"What is going on... and here—"

Before Sera could finish her sentence, the ground started trembling.

A sudden, overwhelming sound of running feet echoed through the trees. The earth vibrated beneath their footsteps — thud, thud, thud.

With a deafening roar, another horde of goblins burst into the clearing. But this time, the numbers were massive. And the worst part was the sound coming from behind them. Something else was approaching. Whatever it was, it was massive. Its heavy footsteps made the ground boom — thum... thum...

All three of their faces went pale. It hit them instantly: they might be in the Outer Ring, but they had wandered into its deep zone.

Then, the behemoth stepped into view. A giant among goblins, accompanied by an entire pile of minions.

The sheer volume of enemies instantly reminded Lucian of his very first raid.

He immediately snapped his fingers, closing the portal. His stance shifted into high alert. The girls didn’t need to be told twice; they instantly went on alert as well.

The three of them moved back-to-back, covering all angles. The behemoth stood directly in front of Lucian’s side, while the rest of the goblin minions formed a massive ring, completely trapping them inside.

Lucian quickly analyzed the massive targets in front of him.

Roughly 12 feet tall... carrying heavy clubs with metal spikes.

He slowly turned his head, activating his skill.

Villain’s Gaze.

[Weak Goblin: 345]

[Red Goblin: 275]

[Hob Goblin: 195]

[Goblin General: 120] 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

[King Goblin: 12]

[Goblin Lord: 1]

Lucian’s gaze was fixed onto the Goblin Lord in front of him.

[Target: Goblin Lord]

[Combat Power: 10,000]

[Rank: S+]

[Special Ability: Berserk Rage]

[Weakness: Inner Thigh]

Oh, hell yeah. A parade of almost 1,000 goblins... What better way to farm FP?

’System, use Fate Link on Sera.’

[Fate Link connected.]

[You will now receive rewards from Sera’s kills.]

[Try not to pull a muscle while she does all the heavy lifting.]

Lucian ignored it, and without breaking his focus on the behemoth, he muttered.

"Hey girls... I think we can handle this."

"W-what do you mean ’we can’? Do you even realize we are completely surrounded? It’s just the three of us, Lucian, and these —" Sera stammered, her pupils darting frantically around the horde.

"Open that portal right now. We can still get out..."

Sera was panicking. Midnight hunting — hunting in general, really — was completely new to her. Plus, she was unarmed. well, not exactly. She still had that baseball bat clutched tight in her hands. though looking at her awkward stance, it was obvious the weapon was completely foreign to her. She had no idea how to actually swing that thing.

From his left side, Elira whispered.

"Yes, darling. I don’t know about Sera, but I can handle this perfectly fine."

Shut the hell up, you psycho This isn’t the time to joke around like an amateur," she twitched. "Lucian, don’t listen to her. Do exactly what I tell you."

Without breaking his stance or taking his eyes off the horde, Lucian leaned slightly toward Sera’s shoulder, murmuring in a low voice.

"Can you trust me on this one?"

Sera flinched, gritting her teeth to keep her aggressive facade intact.

"Do whatever you want."

"Yup. That’s the Sera I prefer."

Lucian already knew exactly what his next move would be. Still, before stepping forward, he rapidly called out the targets to both girls in one breath.

"Sera, Elira. Listen once and memorize it. Red Goblins — legs. Goblin Generals — eyes. Hobgoblins—legs. King Goblins — hips. Target only those specific body parts, they are the weak points."

Sera blurted out in mid, "And what about the weakest ones?"

He smiled. "Well, hit them anywhere. They only take one strike to pop."

Elira actually chuckled, completely unfazed by the death trap they were standing in.

What the hell is wrong with them? How can they be so damn calm while I’m the only one panicking?

Without wasting a single second, Lucian mentally fired a crucial question.

’System, tell me — if I kill this giant in front of me easily, or if I take my time, will the rewards change?’

[Yes. If you eliminate the target easily, the rewards will be standard. The closer you push yourself to a life-and-death situation, the greater the reward multiplier.]

Damn it. I knew it. This system just loves watching me get slaughtered. His eye twitched with irritation. But there was no time to complain.

"Alright, let’s do it."

"Yes, darling."

Wisps of freezing mist seeped from Elira’s palms. A layer of solid ice erupted from beneath her boots, spreading outward at terrifying speed. In a flash, the entire front wave of smaller minions was frozen solid, trapped as literal ice statues.

Standing perfectly still, Elira raised two fingers. Using the exact wind technique Lucian had just taught her, she began swinging her hand. Compressed air blades sliced through the frozen crowd, splitting the goblins apart one by one.

As they died, the notifications start buzzing.

[You have received +5 FP]

[You have received +5 FP]

[You have received +5 FP]

Sera watched the slaughter, completely mesmerized. The fear of being left behind quickly snapped her out of it. Letting out a fierce growl, she gripped the electric baseball bat with both hands and lunged forward.

She swung hard at the first frozen statue.

CRACK!

The moment the bat made contact, violent blue lightning erupted from the tip. The electricity surged forward, jumping from one frozen goblin to the next in a massive chain reaction. With a deafening shatter, an entire section of the frozen ring exploded, turning the goblin statues into piles of broken ice and ash.

Nevertheless the horde was still too big. From behind the shattered ice, four unfrozen Red Goblins leapt into the air, daggers raised to strike her down.

Sera didn’t panic. She instantly shifted her stance and released a dense burst of her aura. The sudden, suffocating pressure hit the goblins mid-air, making them flinch and lose their balance.

Taking ruthlessly capitalized on the opening. She stepped into the swing and smashed all four of their skulls in before their feet even touched the ground.

[You have received +8FP]

[You have received +8FP]

[You have received +8FP]

Lucian glance once at sera.

Ah... so the electricity only triggers upon physical impact, That is a top-tier weapon for someone who can’t use the Lightning element.

Despite being in the middle of a death match, Lucian was completely calm this time. He had a guaranteed fail-safe: if the situation went south, he could just freeze time and pull the girls out through a portal. Since this was a random encounter and not an official System quest, his Gate ability had not been locked.

The Goblin Lord charged directly at him. The towering behemoth didn’t care who was in its way, blindly crushing dozens of its own minions under its massive feet as it closed the distance.

What kind of dumb creatures are these? They marched all the way out here because a few of their kind got killed, and now they’re trampling even more of them to death.

He shook his head, brushing off the thought.

Whatever. Just die and give me your FP and CP.

With that final thought, Lucian moved.

He exploded forward, blurring into a sprint straight toward the charging giant.