Debuff Master-Chapter 1104

Chapter 1104
Siegfried’s transformation shocked the fallen angels on the battlefield.
“...!”
Among the demons, the Demon King was the most powerful being, a figure whose mere existence struck fear into the hearts of all angels.
“H-How can this be...?” Samariel stammered with a trembling voice and staggered backward.
The Demon King was an enemy fearsome even to an archangel.
“So, what about now?” Siegfried asked with a smirk.
‘
I-I have to run!’
Samariel thought, her survival instincts kicking in.
She didn't have the luxury of wondering how Siegfried had transformed into the Demon King, as her instincts were screaming at her to run. There was no need to even attempt fighting against him, as she already knew that she would lose.
Nothing else mattered right now except for escaping with her life.
‘
I shouldn’t fight him! I must retreat!’
She spread her wings and took to the skies in an attempt to flee, but Siegfried had no intention of letting her get away.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?”
Siegfried activated Embrace of Despair, which displayed overwhelming power thanks to his current form.
“Taste the abyss!”
“Let’s... go to hell... together...”
“The underworld... is a nice place...”
“Come with me! Come here!”
From within the darkness created by the Embrace of Despair, hundreds of thousands of wraiths burst forth and swarmed toward Samariel.
“Let go! Get off me! Let me goooo!”
Samariel struggled frantically, trying to free herself from the wraiths, but it was to no avail. The Embrace of Despair was simply so powerful. It was so strong that it reduced her Movement Speed, Casting Speed, and Attack Speed close to zero.
In such a state, resisting the wraiths was simply impossible.
After a few seconds, the wraiths bound her and dragged her in front of Siegfried.
“
Nghhh! G-Gaaah!”
She flailed and squirmed with all her strength in order to break free, but it was useless.
“I don’t need you to surrender or be obedient,” Siegfried said, grabbing her by her head. Then, he asked, “Do you know what I want instead?”
“
Grk...!”
“Come on. Try guessing.”
“
Kyaaaaah!”
Before she could say anything, Siegfried began gripping her skull, causing her to unleash an ear-splitting shriek in agony.
“
KYAAAAH!”
Unable to endure the nearly monstrous grip strength, she screamed and screamed until her eyes rolled back into her skull.
“Just die already.”
Unfazed by the blood-curdling screams, Siegfried gripped her head even harder.
Boom!
Samariel's head exploded. An archangel had her head crushed to pieces and died just like that. She couldn't even put on a proper fight.
It was a humiliating and pitiful end, unbefitting of a celestial host.
***
The one-sided defeat and death of an archangel were enough to shatter the morale of the fallen angels.
“S-Sister...!”
“What in the...”
“T-This can’t be happening...”
Samariel’s humiliating death sent a profound shockwave through the ranks of the fallen angels. They would have understood it if she had died while battling valiantly, but the fact that she died so helplessly before she could do anything was truly a shocking sight.
Their fear of the Demon King deepened.
“R-Retreat! Retreat now!" one of the fallen angels shouted.
The Demon King, Siegfried, was on the battlefield, so their numbers meant nothing. This could no longer be considered a battle, as it was nothing more than a one-sided massacre waiting to happen.
With no other choice, the fallen angels decided to run and abandon the battlefield.
As always, Siegfried wasn't the type to let his enemies escape.
“Ashes to ashes... Dust to dust...” he muttered in a low, cold voice.
Swoosh!
Karma Flare suddenly changed into a ghostly blue flame that surged toward the sky and swept across the fleeing fallen angels.
Right after the pillar of flame devoured the fallen angels taking flight, a bright blue light flashed across the skies. Then, it began snowing. No, these were not snowflakes—they were ashes that resembled volcanic ash.
This
snow
was the scorched remains of the fallen angels who were burned to death.
Siegfried’s Karma Flare packed enough firepower to incinerate all of the Low-Ranking Fallen Angels in an instant.
Of course, he was far from over.
“Not a single one of you is getting out of here alive,” Siegfried said icily.
He knew that the Holy Alliance would start another war if even a handful of them managed to survive. Thus, for the sake of peace, every last soldier the Holy Alliance had mobilized for this battle had to be killed.
Sseuuu...!
Siegfried activated Green Hell Magno, unleashing a thick green fog that spread across the battlefield. Despite being laced with lethal radioactive energy, none of Siegfried’s allies were harmed.
However, the green fog instantly killed the enemies upon being exposed to it.
“
Gah...!”
“K-Kuheok!”
“Khaaak!”
“Grrrk!”
One by one, the soldiers of the Holy Alliance fell to the ground, choking as they eventually died.
Five minutes later...
“I-It’s over...” muttered one of the soldiers lucky enough to survive. He was looking around the battlefield and saw nothing but complete annihilation.
The Holy Alliance’s army was utterly destroyed.
But Siegfried was not done yet, as there was one last thing he needed to do.
“
Phew...”
Siegfried let out a sigh before turning his gaze to the skies above.
Thirty battleships were cruising in the air in formation.
Shiiiing...!
Siegfried shifted his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp into that of a saber.
Chwaaaak!
Then came his next skill—Heaven and Earth Cleaving Blade.
A blinding flash left a cross in the sky.
And then, one, two, three...
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The thirty battleships were sliced cleanly in half.
Krwaaang! Boom! Boom!
Kaboom!
Astonishingly, Siegfried had cut down the entire fleet with just two swings of his saber.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The wreckage of the battleships plummeted to the ground, exploding one after another and triggering a massive chain explosion.
With that, the battle was truly over.
All that remained of the Holy Alliance was their flagship, the one where Supreme Commander Deldelos was still aboard.
“We... We won!”
One of the Allied Forces soldiers shouted in disbelief.
“We did it! We won!”
Waaaaaah!
The Allied Forces erupted into a thunderous cheer.
“Long live the Allied Forces!”
“Long live the Proatine Empire!”
“All hail His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Siegfried von Proa!”
“Long live His Imperial Majesty!”
They were on the brink of annihilation just minutes ago, but Siegfried flipped the battle in an instant and led them to victory.
All that despair pent up inside the soldiers had instantly vanished, replaced by the joy of victory and relief of surviving the battle.
Emotions ran high, and the soldiers were simply overwhelmed by it.
Oscar stepped forward, dropped to one knee, and bowed deeply in reverence. Then, at the top of her lungs, she roared, “Congratulations on your victory, Your Imperial Majesty!”
“Congratulations on your victory, Your Imperial Majesty!”
“Congratulations on your victory, Your Imperial Majesty!”
“Congratulations on your victory, Your Imperial Majesty!”
Following Oscar’s lead, every soldier on the battlefield dropped to one knee and offered their deepest respect to the one who had saved them from the jaws of death.
***
Thud!
Siegfried collapsed the moment he arrived in the inner chamber of the fortress.
The backlash from using the skill "Demon King’s Descent" utterly drained him.
Psshhh...!
The armor set he had been wearing crumbled into dust, as if it were a rotten piece of cloth that had decayed after being buried for centuries. Its durability was reduced to zero after absorbing too much of the backlash from the transformation.
[Alert: Warning! Warning!]
[Alert: Refrain from using Demon Lord’s Descent or Demon King’s Descent again!]
[Alert: Further use will result in the destruction of your mana hall!]
The system notifications warned Siegfried that his mana hall was dangerously close to its limits.
But he did not care...
[Alert: You have leveled up!]
[Alert: You have reached Level 449!]
He had leveled up after defeating Samariel a while ago.
[Alert: You have encountered the Wall!]
[Alert: Growth has halted!]
[Alert: You will no longer obtain Experience Points!]
He had finally hit the long-awaited wall.
Now, all he had to do was complete Deus's trial and reach Level 450. He would step into the realm of Grandmasters upon doing all those.
Once he became a Grandmaster, his body would go through complete reconstruction. His mana hall would become larger and more powerful, so he would no longer need to worry about it being destroyed.
Of course, completing Deus' trial would be far from easy.
“You worked really hard. You must be exhausted, my love.”
Brunhilde stood faithfully at his side, gently tending to him with utmost care.
“I’m fine,” he replied with a smile. Then, he added, “We won the war, after all.”
“You’re a hero. The entire continent will revere you as their hero,” she said, looking at him with eyes brimming with warmth and love.
“
Aww,
come on...
Sheesh... Hahaha...”
he replied awkwardly. For some reason, he turned red from the sudden praises and felt shy.
***
The Holy Alliance was thrown into chaos upon hearing news of their defeat. They had lost an army of one million troops, which was practically their entire military might. At this point, it was safe to say that their military had effectively collapsed.
To make matters worse, the Allied Forces that had landed along the coastlines were now advancing toward the capital of the Holy Alliance.
In response, the Illuminati convened yet another emergency meeting as they scrambled to come up with a countermeasure.
“Do you expect me to listen to this nonsense?”
The Master’s calm yet firm voice from behind the veil echoed throughout the meeting room.
“...”
None of the executives dared to utter a single word.
Even after throwing everything they had, they had suffered a crushing defeat against the Allied Forces. The force they had deployed would have been enough to defeat the Marchioni Empire or deal a crippling blow to them, so no excuse could ever justify their failures.
“Failure, failure, and more failure. You’re all completely useless.”
The Master now seemed genuinely worn out. He had trusted his subordinates with everything, yet not once had they succeeded. At this point, he was starting to get sick of and beyond disgusted by their incompetence.
Of course, the executives felt wronged by this tongue-lashing.
Why? It was all because no one could have predicted that the Demon King would descend upon the Middle Realm?
The Master knew this as well, so he eventually stopped pressing the issue after a while.
“Seal off the capital and begin the ritual. At this point, that’s the only option we have left.”
At those words, the Illuminati executives shuddered visibly. Their reaction was only natural, as the
option
the Master had just mentioned was the final card of their organization, one they had vowed to only use when cornered.
“The enemy will need time to regroup. While they’re busy regrouping, we will start the ritual to summon the Chief Archangel, Lord Lucifer.”
In the end, the Illuminati was forced to carry out the summoning ritual for the descent of the Chief Archangel, Lucifer. The Holy Alliance’s army was annihilated in the Battle of Last Fortress, so this was the only option they had.
The moment the Allied Forces regrouped, they would march straight for the capital, which would be the beginning of the end for the Holy Alliance.
Thus, the Holy Alliance had to open the Celestial Gate before the Allied Forces could regroup.
However, this Celestial Gate couldn't be opened so easily.
To summon the gate capable of letting Lucifer descend, the ritual demanded a staggering sacrifice of ten million lives. Offering that many souls as human sacrifice was nothing short of repulsive even for the Illuminati and Holy Alliance executives.
But with no other choice, they had to proceed with the inhumanely repulsive ritual.
They were standing on the very edge of the cliff right now, after all.
“Seal off the capital immediately.”
“Yes, Master!”
The secret organization, which sought to help the angels descend into the Middle Realm, resolved to make their last stand.