"Heh, I thought we beat all of them, but it seems like one's left..and look-!"
The Elder Goblin sneered, shoving the old man to the dirt. "He brought the two to us!"
Laughter rippled through the pack—ugly, wet, and mean. Claws scraped dirt. Fangs gleamed in the firelight.
Terrence said nothing.
He just stood there.
Back straight. Shoulders squared. His golden eyes narrowed to razor points of focus that made even the air hesitate.
Behind him, Kasper and Kya froze..he didn't move, didn't blink—but his presence alone was a wall, a promise, and a warning.
"Well don't just stand there!" the Elder Goblin barked. "Tear him apart so we can get busy!"
The eight others flinched. They felt it.
That pressure.
That weight.
He wasn't like the others they'd beat for fun.
The ground itself thrummed beneath their feet, like the pulse of something about to wake.
One Goblin broke first, screeching as it charged.
Then another.
And another.
Their confidence built into madness.
Terrence's eyes slightly widened.
Then..everything stopped.
Time didn't slow.
It fractured.
Golden rings spun in his eyes, rotating like celestial gears. Fractal runes glimmered across his pupils, starlight trapped in motion.
Tick.
Then another.
Then a thousand.
Reality folded in on itself as cracks of gold light spiderwebbed through the air, splitting the battlefield into a hundred thousand mirrored realities.
[Active Skill: x100,000 Strikes Continuum The Loop's Verdict]
[Continuum Engine Fracturing Primary Timeline..]
Each micro-timeline flickered through his mind.
A hundred thousand Terrences fought.
A hundred thousand Terrences died.
A hundred thousand Terrences learned.
To Terrence, it was like watching thousands of televisions playing at once, each one showing him learning how to win.
In one, he caught a blade.
In another, he shattered spines.
In another still, he was gutted..only to perfect the counter a loop later.
Each iteration faster.
Sharper.
Every failure became code, every death recycled into perfection.
Only one version remained: the one who'd already won.
Then—
[Synchronization Complete: 100,000 Loops Executed.]
[Compressing Combat Data..]
[Executing The Loop's Verdict.]
To the Goblins, Terrence still hadn't moved.
To reality, he'd already ended them a hundred thousand times.
"Haha, look at that dumbass, he's just gonna let us kil-"
BOOM.
The sound wasn't an explosion.
It was the collapse of possibility itself.
Air imploded, then expanded outward in a soundless golden shockwave that warped the world around him.
Golden threads—thin as hair, sharp as thought—ripped through the space between them.
The Goblins froze mid-laugh, eyes wide.
SLICEEee.
Their bodies separated cleanly, geometric lines cutting across flesh and bone like divine equations. Blood turned to vaporized gold.
One by one, they fell.
The Elder Goblin staggered back, trembling.
"Wh-what the hell are y—"
A single golden slit opened across his chest.
He dissolved into ash before finishing the sentence.
Silence.
Ash drifted like snow through the still air. Even the wind refused to breathe.
Terrence exhaled slowly. Golden light faded from his eyes, leaving only a calm glow in the dimness.
Behind him, Kasper and Kya stood speechless. They were unable to process what they'd seen.
To them, he hadn't even moved.
But the world itself still seemed to be catching up.
'As badass as that move was, it took a huge chunk of my Mana..' Terrence thought, feeling his core pulse faintly from the drain. Not enough to exhaust him, but enough to make him notice it.
[100,000 micro-timelines were just used, what'd you expect?]
[Badass things come with badass prices, my friend. Handle your business. I'll show your rewards later.]
'Alright, bet.'
"Grandpa!"
Kasper's voice broke the quiet as she and Kya ran toward the fallen elder.
Terrence turned, his heavy steps slow and steady, approaching the bound women and girls.
He kneeled beside the first woman, breaking her restraints with a single tug. "You're all safe now."
The old man coughed, gripping Kasper's arm. "Guess it was a blessing you came back late, girls. You might not've made it if you hadn't."
"It was all thanks to Terrence, Grandpa Jin!" Kya said proudly. "He saved us too, there were fake hunters who tried to capture us!"
"Oh really?" the old man said, turning toward him. "Is that him over there?"
Terrence smiled faintly. "Yeah, that'd be me. Glad we got here when we did, sir."
Grandpa Jin studied him for a long moment, eyes narrowing. Then, unexpectedly, he chuckled.
"So..you're the one who's going to marry one of my granddaughters, huh?"
"G-Grandpa?!" both girls shouted, faces exploding red.
Terrence grinned, shaking the man's hand. "Honestly, sir..I think both of them would suffice."
They nearly fainted.
Grandpa Jin roared with laughter, clapping his back. "You've got confidence! I like that!"
Then his smile softened. "We owe you, son, but as you probably already know, our resources are sca-"
"About that," Terrence interrupted gently. "Don't worry about it. Here."
[x5,000 Tacos Unequipped!]
[x200 Epic Grade Swords Unequipped!]
[x200 Epic Grade Clothing Sets Unequipped!]
[x30,000 Gold Unequipped!]
The villagers froze.
Their jaws dropped.
To say they were surprised would've been a massive understatement.