Former Hero, Solo Play Oriented

"Crackle, crack."

"Oh."

I stared at the dark blue sparks crackling around my body with a mix of curiosity and amusement.

Despite casting a sword barrier to counter the torrent of sword energy unleashed by the Azure Death King, as expected, this phase ignored invincibility and bestowed a debuff upon me.

And that debuff was:

[Punishment, 40 stacks (598 seconds)]

[Damage taken increased by 10% per stack, healing reduced by 3% per stack]

I grinned widely.

"Not a big deal."

Of course, for an average tank player, this would be a massive penalty. Any mistake after receiving this debuff could be fatal. Even patterns that could be blocked had to be perfectly parried; failure meant instant death. And if HP dropped, it would be nearly impossible to recover.

But.

"I’ve always fought like this."