Debuff Master

The cute furry hamster tilted its head and looked around with a confused expression.

‘Where am I? Who am I?’.

“A h-hamster…?”

“What…?”

“Hmm… I think I’ve been tired lately… I’m starting to see things now…”

The nobles couldn't adjust to the fact that a hamster was inside the wooden chest.

Every single one of them expected to see Duke Undertaker’s decapitated head, but what they got was a hamster instead.

“What is the meaning of this…?” Duke Taranis muttered before anger welled up inside of him. Then, he asked in a voice that showed that he was trying to restrain himself, “Are you telling me this thing is that old man, Undertaker’s head, Count Tanner?”

“…”

“Count Tanner? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this isn’t Undertaker’s head but a hamster,” Duke Taranis said as sparks flew around him.

The sparks proved that he was about to unleash his anger.

Count Tanner bowed deeply.

Then, he flashed a grin that would only be seen on the faces of demons.

“That thing in the chest is…”

“…?”

“Indeed, a cute hamster.”

“What did you say?”

“Is it not cute, my lord?”

“Are you… joking with me?” Duke Taranis asked as he stood up.

The sparks grew stronger as if they were threatening to turn Count Tanner into a pile of dust any second now.

“You dare make a mockery of—”

Count Tanner moved like lightning and threw two disks into the air.

A flurry of rainbow-colored projectiles scattered in the air and rained down on the nobles.

The nobles fell one by one, and not a single one of them survived.

“…!”

Duke Taranis was shocked.

“W-What is the meaning…?!”

However, he was more shocked than he was enraged.

Who would have known his loyal vassals would be killed in the blink of an eye? What was the point of him ascending the throne now that his vassals were dead? How was he supposed to run the kingdom even if he did become the king?

A king without a foundation was doomed to become a puppet of others.

“You dare… You son of a—“

“I dare what?” Count Tanner retorted. Then, he smirked and said, “Is there something wrong with drilling holes into the heads of traitors?”

“What?” Duke Taranis furrowed his brow. Then, he glared at the count and asked, “Who are you? You’re not Count Tanner! Reveal your—“

“What? You still can’t tell?” Count Tanner grimaced and cut him off.

“…?”

“I think you need to get your eyes checked,” Count Tanner said while shaking the rainbow-colored disks in his hands.

“No way…?” Duke Taranis muttered. Then, he finally realized the real identity of the count, “You’re that…!”

“…”

“Hey, traitor. We still have a score to settle,” Siegfried said with a smirk.

***

Twenty-four hours ago...

Taycan was standing on top of a wall, chugging an entire bottle of potion. He looked extremely haggard, and he looked like he had lost everything he held dear. He fought countless battles and skirmishes without rest for the past ten days, but turning the tides of the war proved to be impossible for him alone.

There was nothing he could do about it. He was indeed strong, but he was only strong in one-on-one situations. He had no destructive area of effect skills like Siegfried, and neither did he have the cunningness to hatch plots like him.

On top of that, the leader of the Rebel Faction, Duke Taranis, was also a descendant of Thunder God Vajra like him. Duke Taranis had trained far longer than Taycan did, and Duke Taranis' Lightning Force was stronger than Taycan's.

Lightning Force was a unique type of energy that devoured the weaker Lightning Force, which meant that there was nothing Taycan could do against Duke Taranis.

“If only I were a bit stronger… If only I trained a bit longer…!” Taycan lamented as he downed another bottle of potion as if it were liquor. Then, he clenched his fists and lifelessly muttered, “I couldn’t protect His Majesty, King Aaron… I couldn’t protect His Majesty, King Allen… and I can’t even protect my own homeland from a traitor…”

An old soldier sat beside him and asked, “What are you moping about? You look pathetic.”

“Pardon me…?”

“Why are you so down? Did you lose your country or something?”

“I am about to…?”

“But who might you be, elder? I know we are about to lose this war, but I am technically still royalty. I am not asking you to treat me with respect, but calling me pathetic is a bit—“

“I’m royalty, too.”

“It’s me, punk,” the old man said before pulling off his face and revealing his identity.

“S-Siegfried?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Siegfried replied with a smirk. Then, he asked, “You had it tough defending alone, right?”

“Y-You…”

“What?”

“Where the hell have you been?!” Taycan cried out and hugged him.

“Can you let go before we talk…?”

“Hey! What the fuck, man?!” Siegfried screamed and shoved Taycan back. Then, he grimaced and said, “Hey! Stop moping around like a pathetic loser! I need to go see your father.”

“My father? Why?”

“Alright, let’s go…”

They secretly made their way into the castle and met with Duke Undertaker.

“Have you… found a way?” Taycan asked while on the way.

“Yeah, I did,” Siegfried replied confidently.

“R-Really? You really found a way to beat Taranis?”

“Yup.”

“Really?”

“Damn it! I already said yes!”

“Why are you getting angry—“

“Just shut up and lead the way.”

They arrived at Duke Undertaker’s office and held a secret meeting.

“Have you found a way, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, I have.”

They were cornered without any hope in sight, but hearing that there was a solution to killing Duke Taranis lifted Duke Undertaker’s spirits.

“What is this solution, Your Majesty?”

“I have learned a secret technique that will allow me to defeat Taranis in a duel.”

“Oh!”

“But it will not be as easy as it sounds. He is the leader of the enemy forces, so he will never agree so easily to a duel. Why would he risk it when he already won the war?”

“Indeed… Taranis is not someone who would make such rash decisions…”

“So I was thinking…” Siegfried trailed off. Then, he brought up the cunning plan he came up with, saying, “You will have to die, duke.”

“Pardon me?”

“I said that you will have to die.”

“What does Your Majesty mean by that…?”

“So my plan is…” Siegfried proceeded to explain his plan.

Siegfried would then massacre the enemy nobles, and then he would kill Taranis.

His plan could potentially kill not only Taranis but also all of the nobles who had sided with him, and Siegfried was truly impressive for coming up with such a terrifying plan.

“What do you think? Should we put it into motion?” Siegfried asked.

“With haste, we shall!” Duke Undertaker easily agreed.

Why?

Because they had no choice!

The fate of the Kyiv Kingdom rested on Siegfried and his plan.

***

Clearly, Duke Taranis was starting to go crazy. The anger within him had already reached its maximum threshold, and it had reached a point where he would not be satisfied even if he killed Siegfried and ripped him into thousands of pieces.ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ ɴovᴇl(F)ɪre.ɴet

“You will pay for—“ Duke Taranis growled.

“My lord!”

“Protect the duke!”

The knights belonging to the Rebel Faction rushed in and surrounded Siegfried.

Siegfried smirked and took out his +13 Horse Fly. Then, he said, “Sorry to say this, but… Nobody can protect you now.”

“Nobody can protect me?”

“Yes, so let’s duel it out instead,” Siegfried said before he slammed his +13 Horse Fly into the ground.

A thunderous roar reverberated, and fiery pillars of flames shot up from the ground.

***

Duke Taranis was trapped within the Barrier of Victory after Siegfried used the Grand Duel.

[Alert: Barrier of Victory Duration: 60 seconds.]

[Alert: 59… 58… 57…]

Siegfried ignored the message in front of his eyes and charged at Duke Taranis.

Duke Taranis unleashed a torrent of lightning, transforming into the Thunder God.

Thunder God’s Descent!

It wasn't complete, but he had just activated the trademark skill of the Descendant of Thunder God Vajra.

“Time to die, brat,” Duke Taranis said, aiming his right hand at Siegfried before firing a laser beam.

Duke Taranis' laser beam had become much stronger after absorbing the energy of a Lightning Core.

However, Siegfried didn't try to dodge the laser beam. Instead, he thrust his hips forward and shot out a laser beam of his own using the Great Champion’s Belt.

Their laser beams clashed in mid-air and started pushing each other back.

“…!”

Duke Taranis couldn't help but be surprised to see that his laser beam had failed to overpower Siegfried’s laser beam right away. However, his shock didn't last long as his laser beam started pushing Siegfried’s laser beam back.

Duke Taranis’ laser beam crashed into Siegfried’s shield.

“…!”

Duke Taranis was shocked yet again after seeing that Siegfried didn't get blasted away by his laser beam. Forget about getting blasted away, Siegfried was even marching forward while defending himself from the laser beam.

This was completely different from what had happened just two weeks ago. Siegfried was blasted away at the time, and he even crashed into a wall.

Then, Siegfried kicked off the ground and ran as fast as he could toward Duke Taranis.

Siegfried spun once he was within arm’s length of Duke Taranis, and then he swung his +13 Horse Fly with all his might.

A deafening noise echoed when the +13 Horse Fly Shield slammed into Duke Taranis’ side.