Debuff Master

Siegfried’s decision to isolate Ingrid was the right choice.

[Pain Is My Strength: 0 Stacks (Stats will receive 0.5% bonus per stack)]

Ingrid’s passive skill that gave her a huge bonus to her stats was reset to zero after she was trapped within the Barrier of Victory, and she couldn't gain any stacks from Siegfried as the latter was immune to the Wave of Pain.

Meanwhile, the continued screams of the Pain Gang and Pleasure Gang rang from outside the barrier. The coalition forces could now retaliate after the incapacitating crowd control effect of Ingrid’s Wave of Pain had disappeared.

Siegfried did not have to see the battle to know it would end in the coalition forces’ victory, as his Blaze Field and Shadow Swamp were supporting them. Thus, the only thing remaining was for him to defeat Ingrid before the Grand Duel expired.

[Alert: The Barrier of Victory will disappear after 51 seconds!]

Unfortunately, it was an uphill battle for him as Ingrid’s level was a whopping Level 300, which placed her in the realm of Masters.

“You clever, perverted bastard…” Ingrid growled while glaring at Siegfried. Then, she roared, “Do you honestly think these cheap tricks will work on me, the Queen of Pain?!”

Ingrid swung her whip at Siegfried.

Siegfried rooted himself to the ground and defended himself from the steel whip with his +13 Horse Fly's shield form. He didn't falter or waver every tthe whip slammed into his shield.

Ingrid’s class, the Mad Sadist, meant that she would beceven stronger the more pain she inflicted on her enemies, but she was not as strong as a while ago, as her stacks had reset. In other words, she was greatly weakened at the moment.

The fact that she could no longer gather stacks for her Pain Is My Strength passive skill was detrimental, as that basically meant she was fighting without fully utilizing her class’ main strength.

Siegfried parried Ingrid’s whip and went on the counterattack.

Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to hit her.

Ingrid was the daughter of his sworn brother, Lionbreath, and she was currently only being brainwashed by the Church of Osric.

He could not bring himself to swing his +13 Horse Fly to someone like her. He would cback to life after dying, as he was an Adventurer, but that was not the case for Ingrid, who was an NPC.

What was going to happen if she lost an arm or a leg or her head got smashed open just like the countless enemies Siegfried faced until now?

Siegfried could not bring himself to attack her due to his relationship with Lionbreath.

He was unable to think of a way to subdue her without hurting her. In fact, doing such a thing sounded impossible as she was Level 300.

In the end, Siegfried decided to transform his +13 Horse Fly into gauntlets.

Horse Fly split into two and wrapped themselves around Siegfried’s fists.

“Die! You damn pervert!” Ingrid shrieked and swung her whip.

The Steel Whip collided with his +10 Blood Butterfly’s Wings and Quad-Turbo Mail.

The force from the impact forced him to the ground, but this was all a part of his calculations.

He twisted on the ground and spun with his right foot extended out, and he managed to trip Ingrid.

Ingrid lost her balance after getting tripped.

He spread out his +10 Blood Butterfly’s Wings to secure himself tightly against her. Then, he used his arms and legs to pin her down as hard as possible.

“Letgo! I said letgo, you pervert!”

“I-I can’t do that…!”

Siegfried tried his best to keep her under control while she was flailing wildly like a wild beast, and he even had to crank up Shadow Swamp to its fullest to keep her under control.

“LET GO!”

“NO!”

He even went as far as to infuse Waves of Oppression directly into her body from point-blank range to mess up her flow of mana.

“L-Let go… You… fucking pervert…!”

“I can’t do that!”

Siegfried was forced to squeeze out every single drop of his strength to subdue Ingrid.

He could only pray that the strongest Adventurer would eliminate all enemies outside as he held on for dear life to Ingrid.

***

Siegfried made the right choice. The momentum instantly shifted to the coalition forces’ after the crowd control effect of the Wave of Pain disappeared.

Beowulf instantly displayed his full strength and unleashed a barrage of attacks that forced the King of Pleasure, Billiam, into a corner while the other party members got rid of the Pleasure Gang and Pain Gang members.

Beowulf swung his +15 Sword of Colossus at Billiam’s neck.

The King of Pleasure boasted extremely high defense and tolerance to pain, but his head was cleanly severed from his neck, falling to the ground.ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by NoᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt

The strongest Adventurer managed to defeat the King of Pleasure as soon as the effect of Wave of Pain disappeared and the moment Beowulf no longer had to protect his incapacitated allies.

But what made all of this even more amazing was the fact that he managed to defeat the King of Pleasure before Siegfried’s Barrier of Victory expired.

The battle outside the Barrier of Victory was as good as over now that the King of Pleasure, Billiam, was dead.

Beowulf turned around, and the Barrier of Victory crumbled down just in time, revealing Siegfried and Ingrid.

Hamchi could not believe what he was witnessing. He rubbed his eyes twice before they narrowed, and he shook his head in absolute disgust.

That reaction was not exclusive to Hamchi alone…

“E-Elder Brother! How could you do this to Her Majesty?!”

“I am disappointed in you, Elder Brother…”

“I know heroes can be frivolous at times, but this is… too much…”

The Weapon Maestros could not hide their disappointment at him.

“H-Hyung-nim…?”

“My King… please be mindful of your actions in front of others…”

Even Seung-Gu and Reventon had the sreaction…

“Wow… So the rumors were true?”

“I know this is a gbut… Does he really want to stoop that low?”

“He’s pathetic… I can’t believe I looked up to him a while ago…”

“Damn it… I feel sick…”

The NPCs and Adventurers in Beowulf’s party had the sreaction and even went as far as to criticize Siegfried.

Others would think that they were going too far with their criticism of someone who had just basically saved all of them, but they would soon change their minds and chin on the criticism once they saw what was happening.

Siegfried was so focused on subduing Ingrid that he failed to notice the Barrier of Victory crumbling down, and he was currently on top of her with his +10 Blood Butterfly’s Wings wrapping him to her.

“Let go!”

“Stay still, will you?!”

“You pervert!”

“I said, stay still! Damn it!”

On top of that, the content of their conversation only further fueled the misunderstanding.

Yes, Ingrid was the villain and an enemy they had to defeat to stop the plans of the Church of Osric, but the whole scene in front of them made it seem like Siegfried was currently forcing himself on an NPC.

***

But…

“…”

“…”

"..."

Nobody replied to him, and everyone ignored him outright or pretended that they hadn't heard him for sreason.

“W-What’s wrong with everyone?” Siegfried was flustered by the sudden cold treatment he was receiving from his comrades. Then, he approached one of them and waved his hands right in front of their face. “Hello? Can you hear me? Anyone home?”

Beowulf approached him just then and said, “We won thanks to you, Siegfried-nim.”

“Ah! I knew you could do it, Beowulf-nim! It was indeed the right choice forto buy twhile—“

“But I am quite disappointed in you.”

“I did not expect the rumors to be true…”

“W-What do you mean by that…?”

“I know she is our enemy and an NPC, but… You should not do that to women…”

“Do what?”

“Yes, this is just a game, but there are certain lines that must not be crossed. I understand you were on the edge this whole tas we were facing one tense situation after another, but releasing whatever pent-up frustration you had in this manner does not look good… I cannot understand how you could do something like that—no, I do not wish to understand.”

“I am sorry but… I am not following you…”

“You were trying to force yourself on that woman a while ago, were you not?”

“Huh? Force myself?”

“It seems you were trying to do something despicable to her…”

Siegfried grimaced and retorted, “No? I was just subduing her.”

“Were you really just subduing her?”

“Do you think I am crazy? Why would I do something like that during combat?”

“Really?”

“Yes! Also, that woman is the daughter of my sworn brother, Lionbreath! Why would I force myself on my brother’s daughter?! Does that make sense to you?! Make it make sense!”

“I have heard of your infamy and… your title did not really help, so… I initially thought those rumors were just nonsense, but seeing what I witnessed a while ago made me… I apologize…”

However, a tear fell from the corner of his eyes.

***

“Hey! Shut up! Don’t talk to me!”

“Shut up! I said don’t talk to me!”

Siegfried was absolutely sulking without a shred of doubt.

Meanwhile, Ingrid was completely bound and subdued.

“What should we do now, Siegfried-nim?” Beowulf asked him before resuming their journey. This was proof that he recognized and respected Siegfried’s craftiness and strategic insights.

“Do what you want.”

“S-Siegfried-nim…?”

“You are the leader, right? You can decide what you wanna do.”

Lionbreath’s voice suddenly echoed from beyond the castle gates.

“Brother! How are things over there? Have you wrapped things up?”

“Yes, hyung-nim! The battle is over here, and I found Ingrid, too!”

“What?! Ingrid?! Oh!”

“The Church of Osric has completely brainwashed her, but I managed to subdue her just a while ago!”

“Those bastards! They dare brainwash my daughter and control her like a puppet?!”

“Please calm down, hyung-nim! We secured Ingrid, so you do not have to worry about her anymore! I am certain we can free her from the brainwashing, too!”

“Alright, brother! Thank you so much!”

“Not at all! But how are things over there?”

“Lohengrin is injured!”

“What?! Father-in-law is?!” Siegfried was shocked to hear that his father-in-law, Lohengrin, had gotten injured in the battle.