Debuff Master-Chapter 1096

Chapter 1096
‘
A demon lord is still a demon lord. I shouldn’t let my guard down.’
Siegfried did not let his victory over Dampires get to his head.
Dampires was not a demon specializing in combat. He specialized in using his crowd control skills to turn the tides of large-scale battles. In other words, it was only natural for him to be weak in a one-on-one fight.
Compared to Dampires, the other demon lords were different. Each of them possessed special abilities that made them extremely terrifying in their own right.
To assume he could take them down easily just because he defeated a non-combatant demon lord would be nothing short of arrogance.
Yes, Siegfried was strong. He and Metatron had each taken down a demon lord—Dantalion and Sidon respectively—so they were considerably stronger than the other demon lords.
However, carelessness always led to disaster, and then one’s demise.
‘
I need to stay sharp.’
Determined not to get complacent, Siegfried stayed cautious as he moved deeper into the maze.
It was then.
‘
Another enemy!’
A red dot began rapidly closing in on him, forcing him to quickly duck into cover.
The label on the red dot read, "Demon Lord of Pain: Abraxas."
Wearing a long golden tunic, Abraxas walked slowly through the Maze of Evil.
C-Creak...!
Suddenly, the wall to the left creaked and slid open.
A trap was triggered.
“
Kyaaaah!”
“Grwuu Aaah!”
“Kghhhh!”
From behind the wall, a swarm of ancient beasts burst out and charged straight at Abraxas.
“Foolish creatures,” Abraxas muttered.
Despite the swarm of terrifying monsters charging toward him, Abraxas did not so much as flinch. Instead, he calmly raised a hand and cast out a crimson light.
“
Kyaaah!”
“Kghhhh!”
“Gyaaaagh!”
The moment the ancient beasts were hit by the red light, they began convulsing violently, as if they were insects sprayed with repellants.
Their howls of agony rang through the maze corridors, as they went limp and collapsed one by one, motionless.
The crimson light did not just inflict damage; it killed them outright.
‘
What the hell was that...?’
Watching from the shadows, Siegfried’s eyes widened in shock.
Abraxas had just effortlessly killed the ancient beasts, which were powerful monsters that even Siegfried found hard to handle.
Judging by how Abraxas had incapacitated and killed these monsters in under ten seconds, even Siegfried could end up writhing in pain and dying if he ever got hit by that crimson light.
Siegfried had an extremely high pain tolerance, so he could endure far more than most.
But still...
‘
He’s no pushover. I need to keep an eye on him,’
Siegfried thought.
Rather than charge in recklessly, Siegfried chose to remain hidden and follow Abraxas.
He had the Robe of the Dead, an exceptional stealth artifact, so he did not have to worry about being discovered.
‘
I’ll study his fighting style, then ambush him when an opportunity presents itself.’
Just as Siegfried made up his mind...
Ding!
A new red dot appeared on the minimap.
‘
Huh?’
The Demon Lord of Destruction, Dekaron, rushed straight toward Abraxas.
‘
Are those two about to fight...?’
As soon as he entertained that thought...
“Die!”
Dekaron rushed out of the shadows and charged at Abraxas.
The Demon Lord of Pain, Abraxas, and the Demon Lord of Destruction, Dekaron.
The two demon lords faced off in a one-on-one duel within the Maze of Evil.
***
Siegfried stayed hidden nearby and watched the battle between the two demon lords.
This was a very good opportunity for him. After all, he would keep running into these two from now on, even outside the Maze of Evil, so studying their combat styles in advance was extremely beneficial to him.
From what he observed so far, Abraxas was some kind of battle mage.
He could cast magic instantly without any noticeable delay and was also skilled in melee combat. His main drawback was that most of his skills inflicted pain to incapacitate the enemy rather than dealing damage.
In other words, he excelled at crowd control and dealing damage over time, but burst damage was not his forte.
In contrast, Dekaron was a brute-force, muscle-brained demon who relied purely on raw power. His overwhelming attack strength was truly impressive, but he had virtually no skills to hinder his opponent’s movements.
He was a straightforward damager with no mobility or crowd control abilities. He was the type to charge into enemy lines and wreak havoc. Thus, the battle between Abraxas and Dekaron could be considered to be a battle of polar opposites.
Perhaps that was the reason why neither Abraxas nor Dekaron could land a decisive blow on the other, and they gradually began to run out of stamina.
Their HP was already below twenty percent, but there was still no clear victor in the fight.
In Siegfried's eyes, this was a golden opportunity.
‘
Jack in the motherfucking pot!’
He couldn't help but grin while observing the exhausted and worn-out demon lords.
This was his chance for a windfall.
He could sweep in and take down both Abraxas and Dekaron while they were still busy fighting with each other, letting him claim both kills almost without effort.
‘
Just a little more...’
Siegfried waited patiently, holding back until their HP dropped to below fifteen percent.
About five more minutes later...
‘
Now!’
Siegfried immediately released his stealth and launched a surprise attack on both Abraxas and Dekaron.
“...!”
“...!”
Abraxas and Dekaron were visibly shocked by Siegfried’s sudden attack, but neither could react in time.
Why?
It was all because Siegfried was far too fast.
Siegfried swung his +16 Vanquisher's Grasp at Abraxas, unleashing the secret technique of Sword Emperor Betelgeuse, Heaven and Earth Cleaving Blade.
Chwaaak! Chwaaak!
‘
Next!’
Without missing a beat, Siegfried turned to face Dekaron.
He transformed his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a blunt weapon and used Skull Breaker, slamming Dekaron’s head four times, before transforming his weapon into a dagger this time and stabbing it deep into Dekaron’s abdomen.
Puuuuk!
The moment the +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp was stabbed deep enough, he unleashed Wave of Annihilation, sending a violent burst of shockwave directly into the Demon Lord of Destruction’s abdomen.
“
G-Graaagh!”
Dekaron let out a final, ear-piercing scream before being engulfed in a brilliant light and vanishing.
Abraxas was also struck by the Heaven and Earth Cleaving Blade, and he disappeared without a trace. Both Demon Lords had their HP reduced to zero by the surprise attack and were forcibly returned to District Zero.
Siegfried’s ambush was a huge success.
Ding!
[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]
[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]
[Alert: You have leveled up!]
[Alert: You have reached Level 443!]
[Alert: You have reached Level 444!]
Just like that, Siegfried took down two more demon lords and gained another two levels.
‘
This is just too good! It’s too sweet!’
Siegfried felt like dancing with joy at the easy levels he had just obtained.
However, the levels were not the only reward he got.
[Alert: Congratulations!]
[Alert: You have earned a new title!]
[Demon Lord Hunter]
[A glorious title granted to those who have successfully slain multiple demon lords.]
[Only a handful in history have ever earned this, so feel free to take pride in it.]
[Type: Title]
[Rating: Mythic]
[Effects]
[+50% damage dealt to demon lords.]
[-50% damage taken from demon lords.]
[-70% effectiveness of crowd control skills used by demon lords.]
[Note: Those who hold this title will find it much easier to subdue demon lords!]
Upon earning the title "Demon Lord Hunter," Siegfried officially became the natural predator of demon lords.
Now, any demon lord who dared to face him would take fifty percent more damage from him, while the damage they dealt to him was reduced by half. The title was a broken title that would make the battle against a demon lord significantly easier.
‘
Too good! This is too damn sweet!’
Siegfried felt like he could fly from how happy he was after earning the title. He was already hunting demon lords to level up, and with this title, there was barely any need for him to be so careful from now on.
At this point, he was pretty sure he could defeat any demon lord that crossed his path, even without resorting to petty tricks.
‘
Let’s try this out,’
Siegfried thought, immediately setting off to find another demon lord.
He wanted to put the title, "Demon Lord Hunter," to the test by challenging the remaining demon lords.
***
Meanwhile, the Allied Forces and the Holy Alliance were still locked in an unrelenting chase even after several days and nights.
“Supreme Commander, sir! We cannot go on like this any longer! We must allow the troops to rest even for a short while!” the lieutenant pleaded earnestly with Deldelos.
And with good reason, as something was clearly wrong with the troops. They had been marching without rest for two full days, not sleeping even a wink. Every soldier was exhausted and completely drained to the bone.
But that was not all...
The physical fatigue was only the beginning of their problems.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
More and more soldiers were collapsing from exhaustion.
“Mom...? What are you doing here...?”
Some began seeing their mothers, right in the middle of the march.
“Hey, let’s stop over there for a drink.”
Others started hallucinating, seeing taverns that did not even exist, and tried to invite their comrades for a drink. Marching for nearly three straight days without any sleep, their mental exhaustion and sleep deprivation had pushed the soldiers far beyond their limits.
There were some who were so resilient that they could last a full week without sleep, but that sort of endurance was something only the elite among knights possessed.
The majority of the Holy Alliance soldiers were conscripts, so expecting them to have the same endurance as elite knights was simply unrealistic.
Unless they were one of the rare ones born with innate mental fortitude and resilience, this kind of forced march was simply nothing short of madness.
“Five hours... I’ll give them five hours to rest,” Deldelos said through gritted teeth.
In the end, even he admitted that he could no longer push the troops, so he had no choice but to let them rest. After all, there was no point in catching up to the Allied Forces if the men were too tired to even more.
‘
They’re human too, so they will need to rest. As long as we rest even just an hour less than they do, we will catch up to them eventually.’
Justifying his command, Deldelos reclined in his chair. He, too, had not slept a wink and tried to catch a bit of rest like the others.
How long had it been since he last slept? He couldn’t honestly remember anymore.
“Supreme Commander, sir!”
“What is it?!”
Deldelos shot up at his lieutenant’s urgent voice.
“We’re under artillery fire!”
“What?!”
“The Great Wizard, Duke Decimato, is bombarding us with magic spells! And the Proatine Empire’s new artillery is bombarding us from range outside the reach of our artillery!”
“Damn it!”
Deldelos rushed to the window of his tent at the .
“...Ah.”
What awaited him was a view of the absolute devastation sweeping throughout the camp.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Whoosh... Kaboom!
A brutal rain of magic spells and artillery shells fell upon the camp, where the exhausted Holy Alliance troops had just begun to enjoy their well-earned rest after marching without ceasing for days.
But what truly shocked Deldelos was not the bombardment itself.
‘
E-Even if he is a Great Wizard, he needs to draw magic circles and chant for an extended time in advance in order to unleash a bombardment on this scale. At least a day—no, a few hours to do this...’
Deldelos found it bizarre that Decimato was unleashing such a devastating bombardment in such a short period of time.
‘
Hold on, does that mean...? The Allied Forces knew in advance that we would be resting here. Then, I, Deldelos, was once again outmaneuvered by that damned peasant?’
It was the only possible explanation; it was the only logical conclusion he could reach.
However, Deldelos simply couldn’t bring himself to accept it, no matter how logical it was. The fact that the enemy commander had predicted where they would rest, hours in advance at that, was simply too bizarre to accept.
‘
Can he really see right through my every move?’
Deldelos thought, despair creeping up on him. He felt he was standing before an insurmountable wall—a wall he could never overcome.
Then, a daunting thought weighed down on him. All this time, he had been dancing on the palm of the enemy commander whom he had never met, yet he had belittled for being a mere peasant.