Goblin Krix(1)
The moment Krix vanished…
BOOOOM!!
The ancient chamber exploded with a deafening sonic boom.
The towering throne behind him shattered into countless fragments.
A violent shockwave swept across the hall, tearing up the white marble floor.
Even under the absolute restrictions of the Tutorial system...
His speed was beyond anything an ordinary challenger could follow.
Seo Jun's pupils contracted.
Krix was already above him.
His dark blade descended in a flawless, terrifying arc.
There wasn't a single unnecessary movement.
No hesitation. No wasted strength.
It was a strike refined through countless millennia.
The swordsmanship of a being who had watched millions of warriors fight, bleed, and die.
A sword meant to end the battle in one absolute blow.
The blade fell straight toward Seo Jun's head.
But Seo Jun didn't retreat.
He didn't try to outrun it.
He simply moved. One step. One quiet turn of his heel.
His feet instinctively traced the familiar, elegant rhythm of the Plum Blossom footwork.
His body slipped through an opening that seemed practically non-existent.
The heavy sword brushed past his shoulder by a mere millimeter.
BOOOOM!!
The blade crashed into the white marble floor instead.
Polluted purple energy erupted like a violent, localized hurricane.
Deep craters spread across the chamber.
The ancient bronze gears embedded in the walls groaned under the sheer impact.
Thick dust filled the air.
Krix narrowed his glowing eyes.
He had expected panic. He had expected fear. He had expected the desperate, ugly struggle of a dying mortal.
Instead...
The dust settled, revealing Seo Jun.
He calmly looked back at the towering figure.
"You're still trying to kill me?" Seo Jun asked softly.
Krix's pupils trembled violently.
"...What?"
Seo Jun slowly raised Dawn's Edge. The countless stars sleeping within the pitch-black blade shimmered faintly. They reflected clearly in his unwavering, dark eyes.
"You were once a guide," Seo Jun said.
His voice remained incredibly steady amidst the swirling cosmic energy.
"You stood at the entrance of the Tower."
"You welcomed terrified people who knew nothing of this hell."
"You taught them how to hold a sword. How to survive."
A brief, heavy silence followed.
"You spent countless eons protecting candidates..."
Seo Jun's gaze never left Krix's twisted face.
"So why..."
His voice dropped, turning sharp and cold.
"...are you using a sword meant only to kill?"
The question echoed through the ancient, ruined chamber.
It wasn't loud. It didn't carry overwhelming mana.
Yet it struck Krix harder than any physical blade ever could.
For a fraction of a second…
The corrupted guardian's expression cracked. Profound pain. Unspeakable regret.
Then, it disappeared entirely beneath the spreading, toxic purple corruption.
"Silence."
BOOM!!
Dark purple energy burst from Krix's body like a raging, polluted tide.
His eyes burned with a cursed, abyssal light.
"Do not stand there..."
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His grip tightened around the hilt of his weapon until his knuckles cracked.
"...and pretend you understand what I have endured."
The floor beneath his feet shattered into dust.
Krix vanished again.
CLANG!!
Steel screamed against steel.
Seo Jun barely managed to raise Dawn's Edge in time.
Krix's blade crashed down with a force that threatened to shatter Seo Jun's wrists.
Before the sparks of the collision had even faded…
Another strike came.
Then another.
Then a dozen more.
The massive chamber disappeared beneath a blinding storm of flashing blades.
Every slash targeted a vital point.
Every feint ruthlessly forced Seo Jun toward a killing blow.
It wasn't the mindless, chaotic swordsmanship of a monster.
It was the swordsmanship of a supreme guardian...
Who had tragically forgotten that his sword was originally meant to protect.
BOOM!!
CLANG!!
BOOM!!
Fragments of white marble scattered like shrapnel across the chamber.
The purple energy tore through the ancient hall, leaving deep gashes in reality itself.
But Seo Jun never tried to overpower him.
He didn't meet force with force. He simply moved. One step back. Another to the side. Then a quiet, flowing parry.
Every dodge was perfectly calm. Every breath remained terrifyingly steady.
He wasn't desperately searching for a physical opening to strike.
He was searching for Krix.
Not the cosmic corruption. Not the brainwashed monster standing before him.
He was looking for the lonely guardian still struggling somewhere beneath that shell.
Seo Jun watched every movement carefully.
Every arc of the heavy swing. Every subtle shift of Krix's tense shoulders. Every ragged change in his breathing.
In the world of martial arts, swords speak louder than words.
Seo Jun wasn't fighting to defeat his opponent.
He was trying to understand him. Because only by truly understanding a person's absolute despair… could you ever hope to save them.
Seo Jun continued tracking Krix with unwavering, profound eyes.
The corrupted guide was terrifyingly strong.
Every single swing carried enough conceptual weight to split a mountain apart. Every movement displayed the flawless experience of a being who had existed for millennia.
Yet…
The longer Seo Jun observed the trajectory of the blade, the clearer it became.
Something was fundamentally wrong.
Every attack was undeniably meant to kill. But every transition between those attacks instinctively protected a blind spot.
Every ruthless strike carried the absolute faintest trace of hesitation.
It was so microscopic, so incredibly subtle, that no ordinary swordsman would ever notice it.
But Seo Jun was not ordinary.
He had reached the pinnacle of martial understanding in his past life. He saw the truth hidden in the steel.
Those weren't the movements of a mindless beast. They were the deep, ingrained instincts of a protector.
A guardian who refused to completely disappear.
Krix noticed the profound empathy in Seo Jun's dark eyes. His green, scarred face twisted in fury.
"...Stop looking at me like that."
Seo Jun deflected a heavy downward smash and tilted his head slightly.
"Like what?"
Krix clenched his jaw so hard it bled.
"...Like there's still someone left to save."
The chamber fell deathly silent.
Even the grinding of the ancient bronze gears embedded in the walls seemed to halt.
Seo Jun answered without the slightest hesitation.
"Because there is."
Krix's entire body froze.
For a brief, agonizing moment… even his terrifying sword stopped moving in mid-air.
Then, a dry, hollow laugh escaped his lips.
It wasn't mocking. It wasn't bitter or cruel. It sounded incredibly, heartbreakingly exhausted.
"After everything...?"
His raspy voice trembled wildly.
"After every single candidate I failed..."
"After every beautiful world I was forced to watch disappear into ash..."
His fingers tightened around the hilt of his cane-sword.
"After becoming... this disgusting thing..."
He slowly raised his head. Tears of purple energy leaked from his eyes.
"You still believe a monster like me can be saved?"
Seo Jun gently lowered the tip of Dawn's Edge.
His expression remained completely calm, anchored by a deep human understanding.
"You're asking the wrong question."
Krix frowned, confused by the response.
Seo Jun took one slow, deliberate step forward.
"The question isn't whether you've changed."
"It isn't whether you've made terrible mistakes."
His dark eyes met Krix's burning gaze without a single ounce of judgment.
"The real question is... who hates the person you've become the most?"
Absolute silence.
Krix's breathing became a ragged, desperate gasp. Seo Jun answered before the goblin could even form the words.
"You do."
The words pierced deeper than any divine blade.
They bypassed the armor, bypassed the corruption, and struck the soul.
Krix's pupils shook violently in their sockets.
His grip on his weapon loosened for the briefest, most vulnerable instant. His small shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
He hated himself. He hated the Outer Gods who broke his mind, but he hated himself more for breaking.
Then…
The chamber violently convulsed.
BOOOOM!!
Pitch-black darkness erupted from Krix's body like a wounded, cornered beast. The cosmic corruption reacted.
It had sensed the guardian's hesitation. It had sensed the human empathy.
Thick, suffocating black tendrils burst directly from Krix's chest.
They wrapped around his arms, his neck, and his shoulders like living, parasitic chains. They tightened without a single drop of mercy. Krix staggered backward.
His scarred face twisted in pure, unadulterated agony.
"N-No..."
His voice cracked, returning to its original, gentle tone for just a second.
"Not now... please..."
The thick black veins spreading across his green skin pulsed violently. The corruption wasn't merely controlling his actions anymore.
It was violently suppressing his consciousness. It was trying to bury every fragment of the good guide struggling to awaken.
Krix grabbed his own head as though fighting against invisible, crushing hands. His breathing became a series of ragged, wet gasps.
"Don't..."
His voice broke into a desperate whisper.
"I... don't want to hurt them anymore..."
His small body shook violently.
For the very first time since the battle in the clockwork room began… genuine fear appeared in his golden eyes.
It wasn't the fear of Seo Jun's sword. It wasn't the fear of losing the battle. It was the sheer, absolute terror of losing his own mind once again.
The Outer God's corruption responded to his fear immediately. The toxic purple light within his eyes deepened until it became an endless, empty black.
His sword slowly rose into the air.
Its razor-sharp tip turned backward. It aimed directly at Krix's own chest.
Seo Jun's eyes narrowed dangerously.
He understood the parasite's logic instantly. The corruption wasn't trying to kill Seo Jun anymore.
It was trying to force Krix to commit suicide. It wanted to erase the last remnants of Supervisor Krix permanently to protect its own secrets. As long as the noble guardian still existed inside that shell… The cosmic parasite could never completely claim the tutorial's administrative authority.
Without another thought, Seo Jun launched himself forward.
At that exact microsecond… Dawn's Edge trembled wildly inside his right hand.
A soft, rhythmic pulse spread through the pitch-black blade.
It wasn't a violent, bloodthirsty vibration. It wasn't an overwhelming display of raw, destructive power. It felt incredibly warm.
Almost... compassionate.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Effect: Twilight Devourer Activated]
[Analyzing foreign, hostile energy.]
[The target is deeply corrupted by an external malevolent force.]