Debuff Master

Chapter 672

“Inkarthus’ dragon heart is going on a rampage?” Siegfried muttered after reading the message that popped up in front of his eyes.

“I will kill... all... I will kill all of you... Hahaha!” Inkarthus exclaimed, cackling as if he was deranged. Then, he roared, “Heed my words, my rampaging heart! Spread thy destruction with the wind...!”

The First Black Dragon managed to squeeze out every bit of strength remaining in his body to use Dragon Tongue one final time with one HP left.

Whooooosh!

A powerful gust of wind blew from the south, and it slowly turned into a storm that raged northward.

“I am going to meet my demise here, but I shall not die alone! I will bring half of the continent to accompany me to the afterlife! Bwahaha!”

These were Inkarthus’ final words, or rather, his dying will. The First Black Dragon, revered and feared by the ancient people as an evil god, stayed true to his nature and remained evil until his final moments.

“That crazy dragon!” Siegfried screamed while fighting against the wind with his Black Crow Wingsuit.

“Oppa... Is that dragon by any chance–?”

“Yes, it’s self-destructing.”

“Self-destructing...?”

“It summoned a storm using Dragon Tongue and is planning to detonate its dragon heart and send its radioactive energy toward the continent.”

It was then.

Whooooosh!

The winds grew stronger and pushed the airships back. These airships were equipped with powerful jet engines made with the most advanced magic technology available yet they were getting pushed back by the wind.

“Argh!” Siegfried groaned and infused his mana into his Black Crow Wingsuit to withstand the winds.

However, the winds were the least of their problems.

‘If that radioactive energy reaches the continent, then...! N-No!’ Siegfried knew very well what would be the consequences if the radioactive energy unleashed by Inkarthus ended up reaching the continent.

How powerful was the Irradiate he often used? Those with low Poison Resistance would drop dead the moment they were exposed to Irradiate. So what if a cloud of radioactive energy unleashed by a Level 998 ancient black dragon swept across ordinary civilians?

‘A disaster! This will be a disaster on a colossal scale! Everyone is going to die!’

Siegfried was mortified after realizing the sheer scale of this disaster. Even if the winds were to somewhat die off, the southern region of the continent would be annihilated by the little cloud of gas that would inevitably reach it.

The people living in the southern coastal cities were guaranteed to be annihilated. The death toll could reach millions at least, and tens of millions at worst, but hundreds of millions of people would lose their lives if the winds were not dispersed in time.

The looming disaster was akin to the radioactive aftermath of a nuclear bomb, which was no less deadly than the First Black Dragon using its breath attack on civilians.

“We must... stop that...” Siegfried gnashed his teeth and growled.

“B-But how? This wind is coming from that dragon’s heart, and it's mixed with–”

It was then.

“Go!” Siegfried shouted and threw her as hard as he could toward the airships.

“Oppa—!”

“Go and gather all of the magicians on the southern coast! They have to stop this wind before it makes landfall!”

“What are you planning, oppa?!” Yong Seol-Hwa screamed after landing on the deck of one of the airships.

“I’ll leave the rest to you in case I fail!”

“Oppa!”

“Let’s see each other soon!”

Siegfried cranked up his Black Crow Wingsuit to the max and flew straight into the eye of the storm.

***

“Hey! Where the hell are you going?!” Cheon Woo-Jin screamed from the flagship’s bridge after seeing Siegfried dive straight toward Inkarthus. “You crazy bastard!”

Unfortunately, there was no way his voice would reach Siegfried, who had already flown into the storm.

Siegfried had already entered the storm and was making his way toward the big black object at the eye of the storm, which was the silhouette of the First Black Dragon.

“Just what the hell is that crazy bastard planning...?” Cheon Woo-Jin muttered, confused by Siegfried’s actions.

Inkarthus’ dragon heart was on the verge of exploding, and the aftermath of such an explosion would kill everything around it. However, he was actually diving straight for the dragon’s heart rather than running away as far away as possible?

This was something illogical no matter which angle it was looked at from, and this kind of reckless behavior was unbefitting of Siegfried, as he was someone who'd always maximize his own profit at all times.

“I guess he has a plan—no, I hope he has a plan...” Cheon Woo-Jin muttered while instructing the armada to evacuate. Forget about the radioactive energy, the explosion triggered by the rampaging dragon’s heart was bound to kill everything around it.

***

‘Senior Kim Han-Yong’s experience is truly amazing...’

Siegfried flew into the fierce storm and thanked Kim Han-Yong. The Formula Rider Legend, Kim Han-Yong, gave Siegfried tips and tricks on how to control mounts, and this allowed Siegfried to control his Black Crow Wingsuit freely.

Thus, Siegfried managed to fly into the storm caused by Inkarthus.

Shwooong!

Siegfried pierced the fierce winds and blizzard to finally reach Inkarthus’ remains. The dragon’s remains could only be described as colossal, and it was impossible to look at its entirety in a single glance.

‘I have to go to the heart!’

Siegfried flew toward the dragon’s chest, where the dragon's heart would be. He had prior experience butchering a dragon, so he roughly knew that the dragon's heart was located somewhere between the dragon’s chest and neck.

‘Over there!’

As soon as he reached the area where the dragon's heart was located—

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You have been poisoned!]

[Alert: You are losing HP!]

—He ended up getting poisoned.

Siegfried was supposed to be immune to most poison after ingesting a green dragon’s heart, but the fact that he still ended up getting poisoned meant that the radioactive energy unleashed by Inkarthus’ dragon heart was far greater than any other poison he had encountered thus far.

“Argh...!” Siegfried groaned and gritted his teeth while clutching his chest. However, he did not stop there. He transformed his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a saber and used the secret technique of Sword Emperor Betelgeuse—Quick Draw.

Chwaaak!

Inkarthus’ hide was cut open.

Sseuuuu!

The First Black Dragon’s dragon heart, which was tainted green, made its appearance. It was thumping wildly as if it was about to explode at any given moment while unleashing a thick cloud of radioactive energy.

But that was not all...

There were a bunch of weird poisonous organisms surrounding the dragon's heart, and they latched onto Siegfried as soon as he cut open the First Black Dragon's hide.

“Ack! Aaaack!”

The poisonous organisms gnawed away at his body, causing him to scream in agony.

[Siegfried van Proa]

[HP: ??????????]

His HP went down rapidly, losing half of it in an instant. The organisms had already gnawed away at his skin, revealing his muscles.

“Argh...!”

Siegfried endured the immense pain and gathered all of his mana. He placed both hands on the dragon heart that was as large as a house and used Attribute Absorption.

This was a risky gamble. Attribute Absorption was the Debuff Master’s skill that allowed him to absorb the four main elements. Despite the risk, Siegfried concluded that this was his only option right now.

He placed his trust on the Debuff Master’s skill—no, in the skill that Deus had created, and attempted to absorb the rampaging radioactive energy within the First Black Dragon, Inkarthus’ heart.

Why was he taking such risks?

He was doing it for everyone. He would not hesitate to put his life on the line if it meant preventing the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. This was proof that Han Tae-Sung was already completely immersed in the game, BNW.

Woooong!

Siegfried had decided to absorb the rampaging mana inside Inkarthus’ heart to save the Nurburg Continent.

[Alert: You have absorbed 1,000 radioactive energy!]

[Alert: You have absorbed 100 Mana!]

[Alert: You have absorbed 1,000 radioactive energy!]

[Alert: You have absorbed 100 Mana!]

[Alert: You have absorbed 1,000 radioactive energy!]

[Alert: You have absorbed 100 Mana!]

Surprisingly, Attribute Absorption started absorbing the mana in Inkarthus’ heart.

[Alert: Warning! Warning! Warning]

[Alert: Your mana hall is being overloaded!]

[Alert: Your mana hall is too full!]

[Alert: You are in danger!]

[Alert: You cannot absorb any more radioactive mana!]

A string of warning messages popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes, but he didn't stop.

“Argh...! N-No! I can’t stop here! Even if I—argh! Die! Just a bit more...! Even if it’s just a little bit...! Aaaaaack!”

Siegfried screamed at the top of his lungs in a bid to prevent himself from losing consciousness and to continue absorbing the radioactive mana.

It was then.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You have lost consciousness!]

[Alert: Your character will move through its subconsciousness from now on!]

[Alert: Please standby!]

Another set of warning messages popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes before his vision went black.

“What the hell?!” Han Tae-Sung exclaimed in sheer disbelief. This was the first time he experienced losing consciousness that didn't log him out of the game forcefully.

“What happened? What’s going on?”

He could not make sense of what was currently happening, but there was nothing he could do about it right now.

“I have no idea what’s going on anymore...” he muttered, baffled by what just happened. In the end, he had no other choice but to wait until his character regained consciousness.

He waited and waited but there were no signs of his character regaining consciousness.

One hour, two hours, and three hours later....

Ding!

Slightly over three hours later, another string of messages popped up on the screen.

[Alert: Your character has regained consciousness!]

[Alert: Please get ready!]

[Alert: 3... 2... 1...!]

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

Han Tae-Sung opened his eyes a bit and regained vision from Siegfried van Proa’s point of view. Surprisingly, Siegfried was still alive, judging by how he had regained consciousness rather than getting logged out from the game.

“Ughh...”

He slowly opened his eyes.

Ding!

A message popped up in front of him as soon as his eyes were fully open.