Debuff Master

Two hours after the match began…

“T-This is all that made it…?” Diesel muttered, shocked by the number of guild members gathered in the Hall of Decision.

The number was far smaller than what he had anticipated.

There were only three hundred of them remaining. They started with five hundred people, but somehow only three hundred made it back, despite the lack of any major battles.

“Could it be that… they were assassinated…?”

There were supposed to be at least four hundred people gathered in the Hall of Decision. Fifty from the team led by Descartes and fifty from the team led by Palchuck meant that they should have only lost one hundred men so far.

But only three hundred? The losses were far greater than expected.

“We have no choice but to hold our ground here,” Chae Hyung-Seok said, finally snapping out of his PTSD attack. Then, he advised, “Running around aimlessly will just put us at a disadvantage.”

“Hmm…”

“Our only option is to hold this position. We will get picked off one by one if we move out, and then we’re finished.”

“True. It’s better to stay here with all of the buffs,” Diesel said, nodding in agreement.

The buffs he was referring to were not the ones from Chae Hyung-Seok. The Hall of Decision had a special buff in place, where all of the defending side’s stats were increased by fifteen percent on top of receiving only fifty percent of the damage from area of effect skills.

The buff definitely gave the defenders a massive advantage, but that was not the best part about it. The buff would remain as long as they stayed in the Hall of Decision, and these weren't buffs that could be dispelled by anything.

In other words, the Hall of Decision was the best place for them to make a stand.

“We only need to hold out for an hour,” Diesel said. Then, he checked the time and added, “We can last that long. There’s no way they’ll make it in here if we—”

Just then, the door to the Hall of Decision cracked open.

***

Ten minutes earlier, Siegfried hunted down the Pandemonium Guild members rallying to the Hall of Decision while waiting to regroup with his allies.

“Good job, everyone. What’s our casualty so far?” Siegfried asked.

“We have two casualties,” Yong Seol-Hwa replied.

“That’s not bad at all.”

Losing two out of thirty-two people was a significant hit, but Siegfried was satisfied by it still. After all, they had successfully taken control of the entire fortress with only thirty-two people against five hundred, so two casualties was a small price to pay for such a decisive victory.

“But what do we do now?” Gosran asked.

“Hmm…” Siegfried pondered while checking the minimap.

The red dots were clustered in the Hall of Decision, making them easy pickings with an area of effect attack. Unfortunately, the hall was surrounded by a special barrier that made long-range and area-of-effect attacks nearly useless.

There was only one way to attack the Hall of Decision, and that was to charge in and engage in close combat.

A full-on brawl…

“Those guys are definitely going to hunker down.”

“It won’t be easy to break through that.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be really tough.”

“We’ll be bombarded by their skills as soon as we enter, and we’ll be surrounded in no time before we even get the chance to do anything.”

“Exactly.”

“This is a problem…”

Gosran’s face darkened. Assaulting the Hall of Decision was practically impossible for her. Her most powerful skill, Teleport Arrow, was useless inside the hall, and she was severely disadvantaged in confined spaces because she was a long-range attacker.

It was the same for Seung-Gu. There wasn't enough room in the Hall of Decision to summon his Iron Golems, and the door was too narrow for Golem King Reventon to enter.

In other words, both Seung-Gu and Gosran would be practically benched in this battle.

“What should we do…?” Siegfried muttered to himself, looking clearly troubled.

“I’ll stand at the front as the vanguard,” Daytona said, suddenly volunteering. Then, he added with a shrug, “Someone has to be the meat shield, right? I’ll go in first.”

“You’ll die the moment you enter through those doors. Do you think you can last even a second?” Siegfried asked, sounding concerned.

He had a valid point. Daytona would be bombarded by the Pandemonium Guild members the moment he entered the Hall of Decision, and that would be the end of him.

One second? It would be a miracle if he lasted even half a second.

As noble as Daytona’s intentions were, it would be a pointless and meaningless death.

“I’ll try to hold on for two seconds,” Daytona said.

“Hmm… We might have a shot if you can manage to buy us two seconds…” Siegfried muttered, but he still sounded uncertain.

Seung-Gu stepped forward and said, “I’ll go in first, hyung-nim.”

“You? You won’t even last a fraction of a second.”

“I’ll take a few hundred hits and die later once the battle starts, so what difference does it make whether I die now or later?”

“But—”

It was then.

“I’ll go in with him,” Gosran interrupted.

“You, too?”

“If both I and Seung-Gu oppa take the initial hits, then Daytona can follow up and draw their attention. That might be enough to allow us to break in.”

“It’s possible, but…”

“Let’s do it.”

“Yeah, this is the best option we have.”

Siegfried was hesitant to proceed despite his comrades’ willingness to sacrifice themselves. Sure, their deaths would allow them to breach the Hall of Decision, but the real problem was what came afterward.

They would have to fight a brutal melee against hundreds of enemies even if they managed to get inside. They could stand a chance if the numbers were evenly matched, but fighting a brawl against so many people with only thirty people on their side sounded like an impossible task.

But…

“There’s no other way,” Siegfried muttered, shaking his head. He knew that the only way to breach the Hall of Decision was to charge in, kill, and keep killing. This suicidal strategy was their only hope of protecting Siegfried—no, Han Tae-Sung’s head from getting shaved.

“Alright, let’s do it,” Siegfried said, finally making his decision.

Thus, the Head Crusher Guild prepared for an all-out assault on the Hall of Decision.

***

Creak…

The door opened.

“Kill them!” Diesel roared. He gave the signal to launch a barrage of attacks at the door.

“...!”

Seung-Go was the first to charge in, but he disappeared without a single trace, not even being able to utter a scream. Gosran followed right behind him and met the same tragic fate.

“Kyah!”

The concentrated attacks from the Pandemonium Guild rained down on her, striking her down instantly as she stepped into the Hall of Decision.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Meanwhile, Daytona seized the brief moment of chaos and dashed to the center of the Hall of Decision.

Wooong!

A golden aura erupted from Daytona, and it pervaded the entire hall in an instant.

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

[Alert: You have been affected by Status Ailment: Taunt!]

[Alert: You have been affected by Status Ailment: Taunt!]

[Alert: You have been affected by Status Ailment: Taunt!]

Every Pandemonium Guild member who locked eyes with him had the same notification flooding their vision. Daytona had activated Noble Sacrifice, a skill that forced enemies to focus all of their attacks on him.

[Noble Sacrifice]

[Activate to emit a noble aura that will force nearby enemies to attack the user. The enemies will focus on the user for three seconds; the user’s Defense is increased by 2,000% during Noble Sacrifice.]

[A monument that buffs allies will appear should the user die while Noble Sacrifice is active.]

Siegfried and the rest of the Head Crusher Guild members charged into the Hall of Decision while Daytona was tanking under the effect of Noble Sacrifice.

‘Move faster!’ Siegfried clenched his teeth, aiming to kill as many as possible while Daytona was still tanking for him.

Flash!

Siegfried used Absolute Zero, Blaze Field, and Shadow Hell simultaneously.

‘We need to kill them all, now!’

He didn't hesitate and activated both Blood Frost Orb and Torrential Flower Rain.

Shwiiiik!

A deadly flurry of frozen petals of death swirled across the battlefield, tearing into the Pandemonium Guild members like a blender.

[Alert: You have killed an enemy!]

[Alert: You have killed an enemy!]

[Alert: You have killed an enemy!]

While all of this was happening…

Thud!

Daytona finally fell.

Boom!

A large monument dropped in his place, granting Siegfried and the others powerful buffs. True to its name, Noble Sacrifice was a skill that allowed Daytona to leave a lasting mark on the battlefield.

“Hurry up! Kill that bastard!” Diesel screamed in fury while pointing at Siegfried.

“Die!”

“Die, you bastard!”

“Dieee!”

The remaining Pandemonium Guild members recovered from the confusion and lunged toward him.

‘They’re coming,’ Siegfried gritted his teeth as he watched the enemies surround him.

Front, back, left, right—enemies were closing in from every direction.

Could he escape? No, there was no way out of this.

‘This is it. All or nothing!’ Siegfried gripped his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp and unleashed Eraser Swarm, flooding the entire Hall of Decision with radioactive energy. On top of that, he used Wave of Truth to dispel all of the buffs that Chae Hyung-Seok had placed on the Pandemonium Guild members. Buffs that helped the defending team were now non-existent within the Hall of Decision, as Siegfried’s powerful debuffs stripped them of their buffs.

***

“Hold the line, damn it! It’s over if we kill him! Focus him down!” Diesel roared, his voice thundering across the hall as his guild members were getting struck down one by one.

Sukeok! Sukeok!

Smack, smack, smaaack!

Siegfried looked possessed as he danced around the battlefield, slicing through his enemies with precision while looking like a madman crazy for blood. He was invincible, and his domineering performance struck dread in his enemies' hearts.

“H-He is insane…!”

“We can’t stop him!”

“It’s impossible!”

“Run!”

The Pandemonium Guild members were terrified and overwhelmed by Siegfried. Their best skills were already on cooldown after taking down Seung-Gu, Gosran, and Daytona. In other words, they were completely vulnerable.

There was nothing they could do but be cut down by Siegfried, but even more terrifying was Yong Seol-Hwa. She lived up to her reputation as the daughter of the legendary pro gamer, Yong Tae-Pung, as she ran rampant across the battlefield, cutting down the Pandemonium Guild members.

“Calm down! Wait for your cooldowns! Hold them back until then!” Diesel shouted.

His strategy was sound, as they could unleash another barrage at Siegfried the moment their skills went off cooldown, and there was no way Siegfried could withstand the bombardment from hundreds of Adventurers coming at him at once.

Unfortunately, time seemed to have become agonizingly slow for them.

“Three! Two! One! Kill him NOOOW!” Diesel roared and gave the signal for his guild members to unleash their most powerful skills at Siegfried.

Woooong!

The Pandemonium Guild members unleashed their most powerful skills.

But…

“A-Aaaaargh!”

Diesel ended up screaming as his blood pressure spiked from what he was witnessing.

“Fuck! Fuck! FUUUCKKK!”

He hurled curse after curse, and he almost collapsed from sheer rage.

Why?

It was all because…

Rumble!

Siegfried had used Grand Duel on his nearest enemy before the bombardment of powerful skills could hit him. The bombardment struck the nearly indestructible barrier that managed to remain even after the bombardment of hundreds of skills.

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