Timeless AssassinC331: Unexpected Encounter
Chapter 331: Unexpected Encounter
(Time-Stilled World, Surface Plateau, Leo's POV)
As soon as Leo opened the Codex, a new string of words began etching themselves onto the aged parchment, glowing faintly in the ambient twilight like soft ripples on still water.
> "You have now perceived the third glimmer."
> "Sky Blue— a color born from the harmony between joy and hope."
> "This is the hue of optimism, born between the joy of triumph and the hope of a brighter future, the true ideal state that all men chase."
> "It marks the end of a burdened breath. The stillness after a storm. The faintest hint of light after enduring long shadows."
> "Unlike frustration and killing intent, this color neither lingers nor stains — it visits, then leaves and must be cherished, not chased."
> "To become a true leader, you must understand what keeps it alive. For the strongest leaders are not those who command fear or respect... but those who inspire hope and joy in their subjects."
The text shimmered faintly, then faded into stillness once more.
Leo said nothing. His fingers lingered on the page, as his thoughts trailed back to the sky-blue hue he had seen just moments ago.
'It was... fleeting,' he thought. 'But it felt good.'
And maybe that was the point.
Not every emotion was a weapon to sharpen.
Some were just reminders.... Indicators that perhaps the worst times were behind one and that there was hope for better times ahead.
"The color of joy and hope.... I hope to see you more often...." Leo mused, as a soft smile spread on his face.
Of the three colors he had seen so far, blue was definitely the one he wanted to see more of, however, he had a strong feeling in his heart that blue would also prove to be the hardest color to see throughout his life.
—---------
After returning to the surface, Leo slowly began making his way towards the mountain ridge, which was roughly 300 kilometres away from the canyon, and was a journey through a mostly arid desert.
Having entered this world with enough supplies to last him 1500 days, Leo had already run through about 250-270 days worth of supplies since being separated from the team, meaning that roughly 3 days had passed in the outside world since he had entered this realm.
According to his approximation, he could cover the distance of 300 kilometres to the base of the mountain in about 4 days if he travelled non-stop, however, if he paused to hunt and eat, it would take him anywhere between 8-12 days to do the same.
'According to historical warnings, this desert is home to countless giant sandworms, ranging from Master to Transcendent tier in strength. So it should be good fun to hunt them...' Leo thought, as he began making his way west toward the mountain range, carefully moderating his steps to avoid making unnecessary noise that might draw the attention of sandworms that he wasn't ready to fight yet.
But less than an hour into his trek, he suddenly spotted a cluster of human footprints etched into the sand—too clean and recent to ignore—which immediately alerted him to the presence of nearby assassins.
Kneeling to inspect them, he noted the precise heel impressions and intact tread patterns at the toes, all of which pointed towards the fact that their gear was still in good condition.
They hadn't been in this world long enough for their soles to lose grip or wear down just yet, indicating that they weren't here for more than a hundred days yet.
The footprints were fresh, pressed lightly into the surface, with even spacing and clear tread from intact boots. That alone told him these weren't the prints of aimless madmen, but a group of well-equipped assassins still in their right minds.
'Interesting...' Leo crouched down, inspecting the tracks more closely, as he noticed how there were no palm marks after each step, indicating that they were walking on just two feet and not all fours like beasts, and how the spacing between each person was tight—barely an arm's length apart which meant that their team chemistry had not broken down just yet.
The close gap while walking meant that everyone in the group trusted one another as unlike Raiden's group, where everyone kept distance from one another out of fear of betrayal, this group moved as a unit.
'A stable group? It might be worth talking to them... it's been about 250 days since I've spoken to another human being, and they might have some insights about this world that I don't' Leo thought, as he rose from the sand and began following the footsteps.
He trailed the footprints for nearly five kilometers, his steps light and calculated as he weaved through the open dunes, eyes never leaving the trail ahead.
The sand was soft, the air dry, and the environment eerily still, until it wasn't.
*Shing!*
*Clang!*
"Spread out— fan formation!"
Suddenly, the stillness cracked. The sharp clang of steel echoed through the air, followed by the barking of combat commands and the unmistakable rhythm of weapons clashing.
Leo's pupils constricted, as without hesitation, he broke into a sprint towards the source of the sound.
His assassin cloak fluttered behind him, boots kicking up shallow plumes of sand as he pushed forward, his heart rate steady, his mana ready to spike at a moment's notice.
'Who are they fighting? Is it a sandworm? No—the sound was definitely metal clashing against metal, as if they're fighting another human...' Leo assessed, as he arrived near the source of the conflict, and hid behind the peak of a low dune.
What laid before him was a sight he never expected to see, as for a moment he lost control of his emotions completely, until [Monarch's Indifference] reminded him to breathe again.
Before him, a small party of adventurers seemed to be locked in a desperate struggle, trying to contain the erratic, jerking movements of a single opponent.
A lone man—cloaked in torn robes, limbs twitching with disjointed aggression, and thick strands of drool trailing from his cracked lips, as he moved like a rabid animal, swinging wildly but with precision that came from sheer, unnatural instinct.
Leo's jaw clenched.
'Karl...'
Even from a distance, he could recognize that disgruntled face, those half-mad eyes, and that evil grin that had haunted his nights many times since he had fallen from the floating islands.
Only now, something about him was off.
Utterly off.
As if he had one foot in reality, and the other knee-deep in madness.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC332: Karl's True Power
Chapter 332: Karl's True Power
Leo observed Karl from behind the sand dune, watching as the traitor fought the seven assassins spread around him with a feral smile stretched wide across his face.
A part of Leo wanted to leap in, strike Karl down and end the bastard for good—but something about the man's current aura made his skin crawl.
His current aura did not feel like the Karl he remembered.
It felt dangerous.
Predatory.
And hence, his instincts told him to stay low, and wait.
'That aura... it feels like a Transcendent-tier warrior. Is that his true strength?' Leo wondered, narrowing his eyes as he tried to reconcile this monster before him with the cook he once knew.
The Karl he remembered had been a weak, soft-spoken, master-tier chef with a silver tongue and a coward's spine.
Leo had never seen him fight seriously—never even considered him a threat.
But now?
Now the pressure rolling off him was unnatural, as though he was a Transcendent tier berserker that had lost his mind, as Leo couldn't help but be wary of him.
His movements teetered between clarity and chaos, his body twitching with raw instinct while his eyes struggled to focus.
'What is that speed...?' Leo thought, as he watched Karl dodge yet another dagger flying his way.
Currently, he stood in the center of the seven assassins, cornered in a circle, however, the expression on his face made it seem like he wasn't worried about being ganged up on at all.
He stood with his spine bent at an unnatural angle, head twitching sporadically to one side, while drool spilled from his slack jaw that opened and closed in uneven, labored gasps.
And yet, despite the grotesque presentation, when he moved, he moved like a demon.
His bare feet scraped across the sand with explosive pivots, his fingers curled more like claws than hands, and each lunge he made came with an unnatural twist of muscle and joint that shouldn't have been possible for a human body.
The seven Grandmaster-tier assassins held their ground in a tight ring around him, faces set with discipline and nerves pulled taut.
However, despite their advantage in numbers, it was clear that they were struggling to contain him.
Each of them wielded a unique weapon—daggers, short spears, glowing gauntlets—all of them worn, tested, and bloodied from many battles before.... Showing that they were an experienced bunch, however, they still struggled to pin Karl down.
"Circle tighter! Don't let him break out! Bairon, go left—use [Serrated Wind Step] and cut his ankle from behind! Hold formation!" their leader, a silver-haired woman shouted with a commanding voice, as her long braid swung behind her.
Bairon obeyed immediately. His boots flared with wind mana as he blurred sideways and sliced low toward Karl's ankle, with the blade even making contact.
*Slash*
The blade slid off the flesh, as instead of making a cut, it rang out with a metallic screech, skimming over skin that sounded like reinforced steel.
"Hehehehe..." Karl chuckled, as instead of flinching from the pain, he giggled.
His hand shot forward, seizing Bairon by the crown of his head like a man grabbing an apple, as he tried to squeeze and pop Bairon's skull.
However, before he could do so, another warrior from the team yelled "[Stone Palm Counter]!", and slammed into Karl's elbow just in time to deflect the lethal motion.
*Pop*
Karl's elbow joint popped out of place with a wet crack, his arm jerking back.
But he didn't scream.
Didn't even wince from the pain, as he only let out a low, guttural groan, as if the pain reminded him that he was still alive.
"Keep the pressure! Rotate angles! Della, hit him with [Blazing Feint], don't let him catch his footing!" the leader shouted again, as Della darted in with speed, her spear blazing orange, as she angled for Karl's chest.
*Swoosh*
Her attack narrowly missed, grazing past Karl's shoulder as the Transcendent-tier warrior twisted at the last possible moment—but not fast enough to completely evade, as the tip of Della's spear tore a small chunk of flesh from his arm.
"Why isn't he bleeding?" Della hissed as she stared at Karl's arm that was injured but still not bleeding, as barely any blood seeped out of his wound.
"He's already mutated," another muttered.
"That body's not entirely human anymore." their leader observed, as Karl suddenly crouched low, then shot upward like a coiled spring, his leg hooking under the chin of a twin-dagger wielder named Reed who had closed in for an attack after Della.
*Crack*
Reed's head jerked back as his body launched into the air, landing with a dull thud against a dune wall.
Blood poured from his mouth, and though he twitched once... he never moved again.
"Shit—Reed's down!"
The team flinched, unsure of how to respond to the sudden death, as all it took for Karl to take one of them down was one clean kick to the chin, which connected with enough power to kill a Grandmaster!
*Snap*
Karl snapped back his dislocated arm with a sickening pop after killing Reed, as he charged toward the next smallest member of the team—a boy no older than twenty, who had barely finished gathering enough mana for an explosive attack spell.
*Punch*
Karl reached him before the spell could form, as his hand punched through the boy's stomach like it was wet parchment.
*SPLAT*
Blood erupted from the boy's mouth in violent bursts, pouring down his chin in thick streams as his spine bent forward at a grotesque angle.
His body convulsed, knees buckling beneath him, until Karl grabbed and twisted his hand.
Then came the rip.
With a brutal upward motion, Karl's arm tore through the boy's torso, and the sound it made was like wet fabric being shredded underwater.
A spray of entrails burst out with a sickening pop, as his other hand clawed through the chest cavity, fingers raking across bone and tendon, peeling flesh from ribs like stripping bark from a tree.
The boy's mouth gaped, frozen in silence, as his scream got strangled before it could ever leave.
His windpipe had been crushed the moment Karl's arm had punched through his diaphragm, and hence no sound could escape his lips when he died.
*Thud*
By the time the corpse hit the ground, it no longer resembled a person.
It was a heap of ragged meat, scattered intestines, and something wet and pulsing that used to be a heart.
Leo did not flinch at the gruesome sight, but the others in the team were clearly disturbed.
They were all assassins who had witnessed their fair share of cruelty in their lifetimes.
They had all inflicted pain and danced in the blood of enemies.
But this was different.
This was savagery. The kind born not from rage, but from something deeper—something feral, unhinged, and free of restraint, as in the face of such savagery even the bravest of hearts trembled.
"I don't think we can take him, Captain.... We can't tear past his skin! I think we should make a run for it...." Della suggested, as the Captain grit her teeth in dismay.
"No...." The captain said in a low voice.
"He's faster than all of us... if we run, we will be picked out one after another.... We either face him here, or we die...." She said, as she knew that there was no chance of outrunning this monster.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC333: Leo's choice
Chapter 333: Leo's choice
(Time-Stilled World, Desert Plateau, Leo's POV)
Leo crouched low behind the sand dune, his gaze locked onto Karl's twitching frame, as blood from the two fallen assassins pooled into the cracked earth beside their fallen bodies.
Currently, he wasn't the only one hesitating.
The remaining five assassins stood frozen around Karl as well, their gazes landing nervously on one another, as they wrestled with the same uncomfortable question as he was:
Do they stay and fight?
Or do they run while they still could?
It was the kind of decision that couldn't be made lightly. And for Leo, it ran deeper than just fear or rage. Because for him, this wasn't just some random lunatic roaming the sands.
This was Karl.
The man who had betrayed him.
The man who had smiled in his face and fed him food, while secretly working to deliver him into the hands of death.
The man who had turned on his team without a flicker of remorse.
Leo's hand brushed the hilts of his daggers, as the urge to strike within him was strong.
He wanted to carve justice into Karl's flesh. He wanted to repay the betrayal in full. But the image of Reed flying backward, and of the young boy torn apart like wet paper, kept playing in his mind.
The current Karl before him wasn't the same man he knew.
The current Karl... was stronger. Sharper. Wilder. He was a Transcendent tier warrior—with skin that resisted blades, and muscles that snapped bones with casual precision.
'Fuck me, I hate that bastard too much to just walk away knowing that he's alive!' Leo thought, as he clenched his jaw in fury.
'If I can get close enough, I can probably decapitate him with a single blow.
But that's only if I get the chance to land a clean strike....' Leo thought, as he retrieved a dagger from his utility belt and stared into his reflection in the cold steel.
During the last 200 days, he had trained many moves in his arsenal including his newly obtained moves:
[StormFlash Traverse]
And
[Astral Hook Bind]
Which he improved to (Advanced) mastery.
However, the most important move that he had trained was the [Dark Blade], which he discovered to be a technique that could easily help him slash through flesh, steel and rock, with almost no resistance.
After initially struggling to kill monsters with his raw strength, he had eventually began to rely on the move more and more with each passing day, which was why he knew with confidence that the attack could help him kill Karl with one strike.
'If I can use Dark Blade, I can probably take his head clean off in a single strike, but for it to work, I need to time my attack perfectly.
The bastard is too fast and moves erratically, so if I don't time it to perfection, he will escape and I will be forced to fight a difficult fight from that point onwards....' Leo thought, as he clutched the dagger tightly and returned his gaze to the battlefield.
On one hand, he knew that the sensible choice here was to run and leave Karl alone.
However, on the other hand, he was sure that he would not be able to live with himself if he let the bastard that backstabbed him just go free, which was why he decided to stay back and wait until the perfect opportunity presented itself.
'This isn't about pride, or ego... but if you fuck with me then you must pay,' Leo told himself as he took another quiet breath.
If he struck now, he would die.
But if he waited for the right moment—if he studied Karl long enough, found the cracks in his rhythm and learned how the madness flowed through him—then maybe, just maybe, he could kill him.
*Sigh*
Leo exhaled slowly, his decision made.
He would not run.
But he would not strike yet either.
He would watch. Wait. And when the moment came, he would end Karl with no hesitation.
—---------
"We must fight!" the captain declared, her voice cracking like thunder. "Della, restrict his movement! Everyone else, target his vitals! We end him now, or we die!"
Her words lit the team into motion.
Della sprang forward, mana condensing under her heels as she activated [Burning Arc Step], which launched her around Karl's flank in a tight loop.
With the momentum of the circle, she activated [Meteor Bind], summoning burning chains from above to trap Karl's limbs.
The restraints struck true, coiling around his wrists and ankles mid-lunge, locking him in place.
"Now!" the captain shouted, as Four assassins closed in on him from all angles.
The gauntlet fighter led with [Abyssal Impact], driving both fists into Karl's sternum with the explosive power of a close combat fighter.
Behind him, the dagger wielder lunged high, triggering [Heaven's Carve], a dual slash toward the neck that aimed to decapitate from both sides.
The third charged low, blade flashing as he triggered [Piercing Fang], aimed for Karl's exposed liver.
The captain herself surged forward last, her spear wrapped in a white aura as she released [Frostbreak Slash], a freezing attack aimed at Karl's jaw to shatter the skull entirely.
For one fleeting second, it looked like the plan had worked.
And then—
*Snap*
*Crackle*
*Laugh*
Karl laughed.
A low, slithering, broken sound that oozed from his throat like rot.
Then he flexed once—and the binds holding him still exploded, hitting the assassin's charging in on him with tremendous force.
The gauntlet assassin was thrown back first, his chest armor dented inward as he coughed blood.
The dagger wielder managed to avoid the debris, but was caught mid-air, Karl's shoulder slamming into her with impossible speed and force, as she slammed into the sand, spine-first, and didn't move again.
And then came the captain.
Her ice spear connected—only for Karl to open his mouth and bite down on the metal with a sickening *Crunch* sound, as he bit through the metal like a savage.
"The hell?" The captain murmured, looking confused as her trusty weapon was broken in the most absurd way possible.
"Night night...." Karl muttered, as he kicked her straight in the sternum, sending her flying backwards, as she hit the same dune that Leo was hiding behind.
*Thud*
Blood gushed from her lips, as she struggled to stay conscious, watching as Karl went after Della next, however, she was unable to intervene or help.
Her own body refused to move, and although she was conscious, she could do little more than barely staying upright, as every bone in her body ached from the sudden impact.
"Can't... die.... here" she muttered, gripping onto her broken spear, as she showed guts and staggered forward, only to stumble to her knees and cough blood, as the damage to her body seemed to be worse than what she initially estimated.
At this point it was pure adrenaline that was keeping her conscious and nothing else, as the amount of internal damage that she had accumulated was enough to kill anyone.
However, despite her vision blacking out, and the strength seeping from her limbs, she still pooled mana into her spear, as she tried to launch one last long range attack to help Della before she passed out, only for Karl to notice her futile struggle and charge towards her, to end her life for once and for all.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC334: Revenge
Chapter 334: Revenge
(Time-Stilled World, Desert Plateau, Leo's POV)
Leo felt his heart jump into his throat when the captain was sent flying in his direction.
*Thud*
Her body slammed against the side of the very dune he was hiding behind, skidding down the slope before landing in a crumpled heap not ten feet from where he crouched, as for a brief moment, he stopped breathing altogether, feeling afraid that Karl would follow through and discover him next.
'No... stay down. Please just stay down,' Leo silently begged, eyes fixed on the broken woman whose body twitched with pain.
'Don't get back up. Don't draw his attention in this direction... just die quietly if you have to.' Leo prayed silently, however, to his dismay the woman did not stay down.
Her spirit burned too bright, and even with blood in her throat and fractures in her spine, she reached for her broken spear and pulled herself to her knees, barely able to hold steady as she gathered mana one last time.
'Why? Why do you have to be so brave?' Leo grit his teeth, his mind racing as he realized he had no time left to hesitate.
The woman trying to attack Karl meant that it was a guarantee that he would discover him soon enough, which was not an ideal scenario for his ambush.
Hence, in that split second, he made a choice.
A reckless, bold, and innovative choice to force an opening.
As the moment Karl observed her attack and began charging towards her, Leo stood up from behind the sand dune and bolted across its crest.
*Tap*
*Tap*
*Tap*
Sand kicked beneath his feet as he ran, exposing himself fully to Karl's corrupted gaze.
As looking at his visage, Karl froze.
His steps halted mid-charge, and his blood-smeared face twisted into confusion.
"Skyshard...?" he muttered, squinting toward the figure running across the dune, as recognition flashed in his eyes, but so did hesitation.
If he still had his full mind.... if the taint hadn't dulled his logic.... he would have realized the obvious in a split second.
That this had to be a trap.
However, with the taint of this world dulling his critical thinking skills, he couldn't figure out how Leo, who wasn't supposed to be alive in the first place, was now not only alive, but also running away from him out of nowhere?
*Swoosh!*
Making the most of the distraction, the silver haired captain clutched her broken spear and used the last dregs of her strength to release the spell she had been forming.
[Ice Thrust]
A pulse of energy surged forward from the tip of her spear, as she forced Karl to bend backward with that unnatural curve of his spine to dodge the attack.
However, in doing so, Karl also backed himself into an awkward angle from where he couldn't easily maneuver anymore.
Which was the exact opportunity, the real Leo had been waiting for!
The figure running across the dune shimmered and dissolved into glass-like fragments.
It had never been him.
It had been a decoy projected by [Mirror World], while the real him remained crouched just behind the dune all along.
And in the exact moment that Karl bent backward to dodge the captain's spear, the real Leo who was desperately waiting for an opening to attack, immediately burst into action, as in that same breath, he triggered [Blade Shift].
A burst of black mist kicked up behind the sand dune, barely visible against the swirling winds of the desert, as his body blinked across the battlefield with razor sharp precision.
He appeared just behind Karl, his cloak trailing in the wake of the teleportation as he gripped his dagger tight, mana already surging violently into the edge of the blade, as he activated [Dark Blade].
*Sizzle*
Flames of deep obsidian swallowed the length of the dagger, licking up the sides like living shadows, as the weapon vibrated in his hand, thirsting for a cut.
*SLICE!*
Leo struck.
A single, calculated swing.
His arm moved in silence, guided by months of repetition, as the black flames hissed against the air—and then came the contact.
The blade kissed Karl's neck.
There was no resistance.
The dagger sank in as if slicing through melted butter, and for a brief moment, Karl's eyes widened to their limits—flickering with something between disbelief and pure animal confusion, as his left eye twitched, while his right one convulsed.
And then everything went still.
The obsidian blade passed cleanly through skin, tendon, and spine, parting muscle like cloth soaked in oil. There was no splatter. No burst of gore. Just a soft *shhhhkkk* sound and a surgical separation, as Karl's head slid away from his body in a slow, smooth arc.
His face froze mid-expression.
Mouth open. Eyes wide. Brows furrowed, as if still trying to process the fact that Leo Skyshard—the boy he had betrayed—was standing behind him in the flesh.
*Thud*
The head landed on the sand with a dull, lifeless bounce.
The body followed a moment later, collapsing in a twitching heap, its nerves firing off one last confused signal as arms jerked and legs spasmed like a puppet with its strings cut.
A small curl of smoke rose from the clean cut on the stump of his neck, dark flame still eating away at the nerves, cauterizing the severed flesh from within.
And just like that... Karl was dead.
Silenced by a single, perfect strike.
*Land*
Leo landed lightly on his feet, Karl's blood sizzling and misting on his dagger as it came into contact with the dark flames on his blade, as his expression remained cold and empty.
"Tell your superiors in the Cult that I said 'Hi'," Leo muttered as he looked into Karl's shocked eyes.
"Ooops.... Guess you won't be able to.... Afterall, I am sending you to the same place I sent your friend who attacked me before you.
I guess the only person you can tell 'hi', is him in hell!" Leo said, as he stomped cruelly on Karl's decapitated head, the repressed rage inside his body finally bubbling outwards now that he had the chance to claim retribution.
*Stomp*
*Stomp*
*Stomp*
He stomped on the head with all the force he could muster, however, the hardened skin and bone did not disfigure or break, as the only thing that happened was that a few milliliters of blood slowly trickled out of the base, while his shocked eyes finally closed forever.
"Shouldn't have tried to kill me, motherfucker!" Leo said at the end as he kicked the head away like a football, while Della and the Captain, the only two survivors of Karl's carnage, studied his antics with a shocked expression on their faces.
"Sorry ladies, I didn't mean to scare you, but I have been waiting for a long time to kick his head away.... Hope you guys don't mind—" Leo said, as he finally acknowledged the crowd, and calmly apologised for his actions, in case he accidentally scared them both.
*Thud*
The captain was the first to pass out, as after the adrenaline wore thin, she did not have it in her to stay conscious for too long.
While Della passed out next, as she had picked up injuries of her own, and had lost too much blood to stay conscious as well.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC335: Kindness
Chapter 335: Kindness
(Time-Stilled World, Desert Plateau, Leo's POV)
Leo stood motionless for a moment, his dagger still faintly sizzling with dark flames, as the two women lay unconscious before him.
His gaze drifted between them—the silver-haired captain who had tried to save her comrade despite being broken herself, and the younger girl, Della, whose blood-soaked robes clung to her frame.
'Do I just leave them here? Or do I help them?' he wondered, his fingers twitching with indecision.
He had no obligation to them.
No connection, nor any particular reason to save them.
And yet... something kept him from simply walking away.
Maybe it was the old dragon's words about karma, and how one should strive to spread good in this universe.
Or maybe it was just a whim, but Leo decided to help them survive, if only for a couple more days.
*Sigh*
With a sigh, he crouched beside Della, slinging her limp form across his shoulder with practiced ease before carefully laying her down next to her captain.
Their breaths were shallow, but steady, as they seemed to be stable and alive for now, despite being unconscious.
'I should feed them a few healing potions...' Leo thought, as he reached for the mana storage ring around his neck, before pausing mid-way, as he realized that wasting his own personal resources on strangers was beyond stupid.
Instead, he turned away from them and walked toward the battlefield, where the rest of their squad lay cold and lifeless.
By now, their bodies were half-buried in the sand, with fingers still curling around weapons they were never going to use again, as Leo scoured them methodically—stripping belts, unfastening spatial pouches, checking boots and inside coats, as he looted everything he could find.
*Click*
*Rustle*
Within minutes, he had gathered a small pile of mid-grade healing potions, stamina potions and mana potions, a thousand days worth of field rations, half a dozen chocolate bars, a thousand or so mid grade mana stones and even a few dozen ice grenades.
He pocketed most of the items, stuffing them into his spatial pouch and inner storage ring, leaving behind only four healing potions and a wrapped ration bar on the outside.
Then, he returned to the unconscious girls—kneeling beside the silver-haired captain first, as he uncorked one of the healing potions and slipped a hand beneath her neck, lifting her head like she weighed nothing at all.
The captain's body hung limp in his hands, offering no resistance—motionless and delicate, like a shattered porcelain doll, as tilting her head back with clinical care, he pressed the vial to her parted lips and slowly poured the potion past her soft jawline, guiding each drop with measured precision to avoid even a trace of spillage.
However, since he was no expert in nursing, some of it still inevitably dribbled down her chin, staining her collar, but most of it made it down her throat in shallow gulps.
Once finished, he let her head rest gently in the sand and moved to Della, as he repeated the same process.
Wrist under her hair. Potion to her mouth. Controlled pour. Shallow breaths.
He watched them in silence, arms unmoving, fingers smeared with potion residue, as the wind stirred the blood-stained sand around them.
However, as he nursed and cared for them, something within him stirred, something foreign and unusual, as he felt an uncomfortable feeling growing inside his chest.
It wasn't attraction, nor affection, just... warmth. A kind of quiet, aching warmth that hadn't stirred in him for years.
And then he saw her— Amanda.
Not as a memory. But as a presence.
Like she was standing here before him, with her kind and vibrant eyes looking at him with the biggest smile on her face.
*Hahaha–*
Her laughter rang in his ear.
The curve of her smile, played in front of his eyes.
And he could almost feel the way her fingers used to brush his cheek when she thought he was asleep.
As that sensation hit him harder than any blade.
He hadn't thought about her in years—hadn't let himself think. Yet here, in the middle of a cursed world, cradling two unconscious strangers, he found his mind drifting back to the girl he once swore he'd never leave behind.
He didn't know whether it was grief, nostalgia, or just the simple cruelty of memory, but it clawed at his ribs like a dull blade.
As he could do nothing, but force himself to swallow it down.
'Not now,' he told himself. 'This isn't the time.'
The scent of blood in the air thickened, it clung to his nostrils, metallic and heavy, mixing with the heat of the desert and the whispering winds that carried too many unseen dangers.
'Sandworms can come here at any moment—' Leo thought, desperately trying to distract himself from the memory of Amanda, as he forced himself to think about other topics.
He scanned the horizon. The dunes were still for now, but staying here meant asking for trouble.
Hence, without another word, he stepped forward and bent down once more— hoisting Della over his left shoulder, and the captain over his right, as he decided to bring them to safety for now.
Their combined weights still felt nothing to him compared to the weighted vests Major Hen made him wear at Rodova, as he began to walk once again.
He didn't know where exactly these two ladies wanted to go, however, he assumed that they were here to complete the same mission as him, and hence he kept moving west towards the mountain ranges, which was the path to reach Castle Bravo.
If the two didn't wish to continue with the expedition, they could walk back after they woke up, however, for now they came with him, as he tried to figure out why he was increasingly losing control over his emotions these days?
Ever since he had gained the passive ability [Monarch's Indifference], he had almost never had such an episode.
However, as of late, he felt as though he had grown more and more sensitive again..... and as if, [Monarch's Indifference] had been slowly failing him for some reason.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC336: A failing technique
Chapter 336: A failing technique
While Leo brushed off the feeling that perhaps [Monarch's Indifference] might be failing him fairly quickly, what he did not understand yet was that training the [Sevenfold Revelation Codex] and being constantly on the lookout to feel and experience emotions, was slowly making him resistant to the technique.
Ideally, [Monarch's Indifference] was supposed to be a (passive) skill, that limited his range of emotions to about 10-20% of what he would usually feel, keeping him perpetually stoic and collected, however, using it while training the codex was leading to momentary lapses where the skill stopped working for a few seconds, before sputtering back to life again.
The early sign of this phenomenon was how his old cocky personality was surfacing again and how he was experiencing life as a joyful ride again, however, although the changes were not fully noticeable yet, the first cracks had finally begun to show.
Him missing Amanda today out of the blue was only the start, as the deeper his mastery of the codex became, the weaker the (passive) of [Monarch's Indifference] was sure to grow, to the point where once he mastered the first layer of the technique, gaining a surface level understanding of the seven basic emotions, [Monarch's Indifference] could possibly turn from being a (passive) to an (active) skill for him, which he could activate or deactivate at will.
—-------
*Desert sand rustling*
Leo walked with his usual soundless steps, as he left no deep trail, nor made any loud sounds that could attract unwanted attention.
On his shoulders, the two unconscious women breathed steadily, their faces flushed and their bodies warm, as Leo carried them gently on his shoulders.
He had been walking for over four hours, yet the two unconscious women still showed no signs of waking.
By the time he estimated they had covered at least 10 to 12 kilometers, the weight on his shoulders had shifted from effortless to mildly annoying, not because it tired him, but because it reminded him that the two were still dead weights on his shoulders in a world that punished weakness.
"The two of you better wake up before the kindness in my heart dies out, because just like how I have decided to save you on a whim, I may also dump you on a whim....." Leo muttered, as he found a spot near the base of a weather-worn dune and set them down beside him with practiced care, brushing loose sand from their bodies, before setting up a basic camp.
He had paused to drink water and eat a brief meal, when he suddenly felt the ground beneath him rumble and shake.
*SCREEECH*
A low frequency screeching sound filled his ears, as he immediately climbed the nearby dune to look towards the source of the sound, where he saw the giant sandworm being on the hunt for the first time ever.
*Thrum*
The very ground beneath his feet trembled and shook as the sandworm surfaced.
It was at least twenty feet long and six feet tall, and seemed to be on the hunt for a mid-sized desert porcupine that was merrily walking on top of a sand dune, until it panicked and began running when it felt the tremors intensify under it.
*BOOM!*
The dune it was walking on exploded outward in a geyser of sand and grit as the sandworm erupted from below, its segmented body twisting midair like a massive, armored whip as it soared toward its prey.
The sandworm's mouth opened to display a grotesque vertical split, revealing rows of sharp teeth rotating like drills, as with a sickening crunch, it swallowed the desert porcupine whole.
One snap. One thrash. Then gone.
The beast vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, burrowing back into the earth in a whirl of collapsing sand, leaving only a crater and a faint tremor in its wake.
Leo watched it all unfold with a calm, almost fascinated gleam in his eyes, his lips curling into a wide, boyish grin that he hadn't worn in years.
"Beautiful," he whispered under his breath, as a tingle of excitement ran down his spine. "A proper predator."
His fingers flexed by instinct, brushing the hilt of his dagger as his mind immediately began mapping out potential battle scenarios.
If he were swallowed whole by the beast he'd activate [Dark Blade] and carve a way out from inside, letting the cursed flames eat through flesh, gut, and bone.
But ideally... he'd dodge the attack entirely.
Ideally, if the sandworm tried to eat him, he would use [StormFlash Traverse] to dance across the desert sand, keeping just ahead of its mouth, which was the worm's only true weapon, before unleashing [Thousand Phantom Slashes] along its exposed length.
Slice. Vanish. Reappear. Repeat.
A high-speed, high-stakes ballet of death.
'A thrilling hunt,' Leo mused, eyes still locked on the now-settled sands.
'Maybe I should pick a fight with one of those sooner rather than later.' He thought, when suddenly–
*Rustle*
A faint stirring sound near him interrupted his thoughts, as he turned to look at its source.
The captain groaned softly, her body twitching as her eyes fluttered open—pale lashes sticking together from dried sweat and blood.
Leo watched as her gaze swam through confusion before landing on him, as she immediately grew alert, her hands searching for the weapons that were supposed to be in her storage pouch, however, were already removed by Leo for security reasons.
Leo said nothing.
He simply squatted calmly, one arm resting lazily across his knee, as he waited for the Captain to regain her composure and initiate conversation when she was ready.
For a while, the captain weighed her options, however, eventually as she looked at the unconscious Della beside her, then her surroundings, and then the Black Serpent Guild robes on Leo's body, she let out a deep sigh before initiating conversation.
"I'm Captain Reema... and if I'm not wrong you're Leo Skyshard?
You have grown a stubble, but you still look like the Circuit Winner from Rodova that I saw on TV—" Reema said, as Leo smiled wide for being acknowledged.
"Indeed, I am Leo Skyshard, the circuit's winner from Rodova.
It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Reema.
Forgive me for taking away your weapons, I will return them to you once I assess that you won't turn and stab me in the back," Leo said with a smile, as he stood upright and calmly approached Reema with his hand extended.
"Karl Maxtern was a wanted criminal that the Guild warned us about before we entered this world.
He was a Transcendent level Evil Cult operative undercover as a cook, and it wasn't until your team entered this world that the guild found out about his truth, but by then it was too late to warn you guys about it.
We never expected to encounter him here in the desert... But I guess such is fate—" Reema said, as she sat upright and accepted Leo's outstretched hand for a handshake.
"I'm guessing you're the only survivor from your group? Or are Raiden and the others still alive?" Reema asked, as Leo only shrugged his shoulders in response.
"Last I know, Raiden and Bob were still alive, but I'm not sure anymore....." He replied, as Reema made an 'Oh' face, before immediately nodding in understanding.
In the time-stilled world, luck was as fickle as the wind, and it seemed Raiden's team had run into the wrong kind of storm.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC337: A loyal man
Chapter 337: A loyal man
"Tell me more about Karl and the warning that the guild issued for him? What's all that about?" Leo asked curiously, as he slowly retrieved the weapons he had plundered from Reema, including her broken spear and placed it beside her one by one.
"There's a huge purge ongoing within the universal government..... as you must already know, the Evil Cult has infiltrated our government quite deeply, so getting rid of their contacts is a priority." Reema began, as she gripped the short knives Leo had placed beside her and began stuffing them in her boots and around her utility belt.
"While purging one of the contacts, it was discovered that he had helped create a false identity for Karl... misidentifying him as a master level warrior and a mercenary with an impeccable record, when in reality he was a wanted Cult criminal.
The Black Serpents received an emergency message from the government informing us to immediately arrest or neutralize the criminal, however, it was already too late by then....
The rest of you had already entered the Time-Stilled world, and there was no way we could contact you.
So the Government instead issued an advisory for all new teams entering to be on the lookout for Karl, and to arrest him if possible—" Reema explained, as Leo nodded in understanding.
If the Cult contacts were being purged at such an alarming rate, then there was a possibility that he himself might be exposed for his connection to Muiyan Faye very soon.... However, he seemed to be safe for now.
'So long as I maintain ties with the cult while living under the roof of the righteous alliance, I'll always be one slip away from exposure— or worse, capture.
Once this mission is done, I need to sever one side cleanly and for good,' Leo thought, as the weight of the double allegiance finally settled in his chest.
The life of a double agent, he realized, was nothing more than a countdown masked in shadows, and he needed to get rid of such a life as soon as he was capable of it.
"Anyways, thanks a lot for saving us.... This expedition is much more dangerous than we initially anticipated it to be.
I personally do not have the courage to continue with this mission anymore.
And would rather turn back now, while I still can....." Reema said, as she twirled her silver pony in slight anxiety.
"That's a sound choice Captain, I'd probably do the same if I were a sane man.... But unfortunately I'm me...." Leo replied casually, which caused Reema to chuckle.
"Of course the great Circuit Winner Leo Skyshard would press forward," Reema said, a soft flush rising to her cheeks as her expression eased into admiration. "I expected nothing less... especially after watching you kill a Transcendent with my own eyes."
She leaned back, her voice laced with genuine awe. "Do you know how rare that is? Warriors defeating someone a tier above them? You could count such stories on one hand and even fewer where a Grandmaster takes down a Transcendent."
Leo chuckled at the praise but shrugged it off. "It wasn't a fair fight. I struck when he was at his weakest. If I'd missed my moment, I'd be dead for sure, right alongside you and Della."
"Still," Reema said, her eyes lingering on him with a deeper glint, "you're no ordinary fighter..... Mr.Skyshard, and your hype is well deserved."
A playful smirk tugged at her lips as her tone shifted. "When I make it back out, I'll write a book about all this, and you'll be the main character in it. The mysterious assassin who slayed Karl Maxtern and saved me and Della from a certain death. Maybe I'll even spice it up with an extra R18 ending sequence."
Leo arched a brow.
"I've heard fantasy sells better when there's a bit of romance in the mix," she continued, biting her lip slightly, her voice dropping half a pitch. "And if we're parting ways soon... maybe we could give the readers something memorable to remember the book's end."
She loosened the front of her robes just enough to expose the curve of her chest, her gaze holding his as she leaned in. "Sixty days without a single fling. Della's out cold. And you, Mr.Skyshard... you're a temptation walking."
For a moment, Leo said nothing, his eyes drifting from her pale skin to the quiet hunger in her gaze.
Desire stirred in his chest. It had been years since he'd touched someone, and in a place frozen outside of time, the idea of indulging felt almost consequence-free.
Almost.
But even as his pulse quickened, his thoughts anchored him.
Amanda.
He could never betray her, even if they were apart, he could never let her down by being carried away.
*Sigh*
Leo exhaled softly, then shook his head.
"I'm flattered, Captain," he said gently. "And if things were different.... if I didn't already love someone.... I'd never let a chance like this slip past me."
He smiled faintly, eyes firm but kind. "But I do. And I'm not the kind of man who betrays that."
Reema's smile faltered, her hopeful spark dimming. For a beat, she looked away, adjusting her robes with a quiet sigh.
"Well... I'm disappointed, but I get it," she said, voice softer now. "She's lucky. Not many men would say no, especially powerful and handsome men like yourself, when the girl is offering them a chance to do it without any consequences attached."
Leo didn't respond, just met her eyes with a look of quiet respect.
"I hope you complete the mission, Leo," she said at last, her tone sincere. "And more than that... I hope you make it back to her safe and sound."
He gave her a nod and a small smile in return.
"And I hope you and Della make it home safely too. If fate permits it, I'll see you around on planet Twin Fang"
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC338: Chasing A Feeling
Chapter 338: Chasing A Feeling
After parting ways with Reema and Della, Leo returned to his predatory best, as he began to actively search for signs of sandworms to hunt.
He felt a strange excitement building inside him as he searched for sandworm trails by lowering his head to the ground, trying to catch the faint tremors beneath the surface, as his senses sharpened with every heartbeat.
Although he didn't fully understand it yet, something had definitely begun to shift within him over the past 200 days, ever since the first time he truly sensed killing intent, as it seemed like his entire mindset towards hunting had changed from before.
Previously, his reason to hunt had always been tied to the practical outcomes of the hunt, but never to the act of hunting itself.
It was like his motivation to kill was never rooted in the desire to destroy or to end life, but rather in the belief that killing was simply a necessary step toward achieving personal growth.
So if he ever chose to kill a beast, it was not because he wanted to end its life, but because of what that action represented to him..... as for him, killing a beast helped him sharpen his combat technique, hone his instincts, and push his mana heart closer to its limits.
So it wasn't the act of killing itself that was most important to him, but rather the goals he could achieve from it, as the act itself was always secondary and incidental.
His previous mindset was such that if he found there to be no tangible benefit tied to the hunt, then he simply walked away from it.
However, this began to change ever since he witnessed killing intent for the first time.
That moment had etched itself into his mind, and from that day onward, he found himself relentlessly chasing the feeling he experienced when he saw the color 'blood red' for the very first time.
For him, the first time he saw that color, was also the first time he stopped thinking about the outcome of the hunt and started enjoying the process itself.
And although he had yet to truly grasp the meaning behind that shift, by continuing to chase that primal, vivid sensation, he was slowly inching closer to understanding the essence of killing intent.
To kill for no reason at all, to destroy for the sake of destruction itself—that was the raw truth behind it.
Killing intent wasn't a means to an end.
It was the end.
A manifestation of pure, undiluted destruction.
Which was why the old Leo, who calculated every move and weighed every consequence, could never wield it consistently.
But the new Leo, the one who had started to feel the thrill of the hunt for what it was, who had begun to indulge in the chase not for gain but for the joy of the kill, was now coming closer and closer to uncovering its truth.
—----------
It took him about half an hour of relentless tracking to finally find a sandworm whose faint vibrations he could consistently follow, and about another half to bait it into surfacing, as he had no means of hunting it while it remained underground.
He stomped his feet repeatedly on the loose desert sand, making as much noise as possible, sending rhythmic pulses through the terrain, until finally... he felt it.
The tremors intensified.... growing sharper, faster, and more deliberate with each passing second, as closing in from the northeast was a giant sandworm who had locked onto him as a target.
*Rumble*
The earth around him began to shift, however, instead of running, he only smiled.
"Here it comes..." He murmured, daggers already drawn, as he braced his feet and bent his knees ever so slightly, narrowing his eyes at the slowly warping sand.
*Boom*
Without warning, the ground in front of him exploded into a pillar of sand and shattered stone, as a massive serpentine beast, at least thirty feet long, armored in thick, rust-colored carapace and lined with serrated, grinding teeth burst out of the ground with its maw wide open, hoping to bite into Leo.
However, Leo was no longer there.
[Storm Flash Traverse]
Flash
He disappeared in a ripple of crimson distortion, reappearing four feet to the side.
Flash.
Then again behind it, mentally locking new anchor points mid-air with razor-sharp focus.
Flash.
And again, this time mid-somersault above the beast's flank, as he conjured [Dark Blade] mid-flight, fusing it with [Thousand Phantom Strikes] in one fluid burst.
What followed was a flurry of movement too fast for the eye to catch.
His body vanished and reappeared in fragments, each strike weaving seamlessly into the next, as black blade arcs layered upon one another in unpredictable patterns, flickering and overlapping until it looked like ten Leos were carving through the sandworm's exposed side simultaneously.
The illusion of numbers made it impossible for the creature to react, as its thick hide began to split open in glowing red lines, black blood spurting into the air as Leo continued to flash between preset anchor points with mechanical precision.
By the time the sandworm realized it was under attack, Leo was already standing at its rear.
[Storm Flash Traverse] ended with a final teleport back to solid ground, as the mana anchor points burned out in a gentle fizz of light, his mana reserves slightly winded, but his mind still sharp.
Behind him, the sandworm let out a low, gurgled screech, before its massive body collapsed sideways, its entire flank carved open with precise blade trails glowing with residual mana.
As Leo looked back at his handiwork with pure joy in his eyes.
"YES!" He screamed in joy, happy to finally kill a sandworm exactly how he envisioned it, as this battle had already taken place five times in his head before turning into reality.
"Onto the next kill!" He buzzed, as he began running on the sand with joy, unaware that every inch of his skin, every fiber of his robe, even the tips of his daggers now glowed with a dull, blood red shimmer, as the killing intent he had been chasing all this time now surged through him unrestrained.
Slowly, but surely, he was coming closer to uncovering it's secrets, and all he needed was one enlightening moment to realize killing intent for what it truly was.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC339: Frustration
Chapter 339: Frustration
Over the next two days, Leo killed another twelve sandworms, while also successfully escaping from two that turned out to be Transcendent tier creatures far beyond his current means.
He didn't bother pushing his luck with them, choosing instead to bolt to safety the moment they emerged before him, as he used a combination of [Storm Flash Traverse] and [Blade Switch] to run to safety.
It wasn't until the thirteenth one, the last kill of the second day, that something truly shifted.
This time, after the battle ended and the beast lay eviscerated in the sand behind him, the feeling of bloodlust within him didn't fade.
The blood-red aura clung to him. Not just on his skin or blades, but in the air around him, as it wrapped around his limbs like a second robe, flickering faintly like heat waves on a summer road, yet cold and steady in presence.
"Whoa... I'm covered in killing intent—" Leo murmured, turning his hand slowly before his eyes, as he watched the faint shimmer pulse and twist with his movement.
The aura covering him was different this time, it wasn't just a post-battle rush or residual energy, but rather a stable state that he seemed to have achieved on his own.
The killing intent belonged to him now, and introspecting, he tried to understand why the change had occurred.
For the next two minutes, he tried his best to decipher the secret behind this feeling, however, in the end he couldn't arrive at a conclusive result, and the blood red aura dissolved to nothing yet again, vanishing like a whisper swallowed by the wind.
"That's the longest I've been able to manifest killing intent..." Leo muttered, as he exhaled through his nose and opened the codex once again, hoping to see some new text in it, something to guide him down the right path, and to his joy, new text had indeed appeared!
As he opened the manual, new text slowly appeared in gold, offering guidance in its usual ominous style.
—-------
> You no longer kill to grow.
You no longer kill to learn.
You no longer kill to test.
You now kill because you want to.
Because the act itself brings clarity.
Because the hunt no longer needs a purpose.
Your body remembers the rhythm.
Your soul has tasted the joy.
And now, the blood red refuses to fade.
> If you continue down this path, and indulge your desire to destroy to the extreme, a new world will slowly open for you.
A world where the red shows you where to strike and how to destroy.
However, once you reach that realm, there will be no coming back.
And your understanding of the codex will forever remain incomplete.
>For now, your understanding of the red is enough.
Explore the four other colors you are missing first, before delving deeper into the shades of red.
—-----
Leo read the words again.
Then once more.
And then frowned as he realized that the codex was asking him to pause his pursuit of killing intent for now.
"The fuck? Some Days you want me to understand killing intent more. But when I get closer to the truth you want me to stop? Just what the fuck do you want from me?" Leo complained, feeling justifiably pissed as the aura covering his body turned 'Maroon' once more, displaying his frustration.
The codex was the most confusing cultivation manual to ever exist, as Leo could never quite figure out what it really wanted him to do?
The guidelines were vague.
The progress was difficult to gauge.
And eventually when he did reach close to a threshold, the manual asked him to take it slow and backtrack?
"How am I supposed to explore the other colors when you haven't even told me what the others are?" he snapped, flipping back through the codex as if expecting it to give up more answers if he just stared hard enough.
"Am I supposed to guess? Meditate in the desert until they show up one by one like collectibles? Is that your idea of a fucking tutorial?" Leo cursed, as even though he knew that shouting would get him nowhere, he couldn't help but shout as the frustration in his chest threatened to bubble out of control if he did not.
"FUCK!"
"What am I supposed to do now? Just stop killing until I figure out the other colors? But killing was the only fucking thing that brought me joy in life...." Leo expressed, as he clutched his fingers and balled them tightly into fists.
For a while, the maroon surrounding him grew larger and larger in size, until [Monarch's Indifference] finally kicked in a couple minutes later and began stabilizing his mood and returning clarity to his mind.
As it wasn't until he grew calm again, that he finally realized a key point that he had been unable to see for the last couple of days, ever since he began chasing the bloodlust like a madman.
'When was the last time I drank water?' Leo asked himself, feeling the back of his parched throat, as he realized that he had not paused to rest or drink water in the last two days, and had also not slept a wink in the last four.
It was an almost relentless pursuit of the joy of killing, to the point where he absolutely forgot about everything else, including this world and his eventual goal of reaching the base of the mountain range, as he forgot about the mission completely.
Hence it wasn't until [Monarch's Indifference] kicked in, and he stopped blaming the codex for being so vague and instead asked himself as to why he was so irritated at the idea of not getting to kill for a few days, that the truth finally hit him.
He had grown addicted.
At some point, without even realizing it, he had entered a trance-like state where everything else faded away. He had been chasing the thrill of death with tunnel vision, letting the rush of combat consume him completely.
And now that he was thinking clearly, he realized just how dangerous that mindset truly was, as without even realizing, he had let himself be carried away by the bloodlust.
"Holy shit.... Maybe I do really need a break from killing—" Leo realized, as he finally understood the many dangers of trying to master the [Sevenfold Revelation Codex], where by constantly chasing a single emotion, one became blind to the fact that life was supposed to be a harmony of seven, and not the pursuit of one.
Contact - ToS
Timeless AssassinC340: Ignore it till you make it?
Chapter 340: Ignore it till you make it?
(Time-Stilled World, The Arid Desert, Leo's POV)
After taking a short rest, Leo resumed his journey towards the base of the mountain, which now stood tall and imposing at the edge of the horizon, roughly 30 to 40 kilometers away.
The shimmer of the mountain's presence became clearer with each step that he took across the desolate sands, as he had to restrain himself from going on another killing frenzy, which felt like a constant temptation tugging at his stomach.
Apart from the urge to kill, Leo found the journey to be surprisingly straightforward, as there were no major distractions along the way, and his path remained mostly uneventful.
With the desert sand occasionally brushing past him and the color of the sky barely shifting in the time-frozen world, he reached the base of the mountain in approximately two and a half hours, his pace steady and uninterrupted.
"The Mountain of Illusions", that was what the ancient texts had called it.
As according to scattered records from the old era, following the Great Dimming, this mountain was converted into a mass burial site, where local clans driven mad by illusionary forces turned on one another in blind violence, eradicating every last member of their kind.
Since then, the mountain had earned infamy as a cursed land, one that devoured the minds of those who dared climb it.
Even today, legend had it that anyone attempting the ascent of the mountain had to be wary of spectral entities and relentless hallucinations, as this mountain marked the most mentally grueling portion of the entire journey to Castle Bravo.
The ancient texts warned that the closer one got to the Castle, the more sinister the world became and with the mountain being one of the last obstacles before the Castle revealed itself, it was one of the most dangerous areas to enter, especially for solo adventurers.
"Well, if there's one thing I've got in abundance, it's mental fortitude." Leo whispered to himself, as he reached the base of the mountain and approached the start of the trail leading upwards.
"I already know the rules for survival here.... Which is : hear no sounds, pay heed to no distractions and believe no lies you see. If I just follow that... I'll be okay."
With that resolve in his heart, he began his climb along the broken stone path, its rough edges poking through the shifting dunes as nature had almost claimed the once-carved road entirely over the long centuries of disuse.
For the first twenty minutes, there were no real problems.
However, after ascending approximately four hundred crumbling steps, Leo began to notice a creeping fog dulling his clarity, as though the air itself carried some ancient toxin that was affecting his thoughts.
His mind wandered toward grim subjects like "What is death?" And "Is there life beyond death?" , which were philosophical tangents he had never indulged in, yet now found himself struggling to resist.
"Think nothing..."
"Hear nothing..."
"Believe nothing..."
He whispered the three rules again and again like a sacred mantra, repeating them under his breath as his boots crunched over old gravel and his gaze stayed firmly locked on the winding path ahead.
*SKWOOSH!*
A sudden gust of wind rushed past his face, sending a sharp chill rippling through his spine, as for the briefest moment, he was almost certain he saw something white streak past in a blur just ahead — something that did not belong to this world.
'Probably a spirit,' Leo thought, keeping his body rigid and movements calm, as he chose to pretend he hadn't seen anything at all, as that was the exact strategy he had decided to employ today.
'I've seen enough horror movies to know exactly how the idiot main character dies — a weird sound, a flicker of something unnatural, and instead of ignoring it, they walk right toward it like clueless morons. If only they had a bit of sense, they wouldn't die in the first place.'
'But I'm not like them. I will ignore all sounds and keep to myself!'
Leo maintained this internal monologue with grim amusement, ignoring the faint flickering of white shadows dancing in his periphery.
Even as ghostly forms drifted silently through the air behind him, teasing and spiraling like mischievous wisps, he kept his eyes glued to the path ahead as if blind to everything else.
"Leo... my sweet Leo—" a voice called out gently beside him, soft and painfully familiar.
His breath caught slightly, not from fear, but from recognition, as he knew that the voice belonged to Amanda.
Her voice carried the same warm tone, the same affection that used to wrap around his name like a soft blanket. "Why won't you turn and look at me?" she pleaded again, standing just out of sight.
Leo gritted his teeth slightly and shook his head without speaking, forcing his legs to keep moving at the same pace.
He had no doubt in his mind that if he turned, he would see Amanda, or at least a flawless replica of her, standing by the trail with outstretched arms and inviting eyes.
But that was precisely why he did not turn.
He knew he missed her too much. He knew that if he allowed himself even a glimpse of her form, emotions would rise within him that had no place in this world, emotions that could crack the focus he had built like armor around his mind right now.
Logic reminded him that Amanda could not possibly be present in this time-frozen realm, and he repeated that truth silently to himself with every step, casting away the siren call of illusion as he focused on his breathing and the broken stone beneath his feet.
'Ain't nobody getting into my mind,' Leo thought with a smirk, his pride swelling even as his shoulders remained tense and vigilant.
Ghosts clouded his vision, swirling closer with every step, tugging at his robes, brushing his cheek with icy fingers.
Elena. Luke. Jacob. Su Yang. Dumpy. Ben. Even Sophia.
One by one, the mountain conjured visions of those he cared for, crafting them with painful precision to tempt him from the path.
But Leo refused to grant any of them a single glance.
He kept walking at a steady pace, unshaken by the jargon surrounding him, as little by little, despite the whispers in his ears and the chill on his skin, he made his way up the mountain without any stoppages.
Soon, the final steps of the first mountain on the chain faded behind him and the slope evened into a stretch of eerie flatland, and once he reached that milestone, the intensity of the ghosts distracting him reduced drastically as well.
"Phew! That was a handful–" Leo finally exhaled in relief, thinking the worst was behind him.
Yet just as his foot touched the plateau, the path ahead vanished, swallowed whole by an unsettling white mist that thickened with every passing breath.
Then, from the veil of fog, a figure emerged — ancient, unmoving, and entirely out of place.
Perched atop a weathered boulder with one leg folded neatly over the other, a ghostly figure sat with unsettling poise. Six arms rested across his knees and chest in perfect symmetry, while three serene yet sunken faces extended from a single neck, each bearing a long white beard that flowed down to the waist. Blood-red eyes flickered open across all three faces at once, piercing through the fog and locking onto Leo without hesitation.
"Welcome to the Passage of Wisdom," the figure muttered in a low, vibrating tone, his voice echoing unnaturally across the empty expanse. "Only those worthy may pass."
Leo blinked, unimpressed, and replied with casual irritation, "Yeah, no thanks."
Then he turned his body and walked straight into the fog ahead, choosing to ignore the theatrics entirely.
But as he moved ahead, the white mist began to curl around him like strands of silk, soft yet suffocating, while the air grew thinner and the silence deepened, as if the very world had twisted in on itself— and within moments, the path straightened once more, only for him to realize he was standing in the exact same place as before.
Same fog.
Same rock.
Same ancient ghost with six arms and blood-red eyes.
Only this time, the middle head was smiling, as if it found amusement at Leo's failure to flee.
Leo's eye twitched slightly as he stopped walking, realizing that brute stubbornness and blind faith in the "ignore it and it'll go away" strategy had finally met its match, and that finally, he would have to acknowledge the presence of a spectre.
Contact - ToS