Debuff Master

Chapter 823

Metatron’s true form was a stark contrast to the arthritis-ridden old sorcerer he used to be.

He stood three meters tall and had six massive wings that resembled a bat’s wings or perhaps a dragon’s wings. His skin was a very dark purple that nearly looked black, and he possessed bulging muscles that could rival those of a seasoned bodybuilder.

On his head were three imposing horns, and his glowing crimson eyes radiated a sinister aura. In this transformed state, Metatron truly looked like the son of a Demon Lord.

“Ooooh! My lord!”

Metatron’s most loyal subject, Chaos, shuddered with awe and even teared up a bit at the sight of his master’s true form—a sight he had not seen in ages.

“Whoa…”

Even Siegfried could not help but see Metatron in a different light.

The demon was nothing more than a clumsy fool, which was hardly what one would expect from the son of a Demon Lord. But now, in his true form, he looked just as formidable as what one would expect a Demon Lord would look like.

However, no one was more thrilled about the transformation than Metatron himself.

Metatron basked in the power he had not wielded in so long that a shiver of excitement surged throughout his entire body.

“Ah, this strength… It’s intoxicating! Kwahahaha!”

Siegfried scowled. His face scrunched at Metatron’s overly dramatic, cringe-inducing, time-wasting transformation.

“Hey, you—”

“Kyuuu! Leave him be, owner punk!”

Hamchi suddenly stopped him before he could say anything.

“How can I leave him be when he’s spouting that nonsense and wasting time?!”

“Kyuuu! Let him have his moment! It’s been ages since he’s had a chance to shine!”

“Ugh… Fine, whatever.”

Meanwhile, Auriel’s expression turned dark after seeing Metatron’s transformation.

It was only natural.

Angels and demons were natural enemies, so their hatred and hostility for each other was the same as fire and water; even low-ranking angels and demons shared natural animosity toward each other.

For an archangel and the son of a demon lord, such animosity would only be natural—if not far worse.

“So, you’re a high-ranking demon, eh?” Auriel growled, his golden eyes glaring at the demon.

“High-ranking? Bah!” Metatron scoffed disdainfully. Then, he proudly declared, “I am the son of the Demon Lord of Vengeance, and I will be the future ruler of the Seventh Domain of the Demon Realm[1]!”

“A future demon lord, huh…” Auriel muttered. Then, his eyes burned with murderous intent as he growled, “That’s more than enough reason to kill you. It’s best to eliminate such filthy bloodlines early on than allow you to proliferate like pests.”

The archangel showed no fear even after knowing that Metatron was the son of a demon lord. He was an archangel, so to him, fighting someone like Metatron was child’s play.

Only a demon lord could match an archangel in terms of power. After all, there were only seven archangels as opposed to thirteen demon lords. This scarcity was a testament to the power of the archangels, as each archangel was said to possess strength equivalent to two demon lords combined.

“Die, seed of evil! I will punish humanity and destroy your filthy underworld in the process, too!” Auriel roared, unleashing a torrential rain of radiant swords.

However, Metatron remained unfazed, as he clearly knew he had the upper hand in this battle. Yes, it was true that an archangel was far more powerful than him, but that was only if they were in their true form.

Auriel was merely manifesting his presence through the frail body of an old human.

In contrast, Metatron was drawing upon the power of his father’s artifact, the Demonic Sword: Avenger, to manifest his true form. Metatron could use about ninety percent of his full strength, while Auriel was struggling to exert even ten percent.

In other words, this battle was lopsided.

“Kwahaha! Come on, hit me! More! More!”

With his unique skill, Aura of Vengeance, activated, Metatron absorbed the full brunt of Auriel’s attacks without even flinching. No matter how many radiant swords pierced him and riddled his body like a pincushion, he did not falter even in the slightest.

Even when the archangel summoned his divine flames to burn the demon, it failed to cause any harm to the demon at all.

“Yes! That’s it! Right there! Perfect! Kwahahaha!” Metatron cackled.

His huge muscular frame was twisting and trembling in delight, making him look like a perverted masochist enjoying the pain.

“This damn freak…” Auriel grimaced.

For the first time, he realized the gravity of his situation.

He had dismissed Metatron as nothing more than the son of a demon lord, but now, it was clear that he had manifested his full power in the human world, which was something the archangel hadn't expected at all.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

“How dare a mere angel stand against the great demon race?” Metatron spat with disdain, his perverted grin gone from his face and replaced with a serious look.

Swoosh!

Metatron swung the Avenger, unleashing a crescent-shaped blade of pure demonic energy gathered from the demon realm itself.

Shiiik!

In a flash, Auriel’s left arm, which had been ablaze with holy fire, was severed, and it fell to the ground.

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

Siegfried, Hamchi, Shakiro, and Mikhail, who had been watching from a distance, were completely stunned.

They believed that the archangel was untouchable—a godlike existence that was invincible—yet he lost an arm to a single strike from Metatron… of all people.

“Kwahahaha! So, you’re a great archangel? Auriel? Allow me to grant you the humiliation of a lifetime today!” Metatron said, grinning triumphantly while advancing on the archangel, brimming with confidence.

***

Auriel had no choice but to pay a heavy price for his arrogance and complacency. As one of the most powerful beings after the Creator, it was natural for an archangel to brim with unshakable confidence against those he considered inferior creatures.

Unfortunately, the cost of that confidence proved to be devastating.

“Head!”

Metatron shouted before slamming his fist into Auriel’s solar plexus.

“Urgh!”

“Head!”

He did once again, punching straight to the solar plexus.

“Guh!”

“Stomach!”

The third blow landed in the exact same spot, but this time, he shouted stomach.

“Argh!”

The mighty archangel was forced to endure humiliation unlike any he had suffered in his entire existence. Caught firmly in Metatron’s grasp, the archangel was subjected to an endless barrage of strikes to his midsection.

“You…! You!”

Auriel gnashed his teeth in fury, yet against an opponent who had manifested almost their true strength, the archangel was utterly powerless.

Had this been a battle of true forms, then Metatron would have been swatted down like a fly by Auriel. He was nothing more than a mere insect against one of the archangels.

Unfortunately, this was no ordinary battle.

“Graaaah!”

Auriel, who would have usually dismissed someone like Metatron as a bug not even worth his attention, now found himself getting beaten to a pulp by the bug. He was amidst a humiliation that was beyond what he could imagine, even in his wildest dreams, and this was undoubtedly the most degrading moment in his entire existence.

“Kwahaha! I never thought I’d live to beat an archangel to a pulp! What a rare and glorious honor this is!” Metatron cackled. Seizing the opportunity, he poured out all the stress that had been pent up inside of him. He kicked Auriel’s face, stomped on him, kicked his shin, and slapped him across the face.

“Ahahaha! Bwahaha!”

Metatron did not stop there. He grabbed the snowy white hair of Auriel’s host body, the old man, and yanked at it until he reduced him to a bald, pitiful state.

The sheer madness of Metatron’s actions made Siegfried and Hamchi shake their heads in disbelief.

“Has he been that stressed out?”

“Kyuu… Looks like he’s been bottling it up big time…”

Neither Siegfried nor Hamchi realized they were mostly responsible for driving Metatron to this state. Well, to be precise, ninety percent of Metatron’s stress mostly came from Deus, but still…

Meanwhile, Metatron, consumed by his fury, pummeled Auriel mercilessly as though he intended to leave a lasting trauma on the archangel. The beating got so brutal at one point that Auriel, an archangel, began to plead for mercy.

It was truly an unimaginable sight.

“P-Please…! I beg you… s-stop… Guh!”

“Die! DIEEEEE!”

“Argh!”

“Kwahaha! Just die already, you damned winged bastard!”

Driven by the stress accumulated over the years, Metatron lost all semblance of reason as he unleashed a violent barrage of attacks.

Then, driven by frenzy and bloodlust, he grabbed Auriel with both hands and ripped him apart, tearing the old man’s body into shreds.

“Aaaaaargh!”

Finally, with his host body destroyed, Auriel managed to escape the agony; his presence dissipated from the scene.

It was then.

“Grrr…!”

However, Metatron’s rage was still not quelled. His eyes rolled wildly, searching his surroundings for new prey.

He was currently in a berserk state, and Auriel couldn't satisfy his fury.

Now, he sought another target to unleash his fury.

Unfortunately, his crazed gaze landed on none other than Siegfried.

***

“Kuhuhuh…”

Metatron laughed wickedly as he slowly walked toward Siegfried. It was not clear whether he had lost his sanity or been emboldened by the power of the Avenger, but his hostility was clear.

“What… are you doing?” Siegfried asked. Then, he grumbled, “What? Are you going to hit me?”

“Kwahahaha!”

“Oh? You’re laughing?”

Siegfried’s eyebrow twitched after seeing Metatron’s response.

Slap!

A crisp noise reverberated throughout the air as he slapped Metatron's face.

“Aackkk!” Metatron shrieked, and his head was forced to the side from the impact.

Shockingly, that single slap from Siegfried dealt significant damage to Metatron, who had just demolished Auriel with his bare hands.

“M-Master! W-Why did you suddenly hit me…?” Metatron asked with tears in his eyes while clutching his red cheek.

“Hey, are you out of your mind? Did you finally lose it?” Siegfried berated the demon while delivering a series of kicks to his shin.

“Ow! M-Master! W-Why are you doing—ah!”

“Hey, you can go wild all you want, but you better remember your place!”

“Huh?”

Chaos swiftly intervened. He leaned in to whisper to Metatron about the events that had just transpired a moment ago.

“W-What?! I did that?!” Metatron cried out in horror.

“Yes, you did, my lord,” Chaos replied solemnly.

“Ack!”

Metatron recoiled in horror after realizing that he had nearly attacked Siegfried.

Despite being able to manifest his true form thanks to the Demonic Sword: Avenger, Metatron was still bound by the contract that enslaved him to Siegfried. No matter how unhinged or berserk he became, he would always be no match against his master.

“M-Master…! I lost my composure for a moment and let my reason slip—”

“Well done.”

“Y-Yes?!”

“You did well.”

“You’re… not going to hit me?”

“Hey, I only slapped you because it seemed like you were going crazy. Why would I hit you otherwise? Do I look like some thug to you?”

Metatron swallowed a hard lump in his throat, which contained the words, “aren’t you a thug?!”

Instead of signing his own death warrant by speaking his mind, he decided to be smart and just hand over the Demonic Sword: Avenger to Siegfried.

“Thank you for letting me use this, Master. Hahaha…” Metatron said with an awkward laugh.

“Oh? You’re not letting go?” Siegfried said, narrowing his eyes.

Metatron had voluntarily handed over the Avenger to Siegfried, but he found it difficult to let go of the sword.

“N-Not at all!”

In the end, he quickly let go of the weapon after sensing his life was in danger.

“Anyway, good job. Thanks a bunch. You saved my life today,” Siegfried said nonchalantly.

“Loyalty! Loyalty! Loyalty!”

“I’ll give you a bonus this month.”

“R-Really?!”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll even throw in a promotion.”

“T-Thank you! Your Majesty!”

Metatron practically beamed with joy after hearing that he would be rewarded. He had recently invested his wages into real estate, only to see the property value plummet catastrophically.

The losses left him in dire financial straits. To Metatron, the promise of a bonus and a pay raise was nothing short of rain during a drought.

“By the way…” Siegfried muttered, glancing around after storing the Avenger in his inventory.

Sigh…

He let out a heavy sigh as he took in the grim scene surrounding him.

Corpses. There was nothing but corpses around him. Not a single paladin survived the operation.

The Archangel, Auriel, had slaughtered all of them.

“This is going to cause quite a headache…” Siegfried grumbled, covering his face with his hands.

He was fully aware that today’s catastrophe was merely the prelude to even worse calamities yet to come.

***

Siegfried left the battlefield and immediately returned to the place where the leaders of the various religious orders had gathered to deliver the grave news to them.

Of course, he made sure to keep the details of Metatron’s role in defeating the archangel a tightly guarded secret. Revealing that he had a demon—specifically, the son of a demon lord—as one of his servants would only stir unnecessary trouble with the clergy.

“I-Is that true?!”

“Dear heavens!”

“This is… unthinkable. For the wrath of heaven to begin in such a manner…”

The religious leaders were thrown into utter disarray upon hearing Siegfried’s report.

Losing over five hundred elite paladins was already a devastating blow, but that was not what made them despair.

The news about how the angels’ retaliation was finally starting was something far more terrifying, and this was beyond anything they could have anticipated.

The only silver lining in this catastrophe was that they didn't have to scour the entire continent and waste time locating the Savior and the Star. Of course, whether Siegfried and Mikhail were truly the Savior and the Star was yet to be confirmed with absolute certainty.

While the religious leaders debated on how to handle this dire situation, Siegfried used the opportunity to meet with the Planner, someone who specialized in aiding the establishment of a new religion.

1. Will be using Demon Realm from now on to match the Celestial Realm ☜