Debuff Master-Chapter 1194
The Ancient Dungeon known as the Grave of Swords was located in the southern region of the Proatine Empire.
Countless Adventurers huddled together in clusters had already set up camp before its entrance.
The reason they were gathered there was simple—only one person could enter this Ancient Dungeon at a time.
Anyone wishing to challenge it had to wait for their turn.
“Number 1,312. Number 1,313.”
An NPC stood by the gate, issuing tickets to those who arrived.
“Number 1,314.”
That was Siegfried’s number, which meant there were one thousand three hundred thirteen people ahead of him in line.
‘Tsk... It’s not like any of them can clear this place solo...’ Siegfried grumbled, stealing a glance at the Adventurers waiting for their turns.
Most of them did not even look capable of solo-playing an Ancient Dungeon, and they would most likely still fail even if the dungeon’s difficulty was reduced by a level or two.
Even though none of them could clear the dungeon, the attempt to do so was understandable.
Why?
It was all because the rewards were outrageously good.
Unlike the other Ancient Dungeons, the Grave of Swords gave a quest to every challenger, and it was the rewards of this quest that made everyone flock to this place.
[Slaughterer of One Hundred]
[Prove your strength by defeating the one hundred phantoms of ancient warriors slumbering within the Grave of Swords.]
[Type: Normal Quest]
[Progress: 0% (0/100)]
[Reward: 100 Relic Rated Weapon]
[Note 1: The reward is granted only once to the very first person to clear the Grave of Swords.]
[Note 2: The artifacts will disappear once the quest is cleared.]
It wasn't a mystery why the Adventurers were flocking to the Grave of Swords dungeon, as one hundred Relic weapons were the kind of jackpot worth camping days for.
[Alert: You have accepted the Quest – Slaughterer of One Hundred!]
Siegfried accepted the quest without hesitation, as he needed a hundred Relic-rated weapons.
After accepting the quest, he sat among the Adventurers and passed the time playing Hardstone.
“Hold on! Isn’t he Siegfried?!”
“Siegfried’s going to challenge the Grave of Swords, too?”
“No way!”
The crowd buzzed excitedly.
“Whoa... He’s insane...”
“Look at his gears. His weapon is Sanctified-rated and his armor set is Transcendent-rated!”
“What?! He already has a full set?!”
“He’s decked out head-to-toe with items I can only dream of...”
“That would be a wet dream for me, man...”
Every single Adventurer was jealous of his gear.
Why?
It was all because while most of them struggled to get their hands on even a single decent item, Siegfried was already fully equipped with the highest-tier set possible.
“Haha... Thank you, you all are far too kind,” Siegfried replied awkwardly.
He couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable at the attention he was receiving, but he decided to ignore them and continue playing Hardstone while waiting for his turn.
“Excuse me, Sir Siegfried?”
An Adventurer suddenly approached him.
“My turn is next... but I will just yield it over to you.”
“Huh...? You will give me your turn?” Siegfried asked, tilting his head in confusion.
“Yes. To be honest, I do not stand a chance in there anyway. My stats and skills just will not cut it.”
Siegfried pondered for a moment before asking, “...And what do you want in return for yielding your turn?”
The man swallowed a hard lump in his throat nervously before replying, “Well, if you do clear the dungeon... I was hoping that maybe... you could, maybe spare me just one Relic-rated weapon?”
Siegfried chuckled and answered, “Of course. In fact, I’ll even throw in the Legendary Fragments you will need to upgrade it into a Sanctified-rated weapon.”
The man’s eyes shot wide open as he exclaimed, “R-Really?! Are you sure?!”
Siegfried smiled and added, “And one more thing. I’ll give you the opportunity to have the Bavarian Workshop upgrade it for you. I believe you are aware that I am a majority shareholder there, right?”
“Yes! I do! That would be awesome!”
The man almost trembled with gratitude. He initially contemplated giving up on his turn, as he was not confident he could survive solo-playing an Ancient Dungeon. With that thought, he figured it would be wiser to yield his turn to Siegfried and expect that he could get something out of it.
However, he did not expect to get far more than what he hoped he would get.
“Then we have a deal! I yield my turn to you!”
“Thank you very much. I appreciate it.”
Both parties agreed to the deal.
“Kyuuu! I was about to die from boredom here! Go get ‘em, owner punk!” Hamchi exclaimed.
“Yeah. See ya.”
Waving farewell to his trusty companion, Siegfried walked confidently toward the entrance. The Grave of Swords allowed only a single challenger at a time, so Hamchi couldn’t accompany him this time.
Siegfried stepped forward and entered the Ancient Dungeon all alone.
***
The Grave of Swords dungeon stretched out like a massive graveyard.
It had a chilling atmosphere, and a pale moonlight shone down on the thick, dense fog blanketing the air.
The cries of wolves and owls echoed from within the shroud of darkness.
The dungeon looked, in every way, like a massive cemetery at night.
To commemorate the dead, weapons were put in place instead of gravestones.
The weapons varied; there were swords, sabers, spears, bows, staves, shields, and many more, but the one similarity between them was that they all emanated a faint green light.
The name of the dungeon was the Grave of Swords, but in truth, this was a resting place for warriors of all kinds.
‘Those look like artifacts for sure,’ Siegfried thought, looking at the weapons. He could guess from just the weapons alone that the phantoms here would be no easy opponent.
After all, anyone who wielded such powerful weapons in their lifetime couldn't be weak.
‘But where do I even begin?’ he wondered.
He turned in place, wondering how to proceed with the dungeon when...
Ding!
A glowing arrow appeared before him.
‘Hm? I guess I’m supposed to follow this,’ he thought, walking in the direction the arrow was pointing.
About five minutes later...
Wooong...!
Two sickles attached to chains trembled, shaking the ground around them..
“I smell... blood...”
A phantom with a small figure materialized in thin air right above the sickles, and it wrapped its seemingly illusory fingers around the sickles.
Then, he stepped forward, blocking Siegfried’s path.
[Butcher Baiken]
[An infamous serial killer in ancient times.]
[He had indiscriminately slaughtered countless with his twin chain-sickles.]
[Type: NPC]
[Race: Undead]
[Level: 600]
[Class: Blood Sickle Reaper]
[Note: A maniac who goes insane unless he kills at least one person a day.]
“Kakaka!”
Butcher Baiken’s eyes gleamed red as he stared at Siegfried, and he trembled in anticipation of taking the life of the fresh prey before him.
‘Damn...’ Siegfried clicked his tongue inwardly when he saw the phantom’s HP bar.
Butcher Baiken’s HP rivaled the Goblin Emperor, Godiac, who was the final boss of the Ancient Goblin Empire dungeon that Siegfried had cleared not too long ago.
The fact that this was only the first of one hundred phantoms he had to defeat was quite daunting, but Siegfried was not fazed at all.
Why?
It was all because his +10 Sky Piercer was built to shred HP bars; it was the bane of tanks and boss monsters alike.
“To think such fresh blood walked right into me...” Butcher Baiken muttered with absolute glee. Then, he spun his chain-sickles and said, “So fresh! Allow me to dice you up and bathe in your blood!”
The twin sickles shot forward at terrifying speed.
‘Too easy.’ Siegfried smirked after seeing the sickles come at him.
Chain-sickles were unpredictable weapons that one would rarely encounter, so they were infamous for being extremely hard to defend against, especially in the hands of an expert.
However, Siegfried was not like most people. He trained under the Weapon Master, Shakiro, who had taught him not just how to wield every weapon but how to counter them as well.
With Shakiro’s knowledge and the Invincible Spear Art, there was no way Butcher Baiken could win against Siegfried.
The outcome was inevitable.
Clang! Clang!
Siegfried swatted aside the sickles with his +10 Sky Piercer and cast his debuffs. Then, he charged forward and unleashed a merciless barrage of attacks, chaining blow after blow without giving Butcher Baiken even a moment’s respite.
“G-Gaaah!” Butcher Baiken barely managed to scream before being completely beaten up.
The +10 Sky Piercer’s effect of cleaving away thirty percent of the target’s HP was activated multiple times, dramatically reducing Butcher Baiken’s HP. And just like that, what would have taken other Adventurers ages ended in mere moments.
Puuuk!
The +10 Sky Piercer pierced Butcher Baiken’s skull.
[Alert: You have defeated Butcher Baiken!]
[Alert: You have gained experience points!]
[Alert: You have leveled up!]
[Alert: You have reached Level 522!]
Siegfried gained a massive amount of experience points, which was only normal given Butcher Baiken’s massive HP.
Fshwaa...!
With their master gone, the twin chain-sickles glided down and pierced the ground.
‘Jackpot,’ Siegfried thought with a grin. Then, he turned and followed the arrow that appeared before him again. Needless to say, the arrow was guiding him to the second phantom out of the one hundred he had to defeat.
***
Siegfried defeated phantom after phantom, steadily clearing the Grave of Swords. His pace was nothing short of absurd, and calling it lightning-fast was an understatement.
It took him not even two hours to defeat the forty-ninth phantom.
‘I will clear this place in no time if I keep this up,’ Siegfried thought confidently.
He followed the arrow that guided him deeper into the dungeon when he suddenly stopped after something unusual caught his eye.
‘What the hell...?’
There were about twenty weapons embedded in the ground this time, and they were so tightly packed that there was hardly any space between them.
‘No way...’
The thought barely registered in his mind when...
Fssshhhh...!
All twenty weapons glowed at once and rose into the air.
From them, twenty phantoms manifested, each holding their respective weapons.
“Arise, brothers...”
“Hoho... How long has it been?”
“Who would have thought... we would awaken from eternal rest?”
They all wore the same garb, and Siegfried immediately recognized them.
‘Huh? Isn’t that the Illuminati?’
These phantoms were not just any undead. They were members of the White Brotherhood, the earliest and most fanatical sect of the Illuminati.
[White Brotherhood]
[The founding members of the Illuminati.]
[Individually, they were powerful warriors. Together, they were unstoppable.]
[They were the first inquisitors and infamous for butchering followers of other religious sects.]
[They were zealots who crushed all other faiths in the name of the Creator.]
“Hm? Is he a heretic?”
“What does it matter whether he is one or not? We have been slumbering for far too long, brother.”
“The price for disturbing our rest will be steep.”
“Time to pay for your insolence!”
One by one, they encircled and surrounded Siegfried.
Siegfried could tell from the way they were spread out that this was not just random positioning like most thugs would do. They were deliberately forming a formation, most likely one they had used countless times to eliminate a lone target.
However, Siegfried did not flinch even when facing a coordinated encirclement of twenty powerful phantoms.
An encirclement? Such a thing would not stop Siegfried.
They could stop him if there were hundreds or perhaps thousands of them, but twenty were nowhere near enough to even slow him down.
Why?
It was all because Siegfried possessed the ability to create his own dimension—the World of Despair.
Whoosh!
Without wasting another second, he dragged the nearest phantom into his realm.
Twenty against one? Not anymore! Now, it was one-on-one.
‘Gotta finish this quickly,’ Siegfried thought, clutching his +10 Sky Piercer. If he struck down his enemy before the World of Despair’s duration ended, its cooldown would reset, allowing him to use the ability again.
As long as he maintained his momentum, the White Brotherhood would never be able to truly surround him. He would drag them one by one into his realm and kill them until not a single one of them remained.
