Timeless Assassin

(Planet Ixtal, Soron's Castle, The Treasure Room, Leo's POV)

It took Soron some time to steady himself, his trembling hands finally pulling back into his sleeves as he gathered his thoughts and steadied his composure.

"What advice did my father give you for your future? Tell me everything…." He demanded, as Leo recounted it all carefully, not embellishing nor withholding, until at last he reached the part about the [Emperor's Suppression Manual].

"So he wants me to hand you the [Emperor's Suppression Manual], eh?" Soron muttered, his brows knitting as his voice dropped into a tone of disbelief.

"That is… odd. Very odd indeed."

He found it almost laughable, the thought that his father wished for him to entrust a manual that Soron himself had only managed to master at the Demi-God stage, to a boy who had not even crossed fully into Transcendent.

"Are you certain that is what he said?" Soron pressed again, his sharp gray eyes boring into Leo.

But Leo only shrugged lightly in response, his expression plain but resolute, as he nodded.

He had never even heard the name of the manual before this day, yet if the Timeless Assassin himself had declared it his path forward, then there was no room for doubt.

*Sigh*

A long breath escaped Soron, his head shaking slowly from side to side, until finally he gave a weary smile of acceptance.

"Well, I suppose it is not impossible. You did master the [SevenFold Revelation Codex] at the Grandmaster stage, when aura mastery is something most fail to grasp until Monarch.

So if you could achieve that, then perhaps… perhaps you might be able to grasp this as well.

But like my father warned, it will be brutally difficult. Of that, I have no doubt."

The weight of his words sent an involuntary shiver down Leo's spine.

Memories of the Codex surfaced at once— the endless walking along the streets, the suffocating frustration of not breaking through for months, the desperate measures he needed to take to finally force breakthroughs.

He already despised the torment of that path, and yet he had endured, barely clawing his way to mastery through sheer stubbornness, and the absurd luck of surviving long enough to put what he learned to use.

Even so, when he counted both the years within the Time-Stilled World and the one year that had passed since, it had taken him four plus years to tame that one beast of a method.

'Fuck me—'

Leo thought, as his lips pressed into a thin line.

"Yeah… to be honest, I don't want to walk into another method that feels impossible to master. I hated the Codex enough. But I guess there are no shortcuts to becoming a God. If I want to be the best, I have to work for it. No excuses."

His tone was not loud, but it carried a steady conviction that resonated through the chamber, as Charles's chest swelled faintly with pride at the boy's words.

Leo was reckless, impatient, and too quick to deal death when provoked, yet when it came to the path of strength, he never once wavered, never once backed down from the pain that others would flee from.

And that, more than anything, was why Charles believed he was destined to climb.

"Alright, if you know the challenges but are ready to face them anyways, then I have no reservations about giving it to you, just wait here a moment." Soron said, as he began looking around in his treasure room, until he spotted the manual collecting dust on a bookshelf.

*POOF*

Blowing the dust off, Soron carried over the manual to Leo and placed it in his hand with a soft smile.

"You'll be the first individual to master this method after my brother and me in case you do manage to master it.

It's written by my father.

And it's one of the methods he was very proud of." Soron said, as he entrusted the legacy over to Leo now.

"I'll try my best to master it." Leo said before placing it in his storage ring, as Charles tapped gently on his shoulder and gestured for him to start moving out of the treasure room.

Nodding, Leo began making his way out, when Soron reminded him that he still needed to deliver the Origin Metal to him soon.

"Bring the metal slab to me soon…. Either hand it over to Charles, or come to me directly with it.

I never thought that I'd go for an adventure at this stage of my life, with me barely having two- three centuries worth of life left in me, that too if I don't overexert.

However, the temptation to refine a new origin blade and use it to exact revenge is too sweet to pass on.

I've waited 2200 years for this chance.

And now that it's finally here, I can't risk missing it." Soron reminded, as Leo nodded in understanding.

He needed to first retrieve the metal from Chaosbringer, before handing it over to Charles, but that wouldn't take too long.

He could arrange for Chaosbringer to visit Juxta soon, and the handover could then take place.

*Step*

*Step*

As the trio began walking back up the winding steps, Soron let out a long sigh and informed them about a new development in the universe that the two of them were surely not aware about until now.

"The Su Clan God, Su Ren is dead. He was killed by Kaelith a couple days ago.

And soon the bloodshed to carve apart the Su Family Empire shall begin.

It will be the perfect opportunity for me to slip out of the Cult Territory unnoticed.

As I doubt that the righteous alliance will make any big moves for a few months now." Soron said, as both Leo and Charles paused mid step, their eyes wide with shock at the casual piece of news that Soron just dropped.

"The Su Family God is DEAD?" Charles repeated, as if he couldn't believe how Soron withheld such important information for so long.