Debuff Master

Chapter 255

He couldn’t believe what was going on, nor could he believe that he had made such a stupid mistake. He regretted rushing his soldiers, which led to their current predicament.

He realized in hindsight that he had made such a foolish decision.

‘I panicked because?of the Terramorg, which led to such a critical error! Ah! How did I make such a huge mistake…?’?Lohengrin rebuked himself, but it was already too late.

The Elondel Forces were surrounded at a location with unfavorable terrain, and their enemies were one-sidedly slaughtering them. It wouldn’t have been too bad if that were their only adversity, but they had already lost a fifth of their soldiers.

“Your Majesty! Our enemies are charging once again!”

“We need to prepare! Please give us your command, Your Majesty!”

His commanders ran up to him one by one.

“Is this the end…? Are our defensive lines going to crumble…?” Lohengrin bit his lips.

Only absolute carnage awaited the Elondel Forces once their defensive lines were compromised, and they were going to be massacred in this very place.

“Father!”

“Brunhilde…”

“I will open up an escape path with my squadron!”

“That’s too dangerous! Credos is probably expecting us to do something like that to secure an escape route…”

“But, Father… We will surely die if we don’t do anything. Our soldiers will die as well, and Elondel will fall!”

“Haa…”

“Please trust me. I will definitely open up a path for us!”

“I’m sorry that you have to do this, my daughter… It seems that I have put a heavy burden on your shoulders…” Lohengrin muttered with solemn eyes.

Brunhilde was his one and only daughter, and he loved her dearly. Her looks were repulsive according to the elves’ standards, but there was no way he wouldn’t dote on his own daughter.

Lohengrin’s heart felt like they were being torn to pieces at the fact that he had no choice but to endanger his daughter’s life. Of course, Lohengrin could carve a path himself since he was a Master, but their lines would instantly crumble the moment he made such a move.

Why?

Credos was a Master as well.

There was an absolute rule on the battlefield. Masters could only fight Masters, so Lohengrin couldn’t carelessly make a move. He knew that Credos would make a move the moment carved an escape route, so he had no choice but to delegate the dangerous task to his daughter.

“Please do not be worried, Father. I will definitely secure a path!”

“I’m sorry, my daughter…”

“I am Elondel’s sword; this is my destiny and my responsibility.”

“Please be careful and don’t get hurt, my daughter.”

“Yes, Father.” Brunhilde smiled brightly to reassure Lohengrin, but her expression changed the moment she turned around.

‘I will definitely secure a path for our forces…!’?

Her expression was resolute, and she was even willing to lay down her life for this mission.

***

“I should probably help them, right…?” Siegfried muttered after hearing the broadcast.

His conscience wouldn’t let him be if he were to pretend that he had no idea about the elves’ current predicament. The elves were also praising him as their hero, so it would be ironic if he suddenly said—Welp, my business is done here, so hasta la vista baby—and ran away.

‘I should help them, but this comes first,’?he thought while looking at the Terramorg’s Core. The item that would enhance the Debuff Master’s very foundation was finally in his hand.

“Protect me after I consume this,” Siegfried said before swallowing the core.

Bleurgh…!

Siegfried felt his gut churn the moment he swallowed the Terramorg’s Core.

“W-What the fuck is this…? Blergh!?It’s disgusting! How can something taste worse than decomposed trash dug up from a landfill?!”

Terramorg’s Core tasted like a cocktail of cockroaches, feces, urine, rotten fish, sewage water, sewage silt, landfill leachate, and every other imaginable disgusting fluid.

“I’d rather eat the stuff those Sirens dropped…” he grumbled. The Terramorg’s Core tasted so awful that Siegfried would rather eat the Sirens’ stinky item.

“I think I’m going to throw up…”

Flash!

Siegfried’s eyes shot open, and a string of messages popped up in front of him.

[Alert: The Earth Attribute Energy stored within Terramorg’s Core is surging within you!]

[Alert: Warning! Warning!]

[Alert: Stay focused! The Earth Attribute Energy of Terramorg’s Core is extremely powerful!]

Whoooosh!

A powerful energy surged out from within Siegfried and conjured a storm that enveloped him.

***

“AAAARGH!”?

Siegfried screamed in agony.

The earth attribute energy stored within the Terramorg’s Core was truly powerful.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

His blood vessels bulged, and they looked like they were about to explode.

Badump! Badump! Badump!

His muscles twitched and bulged as well.

Fwaaaaa!

An auburn flame enveloped him.

“O-Owner punk!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Tae-Sung hyung-nim!”

“Hyung-nim!”

His comrades tried to rush in and help, but Siegfried shouted to keep them at bay.

“N-Noooo! Leave me… I’m absorbing it… I have to absorb—AARGH!”

Siegfried dragged his concentration to the absolute highest and focused on controlling and absorbing the rampant energy inside him.

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 100.]

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 100.]

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 100.]

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 100.]

[Alert: Your Mana has increased by 100.]

His Maximum Mana increased, and his skills’ mana consumption decreased as well.

[Alert: Quick Draw has been enhanced!]

[Alert: Both the power and cooldown time of Quick Draw has been improved!]

[Alert: Torrential Flower Rain has been enhanced!]

[Alert: The power of Torrential Flower Rain has been improved!]

Quick Draw and Torrential Flower Rain consumed thirty percent and one hundred percent of Siegfried’s mana, respectively. These skills heavily relied not only on their skill levels but on Siegfried’s mana as well.

However, those skills weren’t the only skills that received an enhancement.

[Alert: Blaze Field has leveled up!]

[Alert: Blaze Field has leveled up!]

[Alert: Blaze Field has leveled up!]

…

[Alert: Blaze Field has leveled up!]

[Alert: Blaze Field has leveled up!]

Siegfried’s bread and butter skill, Blaze Field, leveled up ten times.

[Alert: Shadow Swamp has leveled up!]

[Alert: Shadow Swamp has leveled up!]

[Alert: Shadow Swamp has leveled up!]

[Alert: Shadow Swamp has leveled up!]

[Alert: Shadow Swamp has leveled up!]

Shadow Swamp leveled up five times. Who could have known that the skill levels of these skills would increase without skill point investment?!

Siegfried had become even more powerful.

[Alert: You have learned a new skill!]

He also unlocked a new skill.

[Discharge]

[Consume Mana to increase Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp’s range.]

[Mana consumption depends on the scale of improvement.]

[Type: Active Skill]

[Mana Consumption: N/A]

[Cooldown: N/A]

Discharge was more like a support skill that allowed his Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp to become even more powerful by sacrificing his mana.

Siegfried could finally use Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp like how he had been using Irradiate. These two skills had not only become even more flexible and powerful, but they had also become even more effective in battles.

Siegfried let out a sigh of relief after successfully absorbing the earth attribute energy within the ancient monster’s core.

‘I still have skill points since my debuff skills leveled up on their own. In other words…’?Siegfried immediately decided to invest his remaining skill points into Blaze Field.

[Alert: Blaze Field has leveled up!]

[Alert: Blaze Field has leveled up!]

[Alert: Blaze Field has leveled up!]

Siegfried had realized that debuff fields were the absolute foundation of the Debuff Master, so it was imperative that he focused on them. Therefore, Siegfried decided to invest his remaining skill points into Blaze Field.

He wanted to focus on his foundation before anything else.

Deus’ quest struck him with an epiphany, which allowed him to grow even stronger.

***

“Knights of Elondel! Let’s go!”

“For Elondel!”

The knights under Brunhilde’s command valiantly steered their pegasi to avoid the incoming arrows and magic in a desperate attempt to secure the elves a path to safety.

Of course, they weren’t the only ones who were desperately fighting.

“Let’s go!”

“Push them!”

“Put your lives on the line!”

There were two elite knight squadrons on the ground, and they were desperately fighting to support Brunhilde’s squadron.

‘All right! We should be able to punch a hole through their lines as long as we have air superiority.’’?

Brunhilde was optimistic about their chances because the Captain of the Black Winged Warriors—Menacia—was currently out of commission. In other words, the Elondel Forces could control the skies and nullify whatever disadvantages they had strategically.

‘We?just have to occupy that point…!’?Brunhilde gritted her teeth and focused her sights on one spot. A path of retreat was going to open for the Elondel Forces if they managed to control that point.

“Cover our allies! We need to help our allies capture that point!” Brunhilde shouted. She bit her lips and muttered under her breath, “As long as we capture that point…”

Rumble!

The ground vibrated, and a pillar of light abruptly shot out and swallowed Brunhilde.

However, Brunhilde wasn’t the only one who got struck.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

The pillar of light swallowed the entire flying squadron.

Swoosh!

The flying knights plummeted to the ground.

.

‘This is!’?Brunhilde immediately recognized her predicament.

They had been struck by a gravitational spell that increased the weight of whatever it hit and made any flying objects crash to the ground. In other words, it was a spell that countered Brunhilde and her flying knights.

Thud!

“Heuk!”

“Neighhh!”

Brunhilde and Hyperion couldn’t get up after crashing into the ground. The impact was so strong that the two would have perished on the spot if it hadn’t been for their pedigree.

“Oh? You’re quite pretty~” someone exclaimed.

“Heuuuk…!”?Brunhilde struggled to get up.

“You would be perfect to capture and use as a plaything… Hehe…”

“We can play with her and sell her to the NPC nobles once we get bored of her, right?”

“Adult content with the elves is the best! Kekeke!”

A group of men appeared in front of Brunhilde.

‘H-How?!’?Brunhilde was shocked. She wasn’t that surprised to see humans lusting over elves, so why was she so shocked?

‘A-Adventurers?!’?

She was shocked because the humans were Adventurers.

Why? How did the Adventurers enter the Eternal Forest? And why were they fighting alongside the dark elves?

However, her question was almost immediately answered.

“How does it feel, you bitch?” Menacia appeared and glared at Brunhilde. “Did you really think you were the only one who could bring Adventurers here??Kekeke!”

Her wicked laughter filled the air and pierced Brunhilde’s ears.