfried and swung his sword once again.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

A fierce exchange of blows ensued, with neither Siegfried nor Dreyfus giving each other an inch. They moved so fast that they exchanged seven or eight blows in the blink of an eye.

The exchange of blows between them was so fast that most people couldn't follow it.

They were maximizing every movement by not performing any flashy attacks, and every single attack was performed with only one purpose in mind—to finish off their opponent.

‘As expected, I can’t overpower him without my debuff fields,’ Siegfried thought. He was currently slugging it out against Dreyfus without his debuff fields, and he had just realized that this wouldn't be an easy fight without his debug fields.

Dreyfus was a veteran mercenary active on the battlefield for more than thirty years, so the amount of combat experience he had was not something that Siegfried could overpower with his class and stats alone.

‘I guess I’ll have no choice but to use my debuff fields,’ Siegfried thought and hurriedly placed down Blaze Field and Shadow Hell.

“Argh!” Dreyfus groaned and became visibly slower.

Whoosh!

The +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp and Dreyfus’ sword clashed.

Clang!

Dreyfus lost his balance from the impact. He couldn't withstand the impact because Blaze Field had shredded his Defense.

‘Now’s my chance!’ Siegfried didn't miss the opening and charged at his enemy.

“Arghhh!”

Dreyfus was in no position to counterattack—no, block Siegfried’s incoming attack. He was still staggering from the first blow, and the Night Stalkers summoned by Shadow Hell were clinging to him as well, making it difficult for him to move.

Swoosh!

However, Dreyfus’ sword suddenly started glowing red as if reacting to the current predicament he was in.

‘This is dangerous!’ Siegfried’s instinct warned him that the Mercenary King was preparing to use his ultimate skill. However, he didn't back down as he continued to unleash a barrage of attacks at Dreyfus.

Meanwhile, Dreyfus was glad that Siegfried had decided to keep attacking him with reckless abandon.

‘Good! Keep coming at me!’

He was preparing to use the skill that had allowed him to climb all the way up to the position of Mercenary King—the Sun Piercing Sword.

The Sun Piercing Sword was an extremely scary thrust-type skill that allowed Dreyfus to pierce his target at a one hundred percent success rate. Moreover, its casting time was so fast that most of his opponents hadn't been able to react to it.

In other words, Siegfried would have a gaping hole pierced through his body if he were to block it rather than dodge it.

‘Now’s my chance!’ Dreyfus roared to himself before infusing his mana to the tip of his sword.

Woooong!

Dreyfus’ sword became redder and redder.

‘Now!’ Dreyfus thrust forward with his sword and used his ultimate skill—the Sun Piercing Sword.

“...!”

However, his eyes shot wide open from shock upon noticing that his flow of mana had gone haywire for some reason. His mana left his mana hall and shot straight to the tip of his sword as if it were a cannon, but it came to an abrupt halt, causing it to get entangled inside of him.

Unbeknownst to him, the reason behind this strange phenomenon was none other than the Debuff Master’s skill, Wave of Oppression. Wave of Oppression had disturbed Dreyfus’ flow of mana, and his Sun Piercing Sword failed to activate as a result.

Thud!

The Sun Piercing Sword could only exert ten percent of its original power and was helplessly blocked by the +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp.

The one hundred percent guaranteed thrust-type skill was actually blocked.

“W-What the hell is–?!” Dreyfus exclaimed, but…

Bam!

He couldn't finish his words as Siegfried threw a knee kick to his midsection.

“Argh!” Dreyfus gasped in agony after an immense amount of kinetic force slammed into his abdomen, causing him to fly backward in a parabola. The knee kick that Siegfried had just performed was no ordinary knee kick.

It was one of the offensive skills of Leonid—the Spiral Knee Kick.

One of the Grappling Master’s skills had sent Mercenary King Dreyfus flying!

***

A duel between experts was usually decided by a thin margin.

‘Combo!’ Siegfried did not miss the opportunity. He put his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp away and rushed at Dreyfus with his fists clenched.

Siegfried was planning on grabbing Dreyfus just before he hit the ground and finishing him off with a combo. Unfortunately, the Mercenary King’s movements were far better than he anticipated.

Whoosh!

Dreyfus twisted his hips in midair and planted one hand into the ground. Then, he spun like a windmill and performed a backflip to evade Siegfried’s grab just in time.

The movement he showed just now was truly befitting of a man who possessed the title of Mercenary King. However, Siegfried wasn't going to give up so easily.

‘Press on and catch him!’

Siegfried closed the distance between them and threw another knee kick.

Bam!

His knee struck Dreyfus’ left thigh, and he followed it with a right jab and a left straight.

Bam! Bam!

Dreyfus couldn't evade in time and was caught by the knee kick and one-two combo, but…

Chwak!

He threw some sort of red powder at Siegfried’s face.

“Ack!” Siegfried screamed when the red powder entered his eyes.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You have been afflicted by Blind!]

[Alert: Your character’s eyes have been stung by chili powder!]

[Alert: Your vision will be limited in the next 10 seconds!]

[Alert: 10 seconds left before your vision is restored!]

It turned out that the red powder Dreyfus had thrown at his face was not poison but chili powder.

Dreyfus was a Mercenary King. He did not care about honor or courtesy and solely fought to win. He would not hesitate to do whatever it would take for him to win, even if it meant being called a despicable coward for it.

It was proven by the fact that he had a handful of chili powder and had hurled it at his opponent’s face. This was the reason he survived thirty years as a mercenary and had even climbed up to the rank of Mercenary King.

Siegfried felt his eyes burn, and he could not see at all.

‘Damn it! Why can’t it be poison instead?!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly. He could have easily resisted it if it were poison, but he had no resistance to chili powder, which made his eyes feel like they were burning.

The momentum shifted back to Dreyfus, and he had no plans of letting this golden opportunity go.

‘This is the end,’ Dreyfus thought. He prepared to use the Sun Piercing Sword once again while Siegfried was blinded.

Bzzt! Bzzt!

Siegfried was blind, but his other senses remained keen. He felt his opponent’s mana gathering at one point, so he immediately countered with Wave of Oppression.

But that was not the end of it…

‘Focus. I must focus.’ Siegfried closed his eyes and listened intently to his surroundings.

His keen ears picked up every single thing around him, displaying them like a sonar image in his mind. The character, Siegfried van Proa, possessed extremely sharp ears that Han Tae-Sung could "see" his surroundings with just his character’s ears.

‘Cut him down!’ Siegfried relied on his ears and used the secret technique of the Sword Emperor, Quick Draw.

Chwak!

The +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp transformed into a saber and split Dreyfus’ sword into two like a bolt of lightning. Then, it continued onward and slashed at the Mercenary King’s chest, which resulted in…

Fwaaaaah!

It resulted in blood spurting out of Dreyfus’ chest like a fountain.

Thud!

Dreyfus then fell backward and crashed to the snowy ground.

“Kyuuu! Open your eyes, owner punk!”

“Ack! That stings!”

Hamchi poured water into Siegfried’s eyes to wash away the chili powder. Of course, his eyes did not immediately recover. He would still have to withstand the burning sensation for quite a while, even though there was no longer any chili powder in his eyes.

“Argh…!” Siegfried groaned and grimaced with his bloodshot eyes wide open. Then, he started walking toward the Mercenary King.

“Huff… Huff…”

Dreyfus was lying on the snow huffing and puffing with a nasty wound across his chest.

“Stop overreacting,” Siegfried said curtly. Then, he took out a potion from his Inventory and poured it on Dreyfus’ chest. The purple liquid seeped into the wound and immediately took effect, healing the wound at a slow pace.

“Are you… sparing me…?” Dreyfus asked.

“I liked how you weren’t shameless,” Siegfried replied.

“...”

“Your wound is not that deep, so you should be up and running soon.”

“But why…?”

“Why don’t you work hard earning foreign currency for me for the next ten years, Mercenary King Dreyfus?”

“Foreign currency…?”

“Yes, think of it as payment for sparing you. I’m sure your life is valuable, so you should work hard and fill my pockets! Hohoho!”

It was then…

‘Eh?’ Dreyfus thought he saw Siegfried’s eyes turn into gold coins, so he ended up blinking a few times just to make sure that he was not seeing things.

***

Siegfried led his forces to the only working warp gate in the Tundra Forest after subduing Mercenary King Dreyfus.

The reason he was heading to the warp gate was simple, and it was for the big red dot on his minimap. Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance showed that the big red dot, Vladimir, was moving quickly toward the warp gate.

Quite a few red dots were following closely behind Vladimir.

Siegfried could easily tell what was happening right now.

Retreat.

Vladimir had probably concluded that the situation was no longer in their favor, so he had decided to retreat with the zealots and the mysterious monsters.

‘I won’t let you off so easily.’ Siegfried growled inwardly. He wasn't going to let go of the descendant of Blood Master Berserk, who was one of the targets of his main quest—Master’s Regret.

Coincidentally, Siegfried and the Proatine Forces were closer to the warp gate than Vladimir, so he could intercept them if he moved with haste.

What was he going to do now?

‘I’ll encircle and annihilate every single one of them,’ Siegfried thought. Then, he raised his sword and bellowed to his troops, “I am the King of Proatine, Siegfried van Proa! Men! Heed my words! We are going to capture the warp gate!”

Siegfried's voice was amplified with mana, so it echoed loudly in everyone's ears.

“Hurray for His Majesty!”

“Long live the king!”

“For Proatine!”

The Proatine Forces raised their voices in response and dashed toward the warp gate like a stampede of angry beasts.

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