Debuff Master

Chapter 780

[Heaven’s Eye: Command Center]

A message showing his current location popped up in front of his eyes as soon as he walked past the heavy iron gates.

Rumble!

He activated Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance to scan the castle interior.

[Boss: Immortal Alchemist Acheron]

The scan pinpointed the location of the Church of Osric’s leader, Acheron, on the map, which was at the very heart of the castle.

“This way,” Siegfried said, motioning to Deus, Hamchi, and Inzaghi.

Ding!

While he was making his way to the command center, a quest window popped up in front of his eyes.

[Alert: Do you accept the quest?]

[Pursuit and Annihilation]

[Make your way to the command center and kill the Leader of the Church of Osric, Immortal Alchemist Acheron.]

[Type: Time Attack Quest]

[Time Remaining: 60 minutes]

[Progress: 0% (0/1)]

[Rewards: Emerald Tablet, Almighty Soul, Ignite Soul, Void Soul, Requiem Soul]

[Warning: Failure to defeat Acheron within 60 minutes from the time of acceptance of this quest will result in the Fusion Ritual being successful, unleashing catastrophic calamities upon the world.]

There was no reason to hesitate.

[Yes!]

[Alert: You have accepted the Quest – Pursuit and Annihilation!]

[Alert: 59 minutes and 59 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 59 minutes and 58 seconds remaining!]

Without missing a beat, Siegfried dashed toward the heart of the castle, where Acheron awaited him.

‘Fusion Ritual? Don’t tell me that lunatic is actually planning to do that…?!’

Siegfried was struck by a bolt of realization. If Acheron had obtained all of the Soul Fragments of Apocalius, then she'd be able to summon the eldritch entity from another dimension, Apocalius.

However, Acheron couldn't obtain all the fragments, so what was she going to do now?

‘That maniac is planning on merging with the soul fragments!’

Siegfried immediately understood that Acheron sought to fuse herself with the four fragments, transcending mortality to become an absolute existence.

The memories of the battle against Count Arial flashed in Siegfried's mind. The madman had embedded the Almighty Soul into his Third Eye, giving him near-godlike powers. If someone as trivial as Count Arial managed to pull that off, what could an individual like Acheron achieve then?

‘The Demon King will be born…!’

The ramifications were staggering. If Acheron succeeded in the Fusion Ritual, she'd emerge as an omnipotent force beyond imagination.

‘I have to stop it no matter what…!’

Determination blazed in Siegfried's eyes as he ran as fast as he could to his destination. He was about to catch up to Deus when their path was suddenly blocked by gigantic stone golems.

Of course, the sudden appearance of the guardians was hardly surprising, as this place had already become the Church of Osric’s stronghold, and the Fusion Ritual was underway.

[Alchemic Golem]

[A golem forged through advanced alchemy techniques. It is unlike ordinary golems and is closer to chimeras. It boasts incredible versatility and devastating combat power.]

[Type: Chimera]

[Rank: Champion Monster]

[Level: 299]

[Class: Ultimate Guardian]

[Warning: This golem is near-impossible to kill, and it has a complex attack pattern.]

Siegfried wasted no time and hurled his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp at the Alchemic Golems. He used Flying Sword to hit the golem at the helm.

Whoosh!

The +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp streaked through the air like a bolt of lightning and struck the golem.

Thunk!

However, something felt off.

The hollow sound of metal colliding with stone rang, and before Siegfried could process what had transpired, the +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp ricocheted off the golem, hitting him square in the face.

The Alchemic Golem’s rock-hard body had repelled his weapon with unnatural ease.

“Kuheok!” Siegfried gasped in agony, and he fell to the ground.

“Hey! Are you alright, owner punk?!”

Hamchi rushed to his side to help him up.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Alchemic Golem threw a punch, and its arm stretched past Hamchi, landing right in front of Siegfried’s precious—his manhood.

“...!”

Siegfried ended up breaking into a cold sweat. The golem’s fist was merely inches away from his family jewels.

***

‘It’s arm… stretched?’ Siegfried couldn't believe his eyes.

Golems, by definition, were creatures created from stones or other hard materials. In other words, there was no way they could stretch their limbs or body parts. However, these were no ordinary stone golems. The Alchemic Golem that repelled Siegfried’s attack transformed, and its once-solid stone body became rubber-like and translucent.

Thunk! Twang!

Hundreds of Alchemic Golems abandoned their rocky bodies and transformed into semi-transparent jelly-like entities. They were now Rubber Golems, capable of stretching their elastic bodies and compressing them at will.

“What the…?”

Their elasticity was so good that they could even deflect Deus’ punches with their flexible arms. Of course, the sheer force of Deus’ punch would send the Alchemic Golems’ arms flying, but they'd pull themselves back and use the rebounding force to attack Siegfried.

‘Rubber? Then the answer is fire,’ Siegfried did not hesitate and placed down Shadow Hell to slow the golems down. Then, he placed down Blaze Field and infused his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp with fire-attribute energy.

Fwooosh!

Flames roared to life and engulfed the +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp.

‘Blunt force won’t work against them, so I should use a blade,’ Siegfried thought and transformed the +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a saber. Then, he prepared to unleash Heaven Splitting Slash against the golems.

But then…

“What the hell is that?!” Siegfried screamed.

The Alchemic Golems reverted back to their original stone forms. If there were any difference, then it was the fact that their figures were now engulfed in raging flames. It seemed as if they had anticipated the fiery assault and had adapted to counter it by becoming Fire Stone Golems.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

The Alchemic Golems changed instantly from Rubber Golems into Fire Stone Golems, allowing them to nullify the vicious flames that tried to melt their rubber bodies.

***

The Alchemic Golems' attack patterns were extremely complex. They possessed the ability to change their physical composition and properties in the blink of an eye, and it allowed them to withstand any oncoming attacks.

When struck with blunt force, they'd transform into a rubber-like material. When attacked with fire, they'd engulf their bodies in flames, making them resistant to fire-attribute energy.

When subjected to water-type magic, they'd transform into blocks of ice.

Regardless of the attack that Siegfried used on the Alchemic Golems, they'd withstand it and rapidly adjust their composition to minimize damage while attacking Siegfried at the same time.

In other words, their constant transformation countered Siegfried’s every move.

“Damn it!” Siegfried cursed and gritted his teeth out of frustration. His explosive Attack Power was proving utterly useless, and there seemed to be no other alternatives available.

‘I have no other choice.’

For now, he decided to focus on the Alchemic Golems’ rubber form, as that was the most troublesome among all of its patterns. He infused fire-attribute energy into his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp and attacked, unleashing vicious flames on the golems.

However, the Alchemic Golems immediately adapted by taking on the form of Fire Stone Golems. Then, they absorbed Siegfried’s attacks using their bodies impervious to fire, minimizing the damage that they had to withstand.

Thus, Siegfried could only unleash half of his usual firepower. The Alchemic Golems pressed him relentlessly; they were perfectly designed to withstand Siegfried’s fire-attribute attacks.

‘I have to finish them in one strike.’

Siegfried wasn't about to give up, and he decided to use speed to strike faster than the golems could transform. He assumed a stance and got ready to unleash Heaven Splitting Slash, the new secret technique of Sword Emperor Betelgeuse. It was an attack capable of slicing enemies into two before they could even react.

But then…

Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!

The Alchemic Golems transformed into mud as if they knew what was coming. Upon becoming Mud Golems, Siegfried's Heaven Splitting Slash was now useless against them. After all, Mud Golems were impervious to physical attacks.

“You dirty bastards!” Siegfried screamed out of frustration and hurled a huge variety of expletives at them.

This was quite the irony, as he was usually on the receiving end of such expletives. He was quite a despicable fellow, but the endless transformations of the Alchemic Golems could only be described as disgustingly filthy—no, utterly revolting.

Indeed, the Alchemic Golems were so complex to fight that Siegfried was being driven to a corner.

[Alert: 55 minutes and 11 seconds remaining!]@@novelbin@@

[Alert: 55 minutes and 10 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 55 minutes and 9 seconds remaining!]

The timer for the quest "Pursuit and Annihilation" was ticking away, and the countdown only served to give Siegfried even more pressure.

It was then.

“Hey!” Deus called out to him.

Like Siegfried, Deus was struggling against the Alchemic Golems. None of his attacks seemed to be working against them. Rather than feeling pressured, however, he seemed to be experimenting with different approaches while leisurely dodging their attacks.

“Hey! You! Do that thing! That thing!”

“Huh?”

“Do the thing!”

“What thing?!”

“You know, the one you used when fighting the whitey a while ago! That wave thing!” Deus exclaimed while slapping away a charging golem.

‘The whitey…? Oh! Seraph! If it’s the skill I used against Seraph, then it must be…!’ Siegfried immediately activated Wave of Truth, but it had no effect.

“Not that one! The other one!” Deus shouted again, sounding annoyed.

“Ah! That one!” Siegfried exclaimed and unleashed Wave of Oppression upon realizing what Deus was talking about.

“Huh?!” Siegfried exclaimed in astonishment.

The Alchemic Golems transformation had slowed down visibly.

“Alchemy changes the chemical properties of matter through magic! But it relies on a specific flow of mana! Interrupt that flow!” Deus yelled out advice while releasing his own mana to disrupt the golems’ unique mana wavelength.

He managed to mimic Siegfried’s Wave of Oppression upon seeing it just a few times.

This marked the turning point of the battle.

Wooong!

Siegfried unleashed Absolute Zero on the Alchemic Golems affected by Wave of Oppression.

Flash!

A dazzling white light erupted, freezing the golems in place before they could transform to protect themselves.

Everything went swimmingly from there on.

Swoosh!

Siegfried hurled his +15 Vanquisher’s Grasp at the frozen golems, shattering them one by one. On the other hand, Deus used the mimicked version of Wave of Oppression to effortlessly destroy the remaining golems in the blink of an eye.

“This is what makes alchemy so terrifying. Changing the very nature of matter makes it nearly impossible to counter, so it’s ridiculously troublesome,” Deus grumbled, frowning as he gazed at the remains of the Alchemic Golems.

“Yes, I agree,” Siegfried replied, wiping a trickle of blood from his nose.

“Tsk… That damned Acheron. Should I just kill him[1] when I get back?” Deus grumbled.

Siegfried’s eyes shot wide open in shock as he asked, “W-Wait, do you know who Acheron is?”

“Huh? Of course, I do. There’s this guy named Sieghart, and you’ve probably heard of him, right?”

“Yes, I have heard of Great Sage Sieghart.”

“Ha! Great Sage, my ass,” Deus scoffed, his tone dripping with sarcasm. Then, he asked, “Anyway, who do you think made that so-called Third Eye embedded on his forehead?”

“Huh?”

“Do you think implanting an artifact into a human body is simple? Not really. It’s impossible without an incredibly advanced alchemy knowledge.”

“Ah, I see…”

“Personally, I never really liked Acheron.”

“Why not?”

“He’s unsettling and impossible to read. And considering how skilled he is in human transmutation… he’s probably done plenty of experiments on living beings and creatures—”

Before Deus could finish his sentence.

Thud, thud, thud!

Footsteps echoed as knights clad in the Guardians' uniform appeared in the distance.

“What the hell…?” Siegfried muttered, and his eyes widened in disbelief upon seeing their levels.

There were roughly fifty knights in the distance.

Their levels?

Each of them was a staggering Level 450.

1. this is not a mistake. revealed in the next chapter. ☜