Debuff Master

Chapter 1294

Siegfried’s counterattack sent shockwaves through the entire crowd.

WAAAAAAAH!

The flawless counterattack caused an explosive roar from the stands.

— First blood! Han Tae-Sung lands an incredible counterattack against Lee Geon!

— What was that move just now?! Replay that! Show it again!

— He’s a monster! He’s a monster!

The commentators couldn’t help but praise Siegfried’s counterattack, too.

Who could blame them?

The move Siegfried displayed just now was not something any human could perform.

How could someone even think of such a move in that split second?

It was only achievable once one could move entirely on instinct, but this kind of instinct was not born of innate talent, but rather, from endless brutal training.

Of course, no one in the audience was aware of that. They had no idea that what Siegfried had shown just now was not some movement stemming from him being a natural genius, but rather, a product of being beaten to a pulp for days by Deus.

Getting beaten senselessly by the Level 999 Hidden NPC forced Siegfried to move in ways that surpassed even the Invincible Spear Art’s automatic defensive system.

‘This doesn’t make any sense... Did I actually get hit? My defense had a gap?’ Lee Geon was shocked.

For someone who took immense pride in his own talent, the idea of getting hit was unacceptable.

‘No, it must’ve been luck. He just got lucky,’ Lee Geon gnashed his teeth and pushed himself back up to his feet.

He clenched his fists—

Ziiing! Ziiing!

The sword made of light was in his left hand, and the one made of darkness on his right.

He clenched his twin swords and unleashed his dual-sword technique—Celestial Slaying Sword. The dual-sword technique enhanced Lee Geon’s attacks, just like Siegfried’s Invincible Spear Art.

Claaang! Clang!

However, Siegfried deflected both swords with the Annihilation’s Grasp, sending them flying in the air.

Whiiiiing!

Then, the Annihilation’s Grasp spun like a drill before being thrust straight toward Lee Geon’s exposed chest.

Lee Geon twisted at the very last second. He barely avoided getting skewered by the Universal-rated weapon.

What followed afterward was a fierce close combat duel.

Both fighters refrained from using skills, instead relying solely on basic attacks.

Why? It was all because they wanted to measure each other’s strength using only their physical abilities.

‘You think you’re better than me? Ha?!’ Lee Geon raged inwardly. He swung the Sword of Light upward, followed by a quick horizontal slash with the Sword of Darkness, causing Siegfried to hurriedly take a few steps back.

Seizing the momentum, Lee Geon unleashed a relentless flurry of strikes, but—

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Siegfried deflected the dual swords again in quick succession before slamming his shoulder straight into Lee Geon’s chest.

Bam!

“Ghrk!”

Caught off guard, Lee Geon couldn’t react in time and took the full impact.

Just like their first clash, he didn't see the counterattack coming either.

“Gahk!”

Blood spurted from Lee Geon’s mouth; he felt like he was being rammed by a dump truck.

‘That bastard...’ Lee Geon growled inwardly.

Whenever he tried to attack, Siegfried’s attack would still end up being faster than his attack. It felt like he was not one, but two steps ahead of him all the time.

‘This can’t be happening...!’

Refusing to accept the reality before him, Lee Geon raised his dual swords and launched another relentless barrage of attacks. Well, he tried.

Puuuk!

Before he knew it, the Annihilation’s Grasp pierced his chest, exiting cleanly through his back.

It was a perfect attack, executed flawlessly.

“W-What the hell? When did you—? Lee Geon groaned, his eyes widened in shock.

“Die,” Siegfried said icily.

Whiiiing!

The Annihilation’s Grasp, still lodged in Lee Geon’s chest, spun like a drill and—

Chwaaak!

It tore Lee Geon’s upper body into shreds.

Thud...!

His upper body was gone, and his lower half collapsed onto the ground.

“...!”

The entire stadium fell silent.

It had all happened in the blink of an eye, and no one expected such an outcome.

Lee Geon, the one hailed as a gaming genius, that Lee Geon had fallen so helplessly.

The man with the talents of the devil, the man who had toyed with pro gamers even when he was still an amateur, and the one who stood above every gamer in the world, was thoroughly crushed. To make things even more shocking, Lee Geon was crushed in a duel where no skills were used.

WAAAAAAAAAH!

The stadium exploded with another roar.

— U-Unbelievabruuuu!

— Han Tae-Sung! Just what is he?!

— This doesn’t make any sense! How did he crush him without any skills?!

The commentator’s ecstatic voices boomed through the speakers, making the crowd even wilder.

Siegfried’s victory was nothing short of shocking.

Most people had expected the two to be evenly matched; nobody expected this level of one-sided domination.

***

“You were amazing, son!”

“Oppa! You did great!”

After the first match, tae-Sung’s family came rushing to the waiting room to see him.

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to win the next two matches too,” he said confidently.

His source of confidence was quite simple.

‘It worked.;

He could feel firsthand that the training with Deus had paid off.

After being beaten senseless by Deus for days, Lee Geon’s movements were now crystal clear to him.

Why? Because Deus’ movements were on a completely different level. It was unpredictable, unreadable, and unavoidable.

Compared to Deus, Lee Geon was nothing.

“Drink this, oppa,” Yong Seol-Hwa said, handing him an energy drink.

“Thanks,” Tae-Sung replied.

He took the drink and gulped it down before heading back toward the stage.

Soon, the second match finally began.

[Alert: Selecting battlefield...]

[Alert: Field selection in progress...]

[Alert: Field selection complete!]

[Alert: The second battlefield — The Crater!]

Siegfried blinked, and the scenery before him changed.

The Crater was quite literally inside a volcanic crater.

Siegfried stood atop a jagged stone pillar that stuck out from the molten pit below. He was surrounded by dozens of stone pillars, each at different heights and widths.

Beneath them, thick red lava boiled and churned.

Once glance was enough to know that falling into that lava meant instant death.

[Alert: Warning! Warning!]

[Alert: Extra precaution is advised!]

[Alert: Falling into the lava will reduce your HP to 0!]

The concept of this battlefield was clear.

Siegfried and Lee Geon had to fight atop the jagged stone pillars without falling into the lava.

It was a field that demanded agility, balance, and sharp senses.

From a distance, Lee Geon hurled himself forward.

“It will be different this time, Han Tae-Sung!”

Siegfried spread his wings and took flight.

Flight was second nature for players of their caliber, so terrain rarely mattered.

But that was not the case here...

The second battlefield, the Crater, did not allow flight.

As soon as Siegfried and Lee Geon took flight, pillars of fire shot up from the lava.

“...!”

“...!”

They tried to dodge, weaving through the pillars of fire, but that was only the beginning.

The flames coiled and chased them down as if they were living serpents chasing after their prey.

But that was not all.

[Alert: Status Ailment!]

[Alert: Your character is burning!]

The pillar of fire barely touched them, yet it managed to scorch their armor.

What if they suffered a direct hit? It would be an instant death; they would be reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye. Of course, neither of them would suffer any damage if this were an ordinary pillar of fire, but the map settings had exponentially amplified its damage, making it extremely lethal.

‘So basically, no flying in this place,’ Siegfried thought as he landed on a jagged pillar.

Lee Geon, too, did the same.

“Hey, wanna play hopscotch?” Siegfried sneered.

“Shut your damn mouth, you filthy son of a bitch,” Lee Geon growled.

“Oooh~ Someone’s angry!”

Both kicked off the ground at the same time.

Woooong!

Lee Geon unleashed his Devouring Grand Art.

Whiiiiing!

The Annihilation’s Grasp spun in response.

Siegfried knew better than anyone that using skills only made Lee Geon stronger, so he held back and fought using only basic attacks.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Then, the air shook whenever their weapons collided.

Lee Geon’s strength with the Devouring Grand Art activated was nothing short of monstrous, but this time, the two swords were further amplifying his skill, making him even stronger.

The dual swords were no ordinary items. They were the purest forms of light and darkness shaped into the form of swords, making them the perfect conduits for the Devouring Grand Art.

‘I should destroy his items first,’ Siegfried decided.

He placed the Annihilation’s Grasp into his inventory and took out the +10 Sky Piercer equipped with the Mortal Blade.

Whoosh!

Baaaam!

The +10 Sky Piercer clashed against the dual swords of light and darkness.

Crack...!

The Mortal Blade snapped in half, and even the +10 Sky Piercer shattered into pieces, turning it into a useless piece of junk.

[Alert: The durability of +10 Sky Piercer has reached 0!]

[Alert: The +10 Sky Piercer has been destroyed!]

It turned out that the swords of light and darkness used by Lee Geon couldn’t be destroyed like other items.

However, Siegfried did not even flinch. He immediately let go of the destroyed +10 Sky Piercer and took out Annihilation’s Grasp from his inventory.

‘Doesn’t matter. I can win even with just basic attacks,’ he thought, clenching his weapon tight.

Right now, he had to place his trust in the fact that he was overgeared.

Whiiiiing!

The Annihilation’s Grasp spun like a drill yet again.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Lee Geon swung his swords four times in less than a second, but Siegfried blocked all of them with ease. Then, he swung the Annihilation’s Grasp with immense strength, forcing Lee Geon to block it with both swords.

Baaam!

When the Annihilation’s Grasp made contact with the two swords, Lee Geon's arms were pushed high up in an instant.

“Ghhrk!”

Groaning from the impact, Lee Geon jumped and allowed himself to be pushed back.

“So you wanna play, is that it? Let’s see if you can handle this,” he said with a smirk.

Then, he pressed the swords of light and darkness together as if combining them.

Wooooong!

Unleashing a powerful burst of energy that shook the air, the swords merged together.

A single sword, one made of mysterious yet powerful energy, was in Lee Geon’s hand.

“...!”

Siegfried’s instincts screamed at him, saying the sword pulsing with energy was dangerous.

‘If that thing hits me... I’m gone.’

A shiver ran down his spine.

Even his most powerful offensive skill, Touch of Death, couldn’t compare to the immense energy being unleashed by the sword.

Lee Geon charged in and channeled his mana.

“Time to die, insect!”

‘Damn it! I’m dead even if I block that!’ Siegfried quickly realized that he had to evade the attack at all costs, but it proved to be impossible.

“Arghhh!”

Lee Geon used his Devouring Grand Art like a vacuum, creating a powerful pulling force that dragged Siegfried toward him. There was nothing Siegfried could do. Lee Geon was like a black hole right now, and there was no escaping from him.

None of his skills would help him right now, as the Devouring Grand Art would absorb them before they could take effect.

‘T-Teleport!’

Siegfried attempted to teleport away to safety, but even after teleporting, he was dragged right back within seconds.

Lee Geon was focusing all of the Devouring Grand Art’s pulling force on Siegfried alone.

“DIE! Han Tae-Sung!”

With those words, Lee Geon swung the sword pulsating with immense energy.

‘I can’t dodge it... I have to block it!’ Siegfried put his trust in his weapon.

The Annihilation’s Grasp spread out like an umbrella and blocked the attack.

Krwaaaaaang!

The moment the two weapons collided, a thunderous explosion rocked the air, and a bright white light drowned out everything in sight.

***

The impact was beyond imagination.

Half of the battlefield, the Crater, was obliterated by the sheer force of their clash.

— A nuclear bomb went off! A nuke just went off, folks!

— We can’t see anything! What are you doing, Observer?! Do your job!

— What happened?! Who won?!

Thick smoke, rising dust, and blazing flames engulfed everything, completely obscuring the view.

The audience held their breaths and waited in tense silence.

After a few moments, the haze began to clear, revealing the silhouettes of the two warriors.

Siegfried was standing, completely unscathed.

“I-Impossible... How is this possible...?” Lee Geon muttered in shock.

The camera zoomed in on his face, displaying his shocked look on the jumbotron.

Then, the observer displayed Siegfried’s current remaining HP.

[Siegfried von Proa]

[HP: ■■■■■■■■□]

To everyone’s shock, he lost only ten percent of his HP even after blocking that absurdly powerful attack.