Debuff Master-Chapter 851

“Ack!”

Metatron shrieked in horror and grabbed his head after getting smacked by Siegfried.

“Why are you hitting me, sire?!”

“Because you keep stubbornly insisting on your nonsense! Lucifer is the Chief Archangel!”

“It is Michael, sire!”

Even after getting whacked in the head, Metatron didn't change his words.

“Your Majesty! I am a demon, remember? We, demons, were told ever since we were a kid that the Chief Archangel Michael would burst out of the closet and drag us away if we were to misbehave!”

Siegfried was not familiar with the culture of the demons, so he could not understand what Metatron was saying, but Michael was regarded as a living nightmare in the Demon Realm.

In human terms, he was like the Boogeyman or Sack Man, something created by adults to terrify children into obedience.

However, the stories of Michael were not unfounded or mere folklore, as historically, countless demons and even Demon Lords had fallen at Michael’s hands during the frequent wars between the Celestial Realm and Demon Realm.

“Your Majesty! Do you remember how my legs always go weak every time I see him? It's because he is the Chief Archangel, Michael! My body remembered the terror ingrained in me since I was a child!”

“Even so, I’m telling you! I saw it with my own eyes. The Chief Archangel is Lucifer, not Michael! So you better quit your yapping, or else I will—”

But before he could finish his sentence, someone interrupted him.

“The Chief Archangel... is Lucifer.”

It was Michael.

His calm voice cut through the argument, putting an end to the childish bickering.

“See? I told you! It’s Lucifer!” Siegfried exclaimed and put on a triumphant pose.

“Argh! T-That cannot be! How could the Chief Archangel change?!” Metatron groaned while clutching his aching head.

“I was expelled from my position as Chief Archangel. So the incumbent Chief Archangel is now... Lucifer,” Michael added, his voice calm and steady.

“Expelled? What do you mean by that? What happened?” Siegfried asked, his curiosity piqued.

“It is just as I said. From the beginning of creation, I was appointed as the Chief Archangel by my Father, the Creator. But that is no longer the case. Lucifer and the other Archangels overthrew me.”

“Oh...”

“I have lost all of my wings, so I can no longer even call myself an angel. Now, I am nothing more than... a human.”

“What happened? Can you tell me why you were cast out?”

“I opposed the Celestial Realm’s plans to invade the Human Realm.”

“...!”

“The wrath of the celestial beings... have reached a point where their fury can no longer be contained.”

The hidden truths of the recent events began to unfold from Michael's mouth.

***

During the Crusade for Freedom, the Celestial Realm supported the religious order that worshipped the Creator. However, as the untold history revealed, they were ultimately defeated by those serving the demigods.

When the Creator was forgotten and the religious order had faded into history, the angels withdrew from the Human Realm as well. Over time, their anger grew until it festered within the Celestial Realm.

However, their anger was not directed at the humans, who had arrogantly dared to declare war on the Celestial Realm. Instead, their wrath was aimed at the Creator himself.

The angels began to grow disappointed at the Creator’s silence. They started to suspect that the Creator favored the insignificant creatures of the Human Realm as well as the demons of the Demon Realm rather than the superior creations, themselves, the angels.

This was only a given, as there was no other explanation for why they had been neglected for tens of thousands of years.

When the angels' grievances were starting to reach their limit...

“We must destroy the Human Realm and the Demon Realm, brother. The time for vengeance has come.”

Lucifer, representing the angels, made his case to the Chief Archangel, Michael.

“Brother, we are beings who follow the will of our Father, the Creator. To suggest going to war against our Father’s own creations is preposterous.”

“Our Father has abandoned us!”

“You are committing blasphemy, Lucifer. If our Father remains silent, then there must be a reason. You must quell your rage, my brother.”

Michael pleaded with Lucifer time and time again to let go of his anger, but his efforts were in vain. With the overwhelming support of the angels, Lucifer mounted more and more pressure on Michael, which eventually turned into a huge political burden.

And then, on one fateful day...

“How long will you continue to suppress us, brother? Have you truly decided to become a traitor to your own kind?”

Lucifer led the angels and the archangels in a rebellion against the Chief Archangel, Michael.

Although Michael was the Chief Archangel and was the strongest amongst all celestial beings, he couldn't withstand the combined power of the entire Celestial Realm.

In the end, Lucifer’s coup succeeded, and Michael fell from the Celestial Realm after a fierce battle. In the process, Michael had not only lost his title as the Chief Archangel but his wings and memories as well, transforming him into a mere human being.

“All of them have fallen into darkness. Their wings have turned black... after they succumbed to the corruption festering among them,” Michael said with a tinge of regret.

“Ah...”

“There is no longer any way to stop them.”

“Are you saying that the Celestial Realm is going to invade the Human Realm?”

“Yes, they will. I tried everything to reason with my kin, but I failed. And Lucifer... his hatred for our Father burns fiercely. He believes that by destroying the Human Realm and the Demon Realm, he can then go ahead to finally confront the Creator.”

“Why would he go that far? For what reason?”

Foll𝑜w current novels on fɾēewebnσveℓ.com.

“Lucifer seeks to test whether our Father will remain silent even after all His creations have been obliterated. He intends to destroy every last creature the Creator has brought into existence,” Michale explained.

“I... I see...”

“He must be stopped. Lucifer possesses more than enough power to annihilate both the Human Realm and the Demon Realm,” Michale said with certainty and resolve.

“Wouldn’t the Demon Realm fight back?” Siegfried asked.

“The Celestial Realm currently wields military might several times stronger than the combined might of the Human Realm and the Demon Realm.”

“What?!”

“Our forces have been preserved without loss for tens of thousands of years.”

“I see...”

“Also, there are only a few in the Human Realm that are capable of standing up against the celestial beings.”

It was a well-known fact to Siegfried by now that the angels could only be harmed by divine energy or demonic energy.

“But there is more. Lucifer intends to open four dimensional gates in the Human Realm and release the four apocalypses that have been imprisoned in the Celestial Realm.”

“You don’t mean to say...” Siegfried muttered as an ominous foreboding took over him.

Michael nodded and replied, “Yes. That dimensional rift you’ve encountered is a dimensional gate.”

“Four Great Rifts...”

“You humans refer to them as the Great Rifts, and they are located in the North, East, South, and West of the continent.”

At last, the truth behind the Great Rift was revealed. It turned out that the rift was part of the Celestial Realm’s groundwork for invading the Human Realm.

“And these four apocalypses that are imprisoned in the Celestial Realm, what are they?”

“They each embody disease, war, famine, and death. Each one is a transcendent being capable of destroying the Human Realm with just a fraction of their power.”

“So if we can’t stop the Great Rifts from getting worse than it is...”

“One of the Four Apocalypses will emerge in this realm and unleash a disaster of cataclysmic scale. Preventing that is our main priority.”

“How do we stop it?”

“To be honest... there is no way to close the dimensional gates completely. The only solution is to keep the rift from spiraling out of control,” Michael explained.

“And what if we fail to contain it and one of the apocalypses escapes?” Siegfried asked.

“We will have no choice but to eliminate it immediately. These creatures grow stronger over time, and the only chance of eliminating them is to destroy them the moment they cross into this realm—”

It was then.

“Argh!” Michael staggered and grabbed his head, wincing in pain as blood dripped down his nose.

“Michael! What’s wrong?!”

“M-My head...! It hurts... too much—argh!”

“Hey! Are you okay?!”

Gerog hurried over and immediately cast a sleeping spell on Michael.

“What happened to him, Elder?” Siegfried asked.

“It seems the strain of recovering his memories so abruptly has taken a toll on his mind.”

“Ah...”

“He will recover with a few days of rest but don’t press him for more information. He needs time to get well first.”

“I understand.”

“I will look after and protect Michael. In the meantime, go and do whatever you have to do. I will call for you once he has recovered.”

“Thank you, Elder.”

Siegfried entrusted Michael to Gerog’s care and resumed his journey toward the same Great Rift he was in earlier, located in the western region of the continent.

***

Siegfried returned to the Western Great Rift[1] to reunite with Gosran, and the two spent their time leisurely playing Hardstone in a quiet spot.

They were standing by, ready to step in just in case the other two parties failed their dungeon raid.

As time passed, the two began to grow tired of waiting.

‘Ugh... I’m starting to get sleepy...’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly while rubbing his eyes.

Just as his eyelids started drooping, a message popped up in front of his eyes.

Ding!

[Alert: Excessive gaming can interfere with your daily life!]

[Alert: Due to excessive gameplay, you will be logged out in 1 hour!]

Siegfried realized that he had been so engrossed in the game for quite some time that he had forgotten the passage of time.

“Hey, Seul-Gi.”

“Yes, oppa?”

“I’m about to get forcibly logged out soon.”

“Really? I think I still have four hours left. You should go take a break, oppa.”

“Should I? What time is it now?”

Siegfried checked the time.

[Alert: The Great Rift will fully open in 18 hours, 11 minutes, and 32 seconds!]

The countdown showed that there was still plenty of time.

‘There’s still a lot of time left, and the other parties aren't showing any signs of failing either, so I guess I can afford to take a nap...’

Siegfried decided to rest for four or five hours and log back in later. He figured that would give him enough time to clean up any mess if the other parties failed their dungeon raid.

“Okay, I’m going to log out and get some sleep.”

“Sure, oppa.”

“Call me if anything happens.”

“Leave it to me.”

With that, Siegfried logged out from the game.

***

Approximately five hours later...

“Ugh... I wanna sleep more...”

Tae-Sung, who had just woken up but was still dozing off, dragged his exhausted body toward the restaurant reserved exclusively for residents.

He was sleepy, but he was also on the verge of dying from hunger, as it had been a long time since he last had a proper meal. Fortunately, it was still early in the morning, so he managed to grab some breakfast at the buffet-style restaurant.

Now, unfortunately, peace was a luxury he could not afford, even during his meal.

“Excuse me? Are you Han Tae-Sung by any chance?”

“Congratulations! I heard you just reached Level 300!”

“Can we take a picture together?”

The news of Tae-Sung reaching Level 300 and ascending to the rank of Master had already spread like wildfire across social media and news outlets. As a result, the residents approached him one by one to offer their congratulations and for the opportunity to take a picture with him.

Thanks to their constant meddling, Tae-Sung could barely finish his meal before returning home.

“Ah... I’m still so tired...”

Although he was still fatigued and desperately craved sleep, he could not stop worrying about the Western Great Rift spiraling out of control.

In the end, he decided to log back into the game.

[Alert: The Great Rift will fully open in 10 hours, 1 minute, and 55 seconds!]

Surprisingly, there was still a lot of time remaining on the countdown, even after he napped and ate breakfast.

‘Hmm... Why do I feel anxious...?’

Siegfried bit his lower lip while looking at the gigantic oval-shaped portal. The Western Great Rift was blazing red as if telling everyone that it was about to erupt at any moment. It looked like a fireball that had descended straight from the heavens.

‘I hope they manage to pull it off...’

Siegfried thought of the two parties tackling the dungeons "Deep Swamp" and "Corrupted Ancient City."

However, just as much as he hoped they would pull it off, he could not help but feel a sense of unease hanging above his head.

Considering the difficulty of the Sanctuary of the Colossus and Endless Descent, he doubted that the other parties could successfully raid the Deep Swamp and Corrupted Ancient City.

‘Damn it... I wish they just failed quickly if they’re going to fail. That way, I will have enough time to step in and clean up.’

With that thought, Siegfried began rallying the idle Adventurers around the Western Great Rift. He wanted nothing more than to fight alongside the comrades he was familiar with, but his party was wiped out during the Endless Descent dungeon raid.

Thus, he was forced to form a new team.

1. The Great Rifts will be labeled according to their location from now on. ☜