Debuff Master-Chapter 1069

Chapter 1069
“
Grrk!”
“Argh!”
The Holy Alliance soldiers were unable to last even one second against the Green Hell Magno unleashed by Siegfried. They dropped like flies one after another.
Those stationed in the training camp were just regular knights, soldiers, and fresh recruits, so even those with high poison resistance struggled to last a full minute against the radioactive green fog.
There was no need for the enemy soldiers to even come in contact with the green fog, as the sheer intensity of the radioactive energy was so overwhelming that any ordinary soldier near the fog would die instantly.
Siegfried possessed a terrifying ability when it came to slaughtering those weaker than him, and he was quite adept at using it.
One after another...
[Alert: You have absorbed a soul!]
[Alert: You have absorbed a soul!]
[Alert: You have absorbed a soul!]
(omitted...)
[Alert: You have absorbed a soul!]
Siegfried greedily harvested the souls of the enemies he killed, and his harvest was bountiful. Gathering soul energy at this training camp was practically effortless, as the enemies were no different from scarecrows, posing no threat to him whatsoever.
He just had to keep killing, and his soul energy reserve steadily filled up almost as if it were a machine on autopilot, meaning that filling his soul energy reserve was absurdly easy.
However, Siegfried’s heart was heavy.
‘
Is this... who I really am...?’
Even as he gathered soul energy, he found himself feeling torn by his actions.
‘
I only got the demon lord’s powers by chance. It’s not my skill, nor is it my own power. I’m just borrowing it for a while, that’s all.’
Becoming dependent on Demon Lord’s Descent was not something he was thrilled about, as it was not his own skill or power. Unfortunately, he did not have much of a choice right now. Judging by the pace of his growth, there was no way he could protect the world against the angels.
Even fighting against a High-Ranking Fallen Angel was a struggle for him, so there was no question that he would naturally struggle against the higher-ranking archangels.
In the end, he had no other choice but to rely on the skill, Demon Lord’s Descent, whether he liked it or not.
‘
I need to become stronger. I can’t keep relying on this skill that comes with risks.’
No matter how he thought about it, this was not the path he should be walking.
‘
I’m the Lord of Despair—not the Demon Lord of Greed and Betrayal. I need to surpass this power with my own.”
Even though the situation forced him to rely on the power, he still hated it.
He wanted to become just as strong as he was in his Demon Lord of Greed and Betrayal form. He wanted to stand tall and proud against the angels with his own might as the Lord of Despair.
But that was not his only concern...
‘
This armor set crafted by Quandt might be suppressing the side effects for now, but even that has a limit. This skill is a double-edged sword that will surely devour me one day. I can’t keep relying on this ticking time bomb forever.’
Siegfried understood the risks of using Demon Lord’s Descent better than anyone else, so he reminded himself not to overly rely on it.
Hamchi, who was present at the scene of the massacre, tilted his head in confusion and called out, “Hey, owner punk!
Kyuuu!”
Even in the midst of this brutal massacre, Siegfried looked completely lost in thought, as if he were thinking about something else.
“What are you brooding over while killing people?!
Kyuuu!”
“I was just thinking that I need to become stronger.”
“
Kyu?”
“I can’t let this power drag me around forever. I need to be the one in control of things.”
“Where the heck did that come from?!
Kyuuu!”
“It’s called none of your business, punk,” Siegfried said with a chuckle.
Then, he turned his focus to the massacre he was responsible for.
[Alert: You have absorbed a soul!]
[Alert: You have absorbed a soul!]
[Alert: You have absorbed a soul!]
(omitted...)
[Alert: You have absorbed a soul!]
Whatever he was thinking of a while ago was not important right now, as he had to harvest as much soul energy as he could, whether he liked it or not.
In the upcoming rematch against the Archangel of Death, Zerachiel, he needed to maintain his transformation far longer than he did before.
Thus, Siegfried erased all thoughts from his mind and focused on harvesting every single soul he could from the training camp.
***
The next afternoon...
“How are you feeling today?”
After utterly annihilating the Holy Alliance’s training camp the previous night, Siegfried immediately paid Michael a visit.
“I’m doing better now.”
In just two days, Michael had recovered quite a bit.
However, he was yet to fully recover.
[Michael]
[HP: ■■■■■■■□□□]
His HP was yet to fill up to one hundred percent and was sitting at around seventy percent.
“You look like you need more rest. Are you sure you’re okay?” Siegfried asked.
“I’m stronger than I was back then, thanks to you finding another one of my wings. Even if I haven’t recovered fully, I won’t go down as easily as last time,” Michael replied confidently.
“Then that’s good news.”
“Besides, I think I could take a few hits from the Scythe of Repose and still survive. Two or three times, at the very least.”
“
Oh?
”
“I could have taken hundreds of those hits without dying back when I was still the Chief Archangel.”
“Good.”
Siegfried took Michael’s words quite positively.
‘
I’ll use him as a meatshield if I have to,’
he thought.
If it came down to it, Siegfried was prepared to use Michael as a tank in order to land a decisive blow on Zerachiel. After all, Michael claimed that he could endure a few hits from the Scythe of Repose.
Thus, Siegfried was willing to go as far as to employ that kind of brutal, high-risk tactic if the situation called for it.
“Well then, shall we go?”
“Sure.”
“
Kyuuu!
Let’s go!”
And so, Siegfried, Michael, and Hamchi stepped into the warp gate. Their destination was to eliminate the Archangel of Death, Zerachiel.
“Oh, right,” Siegfried said just before the warp gate activated. Then, he turned and said, “Hey, Hamchi.”
“
Kyu?
What?”
“Go get Gringore. Tell him to come right now.”
“
Kyuu?
Why the heck are we bringing Gringore with us?”
“I have my reasons. Just hurry and bring him here.”
“
Kyuu!
Got it!”
‘
If I recall correctly, he had a song that was especially effective against the undead. I think he said it was the Requiem or something?’
Siegfried thought.
Zerachiel led a massive army of the dead, commanding tens of millions of wraiths.
Against such an opponent, Siegfried needed a trump card to counter or neutralize those wraiths, and that card was none other than Gringore.
***
Meanwhile, the Holy Alliance was in total chaos after suffering yet another devastating blow at the hands of Siegfried.
Having their main training camp razed to the ground was already a huge blow, but the loss of tens of thousands of conscripts, who were supposed to be deployed in the war once the blizzard subsided, was an even greater blow.
The loss placed an enormous burden on the Holy Alliance both in the war and outside the war.
From the start of the campaign, they had relied on the miracles performed by the angels and their military might to suppress any dissidents. Nobody dared to voice their opposition to what the Holy Alliance was doing—until now.
The cracks were starting to show.
Public sentiment toward the Holy Alliance had already begun deteriorating ever since the start of their campaign, but it deteriorated even faster after their armies faced defeat after defeat on the battlefield.
Now, with the destruction of the training camp that claimed the lives of so many young men, the families of the fallen recruits had begun to rise up in protest against the Holy Alliance.
The Holy Alliance was now facing a dire situation.
Normally, the families of the dead would harbor hatred for the enemy and would enlist in droves in order to avenge their loved ones.
However, that was not the case this time.
The bereaved families turned against the Holy Alliance instead of against the ones that were supposed to be their enemies. However, most people had already seen this coming.
Why?
It was all because the way the Holy Alliance had been managing their troops was a complete disaster. In the battles where they lost, they had recklessly sent their soldiers to meaningless deaths, and word of it had spread to the populace.
Naturally, the grieving families came to hate the Holy Alliance even more than they hated the enemy.
The Holy Alliance would not be really bothered by the threat of civilian uprisings, as they were more than capable of subjugating them. However, they ran the risk of suffering a hit to their supplies and eventually being unable to keep up their war efforts if the people revolted.
To make things worse, a particular nasty rumor was circulating throughout the territories of the Holy Alliance. Well, it was not exactly a rumor, as it was actually the truth.
Word had spread that the Holy Alliance was sacrificing innocent people as offerings to summon the angels. This rumor slowly started gaining traction, and before long, it caused public fear and unrest to grow among the populace.
Of course, the Holy Alliance had no idea that the source of the rumor was none other than the Proatine Empire.
Ninetail and her covert operatives orchestrated the entire thing, as they deliberately spread rumors to destabilize the enemy from within.
Unaware of any of this happening, the Holy Alliance continued its slow descent, spiraling into total chaos from the inside.
As the chaos continued...
“Inform everyone to convene.”
The leader of the Illuminati, the Master, had finally reached his breaking point after monitoring the worsening situation in the Holy Alliance.
He could no longer afford to sit back and watch, as the Holy Alliance was clearly about to lose to the Allied Forces.
If things kept continuing as they were, they were without a doubt going to lose, even with the support from the Celestial Realm.
Thus, the Master had no plans of allowing things to continue as they were.
***
The Illuminati convened an emergency meeting under the instructions of the Master.
“We have received a directive from the heavens.” As always, the Master sat behind the veil as he informed the executives of the emergency meeting’s agenda.
One of the Illuminati executives asked, “What kind of directive?”
All of the Illuminati’s executives were cloaked in masks and capes to conceal their identities so thoroughly that it was impossible for them to tell who was who. Their voices and form of speech were magically distorted through the enchanted masks, so the only person who knew the true identities of these members was the Master himself.
“It’s an order to secure a vessel for the Chief Archangel's descent.”
As soon as those words left the Master’s lips...
“...!”
The executives shuddered as if a bolt of lightning had struck them.
The Chief Archangel, Lucifer.
If he were to descend, then the Holy Alliance would win the war, no matter what the Allied Forces would do in response. No, it wouldn't be just about winning the war.
The war wouldn't even matter anymore if Chief Archangel Lucifer were allowed to descend. The dominion over the entire Middle Realm would inevitably fall into the hands of the Holy Alliance, and it would only be a matter of time before they achieved their goal.
Another executive asked, “What should we do? Should we send our men to find a suitable vessel?”
The Master replied, “No, the candidate for the vessel has already been chosen. Verdandi von Proa, the daughter of Siegfried von Proa—that high elf child will serve as the vessel for the Chief Archangel.”
“Oooh!”
“Ah!”
“
Haha!”
Excitement rippled throughout the meeting room upon hearing the name.
The Master raised a hand and said, “But that girl is currently in the imperial palace of the Proatine Empire. Abducting her will be near-impossible, so...”
He paused for a moment and looked around.
Silence fell upon the entire room, each executive holding their breaths and waiting for what the Master was about to say next.
“We must mobilize all of our resources and focus everything we have on abducting the girl. Do you understand?” the Master said.
“Yes! Master!”
The executives all responded in unison with a resounding cry.
And so, the Illuminati decided to abduct Verdandi von Proa and offer her up as a vessel for the Chief Archangel, Lucifer.
***
Around the same time, Zerachiel was committing a massacre in Buterol, one of the large cities of the Marchioni Empire. He was not personally partaking in the carnage, as the killings were solely carried out by the wraiths under his command.
Why?
His main goal was to spread death like a plague, so all he had to do was lead his legion of tens of millions of wraiths from city to city.
“One day, they will understand me...” he murmured under his breath while watching death spread. He truly believed that one day, the wraiths would come to understand his intentions and they would thank him for freeing them from the pain of life.
Perhaps that was the reason why...
“Just bear with it a little longer, even if you are scared. You will all be liberated soon,” he muttered with a gentle smile as he gazed down upon the carnage.
However, that smile did not last long.
Aaah~ Aaaah~ Aaaah!
Aaaah aaah aaah!
AAAAAH!
A requiem echoed through the air, and Zerachiel was shocked to realize that the song carried a distinct aura that was weakening the wraiths.
“What the...? What is this song?” he muttered in disbelief, furrowing his brow at the sudden turn of events.
It was then.
Siegfried appeared from nowhere and answered his question, “A requiem.”
“Requiem...?” Zerachiel muttered, looking perplexed.
“It’s a song to soothe the souls of the dead,” Siegfried said with a sly grin.
Indeed, bringing Gringore with him proved to be a brilliant move.
While Gringore was not particularly strong in combat, no one could perform the miracles he was capable of in these kinds of situations.
Being able to neutralize tens of millions of wraiths by singing a song was truly a miracle in itself.
“It’s you again. Do you have a death wish? Well, I can’t blame you. It’s better to die a second sooner than a second later,” Zerachiel growled under his breath.
“That’s what you think,” Siegfried replied with a smirk as he drew his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp.
Michael dropped from the sky with a thud, landing directly in front of Zerachiel.
“You have done more than enough, Zerachiel. Please, stop this at once,” Michael pleaded.
“
Oh?
You’re still alive? And you’ve gained another wing,” Zerachiel sneered. Then, he asked, “Do you think that will be enough to beat me? You don’t even have ten wings with you, big brother.”
“We won’t know until we try, Zerachiel.”
“You’re always so damn optimistic. Back then, and now too,” Zerachiel growled. Then, he raised his scythe and declared, “But that optimistic attitude ends today. This time, I’m not letting you off.”
Zerachiel’s eyes emanated a deep, violet purple hue as he unleashed a powerful burst of energy.