Debuff Master-Chapter 1065

Chapter 1065
‘
Damn it! I can’t let that thing get away!’
Siegfried immediately chased after the giant squid.
This was a huge opportunity, as he could obtain the wings of both Michael and Zerachiel at once.
Needless to say, Siegfried was not a fool who would miss such an opportunity, so he immediately dove after the giant squid the moment he finished dealing with the swarm of undead deep-sea fishes.
However, the giant squid proved to be cunning, as it used Zerachiel’s authority to summon another swarm of deep-sea creatures.
“
Kieeeek!”
“Krwaaak!”
Terrifying shrieks reverberated throughout the darkness as a swarm of undead sea creatures appeared. These undead sea creatures were once Siegfried’s loyal servants, who had been turned into the undead using Zerachiel’s powers.
Now, these mindless undead were loyal only to the giant squid, and they recognized Siegfried as nothing more than their enemy.
‘Damn it!’
Siegfried’s hands were tied after being forced to deal with the undead sea creatures.
Even though the Deep Sea Diver Combat Helmet was allowing him to breathe, the fact that he was still underwater remained the same.
He couldn’t exert one hundred percent of his combat abilities while underwater, as this was not an environment he was used to fighting in. Also, while he was unaffected by the crushing water pressure of the abyss, his body was still weighed down by water resistance whenever he tried to move.
Thus, Siegfried was forced to waste a lot of time battling against the more than forty undead sea creatures.
Meanwhile, the giant squid dragged Albion deeper into the abyss.
‘
Damn it!’
Driven by urgency, Siegfried used Quick Draw, slicing every last undead sea creature in two before chasing after the giant squid.
Sseuuuu...!
The giant squid, seeing that the human had cut through the undead sea creatures, squirted out a massive cloud of pitch-black ink to obscure Siegfried’s vision.
‘
Ughhh! That bastard!’
Siegfried gritted his teeth and raged. His vision was shrouded yet again. He had the ability to see underwater even in the absence of light, but he was unable to see through the dense black ink squirted by the squid.
There was no way for him to make out anything through the ink, as the ink particles rendered him blind.
Since that was the case...
‘
Did you really think that’s gonna stop me from chasing you down?’
Siegfried growled inwardly before activating Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance.
A mini-map popped up in front of his eyes, and sure enough, the giant squid’s location was marked by a red dot on the map.
It did not matter whether Siegfried could see his target or not, as he could simply track down the red dot on the map.
‘
I’m going to roast that thing into butter-grilled calamari.’
With that resolve, Siegfried dove down deeper and deeper into the abyss, chasing down the giant squid that would soon be turned into butter-grilled calamari.
***
While Siegfried was busy diving into the abyss in pursuit of the giant squid and sperm whale...
“
Aaack!”
“P-Please spare me! Plea—
kyaaah!
”
“
Aaargh!”
A massacre was taking place in one of the large cities of the Marchioni Empire.
The ones responsible for the slaughter of millions were none other than the wraiths led by Zerachiel.
These wraiths held no other purpose other than to obey Zerachiel’s commands and kill the living. Those killed by them would turn into wraiths themselves that would immediately attack the living, turning them into wraiths as well.
Chaos descended upon the lands of the Marchioni Empire. Death itself had become contagious and was spreading like a zombie virus.
“All of you...” In the heart of the city that was now overflowing with chaos and destruction stood Zerachiel.
“Why don’t you understand? Why are you afraid? If you would just endure for a moment, you'd know eternal peace...” Zerachiel muttered under his breath, his voice carrying a hint of pity.
He couldn’t understand the desire for survival of humans—or more precisely, he couldn’t comprehend any living creatures.
Zerachiel was not a psychopath. As an archangel, he could feel all of the negative emotions that those being massacred were experiencing, but to him, those emotions were not important.
In his eyes, death was the purest form of peace, so he simply couldn’t understand those who resisted it.
From his perspective, he was offering them kindness, yet why did these sentient beings respond with such fear, hostility, and pain?
‘
Why are they so afraid of peace?’
he wondered.
“
Sniff... Sniff...”
At that moment, a young girl appeared before him, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Why are you crying?” Zerachiel asked.
The little girl sobbed and replied, “
Sniff...
the devils took my mom and dad...”
Perhaps it was an act of instinct, but the little girl stumbled forward toward Zerachiel.
She did not imagine that the golden-haired boy with angelic wings could be the one responsible for such a horrific massacre. For some reason, he seemed like the only person she could turn to in the midst of such horror—someone to protect her.
Zerachiel’s appearance was so gentle and comforting that the little girl mistook him for a savior.
“S-Sir angel... please...! Please help us—
hic!
I... I am so scared...”
“Come here, child.”
“S-Sir angel... Please save my mommy and daddy...”
“You don’t have to worry about them anymore. They have found peace now,” Zerachiel said in a gentle and comforting soft voice.
“
Huh...?
What do you mean—?”
“People fear death without understanding it. But there’s nothing to be afraid of, child.”
“W-Why not...?”
“Because life is full of pain. Few are the days of happiness while many are the days of suffering. And eventually... you will have to say goodbye to the people you love.”
The little girl couldn’t fully grasp the meaning behind those words, so she just stood there quietly.
“But if you accept death and become an eternal being... You will never have to say goodbye again, nor feel sorrow. You will be with the people you love... forever.”
“R-Really...?”
“Certainly.”
With those words, Zerachiel quietly embraced the little girl.
Shwaaaak!
His nine wings spread open before slowly wrapping around the little girl.
“There’s nothing to fear, child. Your death is not the end. It’s the beginning of eternity.”
Thud!
The little girl collapsed.
“Thank you...”
Soon after, the girl, now turned into a wraith, smiled sweetly at Zerachiel and then vanished into the distance.
“One day, you will all understand me,” Zerachiel whispered with a smile, convinced that his actions would be for the best.
***
The water pressure behind the trail of the giant squid was becoming even stronger.
“
Arghhk!”
Siegfried grimaced in agony as he felt the pressure around him growing heavier with each passing second. At a depth of two thousand five hundred meters, even he was starting to feel the strain despite his superhuman physique.
It was slowly getting harder to endure, yet the giant squid seemed hell-bent on reaching the ocean floor.
‘
I can’t let this go on!’
Siegfried pushed his wings even harder and dove faster. Then, he hurled the Brainwashing Tortoise Rope with all of his strength.
Shwaaaak!
The Brainwashing Tortoise Rope shot forward like a torpedo, cutting through the water straight toward the giant squid.
“
Get lost!”
The giant squid noticed the rope speeding toward it and whipped a tentacle to swat it away.
However, Siegfried was not an easy opponent. The rope once bounced back when he used it on Albion, so learning from that experience, he used Flying Sword to control the Brainwashing Tortoise Rope’s trajectory.
Shwaaak!
The rope twisted sharply, moving in an arc to slip past the flailing tentacle.
Whiiiiik!
In the blink of an eye, the rope wrapped around the giant squid’s massive mantle.
‘
Gotcha!’
The moment he secured the giant squid with the rope, he turned and began swimming back toward the surface.
As crazy as it appeared, he was planning to drag the squid back up.
“
You think you can haul me up?!”
The giant squid seemed both furious and bewildered by the attempt.
“
You’re just a damned squid. Shut up before I grill you,”
Siegfried scoffed in response.
Then, he spread out his ten wings and spun them like propellers.
Shwaaaa!
And with that, his body rocketed upward. He was cutting through the waters at terrifying speed, even with both the giant squid and sperm whale in tow.
“
W-Wha—”
The giant squid was stunned, unable to believe that it was being dragged underwater by a mere human.
“Kraaaaah!”
It kept two tentacles gripped tightly around Albion and swung its remaining eight tentacles at Siegfried, but it proved to be a costly mistake.
‘
Time to chop this bastard up.’
Siegfried saw the incoming tentacles and transformed his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp into the form of a saber. Then, he activated Quick Draw, the secret technique of Betelgeuse, and prepared to cut straight through the giant squid’s onslaught.
Given that the squid’s tentacles had mutated due to the influence of Zerachiel’s wings, Siegfried would have to use Quick Draw rather than basic attacks to cut through them.
‘
It’s a bit tricky but...’
However, the angel was not ideal. He wanted to slice through all eight tentacles in a single swing of his saber, but the tentacles were spread too wide that it was impossible to get them all in one swing.
‘
I don’t think I can do it in one. Can I do it in two, though?’
As soon as that thought popped up in Siegfried’s mind, a notification popped up in front of his eyes.
***
The notification was a skill upgrade alert.
[Alert: Congratulations!]
[Alert: Your will has enhanced the skill — Quick Draw!]
Surprisingly, his skill, Quick Draw, had evolved on its own. It was a similar phenomenon to how Torrential Flower Rain had evolved into Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain last time.
[Heaven and Earth Cleaving Blade]
[Cleave the heavens and cleave the earth.]
[An enhanced version of Quick Draw, the secret technique of the Sword Emperor Betelgeuse.]
[Quick Draw has naturally evolved upon reaching a certain skill level and upon obtaining enlightenment.]
[This upgraded skill now allows for two strikes to be unleashed instead of one, and it will grow even more powerful as its skill level increases.]
‘
Well, I did dump a lot of points into it,’
Siegfried thought.
He recalled how he had steadily invested skill points into Quick Draw every time he leveled up. Thanks to that, the cooldown had shortened significantly, and the recoil had reduced quite a bit as well.
He had reached a point where he could use Quick Draw fairly frequently, which must be the reason why it had naturally upgraded.
‘
Perfect. Let’s try it out!’
Thus, he swung his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp and activated Heaven and Earth Cleaving Blade.
Shwaaak! Shwaaak!
Two clean slashes formed the shape of a cross.
Sukeok! Sukeok! Sukeok!
The giant squid’s tentacles were cleanly cut in the blink of an eye, but that wasn't all...
Swoosh!
The Heaven and Earth Cleaving Blade was so overwhelmingly powerful that the shockwave it generated churned the waters around them, creating a vortex.
“
Kraaaah!”
The giant squid spun helplessly, as if it had been thrown into a washing machine.
‘
Holy shit! That’s insane!’
Siegfried was shocked after witnessing the Heaven and Earth Cleaving Blade's might.
Judging by the sheer intensity of the aftershock, he was certain that this skill was far more powerful than Quick Draw.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury to sit around in awe.
‘
Now’s my chance.’
While the giant squid was feeling disoriented with the loss of its tentacles, Siegfried ascended toward the surface, not wasting even a second. The giant squid was still clinging tightly to Albion with its two remaining tentacles, but it no longer mattered.
Now, all Siegfried had to do was retrieve both wings of the former Chief Archangel and the Archangel of Death.