Debuff Master

Siegfried flashed his Rune of Insight to get details on the creature that was once the pope.

[Xanatos]

[A demon that parasites off of humans.]

[It had been living for decades controlling an inquisitor of the papacy, and it recently managed to completely take over its host’s body.]

[This demon is a servant of the Demon King, Amon, and it was famous for being deployed whenever humans had to be controlled by subterfuge.]

[It is known for its hideous appearance that resembles a bat and a human, and it specializes in completely erasing its presence while parasitizing off of its host.]

[For centuries, this demon has been dispatched to infiltrate holy places.]

[Level: 300]

[Type: Named Demon]

[Affiliation: Demon World 3rd Area]

[Department: Espionage]

[Rank: Count]

[Class: Demon Bat]

In a sudden twist of events, the evil pope who could put demons to shame through his atrocities ended up being an actual demon—a whopping Level 300 Named Demon at that.

“Kireuk! I have been hiding myself for decades, but you forced me to reveal my true form!” Xanatos exclaimed while proudly standing in front of Siegfried and the others.

The demon’s appearance was truly hideous and overwhelming.

He stood over three meters tall with large bulky muscles, and it seemed that he would easily weigh more than three hundred kilograms.

Above all, the hideous bat-like face and large wings made the demon look even more terrifying.

“H-His Holiness was a demon!”

“The pope is a demon!”

“A demon was pretending to be the pope!”

The papal troops were shocked. Oh my god! How could this be? The highest-ranking clergyman in the papacy was actually a demon?!

The atrocities he had committed with his title as the pope gave the devil a run for his money indeed, but nobody could have expected that he was actually a demon. 𝐫äNо𐌱È𝙎

Why?

It was not that rare for the Constantine Holy Empire to carry out an inquisition and hunt down heretics. Yes, Theopilus was a bit extreme compared to his predecessors, but it was truly inconceivable that he was a demon.

“Are you surprised that I’m a demon?” Xanatos snickered and asked while looking down at the humans. “Keke! You must be shocked. But why are you so shocked, though? The sins you humans have committed were worse than what the demons do!”

“W-What are you talking about?!” said the highest-ranking paladin in the papacy.

The other paladins retorted as well.

“Blasphemy!”

“You dare tarnish our holy honor?!”

“Pfft!” Xanatos laughed and replied, “It seems you still haven’t realized what you have done. You murdered, raped, and plundered all in the name of god! Now don’t think about blaming it on me since I just gave you a slight push, that’s all. You’re the ones who did all those with your own hands!”

“S-Silence! That was all carried out to punish the heretics—”

“Is that why you became a pedophile?”

“…!”

“Did I ever command you to defile little girls?”

“T-That’s…!”

The paladin's face turned ghastly pale.

“What was it again? Ordination? Is that what you said when you were groping those helpless little girls?”

“S-Shut up!”

“Oh, there was that, too… Girls older than twelve don’t excite you? Keke!”

“Die! Demon!”

The paladin got so worked up that he charged at the demon, but…

Puk! Pukeok!

He was subdued in just two punches.

It was a display of overwhelming strength.

Xanatos killed the highest-ranking paladin in just two punches, but what was even more shocking was the fact that the paladin’s plate armor was crushed like a tin can.

“Keke! Humans are so easy to manipulate. You get too worked up once someone pokes your dirty little secrets,” Xanatos said with a snicker before looking down at the paladin’s lifeless body. “Pathetic dirty bastard! Ah! Is that why you guys call yourselves holey knights? Because of your love for holes? Kekeke!”

Siegfried was in disbelief, but it did not take him that long to process what was going on.

The highest-ranking paladin turned out to be a pedophile, so it wasn’t strange that their leader was a real demon. After all, the atrocities that they had committed under the name of God would make demons crawl out from the demon world just to take notes from them.

Ironically, Siegfried was actually relieved with how things turned out.

The Proatine Kingdom could get scot-free from the diplomatic dispute against the papacy now that the pope had turned out to be a demon, but of course, that was only if they managed to defeat the demon and return with witnesses.

Still, Siegfried wasn’t happy with the fact that Emperor Frederic, who was a scumbag rivaling Xanatos, was going to take full control of the empire if they failed to win.

However, Siegfried had to prioritize the well-being of the Proatine Kingdom first, so he didn’t have the luxury to dwell any further about the Constantine Holy Empire’s future.

Kwak!

Siegfried gripped his +15 Gaia’s Fist, ‘I’ll beat that bastard to a pulp and put an end to this war.’

Siegfried’s main priority right now was to end this stupid war.

Siegfried turned around and called the elf princess beside him. “Brunhilde-nim.”

“Yes, Siegfried-nim!”

“Let’s go.”

“Okay!”

Siegfried made his way toward the demon, Xanatos, and Brunhilde followed closely behind him.

***

‘I’m dead the moment I make a mistake.’

Siegfried focused harder than ever. Xanatos was a Level 300 high-ranking demon, and it was definitely going to be stronger than any opponent Siegfried had faced until now.

A person reached the realm of a Master once they hit Level 300, and around thirty Level 299 Sword Experts were required to defeat one single Master. In other words, thirty other Brunhildes were required to barely defeat Xanatos.

“Oh? Were you the bastard brazen enough to hit the back of my head?” Xanatos said with a smirk after recognizing Siegfried. His smile abruptly vanished as he uttered with disgust. “Die, trash.”

Fshwoom!

Xanatos threw a punch at Siegfried, and the punch was so fast that it shattered the sound barrier, creating a sonic boom that reverberated across the battlefield.

However, Siegfried didn’t receive the punch.

Brunhilde quickly stepped in and blocked the punch with her Holy Sword: Phoenix.

“Hap!”

Boom!

Thud…!

Brunhilde blocked the punch, but the sheer force behind the punch broke her stance and made her spin. Siegfried jumped in and caught her before she hit the ground, and they used the momentum from the punch to spin behind the demon.

Boom!

Chwak!

Siegfried slammed his mace into the demon’s waist while Brunhilde swung her holy sword and cut the demon’s left wing.

Thud…!

Xanatos’ left wing dropped to the ground.

Their combined attack was extremely effective, and this single move was as good as deciding the outcome of the battle. The demon’s mobility was sure to suffer now that it had lost a wing.

Siegfried and Brunhilde complimented each other’s strengths while covering each other’s weaknesses as they relentlessly attacked the demon.

The onlookers were stunned.

“Oh my god…”

“Is it possible for humans to fight like that…?”

Their partnership could only be described as perfect, and it seemed as if they had been fighting alongside each other for decades on the battlefield.

‘Siegfried-nim is leading me perfectly!’ Brunhilde was in awe.

She knew that all of this was only possible thanks to Siegfried.

He was using his extreme focus and control to assist Brunhilde in any way. He knew that there was nothing much he could do against the demon, as his level was too low, so he decided that assisting Brunhilde in battle was the best thing he could do.

“Krwaaaaah!”

Xanatos was utterly helpless against their combined forces, and the demon’s title of being a Level 300 Named Demon seemed irrelevant right now.

Fwaaaa! Fwaaaah!

Siegfried used Discharge to further enhance the Blaze Field, which shredded a chunk of the demon’s Defense to the point that every attack was dealing quite a lot of damage to him.

“You dare…!” Xanatos growled in anger.

Pukeok!

However, Siegfried replied by smacking the demon’s chin with his mace.

Puuuuk!

And Brunhilde used that opening to stab the demon’s waist.

“Siegfried-nim! Now!” Brunhilde shouted while her holy sword was buried in the demon’s waist.

Puuuuk!

She stabbed her holy sword deeper into the demon’s waist and channeled as much mana as she possibly could into her sword.

Wooooong!

The holy sword shone red as it spread holy flames into the demon’s body.

“Ack! Uwaaaaaaak!”

The Flames of Purification that purified evil burned Xanatos’ body from the inside.

“I’m coming!” Siegfried shouted and swung his mace at the demon’s face.

‘I have to finish this now!’ Siegfried knew that this was the best opportunity they were going to get while the demon was still writhing in agony. The demon wouldn’t let his guard down anymore if he survived this attack.

In other words, this opportunity wouldn’t present itself again.

He had to kill the demon right then, right now.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

He used Machine Gun Smash and viciously swung his mace with all of his strength.

[Xanatos]

[HP: ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜]

The demon only had fifty percent HP remaining after getting hit by Machine Gun Smash. Siegfried grabbed the hilt of the holy sword and shouted, “Let me help!”

Sseuuu…!

He infused his radioactive energy into the sword and injected it into the demon’s body.

“Ack! Uwaaaaak! Gaaaah!” Xanatos screamed and writhed in agony. The demon’s HP plummeted after both the Flames of Purification and Irradiate wreaked havoc in his body.

‘Now!’ Siegfried let go of the holy sword.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

He took out the disks crafted from the scales of the Chromatic Dragon.

‘Torrential Flower Rain!’

The flower rain of death poured down, and every petal was directed at the demon’s abdomen.

Shwaaaaaa!

‘It’s over!’

The Blood Butterfly’s Wings fluttered. Siegfried used Quick Draw right before he ran out of mana and slashed the demon’s neck.

Shwaaaaaa!

Dark blood spurted out like a fountain from the demon’s neck.

‘Alright!’

Siegfried rejoiced after confirming that the demon was definitely defeated.

It wasn’t the most honorable way to defeat a demon, but Siegfried couldn’t care less. He considered themselves extremely lucky that they managed to make quick work of such a demon.

They would have been locked in an intense battle that would most probably end in their defeat if the demon managed to get serious.

‘It’s time to say goodbye to this civil war…’

Siegfried prepared to deal the final blow after confirming that Xanatos had less than one percent HP remaining.

Flash!

A flash of light descended from heaven.

Shwaaaa…!

The light enveloped Xanatos.

***

“…!”

“…!”

Siegfried and Brunhilde were stupefied.

Woooong!

The wounds on the demon’s body healed, but that wasn’t the end of the surprise.

[Xanatos]

[HP: ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛]

The demon that was on the verge of death suddenly recovered all of its HP.

‘What the hell was that?’ Siegfried thought in disbelief when Hamchi suddenly shouted.

“Owner punk! That bastard used some strange skill!”

Siegfried looked at where Hamchi was pointing, and he was pointing to none other than Chae Hyung-Seok.

He was grinning while glaring at Siegfried.

‘But how?’ Siegfried was confused.

Chae Hyung-Seok and the Genesis Guild were supposed to be marked by Seung-Gu and the Head Crusher Guild, so how did he manage to interfere in this battle?

“Have you heard of Revive?” Chae Hyung-Seok asked while snickering.

“Revive…?”

“Yeah, it’s not one of those bringing the dead back to life, but it will do the trick as long as the target is not completely dead.”

“What are you…”

“I can’t sit around and do nothing while my business partner is dying, right? Hahaha…! Kwahahaha!” Chae Hyung-Seok said before he burst into hysterical laughter like a madman.

The skill he used on Xanatos just now was one of the ultimate skills of the Holy Saint called Light of Salvation. The skill had a twenty-four-hour cooldown, and it used eighty percent of the caster’s mana.

It was a risky skill to use on the battlefield, but it completely healed the target and removed any status ailments as well. However, the biggest reason it was an ultimate skill was that the skill didn’t require any channeling.

The Holy Saint didn’t have to be near the target to cast the Light of Salvation on them.

In other words, it was impossible for Seung-Gu and the Head Crusher Guild to stop Chae Hyung-Seok from casting the Light of Salvation.

“You crazy bastard! That’s a monster! What business partner are you talking about? Have you gone insane?!” Siegfried screamed in response.

“Hey, we do business with NPCs all the time, so why can’t we do the same with monsters? I don’t mind what they are as long as I can make money out of them! Hahaha!”

“You’re not human…”

“I suggest you worry about yourself if you have time to cuss at me,” Chae Hyung-Seok said while pointing behind Siegfried.

“…!” Siegfried realized that the biggest threat on the battlefield was right behind him, and he quickly whipped around.

Shwoooong!

Xanatos shot up into the sky as soon as it revived before diving down toward Siegfried.

Kaboom!

The demon crashed into the ground like a missile.