The cavern stretched wide and endless, air thin and restless this high above the goblin sea. From their ledge, the seething green mass below looked less like enemies and more like a living, writhing carpet.
Piers chirped, a thrill bubbling up,
"Let's begin!"
Luci tilted her head, crimson eyes sparkling with genuine puzzlement.
"Piers-sama? How exactly am I supposed to stand beside you… way up there?"
Piers tapped a finger to his chin, brow furrowed in mock-serious thought. The sight of his childlike focus made Liel's gaze soften helplessly—her lips parting, eyes going misty like she might actually drool.
Then comes his wicked grin.
"Time for a little… experimentation."
The single word froze everyone in place.
Liel, Luci, Lein, Thog, Mutou—every last one of them stiffened. Their eyes flicked between each other, then back to Luci, who now looked less like a teammate and more like an about-to-be-sacrificed test subject.
"Now then!" He clapped his hands. "Let's see if I can whip this up…
Matter Forging!"
He extended his hand. Mana surged, bending to his will, and the air before him rippled like molten glass. Slowly, it hardened into a glowing arc that stretched outward from the cliff's lip — a broad, translucent bridge of pure energy. It sloped down in a graceful curve before halting midair, suspended at the perfect height above the goblin nest below.
From this vantage point, the writhing green horde looked tiny, like insects trapped in a pit. The Platform pulsed faintly, alive with mana, humming with quiet power.
"Perfect," Piers murmured, satisfaction glinting in his eyes.
"The ideal height… for bombing runs."
For a long moment, silence reigned.
The glowing path stretched out before them, a promise and a dare all at once.
"Just how much mana does he even have?!"
Liel finally burst out, her voice caught between awe and disbelief.
"Indeed," Mutou rumbled, arms crossed, his blue flame dimming with respect.
"Young Master is… truly a monster."
Thog simply nodded, eyes round with wonder.
"Master, can I come too?!" Lein blurted, practically vibrating with eagerness.
"You dumb-numb!" Gyuunyuu retorted, her bottle bobbing indignantly as she glared up at Lein.
"You're supposed to go down—according to the plan! Stop trying to steal extra Master-time!"
As if their bickering was destined to loop forever, Piers, Luci leaving the noise behind as they advanced along the descending platform into the labyrinth's vast heart.
"Wait for my Master!" Gyuunyuu chirped, puffing her tiny chest.
A heavy wind buffeted them, tugging at their hair and cloaks. The cliff's edge blurred into the distance behind them, while the vast center of the goblin nest yawned steadily closer below—a writhing sprawl of crude fires, blackened caves, and countless green bodies swarming like ants.
"Piers-sama!" Luci cried, her crimson eyes wide as she looked down, strands of raven hair lashing her cheeks.
"We're still… so high."
"Yes, we are," he said evenly, stepping further out with calm certainty.
"Just a little closer. We need the best position."
She nodded, unwavering, her trust fixed entirely on him.
At their chosen height, the glowing platform beneath them began to disintegrate—fading into flecks of orange light that scattered into the wind like dying fireflies.
Gyuunyuu gasped.
"Master! The path's gone! Now no goblins can chase us!"
"Yup," Piers murmured, his hand rising, brow furrowed in focus.
"This is it."
His voice lowered, a litany half-muttered to himself.
"Focus… focus. With Matter Forging, I can copy and create the things I've used once. Let's see…"
He paused, his mind sifting through past creations, the familiar feel of mana at his fingertips. "
...Focusing… there it is.
Creating a Terramatic shard, filling it with a good dose of mana. wrapped in water… and for a little cool look, let's shape that water into a round skull face."
Above his palm, a sphere bloomed — small enough to fit neatly in his grasp. Water swirled, pulled tight around a red-glowing core until it took shape: a perfect skull of rippling liquid, hollow eyes glaring, its grin faintly illuminated from within.
The orb hovered, shimmering with a sinister beauty.
Luci's breath caught.
"…It's… beautiful,"
"Ooooh! So cooool!" Gyuunyuu gasped from his head.
Piers's lips curved faintly. He flicked his wrist.
The water skull dropped.
The wind screamed around it as it plummeted, whirling faster, the red glow within pulsing like a heartbeat.
BOOM.
For an instant, it was as if the skull itself laughed before it slammed into the nest.
Water erupted outward—water exploding with the force of a collapsing ocean, magnified tenfold by the raw power of the Terramatic shard. A tsunami born in the heart of stone came crashing down upon the goblin nest.
Luci and Gyuunyuu could only stare. Wide-eyed. Silent.
A chime in his head.
You have eliminated 24,005 goblins.
"...Whoa."
Piers blinked.
Honestly? I thought that would've taken out more.
A flicker of math spun through his thoughts.
Maybe I should've gone with fire instead?
Then shook his head.
Nope. Too messy. That'd torch the entire forest. The Last thing I need is this place turning into an ash pit. Good call, inner me.
His eyes narrowed. More still crawled below. Too many.
"Good then. Chipped up."
He lifted his hand. Mana surged.
Five water skulls spiraled into being, glowing with crimson cores, their grins hungry.
A flick.
They plummeted.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Each impact detonated into a new tsunami, colliding into the horde from different angles. The encampment drowned in chaos—waves smashing bodies into stone,
But instead of knotting into the confused cluster he'd intended, the goblins shattered apart—screaming, stampeding in wild panic, breaking into dozens of splintered swarms.
"Tch… That was not the plan."
A bead of sweat slid down his temple.
"…Maybe I overdid it again."
"This is it—Thog's group, Lien's group, move! Drop down!"
The mental command cut sharp in their heads.
"It's our turn!" Lien roared, stretching like a man about to wrestle the sun itself, His grin spread wide, manic, eyes gleamed with barely-contained excitement.
With a wild laugh, he grabbed Thog, Liel, and even Mutou—and without a second thought, hurled them all straight off the cavern's cliff.
The world tilted. The ground rushed up like a hungry beast.
"Y-You numbskull! We're falling! Falling!" Liel shrieked, her silver hair snapping like banners in the wind. Fat tears trailed down her face, twisted into a melodramatic mask of terror.
"Did you, perhaps, also consider our landing, young Lien?" Mutou asked calmly, his tone eerily collected as if discussing weather, even while they plummeted to their doom.
"Whoa! Uh... heh heh... Whoopsie! Totally didn't think about that!" Lien admitted, laughing carelessly as the wind tore around them.
Thog… didn't even flinch.
Midair, he sat cross-legged, arms folded, face perfectly blank.
And then—
WHAM.
His massive arms shot out, scooping Lien, Liel, and Mutou like featherweight dolls. Muscles coiled as he kicked against the air, sending them all down with perfect force.
THUD.
Dust rippled outward in concentric waves.
There he stood—solid, unmoved, an unbreakable bastion with his team perched safely across his shoulders.
High above, Piers smirked.
Damn. He's one hell of a tank.
But there was no time to admire.
From the shadowed treeline of the underground forest, a wave of goblins surged into view—snarling, eyes burning, weapons raised. Their screeches shook the cavern, growing louder, sharper—
—and they were coming straight for them.
Liel, mid–beatdown on Lien, fists flying in rapid-fire smacks, shouted—
—"You absolute idiot! What kind of lunatic jumps without a landing plan?!"
Whap! Whap! Whap!
Lien flailed helplessly,
"I thought it'd look cool!"
Piers's voice cut into their minds, cold and precise.
Goblins incoming. Heads up.
—Liel froze. Her eyes narrowed, fury bleeding away into icy focus.
"Yes, Piers-sama!" she called, her tone sharp with resolve.
"Yes, young master. We are prepared," Mutou affirmed calmly, his hand already drifting toward the hilt of his blade.
Thog shifted, a mountain of muscle bracing for impact.
Liel thrust her palms outward. Mana flared.
A towering wall of shimmering green slammed into place across the battlefield, cutting off the tide like a dam. Goblins crashed against it, snarling, piling atop one another in frenzied confusion. Perfect. Clustered. Exposed — perfect targets for aerial strikes.
The ground team sprang into action.
Mutou blurred into the horde, his blade flashing in arcs too small, too fast to follow. Goblins dropped in heaps — reds, hobs, even darting shamans — each cut exact, merciless. A surgeon with death as his scalpel.
Lien moved with razor-sharp intent. Fists cracked ribs, kicks shattered spines, elbow and knee flowing in perfect, terrifying rhythm. Not just strength—finesse weaponized, each blow landing exactly where it would break hardest.
Thog, a living battering ram, waded through the chaos with brutal efficiency. Goblin generals, kings, even emperors — all crumpled beneath his fists, hurled aside like pebbles before a landslide.
Always at Liel's side. Nothing got near her.
"Perfect," Piers murmured, eyes narrowing at the heaving mass of goblins ramming against the shimmering edge of Liel's barrier. They were crammed tight, begging for aerial assault.
"Now, Luci."
Shadows erupted from her hands, massive cubes of darkness slamming into the horde.
From the corner of his vision, Piers caught Gyuunyuu trembling, her tiny voice barely a squeak. "Luci… is scary."
Yeah. I know, he murmured
His lips twitched into the faintest, knowing smirk.
He stretched out a hand.
"Now then… let's make some new toys."
Multiple Terramatic shards spiraled into being, raw mana twisting the air. Wind spiraled tighter until skull-shaped orbs snapped into existence, each howling with razor momentum.
One flick of his wrist—
Impact.
The ground below exploded in controlled cyclones, goblins ripped apart and hurled screaming into the treetops. The mossy forest floor cratered, gouged with violent precision.
Again. And again. Each orb dropped like artillery fire, carving pockets of devastation.
Luci matched his rhythm, her own attacks descending with cold, unshakable grace—her shadows tearing through the endless sea of green flesh.
Luci matched his rhythm, shadows tearing through the endless green tide. Liel's barrier blazed like dawn, halting the flood. Mutou, Lien, and Thog cut and smashed with surgical efficiency. Nothing got past them.
And still—they came.
The goblins poured like a flood, unending.
Minutes bled into an hour. One hour into two. Two into three. The rhythm of slaughter became suffocating. Muscles burned. Breaths grew heavy. Faces slicked with sweat.
but no one faltered. No one allowed weakness to show.
Day stretched on, and bled into night. And still, neither the goblins nor Piers's companions stopped.
High above, Piers remained unyielding, mind a relentless machine.
He pressed deeper into his senses, running the numbers in his head.
Estimated Goblins Eliminated: 2,197,44 / 10,000,00
Almost twelve hours… and nobody's even taken a minute to breathe. At this pace, maybe… yeah, maybe we can actually wipe them out by morning.
His eyes flicked to Luci.
She looks fine — calm, steady — but I can tell she's tired. She just won't admit it.
He pushed his senses down, stretching over the battlefield. Mutou, Lien, Thog, Liel… they're holding better than I expected. No cracks yet. Good.
A rare thought stirred in him. They're stronger now. Each one of them. Stronger than even I accounted for.
His lips pressed thin.
Good. We'll need it.
A cold beam of pale, moonlike light cut across the underground forest—and Piers felt it.
A presence.
Wrong.
Hungry.
Approaching from the north like a creeping void.
"Luci." His voice dropped to a low, harsh whisper.
Her crimson eyes snapped toward him. Even she stiffened.
"Yes… Piers-sama.
I sense it as well. Something is coming. Fast."
Above them, Gyuunyuu slept soundlessly on his head, blissfully unaware of the encroaching terror.
Mutou's voice slammed into Piers's mind, iron and urgency intertwined.
Young Master. Retreat. Liel weakens. She cannot hold the barrier much longer.
"Yes. Fall back." He raised a hand. "I'll form a mana staircase—" But before he could weave it—
The presence surged.
Closer.
Quicker.
Like it knew. Like it wanted them to run.
"Mutou! Lien! Thog! TAKE LIEL AND GO! NOW!"
He didn't wait to see if they obeyed. His eyes snapped to Luci.
"Take Gyuunyuu and head for the cavern. Go."
And then he launched himself forward.
Air Walk.
Each step tore the air apart. He cut across the battlefield like a blade of light, racing toward the malignant presence tunneling through the horde.
And then—
He stopped dead.
They had been struck.
Mutou lay crumpled, armor cracked, flames guttering.
Lien staggered, blood dripping down his jaw, chest rising in sharp, ragged pulls.
Liel collapsed, color drained, mana gone—her body trembling from overuse.
Only Thog remained upright.
Blood down his arms.
Breath heavy.
But unmoving.
"A solitary colossus refused to fall, holding the line between his companions and the tightening ring of goblins.
The horde grinned with jagged mouths, eyes alight with feral hunger.
Shamans.
Kings.
Reds.
Generals.
Even Emperors."
All circling.
All waiting.
But they were not what made the air freeze.
Piers lifted his gaze—and shadow drowned the battlefield.
A figure rose above the treeline.
Not a monster.
Not a building.
A goblin—
But warped into a colossal, terrifying form.
Muscles layered like living stone.
Black hair tied back against an immense, rigid frame.
Eyes calm. Cold. Intelligent.
Its presence didn't roar.
It pressed down on the world.
A suffocating weight that made the ground tremble and the mana in the air coil like dying smoke.
The lesser goblins weren't hunting.
They followed.
Piers' pupils constricted. His heart stuttered once.
"...Appraisal."
The world split open in a flood of cursed truths.
[TITAN GOBLIN]
Rank: Disaster
Threat Level: Demon Lord
Unique Skills:
Domination: Compels weaker-willed beings to obey its commands.
Might Stomp: Unleashes a devastating stomp that creates localized tremors and shockwaves.
Abilities: Enhanced Regeneration, Berserker Rage.
Weaknesses: None detected.
.
.
W-wait…"W-what—?!"
Piers's mind blanked.
A Titan?
A goblin ranked on par with a Demon Lord?!
"I'm literally a baby, you know—why am I dealing with THIS CRAP?!"
He slapped both cheeks, sharp cracks snapping him back into focus.
"Okay—breathe. Priorities.
First: recover the team.
Second: carve a safe zone.
Third: fight alone and kick their oversized asses.
Yeah. That's the plan.
"Mana Fusion!"
A surge of raw mana exploded from him, slamming straight into Thog.
The orc's aura detonated outward, warping the air with violent heat and distortion.
Thog didn't hesitate.
He charged.
Straight. At. The. Titan.
Like he was about to fistfight a Demon Lord to death.
"NO—dammit—Thog, WAIT—!
That is NOT the plan!!"
Another self-slap. Harder. Pain
dragging back to reality.
"Fine! THOG—just keep that Titan busy until I get everyone up!"
"Thog's only answer was a grin.
Wide.
Savage.
Faith burning behind it."
Then he leapt.
CRACK.
Thog's fist collided with the Titan's jaw.
The behemoth staggered —
—then toppled.
The whole labyrinth shuddered as if the mountain itself had fallen.
Even the horde fell still.
Then—
Piers's vision glitched.
Flickered.
Reality itself struggles to comprehend what Thog just accomplished.
Finally, it stabilized.
⚠️ QUEST UPDATE
Objective: Defeat the Titan Goblin
Time Limit: 60 minutes
Failure Condition: Failure to complete within the time limit will result in Termination.
"Sixty minutes?! Are you INSANE?!
"We've been fighting since daybreak without so much as a cracker, ground half the goblin population of this cursed bay into dust—and now you expect me to solo a Demon Lord-class in an hour?!"
A vein throbbed at his temple, voice razor-tight with disbelief.
"What kind of cracked logic is this?!"
Whoever's setting this crap up for me… I swear, I'll never forget it.
Then it came. A low, guttural growl, so deep it vibrated his ribs. Followed by a sound like a thousand stone thrones toppling at once.
The goblins circling his downed team froze mid-snarl. Heads snapped. Bodies turned. As one, the horde surged—not toward the wounded—but toward Thog.
Pulled by something unseen.
A skill.
The Titan used one of his skills!
Didn't matter. Not right now.
Piers prepared to dive—when a flicker of movement snagged his eye.
One by one, his comrades stirred.
Mutou. Liel. Lien.
Battered. Bloody. Bruised.
But standing. Eyes burning with raw determination.
Lien spat blood, coughed, then smirked crookedly.
"Aha—yeah, okay, that one came outta nowhere. Cheap shot! You want round two? Let's dance!"
"It would appear my sword cannot hold out much longer," Mutou intoned, flames flickering low, almost contemplative.
"If I may be so bold… I suppose I'll need to resort to fisticuffs. Much like young Thog."
"Ah… thank you, Mutou, for saving me," Liel murmured, her cheeks tinged pink as she fussed with her tangled hair.
"I wasn't paying proper attention."
"Piiers-sama!"
Luci's voice cut sharp through the chaos.
Too close. He spun.
There she was.
Mid-air. But she wasn't flying.
She was being hauled — both tiny arms quivering, face screwed up in strain — by Gyuunyuu.
"Master, Luci is—" she began, ready to blurt something undeniably rude about the burden she was carrying.... bubbly mouth opening wide—
"Until she met Luci's cold death stare."
Her mouth snapped shut like a bear trap.
"Nope! Nothing! Never mind!" she squeaked, backpedaling in mid-air like she'd just glimpsed her own funeral.
A huge sweatdrop slid down Piers's temple.
* * *