Debuff Master

Chapter 779

“Are you alright?” Deus asked, extending his hand to Siegfried, offering to help him up.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Siegfried replied, taking the hand.

“Fine, my ass. You were practically one with the ground just now,” Deus said with a smirk.

“Hahaha...” Siegfried laughed awkwardly in response, unable to deny it.

Deus was right, as Siegfried barely managed to land on the Heaven’s Eye before it warped away. He stuck the landing, but he ended up getting buried into the surface of the Heaven’s Eye.

Click!

Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!

Siegfried uncapped his Infinite Flask and gulped down the potion, quickly replenishing the HP he lost during the impact.

[Suzdal Empire Ruins: 879,891,212]

A message popped up before his eyes.

The Heaven’s Eye had warped from Map 458 all the way to Map 879,891,212 in one go.

This was quite impressive considering that covering such a distance on foot or through conventional travel means would take a minimum of three days, provided that no rest was taken in between.

In other words, it would have been disastrous if Siegfried had failed to get on the Heaven’s Eye before it warped away. The fact that he had managed to board it in time was truly nothing short of a miracle.

“This place... is seriously unsettling,” Deus muttered, his tone sounding grim.

“Pardon me?” Siegfried asked, looking puzzled.

“This energy is completely alien, but even if it’s from another world... something about it feels very wrong.”

“Yes, I agree. I am certain that something bad is lurking here.”

“Damned lunatics are everywhere,” Deus grumbled. Then, he added, “There were plenty of crazies in my time, but it seems your era has even more of them.”

“Things are... definitely chaotic these days,” Siegfried admitted.

“But tell me something,” Deus said, suddenly staring at Siegfried with probing eyes. Then, he continued, “Who exactly are you?”

“Excuse me?”

“You feel... familiar somehow. Like I’ve seen or known you before.” @@novelbin@@

“Haha...” Siegfried chuckled nervously in response.

“Hold on... You’re not my descendant, are you?”

“What?! D-Descendant?!”

“Yeah. You kinda look like me and the techniques you use... they feel oddly familiar. I thought there was a tiny chance you might be my descendant, but that doesn’t seem to be the case because you’re ridiculously weak. But still, who knows, right?”

“W-Weak? I apologize for that...?” Siegfried replied, sounding embarrassed and unsure.

“So, you’re not my descendant, right?”

“No, sir. I am not,” Siegfried answered. Then, he added, “I am not from this world.”

“Hmm?”

“Where I come from, people can travel to different dimensions in the future. We call them Adventurers, and I am one of those Adventurers.”

“So, you’re saying you’re from another world?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’re definitely not my descendant?”

“Not even close.”

“Phew! That’s a load off my mind,” Deus said with a long sigh of relief.

“...What’s such a relief about it?” Siegfried asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Hey, think about it. If my descendant were someone as weak as you... What would people say about me?”

“...?”

“Well, given my lifestyle, the idea of having any descendants was absurd from the start. I'm too busy training to waste time on things like romance,” Deus said, chuckling dryly.

“...”

“Romance? Please. I wouldn’t hesitate if it were to grant me ultimate power. Power is the only thing that matters.”

Siegfried could not help but shake his head at Deus’ musings. His obsession with strength was truly far more evident in his younger years.

‘No wonder he managed to attain invincibility. It takes someone this unrelenting and relentless to reach that kind of peak,’ Siegfried thought.

Deus’ life was a tragic one. He possessed extraordinary talents that were enough to dominate an era, but he was stuck as the eighth-strongest in the world due to other individuals who were far more monstrous than him.

However, his grit and perseverance coupled with him dedicating a lifetime to training and enduring unimaginable hardships, allowed him to become invincible.

Perhaps it was a natural outcome.

***

Siegfried, Deus, Hamchi, and Inzaghi made their way toward the heart of the Heaven’s Eye.

The headquarters itself resembled a spinning top floating mid-air, complete with docking platforms for airships and runways for small fighter jets. A modest castle-like structure stood in the middle of it, seemingly serving as the command center.

In other words, the Heaven’s Eye was a massive aircraft carrier disguised as an island.

From the castle emanated a column of intertwined lights of green, black, purple, and white that merged into a single unified hue.

‘We need to hurry.’ Siegfried could feel his instincts screaming at him. It was screaming at him to take down Immortal Alchemist Acheron as quickly as possible. He could feel something sinister brewing in the air, and he was certain that any delays could result in a catastrophe.

Fortunately, the runway leading to the castle remained eerily devoid of monsters, allowing Siegfried’s group to traverse the area smoothly.

Soon, they arrived at the imposing gates of the castle. The gates were shut, and Siegfried wasted no time, swinging his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp at the gates with all of his strength.

Claaang!

Whirrrr!

The sound of metal colliding with metal echoed, and the door vibrated violently.

“Ack!” Siegfried winced in pain upon getting struck by the feedback. He almost lost his grip on his weapon.

The door was far sturdier than he had anticipated, and even the devastating attack power of the +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp could not leave so much as a scratch on it.

“So you wanna test me, eh?” Siegfried grumbled, placing down Blaze Field and Shadow Hell. He intended to weaken the gates’ defense by debuffing it with his debuff fields.

Boom!

Siegfried swung his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp with all of his strength at the gate coated with debuffs.

CLAAANG!

Despite his best efforts, the gate stood unyielding and unharmed, just as before. On the other hand, Siegfried was forced to drop his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp while clutching his throbbing hands in agony.

“Tsk, tsk... Do you really think that brute force is going to work on that thing?” Deus clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“W-What do you mean...?” Siegfried asked while trying to shake the pain away from his hands.

“Why are you trying to force your way through something that clearly can’t be broken that way?”

“Is that some kind of barrier? But I don’t know how to use magic to dispel it,” Siegfried replied, his expression looking grim.

“Magic? Pfft! This isn’t some magical barrier,” Deus replied with a smirk.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s a test of willpower.”

“Willpower?” Siegfried replied with a frown, looking utterly confused.

“Do you know what the most powerful energy resource in this world is?”

“Erm... Mana?” Siegfried replied hesitantly.

Deus shook his head with exaggerated dismay and said, “You have willpower within you, and yet you don’t even realize it?”

“What are you talking about...? What willpower?”

“What else could it be?” Deus asked in response, lightly tapping his temple with two fingers. Then, he continued, “It’s the power of a sentient being’s will.”

“What...?”

Deus leaned in and said in a serious tone of voice, “Listen carefully, kid. Mana is the fundamental energy that makes up matter. But willpower—that’s a force that can defy the impossible. It’s the strongest energy source in existence.”

Upon hearing that, Siegfried recalled certain memories. Those memories contained the words of wisdom from his master, the present version of Deus.

“Hoho! If my mind chooses to see this lake as an ocean, then it will become an ocean. What’s the big deal about catching a tuna by then? I perceive this place as an abundant pool, filled with all sorts of fish, be they freshwater or saltwater fish!”

“Anything is possible if I will it, my disciple.”

“The will of mortals is the greatest power of all.”

“If mana is the force that creates things, then Divine Power is the manifestation of a mortal’s will.”

Siegfried finally realized what his master, Deus, was trying to say at that time as things started to fall into place. The so-called "Divine Power" was merely the byproduct of the people's unshakable belief—a reservoir of power shaped by a person’s sheer willpower.

In other words, Deus had long understood the extraordinary potential of willpower.

Deus stepped forward and said, “Now, watch closely. This door isn’t protected by some magical spell. It’s sealed by the will of the one who locked it. So if you want it to open, you don’t break it with brute force. You just have to overcome that person’s will with your own.”

“But how...?” Siegfried asked, blinking stupidly.

“It’s quite simple. You just have to do this,” Deus replied with a sly grin. Then, he faced the door and said firmly, “Open.”

Creaaak!

The gate that refused to budge an inch and stood impervious to Siegfried’s attacks creaked loudly, parting slowly as if it were listening to Deus’ command.

“See?” Deus said with a smug smirk.

“H-How did you...?”

“I already told you. It’s all about willpower. My will is stronger than the one who sealed this gate, so I could overpower it. It’s all about mental strength.”

“Hahaha... Unbelievable...” Siegfried murmured and laughed in disbelief.

“But whoever locked this gate has quite an impressive willpower. I dare say it’s comparable to a dragon’s, and that takes some serious mental strength. I’d say they’re at least at the level of a Grandmaster,” Deus mused.

Without further explanation, Deus strode through the now-open gate, motioning for the rest to follow. As Siegfried trailed behind Deus and Inzaghi with Hamchi, he repeated Deus’ words in his mind.

“Willpower... The most powerful energy... The mind is omnipotent... If that’s true, then theoretically, I could...”

Suddenly, a string of messages popped up in front of his eyes.

Ding!

[Alert: Congratulations!]

[Alert: You have achieved enlightenment!]

[Alert: The maximum skill level for Torrential Flower Rain has been unlocked!]

[Alert: You may now use Transcendent: Torrential Flower Rain!]

Siegfried froze in his tracks after reading the string of messages. He was just mulling over Deus' words, but he ended up unlocking the final form of the skill that Weapon Master Shakiro had once demonstrated to him.

***

[Transcendent: Torrential Flower Rain]

[The ultimate form of the Weapon Master’s secret technique.]

[Instead of relying on throwing weapons, this version manifests Aura Blade weapons through the user’s sheer willpower. These blades move freely under the user’s command, creating an unrelenting tempest of weapons to destroy the caster's enemies.]

[Type: Active Skill]

[Level: 30]

[Cooldown: 24 hours]

[Mana Cost: 50% of total mana]

[Note 1: This skill does not share cooldowns with Torrential Flower Rain.]

[Note 2: You may further enhance Transcendent: Torrential Flower Rain by investing skill points into it.]

[Note 3: Torrential Flower Rain’s skill level will also increase when skill points are invested into Transcendent: Torrential Flower Rain. The Torrential Flower Rain’s damage will increase, and its cooldown will decrease whenever its skill level goes up.]

‘Huh? I got it just like this...?’ Siegfried thought, baffled and stunned. He could not believe that he managed to learn an extremely powerful skill just by mulling over Deus' words.

However, this was not surprising at all, as this was one of the unique systems of the game. BNW had hidden events that could be triggered by the player’s actions or thoughts, and the player would then be rewarded by triggering those hidden events.

“What’s up with you? You look as if you’ve figured something out,” Deus said, sounding curious.

“Ah, yes. There is this technique I have been using... and just now, I learned how to use its final form after realizing a few things,” Siegfried replied, looking dumbfounded.

“You got that just from listening to me talk?”

“I guess so?”

“Haha! That’s what enlightenment is all about. It sneaks up on you out of nowhere,” Deus said with a chuckle.

“Thank you,” Siegfried replied with a bow.

“No need to thank me. Even if I blabber about such things all day long, it’s up to the listener to absorb them. That’s all you.”

“Still, I appreciate it.”

“Fair enough,” Deus replied with a shrug. Then, he smirked and said, “Growth is all that matters in this world. Keep at it, and you will soon surpass your limits. You’re in a slump right now, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then remember this one thing I’m about to tell you. It’s the most important thing,” Deus said. Then, he tapped his finger against his temple once again and continued, “You can’t break through barriers with brute force alone. It’s a waste of time and energy. Mental growth is what matters the most.”

“Thank you for your wise words,” Siegfried replied, bowing deeply and sounding sincere. Then, he thought, ‘He’s always teaching me invaluable things.’

After receiving Deus' teachings, Siegfried realized once again that he only had one master in this world, and it was none other than Deus. ‘I'm eternally grateful to you, Master. I respect you from the bottom of my heart and soul!’

He couldn't help but feel deeply grateful for Deus as he walked behind the latter.