‘Oh? Would you look at that?’ Siegfried narrowed his eyes. The Celestial Gates[1] were starting to materialize all over Iraxia. ‘Do you think I’ll let those bastards descend upon this world?’ With that thought, he snatched Hamchi by the scruff mid-fall. “Kyaaaah! Are you trying to kill Hamchi, you damn owner punk?!” Hamchi seemed so shaken that his fur stood up the moment Siegfried grabbed him again. “Hey, why are you so scared, man?” “Fine. Stop screaming.” Calming Hamchi down, Siegfried soared toward the palace, where Archangel Lucifer's Celestial Gates were in the middle of manifesting. Of course, he wasn't alone. “I’m coming too, hyung-nim!” His comrades, Seung-Gu, Yong Seol-Hwa, Gosran, and other named Adventurers were with him. Aside from them, one thousand five hundred Head Crusher Guild members descended upon the palace, right behind Siegfried and the others. “At last! My moment to make a name for myself has come!” The Dragonkin Warrior, who was a Master, Draculis, let out a roar as he plummeted toward the palace. The finest warriors of the Proatine Kingdom were descending toward the Seneca Kingdom’s royal palace. Of course, the Seneca Kingdom wasn't just going to sit around and roll over. The royal palace was still shielded by powerful barriers and lined with numerous anti-air cannons. In other words, Siegfried and his comrades were fully exposed in midair. Several soldiers from the Proatine Kingdom were blown out of the sky; they were shot down by the anti-aircraft cannons. Siegfried dove even faster and cut through the air like a bullet, determined to minimize casualties. The Iron Fleet and the Invincible Battleship were engaged in dogfights against the Seneca Kingdom’s airships, so they were unable to deal with the royal palace’s anti-air cannons. Thus, there was only one option—the ground troops had to take out the cannons themselves. Siegfried swerved between the oncoming shells, dodging them as he plummeted to the ground. The moment his feet touched the ground... Siegfried and Hamchi sprinted toward the anti-air cannons at full speed. “Protect the cannons!” The Seneca Kingdom’s knights drew their weapons and rushed at Siegfried, ready to lay down their lives. “Tsk... These small frys should fuck off,” Siegfried clicked his tongue and grumbled. He did not feel like dealing with these nobodies. It was all because they were not worth his time. In fact, even using his debuff was a waste against this bunch. Would a carcass splitter be used to kill a chicken? Siegfried activated the Eraser Swarm, spreading a toxic fog filled with radioactive microbes. The Seneca Kingdom’s knights did not manage to get anywhere near Siegfried. Thud...! Thud...! Thud...! They fell one by one, dying before they could even swing their sword even once. Eraser Swarm unleashed a noxious fog that poisoned all enemies it touched, and even the artillery soldiers were not spared by it. “Cough! Cough! C—arghh!” Admirably, the soldiers manning the anti-air cannons tried their best to continue shooting at the incoming enemies, but they succumbed to the radiation not long later. “Nice,” Siegfried muttered with a grin. Rather than wasting time destroying the anti-air cannons, which were built to be quite durable, he used the Eraser Swarm to kill the soldiers manning them instead. Then, he called his allies over. “Over here!” he shouted, waving his hands. The Proatine Kingdom’s soldiers landed and charged into the green fog without a hint of hesitation. Fear of death? There was none at all. They completely trusted their king, Siegfried. These hardened men were ready to rush into the highly radioactive fog without a second thought if their liege commanded them to. Of course, Siegfried controlled the microbes to ensure that none of his men would be harmed. “Secure the cannons!” “Artillerymen! To your stations!” Within moments, the Proatine Kingdom’s soldiers seized the enemy’s anti-air cannons. Then, they turned the cannons around, aiming them at the Seneca Kingdom’s aerial fleet. The very weapons used to defend their capital were now raining hell upon their own fleet. ‘Hmm... Just in case something happens,’ Siegfried thought as he spread another wave of radioactive microbes around the anti-air cannons. While the Proatine Kingdom’s soldiers were busy shooting down the Seneca Kingdom’s aerial fleet, the green fog, a deadly veil of death, shielded the soldiers from danger. A notification popped up in front of his eyes. [Alert: Eraser Swarm has been enhanced!] The skill hadn't leveled up or anything, yet it evolved. Eraser Swarm was renamed after being enhanced. [Terror for enemies! A good time for allies!] [Effect: Unleash a cloud of radioactive energy filled with microbes at an area. This deadly fog is infused with powerful radioactive energy that will block ranged attacks from enemies.] [Type: Active Skill (On/Off)] [Mana Consumption: Scales based on area covered] The new skill, Green Hell Magno, was nothing short of a broken ability. In addition to blocking ranged attacks, it also poisoned enemies with radioactive energy. If Siegfried stood inside the Green Hell Magno, his enemies would be forced to enter the radioactive fog and engage in melee combat. Ranged attacks wouldn't work against him while he was inside the fog, so his enemies would suffer radiation exposure by engaging him in melee combat. A skill that forced enemies into an unfair fight? A disgustingly overpowered skill such as Green Hell Magno was extremely rare, even among the hundreds of millions of Adventurers. “Wow... Look at this upgrade,” Siegfried muttered in awe after realizing how good the newly enhanced skill was. Just then, a squadron of knights and soldiers appeared, unleashing a barrage of ranged attacks at Siegfried. ‘Oh? Let’s test this out right now,’ Siegfried thought, activating Green Hell Magno. A dense green fog covered the area around him, completely nullifying the ranged attacks from the Seneca troops. “Oh?” Siegfried smirked. He couldn’t help but be impressed by the defensive capabilities of the Green Hell Magno against ranged attacks. “W-What?! Our attacks got blocked by that fog?” “A fog that even repels bullets...?” The Seneca Kingdom’s soldiers staggered back, flustered by the impenetrable green fog. They had to attack Siegfried, but the thought of stepping into that fog made them hesitate. “Not coming in? Oh well, I guess I’ll come to you then,” Siegfried said with a shrug before flicking his hand. A volley of shurikens, infused with the freezing energy of the Blood Frost Orb, shot forward like bullets, ripping through the Seneca troops. They collapsed with their bodies full of holes. “I’ll leave the rest to you guys!” Siegfried easily subdued the enemies and passed the rest to his soldiers before rushing over to the next set of anti-air cannons with Hamchi. The Proatine Kingdom’s soldiers landed in the royal palace, swiftly unleashing their overwhelming firepower as they crushed the defending Seneca troops. They swiftly captured the anti-air cannons that had been attacking their allied aerial forces, securing one position after another. ‘That should be more than enough,’ Siegfried thought. With a sufficient number of anti-air cannons taken over, he immediately set his sights on the center of the royal palace, where the Celestial Gate was. [Alert: No. 3 Altar has been destroyed!] [Alert: "Shut the Celestial Gate" quest progress has increased (1/13)!] [Alert: You have leveled up!] [Alert: You have reached Level 346!] Siegfried gained a level while on his way to the center of the royal palace after one of the thirteen altars was destroyed. It went without saying that he was not the only one who could destroy the altar. There was the Proatine Army, the 8th Corps of the Marchioni Empire, and countless Adventurers, all working together to destroy the altars scattered across the city. ‘Good,’ Siegfried thought with a smile. [Alert: No. 7 Altar has been destroyed!] [Alert: "Shut the Celestial Gate" quest progress has increased (2/13)!] [Alert: You have leveled up!] [Alert: You have reached Level 347!] Another altar fell, granting Siegfried another wave of rewards again. ‘Guess I should do something too.’ Siegfried was not going to lag behind, so he picked up the pace and rushed toward the altar assigned to him. Countless enemies tried to stop him, but none of them could stop him. Like a war machine, Siegfried tore through every enemy in his way, obliterating anyone who dared to block his path. Nothing could stop him. Siegfried had reached the realm of Masters after becoming the Lord of Despair, so the only one capable of stopping him was another Master. He plowed through his enemies and reached his destination, the place where the altar was erected. However, the ones waiting for him were not the Seneca troops. “By what right do you interfere in our affairs, outsider from another world?” Standing before him were the Illuminati members—more precisely, the Illuminati members possessed by high-ranking angels. Unlike lower and mid-ranking angels, high-ranking angels could rarely descend into the human realm in their true form. Instead, they needed a vessel, a sentient lifeform, to possess in order to manifest their presence. Of course, if the Celestial Gate were allowed to fully open, then they would no longer require vessels. They could descend freely in their own bodies, capable of unleashing their terrifying powers. ‘So, they finally sent the tough ones,’ Siegfried realized that his opponents this time were no easy enemies, so he tightened his grip on his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp. Perhaps it was because they found suitable vessels, but they were leaps and bounds stronger compared to the weaklings in the royal palace who tried to stop Siegfried. “You shall not pass.” “Divine retribution shall fall upon you.” The high-ranking angels growled at Siegfried before rushing at him with blinding speed. Siegfried immediately activated Embrace of Despair and Eternal Flames, inflicting powerful debuffs on the high-ranking angels. Then, he activated Crushing Tremor and swung his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp at the high-ranking angel leading the charge. Their weapons clashed, but— A chain of explosions was triggered by Crushing Tremor that dealt splash damage to the high-ranking angel. The high-ranking angel crashed to the ground with his body torn apart. Shockingly, he suffered injuries from a mere clash of weapons against Siegfried. The explosions triggered by Crushing Tremor were so powerful that even high-ranking angels couldn’t survive it. “If you’re not going to come at me in your true forms... then stop wasting my time and piss off,” Siegfried said icily. And then, the massacre began. With the overwhelmingly debilitating debuffs stripping the high-ranking angels of their speed and defenses, Siegfried struck them down one by one. The high-ranking angels were powerless against him no matter how compatible they were with their vessels. Without their true forms, even the mightiest of them couldn’t withstand Siegfried’s onslaught with just a mere vessel. [Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!] [Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!] [Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!] [Alert: You have obtained Experience Points!] Siegfried annihilated every high-ranking angel standing in his path, ripping them into pieces with overwhelmingly destructive explosions triggered by Crushing Tremor. Of course, he obtained a ton of experience points from doing so. He was now in front of the doors, where the grand altar was located behind. Without hesitation, he swung his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp and destroyed the doors with a single blow. “T-These sick bastards...!” The sight that greeted him the moment he struck the doors down caused his eyes to widen in shock. Then, he grimaced and gnashed his teeth. It was all because... The Illuminati members were stabbing the unconscious young boys and girls with daggers to offer them as human sacrifices on the altar. 1. Author used singular in s. ☜