Chapter 854

“Grrr!”

“Kieeek!”

The Plague Ghouls were truly horrific beings.

These creatures were the very embodiment of terror back when Romulus swept across the continent, killing countless people with his diseases.

They retained all of their abilities and stats from when they were alive and even had their intelligence intact. On top of that, their bodies exuded countless pathogens, so fighting them meant death was inevitable, as even those who survived the battle would soon succumb to the diseases gnawing away at their health.

However, deadly pathogens emitted by the Plague Ghouls had no effect at all on Siegfried. Also, it was not like the Adventurers who were killed and had turned into ghouls were stronger than him to begin with.

What did this mean?

It was time for a massacre!

The Embrace of Despair engulfed the Plague Ghouls while Eternal Flames incinerated their defenses.

What was the result of that?

“

Kyuuuu!”

With every swipe of Hamchi’s gigantic paw, a swat of Plague Ghouls would be sent flying like ragdolls.

The immense defense reduction debuff by Eternal Flames made Hamchi’s basic attacks strong enough to kill the ghouls.

Meanwhile, Siegfried plowed through the Plague Ghouls indiscriminately, swinging his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp left and right.

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

(omitted...)

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have leveled up!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 302!]

He gained so much Experience Points from killing the swarm of ghouls that he leveled up.

“T-This is absurd!” Romulus cried out in shock. He couldn't help but be flustered when his mighty army of ghouls was killed as if they were mere goblins found on some hill behind a random village.

Alarmed, he summoned an even larger horde of Plague Ghouls out of sheer desperation, but they were nothing more than fuel for Siegfried’s growth.

Siegfried now possessed the Wave of Annihilation, which was an even stronger version of Splitting Heaven and Earth, so large swarms of enemies were nothing against him.

Wooong!

A short countdown began the moment the Wave of Annihilation swept through the horde of Plague Ghouls.

Three... Two... One...!

The Plague Ghouls froze as if they were petrified before crumbling into ash and scattering into the wind.

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

(omitted...)

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

Thanks to the almost endless flood of ghouls, Siegfried gained yet another wave of Experience Points.

“You fools! Kill them! Destroy them all!” Romulus screamed.

Unfortunately, no matter how many Plague Ghouls he summoned, Siegfried mowed them down with ease.

‘

Hold on... Isn’t this amazing?’

Siegfried suddenly realized something.

The Plague Ghouls were ridiculously easy to deal with yet they gave an insane amount of experience points. These Experience Points were priceless for him, who had just become a Master and was now eyeing to become a Grandmaster.

For him, Romulus was nothing short of a godsend rather than a disaster.

‘

Let’s drag this out a little longer,’

Siegfried thought.

He started slowing down, pretending like he was getting pushed back by the Plague Ghouls. In fact, he even let a few hits land to make it convincing that he was struggling.

“Arise, Warriors of the Plague! Fight and destroy my enemies!”

Convinced by Siegfried’s acting, Romulus reanimated every single corpse on the battlefield, turning them into Plague Ghouls.

‘

I’ve hit the JACKPOT!’

Siegfried cheered inwardly.

What he had been waiting for finally came. Once the stage was set, it was time for Siegfried to unleash his full power. He suddenly went back on the offensive and one-sidedly slaughtered the Plague Ghouls just like he did earlier.

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

(omitted...)

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

By the end of his rampage, Siegfried had sucked every last bit of experience points he could get from the horde of Plague Ghouls.

[Alert: You have reached Level 303!]

Thanks to the absurd amount of experience points he gained from the Plague Ghouls, he managed to level up again in a short period of time.

“W-What... is this...?” Romulus muttered in shock.

He was certain that Siegfried had been pushed back just a while ago, but all of his ghouls were slaughtered in the blink of an eye. Now, there were no corpses left on the battlefield for him to reanimate into Plague Ghouls.

“

Burp!”

Just then, Siegfried let out a burp as if he just had a good meal before turning toward Romulus.

“Were... Were you toying with me this whole time?” Romulus asked. He finally grasped what was happening. Unfortunately, it was far too late, as Siegfried had already slurped up all of the experience points and gained two whole levels.

“It’s time for you to die,” Siegfried said with a smirk.

“What did you just say?” Romulus growled in response.

“What I mean is, you’re no longer of any use to me,” Siegfried said icily.

Then, he flashed a sinister grin as he walked toward the old man.

“Just you wait! This is not the end of me!” Romulus roared before summoning a pale horse.

The repulsive-looking beast was known as a Plague Demon Steed, and it was a malevolent creature that spread diseases whenever it went.

“

Neiiigh!”

Romulus mounted the Plague Demon Steed and fled at full speed.

“I’ll be back!

Hiyah!”

Romulus had decided to escape for now and bide his time until he could exact revenge. Once his plague had spread across the world, he would grow stronger, and by then, exacting his revenge on the insolent young man would not be a challenge at all.

Romulus’ plan was truly sound, as he grew stronger the more lives he took.

Unfortunately, there was one flaw in his plan, and that flaw was the fact that he would never even get the chance to put his plan in motion.

“W-What is this?!”

Romulus attempted to escape only to come to a screeching halt and freeze in horror.

What awaited him was Siegfried’s domain, the World of Despair.

***

“Hey, where are you going?”

Siegfried appeared within the World of Despair as well and charged toward Romulus with his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp in hand. With a flick of his hand, the weapon morphed into a saber that flew straight for the Plague Demon Steed rather than Romulus himself.

Shwiiik!

At that precise moment, Quick Draw, the secret technique of the Sword Emperor, Betelgeuse, was unleashed.

Neigh!

The Plague Demon Steed let out a final cry as the overwhelming force of Quick Draw split its figure into two.

“Die!”

Romulus raised his bow and shot an arrow in a futile, desperate attempt to retaliate.

“Too slow.”

Siegfried evaded the arrow with ease and instantly closed the distance between them with terrifying speed. Then, he used Embrace of Despair to debuff the old man.

“

Argh!

Let me go!”

Romulus struggled to free himself against the grasp of the dark hands pinning him down. Unfortunately, he had yet to regain his full power, so he lacked the strength to break free.

Siegfried used the Eternal Flames to reduce Romulus’ defense the moment the Embrace of Despair restricted his movements. He also cast his other debuff skills on the old man.

What happened next?

‘

One shot!’

Siegfried channeled Touch of Death.

Boom!

The +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp, charged with Touch of Death, slammed into Romulus' head.

“...!”

Romulus convulsed violently as if he had been struck by lightning before he disintegrated into fine particles. The attack was so catastrophic that his figure was slowly disintegrating into dust.

But—

“

Kwahaha!”

Romulus burst into laughter while grinning from ear to ear, even though he was slowly dissolving away.

Although he was mere seconds away from having his existence erased from this world, he still managed to laugh with sheer confidence.

“Do you truly believe this is the end?” he asked haughtily.

“

Huh?

”

“I am the embodiment of plague and disease! An immortal being capable of causing widespread death and annihilation! Did you honestly think you could erase me, a being born together with this world, from existence?”

“W-What?”

“Though I may vanish for some time... the diseases plaguing this world shall remain for eternity!”

Suddenly, a burst of pathogens shot out from Romulus’ dissolving body and scattered into the air. His intention was clear; he wanted to spread his pathogens far and wide to guarantee his eventual resurrection.

‘Oh right, he’s something closer to nature rather than a living creature,’

Siegfried understood what Romulus meant.

Romulus was basically the manifestation of disease itself, so he technically could not truly die. The best Siegfried could do was make him disappear for a while, but it was impossible to eradicate him completely from this world.

‘

Tsk... I guess I have no other choice,’

Siegfried clicked his tongue and unleashed his radioactive energy.

Wooong!

The radioactive energy incinerated every single pathogen floating in the air, ensuring that none of them could escape the World of Despair to spread into the world outside.

“You damned wretch!” Romulus roared in frustration when the pathogens he had released were incinerated completely. His plan to sow discord through spreading plagues in preparation for his future return was thwarted by the radioactive energy that was far stronger than his plague.

“Don’t you dare think that this... is the end!”

With those final words, Romulus vanished into nothingness.

[Alert: You have gained Experience Points!]

[Alert: You have leveled up!]

[Alert: You have reached Level 304!]

Perhaps it was due to the fact that he had defeated a boss monster, but he leveled up again, even though he had leveled up just a while ago.

Siegfried stood solemnly with tears welling up in his eyes as he muttered, “I will... miss you.”

He couldn't help but feel regret that he had to kill the boss monster that gave him a ton of experience points even in his final moments.

The least he could do for Romulus was remember him as a

good

monster.

***

Whoosh!

Siegfried was greeted by a familiar voice the moment he stepped out from the World of Despair.

“

Kyuuu!

Did you finish that thing off, owner punk?” Hamchi exclaimed while running toward him.

“Yeah, he was still weak, so it wasn’t difficult at all,” Siegfried replied nonchalantly.

“

Kyuuu!

Good job, owner punk!”

“This is nothing!

Hohoho!”

“Kyuuu!

It’s not over yet, owner punk! Don’t get complacent!”

“I know.”

Siegfried and Hamchi looked up at the sky.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

There was utter chaos above them. Gosran and the Iron Fleet were struggling to protect the dragons from the relentless onslaught of the Dragon Slayers.

The Iron Fleet positioned itself between the dragons and the Dragon Slayers in a bid to protect them, but even their advanced defenses were starting to falter.

One of the warships was crashing to the ground with a hole in its hull. A Dragon Slayer clad in Hyper Armor had managed to bring it down.

‘

That guy... was really strong...’

Siegfried remembered Phoenix, the Dragon Slayer he faced before he became a Master. He was just an ordinary knight, yet he was so strong that he easily escaped Shadow Hell.

That battle was quite shocking for Siegfried, and it left a deep impression on him.

‘

Hmm... I wonder how it’s going to be like this time, though.’

Rather than being worried, Siegfried was curious whether things would be different this time around. After all, he was already a Master.

Not to mention, the Dragon Slayers were in extremely close proximity to the dragons right now. In other words, they were buffed to their limits and were in their strongest state.

“

Kyuuu!

Hurry up, owner punk! We can’t make money if the dragons die!” Hamchi cried out.

“Oh shit! My money!” Siegfried shrieked in horror after finally remembering his repeatable quest.

[Dragon Bodyguard]

[Protect the dragons from the Dragon Slayers!]

[Type: Repeatable Quest]

[Progress: N/A]

[Reward: 10 tons of gold for every Dragon Slayer defeated.]

The Dragon Slayers were highly valuable

monsters

worth ten tons of gold each. Thus, Siegfried became determined not to let even a single one of them escape.

“Let’s go, Hamchi!”

“

Kyuuu!”

Siegfried took to the skies like a rocket with Hamchi perched on his shoulder.