Timeless AssassinC301: Trust No-one
Chapter 301: Trust No-one
Leo never saw Karl's betrayal coming.
His acting had been too perfect and his killing intent buried too deep, as even in those final seconds, Leo never once suspected that Karl was after his life.
'The cult sends its regards...'
That was what Karl had mouthed as he let go, and Leo couldn't help but laugh at the irony while the wind screamed past his ears and the world above began to fade away.
It was the Cult of Ascension that had thrown him into this damned world to begin with, and now, it was a cult member who had finished the job by dropping him to his death.
'Trust no one.'
'You should have known better.'
'Trust no one.'
Voices from the depths of his subconscious whispered to him again and again, as Leo closed his eyes and accepted what was to come.
'Mother... Brother... Forgive me.'
'It seems like I won't be able to see you again. It seems like I won't be able to free you from the shackles of the cult. It seems like... in the end, I wasn't as good as I thought I was..... and am hence dying a fool's death.'
A small tear formed at the corner of his eye, glinting faintly as it floated upward, drifting toward the pale twilight while the black abyss below stretched endlessly to receive him.
He fell for what felt like an eternity.
Two minutes non-stop at the minimum, before suddenly hitting the surface of an ancient river, as—
*SPLASH*
A massive cannonball shot up.
The impact was violent, unforgiving, as if the river itself had opened its jaws and snapped every bone in his body, as although the water broke his fall, it also broke several bones in his body alongside it.
His back arched from the shock, his ribs cracked, one leg twisted at an unnatural angle and his arms went limp, completely useless.
His consciousness dimmed instantly, and yet he didn't black out, as instead, his robust body ensured that he felt every second of it.
Every second of the grueling pain that made him wish he was dead on impact.
'Why am I still alive?' He wondered, as he sank deeper.
His thoughts— once sharp and fast— now drifted slowly, like leaves on still water, as for a moment, he accepted his fate.
'So this is it... huh?'
'The great Boss... dying at the bottom of some godforsaken river where no one will ever find him?'
'Is this how my journey ends?'
It was a bitter thought.
Not one born from logic or clarity, but from the mind-numbing pain that swallowed him whole, while his lungs begged for air and his limbs screamed to move.
But despite his survival instincts screaming at him to move! To swim! To save his own life!
Leo simply couldn't.....
The pain had taken everything, including his courage to fight back.
He just stared upward through the murky black, watching the surface ripple far above, the dim light bending and breaking as he continued to sink.
And for a fleeting moment—
He truly considered it....
He wondered if he should just let go?
Let go and just let the water take him.
Let the ache in his chest fade into silence.
Let the thoughts in his head go quiet.
As he really did not think it would be too bad.
Letting go would mean peace forever—
No more struggle.
No more betrayal.
No more running.
No more pain.
Just peace.
The kind of peace he hadn't known in years.
The kind he hadn't tasted since the Cult shattered his family.
Since the day he first became someone else.
His eyes softened.
His heartbeat slowed.
'Mother... brother... I'm sorry.'
He felt his body relax.
Felt the edges of himself blur into the cold.
Felt the sweet pull of nothingness inviting him deeper.
And yet—
Somewhere within him, something stirred.
Not a scream.
Not a shout.
Just a whisper.
'Not yet.'
It was quiet.
But it was his.
'You still have things to do.'
His fingers twitched.
'You still haven't saved them.'
His chest tightened.
'You still haven't become the best version of yourself.'
And in that moment, as the last bubbles of air slipped past his lips and drifted upward—
Leo decided.
He would live.
No matter how broken he was.
No matter how many people wanted him dead.
No matter how dark the abyss became.
He would live.
Not because he wanted to.
But because he had to.
[Monarch's Indifference] kicked in like ice in his veins.
The panic vanished.
The urge to thrash subsided, as he realized that thrashing and struggling was only going to take him down instead of up.
As instead he held still.
Not limp.
Not surrendered.
But waiting.
As gradually, almost imperceptibly, his broken body began to float upward, inches at first, then feet, as slowly but surely he approached the surface.
'I need to hold on.... I can't die yet.... I can't die here!' he thought to himself, as his breath burned.
For those last few painful seconds when he was still approaching the surface, he could feel the pain at its maximum.
His lungs burned.
His mind burned.
Everything hurt.
But he didn't stop.
And then—
*Gasp*
He broke the surface.
Air hit him like a blade, cutting straight down his throat, as he coughed and sputtered, dragging in breath after breath, each one harder than the last.
However, he didn't celebrate.... Not yet.
As he knew that getting to the surface was only half the battle, while the real struggle was getting to the shore.
"Survive! Trust no-one!"
"Survive!"
"Trust No... n... no one!"
Leo muttered like a mantra, as stroke after stroke, he pushed past the unbelievable pain and somehow moved his limbs to carry him with the current towards the shore.
With every inch gained, the pain screaming across his joints worsened even more, however, he did not give up.
Deciding firmly that he wanted to live, he kept moving, kept trying to make it to the shore, as despite reaching a point where he was so numb in the head that he no longer felt his body at all, he still kept moving.
'Come on. Just get to the edge. Just... move.'
He didn't see where he was going.
Didn't care.
As he simply kept moving single mindedly, until he felt a stone scrape beneath his fingertips.
He clawed forward, ignoring the blood, the pain, the exhaustion.
And finally, his body slumped onto the dark shore, half in water, half on land, as the last of his strength gave way.
*Thud*
He collapsed.
Face to the side.
Hands curled in dirt.
Eyes barely open.
But alive.
And that, for now, was enough, as he slowly blacked out, the pain and exhaustion finally pulling him into a deep slumber.
He had no idea as to where he was, or as to how safe it was for him to rest where he currently slept, however, he had no choice but to lay there, as his passive skill [Faster Regeneration] kicked in to save his life.
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Timeless AssassinC302: Karl's Act
Chapter 302: Karl's Act
(Time-stilled world, The floating island, 14 Minutes After Leo's Fall)
Karl sat in silence near the edge of the platform, his breathing shallow, his hands still trembling slightly— not from guilt, nor from grief, but from the act of remembering exactly how to appear broken.
The shiver in his fingers was subtle, well-practiced, while the dampness in his eyes was intentional.
Right now, all he needed to be was devastated.
"All I had to do was grab his hand..." he said quietly, his voice carrying just enough pain to seem raw. "His fingers were right there. I tried... he just didn't jump far enough."
Raiden turned away sharply, dragging a palm across his face as he kicked a loose chunk of stone over the ledge, watching it tumble into the abyss.
"Fucking hell," Raiden muttered under his breath, louder with each word. "We just lost Leo. Just like that. First Cipher, and now him? What the hell is going on with this goddamn world?"
Bob didn't say anything.
He just sat upright, fists clenched tightly, his knuckles pale, his jaw grinding wordlessly as he stared at the spot Leo had jumped from.
The spot where the wind still hadn't stopped howling.
Karl kept his gaze down.
His shoulders hunched, his fingers twitching ever so slightly, just enough to show the pain he wasn't voicing.
"I tried," he said again, softer now, barely above a whisper. "I swear to you, I tried. We touched. I swear we touched... but I just... I couldn't hold on."
Raiden spun back toward him, his voice now sharper, his tone filled with disbelief and rising anger.
"Couldn't hold on? That's all you've got? We were right there, Karl! You had one job! One fucking job!"
Karl looked up slowly and met his eyes.
There was no defiance.
Only a fake pain.
"...Do you think I don't know that?" He said, sounding aggrieved, as Bob finally stood up.
He cracked his knuckles one by one as he approached, stopping just short of Karl and jabbing a thick finger toward his chest.
"You better not be playing the victim here. You let him fall. I don't care if it was bad timing or if your hand slipped, the fact is, you let him fall."
Karl didn't answer.
He simply nodded, slowly, like a man being sentenced, as he bit his lower lip hard enough to break skin, the metallic tang of his own blood grounding him, reminding him to stay in character.
Silence returned.
Heavy and bitter.
But beneath that silence, deep within Karl's mind, something darker simmered quietly.
A small flicker of satisfaction.
A breath of relief.
Because despite Raiden and Bob's angry reactions, the two seemed to believe him.
They seemed to believe that he tried his best to save Leo, but fell just short.
That he was just as aggrieved about Leo's death as the two of them.
Which was actually not the case at all.
As the wind picked up once more and the island beneath them began its slow, swaying shift, Karl looked away from them both and turned his eyes to the drifting horizon.
Not to measure the path forward for the team.
But for himself.
Because now that Leo, the strongest fighter amongst them, was gone...
... Getting rid of the other two was going to be simple as well.
—--------
(Meanwhile, Back in the real world, Planet Tithia)
The First Elder returned to Tithia promptly after his meeting with Soron concluded, as he needed to prepare for the upcoming emergency elders meet that he himself had called for.
The moment his boots touched the stone of the landing platform, he was already issuing orders and reading reports, as there was no time to waste.
"Have the Twelve Seats polished and reoriented. The Godflame must be lit by noon sharp. And summon the record scribes. I want them to be present in tomorrow's meeting, taking notes of everything that's being spoken."
His subordinates moved without delay, nodding once before vanishing into the compound's many archways, as they scrambled to carry out his instructions. .
Mavern continued walking.
His internal thoughts— sharp and resolute, as he knew exactly what he wanted to achieve from tomorrow's elder meeting.
'I need the other elders to start preparing for war. I need them to acknowledge the threat we are under and begin making preparations before the enemy strikes first. And from tomorrow onward, I need to start rallying support behind Leo Skyshard as well.'
'Although the boy is not my first choice to become the next Dragon, I have no luxury of preference anymore, and must now start playing politics— securing votes and gathering backing before the Fourth Elder gains any more ground within the Council and pushes his own candidate further.' Mavern thought, as he grit his teeth and let out a slow exhale.
He was still not at peace with the fact that his life's work was unraveling and being torn apart by the purge the Righteous Alliance was currently carrying out.
However, after speaking with Soron, he had come to accept the fact that he couldn't afford to remain trapped in that loop of helpless despair.
He was still the First Elder.
The leader of the Elders Council.
And that meant he needed to carry himself accordingly, with his eyes fixed firmly on the future.
He couldn't allow grief to override responsibility. He couldn't abandon his duties simply because the tide had turned against him.
Because his position as the first elder required him to give it his all and steer the cult towards a brighter future, no matter the crisis he found himself in.
'I wasn't firm enough when you pushed through the proposal of the attack on Sky-God Arena.
However, I will let you have a free reign over the council no more.
It's been a couple decades since I have actively been involved in elder politics, but I will make it my life's mission to disband the block you have made.
As no matter what, I will never let you make Veyr into the next Dragon–'
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The
Timeless AssassinC304: Aegon Veyr
Chapter 304: Aegon Veyr
The First Elder's expression crumbled beneath his mask, as he struggled to believe just how boldly the Fourth Elder had contradicted him in front of everyone.
It was audacious. Brazen even.
And yet, despite the silent outrage churning within him, he held his composure.
He didn't interrupt.
He didn't scoff.
He didn't rise to match fire with fire.
Instead, he let the Fourth Elder finish every last word of his speech, and waited in silence until the inevitable chatter died down.
As only after the murmurs faded did he speak again.
"I have already issued orders to my subordinates and war commanders to begin preparing for conflict," he said, his voice colder than before. "The reallocation of resources under my control has already begun, with priority being shifted to our military wings."
"The rest of you are free to follow my lead and begin preparing for the inevitable—"
"Or you may continue hoping for the best... and learn the cost of complacency when the enemy eventually strikes."
He didn't raise his voice.
"The choice is yours."
"But make no mistake, this matter is now closed. I have issued my warning, and each of you is mature enough to understand the implications of ignoring it, so it's pointless to hold more discussion or debate on it."
He paused, adjusting slightly in his seat.
"But since we are all here already... I will be bringing up one more topic to discuss today."
His voice shifted ever so slightly, still calm, but more deliberate.
"Yesterday, I visited Ixtal... and shared tea with Lord Soron himself."
A visible shift rippled through the room.
"He instructed me—directly—that it is time to begin focusing on the cultivation of the next Dragon."
He leaned back slightly.
"I wasn't planning to raise this matter today... but since we have convened already, let us address it now." The first elder said, as his words caused another stir to pass in the room.
"How was Lord Soron? Is he well? How did he look?"
"You met Lord Soron? I thought we were not allowed to meet Lord Soron unless there were emergencies?"
"The Lord wants us to raise a new Dragon? But why suddenly? Wasn't our policy to not raise one after Noah?"
The elders shouted over one another, as the atmosphere in the conference hall turned into that of a fish market.
All hell broke loose and everyone wanted to get their question answered first, until the twelfth and youngest elder shouted over everyone.
"Elders! Calm down! I'm sure we can be civil and get our points across without shouting—" He said, as his words caused quite a few of the elders to feel embarrassed about their lack of composure.
"Thank-you, twelfth elder...." The first elder began, as he continued speaking.
"Lord Soron is in good health and good spirits. He has assured me that there's nothing to worry about with regards to his strength and that he's more than capable of fighting a war.
However, with all that said, he's still hoping that the next Dragon is groomed quickly, so let's talk about that now–" he said, as he signalled back towards the twelfth elder.
"Currently, the twelfth elder is grooming a Dragon Candidate in the shadows, and if he so pleases, he can address the council today regarding this individual—" The first elder suggested, as knowing how it wasn't his place to introduce the kid, he passed on that privilege to the twelfth elder.
"I'm not sure if I'm ready to introduce him yet to the council, first elder.
With all due respect to the council, I'm still not confident that everyone here will share my vision and let me groom him how I want if I introduce him here today," The twelfth elder said, as he politely declined the first elders offer, which left the first elder red faced and embarrassed.
The refusal had stung.
He had offered the Twelfth Elder a spotlight, an opportunity to step forward and earn the council's recognition, only to be declined in full view of everyone.
The silence that followed was heavy, almost awkward, until the Eleventh Elder cleared his throat and turned toward the younger voice.
"Twelfth Elder, you forget yourself. That was not a casual invitation from a peer. That was the First Elder's recognition. You would do well to remember your place and offer more than polite excuses when called upon."
"I meant no disrespect," the Twelfth Elder replied, his tone measured. "But if I feel my candidate isn't ready to be placed under council scrutiny, then I believe it would be more irresponsible to parade him now, only to risk politicizing his growth."
Before the tension could escalate any further, the Fourth Elder's voice cut in smoothly, the confidence in his tone commanding attention at once.
"If that is the case," he said, "then perhaps it is time I presented my candidate."
The room turned toward him.
He didn't rush. He let the moment sit, let the weight of his words draw in full attention before continuing.
"His name is Aegon Veyr. A child I have been quietly grooming for the last seven years. He is not known to the Cult's broader archives, but a few in this council are already aware of his true progression."
His voice sharpened with pride.
"Three years ago, he was a mere Grandmaster, talented but raw. Today, he stands on the verge of transcending into the next realm. And he did it without the backing of the Cult through sheer skill and hard work alone."
A flicker of disbelief passed through the room.
The Fourth Elder noticed.
"I know it's hard to believe," he continued, "but I've witnessed it myself. His control over elemental harmony, his compatibility with soul spells, and his combat adaptability in irregular environments... it surpasses what even Noah showed at the same age."
That drew murmurs.
To compare someone to Noah, the previous and best Dragon the cult had ever seen, was no small matter.
The First Elder shifted slightly in his seat, visibly displeased, but he didn't interrupt.
"I had originally intended to introduce Veyr only after he broke through to the Transcendent realm," the Fourth Elder admitted. "But now that Lord Soron himself has spoken and called for the next Dragon's grooming to begin in earnest, I no longer see reason to wait."
He paused.
"And I'm not just putting his name forward as a candidate. I am endorsing him. Fully. If this council must raise a Dragon... then I strongly believe that Aegon Veyr should be the one."
A sharp silence followed his words.
It wasn't the silence of confusion.
It was the silence of consideration.
Because while many did not like the Fourth Elder's arrogance... His conviction was difficult to ignore.
"I also back Aegon Veyr to become the next Dragon.
That kid is special and I have seen him fight with my own eyes.
He's young.... Not even 25 yet, and can easily beat any Grandmaster tier fighter matched up against him, even if it's this year's Circuit Champion Leo whatever boy himself," The second elder added, as his recognition of Veyr's talents gave even more credibility to the fourth elders story.
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Timeless AssassinC305 305: Introducing Leo
The Twelfth Elder really did not wish to reveal Leo to the council today, as deep down, he still harbored the suspicion that Noah's death hadn't been an accident and that it was in fact orchestrated by one of the elders present in this room.
And yet, despite his resolve to stay silent, something about the Fourth Elder's words struck a nerve inside him.
For the fourth elder to claim that Aegon Veyr might be a better talent than Noah…
That wasn't just a stretch. It was borderline blasphemy.
Noah had already stepped into the Transcendent Realm before turning twenty-five, and was knocking on the door of the Monarch Realm by the time he hit thirty-three.
That made him not only the most gifted Dragon the Cult had ever seen, but the only one in history who might have reached the Monarch Realm before the age of thirty-five.
When the next closest to ever do it had only done so at fifty-five.
And while the Twelfth Elder prided himself on being a rational man, if there was one thing he could never tolerate— it was disrespect towards Noah.
Because unlike the rest of the room, who admired Noah as a legend or a symbol…
He had known him as a brother.
Not by blood, but by battle.
He had stood beside Noah on the frontlines. Had bled with him. Fought beside him. Laughed and nearly died with him.
And he had been there the day Noah fell.
So no matter how calm he appeared from the outside, the moment Aegon Veyr's name was placed above Noah's, something inside him quietly snapped.
And so, despite every instinct telling him to wait.
Despite the carefully-laid plans he had made to keep Leo in the shadows just a little longer.
He spoke.
"It's interesting you mention Leo… whatever, Second Elder," he said suddenly, his tone sharper than before, as it cut through the chamber with force. "Because he's the exact boy I have in mind as our next Dragon Candidate."
The room blinked.
Confused silence swept across the chamber like a chill breeze, as the elders turned ever so slightly, unsure if they had heard him right.
"Leo Skyshard," the twelfth elder repeated, slower this time. "The same boy who defeated four Grandmasters back-to-back in this year's Interstellar Circuits. The very talent that the righteous faction is hailing as their next generational prodigy."
He leaned forward, his voice calm but cold.
"He is, in fact… my candidate."
Scoffs followed.
Soft at first.
Then louder.
One or two elders even chuckled outright, until they noticed that neither the First Elder nor the Twelfth Elder had flinched.
As then their amusement began to suddenly die down, being replaced by disbelief.
"What nonsense is this?"
"Is he serious?"
"How could a boy from the righteous alliance be considered for the position of the Dragon?"
They complained, but no one interrupted officially. No one rose to object. Because deep down, even through the disbelief, some part of them understood that the Twelfth Elder wouldn't say something like this… unless he meant it.
And the First Elder's silence?
That said even more.
"Let me explain so that all your doubts may be addressed clearly," the twelfth elder said calmly, as he raised his palms above the table and made explaining hand gestures.
"Leo Skyshard is a boy that I've been nurturing in secret ever since I discovered that the ancestor's blood runs thick in his veins.
And based on every metric I've observed, I believe he possesses at minimum Semi-Divine potential, if not outright Divine."
Gasps rippled faintly through the room, but he continued without pause.
"I sent him to the Rodova Military Academy under a false identity, with his memories temporarily wiped and disguised him as a Mu Clan prodigy, so that he could receive the highest-grade awakening serums that the righteous faction had to offer."
"Because while we do produce our own serums, all of us here know the truth….. our concoctions don't come close to the righteous faction's in terms of purity or potency.
And if we want our future dragon to have the best possible foundation, then he needs to have the best awakening serum."
His words grew steadier, firmer.
"Naturally, the results spoke for themselves. His combat growth was unprecedented. The whole galaxy saw what he could do during the Circuits. But then… fate intervened."
He paused, just briefly.
"He was caught in the kidnapping incident and an operative from the Cult tried to eliminate him."
"But Leo survived, and he did not just survive, he demonstrated just how quick he is to think on his feet, as he survived a deadly attack against a Transcendent tier warrior and lived to tell the tale."
"He showed resilience, resourcefulness and the ability to navigate chaos, which I personally believe are qualities that every true Dragon must possess."
He paused again, this time a bit longer.
"After that? I orchestrated his exit from the Rodova Military Academy and arranged for him to join the Black Serpents on a special assignment."
His voice lowered slightly, drawing the room in.
"He is currently attempting to retrieve Noah's lost scroll."
A sharp inhale cut across the chamber.
"And if all goes well," the Twelfth Elder finished, "when he returns with that scroll in hand… I will bring him fully into the Cult's fold."
Silence followed.
As the room tried to digest his words.
Nobody expected Leo Skyshard to have such a background, and now that they found out, everyone felt too overwhelmed by the flood of information to react for a while.
"So the righteous faction's prodigy, is actually our hidden asset? Hahaha! This is brilliant!" The seventh elder said eventually, as he laughed and clapped his hands in joy like a kid.
"Nonono, don't clap for that, this is ridiculous!
Twelfth Elder, what the hell are you doing?
All Dragon Candidates must be nurtured within the Cult, otherwise how can we ever be sure about where their allegiance lies?
What if he builds genuine connections in the righteous faction and sells us out to them when it's more convenient for him?
How can you ever let him mix with them?
What is this irresponsible tomfoolery?" The fourth elder objected, as he did not seem amused by the twelfth elders' words at all.
"The fourth elder is absolutely right! Also, how could you send him on a mission to retrieve the scroll?
Dupravel Nuna will literally die before he gives up that scroll.
If it was possible to get the scroll from Dupravel, we would have gotten it already in exchange for his son, however, it's not possible.
Without the scroll Dupravel and the Black Serpents have no future.
They have made too many enemies within the righteous faction, and without the scrolls protection they won't survive for long—" The second elder added, as he did not seem amused by what the twelfth elder was doing either.
"Yes, yes! To send a boy on such a mission is suicide!"
"What do you know about it? Maybe he can pull it off! Afterall we do need the scroll don't we?"
"We also need the righteous alliance to shatter and break tomorrow, but will it just magically happen if we give the task to a Grandmaster kid?
What are you saying? Ninth elder? Where has your common sense gone?"
The elders began to squabble amongst each other like kids, as the twelfth elders' handling of Leo enraged many.
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Timeless AssassinC306 306: Conditions To Be Named Next Dragon
For a while, the entire council chamber remained engulfed in noise, as elders bickered and interrupted one another without pause, their voices rising and falling in overlapping waves— each man more adamant than the last, as the room split clean down the middle over Leo Skyshard's candidacy as the next Dragon.
His talent, of course, was never in question.
They had all seen the boy fight in the Interstellar Circuits.
They had all seen him defeat four Grandmasters back-to-back alongside hundreds of billions more.
And hence, they understood that in terms of potential, very few could contest what he was capable of becoming—
But talent was never the problem to begin with.
The real concern was his loyalty.
Because the Fourth Elder's concerns weren't without merit either.
As how could the Cult place its most sacred future in the hands of someone raised beyond its walls? Someone not nurtured within its codes, its values, its ways? Someone who'd grown up breathing the enemy's air, drinking their potions, and training under their banner?
How could such a person ever be trusted?
And yet, the counterargument couldn't be dismissed either.
Because when it came to foundation-building… The righteous alliance simply did it better.
Their awakening serums were purer.
Their academies were more advanced.
And their resources, whether spiritual, educational, or infrastructural…. far outclassed anything the Cult could offer its rookies.
Sending Leo to Rodova, in that light, wasn't betrayal.
It was strategy.
It was foresight.
And yet, in the end, none of that mattered.
Because no matter how logically the Twelfth Elder had planned Leo's path…
No matter how reasonable his arguments behind sending him to Rodova were…
There was still one question he couldn't answer.
Which was—
When the time came,
When the stakes were highest and the world demanded a choice—
Would Leo Skyshard raise his blade for the Cult?
Or would he aim it at them?
"I'm telling you! Such a candidate cannot be trusted. The twelfth elder in his inexperience has ruined a great seed.
It's a shame that we could not groom Leo Skyshard from the ground up.
But I say it's too late to start now" The Fourth Elder said while slamming his palm on the conference table, as he forcefully gathered everyone's attention towards himself.
"I will die before I let an outsider become the next Dragon….. you all can count on that!" He concluded, as he delivered this last line with incredible passion, trying to rile up the room.
However, while he expected the sentence to have a resounding emotional impact, it was countered immediately by the third elder, who was not pleased by the fourth's hardline stance at all.
"If the boy returns with the scroll, then I will personally make him Dragon.
And if it has to be over your dead body, then I will carve you in half to make it happen.
Without the scroll, no future Dragon can become the next Timeless Assassin anyways.
And hence, whoever is able to retrieve it, should get the right to become the next Dragon!" The third elder said, as his words caused many to nod in agreement.
The fourth elder frowned under his mask, as he was not happy with how his passionate statement was immediately countered, however, he doubled down on it and said…. "Very well, if a Grandmaster level warrior is really able to bring back the scroll then I will support him! But if not, then his candidacy cannot be accepted under any other circumstances!"
There was a pause after that.
A rare and fleeting pause—
One of those that didn't feel empty, but rather heavy.
As the Fourth Elder's final line hung in the air, thick with challenge, thick with pride…
And yet, this time, it wasn't met with outrage.
It was met with quiet calculation.
Because at that moment, even the most skeptical voices in the room were forced to acknowledge the unspoken truth, that if Leo Skyshard really did manage to return with Noah's scroll…
Then he wasn't just some promising warrior from the other side, but rather a Cult legend in the making.
And so, finally, the First Elder leaned forward.
Not to scold, not to praise, but to settle this debate for now, as he said, "In that case, let us not waste more breath debating what none of us can prove tonight."
He looked around the chamber, eyes sharp even behind the veil.
"The council will issue a conditional ruling."
He paused.
"Leo Skyshard shall be accepted as the next Dragon—"
The chamber stiffened.
"Only if he returns to us with Noah's scroll within the next twelve months."
"And if he fails…" he continued, eyes briefly shifting toward the Fourth Elder,
"Then Aegon Veyr will be crowned in his place, as long as he does break through to the Transcendent realm within the same timeline."
The room stilled again.
No one moved.
No one objected.
Because the proposal—
As impossible as it might have sounded at first…
Felt fair.
It was a test.
A proving ground.
And it gave both candidates a chance to earn the title, not through politics or any underhanded tactics.
But through merit and action.
"I accept," the twelfth elder said, as he bowed his head slightly.
"As do I," the Fourth Elder replied after a beat, though his tone was cold, restrained, and tight around the edges.
The First Elder leaned back.
"Then it's settled….. and we can conclude the meeting here today for now," He said, as he stood from his chair, prompting the others to follow in silence.
The scribes nodded enthusiastically towards one another from the center of the chamber, their quills scratching furiously as they recorded the outcome of today's meeting, their record books noting everything that had been spoken, so that no one could refute the records later.
The conditions for the next Dragon to be chosen had been set, and 12 months later, either Aegon Veyr or Leo Skyshard was sure to be crowned as the next Dragon of the Cult Of Ascension.
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Timeless AssassinC307 307: Unknown Nest
(The time-stilled world, in a dark cave somewhere far beneath the surface world)
Leo had absolutely no idea how many days he'd been out cold, or how the hell he was still breathing— still alive.
All he knew was that when consciousness finally did return to him, it didn't come all at once….
It came in flickers, in fragments. Like broken pieces of a memory trying to reassemble themselves inside a body that wasn't ready to wake up.
As the first thing he felt wasn't pain, but rather the odd texture of straw beneath his fingers.
Dry. Prickly. Foreign.
Then the pain came crashing in.
Like a goddamn landslide.
A dull, thudding ache tore through his ribs.
His shoulders felt like they'd been shattered and glued back wrong.
And his lower body…
He wasn't even sure if it was still attached to him until he touched it with his fingers to make sure it was still there.
His eyelids twitched open next, only to be greeted by darkness.
Not pitch black—
But a deep, muted gloom that was only broken by the veins of dark-blue mana crystals embedded into the moist cave walls around him.
He blinked again.
Once.
Twice.
As the haze began to fade.
And that's when he noticed the size of the space around him.
High, cavernous ceilings.
Wet walls.
And a stench that hit him like rotting blood and burnt fur mixed together.
But none of that stopped his breathing.
What did—
Were the eggs.
Massive.
Oblong.
Five of them.
Each nearly as tall as a man and wide enough to crush him if they so much as rolled in his direction.
As he found them clustered around him in a perfect circle.
While he?
He lied in the center of an unknown beasts nest.
The nest was made of broken bones, dried sinew, strips of charred cloth, metal, and what looked disturbingly like the skin of some poor animal that once walked on four feet.
'What the fuck is this—'
Leo tried to move.
But it proved to be a mistake and a brutal one at that, as the moment he twitched slightly, fire immediately erupted in his chest.
His ribs screeched.
His spine contorted.
His lungs felt like they'd been dragged through barbed wire.
However, as if that was not bad enough already, his arms also did not respond to the commands of his mind, while he could not feel his legs at all.
Leo grit his teeth, he could feel the panic rising in his chest, however, he forced himself to steady his breath.
'Don't panic…. Just don't panic…' He told himself, as [Monarch's Indifference] kicked in to stabilize his mindset.
Everything hurt.
His entire body was wrecked.
From his collarbone to his hips to the soles of his goddamn feet—
He was broken in more ways than one.
And then—
The memory returned.
Karl.
The jump.
The betrayal.
The fall.
The water.
The pain.
The blacking out near the riverbank.
'But… this isn't the river…'
He froze, realizing that some beast had probably carried him from the river bank to its nest.
And unfortunately for him, as soon as he realized that, he began hearing a soft rhythmic thump of something walking in the distance.
*THUMP*
*THUMP*
It was getting louder with every passing second, as something massive was most likely approaching the nest.
'Well fuck,'
Leo's pulse began to spike, but his body refused to move.
He was paralyzed, surrounded by giant eggs and lying helplessly inside a monster's nest.
And this time—
He did not even have the strength to move or run.
As he could do nothing but pretend to be still asleep and unconscious, as he felt the beast finally approach the nest and hover right over him.
Leo instinctively slowed his breathing to the bare minimum, forcing his chest to rise and fall so subtly it could've passed for aftershock rather than life.
As he heard it first before he felt it—
A heavy, rasping breath that reeked of spoiled meat and decay.
Hot and wet, as it coated his face like a film of rot.
Then came the nudge.
A slick, leathery snout pressing gently against his shoulder, as the beast exhaled another wave of sour heat onto his skin, before a thick glob of drool slid off its jaw and landed squarely on his neck.
*Drip*
Leo's heart was hammering against his ribcage now—
So loud it felt like it would betray him before the monster could.
But he didn't move.
Didn't blink.
Didn't twitch.
The beast prodded him again—
Sniffing, testing, dragging its nose up from his chest to his face, as Leo felt another warm strand of saliva trail down the side of his cheek and into his ear canal.
He nearly gagged—
But suppressed it just in time.
As eventually, after what felt like an eternity of tension, the creature seemed satisfied that he posed no threat… as it turned its attention elsewhere.
*THUMP*
Leo listened as the footsteps shuffled sideways, accompanied by a faint rumble that almost sounded like a purr—
Not a soft or gentle purr like that of a cat, but a deep and powerful purr, the kind that echoed off the cavern walls like the growl of shifting stone.
The beast moved toward the eggs.
He couldn't see it clearly, but from the sound of its claws scraping against the ground, it was circling them—
Inspecting them.
Checking each one with slow, deliberate care.
Leo remained perfectly still, his breath barely escaping his nose as his ears strained to track every motion.
One egg.
Then another.
And another.
Until at last, after what felt like forever, the sound of the beast began to fade.
Its steps grew lighter.
Its breathing grew distant.
And eventually—
Its presence disappeared into the deeper tunnels of the cave.
Leo didn't move.
Not for ten whole minutes, out of precaution of the beast sensing his movement.
As he just lay there, heart pounding in his throat, lungs burning, body screaming… until he was finally sure that it was gone.
Only then did he let out a breath of relief, as he sounded like a man who had just had a close encounter with death.
'That thing was at least Transcendent tier…' Leo thought grimly, still feeling the concentrated mana it had radiated, as the air around him still felt thick with the invisible tar like mana that the beast had given off.
'I wouldn't be able to take it on even if I were at my best… much less now, with this broken body that won't even twitch.'
The idea of fighting it was laughable.
From what little he'd glimpsed through half-lidded eyes, it looked like some twisted version of a komodo dragon— scaled, four-legged, with a snake-like tongue that slithered slowly through the air.
But he hadn't dared open his eyes all the way, he couldn't risk it, and hence he wasn't sure what it really was?
However, it also didn't matter what the thing was.
Its name. Its species. Its classification. None of that mattered.
What mattered… was survival.
Because if he stayed here, lying motionless in this nest, waiting for the eggs around him to hatch…
Then sooner or later, he was going to end up on the birth meal menu.
And there wouldn't be a damn thing he could do to stop it.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC308 308: The effects of Mana Heart
'Okay… first thing I need to do is heal this broken mess of a body,' Leo thought, his jaw clenched tight as he wiggled weakly on the straw-lined floor, each twitch shooting sparks of pain up and down his spine.
He couldn't sit up. Couldn't roll over. Could barely breathe without it feeling like a knife was stabbing through his ribs.
But that didn't stop him from trying.
He twisted his torso half an inch at a time, letting out small, controlled exhales as he moved— slow enough to avoid drawing attention, but just fast enough to keep himself from blacking out again.
'Come on… come on… it should still be there.'
His chest burned. His back screamed. But his fingers eventually brushed against something solid, something familiar.
The cold, unassuming shape of his spatial ring, still tucked beneath the fabric of his robes, right over his heart.
'Good… it's still here! Thank the stars.'
He didn't allow himself a smile.
Not yet.
Because finding it was one thing.
Getting it out?
That was the real battle.
His arms barely worked. His muscles were shot. And his fingers were so numb they felt like they belonged to someone else.
But he had to move them.
Even if it took him an hour. Even if it made him pass out. He had to move them.
Hence, with a long, shaky inhale, Leo began guiding his right hand across his chest, using his chin and shoulder to pin the ring against his skin so it wouldn't slip away.
It was crude.
It was slow.
And it hurt like hell.
But inch by inch, he dragged the edge of the robe aside— until finally, with the tips of two trembling fingers, he managed to hook the band and slide it outward, just barely enough to reach his palm.
'Got you…'
He gripped it.
Weakly, sloppily, but he gripped it.
His breath hitched as he closed his fingers around the ring, pressing it into his palm with the little strength he had left.
Now he just had to activate it.
For which he needed to channel some of his mana into the ring.
'Shit… Mana….' Leo realized, as he felt his heart drop.
Ever since he blacked out, he no longer had a mana stone in hand, which meant that he had been absorbing this world's tainted mana for only god knows how long?
'Are my mana circuits turning hard? Has the corrupted mana already started to taint my mind?' Leo wondered, as he quickly carried out an introspection of his mana circuits.
However, what he found out was nothing like what he expected.
He expected to see his mana circuits being clogged up by taint…
Expected to see the early signs of contamination— darkened nodes, stiffened flow, sluggish movement, or worse, the telltale tremble of corruption beginning to chew at his consciousness from the inside out.
But what he found instead—
Was the exact opposite.
The mana flowing through his circuits wasn't just clean.
It was pristine.
It was clear, vibrant and strong.
Easily twice as strong as anything he was used to.
'Wait… what?'
Leo blinked twice, running the scan again, making sure he wasn't imagining things, but the results didn't change.
There was no sign of hardening in his mana circuits.
No trace of mental fog clouding his mind.
No thickness or grainy texture in the flow of mana through his body that usually came from drawing in corrupted ambient energy.
Instead, the mana coursing through his body was smooth, nourishing, refined.
It moved through him like chilled water over a sunburn— healing, not harming. Energizing, not exhausting.
'Wait, wait, wait… what the hell is going on?'
This wasn't supposed to be possible.
Every book he read about absorbing ambient mana suggested that one should start deteriorating after prolonged exposure.
His thoughts should've started slipping. His nerves should've started fraying. His circuits should've started hardening from the inside out, turning rigid one by one under the weight of corrupted mana.
But none of that was happening.
'What the actual hell is—'
Then it hit him.
This was all due to the mana heart!
That mysterious organ he had developed during his last awakening shot, the one thing that not even Major Hen could tell him much about.
'No way… could it be because of the mana heart?' Leo wondered, as he tracked the flow of mana more carefully now, following the path of absorption from the ambient air around him.
And there it was.
Clear as day.
The foreign mana was being pulled into his body, slow and steady… but it wasn't heading straight into his circuits.
It was moving through the center of his chest.
Right through the mana heart.
Which was glowing faintly— pulsing with gentle waves— as it took in the tainted energy and broke it down.
He observed in awe.
Watched as the dark flecks dissolved.
Watched as the impurities vanished.
Watched as the thick, heavy mana thinned and lightened until only a purified stream of clear energy was left— one that the mana heart then passed along into the rest of his body like a patient hand serving filtered water.
'Holy… shit.'
He wasn't being harmed by this world's mana.
He was immune to it.
Or rather— his mana heart was doing the work of a full purification array… on autopilot… twenty-four-seven.
He didn't need high grade mana stones.
Didn't need a purification array to be set up around him.
Didn't even need to suppress the urge to absorb this world's ambient mana.
Because his own damn body was doing the work for him.
'I… I might actually be the only one who can live here…. If this world's mana doesn't corrupt me, then I might be in a paradise'
The realization hit him like a silent explosion.
If any other warrior had fallen here, they'd have gone mad sooner or later from the tainted mana exposure.
Their minds would've rotted.
Their meridians would've turned to stone.
But not him.
Because of a stroke of unexplainable fortune… Leo might be the only living person capable of surviving in the time-stilled world without going insane.
And that presented him with a unique opportunity to grow stronger while time in the outside world flowed very slowly.
'Okay…. No need to get ahead of myself, firstly I still need to heal myself and get out of this nest.
As there's no point in me having the mana heart, if I'm just going to become a baby meal,' Leo reminded himself, as he poured a handful of mana into his spatial ring and brought out the highest grade healing potion, and bone regeneration potion he had stored inside.
*PLUP*
He uncorked the blue healing potion bottle using his teeth before drinking its contents like a thirsty beast, as he drank without pause, finishing the bottle's contents in a single go.
Warmth immediately began to flood his body, spreading like molten silk through his veins, as it dulled the sharpest aches first, before numbing the deeper tears, as his pulse slowly steadied.
His breathing eased after a few breaths, no longer uneven and painful, while the biting chill that had settled in his bones finally began to retreat.
The pain naturally did not vanish, not completely at least, but it dulled just enough to remind him that he was no longer on the brink of death.
That although he was broken, he was slowly recovering and that the worst was now behind him.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC309 309: True Pain
About twenty minutes after Leo drank the HP regeneration potion, sensation began creeping back into the tips of his fingers and lower body— and with it came a fresh wave of pain so sharp, so suffocating, it made everything he'd felt upon waking seem merciful by comparison.
It wasn't the kind of pain that made you flinch.
It was the kind that made you question whether waking up had been a mistake.
The kind that made death feel like the kinder option.
Because as the nerves stitched themselves back together and his body slowly remembered how to feel again—
Leo genuinely regretted drinking the damn potion at all.
His breath hitched.
His fingers curled inward as if recoiling from the agony surging up his arm, while his knees twitched uncontrollably, useless and trembling, as if taunting him to try and move if he dared.
'Fuck… it's worse now that I can feel again…' Leo thought, biting down on his lip to stop the grunt building in his throat, as he lay there, fully aware this was only the beginning of his misery.
He was supposed to take the bone regeneration potion next— and there was only one rule before doing so: every dislocated bone had to be properly aligned.
If he drank it now, his body would recover in the wrong shape.
His shoulder would stay twisted.
His kneecap would stay off-center.
And he'd heal into a cripple, which was worse than not healing at all.
He winced as he stared at his shoulder— swollen, dislodged, and bent at an ugly angle, knowing exactly what had to come next and how much it was going to hurt.
'No choice… this has to go back in.'
He didn't want to do it.
He really didn't.
Just thinking about forcing it back into place made his stomach churn.
But it was either that— or becoming monster food.
So in the end, he chose pain.
'Come on, Leo… you've done worse. This is just pain. You've felt pain. You've lived through pain. Just fucking do it,' he told himself, psyching himself up as his breath caught in his throat and his hands trembled—
And then, he shoved.
*CRACK*
A sound like a bone breaking in reverse echoed through the cavern, as he clamped his jaw tight to keep himself from screaming.
His vision darkened.
His heart stuttered from the jolt shooting down his spine.
But he didn't scream.
He didn't thrash.
He just lay there, trembling, soaked in sweat, as his shoulder finally snapped back into place.
For a brief moment, everything stilled.
But he wasn't done yet.
His eyes dropped to his right knee next, which was dislocated, pulsing and misaligned, as he could already feel that popping this back into place might feel worse than the shoulder.
'Agh, fuck me…'
He gritted his teeth again.
But this time, he didn't stall.
With both hands on his thigh and a deep breath in, he immediately pulled it back into place.
*PLOP*
He twisted and shoved the kneecap back where it belonged.
And that—
That nearly knocked him out for good.
'Fuck, fucking, holy mother of everything good and evil in this cursed universe,' he muttered inwardly, the words making no sense, but somehow keeping him tethered to consciousness.
As for a while after that, he didn't move.
For the next 20 minutes, his breathing remained shallow, as he breathed through his parted lips.
Sweat rolled down his face as the tremors in his limbs slowly began to ease.
His vision was still a blur.
His mind still reeling.
But the worst was done.
His bones were in place.
And the time to drink the potion had finally come.
*Tremble*
With fingers that barely worked and a grip that almost failed, Leo reached for the second vial in his stash— a thick crimson one sealed with a black cap.
The bone regeneration potion.
He popped the lid open with his teeth, not caring how it tasted or what it burned on the way down, as he just drank.
Drank like a starving man clawing for air, with the liquid sliding down his throat like fire-coated oil, thick, bitter, metallic— making his tongue curl and his gut twist.
Then, after just a few seconds—
Boom!
A low throb echoed inside his bones.
A slow, pulsing rhythm that began at his hips and spread outward— like molten metal being poured into a cracked mold.
'Here we go…' Leo braced himself, jaw set, hands clenched—
Because the pain he felt earlier?
That had only been the appetizer.
While the main course had just begun.
—------
It began as a dull vibration— subtle, almost deceptive.
But within seconds, it transformed into something primal, as every single fracture in his body began to heat.
Not burn. Not sting.
But heat— like every splintered edge of every broken bone had just been set ablaze from the inside, and was now being welded back together without anesthesia or mercy.
His spine arched before he could stop it.
His back scraped against the thin straw and bone lining the nest.
His teeth clamped so tight, he swore something cracked in his mouth.
'Breathe. Just fucking breathe—'
But breath wouldn't come.
The pain was relentless.
Unyielding.
It wasn't sharp anymore. It was deep.
It crawled into the marrow.
It pulsed with every heartbeat.
And it didn't stop.
It didn't stop.
Minutes stretched into eternities.
Every heartbeat felt like a hammer.
Every inhale, a curse.
He couldn't tell if he was shaking or if the world itself was trembling with him— but all he could do was hold on.
To his consciousness.
To his sanity.
To the last sliver of pride he had left.
He didn't scream.
He didn't cry.
But his vision blurred.
His lips bled.
And his entire body tensed like a drawn bow, as he endured the longest ten minutes of his life.
Until—
Suddenly—
The pain plateaued.
Then dulled.
Then… eased.
Not completely.
Not comfortably.
But enough.
Enough to let him breathe again without wincing.
Enough to unclench his fists.
Enough to know— that it was working.
He wasn't healed yet.
Not even close.
But the bones were knitting.
The process had begun.
And for now that was enough.
'Still conscious…' Leo thought, closing his eyes as his head fell back into the straw.
'Still fighting.'
As somewhere, buried beneath the pain—
He almost smiled.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC310 310: Scanning His Surroundings
(Time-Stilled World, Unknown Underground Cave, Six Hours Later)
Six agonizing hours crawled by, each one slower than the last, as Leo lay motionless in the nest, counting every minute through the dull, pulsing throb of his half-healed body.
The darkness around him remained unchanged, the cold straw beneath him offering no comfort, as nothing in his surroundings shifted in the slightest—no flicker of light, no change in temperature, no sound to suggest that even a second had passed at all.
And yet, somewhere in that hollow stretch of time, the pain dulled just enough for his thoughts to sharpen again, as his clarity returned piece by piece, and with it came the realization that he needed to understand exactly where he was, if he had any hope of surviving, let alone escaping.
But he didn't rush.
He didn't even flinch at first, knowing full well that a single misstep could snap his fragile state and plunge him straight back into unconsciousness.
So he waited—patiently—until the pounding behind his eyes softened, until his thoughts no longer splintered when they formed, and only then did he begin testing each limb in silence.
He tested his fingers first, then toes, then knees, gauging carefully what the healing potion had mended, and more importantly, what it hadn't.
And thankfully, by the time he began checking, his fingers responded, his toes twitched, and his spine no longer felt cracked in six places.
It wasn't perfect. Far from it.
But it was enough to crawl.
And so, with a slow, deliberate roll to his side, Leo braced himself and began dragging his body toward the edge of the nest— keeping low, keeping quiet, careful not to disturb the monstrous eggs looming beside him, as he inched across cracked straw and broken fragments of bone.
Each movement he made ground against his will like steel against stone.
Each inch he earned came through clenched teeth and half-swallowed curses.
But eventually—he made it.
He reached the edge of the nest, just high enough to lift his head and see beyond the mound of scattered remains.
As at last, he saw the cavern surrounding him for what it truly was.
—----------
As he looked around, Leo realized that he was in a giant cave that stretched outward in all directions, with blue mana crystals embedded unevenly across the wet walls, as the blue crystals were the only thing providing the cave with a dull glow.
He wasn't atop some elevated perch or towering ledge.
He was only about ten meters above the main cavern floor, nestled in a crevice along the edge wall, with eight different tunnel mouths gaping before him.
Each tunnel mouth was carved with unique textures, each one promising its own brand of danger.
Some sloped downward into shadow.
Some curved sharply out of sight.
While some narrowed like the throat of a beast waiting to swallow anything that entered, as Leo couldn't make his mind on which one to enter through just a distant glance.
Next he scanned the floor, as scattered across the cave were piles of shattered bones and massive claw marks, that seemed to originate from two tunnels in particular.
Faint blood trails were visible beside the claw marks, suggesting that something had been dragged screaming and dying through them.
The air inside the cave was still, there was no wind flow whatsoever, and there was no sound within the cave either, as the loudest noise he could hear inside was the faint rustling of his own breath.
The cave felt almost too quiet to be natural.
The kind of quiet that only existed in places where predators hunted, or slept.
And Leo, though not yet ready to run or even rise fully, understood one thing with absolute certainty—
That it wasn't getting out of this nest that was going to be the hard part…..
The hard part was what came after.
Surviving the maze beyond.
Navigating blind.
Avoiding things that saw far better in the dark than he did.
And somehow, finding a way back to the surface without becoming another smear in the dirt.
'I'm not strong enough yet to get on my feet and explore the tunnels, so for now my best choice is to rest and let my body recover a bit more.
But if the eggs start cracking or I hear that giant beast returning from a distance, I'll bail out of here immediately—' Leo thought to himself, as he let out a deep sigh, and sat back down with his back against the nests edge, as he brought out yet another high grade healing potion from his spatial ring.
*********
(Meanwhile on the surface)
Meanwhile, on the surface, Raiden, Karl and Bob continued making their way through the floating islands, as they neared the completion of their journey, with less than 5 jumps left before they crossed over to the other side.
However, it was here that Karl decided to strike again, with Raiden as his next target.
It happened fast.
Too fast for anyone to stop it.
As while Raiden stood near the edge, trying to calculate the timing of the next jump, and Bob slept, trying to catch some rest, Karl decided to get rid of Raiden at once.
*Kick*
He kicked Raiden with all his Transcendent level strength, and sent him flying off the floating island's edge, in a shock move that Raiden never saw coming.
"Wha—KARL?!"
Raiden's scream tore through the stillness like a siren, echoing across the misty void as he flailed in the air— arms grasping for anything, legs kicking, terror twisting his voice into something primal.
"NO! KARL—KARL YOU PIECE OF—!"
But gravity didn't care.
And neither did Karl.
He stood there at the edge, watching the figure vanish into the pale fog, until even the echoes of Raiden's scream faded into silence.
By the time Bob woke up, feeling confused by the sudden noise—
It was already over.
"Where's Raiden?!" Bob demanded, eyes wide, as he scanned the ledge with panic in his voice.
However Karl didn't flinch.
He just let out a long, slow breath, feigning weariness, before lying through his teeth.
"He jumped." Karl said, as Bob blinked in disbelief.
"What?" Bob demanded, as if not buying this story, as Karl boldly doubled down.
"I tried to stop him. But he just… walked off. Like he'd given up. Said he couldn't take the gloom of this world anymore….. alas he wasn't strong enough to survive here." Karl said, his voice cracking with pain, as he tried his best to sell the story, however, Bob didn't bite.
Drawing his weapon instead, Bob pointed it towards Karl in weariness, as he said, "I'm sure I heard him calling your name at the end….. what did you do?"
As a slow evil smile spread on Karl's face.
Contact - ToS