Debuff Master

Chapter 754

“Siegfried van Proa.”

The Savior pursued Siegfried at a slow leisurely pace. Not a single step was taken hurriedly, and he looked as if he was a predator enjoying the thrill of the hunt before finishing off his prey.

“Running is futile. Death is the only thing awaiting you. Accept the weight of your sins. The wrath of the souls you have slain will tear you apart, and that is the punishment I have bestowed upon you.”

The Savior spoke as if Siegfried’s fate was sealed and that he was dancing in the palm of his hand.

The waves of wraiths chased relentlessly after Siegfried.

“Damn it!” Siegfried cursed.

Huff...! Huff...!

He was panting out of exhaustion from dodging the wraiths' relentless attacks. Thanks to Shadow Hell, he managed to slow them down considerably, which gave him a few precious seconds to escape, but the wraiths pushed through the debuff field and closed in on him.

Despite his best efforts, the wraiths were gaining ground on him with each heartbeat.

Shadow Hell was an area of effect skill, so its effects disappeared once the wraiths were no longer in range.

“Die!”

“Where are you going, Siegfried van Proa?”

“Face the consequences of your sins!”

“Come with me to hell...!”

The wraiths surged forward like a tidal wave as soon as they were out of Shadow Hell's range, and their speed became terrifying once again.

Siegfried was headed for the throne room, where King Frederick was located, and he was almost at its doorstep.

However, the wraiths were closing in on him fast, and they surrounded him from all sides like a noose tightening itself around his neck.

‘What the hell do they want me to do?!’ Siegfried gritted his teeth and raged out of frustration. The wraiths threw themselves at him. Killing them would only make his situation worse, as they grew stronger with each death, just like the Night Stalkers.

‘Damn it!’

Siegfried was forced to activate Overclocking to enhance his defense so that he'd take less damage from the wraiths. He had to reduce the damage he was taking, as there were so many wraiths attacking him that even the smallest of damage would become massive once multiplied by the number of wraiths.

Siegfried transformed his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a shield and pushed forward while fending off the frenzied assault from the wraiths trying to drag him to hell with them.

Amidst the chaos, a flicker of hope appeared...

[Alert: Shadow Hell has 3 seconds remaining before cooldown!]

[Alert: 2 seconds!]

[Alert: 1 second!]

[Alert: Shadow Hell is now available for use!]

As soon as Shadow Hell went off cooldown, Siegfried placed it down once again, significantly slowing down the wraiths.

It seemed like he was finally going to break through the waves of wraiths, but hope was quickly snuffed out. The wraiths rushed out of the debuff field's range once again, and it seemed like they were pushing each other forward rather than just moving forward, so they easily escaped Shadow Hell’s.

The pathway to the key to the ordeal, King Frederick, was closing slowly, and the sight made Siegfried feel even more anxious.

‘I’m finished if Frederick dies. I have to reach him fast!’ Siegfried thought urgently.

The wraiths rushed at him, and their cries grew louder as if they were dead set on not giving Siegfried even the space or space to think.

“Where are you going, Siegfried van Proa?”

“You fiend!”

“I will not rest until you are in hell with me!”

Kyaaah! Kyaaah! Kyaaah!

They surrounded him and drove him to a corner while unleashing multiple attacks at once.

“Argh!” Siegfried gritted his teeth after getting hit from all sides.

His buffs managed to mitigate the damage, but the wraiths’ attacks were like droplets of water wearing down a stone. The constant barrage, no matter how small the damage was, chipped away at his HP. At this rate, his HP bar would be exhausted in no time.

“I can’t even kill them!” Siegfried gnashed his teeth in despair.

Brrr!

And that was when he sensed something vibrating in his pocket...

“...!”

Siegfried dodged an oncoming attack and infused his mana into the vibrating object in his pocket. The next moment, a portal opened right next to him.

Half a second later, a wave of people rushed out from the portal and surrounded him.

“Hyung-nim!”

“Tae-Sung!”

“Guildmaster!”

“Oppa!”

They were none other than Yong Seol-Hwa, Gosran, Seung-Gu, Daytona, and the Head Crusher Guild members. They had all come to his aid, and they surrounded him as soon as they emerged from the portal.

“Wait!” Siegfried cried out urgently, barely managing to make his voice cut through the chaos. He had no intention of letting his guild members mindlessly cut down the wraiths and ending up empowering them. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Don’t kill them! They will only get stronger every time they die! Just block or slow them down! Whatever you do, don’t kill those things!” Siegfried shouted. Then, he looked at his comrades and asked, “Can you hold them off for me?”

“Of course,” Yong Seol-Hwa replied with a confident nod.

“Then I’ll leave this place to you. Remember, do not kill any of them. Just hold them off or push them back. I’ll explain everything later,” Siegfried said, his voice firm and resolute.

“Got it, Oppa.”

“Thanks!”

Siegfried left his guild members to fend off the waves of wraiths before dashing for the throne room, where King Frederick was located. He moved as fast as he could without even looking back.

***

Siegfried sprinted with all of his strength. He could feel his heart pounding with urgency as he finally reached the throne room, where King Frederick and Hamchi were located.

He only had one thing on his mind—break whatever kind of curse this was and escape from the Iron Palace. Time was running out, and all of them would perish in this place if he didn't act soon.

The vengeful spirits roaming across the Iron Palace were simply too many to fight off forever, and he knew very well that they would be overrun by them before long, even though the Head Crusher Guild had come to his aid.

He needed to act fast.

‘There they are!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly after spotting Hamchi and King Frederick.

Hamchi fought furiously against the vengeful spirits of the Zavala Kingdom’s former kings.

“Kyuu! Kyuuu! Kyuuuuu!”

“Surrender that brat to us, Great Spirit!”

“Come out of hiding, Frederick!”

“You coward!”

“How dare you try to live after everything you’ve done?!”

Even as the vengeful spirits attacked Hamchi, their focus remained on King Frederick alone.

“M-Mercy! Please, forgive me!” King Frederick cried out. His face was riddled with terror and smeared with tears and snot.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Even while King Frederick begged and trembled in fear, Hamchi fought valiantly to protect him.

“Hamchi!” Siegfried shouted.

“Kyuuu! Owner punk!” Hamchi cried out in response.

“Thanks for holding them off!”

Siegfried darted forward with his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp still in its shield form. He bashed the vengeful spirits back, then grabbed King Frederick by the collar.

“Tell me!” he demanded.

“W-What do you mean?” King Frederick stammered, his face still riddled with fear and panic.

“How do I kill the Savior? Tell me, now!”

“I-I don’t know! How could I possibly know that?!”

“What?! You don’t know?” Siegfried snarled, his face twisting out of frustration.

“I-I swear! His power is beyond comprehension...! He’s a transcendent spirit that emerged from the portrait—”

Siegfried cut him off and asked, “Wait a minute. A portrait? What portrait are you talking about?”

“Y-Yes, he resides within his portrait. He will only appear when summoned. I know nothing of how to destroy him aside from that...!”

“A portrait...” Siegfried muttered. His mind raced at King Frederick’s words, and he remained fixated on the mention of the portrait where the Savior had come from.

“So he comes from a portrait? Maybe the portrait acts as a portal... But if that’s true, would destroying it even kill him? Hold on... Could the portrait itself be one of his core?”

Siegfried could finally see a glimmer of hope. The idea seemed plausible, as liches could only be killed by destroying their life vessels, which were objects that held their souls.

Liches preserved their life force in such vessels, and they were basically immortal as long as those vessels were intact.

‘This might be something similar to that. The Savior is an intangible spirit resistant to physical damage, just like a lich. So if the portrait is acting as his life vessel, then...’

Just then, a message popped up in front of his eyes.

[Alert: You have completed the Quest – Protect the King of the Fallen Kingdom!]

[Alert: You have obtained a crucial piece of information as a reward!]

The solution to defeating the Savior popped up before his eyes after that.

[The Savior is an immortal transcendent spirit without a physical form. However, his core resides within a portrait. Destroying the portrating will kill the Savior.]

‘Finally!’ Siegfried rejoiced inwardly. He had just gotten the clue that he had been desperately looking for.

“P-Please spare me, Siegfried van Proa!” King Frederick whimpered. Then, he knelt on the ground and groveled, “Y-You already won the war! You don’t need to kill me too, do you?!”

“Fine,” Siegfried replied.

“R-Really?” King Frederick stammered, his eyes widening with hope.

“Just stay put and don’t try to pull anything. I’ll kill you the moment you try something funny.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Hey, Hamchi!”

“Kyuuu!”

“Hold on for a little longer! I’ll put an end to this soon!”

“Don’t worry, owner punk! Hamchi will protect this royal fool! Kyuuuu!”

“Thanks!”

Leaving King Frederick under Hamchi’s protection, Siegfried dashed toward where the Savior was last seen.

***

“T-This is absurd...!” one of the Head Crusher Guild members yelled. He could barely keep the wraiths at bay.

“They keep coming, but we can’t kill them, or they will come back stronger!”

“Argh!”

The Head Crusher Guild members were struggling against the unrelenting attacks of the wraiths. They were forced to defend or knock them back while ensuring that the wraiths wouldn't die, making this battle far more exhausting than it was supposed to be.

To make things worse, whenever one of them accidentally killed a wraith, it would return even more powerful than before, making this defensive battle an even worse nightmare.

“Bring me Siegfried van Proa!”

“Where is he?!”

“Give him up, now!”

The wraiths howled for Siegfried, and their fury grew stronger by the second.

“Foolish mortals...”

The Savior shook his head and feigned pity while observing the chaos from the back.

“What good will come from protecting Siegfried van Proa? He has already abandoned you to save his own skin. Would a true comrade leave his allies to die while he runs away on his own?”

“Shut up!” Gosran roared and fired arrows at the Savior, refusing to believe the accusations.

“Hyung-nim would never abandon us—!”

It was then.

“Take my hand, Adventurers,” the Savior said in a soft gentle voice as hundreds of dark hands emerged from his robe. Then, he extended his hands to the Head Crusher Guild members and offered, “Join me, Adventurers. Together, we will cleanse this world.”

“No!”

“Shut it!”

Gosran and Yong Seol-Hwa shouted back in an attempt to resist the temptations, but the Savior’s hypnotic powers were far too overwhelming for them.

“U-Unni...! M-My hands aren’t listening to me...! T-This hypnosis is too strong...!”

“A-Arghhh...! I can’t... resist...!”

The two of them instantly fell under the Savior’s thrall. His hypnosis was so powerful that only those with extremely high Magic Resistance could resist it.

They stood no chance against him, as they didn't possess a skill like the Wave of Oppression.

“Now, my servants. Heed my commands,” the Savior said.

“Yes, Master.”

The Head Crusher Guild knelt before their new master, the Savior. They had completely succumbed to his hypnosis.

“Go and bring me Siegfried van Proa. You must capture him alive.”

“As you command, Master.”

The Head Crusher Guild members set off under the Savior's command, and their target was none other than their own guild master, Siegfried van Proa.