Debuff Master

Chapter 546

Siegfried dragged his exhausted figure into battle once again. With every step he took, he'd swing his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp, smashing the heads of his enemies. He was the busiest person in the battle within the Despacito Territory, and it was all because of his debuff fields.

‘I have to step up to reduce our casualties.’

He knew better than anyone else just how helpful his debuff fields were to his allies. The Debuff Master’s debuff fields were so powerful that not only did they nullify the buffs cast by Buffers, but they'd also debuff hostiles, so it was a no-brainer that the debuff fields were immensely helpful in battle.

In fact, the coalition forces would triumph against the undead soldiers with minimal casualties whenever they fought on top of Blaze Field and Shadow Hell.

‘Next...’ Siegfried hurriedly placed down his debuff fields at another location where a large skirmish was happening, and he repeated this process again and again whenever he saw an ongoing battle.

The coalition forces won an overwhelming victory against the Immortal Kingdom in the Despacito Territory. Their strategic use of the terrain, the superior quality of soldiers, and the powerful Adventurers who had joined the operation had played their own roles in their victory, but it was safe to say that Siegfried’s debuff fields had played a critical role in it.

“It’s almost over,” Siegfried muttered. He was leaning against a half-destroyed building and was using Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance to look at the Despacito Territory.

‘Hmm... It will probably be over in an hour or two.’ Siegfried could tell that the city was as good as conquered, and all they had to do was clean up the stragglers hiding here and there.

However, he wasn't satisfied. He noticed on the map provided by Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance that there was a group of undead monsters trying to sneak out of the city.

[Death Breeder]

[The most important unit of the Immortal Kingdom.]

[It possesses the ability to reanimate the dead into undead monsters.]

[It unleashes a powerful aura that empowers all undead units nearby.]

[Type: Monster]

[Race: Kokuras]

[Level: 100]

[Affiliation: Immortal Kingdom]

[Position: Recruiter]

[Rank: Colonel]

[Class: Death Maker]

[Note: It is extremely weak in combat. However, it can raise undead monsters faster than a necromancer, and it is the main culprit behind the Ephedrine Kingdom falling in such a short period of time.]

“Well, look at that,” Siegfried smirked and muttered. He had no plans to let the Death Breeders leave the Despacito Territory. The Death Breeders would definitely raise another undead army once it was safe once again. In other words, it made no sense to let these Death Breeders escape. After all, they were the Immortal Kingdom’s main source of soldiers.

“I’ll be sad if you leave without saying goodbye,” Siegfried said before getting up.

“Kyuuu! Where are you going, owner punk?! You need to rest!”

“Some of them are running away.”

“Kyuuu?! Really? Then we should go catch them! Don’t let a single one escape!”

“Exactly.”

Siegfried and Hamchi chased after the Death Breeders.

“Nephew! Where are you going?” Yong Tae-Pung shouted after seeing him run past.

“I’m going to stop the enemy from making more units!” Siegfried shouted in response.

“Huh?”

“Just rest! I will handle this!”

“Haha...”

Yong Tae-Pung found it so absurd that he couldn't laugh. “He’s quite the lively one. I would be as lively as him if I were ten years younger...”

***

The Immortal Kingdom had ordered all units to prioritize the safety of the Death Breeders, so the remaining Death Knights gathered to safely escort the Death Breeders out of the city.

Just then, an Adventurer blocked their path.

“Where do you think you’re going?” —

It was Siegfried.

“Hey, you guys should leave—if you don’t want to die,” he warned the Death Knights.

Thud...

The weakest Death Knight took a step back but ended up flinching after realizing that it had just taken a step backward. It couldn't be helped, the weakest Death Knight had witnessed what Siegfried was capable of doing, so it instinctively tried to run away to save its own skin.

“...”

Silence ensued.

Then, one of the Death Breeders growled, “You dare block our path? Do you think you will be spared after this?”

“Hmm?” Siegfried raised a brow in response.

“You will pay dearly for blocking our path.”

A cloud of dark energy seeped out from the Death Breeders’ bodies and enveloped them.

Sseuuuu...!

Then, the dark energy materialized into humanoid silhouettes wielding swords.

[Phantom Knight]

[A variant of Death Knight possessing high physical damage resistance.]

[It boasts strong combat prowess, as one could expect from a high-ranking undead monster.]

[Type: Monster]

[Race: Kokuras]

[Level: 270]

[Affiliation: Immortal Kingdom Ghost Knight Squadron]

[Title: Knight]

[Rank: Lt. Colonel]

[Note: Resistant to physical damage]

The new undead monster that appeared was a tricky one. Not only was it a Level 270 monster, but it also possessed physical damage resistance, making it a difficult opponent.

However, Siegfried ignored the Phantom Knights. He struck the ground with his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp and used Splitting Heaven and Earth.

Krwaaaaang!

Splitting Heaven and Earth shot forward in a fan-shape and devoured the Death Breeders and the Phantom Knights.

However, the Phantom Knights survived despite taking the full brunt of the powerful area of effect skill. They did suffer some damage, and their armor was in tatters, but that only lasted for a short moment, as their armor squirmed like a living liquid substance and repaired itself magically.

It seemed that the Phantom Knights not only possessed physical damage resistance but could also recover whatever physical damage they suffered.

“Wow? That's a decent regeneration skill. Not that it matters,” Siegfried said. He was indeed surprised by the regeneration ability of the Phantom Knights, but he was not disappointed or downtrodden.

Why?

It was all because none of the Death Breeders had survived Splitting Heaven and Earth.

Their defense and HP were so low that a single hit from the immensely powerful area of effect skill killed them all.

“You dare!”

“Your bastard!”

“I’m going to kill you!”

The Phantom Knights raged at the deaths of the Death Breeders. Their main mission was to ensure the safety of these valuable units, but the mission had ended in catastrophic failure, as none of the Death Breeders had survived.

The Phantom Knights were knights in nature, too, so they took their failure to heart and directed all of their anger at Siegfried.

However, they could not unleash their anger on him, and the reason was that—

Vrooooom!

—Siegfried ran like the wind the moment he killed all of the Death Breeders.

“Huh...?”

The Phantom Knights were flabbergasted by what happened. Then, one of them suddenly came to its senses and screamed like a wounded beast, “You fucking asshooooole!”

This was the Phantom Knights' first time meeting Siegfried, and their meeting lasted only for a short while, but they could already tell that Siegfried was an asshole.

***

Two hours after the Death Breeders' death....

The flag of the coalition forces was hoisted high above the city gates, signaling the end of the Battle of Despacito.

“Three cheers for the Solid Kingdom!”

“Hip, hip, hurray!”

“Three cheers for the Tame Kingdom!”

“Hip, hip, hurray!”

“Three cheers for the Sistan Kingdom!”

“Hip, hip, hurray!”

“Long live the coalition!”

“Hurray! Long live the coalition!

The coalition soldiers raised their voices and celebrated their victory by cheering the names of their respective kingdoms. The victory they had obtained today was an inspiring victory that boosted the troops’ morale.

The victory today was made even more inspiring after they had successfully minimized their casualties. They employed an unconventional method of dropping troops from airships, which completely bypassed the need to siege the walls.

A siege was one of the types of battle where the aggressor would suffer tremendous casualties, so not having to siege down the walls minimized the casualties of the coalition forces.

It went without saying that the minimal casualty sent the troops’ morale soaring into the sky.

Perhaps that was the reason but—

“Waaaaaah!”

“It’s our Supreme Commander!”

“Long live the Supreme Commander!”

“Three cheers for His Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa!”

“Hip, hip, hurray!”

—the troops went all out singing praises of him, and their voices were even louder than when they cheered the names of their own kingdoms.

‘Ack! L-Leave me alone! I’m tired as fuck!’ Siegfried struggled while being completely surrounded by the soldiers.

He was extremely exhausted after fighting non-stop, killing the Death Breeders, and running away from the Phantom Knights. To make matters he still had to place down his debuff fields to assist the coalition forces in cleaning up the remaining undead monsters.

He wanted nothing more than to rest right now, but he forced himself to show up, as he could not excuse himself just because he was tired. After all, he was the Supreme Commander of the coalition forces.

‘Ahh...’ Siegfried could feel his eyes closing, but he exerted superhuman self-control to stay awake. He went up to the barbican and gave a short speech to commend the troops’ bravery.

“Great job, everyone. Please rest up in your respective areas and await further instructions. That will be all.”

WAAAAAAH!

The coalition forces cheered at the top of their lungs and fervently clapped.

“Long live the Supreme Commander!”

“Three cheers for His Majesty, King Siegfried van Proa!”

“Hip, hip, hurray!”

Siegfried waved at the cheering soldiers before heading to the bed chamber prepared for him inside the castle.

“Are you alright, honey?” Brunhilde asked.

“Yes, I am fine.”

“Please get some rest.”

“I will.”

Brunhilde stayed by his side as they made for the bed chamber. He was so tired that he asked for the strategy meeting to be postponed. Siegfried—no, Han Tae-Sung desperately needed to rest now.

‘The real problem is what comes after... What should I do?’

Nevertheless, the war was the only thing on his mind. He could not concern himself with anything else—or could he?

The moment the door was closed...

“Come here and lie down,” Brunhilde said, leading him to the bed that was once used by the feudal lord of this place.

Siegfried sprawled out on the bed, and he felt his eyelids shutting down.

However, he could not afford to go to sleep yet.

Badump!

He felt his heart skip a beat while staring at Brunhilde taking her armor off.

“Thank you for your hard work today, my love,” Brunhilde said with the sweetest smile while patting his head.

‘Now’s my chance!’

Siegfried would instantly recognize a "chance" the moment he saw one, thanks to his experience as a seasoned gamer. He instantly overcame the drowsiness, which was trying to take command over his body.

Rawr!

He pounced on her and buried his face on her chest.

“H-Honey?! Aren’t you tired?”

“Nope, I’m not.”

“Ah!”

“So...”

A faint glimmer flashed in Siegfried’s eyes as he prepared to start the exciting game of playing mommy and daddy.

But...

“Honey?” Brunhilde was flustered when Siegfried suddenly stopped moving. Then, she took a closer look at his face and asked, “Are you sleeping, my love?”

Siegfried pounced on her like a ferocious hungry beast ready to devour its prey, but he stopped moving the moment he went into her embrace.

Seuruk... Seuruk...!

Siegfried's figure flashed intermittently. In other words, he had succumbed to his exhaustion and had fallen asleep the moment he was about to start the game of playing mommy and daddy.

Brunhilde smiled gently and placed his head on her lap. Then, she patted his head and whispered in an angel-like voice, “Rest well, my precious beloved—the one I love the most in this world.”

Brunhilde stayed by Siegfried's side even as he slept.