Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 50
>Chapter Title: Goblin Great Warrior Karuk
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>A colossal height that looked to be at least 240cm, and a frame rivaling an orc's.
A peculiar skin tone overall blue with red blotches scattered here and there.
Its massive body dwarfed even the chieftain or the mutant goblin warriors, and it wielded a gigantic double-headed axe larger than a human. It resembled a bloodstained butcher.
[You have encountered the hidden field boss 'Goblin Great Warrior Karuk.']
[You have completed the Warrior's Trial 'Intrusion' with overwhelming success.]
[The 'Trial of Warriors' links to the 'Trial of the Great Warrior.']
[The Goblin Great Warrior's trial is 'Bloodbath.' Rewards will vary based on performance.]
[Goblin Great Warrior Karuk]
-Title: Elite Named Hidden Field Boss
-Type: Goblin
-Traits: Great Warrior, Body Reinforcement, Berserker
-Description: The title of Goblin Warrior is granted only to the strongest warriors in the tribe. Among those warriors, only the mightiest earns the title of Great Warrior.
Born of a mix between the Red Tribe and Blue Tribe, Karuk possesses the strengths of both—a great warrior.
'Elite purple...'
Elite bosses were tricky to gauge in strength.
They weren't clearly rare or heroic; most just had the 'elite' label slapped on.
Still, it wasn't impossible to predict.
'Way stronger than the chieftain.'
Probably not even comparable.
It was a field boss with elite and named modifiers, after all.
Having the strengths of both the Red and Blue Tribes, plus traits and descriptions specialized for close combat, proved it.
'Stronger than a forest field boss, maybe?'
Do-hyun's guess hit the mark.
Jihard, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up with visible tension.
-Be careful, Master. That guy's strength is insanely off the charts.
"Stronger than you?"
-Hmph! Of course weaker than me, but among the strongest warriors—the warriors— the greatest is the Great Warrior. And that guy's been a Great Warrior since I first met him 150 years ago.
In other words, no stronger warrior had appeared in over 150 years.
That was Jihard's point.
From his reaction, it seemed he'd clashed with it before and had a tough time.
A clash between named monsters was intriguing.
'This'll be fun.'
A powerhouse acknowledged by the former lord of the forest.
Impossible not to get excited. The trial was a 'bloodbath,' perfect. Do-hyun gripped his greatsword, feeling his blood boil for once.
[Warrior Set is active.]
[7% additional damage applied to goblin-type enemies.]
['Intimidation' effect nullified due to boss's superior presence.]
As the familiar messages rang out and their eyes met.
The creature's hand twitched on its double-headed axe.
Bang!
They lunged at the same time, no telling who went first.
Jihard couldn't help but shout.
-No! Clashing head-on is dangerous, Master!
Desperation trembled in Jihard's voice.
He had fought that Great Warrior before.
It wasn't a full fight—just a brief scuffle—but that was enough to feel Karuk's power.
Kieeeeng-.
[Hidden field boss 'Goblin Great Warrior Karuk' unleashes 'Ruthless Strike.']
Red energy gathered like a dot on the double-headed axe, instantly dyeing it crimson.
The axe glowed red-hot, like it had been thrust into a furnace.
That was it.
-The moment it touches, your sword will shatter! Dodge!
Ruthless Strike. A berserker-class skill.
A simple, brute-force skill that boosted damage, no different from Heavy Strike at first glance. But it was the core technique of berserkers.
Just like Vok's Mega Strike.
It fell short in raw destruction, but its true terror was 'weapon destruction.'
A cheat effect that temporarily shattered weapons below heroic grade.
That was why berserkers dominated close combat.
'That's what sliced my kids like tofu in an instant!'
Jihard's undead had been crushed like tofu by that strike.
Not satisfied, Karuk's axe had split the earth with a thunderous boom when it slammed down—Jihard still remembered it vividly.
He'd reacted fast with Corpse Explosion, and after a brief standoff, they'd backed off. But if the fight had continued, Jihard would've taken heavy losses.
'That's suicide...!'
No matter how demon-like his master was, this was too much.
A head-on clash between his master, who excelled at elusive, ghostly movement, and that destruction tank? Impossible!
He couldn't fathom why his master was being so stubborn.
But it was too late to turn back now.
Whoosh-!
The greatsword and double-headed axe swung at each other, already snarling in anticipation of the clash.
The weapons differed in size by double.
Jihard, convinced the greatsword would shatter on contact, covered his eyes with both hands.
He could see through the gaps, but he couldn't bear to watch otherwise.
-Oh no...
He squeezed one eye shut, bracing for impact.
Then, through the gaps, an unbelievable sight unfolded. The moment the two blades collided viciously.
Srrk-.
The greatsword's feel changed.
The fierce trajectory, lunging to tear apart, softened in an instant into a gentle flow that embraced everything.
Like taijiquan, the greatsword smoothly absorbed the double-headed axe and redirected the force.
-Huh...?
Neither fast nor slow.
The two metal masses flowed together seamlessly, as if choreographed from the start. By the time he snapped to, it was over.
Clang-!
The double-headed axe, drained of all power, limply tapped the ground.
...Kurruk?
Karuk tilted its head at the axe that should have pulped a human skull, now weakly hitting dirt.
The skill had activated—why?
It couldn't comprehend.
But Karuk didn't panic. It swung the double-headed axe again.
Do-hyun stepped back to dodge. After a few repetitions, Karuk nodded.
Kurruk.
Convinced the earlier anomaly was coincidence.
If not, he wouldn't dodge such weak attacks so easily.
Karuk prepared another powerful strike.
[Hidden field boss 'Goblin Great Warrior' uses 'Mega Strike.']
Not as strong as Ruthless Strike, but one of Karuk's mightiest skills.
This time, it was certain—it would burst the human's head.
But the moment the greatsword met it again.
Swish-.
The same scene repeated.
Like a river swept into the vast sea, it scattered harmlessly, naturally, without a hint of awkwardness.
-...Huh? What did I just see?
Kurruk...?
Karuk and even Jihard blinked in confusion.
Do-hyun smirked at the two pairs of eyes staring in accusation.
'Worried it might be rusty after so long, but the feel's still there.'
His gaze drifted to empty air.
Precisely, to the floating skill window.
[Parry]
-Grade: Common
-Restriction: Swordsman-class
-Description: Deflects attacks that connect with your sword.
Activates on precise timing; may fail if mistimed.
-Effect: Deflects attack on precise timing.
Cannot use other skills during parry motion. Cannot deflect unreachable judgments or unparryable attacks.
-Cooldown: 4 seconds
'Didn't expect this to show up.'
The secret behind the magic.
The one and only guard skill for swordsmen, called beyond-common: Parry.
* * *
Parry.
True to its name, a skill that deflects attacks—exclusive to swordsman-class jobs.
Even legendary skills could be parried if conditions met. Short cooldown made it beyond-common.
They said tanks had Royal Guard; swordsmen had Parry.
'Problem is, nobody uses it.'
Yet despite its cheat performance, no one used Parry.
Simple reason.
Parrying was ridiculously hard.
Had to connect with the sword exactly, activate on precise timing—and that timing was insanely strict.
"Is this thing even supposed to activate? Isn't it just decorative?"
"Why won't it trigger?"
"Die twice trying to parry. Is this right?"
Even experts succeeded once out of five tries on that 'precise timing.'
And that was for predictable, straightforward attacks.
In wild boss raids or mind-game PvP? Success was pure luck.
So people died to avoidable attacks messing around with Parry.
"Never party with a Parry user. Serious advice."
"Fuck... Parry's bullshit. Why copy some lame video in a raid party?"
"Not called a troll factory for nothing."
Users avoided—hated—Parry.
No wonder they despised low-level swordsmen with bad control.
A crap-control noob swordsman using Parry?
Just bail; trial's doomed anyway.
High ranker swordsmen?
"Nope, don't use it."
"No need to risk it when it's not guaranteed..."
"Swordsmen rarely even need Parry. If you do, you're already screwed."
No.
With only 13 skill slots, low-level when every slot mattered gave way to high-level skill tree dilemmas.
No reason to waste a slot on Parry over better skills.
Swordsman position itself was the issue too.
Not tank or sub-tank—a melee DPS.
Rarely drew aggro, so few chances to use Parry.
"If guaranteed, maybe. Otherwise?"
"Honestly, poorly designed skill. Shouldn't be common."
"Read the description, slot it, eat hits, take death penalty, get flamed by party? Ditch it. Serious."
"Some geniuses pull it off... but not guaranteed, so meh."
Even if one-in-five was 'good.'
Thus, Parry—swordsmen's sole guard skill—rotted unused.
Exceptions existed.
"But if you're Kaiser, sure."
"That guy's not human. Tanking as DPS. How does he parry like it's guaranteed?"
"Human? Blasphemy! Don't insult the god!"
"Kaiser, he is a god! Kaiser, he is a god!"
Why Kaiser, a DPS, could solo like a tank.
Parry's credit, not exaggeration.
Dodging and pattern-breaking had limits.
Bosses got harder; unavoidable walls appeared.
Parry filled that gap.
[Hidden field boss 'Goblin Great Warrior Karuk' uses 'Mega Strike.']
[Skill 'Parry' successful!]
[Attack deflected.]
'Yeah, that's the taste.'
Patterns impossible to counter, no pre-windup.
Attacks you could only dodge or block—Parry ate them damage-free!
[Hidden field boss 'Goblin Great Warrior Karuk' uses 'Frenzied Might.']
[Skill 'Parry' successful!]
[Attack deflected.]
-No way...
It even parried multi-hit skills.
Connect on the initial activation timing to nullify the whole thing.
Insane technique; even forewarned, hard to land.
Boom- srrk-.
['Parry' successful!]
[Attack deflected.]
-No, parried that? Master, you human!? Not demonic talent—actual demon?
Truth was, not just multi-hits.
Parry's principle: meet attack, redirect force elsewhere.
Required constant contact, precise timing activation.
Timings varied per skill/pattern.
Veteran users threw up their hands.
'Why can't they do this?'
Do-hyun genuinely couldn't understand.
For Kaiser, Parry was effortless.