Debuff Master

Chapter 431

In fact, a few of the soldiers missed their footing and fell off the cliff, but none of them screamed during their terrifying fall. They gritted their teeth and endured the fall without uttering a single sound as each and every one of them was prepared to stake their lives for the success of this operation.

The resilience of these soldiers was a testament to how well-trained Duke Taranis’ private elite soldiers were.

Duke Taranis remained undeterred as he continued the operation, even if it came at the cost of his soldiers’ lives.

One hour later, Duke Taranis and the elite squad finally managed to climb the fortress walls, but...

“...?”

He was bewildered after not finding a single soldier manning the walls. He was certain that he saw soldiers stationed on the walls when he looked up before climbing the cliff, but there was not a single soul in sight when he eventually reached it.

‘Where are the soldiers? Is it time for a shift change? No, there’s no way. This is a very important strategic stronghold. Guarding it around the clock wouldn’t even be enough, but for them to—don’t tell me?’ Duke Taranis felt something ominous creeping up his back, and it did not take long for the feeling to become reality.

Fwaaaaa! Fwaaaaah! Swoosh!

Magical flames shot up from the fortress walls, and a large blue magic circle appeared.

Wooooong!

The blue magic circle set up a barrier, sealing the fortress walls completely.

“So this is a trap...” Duke Taranis grumbled, gritting his teeth after realizing what was going on.

“Bingo!” someone shouted, and then a figure emerged from the darkness and smirked at the duke. The figure belonged to none other than Siegfried.

“So you’re the one behind this, Siegfried van Proa,” Duke Taranis forced a smile after finding the culprit behind the trap.

“That’s right! It’s me!” Siegfried replied with a very annoying look.

“And...” Duke Taranis muttered before he looked around and added, “My junior must be here, too.”

“Don’t call me your junior, Taranis,” Taycan growled in response. Then, he added with obvious anger in his voice, “You’re not a disciple of Master. Only I, Taycan van Stunner, am the rightful descendant of the Thunder God Vajra!”

Duke Taranis scoffed and replied, “Ha! Don’t make me laugh! You’re whose descendant? You’re nothing but a half-assed disciple that dying old man had picked up from the side of the road.”

“What did you say?!” Taycan retorted.

However, Duke Taranis simply looked at him as if he was looking at a delicious prey and said, “I guess things worked out either way. I can get both this fortress and the secret technique that senile old man had refused to give me.”

“Shut it! I will avenge Master today, and this place will be your grave!”

“Not only are you arrogant, but you also can’t seem to tell the predicament you’re in. Do you really think you youngsters stand a chance against me? Are you relying on this flimsy trap of yours?” Duke Taranis said, remaining confident even though he had walked into a trap.

“I will kill you," Duke Taranis said while staring at Siegfried. Then, he looked at Taycan and said, “I will capture you alive and squeeze out the secret technique from your mouth.”

His confidence showed that he was indeed a Descendant of Thunder God Vajra.

Siegfried smirked and replied, “Really? Can you say that even after this?”

Kabooooom!

A huge explosion occurred right underneath the elite knights and soldiers of Duke Taranis. Of course, Siegfried himself got caught up in the explosion as well.

***

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosion was destructive, as it was created by more than one thousand five hundred kilograms of explosives planted beneath Duke Taranis and his men.

The explosion blew off a third of the fortress wall. Not a single one of the duke’s men was able to escape the explosion, as the blue magic circle trapped them on the fortress walls.

‘That’s going to be at least a critical wound,’ Siegfried considered the possibility of Duke Taranis surviving the explosion, but he was confident the duke wouldn\'t come out unscathed.

Duke Taranis was strong but it was inevitable for him to at least lose an arm or a leg from an explosion of this scale. If not, he would look bedraggled at the very least.

‘The small fries are dead, for sure. They’re going to be too wounded to fight even if they survived it anyway.’

Siegfried was also confident that the knights and soldiers of the duke were either dead or seriously wounded.

His thought process was completely logical, and that was the reason he simply waited for the smoke to dissipate.

A few seconds later...

Whoosh...!

A breeze blew and almost cleared the smoke. Then, a scene that could only be described as gruesome slowly became visible as the smoke cleared.

There were arms, legs, half-open heads, and various other body parts littered on the ground, and it was needless to mention that these were what remained of the Duke Taranis’ men.

“Eh? Did they all die?” Siegfried asked while tilting his head in confusion.

Taycan shook his head and replied, “No, one survived.”

“Taranis?”

“Yeah,” Taycan replied. Then, he grimaced and added, “He’s completely... fine.”

“What? He’s fine?”

“I can still feel his powerful currents. Look over there; he’s walking out right now.”

“What?!” Siegfried looked where Taycan was pointing.

Bzzt! Bzzzzt!

Blue sparks could be seen flying around within the semi-cleared smoke and—

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Duke Taranis emerged from it.

“...!”

Siegfried was shocked after seeing Duke Taranis walk out unscathed from the explosion.

‘He’s not hurt at all?!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly.

Not a single scratch could be seen on Duke Taranis, and nobody would probably believe that he had been standing smack center of the explosion.

“It was a clever plan, but...” Duke Taranis said as he emerged from the smoke. “I hope you weren’t hoping you could kill me with this, you little brats?”

“Crazy...” Siegfried could not believe his eyes.

Who would have imagined someone could emerge unscathed from an explosion of this scale? How absurdly high was this guy’s Defense?

“Electric... Barrier...!” Taycan exclaimed.

“Huh? Electric Barrier?” Siegfried asked.

“It’s a skill that forms a barrier using electric currents,” Taycan explained. Then, he bit his lips and muttered, “I can do it too, but... not at this scale...”

“That’s right,” Duke Taranis replied as an electric barrier surrounded his body.

Bzzt! Bzzzzt!

Duke Taranis then swept his gaze across the gruesome sight before him and said, “Such a waste... I spent a great fortune training them, but they died even before I could use them.”

He was not saddened by the loss of his men but seemed to be more concerned with the money he had spent training them.

“I hope you brats are prepared to pay for damaging my property,” Duke Taranis said and started walking toward both Siegfried and Taycan.

Crackle!

Duke Taranis unleashed a powerful stream of electricity that made a beeline for the duo.

“AVOID IT!” Taycan screamed at the top of his lungs.

***

Siegfried immediately jumped to avoid the oncoming stream of electricity as soon as he heard Taycan’s warning, but he couldn\'t avoid it.

Kwazzzzzzt!

The stream of electricity was too fast for him to avoid.

Bzzt!

He started convulsing upon getting hit.

“Aaack!” he screamed in agony as the electricity ran through his body.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: You have been afflicted by Electrocution!]

[Alert: Your movement has been impaired!]

[Alert: All damage received from the enemy will increase by 15% under the effects of Electrocution!]

Shockingly, the electricity not only dealt damage but also applied a debuff on Siegfried.

“Damn it...” Siegfried grumbled as he prepared to retaliate.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

Siegfried couldn\'t move at all; his body was refusing to heed his commands as it convulsed.

Meanwhile, Taycan was fighting one-on-one against Duke Taranis.

Bam! Bzzt! Bzzt!

Bzzzzzt! Zap!

Sparks flew in the air as the Descendants of the Thunder God dueled.

Woooong!

Siegfried gathered his mana to place down his debuff fields to assist Taycan.

Fwaaaa! Fwaaaah!

Shwaaa! Shwaa!

He simultaneously placed down Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp, but neither of them was of any help to Taycan.

Pukeok!

Taycan punched Duke Taranis with all of his strength, but Duke Taranis blocked it with just one hand.

“You’re so pathetic that I’m embarrassed to call you my junior,” Duke Taranis said.

“Argh!”

“Did you really go around claiming you’re the Thunder God’s descendant with this pathetic skill of yours?”

“S-Shut up...!”

“Allow me to give you a taste of what the true Descendant of Thunder God Vajra is capable of,” Duke Taranis said as he activated Lightning Force and injected a surge of electricity through Taycan’s fist he was grabbing.

“A-Argh!” Taycan grimaced and endured the pain, but...

“G-RWAAAAAAAAH!” he soon screamed and started writhing in agony.

Bzzzt! Bzzzzzzzzzt!

“Pathetic.”

“Aaack! Aaaaack!”

“Have you forgotten? The stronger Lightning Force always devours the weaker one.”

“AAAARRRGH!” Taycan continued to scream and writhe in agony.

Duke Taranis was Taycan’s natural predator.

They knew very well what kind of abilities they possessed, but Duke Taranis had been training in the arts of the Thunder God for far longer than Taycan.

In other words, Duke Taranis’ Lightning Force was stronger and better than Taycan’s Lightning Force, regardless of their difference in talent.

“Taycan!” Siegfried shouted and sprinted toward them with the +10 Horse Fly in his hand.

Duke Taranis smirked after seeing Siegfried running toward him.

“Siegfried van Proa... You have repeatedly gotten on my nerves,” he said.

Siegfried did not bother responding to the duke. Instead, he swung his +10 Horse Fly as hard as he could toward Duke Taranis’ waist.

Shwiiiiik!

The air let loose a piercing shriek as the +10 Horse Fly sliced through it.

It was about to slam into the duke’s waist, but...

Flash!

Something flashed from the palm of Duke Taranis’ left hand.

Ziiiiing!

The flash of light gathered into one spot and turned into a laser beam that shot straight at Siegfried.

‘Huh?’ Siegfried realized the laser beam would deal massive damage to him, so he hurriedly transformed his +10 Horse Fly into a shield.

However, that was not the end of the surprises.

Ziiiiiing!

The laser beam struck the +10 Horse Fly, which transformed into a shield, and Siegfried was pushed all the way back from the impact.

Still, that was not the end of it...

“Argh!” Siegfried tried his best to stay rooted to the ground, but the laser beam was simply too powerful.

Bam!

In the end, Siegfried was thrown back thirty meters, and he crashed into a section of the fortress walls—destroying it.

Ziiiiiiiing!

Unfortunately, Duke Taranis wasn\'t done just yet, and he continued shooting laser beams at Siegfried.

Ziiiiing! Kwachik!

Siegfried felt like he was getting crushed into the ground by the laser beam, and he had to think of a solution quickly before he was crushed to death by it.

“A-Argh...! I can’t deflect it...! Keuk!” Siegfried gritted his teeth and tried to deflect the laser beam.

Unfortunately, that proved to be much more difficult than it sounded.

“Huh?”

Siegfried was stupefied to find that the laser beam had suddenly disappeared.

“W-What...?”

Flash!

Duke Taranis suddenly appeared in front of Siegfried.

“Die, you little brat,” Duke Taranis said before swinging his fist toward Siegfried\'s chest.