Debuff Master

Chapter 673

[Alert: Your skill has been enhanced!]

[Alert: Attribute Absorption has been enhanced to Gluttony!]

A message informing him that his skill had been enhanced popped up in front of his eyes.

[Gluttony]

[Type: Support Skill]

[Effect: Allows the Debuff Master to absorb a huge variety of energies and empower himself using it. An energy that cannot be absorbed will be stored or released.]

[Cooldown: N/A]

Using the Attribute Absorption skill to the maximum caused it to get enhanced, but that was not the only skill that was enhanced.

[Alert: Your skill has been enhanced!]

[Alert: Irradiate has been enhanced to Eraser Swarm!]

Surprisingly, Irradiate ended up getting enhanced, too.

[Eraser Swarm]

[Type: Active Skill]

[Effect: Unleash a green cloud of gas to poison enemies. The green gas of radioactive energy contains poisonous organisms. The poisonous organisms will poison the Debuff Master’s enemies and gnaw away at their bodies. The Debuff Master may choose not to harm his allies.]

[Cooldown: N/A]

[Mana Consumption: 1% of Maximum Mana per Second (Mana cost may increase if the skill’s output is increased)]

The Eraser Swarm was an even more powerful version of Irradiate, and its cloud of gas contained poisonous organisms. On top of that, his allies would no longer fall victim to this skill, which was a massive buff. After all, the fact that Irradiate couldn't differentiate between enemies and allies was its biggest weakness.

“Whoa... Two skills got enhanced...?” Siegfried muttered out of sheer surprise.

[Alert: You have obtained a new skill!]

Then, another message popped up informing him that he gained a new skill.

[Great Explosion]

[The Debuff Master’s last stand.]

[Type: Conditional Active Skill]

[Description: The Debuff Master gathers all of his remaining mana and accumulated attribute energy to trigger a great explosion. This skill may only be used when the Debuff Master’s HP is below five percent.]

[Cooldown: 49 hours]

[Warning: The resulting explosion is extremely powerful, so it is advised to check if there are any allies nearby before using this skill.]

Siegfried grimaced after reading the description of his new skill.

“What’s up with this cowardly skill...?”

Self-destruction skills were mostly used by villains or monsters, and it was frowned upon by people.

“Oh, well...” Siegfried shrugged it off after just a few seconds. He roughly understood the reason such a skill was created. Deus was similar to Siegfried in the sense that he wanted to win against those more powerful than him no matter the cost, so it sort of made sense that Deus would create such a skill.

Was Deus someone that would concern himself whether the skill he created was cowardly or not? No, nothing mattered to him but victory.

Great Explosion was a skill that would detonate all of the mana and energy the Debuff Master possessed as a last stand, and this was a skill that proved just how much winning meant to its creator.

To begin with, the Debuff Master’s skills were already despicable and cowardly in a sense, so what was the big deal with having another one "despicable" skill?

“I just have to focus on the good part,” Siegfried said with a shrug. Then, he looked around and muttered, “But what the hell happened...?”

Whoosh...!

There wasn't anything around Siegfried aside from the snowy white ground and the gusts of wind. Siegfried turned toward where Inkarthus’ dragon heart was located and saw that the heart had turned gray, looking like a block of cement.

Inkarthus had died with his long tongue sticking out.

“So he really died in the end,” Siegfried muttered out of surprise. The First Black Dragon that even the ancient people couldn't kill and was forced to seal was finally dead.

Well, just because he was the First Black Dragon did not mean he was immortal. Vulcanus had mentioned that Inkarthus—another dragon that had existed since the beginning of time—couldn't die a natural death, but he could definitely die at the hands of another.

In fact, that was the reason he was trying his best to get on Deus’ good side.

‘I was really lucky.’

Regardless of the outcome, Siegfried knew that he only managed to kill Inkarthus thanks to pure luck, and it was true that he got lucky.

Inkarthus had just woken up from his long slumber, so he couldn't use even one percent of his true powers. Then, Scourge of God luckily went off cooldown and the blue whistle allowed him to bring his armada over.

If the seal had worn off naturally, and Inkarthus didn't awaken prematurely from his slumber, then Inkarthus could have used one hundred percent of his power.

‘Hold on... It makes sense that Inkarthus is dead, but his dragon heart did not explode, right?’

If it had exploded, there would have been a massive explosion that would surely transform everything around Siegfried into a radioactive wasteland. However, there were no traces of an explosion at all.

‘Inkarthus is dead but I’m not dead. And my skills got enhanced? The dragon heart didn’t explode... Does that mean I...?’

Siegfried thought of one plausible theory, so he focused his sense on his mana hall.

‘Eh? What’s this?’

A small orb the size of a ping-pong ball was in his mana hall. Siegfried could swear that it was his first time seeing the small orb. He had no idea what it was, so he decided to open his status window and check it.

The fact that there was something in his mana hall was far more shocking than having two of his skills enhanced and obtaining one new skill.

[Dragon Heart of Inkarthus]

[An incredible power that cannot be used at the moment.]

[Absorbing it bit by bit will allow you to eventually use it in the future.]

“I-Impossibruuu!” Siegfried ended up screaming unknowingly upon discovering Inkarthus’ dragon heart in his mana hall.

***

“How does this even make sense? How can I absorb a Level 998 dragon’s heart?!”

Siegfried slapped himself a few times just in case he was dreaming, as he found what he had read to be extremely hard to believe. Then, he checked his status once again to find that Inkarthus’ dragon heart was still in his mana hall.

He could not use even one percent of the dragon heart’s powers and it was more appropriate to say that the power was sealed inside of him rather than he had absorbed it.

Regardless, this was nothing short of a miracle.

‘I absorbed Inkarthus’ dragon heart? But all I did was try and minimize as much damage to the continent as possible...?’

Siegfried was still flustered and shocked by the outcome.

How was something like this even possible to begin with?

‘I can’t believe this... Does that mean I killed Inkarthus? No, I didn’t gain any experience points, so that doesn’t seem to be the case...’

The fact that he did not gain any experience points was indeed strange, but what was even stranger was the fact that he had absorbed Inkarthus’ dragon heart when he had yet to become a Master.

‘Is this what they call potential?’

This was the only conclusion he could reach. The one that absorbed Inkarthus’ dragon heart was not the player, Han Tae-Sung. He was the one controlling the character, but it was his character, Siegfried van Proa, that absorbed the dragon's heart.

In other words, this was a miracle created by the Debuff Master’s potential, and there was no other explanation aside from this.

“Just what in the world—”

“Kyuu! Owner punk!”

“Hyung-nim!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Hey! Han Tae-Sung!”

“Oppa!”

His comrades called out from the deck of the Guardians’ flagship.

“Kyuuu! Owner punk!”

The one who jumped and ran to Siegfried before anyone else was none other than Hamchi.

“Wait! Don’t come near me!” Siegfried shouted.

“Kyu?” Hamchi tilted his head in confusion.

“You might die. Don’t come near,” Siegfried repeated while shaking his head.

Seung-Gu got off the flagship and walked toward him.

“Come on, hyung-nim. Why would we die?” Hamchi said nonchalantly.

It was then.

“Kuheok! A-Argh! Aaaack!” Seung-Gu clutched his neck with both hands and started foaming from his mouth.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

He fell to the ground and died, dropping a variety of expensive items.

“Why is Seung-Gu so foolish? He keeps making the same mistake all the time... Kyuu...” Hamchi said, shaking his head.

“Oppa! Are you alright?!” Yong Seol-Hwa asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. But you’ll have to wait because this place is still reeking with radioactive energy,” Siegfried replied with a nod before warning them.

“That’s a huge relief!”

“Yeah, it is.”

Cheon Woo-Jin chimed in, “Hey, Han Tae-Sung.”

“Yeah?”

“What happened? What the hell did you do?”

“Hmm...” Siegfried paused for a second. Then, he replied, “I absorbed Inkarthus’ dragon heart.”

“W-What?!” Cheon Woo-Jin shrieked out of horror. Then, he asked, “What did you just say? Did you just say you absorbed the dragon heart of a Level 998 dragon?”

“Yeah.”

“Whoa! That is so amazing!” Cheon Woo-Jin exclaimed. Then, he narrowed his eyes and added, “Nice try, buddy. Did you really think I’d fall for that? You should lie about something more believable next time—”

“What if I showed you this?” Siegfried asked in response. Then, he showed his status window and said, “Tell me I’m lying. I dare you.”

“Inkarthus... dragon... heart...? You really have Inkarthus’ dragon heart?!” Cheon Woo-Jin shrieked out in horror once again. Then, his eyes shot wide open before he screamed, “Ack! Y-You...?!”

“Hohoho!”

“Impossible... This is absolutely impossible... How can you absorb a Level 998 dragon’s dragon heart...?”

“This is how capable I am, punk. You better call me 'Elder Brother' from now on,” Siegfried said arrogantly.

“Impossible... This doesn’t make sense at all...”

Cheon Woo-Jin mumbled in denial.

On the other hand, Yong Seol-Hwa looked at Siegfried with sparkling eyes full of awe and reverence. “Oppa! You’re really amazing!”

“Huh?”

“That is an amazing accomplishment!”

“R-Really?”

“Absorbing the dragon heart is one thing, but you saved millions of lives! This is no different from saving the whole world!”

“I... I guess you can put it that way? Hahaha...”

“You’re really amazing, oppa!”

“T-This is not that big of a deal. Hahaha...”

Siegfried grinned stupidly from ear to ear and scratched the back of his head awkwardly while blushing after receiving heaps of compliments and praises from Yong Seol-Hwa.

“His Majesty... has saved the world... I must write all of these down!”

Meanwhile, Gringore got busy writing down every detail of what had happened. This was the first time in a very long time that he was writing about a truly remarkable and honorable achievement of Siegfried rather than something shameful and embarrassing.

“Owner punk.”

“Yeah?”

“Hamchi is really proud of you. Kyuu.”

“R-Really?!”

Siegfried was shocked and doubted his ears after hearing Hamchi praise him rather than insult him.

“Are you really proud of me?”

“Yes, I am. Hamchi is really proud of you, owner punk. You saved the world, so owner punk is a hero—a hero who saved the world.”

“You little punk,” Siegfried said with a smirk.

The fact that someone looked up to them or was proud of them was a feeling that would make anyone happy, and being praised by those close to him was definitely a feeling that made Siegfried feel really good about himself.

***

Siegfried decided not to leave the Arctic Pangea immediately. Instead, he stayed in the glacial ruins where the First Black Dragon was once sealed. The reason behind his decision was that he wanted to wait until the traces of radioactive energy around him had disappeared before returning to the Proatine Kingdom. Thus, he decided to install a Warp Gate leading to the central region of the Arctic Pangea.

Installing a Warp Gate in the Arctic Pangea was no easy task, as the magnetic waves coming from the ocean floor were so strong that they would interrupt the Warp Gate’s flow of mana.

However, this was made possible through the blue whistle that he had obtained from Yong Seol-Hwa. The portal created by the whistle served as the foundation for the Warp Gate, and they managed to create a working Warp Gate blueprint after much difficulty.

The reason they installed a warpgate in this desolate icy wasteland was simple—Inkarthus’ remains. They had to transport the gigantic remains of the First Black Dragon that could not be calculated in terms of gold.

Siegfried was watching the workers and magicians installing the Warp Gate when a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

‘Hmm... Something’s really strange... That cult leader bastard. He seemed quite similar to Count Arial... I don’t think that was his real body and he was just an illusion. Is it something like a mirage?

'No, I don’t think so. It felt too real for a mirage... Ah, maybe I should have used Wave of Truth on him?’ Siegfried couldn't help but remember the bizarre ominous sensation he got from the Savior. ‘Does that mean the Church of Osric’s leader is a mirage?’

Shwaaaaaa!

The sound of the Blanc Clan’s sleds zipping through the snow echoed in the distance.

“Oh? That’s the Blanc Clan. I guess they’ve returned to their senses now that Inkarthus is dead,” Siegfried muttered.

It was then.

Ding!

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: You have received a new Quest – Liberated People!]

Then, the quest details appeared as soon as the quest received message prompt disappeared.