Debuff Master-Chapter 852

He proceeded to explain the concept and asked for volunteers to become paladins of the order.

“This comes with automatic quests, rewards from NPCs, and increased reputation. But most importantly, you will gain access to a new energy resource, Divine Power...”

Becoming a paladin of the Church of Heroes definitely had its perks, but the biggest perk among them was the exclusive skills only available to a paladin. By completing various quests for the religious order, players could learn support skills such as buffs and heals, which could turn them into invaluable assets for most parties.

“I’ll join!”

“Me too!”

“Count me in!”

“Hmm... That doesn't sound bad at all...”

A significant number of players expressed their interest in joining the Church of Heroes thanks to Siegfried’s reputation.

[Alert: You have appointed Gangbuk Ma-Jun as a paladin of the Church of Heroes!]

[Alert: You have appointed Drunken Sung-Chun as a paladin of the Church of Heroes!]

[Alert: You have appointed 8bul as a paladin of the Church of Heroes!]

(omitted...)

[Alert: You have appointed Evien as a paladin of the Church of Heroes!]

Siegfried had successfully recruited around fifty high-level Adventurers to become paladins of his religious order. With his backup party now formed and his paladins appointed, Siegfried took a spot near the entrance of the Great Rift and waited.

“I’m back, oppa!”

Gosran finally returned after her break.

“Hey, come have a seat.”

“All right.”

“I’ll be dealing the cards now.”

Siegfried, Gosran, and the other party members passed the time playing Hardstone.

Unfortunately, Siegfried could not fully focus on the game.

‘How much time is left?’

He couldn't stop checking the countdown.

[Alert: The Great Rift will fully open in 8 hours, 54 minutes, and 11 seconds!]

A bit less than nine hours remained.

‘Damn it... They should just get wiped out already if they’re going to do so...’

His eyes anxiously darted to the entrance of the Great Rift, unable to concentrate on the game of Hardstone in front of him.

Without a doubt, both parties clearing their respective dungeons would be the ideal situation. Even if one of them failed the raid, Siegfried could just step in and clear the dungeon of whichever party that failed.

However, the worst-case scenario would be if the two parties failed with little time remaining on the clock.

Clearing even one dungeon required at least three hours, even for Siegfried himself, so any further delay would leave him little room to wiggle.

Thus, he'd love it if the parties failed their raid sooner rather than later, as it would give him time to salvage the situation. Unfortunately, it was unclear whether the parties were aware of his concerns or not, as there was still no word from them.

Time continued to pass...

[Alert: The Great Rift will fully open in 5 hours, 6 minutes, and 22 seconds!]

Siegfried stood up and left the game of Hardstone when there were only five hours remaining on the countdown.

“Damn it...” he cursed under his breath after realizing that there was not enough time to clear both dungeons should both parties fail.

‘This is bad...’

The worst-case scenario made Siegfried clench his teeth in anxiety.

‘Let’s wait just one more hour...’

[Alert: The Great Rift will fully open in 4 hours!]

“Everyone! Gather up!”

Siegfried called all of the Adventurers loitering around when only four hours remained to organize them in the event of any immediate need to be deployed into one of the dungeons.

“We cannot be complacent from now on. Things will spiral out of control if the Great Rift goes wild, so let’s start getting ready!”

With only four hours left, their only hope was for the two parties to clear their dungeons, as there was not enough time for a new party to enter the dungeon and clear it.

***

‘This is the end... I’m sure they failed.’

Siegfried concluded that the two parties raiding the Corrupted Ancient City and Deep Swamp had no hope of succeeding.

He knew firsthand that the Western Great Rift was a nightmare in terms of difficulty. In fact, he himself would have struggled to clear the Sanctuary of Colossus and Endless Descent without his Radiation Ghouls and Divine Energy.

Even for him, it was only sheer luck that allowed him to clear such dungeons with a brutally high difficulty level. However, neither of these parties had been wiped out even after so much time had passed since they entered the dungeon?

‘Forget about clearing the dungeon, they’re probably just holding out without dying.’

Even without seeing the situation with his own eyes, Siegfried could already tell what was happening.

He had no other choice but to accept that the inevitable would soon happen and prepare for the apocalypse to emerge from the Western Great Rift that would fully open once the countdown was over.

Thus, he gathered all of the magicians to set up magic circles and barriers around the Western Great Rift. Then, he approached the NPC vendors who were running stalls nearby and urged them to evacuate in hopes of minimizing casualties.

“Surely nothing will happen! Haha!”

“We trust in the might of you, good sirs!”

Unfortunately, the NPCs refused to heed his warnings and stubbornly refused to leave.

Why? Because for them, the Western Great Rift was no different from a land of flowing milk and honey. It was a prime location that promised massive profits, and they were afraid of losing their spots to competitors if they left even for a minute.

“You might actually die if you stay here. I’ve already warned you. Evacuate now if you value your lives. After this, I won’t take responsibility for what happens if you don’t.”

After repeating his warnings multiple times, Siegfried eventually gave up on persuading the stubborn NPCs. He would love to keep convincing them to run to safety, but he simply had no time to continue wasting on them.

Instead, he went to seek out the Dragon Lord, Gerog.

“The Western Great Rift seems to be on the verge of rampaging, Elder.”

“Ha!”

“I believe the Adventurers have failed. We must prepare for what will happen afterward.”

“I understand. I will send my dragons.”

Gerog immediately acknowledged the severity of the situation.

“Eh? Really?”

“We dragons must intervene if a transcendent catastrophe is approaching. We would be shamed for eternity if we ignore this threat and face extinction.”

“Thank you, elder.”

“No need to thank me. I will dispatch the Blue Dragon Lord along with six other dragons.”

“Thank you, sir.”

With Gerog’s promise of support, Siegfried contacted the Proatine Kingdom and urgently summoned the Iron Fleet for reinforcements.

He calculated that the fleet would arrive in time thanks to the close proximity of the Western Great Rift to the Proatine Kingdom.

After completing all preparations, he stationed himself in front of the Western Great Rift’s entrance.

What happened afterward was nothing short of spectacular.

“Ooooh!”

“D-Dragons?!”

The Adventurers gathered exclaimed in awe while looking up at the sky.

A breathtaking display was occurring in the skies above them as seven majestic dragons, one of them far larger than the others, were flying alongside ten warships.

It was truly an imposing presence that would easily overwhelm anyone clapping their eyes on this spectacular sight. However, the Adventurers' reactions were the last thing on Siegfried’s mind.

‘Please...’

He silently prayed for a miracle that the parties in the Corrupted Ancient City and Deep Swamp dungeons would somehow succeed in their raid. He knew it was hopeless, but he clung to even a sliver of hope that they would emerge victorious in the end.

Unfortunately, that faint hope was crushed...

[Alert: The Great Rift will fully open in 5 seconds!]

No miracle occurred, and the two failed to clear their dungeons before the time limit.

[Alert: 4 seconds!]

[Alert: 3 seconds!]

[Alert: 2 seconds!]

[Alert: ! seconds!]

[Alert: Time’s Up!]

[Alert: The Great Rift will now fully open and rampage!]

The moment the string of messages popped up in front of everyone’s eyes.

Wooooong!

The Western Great Rift shone red and erupted like a violent storm.

Bzzt! Bzzzt!

The rift twisted as the space and time around it distorted violently.

Then...

Flash!

A blinding flash of light burst forth, and the Western Great Rift disappeared without a trace.

As if it had never been there in the first place...

***

‘Huh? What’s going on...?’

Siegfried looked around after the Western Great Rift suddenly disappeared.

He remained on high alert even after nothing happened, as Michael did warn him about the apocalypse that would emerge from the rift.

‘Something should’ve appeared by now–’

“Krwaaaah!”

“Kieeeek!”

The dragons hovering above the Western Great Rift screamed and scattered in panic.

“...!”

Startled, Siegfried immediately looked up.

“What the hell?!” Siegfried gasped in horror.

The NPC vendors who had been stubbornly refusing to evacuate a moment ago were now engulfed in flames, and their forms transformed into the grotesque form of a twin-headed birdlike monster.

However, what shocked Siegfried the most was that these transformed NPCs were ruthlessly driving the dragons into a corner. No, it was an understatement to say that they were simply driving the dragons into a corner.

“Kieeeek!”

“H-Help me...!”

The dragons were being torn apart; they were being slaughtered without mercy.

It was a one-sided massacre.

The stubborn NPCs who had refused to budge turned out to be Dragon Slayers all along.

“Damn it!”

Siegfried cursed at the slaughter. He couldn't have imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that they would lie in wait like this, hiding their identity to ambush the dragons at the perfect moment.

“Oppa!”

A familiar voice snapped him back to his senses. The voice came from Gosran.

“Seul-Gi! Please help the dragons!”

“A-All right!”

At Siegfried’s request, Gosran flew up, speeding toward the Dragon Slayers to stop them.

‘D-Damn it...! What the hell is going on?!’ Siegfried growled inwardly, gnashing his teeth.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

“Aaaargh!”

Screams suddenly rang out from where the entrance of the rift was once.

‘What now?!’

Siegfried immediately sprinted toward the source of the commotion.

“Argh!”

“M-My arm! My arm!”

“H-Heeelp!”

What greeted him was utter chaos. Hundreds of Adventurers, who were in battle formations and were prepared for combat, were now writhing in agony.

‘W-What the hell is that?! What’s happening?!’ Siegfried shrieked inwardly in horror.

The high-level Adventurers' figures were turning black and decomposing at an alarming rate. These were no ordinary Adventurers, as most of them were in the range of Level 290 to Level 299.

Despite that, they were rapidly decaying without being able to put up any resistance.

‘T-This can’t be real...!’

Siegfried could not help but freeze out of shock, as these Adventurers had high resistances. Even without allocating stat points to any defense stats, the natural growth of their stats ought to have allowed them to put up some sort of resistance, at least.

Moreover, Adventurers tended to have more immunity to diseases compared to NPCs, so it was unlikely for their bodies to decay in a matter of split seconds.

And yet...

“Argh... I can’t... hold on...”

“This is it for me...”

One by one, the Adventurers succumbed to their impending doom. Their faces took on the same pitch-black hue that had engulfed their bodies before Death finally claimed them.