Debuff Master

Elliott screamed at the top of his lungs and struggled, but he could not escape from the Black Hole Strike.

Thud!

Siegfried grabbed his neck and choked the traitor. He would have normally thrown a punch, but he did not bother doing so this time.

Why?

Because Elliott’s head would explode if he punched him with Black Hole Strike...

“K-Kuheok!”

“You dare stab me in the back?”

“Y-Your Majesty! A-A misunderstanding... Argh!”

“Do you take me for a fool?” Siegfried asked icily as he tightened his grip.

“You just made the biggest mistake of your life, buddy! Kyuu! Owner punk stabs people in the back! He doesn’t get stabbed in the back! You’re dead now!” Hamchi sneered.

“You bastard!”

“Is this how you kept coming back alive?!”

“So the rumors were true! You son of a bitch!”

The Santa Climbers hurled curses at Elliott, and their anger was understandable. It was completely normal for them to cuss at him, as he was their leader yet he had abandoned everyone just so he could survive.

However, the worst nightmare for Elliott was not Siegfried, Hamchi, or the Santa Climbers.

His problem was the Night Stalkers.

“You... come with us...”

“Time to pay... for your sins...”

“Finally... you will pay...”

The Night Stalkers were the ghosts of the climbers who had perished in the past seven expeditions due to Elliott’s betrayals, and their anger was what made them turn into monsters.

‘I think I’ll concede to them this time.’ Siegfried felt like throwing Elliott to the Night Stalkers. However, he also had a score to settle with him after getting stabbed in the back, and the only way he could quell his anger was by smashing his head open.

‘What should I do...’

It was then.

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

[Alert: You have received the Quest – Afterlife!]

The quest was quite simple.

[Afterlife]

[Allow the Night Stalkers to kill Elliott, so they can peacefully pass on to the afterlife.]

[Progress: 0% (0/1)]

[Reward: Skill Upgrade]

[Warning: The Night Stalkers must be the ones to kill Elliott for this quest to be completed.]

‘Huh? Skill upgrade?’ Siegfried raised a brow after reading the unique quest reward.

Since when did quests give skill upgrades as rewards instead of items?

‘But what’s going to get upgraded?’

He had no idea which skill would end up getting upgraded, as no other information was provided. However, he knew that he would immensely benefit regardless if any of his skills were upgraded.

Thus, he decided to concede Elliott to the Night Stalkers.

“I was planning to kill you myself, but it seems you already made plans,” Siegfried said sheepishly.

“P-Plans? Kuheok!”

“I think those guys want you more than I do.”

“H-Hiiik!”

“I had no idea you were so famous.”

“Y-Your Majesty! Please, save me! Anything but that! Please!” Elliott struggled and begged.

However, Siegfried was merciless.

“Nope~ I’m not gonna change my mind~” Siegfried said while waving his hand. Then, he pointed at the Night Stalkers and added, “Hey, hurry up. Those guys are waiting for you.”

“Your Majesty! A-Aaaack! Aaaaah!”

“I’m so jealous~ I want to be famous too~ Hehe~”

“Aaaah! G-Get away from me! Go away, you bastards! Y-Your Majes—Save me!”

“Alright, boys! Time to welcome the new recruit!” Siegfried shouted and threw Elliott at the Night Stalkers. The Night Stalkers instantly converged on Elliott just like how animals would gather at the food that their handler had thrown at them.

“Revenge... Finally...”

“I will... rip you... to pieces...!”

“Forgiveness... Is not for you...”

They ripped Elliott apart limb by limb while he was still alive.

Chwaaaak!

The snowy grounds were tainted by blood.

“Ack! Aaaaaaack!” Elliott screamed in agony so loud that it reverberated throughout the raging blizzard.

“Ughh...” Siegfried grimaced and looked away.

Munch! Munch!

Kwachik!

Crack! Munch! Munch!

The sound of flesh and bones being devoured rang in his ears.

He was not the only one who looked away; even Hamchi and the Santa Climbers looked away in horror while covering their ears.

***

Five minutes later, Siegfried looked back after the grotesque munching sounds vanished.

“Wow... They really ripped him apart...” Siegfried muttered in amazement after seeing the pieces of human flesh littered on the snowy ground.

The entire ground was painted red and what few remained of Elliott were scattered on it.

[Alert: You have completed the Quest – Afterlife!]

Then, the quest completion message popped up in front of his eyes.

“Will I finally get my skill upgraded?” he muttered.

It was then...

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“You have helped us get our revenge. Thank you very much.”

“I can now rest in peace, Your Majesty.”

The Night Stalkers knelt in front of Siegfried and paid their respects while blood was dripping from their mouths. Then, a warm light shined brightly behind the Night Stalkers and enveloped them.

The Night Stalker, who seemed to be their leader, approached Siegfried and said, “We do not have much to offer Your Majesty, so please take this energy of darkness we have gathered while wandering Mount Kunlun as ghosts.”

“Hmm?”

“This is our token of gratitude, so we hope this will be of service to Your Majesty.”

Streams of jet-black energy shot out from the Night Stalkers’ bodies and into Siegfried’s.

[Alert: You have absorbed Mount Kunlun’s Dark Energy!]

[Alert: Your Dark Attribute has been enhanced!]

[Alert: Shadow Swamp has been upgraded!]

Then, the description of the newly upgraded skill popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Shadow Hell]

[Allows the user to place down a debuff field that will greatly reduce the Movement Speed, Casting Speed, and Attack Speed of all enemies on it.]

[The Night Stalkers will arise from the debuff field and attack your enemies for you.]

[The Night Stalkers will not disappear while Shadow Hell is active.]

[A Night Stalker will die but will immediately come back to life.]

[A Night Stalker that has come back to life is stronger.]

Shadow Swamp was upgraded to Shadow Hell, and the shadows that would arise from it had evolved. The slow effect of the skill was still the same but its ability to summon the Night Stalkers was a huge plus indeed.

“Oh? I have a feeling my enemies will struggle even more now,” Siegfried smiled out of satisfaction.

Shadow Swamp was already quite effective in tying down his enemies thanks to its slowing effect and the shadows that performed all sorts of submission skills. However, the Night Stalkers would definitely be much more difficult to deal with, as they would stubbornly refuse to die and keep coming back to life.

But that was not the end of it...

[Alert: You have obtained a new skill!]

[Alert: A new skill has been created – Summon Darkness!]

He gained a skill that was not one of the unique skills of the Debuff Master.

[Summon Darkness]

[Allows the user to summon a Night Stalker.]

[The Night Stalkers may not be summoned in daylight but they are extremely versatile units.]

[They can be used to scout or attack your enemies.]

[The stats of the Night Stalkers will depend on the user’s level, and they may be upgraded later on.]

Summon Darkness was a summoning-type skill that allowed him to summon the Night Stalkers. There was the downside of not being able to summon them during daylight, but this was definitely going to be a useful skill.

“I’m sure this will come in handy later.” Siegfried nodded in satisfaction, but he did not bother summoning them. These kinds of summoning skills were not that attractive to him, as he preferred to destroy things with his own hands.

“We will now take our leave, Your Majesty.” The Night Stalker leader bowed its head.

The warm light shined once again, and they were no longer the dark monsters they were a while ago. The light had purified them and had transformed them into white spirits.

“May the gods bless Your Majesty for giving us eternal rest.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“We shall now take our leave. Thank you very much once again, Your Majesty.”

The Night Stalkers thanked him again and again until they dissipated into the air. They had finally crossed over to the afterlife after their desire for vengeance was satisfied by Elliott’s death.

“I hope you guys rest in peace,” Siegfried said a short word of prayer before picking up the item dropped by Elliott, which included his Mobile Bunker.

***

Siegfried turned to the Santa Climbers as soon as they entered the lava field and said, “I will climb alone from here. I have no idea what awaits us, and I’m not confident I can protect all of you. I mean, you all value your lives, right?”

None of the Santa Climbers retorted. The fact that they had made it all the way here was already a huge accomplishment, and they feared their luck would run out if they tried to force their way through the lava fields, too.

More importantly, they no longer had any reason to reach the Ancient Crater now that their leader, Elliott, was dead.

“May you please take us with you on your descent?” they asked.

“Yeah, I guess I can do that,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“I’ll put the bunker here, so you can wait inside it.”

Siegfried placed down the Mobile Bunker so the Santa Climbers could wait for him safely. He estimated there were only around ten kilometers left to the Ancient Crater, so he concluded he would probably not need the bunker anymore.

He left the climbers in the bunker and continued on his journey. What awaited him in the lava fields were creatures possessing fire attributes such as Lava Toad, Flame Ogre, and Fire Tortoise, which were extremely powerful neutral creatures.

But those were not the only things awaiting him...

Fwaaaa! Fwaaaah!

The heat from the lava gnawed away slowly at the durability of his defensive gear. Their durability didn't decrease as quickly as the corrosive acid in the Southern Great Jungle; it was around 0.001 percent per second at most, but it was still going to add up later on.

“I think we have to pick up the pace here.”

“Hamchi agrees! Kyu! Hamchi’s furs will catch fire at this rate! Owner punk’s hair will catch fire too! You will become Bald Owner Punk!”

“B-Bald?! No!”

“Then hurry up! Kyuuu!”

“Let’s go!” Siegfried gripped his +13 Horse Fly and exclaimed. He was prepared to fight the creatures in the lava field, but...

“...”

“...”

“...”

The creatures did not react at all no matter how close he got to them. They would look at him once before looking away as if they were not interested in him.

“W-What the hell is wrong with them? Why aren’t they attacking?”

“Kyu?”

“Are they looking down on us...?”

“Hamchi has no idea! Kyu!”

Siegfried tried flashing his Rune of Insight at the creatures. It showed that they were highly aggressive, but none of them bothered to attack either Siegfried or Hamchi.

Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om