Debuff Master

‘Why the hell does a mountain goat look like a rock...?’ Siegfried wondered after seeing the details shown by the Rune of Insight.

[Jagged Mountain Goat]

[A mountain goat native only to Mount Kunlun.]

[Its entire body is made of hard rocks, making it extremely tough. It makes others mistake it as a jagged rock because of its appearance.]

[It has a second claw on its hoof, allowing it to hang and sleep on cliffsides.]

[It is extremely aggressive, and it uses its tough horns to ram its target.]

[Anyone who runs into one is advised to run away as quickly as possible.]

[Type: Neutral Creature]

[Level: 290]

[Note: This is not a goat!]

The Jagged Mountain Goat had a whopping Level 290, and it looked extremely strong for a mere goat.

“The Southern Great Jungle was just child’s play...” Siegfried muttered with an awkward grin. Mount Kunlun was a familiar yet unfamiliar place to him, and he finally realized what the saying there was a sky above the sky meant.

Siegfried revealed a business-like smile and said, “Hello, Mountain Goat-nim~ These pitiful people will be on our way, so please just continue to rest over–”

He didn't want to fight against the Jagged Mountain Goat on the terrain they were in, so he tried to get around it by not fighting.

Unfortunately, the Jagged Mountain Goat had other plans.

“Puff! Puff!”

The Jagged Mountain Goat was hanging ninety degrees from the cliffside as if it were on flat ground, and it snorted air out of its nostrils while glaring at Siegfried.

“E-Excuse me? Mountain Goat-nim...?”

“Puff!”

To make matters worse, the Jagged Mountain Goat was not alone.

“Meeeh!”

“Meeeeh!”

“Meeh!”

The nearby rocks started moving one by one. It was to the point the cliffside had holes in the ground after they got up.

“...”

Siegfried had no idea what to say under the gazes of the Jagged Mountain Goats. He turned and asked Hamchi, who was sitting on his shoulder.

“Hey, Hamchi.”

“Kyu?”

“Don’t you think we will be slugging it out with them?”

“I-It looks like it... Kyu...”

“The Mountain Goat-nims look–”

It was then.

“Meeeeeeeh!” The first Jagged Mountain Goat that Siegfried had encountered suddenly let out a cry before running along the cliffside.

“Meeeh!

“Puff! Puff!”

“Meeeeeh!”

The other Jagged Mountain Goats followed suit shortly afterward, and soon, there were more than one hundred of them rushing toward Siegfried.

“Damn it!” Siegfried cursed and readied his +13 Horse Fly.

He was forced to fight the herd of Jagged Mountain Goats.

***

The sound of their hooves reverberated like a stampede. It was inevitable for their footsteps to sound so loud, as their bodies were made of rock just like a gargoyle or a Stone Golem.

Dudududu!

Siegfried could tell from the sound of their hooves how powerful the force of their charge would be. They were charging at him with force equivalent to a tank running at two hundred kilometers per hour. Well, not that a tank could run that fast.

‘It’s goodbye for me if I face them head-on. I’m going to get run over by them.’ Siegfried decided to evade their charge rather than block it.

"J-Jagged Mountain Goats!”

“Quick! Hide!”

“Hide between the crevices!”

The Santa Climbers seemed to be aware of the Jagged Mountain Goats as they rushed to hide rather than stand and fight. This was not strange at all, as they were here to reach Mount Kunlun’s peak and not fight the creatures inhabiting it.

Well, the real reason was their combat capacity was basically zero, so they had better chances of survival if they hid rather than fight the mountain goats.

“Damn it! I knew they sent us to die, but this is...!”

“I should’ve just chosen to get executed... Why should I go through this only to die a meaningless death...?”

The knights escorting the Santa Climbers lamented and cursed their wretched fate.

They were not escorting the climbers because they were a part of them nor were they here after drawing lots.

The kingdom was no longer willing to fully support the Santa Climbers after their seventh failed expedition, which meant they were unwilling to waste their precious knights in escorting these failed climbers.

Thus, the solution they came up with was to round up the knights who committed heinous crimes and offer them a chance at redemption. In other words, it was either they escort the Santa Climbers or receive capital punishment.

The kingdom gave these criminal knights an ultimatum and both of them ended up choosing to escort the climbers. Of course, the kingdom did promise that they would be granted full amnesty once the Santa Climbers reached the peak of Mount Kunlun.

Unfortunately, their chance of reaching Mount Kunlun’s peak was lower than 0.01 percent.

Well, what if they had escaped on the way to Mount Kunlun? Not a chance! The kingdom would order a hit on them and would chase them to the ends of the continent. On top of that, their families would suffer in their stead if they were to escape.

Thus, the knights were indeed unlucky.

Of course, Siegfried didn't give a damn about them.

‘Tsk... Those guys are really useless.' Siegfried clicked his tongue and shook his head at the incompetence of both the Santa Climbers and the knights.

Whoosh!

Siegfried evaded the charge of the first Jagged Mountain Goat by sidestepping like a matador before twisting and slamming his +13 Shield Horse Fly as hard as he could on the charging mountain goat.

Baaam!

An extremely loud sound enough to rip the eardrums of most people rang, and the Jagged Mountain Goat was flung off of the mountain surface and fell to its demise—or did it?

‘One down!’ Siegfried clenched his fist triumphantly, thinking that the Jagged Mountain Goat was dead, but...

“Meeeeh!”

The Jagged Mountain Goat used its sharp claw to hang itself to the mountain’s surface before charging at Siegfried once again.

“Huh...?” Siegfried was speechless at what he witnessed just now, but he was forced to deal with the other charging mountain goats.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

However, the result was the same. Eight out of ten Jagged Mountain Goats he flung off of the mountain would manage to come back charging at him. They would either use their sharp claws to hook themselves to the mountain surface or fall down around twenty meters before kicking off rocks and climbing all the way back up.

‘Why are they so troublesome?’ Siegfried gnashed his teeth out of frustration. He was barely keeping his footing thanks to his thrusters, but the Jagged Mountain Goats were hopping around with absolute ease as if they were on flat ground. Well, it was worth mentioning that mountain goats in reality were quite good at it, too.

‘I can’t use Irradiate against them...’

Radioactive energy was practically useless against stone or machine-type monsters.

In other words...

“Hey, Hamchi.”

“Master won’t be happy if I destroy his property, right?”

“What nonsense are you saying?! Is that really what you’re curious about right now?! Kyuuu!” Hamchi retorted while pointing at the herd of Jagged Mountain Goats.

“I have no other choice now so... I guess I’ll just get scolded later,” Siegfried said depressedly before gripping his +13 Horse Fly. Then, he shouted at the Santa Climbers, “Keep your heads down and hold on! You could die if your head peeks out of the crevices you’re hiding in! You listen if you don’t want to die a meaningless death!”

The Santa Climbers were confused about what he meant by that.

“What is he trying to do?”

“What was that all about...?”

However, Siegfried did not have the luxury of checking if they understood him or not.

“I already warned you! Don’t blame me later!” Siegfried exclaimed, warning them once again. Then, he turned to Hamchi and said, “Hey, Hamchi.”

“Kyu?”

“Hold on tight!”

“Kyuu? What are you trying to do—KYUUUUU!”

Hamchi was about to ask what Siegfried was planning, but he shrieked in horror after he was suddenly dangling upside down.

Why was he dangling upside down? Because Siegfried had kicked the cliff and jumped up.

Vroom!

He jumped and activated his thrusters to go against gravity before flying in an arc to land exactly where he was a while ago. In other words, he kicked off the cliff to land at the same spot, just as he would if he had jumped on solid ground.

Then, he slammed his +13 Horse Fly on the surface of the mountain the moment he landed.

Krwaaaaang!

Splitting Heaven and Earth!

He used his most powerful area of effect skill precisely at the moment when the herd of Jagged Mountain Goats charged at him.

The surface of the mountain made out of extremely hard stone crumbled in an instant.

Krwaaaang!

Hundreds—no, thousands of tons of stones broke off from the surface of the mountain.

***

“...!”

The Santa Climbers were mortified at the scene. It was like heaven and earth were splitting open, and what they witnessed scared them so much that they laid themselves flat and clung to the rocks as if they were a bunch of cockroaches.

Krwaaaaaang!

Splitting Heaven and Earth caused the upper part of the cliff to cave in, sending tons of rocks raining down where the Santa Climbers were seeking refuge.

It went without saying that the rocks were not the only thing raining down from above.

“Meeeeh!”

“Meeeh!”

“Meeh!”

The Jagged Mountain Goats were swept up by Splitting Heaven and Earth and started falling to their demise one by one—for real this time. They tried to cling to the nearest rocks, but those rocks were falling as well, so they couldn't climb back up.

“Aaaaack!”

One of the Santa Climbers suffered the same tragic fate as the Jagged Mountain Goats. He ignored Siegfried’s warning about not sticking his head out and ended up getting swept up by the rocks.

“There are always those who don’t fucking listen. Tsk," Siegfried grumbled, clicking his tongue.

Snatch

Siegfried caught a climber just in time before he was skewered by an extremely sharp rock down below.

“...”

However, the climber was already unconscious by the time he was rescued. It seemed that a rock had struck his head a while ago judging by how he was bleeding.

Siegfried was probably clueless as to whether he was dead or alive, as the latter was knocked unconscious by a rock.

“Kyuuu! Good job, owner punk! You were really cool!”

“Haha! Punk,” Siegfried replied with a smirk. Then, he hopped from rock to rock again with the unconscious climber in tow.

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