Silence.
Total.
Utter.
Disbelieving silence.
It didn't fall over the arena, it crashed into it like a pressure wave no one had braced for. Even the inferno around Surtur faltered, his flames sputtering and shrinking as his massive body slowly peeled itself out of the cracked shield he'd just been launched into. Molten fragments slid off his armor and struck the arena floor with hollow clangs.
The crowd leaned forward as one. Eyes wide. Jaws slack. Souls quietly renegotiating what they thought was possible.
Because what they'd just witnessed wasn't strength.
It was authority.
But Terrence wasn't done.
Not even close.
He rolled his neck once, casual, almost bored. "Let's experiment a little.."
He pulled up his class, and the moment he did, his eyes fractured. Golden concentric rings spiraled outward from his pupils, overlapping and rotating like divine sigils carved into reality itself. The world around him didn't freeze.
It paused.
Air stiffened. Sound dulled. Time leaned in to listen.
{Eternal NecroSummoner}
[Class Description]
A sovereign class born from the fusion of Eternal Extraction and death-aligned dominion. The Eternal NecroSummoner does not merely summon the dead.
He claims them.
Souls. Remnants. Echoes. Concepts of death itself—all are subject to extraction, refinement, and eternal binding. Anything slain by the user is not lost.
It is kept.
[New Passive Skills Unlocked!]
[New Active Skills Unlocked!]
[Eternal Library Updated!]
[The Eternal Library now stores the souls of slain enemies for summoning.]
[Ownership Confirmed.]
A new prompt pulsed before his vision.
[Would you like to activate New Active Skill: Eternal Shadow Summoning?]
[Eternal Shadow Summoning LV.1]
[Description]
Summons a shadow of the strongest variant of an enemy you have killed from alternate timelines. The summoned shadow reflects the target's peak potential, though its power is restricted by the user's current class level. Duration, autonomy, and strength scale with mastery.
[Potential Eternal Shadows Available:]
[Flying Brown Cockroaches] [Werewolves] [Lower Rend Guardian] [Nobody Hunters] [Goblins]
"Wait-" Terrence snorted, then burst out laughing. "Flying cockroaches? So what, the strongest version gonna be those roaches from Terraformars?"
[Now you can't lie. Those were some ugly, but overpowered ass roaches.]
"Nah, for real," Terrence shook his head with a grin. "Looked like Jason without the mask in the face but built like Super Saiyans. For now I'll choose the Flying Brown Cockroaches because of where I'm at, don't want to bring too much attention to myself. Later I'll test the rest out for sure."
[Kind of too late for the 'no attention' strategy considering you just Thanos-flicked an S-Ranked monster.]
[Anyways, how many do you want to summon?]
"Two for now."
[Eternal Shadow Summoning ACTIVATION CONFIRMED.]
[Target: Flying Brown Cockroach]
[Variant Selected: Peak Timeline Individual]
[Quantity: 2]
The air behind Terrence collapsed inward. Not exploded. Not torn. Collapsed. Gold-laced shadows peeled off the arena floor like wet ink ripped from reality itself, stretching upward, twisting, thickening, gaining mass. The darkness didn't behave like smoke or mist.
It behaved like something alive.
Two silhouettes rose. They were tall, broad, and humanoid. Chitinous armor crawled over their bodies in jagged overlapping plates, glossy black threaded with dark bronze veins. Massive wings unfurled from their backs with a violent SCHRRK, membranes veined like obsidian glass. Their legs bent the wrong way, coiled with predatory power, and their arms ended in clawed hands that looked capable of tearing steel like paper.
Their faces..
God.
Their faces were wrong.
Bulbous compound eyes burned a sickly crimson. Mandibles clicked softly, each sound carrying a hunger that didn't belong to this timeline. They stood taller than most humans. Even taller than Terrence.
Built like executioners. Built like monsters that had won.
[Eternal Shadows Successfully Summoned!]
[Synchronization: 37%]
[Autonomy: Semi-Independent]
[Duration: 1 Hour]
The two Eternal Shadows dropped to one knee simultaneously. Not commanded. Not forced. They recognized ownership.
[Ownership Affirmed]
[Eternal Shadows acknowledge the Sovereign of Death.]
What Terrence didn't expect was for them to speak. Two voices, raspy and guttural, yet disturbingly clear.
"Please give us a name, Master Terrence."
He paused, then stepped forward. A slow smirk tugged at his lips as he looked at their golden shadow-etched forms. They looked like insectoid soldiers. Beings that wouldn't hesitate, wouldn't question, wouldn't stop. This was getting fun. Way more fun than he'd expected.
"I'll name you.." He placed a hand on one shoulder. "Bob." Then the other. "And you-Weave."
The names locked.
You didn't hear it. You didn't see it. You felt it, like reality itself stamping approval onto something that should never have existed.
[Name Assignment Complete]
[Eternal Shadow Identity Registered]
[Bob — Eternal Shadow]
[Weave — Eternal Shadow]