Debuff Master

“Magicians and Archers! Please gather here! Hurry up!” Siegfried urgently commanded and led the Adventurers to get rid of the Droptids.

“Archers! Please aim at the Droptids! They can’t do much aside from dropping bombs, so it will be easy for you to deal damage against them! The same goes for the Magicians! It will be easier for us to fight if we get rid of the Droptids, so we need to make sure to stop them from dropping living bombs on our troops! That is the priority! Oh, is anyone capable of casting flight-type magic?” Siegfried asked after giving out his commands.

“I do,” said an Adventurer with raised hands.

Ironically, the Adventurer was one of the two adventurers in the battalion who were members of the Genesis Guild.

“Please cast it on our DPS. DPS, please fly up toward the Droptids and bring them down as fast as you can,” Siegfried commanded.

It was the right strategy against Droptids, and Siegfried was able to make this call since he had faced these monsters countless times in the past.

“Remembers, prioritize the Droptids! Now, move out!” Siegfried gave the command, and the Adventurers scattered in response.

Shwiiiik!

The Archers aimed at the sky and let their arrows fly toward the Droptids.

“Three, two, one, fire!”

The Magicians infused their firepower on top of the arrows to unleash a ferocious combination at the Droptids.

“Let’s gooooo!”

“Fuck them all!”

“Go, go, go!”

The melee damage dealers flew up toward the Droptids after getting buffed by the Genesis Guild member.

Meanwhile, Siegfried didn’t just sit around.

‘Torrential Flower Rain doesn’t last that long, and it uses too much mana. I can’t use Irradiate here as well since I’ll end up becoming a troll who’s going to kill my teammates… In that case…’ 

Siegfried recalled one useful ranged skill he had in his arsenal.

It was a very powerful skill…

Kwak!

Siegfried gripped his hammer tightly.

Whiiiiiiish!

Flying Spur ripped through the air and shot toward the Droptids in the sky.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The hammer smashed itself into the Droptids.

“Kuoooooh!”

“Kueeeeek!”

“Kieeeeeek!”

The Droptids crashed to the ground one by one after the fierce counterattack from Siegfried and the Adventurers. It wasn’t that difficult to get rid of the Droptids as they were pretty slow, and they had no other attack method aside from dropping living bombs and Cryptids.

‘Alright!’ Siegfried rejoiced after confirming that the army was no longer in danger against the Droptids’ bombs.

However, his joy lasted only for a moment.

[Alert: Please retreat at once! You have 83% of your forces remaining!]

[Alert: Please retreat at once! You have 82% of your forces remaining!]

[Alert: Please retreat at once! You have 81% of your forces remaining!]

[Alert: Please retreat at once! You have 80% of your forces remaining!]

The number of his troops was steadily and quickly decreasing. At this rate, the battalion would get wiped out before they could even start their retreat.

“Gather up if you are done with the Droptids! We will quickly retreat while covering our allies!” Siegfried instructed and urged the adventurers.

Their chances of winning against the Cryptids were next to none, and the whole situation seemed to be in line with the quest name ‘Retreat Operation’. There were simply too many of them, and the swarm of Cryptids coming toward them was so great that the entire horizon was covered with the monsters. The Adventures did take care of the Droptids, but that was only after the flying monsters had fulfilled their duties to transport the living bombs and the Cryptids.

Now, it was safe to say that the entire barracks had become a Cryptid lair.

***

The retreat in the middle of the night was an operation with their survival on the line. The independent battalion Siegfried led, as well as the 1st Battalion, the 2nd Battalion, and the 3rd Battalion, could not even fight properly as they all ran as fast as they could to retreat to safety.

Fortunately, Siegfried and Carell’s leadership allowed the officers and Adventurers to gather pretty quickly, so they were able to move in a coordinated manner while fighting the Cryptids in the middle of their retreat.

“We will hold them off here one more time! Carell! Lead the troops to safety!” Siegfried shouted.

“Yes, Battalion Commander-nim!” Carell shouted in response.

Siegfried did not have the luxury to catch a breath as he shouted to the Adventurers, “I will use my skills first! I need you to cover me once I use up my mana and enter sage time[1]!”

Then, he turned around and faced the swarm of Cryptids all on his own.

Shiiing! Shiiing!

He took out two green discs and hurled them toward the incoming swarm.

Flash!

A green lightning flashed…

Shwaaaaaaaaa!

The flower rain of death scattered throughout the battlefield, shredding the Cryptids into pieces.

However, the carnage didn’t last that long.

“Heok! Heok!” Siegfried gasped for air as he retreated behind allied lines after exhausting all of his mana by using Torrential Flower Rain for long as he could.

The Adventurers stepped in to fill his shoes while he was replenishing his mana.

“Tankers! Forward!”

“Hang on until Battalion Commander-nim recovers his mana!”

“Use as much AOE magic as you can!”

It was such an intense battle!

The battle was so intense one would question if it was even possible for a mere game to make something so intense look so real.

‘There are still ten kilometers left? Damn… It’s too far…’ Siegfried gnashed his teeth and grumbled inwardly after checking his mini-map.

They still had a long way to go, but the retreat operation was just getting started…

***

The retreat operation continued for two more hours.

“We’re almost there! Let’s hang on for a bit longer!” Siegfried shouted while pointing at the gorge in front.

The Snake Gorge.

They just had to cross that gorge that stretched over two kilometers, and they would finally be able to meet up with the reinforcements.

‘Just a bit more…’ Siegfried checked his HP, Stamina, and Mana bars to assess his situation, ‘I think I will be able to push them back one more time…’

But all of a sudden…

“Kedeuk! Kedeuk!”

“Kedededeuk!”

“Kedeuk! Kieeek!”

A huge number of Gobletids appeared in droves.

A Gobletid was a mutated goblin with low HP but with fast movement and attack speed. Considering their current situation, these monsters were the most dangerous monster for them to come across because they had to reach the retreat point as fast as possible.

‘No!’ Siegfried screamed inwardly.

“They’re coming!”

“Damn it!”

“Why are there so many of them?!”

The Adventurers were flabbergasted and shocked as well.

How many were there? A thousand? No, two thousand? It seemed like the number of Gobletids far surpassed the number of Cryptids that had been chasing them until now, even though these Gobletids seemed like they were the reinforcements.

“Ah…” Siegfried muttered, seemingly in despair.

‘It’s meaningless to fight. We will be quickly surrounded if we attempt to fight back,’ he thought.

The Gobletids were mobile monsters. A hit-and-run tactic against them was not going to work, and Adventurers would obviously get wiped out if they dared to even attempt such a thing.

In short, this only meant that they only had one thing that they could do…

“Everyone…” Siegfried muttered before shouting at the top of his lungs, “RUN! Run as fast as you can! Run and don’t look back!”

Yes, the only thing they could was run for their dear life.

***

“Euaaaaak!”

“Heok! Heok! Heok!“

“Don’t come near me! Fuck off, you monsters!”

“R-Run! Ruuuun!”

Everyone ran for their dear lives, the officers, soldiers, and even the Adventurers. They ran for their dear lives toward the Snake Gorge regardless of their rank or status.

They ran and ran as fast as they could. Many of them fell behind while running, but Siegfried helped each and every one of them while running away.

“Get up! Keep running! I will hold them off! Run if you want to live!” Siegfried shouted at the NPC soldiers.

“Somebody save me!”

However, he didn’t help Fallschirm, who miraculously managed to survive until now. Unfortunately, it seemed that this was the end of the line for him as he seemed to have twisted his ankle while running away.

He desperately tried to limp away, but the Gobletids had already surrounded him.

“Aaaaah…! AAAAGH!” Fallschirm screamed in agony as dozens of Gobletids ate him alive.

Fallschirm died three days after he chose to restart his military career all over again…

‘It doesn’t really matter whether that bastard dies or not,’ Siegfried thought. He didn’t spare even a glance at Fallschirm. Instead, he dedicated all of his efforts toward rescuing the soldiers that needed help.

Some soldiers had already entered the gorge, while most of them were still desperately running for their lives. However, one man suddenly ran in the opposite direction.

“Battalion Commander-nim! Where are you going?!” Carell screamed.

“Go ahead!” Siegfried shouted in response.

“But…!”

“Go! Someone has to hold them off! I will follow soon, so lead the troops to safety!” Siegfried shouted while waving his hand. Then, he ran toward the swarm of Cryptids coming for the army.

“Please buff me on your way!” Siegfried asked the Buffers passing by him, and then he added, “I will take care of the enemy!”

The reason he chose to take such drastic action was that his troops were still steadily decreasing.

[Alert: Please retreat at once! You have 51% of your forces remaining!]

Siegfried was sure that he would fail the quest and the entire battalion would get annihilated if nobody stepped up and stopped Cryptids here.

Someone had to buy the troops time to safely leave the gorge.

[Alert: Your party member has replenished and buffed your mana!]

[Alert: Your party member has healed and buffed your HP!]

[Alert: Your party member has boosted and buffed your stamina!]

[Alert: Your party member has increased your armor!]

Find the original at "pawread dot com".

[Alert: Your party member has cast a barrier on you!]

The Buffers focused all of their buff skills on Siegfried.

‘Let’s try and hold them back…!’ Siegfried after receiving numerous buffs. Then, he urged his mana hall to its limit and used Irradiate.

Sseuuu…!

A green poison fog scattered, and the place he was standing on became the forbidden land of death.

‘This won’t be enough…!’ Siegfried took it one step further and cast Circle of Mortality, Speed Restraint, and Wave of Suppression as well.

[Alert: You have used ‘Contempt for the Strong’!]

[Alert: You have used ‘Proof of Existence’!]

[Alert: You have used ‘Adamant Body’!]

He buffed himself with Contempt for the Strong, which allowed him to deal additional damage and counterattack damage to enemies stronger than him, Proof of Existence, which let him deal additional damage to debuffed enemies, and Adamant Body, which explosively increased his defense and made him immune to crowd control effects.

Siegfried used all of his skills as he faced the incoming swarm of Cryptids.

‘This could be the best course of action I could take,’ he confidently thought.

After all, he couldn’t freely use his debuff skills, which were the bread and butter of his class, while running away.

What could he do even if he placed his debuff fields while running away? The Cryptids would just bypass it while chasing after him.

But now, the situation was completely different. All he had to do was to place his debuff fields and hold them off using the narrow ravine of the gorge.

In addition, he had activated all of his buff skills on top of the buffs he had received from the Buffers on the way here.

‘I’m strong right now,’ he thought as he tightly gripped his hammer.

‘Splitting Heaven and Earth… let’s give it a shot…!’ 

Siegfried jumped into the air.

Splitting Heaven and Earth was the Level 100 active skill of the Debuff Master. He had learned it a while ago after finally hitting Level 100.

Woooong!

A powerful energy coalesced on his hammer.

Whoooooosh!

Siegfried dropped straight down to the ground, carrying his hammer all the way and smashing it into the ground.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

The Adventurers’ eyes almost popped out the moment they witnessed the scene. One of them even muttered, “Isn’t… Isn’t that a nuclear strike?”

The sheer destructive power of the skill Siegfried had used just now was immeasurable, no—it was unreasonably powerful.

1. Sage Time is the Korean term for post-nut clarity. They say that the clarity you get after spending everything makes you feel like a sage, and they use this in games when you have spent all of your mana. ☜