Debuff Master

“Gosran-nim,” Siegfried called out as he walked toward her while tightly gripping his steel rod.

Then, a Church official suddenly lunged at him while shouting, “Die, heretic!”

Pukeok!

Siegfried smashed the Church official’s head with his steel rod.

“Keuk!”?the Church official let out a groan before dying.

“S-Siegfried-nim…?” Gosran muttered in surprise.

Why was she surprised? That was because she just witnessed Siegfried, who should have been unable to do anything aside from debuffing enemies, kill a Church official in one blow.

“How did you—” she muttered.

However, Siegfried suddenly cut her off, “Gosran-nim.”

“Yes…?”

“Close your eyes.”

“Close my eyes…?”

“Like this,” Siegfried said as he turned her around, so her back was facing the enemies.

“S-Siegfried-nim…?” Gosran muttered, seemingly perplexed by his request.

“Keep your eyes closed. Don’t turn around no matter what,” he said.

“Why…?”

“And promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Promise me that you are not going to record a video or take a screenshot of me and that you will keep any information about me a secret.”

“…?”

“Can you do that?”

“Of course…”

“If you can promise me that, I will clear this hidden dungeon.”

It seemed that Siegfried had finally made up his mind.

***

Siegfried racked his brain in a split second to choose whether he was going to give up the hidden dungeon, kill Gosran, or showcase his strength in front of her. However, a single thought suddenly intruded into his mind, which greatly influenced his decision.

‘I don’t want to give up… I don’t want to lose…’

He did not want to lose.

Was it because of the items and the rewards?

No, he did not care about that. The rewards and profits he would make from clearing the dungeon were irrelevant for now.

‘I can’t continue running away for the rest of my life,’?he thought.

He had spent most of his time on the run after going against the Genesis Guild, and he did not want to turn around and run with his tail tucked between his legs again when he had finally gotten a fresh start.

In addition, there was another reason.

‘I might not make friends, but let’s not make enemies if we can help it,’?he thought.

Siegfried had a lot of enemies. There were many of them; they were strong, and he was alone. What would happen if he killed Gosran here and she ended up harboring a grudge against him? He would end up having to add another person to his list of enemies.

And it was a fact that Gosran wasn’t an annoying player like Antoinette, whom he had no choice but to kill when he was hunting Mutated Bisons. As such, Siegfried simply had no reason to stab her in the back when she had been faithfully supporting him all this time.

‘Let’s trust her,’?Siegfried thought as he made a tough decision.

***

[Remaining Time: 43 seconds!]

[Remaining Time: 42 seconds!]

[Remaining Time: 41 seconds!]

Time was running out.

“Can you promise me?” Siegfried asked.

“Yes… I promise…” Gosran replied.

“Alright, you promised, okay?” Siegfried reconfirmed.

“Yes,” Gosran replied.

“It will be over soon so just be patient for a while…” Siegfried said before he checked the message alert and said, “Just forty seconds.”

Then, he immediately darted forward.

Pak! Pak!

He killed two Church members in an instant.

Pak! Pak! Pak! Pukeok! Pukeok!?

Then, he went on a rampage with his steel rod and smashed heads left and right.

‘Great!’?Siegfried exclaimed inwardly.

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

He did not upgrade his equipment, and his weapon was still the same steel rod he had purchased at the Biermann Territory, but the mobs died left and right whenever he swung it.

They died in one shot if it was a critical strike and in two shots otherwise, but that was nowhere enough.

‘There’s no time,’?he thought as he checked the countdown timer.

[Remaining Time: 26 seconds!]

[Remaining Time: 25 seconds!]

[Remaining Time: 24 seconds!]

This was not the time for Siegfried to keep himself occupied with the mobs since the four Energy Orbs were still active.

“Kuhahahaha!” Romulus burst out laughing before he confidently exclaimed, “You seem to be strong! Sure! Why don’t you squirm and do your best? You won’t be able to stop the resurrection anyway!”

The high priest was confident that the revival would succeed since all four Energy Orbs were still active.

“So that’s what you think?” Siegfried said.

“What do you mean…?” Romulus asked with a grimace.

When the high priest asked, Siegfried suddenly hurled his steel rod.

Whooosh!

Shwiiiiii!

The steel rod flew at a frightening speed while drawing an arc.

It was the Debuff Master’s Level 45 skill, Flying Spur!

Boom!

The right-most Energy Orb was destroyed with a booming sound.

“…!”

Romulus stared dumbfounded when he saw the Energy Orb explode, and it was far too late by the time he came back to his senses.

Boom!

The steel rod flying through the air destroyed another Energy Orb, and it showed no signs of slowing down.

Boom!

Another Energy Orb was destroyed, and there was only one left.

“Stop that! Stooooooop!” Romulus let out a desperate cry.

***

Unfortunately, Siegfried had failed to destroy all four Energy Orbs.

“For the chaos that will descend upon this world!”

One of the Church officials shouted some nonsense before throwing himself at Siegfried’s steel rod. As such, the Church official managed to protect the final Energy Orb.

Thud!

The Church official died in exchange for protecting the final Energy Orb.

Shwiiii!

Siegfried had no choice but to retrieve his steel rod thanks to the Church official who had sacrificed himself and blocked it after it lost most of its momentum from destroying three Energy Orbs.

“Ah… How can that miss…” Siegfried muttered.

It was a line often used by gamers whenever they missed a skillshot.

There was still one energy orb.

[Remaining Time: 9 seconds!]

[Remaining Time: 8 seconds!]

[Remaining Time: 7 seconds!]

Less than ten seconds remained…

A message asking Siegfried to hurry up popped up in front of him.

[Hurry! There are only 5 seconds remaining before the boss monster is revived!]

[You have to destroy the final Energy Orb!]

Tak!

Siegfried kicked off of the ground and ran, but it was not toward the final Energy Orb.

“You crazy bastard!” Romulus shouted at Siegfried.

It was because Siegfried was running toward the named villain, Romulus.

‘It’s already too late. My only option is to kill that named monster and fight one on one with the boss monster,’?he thought.

It was a logical decision since the boss wouldn’t be as strong as it was supposed to be after the Guardians destroyed five Energy Orbs, Gosran destroyed one, and Siegfried destroyed three. It would be much easier for Siegfried to fight against the boss if the named villain was no longer in the picture. Besides, the boss fight was going to be much more exciting if it were a one-on-one duel to the death.

“It seems that you have a death wish…!” Romulus screamed at Siegfried.

The high priest was greatly taken aback when Siegfried ran toward him since he had already directed all of his minions to protect the Energy Orb, which left him wide open. Unfortunately, it was already far too late for him by the time he realized his mistake.

Pak!

Siegfried smashed his steel rod into Romulus’ forehead.

“Kuheok!”?Romulus gasped in agony as he staggered, but Siegfried did not give him any time to recover before unleashing a barrage of attacks.

Pak! Pukeok! Pak!

The steel rod hit Romulus three consecutive times on the head.

“Keuk!?You… you insolent…! Stop! Why are you only hitting my head?!” Romulus cried out.

“That’s where it hurts the most,” Siegfried replied.

“…!”

“I like the feeling of hitting it, too,” Siegfried nonchalantly added before he used Smite and slammed his steel rod as hard as he could into Romulus’ head.

Pukeoook!

The high priest’s head exploded like a watermelon.

Fwooosh…

Then, the vengeful spirits the high priest had raised disappeared the moment he died.

[Time’s up!]

[You have failed to prevent the revival of the boss monster!]

[Energy Orbs destroyed (0/4)]

[Brace yourself! The boss monster is going to awaken at any moment now!]

A message popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes, and the entire laboratory started trembling at the same time.

***

“Siegfried-nim…!” Gosran exclaimed in surprise. She could tell what was going on even while she was facing away from the battle.

It was impossible for her not to notice what was going on unless she was deaf since the sound of Siegfried beating up the Church of Osric’s members along with the Energy Orbs exploding could be heard throughout the entire laboratory.

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

[You have gained experience points!]

On top of that, her experience bar filling up nonstop showed that Siegfried was continuously killing the mobs. 𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗲𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

‘You liar! You said you can only cast debuffs!’?Gosran inwardly exclaimed when she realized that Siegfried had been hiding his true strength all this while.

And that was why she decided to ask, “Siegfried-nim! Had you been hiding your strength all this time…?”

“Later, let’s deal with the boss monster first,” Siegfried replied.

“Hiing…”?Gosran whimpered in response before nodding in agreement.

Rumble… rumble… rumble…?

The laboratory trembled as if it would come crumbling down at any moment now.

Woooong!

A bright white light shot out from a steel door deep within the laboratory, and that signaled that they didn’t have the luxury to chitchat.

“But you have to tell me why you hid your true strength later!” Gosran said.

“Alright,” Siegfried replied with a nod before tightly gripping his half-broken steel rod.

Bam!

Something started knocking on the large steel door.

Bam! Bam! Bam!?

It continued knocking…

Creak… Creak…!

The steel door crumbled and the creature knocking on it finally made its appearance.

“That’s…!”

“Heok…!”

Siegfried and Gosran gasped in horror.

That was because…

[Lightning Python]

[A monster revived thanks to the Church of Osric’s experiment.]

[This is the creature from another dimension that crashed into Sohoca and turned the area into ruins overnight.]

[Level: 70]

[Race: N/A]

[Tier: Boss]

[Class: Lightning Buster]

[Abilities: Charged Barrier, Charged Breath.]

The twenty-meter-long boss monster was none other than the Lightning Python.

***

“Are we in… you know…?” Gosran asked.

“What do you mean?” Siegfried asked in response.

“You know what they say… Are we in deep—that one,” she nervously asked.

“No…” Siegfried shook his head and added, “It’s only Level 70.”

Fortunately, the Lightning Python’s level was not that high since nine out of the ten Energy Orbs used to revive it were destroyed, and it was probably not even as strong as its single fang back in its heyday when it destroyed an entire city overnight.

“But, aren’t our levels too low…?” Gosran hesitated.

“That’s even better,” Siegfried replied with a smirk.

“What do you mean? The boss is twenty-five levels higher than us…” Gosran retorted.

“That’s good for me,” Siegfried replied.

Then…

Slither…!

The Lightning Python slithered toward Siegfried and Gosran at a terrifying speed.

Bzzt! Bzzzzt!

Moreover, the boss monster truly lived up to its name as it emitted sparks all over its scales while slithering toward them.

“I’ll take care of this,” Siegfried said as he ran toward the Lightning Python.

Fwaaa…

Blue and red aura started to rise and envelope his body. It was the visual effect of the Debuff Master’s skill, Contempt for the Strong.

Shwiik!

The Lightning Python opened its jaws to try and swallow Siegfried whole.

‘I’ll avoid it then counterattack!’?Siegfried thought. He twisted and smashed his steel rod into the boss monster’s head.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

When Siegfried’s steel rod struck the Lightning Python, the sparks enveloping its body shot forward and electrocuted Siegfried. It was the boss monster’s skill, ‘Charged Barrier.’

However…

‘Huh?’?Siegfried muttered in surprise when the boss monster’s ability did not do as much damage as he thought it would. Then, he exclaimed after suddenly realizing something, “Ah!”

Siegfried grinned as he muttered, “Who knew this would end up being a free meal?”

Gosran could not make heads or tails of the situation, especially after hearing what Siegfried had muttered just now.