Debuff Master

Chapter 671

The Scourge of God was almost as powerful as a nuclear missile.

What happened to the ancient glacier ruin that trapped the First Black Dragon?

It disappeared without a single trace. The only thing that remained after the mushroom cloud dissipated and the dust settled was nothing but a wasteland made of ice.

“I can’t believe that thing managed to withstand that...” Siegfried muttered in sheer disbelief.

The aftermath of the explosion had yet to disappear, so he could not check whether Inkarthus was dead or alive. However, he could tell that the First Black Dragon was still very much alive.

How?

It was all because he didn't gain any significant Experience Points.

Inkarthus was suspected to be around Level 998, and killing a monster like that would give Siegfried an insane amount of Experience Points. In fact, he believed that he'd level up five times by slaying the First Black Dragon.

“Could it be that... I failed to even scratch it...?” Siegfried muttered before snatching his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp from the air.

Sseuuu...!

The +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp was still piping hot after returning to his hand. The remnant energy from Scourge of God was still on it.

Siegfried waited quite a while for the mushroom cloud to dissipate completely.

Whoosh...

A cold howling wind blew, and Scourge of God's ground zero finally became visible.

“Eh?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion and upon seeing the aftermath of the destruction he had caused. Rather than confusion, it would be more accurate to say that he was in awe.

“Grrr...”

First Black Dragon Inkarthus revered as an evil god by humans and a mad dragon by other dragons was missing half of his body and was groaning weakly on the ground.

[Inkarthus of Annihilation]

[The First Black Dragon. He is one of the dragons that existed since the beginning of time, and he is the ancestor of all black dragons.]

[He could not handle his own madness and became depraved, turning into an evil god.]

[In the end, the people of ancient times formed a coalition against him and sealed him for eternity.]

[Type: Named Neutral Creature]

[Race: Ancient Black Dragon]

[Age: 112,123]

[Level: 998]

[Class: Demigod]

[Titles: Mad Dragon, Resurrected Evil God, Black Dragon of Destruction, Living Fossil, Dark Evil God]

Inkarthus was the same Level 998 as Vulcanus, yet half of his body was missing after getting struck by Scourge of God. This could only mean one thing—the skill’s destructiveness was indeed as powerful as a nuclear missile.

“Tsk... That thing didn’t die after all,” Siegfried clicked his tongue and grumbled under his breath.

[Inkarthus of Annihilation]

[HP: ??????????]

The First Black Dragon only had around ten percent of his HP remaining, but it was fine.

“What can he do in that state?” Siegfried muttered, feeling slightly relieved.

However, he also knew that even though Inkarthus was incapacitated, he was still the First Black Dragon—he was still a Level 998 dragon. In other words, it was impossible for Siegfried to reduce the dragon’s HP to zero with his current firepower.

He needed more firepower, something much more powerful than what he had.

Siegfried took out the blue whistle from his pocket and injected his mana into it.

Wooong...!

The whistle vibrated before it spat out the mana that he had injected into it to open a portal. Surprisingly, the blue whistle crafted and gifted by Yong Seol-Hwa managed to bypass the powerful magnetic waves of the Arctic Pangea and form a portal.

“Oppa!”

Yong Seol-Hwa exclaimed and waved at Siegfried through the portal a few meters off the ground.

Swoosh!

Siegfried flew up and grabbed her hand to stop her from falling out of the portal, and he hugged her tightly as they descended slowly.

“Thanks for coming.”

“I-It’s my pleasure!”

Yong Seol-Hwa ended up blushing after suddenly getting pulled into a hug.

“I know you must be busy with—”

“Siegfried van Proa.” A voice suddenly called out.

‘Hmm? Who was that?’ Siegfried wondered and turned toward where the voice had come from.

Flap! Flap!

A man wearing a hood over his face with his black robe fluttering in the wind was looking straight at Siegfried. A pair of eyes glistening ominously was beneath his hood.

***

“So we finally meet,” the man said.

“Should we introduce ourselves or something?” Siegfried replied curtly.

“I am the savior who will purify this world.”

“Huh? Purify this world?”

“I will purify this rotten world and let a new civilization blossom from its ashes.”

“What the hell are you talking about...?” Siegfried grimaced and grumbled. Then, he flashed his Rune of Insight at the hooded man.

[Savior]

[The leader of the Church of Osric.]

[He is chaos itself, and he rules over the Church of Osric with an iron fist.]

[His ideology is a dangerous one that hopes to sow discord and chaos in this world, effectively bringing it to an end and giving birth to a new civilization.]

[He is capable of doing whatever it takes to achieve his goals.]

[Type: NPC]

[Level: N/A]

[Class: Chaos Lord]

[Affiliation: Church of Osric]

[Position: Leader]

[Titles: N/A]

“Oh? So you’re that bastard?” Siegfried asked, raising a brow after seeing that the hooded man was the leader of the Church of Osric.

“So this is how we meet, Siegfried van Proa.”

“Yeah, it’s really nice to meet you,” Siegfried smirked and growled in response. He gripped his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp tightly with his free hand, which was the one he was not using to hold Yong Seol-Hwa close to him.

‘But what the hell is he? I’m sure he should’ve gotten swept up by the Scourge of God, but he looks absolutely fine...’

Siegfried was taken aback to see that the Savior was fine, even after getting hit by Scourge of God. Even the Level 998 First Black Dragon, Inkarthus, had half of his body blown away by the attack, so how come the Savior was fine?

‘Ah, forget about it. This is an opportunity to ambush and kill him.’ Siegfried decided to think positively and consider this as an opportunity to put an end to the Church of Osric.

However, it seemed that the Savior had caught wind of Siegfried's plan as his figure started to fade away.

“Hang in there for a minute!” Siegfried shouted and threw Yong Seol-Hwa in the air. Then, he switched his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp to Sniper Mode and aimed the barrel at the Savior.

Bang!

He pulled the trigger and the +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp spat fire, shooting a bullet at the speed of sound toward the Savior, but...

“Tsk... It didn’t hit him at all...” Siegfried grumbled, clicking his tongue.

The bullet was shot accurately, but it phased through its target. The Savior’s body was like a mirage; he didn't suffer even a bit of damage, even though the bullet had pierced him.

‘Huh?’ Siegfried felt like the Savior was familiar. It was like he had shot a clump of cloud or a formless mirage.

‘Is he an illusion?’ Siegfried wondered before catching Yong Seol-Hwa with one arm.

“Are you running away?”

“Yes, I am afraid I’m quite busy, so I don’t have time to play games with a fool like you.”

“Are you trying to be a busybody?”

“Fool. The destruction of the world has already started. You and the Guardians can try all you want, but you won’t be able to stop it. You got lucky today, but do you really think that you will get lucky twice?”

“What bullshit are you—”

“The day of our next meeting is nigh. For today, why don’t you have fun with that dragon?” the Savior said. Those were his final words before he disappeared completely like a mirage.

“Ah...” Siegfried muttered in regret.

That was the perfect opportunity to settle this once and for all. He finally got to meet the so-called leader of the Church of Osric, but he could not even make a proper attempt at the latter's life.

“Tsk... Why did I meet him in this kind of situation? And I even lost him.”

“Who was that? And what is this Church of Osric? Are they the problematic NPC organization that father mentioned—”

It was then.

Roaaaaaaar!

First Black Dragon Inkarthus unleashed a cry imbued with Dragon Fear.

***

Despite the injuries that he had suffered from Scourge of God, Inkarthus somehow managed to force himself up. He turned to Siegfried hovering in midair and roared, “You dare...! You daaaare!”

Fwaaaa! Fwaaaah!

Radiant green spirit flames burned fiercely in the First Black Dragon’s eye sockets. The fierce flames seemed to show the dragon’s rage.

Well, it was not strange for Inkarthus to be completely enraged, as he finally managed to awaken after one hundred thousand years only for him to end up a bloody mess before he could even move properly.

“I’m going to rip you to shreds and burn this world to ashes! I swear on my name that this world will be—” Before the First Black Dragon could swear his vengeance on Siegfried, the portal where Yong Seol-Hwa had come from suddenly turned red.

Wooong!

The portal grew larger and larger. At first, it was only big enough for an adult to pass through, but it soon grew so large that it covered half of the sky. Then, one hundred fifty battlecruisers emerged from the portal; they were the airships of the Proatine Kingdom as well as the Guardians.

At the helm of the combined armada’s flagship was Great Wizard Duke Decimato, who was using all of his mana and magical wisdom to maintain the portal.

In other words, Siegfried had used the whistle’s ability to open a portal to bring the combined airship armada of the Proatine Kingdom and the Guardians to the Arctic Pangea.

“What in the—?!” Inkarthus exclaimed upon witnessing the sky getting blotted out by flying ships.

Airships were nonexistent during his time a hundred thousand years ago, so it was only natural for him to be surprised by the sight of them. Most ships back in his days were dinghy boats made out of wood that humans used to cross bodies of waters, and the First Black Dragon regarded them as nothing more than pathetic contraptions invented by the weak humans.

However, one hundred thousand years had passed since then, and the dinghy boats that humans had relied on at the time had evolved, becoming birds capable of soaring across the sky.

“All ships!” Siegfried roared. His voice boomed because he had imbued it with his mana. Then, he pointed at the First Black Dragon and shouted, “FIREEE!”

As soon as the command was given—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Baaang! Baaang!

Kaboom!

A rain of mortar darkened the sky before raining down on the First Black Dragon.

“Aaaaah! Gwaaaaaah!” Inkarthus roared in agony. He was a mighty ancient dragon, but half of his body had already been blown away by Scourge of God, so it was only normal for him to suffer from the rain of mortars.

Thud!

Inkarthus fell to the ground once again, barely minutes after he managed to force himself off the ground. However, the airships relentlessly and mercilessly fired at the First Black Dragon.

Two minutes later, the smoke coming from the cannons on the airships filled the sky, forming a makeshift cloud.

[Inkarthus of Annihilation]

[HP: ??????????]

The First Black Dragon’s HP was reduced to one. The mighty ancient dragon worshiped by the ancient people as an evil god was now about to meet his demise. He was a powerful dragon that had to be sealed, as there was no way to kill him, but his end could only be described as tragic yet pathetic.

“Huh? Why is his HP stuck at one?” Siegfried grimaced and wondered.

This was a rare occurrence but it did happen from time to time. There were monsters that would stubbornly resist to die for a while, but it was quite rare for their HP to get stuck at one.

‘Oh well, I guess I can deal the final blow,’ Siegfried thought with a shrug and pulled the trigger of his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp that was still in Sniper Mode.

Bang!

The bullet zipped through the air and struck Inkarthus right beside his eyes, but—

[Inkarthus of Annihilation]

[HP: 1]

The First Black Dragon’s HP still stubbornly remained at one.

“What the? Is his defense that strong?”

It was then.

Wooong!

Inkarthus’ unrecognizable mess of a body emitted a powerful green light. Then, a cloud of toxic gas formed around him.

Ding!

Then, a string of messages popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: Warning! Warning!]

[Alert: The dragon heart of Inkarthus of Annihilation is going on a rampage!]

[Alert: Inkarthus of Annihilation will soon unleash a powerful cloud of radioactive energy!]