Debuff Master-Chapter 1057

Chapter 1057
Baaam!
Siegfried took the full brunt of the energy blast and was sent flying, crashing hard into the ground a few hundred meters away.
“
Gahk! Kuheok!”
The impact was so severe that he vomited up almost a gallon of blood.
It was only natural.
The energy blast unleashed by the Archangel of Death dealt devastating damage.. In fact, it was so devastating that even the Super Armor effect granted by the Overclocking skill shattered upon impact.
“
Ugh...”
Siegfried groaned in agony.
“Hey! Han Tae-Sung! Are you okay?!” Cheon Woo-Jin shouted, flying over at full speed.
“You... hurry... run...” Siegfried groaned, struggling to get on his feet.
“Run? Why?”
“Didn’t you see? One word from him and you will die. You need to get out of here.”
“Come on, I’m a Grandmaster, you know?”
It was then.
“Begone, insignificant creature.”
Zerachiel’s low voice rang out from afar.
“
Arghhk! Ah!”
Cheon Woo-Jin gasped, clutching his chest and collapsing.
Thud!
And just like that, he was dead..
In the face of Zerachiel’s authority as the Archangel of Death, even a Grandmaster faced instant death without exception.
“F-Fuck... that’s insanely broken,” Siegfried muttered under his breath, utterly horrified when he saw Cheon Woo-Jin dying instantly right in front of his eyes. Of course, he wasn't the only one who was shocked, as Cheon Woo-Jin was probably just as shocked as him. Who could have imagined that a Grandmaster would drop dead from just a single word? Unfortunately, this was the horrifying reality before Siegfried.
“...Hey, Han Tae-Sung.”
Just then, Cheon Woo-Jin suddenly called out to him. He, too, was now a wraith, and his eyes were burning with hostility.
“You can become... complete... too...”
“W-What...?” Siegfried stammered, retreating a few steps.
“Death is another beginning... Death is... eternal... So...”
“...?”
“Die.”
With those words, Cheon Woo-Jin lunged at Siegfried and threw a punch.
“Wha—?!” Siegfried gasped, jumping back and narrowly dodging the attack.
Boom!
The ground where he previously stood caved in several meters deep from the force of the punch, and it showed just how destructive Cheon Woo-Jin’s punches were.
‘
Damn it!’
Siegfried cursed and flew back up into the sky to avoid Cheon Woo-Jin. Then, he charged straight toward the Archangel of Death.
[Archangel of Death: Zerachiel]
[HP: ■■■■■■■■□□]
Zerachiel still had eighty percent HP remaining even after taking a full three-skill combo head-on.
But that did not mean Siegfried was going to give up.
‘
I’m not done yet,’
he gritted his teeth.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
He reactivated Overclocking to its third stage and pushed through one more time.
The battle restarted.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Siegfried and Zerachiel exchanged blows at lightning speed, too fast for ordinary people to follow.
However, Siegfried was still at a severe disadvantage. Even in his Demon Lord of Greed and Betrayal form, Zerachiel far outclassed him in terms of stats, and Siegfried was the only one receiving any damage every time they clashed.
‘
Our gap is too big...’
Siegfried thought, but just as the idea crossed his mind...
Bam!
Zerachiel kicked Siegfried's gut.
“...!”
Right after getting kicked in the gut, the Scythe of Repose came slicing toward his neck.
‘
T-This is...!’
For the first time since gaining the ability to transform, Siegfried feared that he would actually die this time. He believed that he was invincible upon transforming, but that was certainly not the case.
An Archangel was on par with a Demon Lord, but among all of the Archangels, Zerachiel was known to be quite a difficult opponent that nobody wanted to face.
Unfortunately, Siegfried was currently facing Zerachiel.
Their difference in stats was so overwhelming that he couldn’t deal any significant damage even after using debuffs. Not only that, but even his skills barely did any damage.
The worst of it all was the scythe. A single direct hit from the Scythe of Repose meant instant death for him.
“Time to die,” Zerachiel said coldly, ready to end the fight once and for all.
Flash!
Just then, golden flashes of light rained down from the sky, followed by a blinding bolt of lightning that struck Zerachiel square in the back.
Zzzaaap!
The Scythe of Repose barely grazed past Siegfried’s neck. Thanks to the surprise lightning strike, he narrowly escaped death, and then...
Fwoosh!
A ray of holy light shone down, and
he
appeared.
Zerachiel’s attention immediately shifted to the newcomer, not even glancing at Siegfried.
“Big Brother...” Zerachiel muttered. The former Chief Archangel, the firstborn of all angels, was gazing down upon Zerachiel from the heavens above.
***
“Even Michael got involved...” Gabriel gasped the moment he saw Michael. “I should’ve finished him off that time...”
He remembered the moment Michael fell from the Celestial Realm, and he deeply regretted not ending him for good. If only he had finished Michael off for good back then...
However, it was meaningless to dwell on the past.
“So you finally reclaimed your wings, Michael...” Gabriel growled under his breath.
It was then.
“I see that Zerachiel’s acting on his own again.”
“...!”
“I figured that it would come to this.”
“B-Brother!”
Gabriel was shocked by Lucifer's sudden appearance.
He was already overwhelmed trying to figure out how to this whole incident without incurring Lucifer’s wrath, but his heart sank like a stone after seeing Lucifer suddenly appear out of nowhere.
“Let him do what he wants. There’s no need to concern yourself,” Lucifer said nonchalantly.
“B-But he killed our brothers and sisters! And yet you say leave him be?!” Gabriel retorted.
“What is our goal? Is our goal not the destruction of the Middle Realm?” Lucifer turned and asked.
“Well, yes... but...”
“Zerachiel may be out of control, but he’s still acting in accordance with our common goal. So what’s the problem?”
“...What are you trying to say, brother?”
“Just let him keep killing. Leave him be until he kills every last one of them.”
“W-Wha—?!”
“Zerachiel will go on slaughtering the creatures of the Middle Realm, so there’s no need to bother with him. Instead, it’s time we focus on securing my vessel.”
The time has come for the Chief Archangel, Lucifer, to personally start getting involved.
However, the real problem was finding a vessel worthy of containing the Chief Archangel, and that was not something brute physical power or innate combat prowess could satisfy.
Something far more fundamental was required to serve as the Chief Archangel’s vessel, and that was for the vessel to be someone born with a certain unique trait. That trait could only be found in perfect beings with flawless DNA that had neither defects nor traces of corruption.
“I’ve already found someone who could serve as your vessel, brother,” Gabriel said.
“Have you? Who is it?” Lucifer asked, his interest piqued.
“Siegfried von Proa’s daughter, Verdandi. She is without a doubt the perfect vessel for you.”
Gabriel had combed through the vast Middle Realm and found that nobody other than Siegfried’s daughter, Verdandi, was ideal to be Lucifer’s vessel.
“But we still need a bit more time. Infiltrating the Proatine Empire with our brothers and sisters proved to be quite difficult. I ask for a little more patience, brother.”
“I hope I won’t have to wait long. My patience has already reached its limit, Gabriel.”
“I understand completely. Just wait a little longer, brother. We will secure the vessel as quickly as possible and begin the ritual to have you descend unto the Middle Realm.”
“I’ll trust you
once again
,” Lucifer said ominously. Then, he turned and gave a final warning, “But don’t forget this, brother. My patience is already at its end.”
Gabriel felt a chill crawl up his spine at Lucifer’s words, causing his back to break out in cold sweats.
Why?
It was all because Lucifer was not only powerful but also terrifyingly cruel.
Even back in the days when Michael was still the Chief Archangel, far more angels feared Lucifer than Michael.
***
Michael appeared on the battlefield.
Siegfried looked up and asked, sounding surprised, “M-Michael...? Why are you here?”
“I sensed the descent of my brother,” Michael replied, already standing right beside Siegfried before anyone even noticed.
Unlike when they first met, Michael had grown much stronger after recovering seven out of his twelve wings.
[Look for the Archangel’s Wings]
[Retrieve the 12 wings of Michael scattered across the continent.]
[Type: Epic Quest]
[Progress: 58.3% (7/12)]
[Reward: +5 Level per Wing]
[Warning: The Fallen Angels are also looking for Michael’s wings!]
Siegfried indeed had a quest to look for Michael’s wings, but he had only ever found one wing for Michael, so he did not reap as much reward as he could have from the quest.
He had simply been too busy with other things of far greater importance that he never had the time to look for Michael’s wings on top of everything else.
“I will face Zerachiel, Siegfried,” Michael said calmly.
“But—!”
“You cannot defeat him with your current power. My brother is... incredibly strong. Your skill can help you put up a good fight against him, but now is not the time to gamble on the uncertain.”
What Michael wanted to say was that the gap between Zerachiel and Siegfried’s stats was so huge. Even with his overpowered debuff skills, there was only so much he could do when the gap between them was this massive.
“Michael...”
“Please, rest.”
With that, Michael soared high into the sky, flying straight toward Zerachiel.
The battle between the former Chief Archangel and the Archangel of Death was about to begin.
***
Surprisingly, Zerachiel did not attack Michael.
“It has been a long time, Big Brother,” Zerachiel said.
Rather than attacking, he even called Michael in an endearing manner.
“Zerachiel...”
“I heard that you were still alive, but I didn’t know that you regained your powers.”
“Yes, I did, Zerachiel.”
“I see...” Zerachiel muttered. Then, he said, “You should’ve just died.”
Even while saying those chilling words, he showed no hint of being disturbed. In fact, there was not a hint of malice or hatred in his voice.
It was simply that he was speaking his honest thoughts.
“What good is there in staying alive, Big Brother?”
“That’s not true, Zerachiel. I’m grateful to be alive. And I’m grateful that I still have something left to do.”
“You know all too well that it’s all meaningless. In the end, everyone will die. Even we, angels, aren’t free from the cycle of life and death. You should know that better than anyone, right?”
“That doesn’t mean life is worthless, Zerachiel.”
“
Haha...
Maybe,” Zerachiel replied with a chuckle. Then, he smiled faintly and added, “But isn’t life something that eventually just disappears without a trace?”
“Zerachiel...”
“It would be easier if everyone just died. For you, for me, for Lucifer, for every being in this world—death is our final destination. The cycle of life and death was a flawed design from the very beginning. The Creator, no, our father made a mistake. That’s how I see it.”
“Zerachiel! That is not—” Michael retorted.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Zerachiel interrupted Michael's attempt at talking it out.
At that moment, the Archangel of Death swung his Scythe of Repose at Michael.
It was a cold and emotionless attack without a hint of rage or hatred behind it.
Zerachiel did not attack Michael in order to silence him or out of malice. He was simply trying to end another life, just as he did with the countless angels and people he had massacred in Angela.
Nothing more and nothing less than that.