"Leave me and my sister alone you freaks!"
Kasper Rain screamed, voice cracking with desperation as she swung wildly at the four repulsive hunters closing in. Her hands trembled, but her orange eyes were burning with defiance and never looked away.
She and her sister, Kya Rain, had left their small village at dawn to hunt for food. Supplies were running low. They thought they'd be back before sunset.
But of course..fate never made it that simple.
Instead, they'd stumbled into fake hunters—robbers dressed in monster hides, men who hunted people instead of beasts. They always targeted the weak. The voiceless. The ones they thought couldn't fight back.
Unfortunately, that meant them.
One had Kya pinned against a rock, his filthy hand pressed over her mouth. The other three cornered Kasper, their grins filled with rotten confidence.
"Don't worry, guys…" the one restraining Kya said with a low chuckle. "I know how to make her quit struggling."
He reached down and began lifting Kya's torn, blood-stained shirt. Her muffled scream shattered the air.
Kasper's entire body snapped. "NO! Leave her alon—!!"
A fist slammed into her face mid-shout. Her vision blurred. The next kick folded her stomach inward, forcing the air from her lungs. She collapsed to her knees, coughing blood into the dirt.
Through her hazy vision she saw the last hunter wind his arm back for another strike, one that would end it.
She braced herself.
Tensed.
Waited for pain.
It never came.
"Sweet Chin Music!"
The voice hit first. It was cocky, confident, echoing like thunder.
Then came the kick.
The hunter's jaw was obliterated in a single instant. A sonic boom erupted, blasting the others off their feet and sending a shockwave through the forest.
The man who had thrown the punch?
He was gone.
Launched into the clouds at FTL speeds, a distant star twinkling where he used to be.
Silence followed. Then..a low whistle.
"Damn…" a voice drawled. "Talk about overkill."
Out of the fading dust stepped a tall, muscular figure..skin shimmering faintly in the sunlight, hair messy and wild, grin stretching lazily across his face.
"Reminds me of when Hancock threw that kid into the sky." he muttered, shading his eyes with his hand to see where the body went.
The sisters blinked in disbelief. Their minds couldn't process what they were seeing.
A man that looked like he was carved by gods stood before them..completely naked.
Kasper and Kya squeaked in unison, covering their faces but still peeking through their fingers, cheeks red enough to burn.
The hunters, meanwhile, were furious. And jealous. And terrified.
"Hey..who the fuck are you?!" one spat, scrambling to his feet.
The stranger dropped his hand and smirked.
"The Calvary."
He tilted his head. "Hey System, give me a sword."
[..which one out of 10,000?]
Terrence scoffed. "Hey, don't ruin my entra—"
[Haha just fucking with you! Here, give those ugly ass perverts hell!]
[x2 Epic Grade Swords received!]
[Corrosive Disintegrator] [Atom Piercer]
Two flashes of light tore through the air.
[Corrosive Disintegrator LV.1]
A massive, jagged greatsword that looked like it was forged inside a dying supernova materialized in Terrence's left hand. The metal shifted between liquid and solid, dripping trails of glowing violet-green acid that hissed as they hit the ground, carving craters into the soil.
The sword pulsed like something alive, black cracks crawling along its surface like veins filled with molten plasma. Each movement released a faint acidic vapor, warping the light around him.
[Description]
Forged from the collapsed remains of a dying star and baptized in the breath of a void leviathan, the Corrosive Disintegrator unravels matter at the molecular level. Anything it touches melts out of existence—armor, bone, even light itself.
[Effects]
[Molecular Erosion] Each strike dissolves both physical and energy defenses, ignoring 80% of resistance.
[Entropy Field] Generates a 10-meter radius that weakens everything inside, slowing regeneration and dulling senses.
[Overload Warning] If swung recklessly, may corrode the user's 'clothing' first.
The sword hummed. The ground sizzled.
[Atom Piercer LV.1]
In his right hand, a slim silver-white katana emerged, radiating a faint prismatic glow that shimmered like liquid crystal. Its edge flickered in and out of existence..impossibly thin, impossibly sharp. It glowed with gold and azure quantum light.
[Description]
Born from the collision of imagination and subatomic law, the Atom Piercer is so sharp that reality itself bends to avoid it. Each molecule it passes through isn't destroyed, just politely told to move aside.
[Effects]
[Concept Severance] Ignores durability; cuts through energy, magic, and even abstract forms like time or sound.
[Vector Thought] The blade moves according to imagination, bending space to follow intent.
[Quantum Echo] Each precise slash leaves a ghost-line that re-slashes 0.3 seconds later.
"Wow," Terrence grinned, eyes sparkling. "These swords are badass. Y'know what it makes me feel like doing?"
[Is it something to do with..motivation?]
Before he could answer, one of the hunters screamed, "You bastard! We'll kill you and show you what happens when you interrupt us!"
They drew their weapons and charged.
Terrence's smirk widened.
'How annoyingly slow…'
His perception sharpened to godlike precision. The hunters looked like they were moving underwater.
He chuckled internally.
They run like the lifeguard in the movies that wanted everyone to see her titties bounce.
'Guess this will be a perfect time to test out my Talent. Not like I've ever used a sword before.' Terrence thought as he was about to activate it.
[Then why-]
'Gotta show off in front of the ladies.' He innerly chuckled as he focused on the Hunter with the sword.
[SSS-Rank Talent: Eternal Extraction has activated!]
The world froze.
Color drained from the trees.
Sound collapsed into silence.
Even gravity felt hesitant.
Terrence's pupils sharpened into golden rings, spinning like cosmic clockwork.
A translucent, shimmering circle of time spiraled around the hunter with the sword. It showed faint silhouettes of the man's past selves, future selves, and alternate timeline variants overlapping behind him like glitching ghosts.
The hunter didn't notice any of it.
He and the others only saw Terrence standing there with a lazy smirk.
[Target Locked]
[Timeline Cross-Link Established]
Fragments of the hunter's life flashed around Terrence:
A childhood spent mugging weaker kids
Years practicing dirty back-alley knife tricks
Future versions killing travelers for supplies
One alternate version mastering sword ambush techniques
All of them appeared for microseconds.
All of them were helpless.
All of them were exposed.
Terrence laughed lightly.
"Damn, bruh..you really lived like shit in every timeline."
[Eternal Extraction: Initiating Transfer..]
The hunter suddenly stumbled, clutching his head, making the others pause in their tracks.
"What..the hell—?!"
His knees buckled as something intangible was ripped out of him, peeled off his soul like a layer of skin.
[Extraction Complete!]
[Timeline Memory Bleed Activated]
Importing Combat Experience…
Importing Weapon Instincts…
Importing Ambush Techniques…
Importing Muscle Memory…
Importing Killing Intent Patterns…
Importing Alternate Timeline Mastery…
[Total Mastery Imported: 20 Years]
[Skill Level Achieved: Perfect]
A violent pulse of golden light exploded around Terrence.
His grip on the Atom Piercer shifted automatically-
perfect stance, perfect angle, perfect flow..
as if he had practiced swordsmanship his entire life.
[Acquired Skills:]
Shadowline Ambush Footwork (B-Rank)
Rustblade Feint Style (C-Rank)
Instinctive Kill-Strike Pattern
Knife-to-Sword Adaptation (Passive)
Low-Light Combat Awareness
[Victim's Fate Thread: -22%]
[Victim's Combat Aptitude: -41%]
[Victim's Future Potential: -35%]
The hunter gasped as his arms suddenly weakened.
His sword felt heavier.
His stance collapsed.
He didn't understand why his body felt like someone had stolen his future.
Because someone did.
Terrence gave him a smug smirk.
"Preciate the free training, buddy!"
He inhaled.
Exhaled.
Then—
FTL.
Terrence vanished.
A thunderclap followed.
The world itself slowed. The air folded like liquid. The hunters froze mid-motion, eyes wide, bodies unable to comprehend what was happening.
Terrence's blade had already moved over a million times in a second..each slash precise, deliberate, beautiful.
Time paused.
And then—
He landed in a crouch behind them, katana sliding into its hilt.
"Where is your..motivation?"
CLANG.
The sound echoed like judgment.
A split second later—
SHLK!
The hunters erupted into perfectly symmetrical pieces.
Blood and organs rained down like crimson mist.
And then the [Quantum Echo] activated.
Invisible slashes traced the air, cutting the remains again. And again. Until there was nothing left.
Silence. Only steam rising where men once stood.
Terrence slowly stood up, eyes glinting with satisfaction, grin stretching across his face.
He exhaled.
Rolled his shoulders.
And smirked at the carnage.
"This..is power!" He imitated in his best Vergil impression.