Debuff Master-Chapter 882

“The Blue Knight of Death appeared as soon as I cleared the dungeon,” Cheon Woo-Jin said.

“I know that much. It happened to me, too,” Tae-Sung replied with a shrug.

Cheon Woo-Jin frowned after recalling the moment and said, “So, I tried to fight, but it was simply impossible. That thing didn’t even have an HP bar.”

“What?! No health bar?!” Tae-Sung exclaimed, his eyes widened in shock.

Every monster had an HP bar. In fact, even the Archangel Lucifer had one.

However, it seemed that it was different for the Blue Knight of Death.

“No HP bar, immune to crowd control skills, no defenses, no magic resistance. You can hit him all you want, sure, but you can’t knock him back. And, of course, you can’t kill him.”

“What the hell...?”

“But the funniest part is... Haha... He uses something called Aura of Death. It’s a black aura that radiates from the Blue Knight of Death. If you touch it, you die.”

“Eh?”

“You just die instantly the moment it touches you.”

“Hey, do you expect me to believe that right now?”

“Why not? Do you know how many of my party members got killed instantly after brushing against it? There were no warnings at all. They just dropped dead all of a sudden.”

“That’s crazy...”

“Those who died dropped their souls, and I saw that bastard reap them with a scythe. I even thought he was a farmer or something,” Cheon Woo-Jin said while shaking his head in disgust.

“That’s so broken...” Tae-Sung muttered, shocked by the absurdity of it all.

Judging from Cheon Woo-Jin’s explanation, the Blue Knight of Death was not simply formidable. It was a monster that Tae-Sung would definitely struggle against.

At this point, the Blue Knight of Death seemed to be an opponent he could not defeat.

“So what happened after that? You somehow managed to survive, though, right?”

“One of our party members is a Silvermoon, a Legendary Assassin Class.”

“So what about it?”

“The Silvermoon possesses a skill called Mist of the Unknown. It perfectly cloaks the entire party, hiding their presence completely.”

“Oh?”

“Believe it or not, that skill actually worked. The Blue Knight of Death couldn’t find us and just wandered around aimlessly while the skill was active. It felt like something out of a horror movie, to be honest. I mean, it passed right by me at one point, and man, my heart nearly stopped.”

“Whoa...”

“Eventually, it gave up after a while and disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Yeah. I think it needs to kill everyone in the dungeon to leave the Great Rift. But since it couldn’t find us, it probably just gave up and left.”

“Why did it give up? It could’ve just waited for you to run out of mana, right?”

“I think it was in no rush. It said something before it vanished. Something like, ‘Death is always lurking nearby. You cannot escape it forever. I am Death, and avoiding me is futile.’ or something like that before vanishing.”

“So, basically... it thinks no one can stop it, so it decided to let you go for now?”

“Probably?”

“Ugh... That means there’s no way we can stop the rift the next time it rampages, right?”

“I think so. We got lucky this time, but honestly, I can’t think of any solutions. If it happens again, then no one’s stopping that thing.”

“Ah...” Tae-Sung muttered before clutching his head in frustration.

Then, he turned and asked, “What about the Southern Great Rift?”

His question was directed at Yong Seol-Hwa, who led the party that raided the Southern Great Rift.

“We had the same problem. But for us, the Red Knight of War made us fight each other as soon as he appeared,” Yong Seol-Hwa replied.

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Our characters started moving on their own. Before we knew it, we were already fighting one another.”

“What?!”

“There was no way to stop it. We just kept fighting until half the party was dead, and the rest were in quite bad shape that the Red Knight of War easily finished us off.”

“Hmm... So the Red Knight of War’s ability is making people fight each other?”

“Exactly. We couldn’t dispel it, so there was nothing we could do. We just helplessly watched as we killed each other.”

“I see...”

The intelligence agent’s reports matched Yong Seol-Hwa’s account perfectly. It seemed that the Red Knight of War caused chaos by making people turn on one another before finishing them off, and it was a no-brainer that it would be doing the same thing now that it was out of the dungeon.

“Ah, I have no idea what to do anymore...” Tae-Sung groaned, gulping down a glass of water.

Not only did he have to figure out how to stop the Blue Knight of Death, but he also had to do that while tracking down the Red Knight of War, who had disappeared right after leaving the dungeon, before it could wreak havoc across the continent.

There was so much to do, and it felt as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

***

After their meal.

“I’ll take care of the Northern Great Rift with Beowulf and the rest. We will be on standby around the clock,” Cheon Woo-Jin said. Then, he patted Tae-Sung on the shoulder and added, “You can’t handle everything alone. Just focus on finding and stopping the Red Knight of War.”

“Got it,” Tae-Sung replied without hesitation.

This was a situation where having ten copies of himself would not be enough, so delegating each task to those he trusted was the most efficient approach.

“We will look for ways to deal with the Blue Knight of Death too. But try to think of something as well just in case,” Cheon Woo-Jin said. Then, he added grimly, “This bastard might be more dangerous than the entire Church of Osric. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I do,” Tae-Sung nodded and replied.

An enemy with no HP bar and could kill just by coming in contact with his aura. The mere thought of such an enemy sent shivers down Tae-Sung’s spine.

Michael warned that no one would be able to stop the Blue Knight of Death once it descended, and Tae-Sung now realized that the archangel was not exaggerating.

With that grim realization, he finished his meal and returned home to log into the game.

As soon as he was logged in, he rushed to the royal palace and ran to Verdandi, who was learning magic from Daode Tianzun.

“Yes! That’s it!” Daode Tianzun exclaimed.

The old magician recently started enjoying teaching Verdandi after experiencing her ability to learn things at an astonishing speed. She was like a sponge that absorbed everything, but not only that, she would grasp ten things when she was taught one, and she would grasp twenty if she were taught two.

“Hohoho!”

Daode Tianzun could only marvel at her talent. There were numerous times when he was simply rendered speechless after witnessing just how quickly she was mastering just about anything.

In fact, even the greatest magician alive was starting to get intimidated to teach her due to her sheer ability to absorb knowledge like no other.

“Verdandi.”

“Yes, Grandfather?”

“I’ll step out briefly for some... business. Make sure you keep studying while I’m gone.”

“Yes! I will!”

Daode Tianzun headed for the restroom and muttered to himself, “Is she really that rascal’s daughter? Hohoho!”

His memories of Siegfried came flooding back. Back in the day, he taught Siegfried magic when he was still an Elemental Mage, and he was even the one who helped him change class into a Mage.

“That rascal couldn’t even grasp things even when I only taught him one thing, but his daughter... How could someone as dumb as a brick have a daughter so brilliant? Hoho! There are truly some mysteries in this world that’s beyond even my—”

“Care to repeat that?”

“Hiiik!”

Daode Tianzun jumped as soon as Siegfried suddenly appeared, glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

“Y-You!” Daode Tianzun gasped before covering his mouth.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

“I apologize for being as dumb as a brick,” Siegfried grumbled.

“Did you hear all that...?”

“Every single word. Hmph!” Siegfried sulked, puffing out his cheeks.

“Haha...”

“I know I was not exactly a prodigy, but that is just too much.”

“Well... I mean...”

“I am disappointed in you, Elder.”

“H-Hey, why are you sulking all of a sudden? Besides, wasn’t it true that you were an absolute idiot when it came to magic?”

“Fair enough,” Siegfried said with a shrug, reluctantly admitting his past.

“But your daughter, my goodness, is a genius among geniuses. So don’t feel too bad about yourself,” Daode Tianzun said with a smile.

“I am not sure if you are praising me or what, but I will let it slide this time,” Siegfried replied, putting on a disgruntled face. He walked past Daode Tianzun and went into the room where Verdandi was practicing magic.

‘Ah...’

As soon as he saw her working hard, his heart ached, and he felt relieved at the same time.

He was shaken when he saw the corrupted version of Verdandi in the dungeon created by the Eastern Great Rift, so seeing her right now put him at ease. The dread and horror that gripped him back then dissipated fully after seeing her innocent face.

“Father!”

“Kyiiing!”

Verndandi and the Fairy Dragons ran toward Siegfried the moment they saw him.

“I missed you so much, father!” she exclaimed while clinging to his leg.

“Hello, my precious daughter. I missed you too, sweetheart,” Siegfried said, embracing her tightly.

“Really?!”

“Of course!”

“I love you, Father!”

“And I love you too.”

“Hehe!”

“Would you like to play with me today?”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Verdandi jumped up and down in excitement after hearing that Siegfried was going to play with her today.

“You’re so adorable, my little one,” Siegfried said, lifting her into his arms and carrying her off.

"Once bitten, twice shy" was a saying that meant a person who had an unpleasant experience would be fearful of anything similar to that experience.

Siegfried was traumatized by the corrupted version of Verdandi, so he resolved to spend as much time as he could with her from now on.

***

While Siegfried was spending time with Verdandi, the Proatine Kingdom’s intelligence department was operating at full power.

Every single agent was mobilized to locate the whereabouts of the Red Knight of War after receiving a direct order from their king, Siegfried.

Unfortunately, they failed to find any trace of the Red Knight of War despite the full-scale effort.

Three days later...

“Huh?”

Ninetails, who was overseeing the operation, received an unexpected report.

“What the hell is this? Are you seriously expecting me to believe this?”

After skimming through the report, she shot a glare at her subordinate.

The agent flinched under her glare and promptly replied, “M-Ma’am! W-We have reported our findings as they are!”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Are you kidding me? You better be prepared for some beating if this isn’t true,” she growled while alternating between glaring at her subordinate and skimming through the report.

The reason she was so skeptical was due to the contents of the report, which she found to be utterly absurd.

“Sixteen kingdoms in the southern region suddenly waged war against each other? They didn’t form factions but are waging war independently like an all-out brawl?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“You do know submitting a false report is punishable by death, right?” Ninetails added, her tone calm yet as sharp as a blade.

“It is the truth, ma’am! This is a compiled summary of information gathered by our agents out on the field!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Hmm...”

Though she found the report difficult to believe, she decided to take a closer look.

‘Hold on... Could it be? Has the Red Knight of War started making a move already? If that’s the case... this makes perfect sense,’ she thought.

She was now suspecting the bizarre report to be linked to the Red Knight of War and wasted no time to report the situation to Siegfried.

Siegfried, who was busy playing with Verdandi, frowned after hearing the report. He anticipated some sort of catastrophe to be unleashed, but he did not expect things to spiral out of control this quickly.

But to make matters worse...

“Even the Lambda Kingdom?”

Siegfried was shocked to learn that even the Lambda Kingdom, ruled by King Leonid, was drawn into the conflict.

Leonid was a formidable figure who reached the realm of Master, so he was not someone who would be easily manipulated like other people.

‘Ugh... This is such a headache...’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly while massaging his temples.

Then, he said, “Keep an eye on Verdandi for me. I’ll head to the communications room for a moment.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ninetails replied with a bow.

He turned to Verdandi and asked, “Can you play with Auntie Ninetails for now?”

“Yes, Father!” she replied with a smile.

“Be good, all right?”

“I will!”

Verdandi was beaming with happiness and was like a ball of sunshine, thanks to Siegfried devoting his full attention to her over the past few days. After entrusting Verdandi to Ninetails, he made his way to the communications room.

The first thing on his list was to speak with King Leonid directly and get a grasp of what was going on in the southern region of the continent.