The Blue Knight of Death, Chronos, easily broke through the slowing effects of Embrace of Despair and lunged at Siegfried’s party. Rather than restraining Chronos, the souls trapped within the Embrace of Despair panicked and fled in terror. ‘Is it because he’s the Incarnation of Death?!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly. Alarmed, he quickly used Discharge to amplify the effects of Embrace of Despair, and his mana decreased at an alarming rate. At last, Embrace of Despair finally took effect. Chronos’ Movement Speed had slowed down slightly. “Attack him from range! You’ll die if you get too close!” Siegfried shouted before following up with Absolute Zero. A brilliant white light erupted and unleashed a surge of extremely chilling frost that engulfed Chronos. ‘It’s not enough.’ Siegfried instinctively knew that he couldn’t freeze the Blue Knight of Death. Without hesitation, he immediately followed it up with Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain. Thousands of aura blades formed around him before raining down like a storm, stabbing deep into the ground around Chronos. The Blue Knight of Death was trapped, surrounded by the aura blades while still being frozen by Absolute Zero. At Siegfried’s command, the thousands of aura blades detonated in quick succession, triggering a massive burst of energy. The chilling frost aura unleashed by the aura blades when they exploded further added slow debuffs onto Chronos. ‘That should be enough,’ Siegfried was certain that his opponent was now frozen. The fact that Chronos remained standing motionless while the explosions were taking place convinced Siegfried that the knight was frozen. ‘Time to shred his defenses!’ Siegfried activated Discharge once again to amplify the effects of Eternal Flames to reduce Chronos’ defenses. “Attack with everything you have!” Siegfried shouted. “Hit him with everything you got!” Siegfried’s party members unleashed every skill in their arsenal at Chronos. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The combined barrage of attacks was so fierce that most would think that it was overkill. However, there was no room for hesitation, as their opponent this time was simply far too powerful. If they let up even a little bit, they could get annihilated in an instant. The bombardment continued for quite a while. ‘I think even a dragon would be dead from that, no?’ Siegfried thought, estimating that the total damage dealt had easily reached into the billions by now. Even Siegfried himself had gone all out by using Absolute Zero, Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain, Wave of Annihilation, Quick Draw, Heaven Splitting Slash, Skull Breaker, Black Hole Strike, and most of his other offensive skills. Forget about a normal dragon; even an ancient dragon would not survive after taking all those attacks head-on. Soon, the dust settled, and the relentless barrage came to a halt. ‘How much HP does it have left...?’ Siegfried wondered after seeing that Chronos was still standing. Then, he decided to check the knight’s remaining HP. [Blue Knight of Death: Chronos] It turned out that Chronos was an entity that had neither health nor defense to begin with, so their attacks were meaningless. It didn't matter how long they bombarded him with attacks. “You fools. I am the Incarnation of Death itself. Did you really think you could kill me? I am beyond what mere mortals can contain. Even the Creator failed to do anything against me, yet you expect you can do something?” Chronos said with confidence. As expected of the Incarnation of Death, the Blue Knight of Death was indeed a fearsome opponent. Everyone participating in the raid was just as shocked as Siegfried after seeing that Chronos was still standing. The Blue Knight of Death was, without a doubt, the worst enemy they had ever faced. Against other boss monsters, there had always been a glimmer of hope. No matter how strong the enemy was, it was possible to win if they just struggled hard enough. However, Chronos was different. He possessed infinite health, meaning he was immune to death. In other words, fighting him was utterly meaningless. Even if they fought for a thousand years—no, ten thousand years—they would inevitably lose in the end. ‘So this is why he could never be stopped...’ Siegfried thought, recalling what Michael had told him about the Blue Knight of Death. Of course, he wasn't going to give up. Siegfried turned to Brunhilde and asked, “Can you summon the Phoenix now, honey?” “No, not yet,” Brunhilde replied, shaking her head. “How long do you need?” “An hour should be enough.” “Okay. For now, find a safe place and stay there. Once you can summon the Phoenix, come back with it. I will try to hold out for one hour,” Siegfried said, tightening his grip on his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp. “Okay,” Brunhilde replied with a nod before quickly retreating to safety. ‘The Incarnation of Life, Terra, will descend once the Phoenix is here. And when that happens, it will all be over. The key to this battle is lasting until then...’ Siegfried thought. This battle was now a battle of attrition. Their goal wasn't to defeat Chronos but to buy time until Terra's descent. All they had to do was buy time, and they would defeat the Blue Knight of Death. “Everyone, listen up! We only have to hold out for one hour! No more, no less than an hour! We win if we can hold out!” Siegfried informed his party members. Right after informing his party members, he summoned even more aura blades and attacked Chronos from range. Seeing this, his comrades followed suit and unleashed their ranged skills, too. Killing the Blue Knight of Death was impossible. However, they could knock him back or inflict status ailments on him. They couldn’t knock him back great distances or immobilize him, but they did whatever they could to delay him, even if it was for a fraction of a second at a time. Their goal was to delay Chronos for as long as possible. ‘We have to hold on. No matter what,’ Siegfried thought, taking out the Infinite Flask from his inventory and taking a swig. Then, he unleashed more ranged attacks on the Blue Knight of Death. At first, the strategy to stall for time seemed to be working well, as the barrage of ranged attacks and debuffs kept Chronos at bay. However, Siegfried and his comrades had limited mana. Moreover, they had to wait for their skills to go off cooldown. On the other hand, Chronos suffered no such constraints. Every single attack landed on Chronos without fail, yet the Blue Knight of Death endured them all without suffering any damage. “It is all futile,” Chronos said in a low voice. Then, he began killing the Adventurers one by one. While the massacre was happening, the most shocking moment was when Chronos closed in on the living legend, Yong Tae-Pung. “Damn it!” Yong Tae-Pung cursed and raised his +15 Hwaryongdo. Chronos suddenly lunged at him, rapidly closing the distance and swinging his scythe, forcing Yong Tae-Pung to defend himself with his sword. And that proved to be a fatal mistake. The moment Chronos’ scythe met the +15 Hwaryongdo— The +15 Hwaryongdo was sliced cleanly in two, but that was not the end of it. In the blink of an eye, Yong Tae-Pung’s head was severed from his body and rolled on the ground. Blood gushed from his headless neck like a fountain before he collapsed lifelessly to the ground. Siegfried and the Adventurers were so shocked at the sight that a deafening silence fell upon the entire battlefield. The fact that the legendary weapon, the +15 Hwaryongdo, was cleanly sliced into two was shocking enough, but seeing Yong Tae-Pung getting decapitated so easily stunned everyone into silence. “Don’t lose focus! Keep your distance! Do not engage! If you’re going to die, just die! Don’t let your weapons get destroyed, too!” Siegfried roared at the top of his lungs, stopping his allies from falling into despair. This was the best course of action. Attempting to block the Death’s Scythe was nothing short of suicide. Not only would their weapon be destroyed, but they, too, would be killed. If they were going to die, then they ought to preserve their weapons to minimize their losses. Siegfried cranked up Discharge to amplify the effects of Embrace of Despair while shooting aura blades at the Blue Knight of Death in a desperate bid to slow him down.. Unfortunately, it was not enough to stop Chronos. Any other enemy would have been completely immobilized, frozen on the spot, but Chronos possessed extraordinary resistance to status ailments. Even after Siegfried had cranked up his debuffs and unleashed a torrent of aura blades, he was just barely able to slow Chronos down. The Blue Knight of Death was still a difficult opponent, even though the Ghost Veil Cloaks had neutralized his death aura. However, giving up had never been an option for Siegfried. ‘I have to hold out no matter what...!’ Siegfried clenched his teeth and fought on even while his comrades fell one by one. Seung-Gu and Daytona were killed. Gosran and Yong Seol-Hwa followed them shortly afterward; they were sliced in two by Chronos’ scythe. Right after the deaths of Siegfried's close comrades, Park Gi-Don, Kim Gi-Tae, and Han Sang-Gi died as well. Forty minutes later... Siegfried panted heavily as he looked around his surroundings. He only had two comrades remaining. “This is ridiculous...” One was Cheon Woo-Jin... And the other was Beowulf... In the end, only Siegfried, Cheon Woo-Jin, and Beowulf—a Master and a Grandmaster—were still alive. ‘Damn it... Why is that bastard still alive? He should’ve just died and dropped the Rabbit Foot of Regression...’ Siegfried grumbled inwardly. “Fifteen minutes left... Let’s hold out until then,” Siegfried said. He had to set aside his suspicions for now and focus on the task at hand. Cheon Woo-Jin and Beowulf replied simultaneously. Thus, the Master and two Grandmasters rekindled their fighting spirits in a desperate bid to hold the Blue Knight of Death back. Meanwhile, Brunhilde summoned the Phoenix in a forest not that far from the battlefield. The Phoenix responded to her call and appeared before her. And almost immediately, Brunhilde absorbed the Phoenix, causing her body to be set ablaze by an orange-reddish flame. “O Incarnation of Life...! Please, descend!” Right after that short prayer, Brunhilde raised the Gaia’s Chalice and drank Neptune’s Blood from it. Exactly three seconds later... Brunhilde's figure emitted spiritual energy until she transformed into a mass of spiritual energy. The Incarnation of Life, Terra, descended onto the world using Brunhilde’s body as her vessel. Meanwhile, the last remaining trio of Siegfried, Cheon Woo-Jin, and Beowulf fought desperately to stall for time against the Blue Knight of Death, Chronos. Chronos suddenly flinched and stopped in his tracks. “That damned...” he muttered under his breath, his tone unmistakably carrying a hint of alarm. For the first time, the Blue Knight of Death lost his composure. “That damned bitch!” he roared in anger before whistling to summon his Phantom Steed. A horse with a pale-green body neighed and appeared by Chronos’s side. Chronos leaped onto its back and took off immediately. “No!” Siegfried cried out, his eyes widened in shock as Chronos fled the battlefield. He immediately unfurled his +10 Black Crow Wingsuit and shot off in hot pursuit. ‘That bastard noticed it!’ Siegfried realized that Chronos had decided to run away upon sensing Terra's impending descent. He channeled his mana into his +10 Black Crow Wingsuit and zipped through the air, determined not to let Chronos get anywhere near Brunhilde, as he knew that letting Chronos escape from the battlefield would result in a disaster. Siegfried pushed himself to his limits as he closed the distance between himself and Chronos. Once he was within range, he sent an invitation to the Blue Knight of Death. A black mass surged out from Siegfried and surrounded Chronos. It was the realm ruled by the Lord of Despair, the World of Despair. Siegfried was set on stopping Chronos from getting anywhere near the forest until Terra descended. The Phantom Steed continued to gallop wildly, but it was going nowhere. “What is this...?” Chronos muttered in sheer disbelief, completely dumbfounded by the bizarre phenomenon. Before he could even process the unexpected situation he was in... “Hey, where are you rushing off to?” Siegfried sneered as he blocked Chronos’ path.