Debuff Master

Right after Siegfried collapsed…

Brunhilde used her mana to summon her Holy Sword: Phoenix from the weapon rack.

Then, she jumped right between them and blocked Chae Hyung-Seok’s attack.

“Are you alright, honey?”

Brunhilde pointed her sword at Chae Hyung-Seok and said, “I will make you pay for hurting my husband.”

Chae Hyung-Seok smirked and replied, “You will make me pa—“

Verdandi frowned and extended her hands toward Chae Hyung-Seok.

A powerful burst of mana shot out from the hands of the baby, who was only a few months old, and the mana was powerful enough to pressure Chae Hyung-Seok.

Chae Hyung-Seok grimaced, seemingly in pain and retreated a few steps.

“…!”

“…!”

Siegfried and Brunhilde were shocked, but they immediately snapped out of it.

They didn't have the luxury to stand around and watch their baby in awe.

The enemy of the kingdom and Siegfried’s mortal nemesis had managed to invade the royal castle.

He racked his brains, but he could not think of a method Chae Hyung-Seok could have used to infiltrate so deep inside the kingdom.

If he was being honest, he was absolutely horrified. What if Chae Hyung-Seok managed to sneak in while Brunhilde and Verdandi were all alone?

A chill traveled down Siegfried’s spine just from thinking about it.

“Hey, Hyung-Seok. I have no idea how you got in, but you’re not getting out as easily as you came in. This isn’t somewhere you can simply waltz in and out, you know?” Siegfried said.

“You will pay with your life,” Brunhilde added.

Siegfried and Brunhilde walked toward Chae Hyung-Seok, who was still being immobilized by Verdandi’s mana. When they were about to kill the intruder, Deus suddenly appeared and stopped them.

“Halt! Stop that at once!” he shouted.

“Are you deaf?” Deus asked in response.

“No, I am not, Master.”

“Good.”

“But, Master… This bastard is my mortal neme—“

Deus flatly ignored him and turned to Brunhilde.

“Yes, Grandfather?” she replied with a bow.

“Take her and leave,” Deus said as he picked up the baby and passed her over.

Surprisingly, Verdandi smiled brightly and acted like a baby once again, as if she had never shown such a fearsome mana just a few moments ago.

“We will be taking our leave now, honey,” Brunhilde said.

“O-Okay,” he replied.

As expected, Siegfried did not stop them from leaving.

“Master, may I ask what is going on right now…?”

“It’s nothing special,” Deus curtly replied. Then, he added, “Think of him as a sparring partner who will help you obtain the new skill.”

“S-Sparring partner…?” Siegfried was in utter disbelief.

Chae Hyung-Seok was his sparring partner who would help him learn a new skill? What kind of nonsense was this? Why would Chae Hyung-Seok, of all people, be his sparring partner?

“Then, have fun,” Deus said nonchalantly before leaving.

“Protect? Who said I need any protection from you?” Siegfried grumbled in disbelief.

Who was stronger between them? It was Siegfried, without a doubt. In other words, why would Siegfried need any protection from Chae Hyung-Seok? Anyone could tell that Chae Hyung-Seok was talking nonsense right now!

“Well, I guess this isn’t bad at all,” Siegfried said as he cracked his knuckles. Then, he cracked his neck and said, “I’ve been looking for a sandbag these days, and you’re perfect for it.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Shut up and get ready for a beating,” Siegfried grumbled in response as he walked toward Chae Hyung-Seok in preparation to plant his fist into that smug face.

But…

Siegfried completely lost his balance after something had smacked his left calf.

He belatedly realized that he had just received a low kick.

“You little insect dares to…” Chae Hyung-Seok growled as he grabbed Siegfried by the scruff of his neck. Then, he punched Siegfried square in the face before the latter could even react.

Piston Punch!

Chae Hyung-Seok punched faster and faster until his arm turned into one straight line.

Chae Hyung-Seok’s punches were absurdly too fast and precise that Siegfried was finding it hard to believe that he was staring at Chae Hyung-Seok.

“Hey, act like an insect if you’re an insect, Han Tae-Sung.”

“S-Shut up—“

“Did you really think you won just because I played along to your games?”

“I guess you need some sense beaten into you.”

***

Meanwhile, at the office of the Minister of State, Michele…

A section of his office walls abruptly crumbled.

“Have you finally realized your place, Han Tae-Sung?”

“An insect is forever an insect.”

“Repeat after me,” Chae Hyung-Seok said while stepping on Siegfried's chest.

“I am.”

“An insect.”

“Fuck off.”

“Now, repeat after me. I am an insect.”

“I… told you to fuck off!”

“I am an insect.”

“Shut up, asshole…!”

Michele dusted off his clothes and glared at them.

“M-Michele…!”

“I am sorry, but can you please continue whatever you are doing outside?”

“What…?”

“H-How could you do this…!”

“I am afraid this is a direct order from the Elder-nim, so there is nothing I can do about it.”

“R-Really?”

“He has ordered everyone to turn a blind eye no matter what happens to Your Majesty in the kingdom.”Follow current novelenglish.net . s on ɴoᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt

“So please stop disturbing me and continue elsewhere. I am quite busy as it is,” Michele said.

He dusted off his files before continuing with his work. It was amazing how he could still focus on his work, even though a section of his office walls had just been destroyed.

Chae Hyung-Seok snickered and sneered, “I already told you, Han Tae-Sung. No one’s going to protect you now.”

“You crazy basta—“

“Let’s stop disturbing him and go out,” Chae Hyung-Seok cut him off and dragged him out of the office.

***

Siegfried was dragged around the entire castle and beaten to a pulp by Chae Hyung-Seok.

Did he retaliate? Well, he did, but it was to no avail.

He was unarmed, but Chae Hyung-Seok was unarmed as well. Chae Hyung-Seok deliberately chose not to use his hammer and only used his fists to beat him to a pulp.

Siegfried placed down all of his debuff fields and tried to resist, but they were of no use.

[Desire]

[Type: N/A]

[Race: N/A]

[Class: N/A]

[Level: N/A]

[Titles: N/A]

Unlike before, Siegfried could not get any details on Chae Hyung-Seok even though he had used his Rune of Insight on the latter. It was a fact that astounded Siegfried, but if there was one thing sure of, then it would be the assumption that Chae Hyung-Seok was no longer a Buffer but had become more like a player with a fighter-type class.

In fact, Chae Hyung-Seok managed to fight very well without relying on any weapon or skills, and he was overpowering Siegfried with his bare fists alone.

“Six hours?”

“What the hell is going on…? This doesn’t make any sense!” Siegfried exclaimed as he plopped down on the ground, extremely confused.

***

Five hours and thirty minutes later, Siegfried was waiting for Chae Hyung-Seok at the training grounds.

Deus appeared and asked, “Do you like your new sparring partner?”

“Frankly speaking… I do not, Master.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, Master.”

He did not bother lying to Deus.

Why?

Because he truly loathed the fact Chae Hyung-Seok, of all people, was the one beating him to a pulp! Why did it have to be Chae Hyung-Seok when there were plenty of other candidates for the job?

“Anyway, have fun today,” Deus said and left.

“…”

Siegfried couldn't understand Deus’ intentions, and he could only stare at Deus' departing figure.

Exactly five minutes later…

“You bastard…!”

“It’s time for another round of beating, right?” Chae Hyung-Seok said as he lunged at him.

Siegfried simultaneously placed down Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp before taking out two rainbow-colored disks.

The disks separated into one thousand rainbow-colored projectiles that rained down on Chae Hyung-Seok.

But…

A wave of mana burst out of him, neutralizing all projectiles in mid-air.

Then, the projectiles turned around and flew toward a brand-new target.

“I-Impossible…!” Siegfried screamed from absolute shock.

The brand-new target was none other than Siegfried.