Timeless Assassin

Chapter 1043: Threat

(Meanwhile on Planet Granada, Clarence and Terrence’s POV)

*Thunder*

*Rain*

Clarence and Terrence stood side by side on the lone rock rising above Granada’s endless ocean, rain pouring down over their shoulders as they stared up at the gloomy sky with evident frowns on their faces.

"Man, who in their right minds would want to live on a gloomy planet like this?

I mean..." Clarence began, as another roll of thunder echoed across the dark waters while he gestured vaguely toward the endless storm surrounding them.

"You’ve got to be a certain kind of crazy to actually call this place home, don’t you think?"

Terrence let out a quiet snort as he folded his arms across his chest, the rain running down his face while the wind whipped across the rock beneath their feet.

"Yeah, man," Terrence replied with a small shake of his head. "I don’t get it either."

He glanced out toward the endless ocean stretching across the planet, his expression twisting into mild irritation as another gust of cold rain swept over them.

"I mean, I also don’t understand why the Lord wants us guarding this place in his absence," Terrence continued. "After all, who in their right mind would try raiding Granada in the first place?"

Clarence shrugged.

"Maybe nobody," he said.

Then after a moment he added thoughtfully,

"But the Lord probably has his reasons."

Terrence glanced toward him.

"Oh?"

Clarence rubbed the back of his neck before continuing.

"I heard him talking about it once," he said. "He thinks the reason behind why the Great Clan Gods might be trying to lure him towards Helion-6 might actually be because they’re interested in Granada’s waters."

Terrence raised an eyebrow.

"The ocean?"

Clarence nodded.

"Yeah," he replied. "As you already know... it’s one of the key ingredients for the Demi-God Breakthrough Potion.

And with the Lord no longer being a friendly God to them, there’s no other way for them to obtain these waters than to try and steal it."

The rain continued pouring around them as Terrence slowly whistled.

"Well... when you put it like that, I guess the paranoia makes a bit more sense," he admitted.

Clarence gave a small shrug again.

"I mean, the Lord is paranoid," he said. "But it’s probably better to be safe than sorry."

Terrence nodded slowly as he stared back out across the endless dark waters.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Suppose you’re right."

For a few seconds the two men stood there quietly again while the thunderstorm rumbled above them.

Neither of them seemed particularly bothered by the idea that someone might try stealing Granada’s waters.

Especially someone from the Cult.

Because while they assumed the threat would come from the Great Clans...

The truth was very different.

As someone they did not expect to see in the least was already on his way to Granada.

—----------

(Meanwhile, Back On Helion-6)

The moment the ambush began, the battlefield ceased behaving like normal space as six divine pressures crashed into Mauriss from different directions, the combined weight of their auras bending gravity itself while the air screamed under the strain.

Yu Kiro reached him first, his movement so fast that to any lesser observer it would have looked like teleportation as his fist tore through the atmosphere toward Mauriss’s chest, the surrounding space collapsing inward under the pressure of the strike.

Mauriss leaned back slightly as the attack passed through the space he had occupied a fraction of a second earlier, the missed blow ripping a shockwave across the ruined plains while the ground behind him shattered under the displaced force.

Mauriss grinned.

"Why do you look so mad?"

He asked, however, before the words had even fully left his mouth, Lu Han descended from above as his kick crashed downward like a falling star, the pressure alone splitting the battlefield beneath them while the strike distorted space in a visible ripple.

*SKADOOSH*

Mauriss twisted sideways as the kick skimmed past his temple, though Mu Shen was already moving as his palm strike came crashing into Mauriss’s ribs from the blind side.

*CRACK*

The impact sent Mauriss skidding backward across the shattered continent while the force of the blow carved a trench nearly a kilometer long through the ruined ground before he finally halted himself midair.

Then he straightened.

Still smiling.

"Well now..." Mauriss chuckled as he rolled his shoulder slightly, divine energy already knitting the fracture together inside his ribs.

"That one actually hurt."

Du Trask arrived next as a blade of condensed divine pressure swept through the battlefield toward Mauriss’s neck, the arc splitting the atmosphere apart while distant mountains collapsed from the stray force of the strike.

Mauriss slipped away from the attack as space bent around his body, though Ru Vassa’s magic spear was already thrusting toward his throat while Yu Kiro closed the distance again from behind.

The battlefield turned chaotic instantly.

Six Gods moved at once.

Strikes came from every direction as Mauriss barely weaved through the storm.

He twisted past Yu Kiro’s fist as it shattered the ground beside him, ducked beneath Mu Shen’s elbow while the blow carved a canyon through the plains behind them, and slid past Ru Vassa’s magical spear by the width of a breath.

But Lu Han finally caught him, his kick slamming into Mauriss’s side like a thunderbolt.

*BOOM*

Mauriss shot sideways across the battlefield as the impact launched him through several collapsed ridges before he regained control of his momentum and stopped himself in midair.

Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth, which he wiped away with a grin, before starting to laugh.

"Ahahahaha!"

The sound echoed across the devastated continent while the six Gods repositioned around him, their movements flickering across space so quickly that even perception itself struggled to keep up.

For a moment the battlefield fractured into overlapping movements as attacks narrowly missed while divine pressure waves collided in midair, the stray force of their strikes collapsing distant mountains and sending entire sections of ocean rising into the sky.

While, Mauriss did his best to dance through the storm.

Not perfectly, but enough to stay alive, as Yu Kiro’s elbow clipped his jaw, and Mu Shen’s strike grazed his shoulder, pushing him backward yet again.

"He’s not Soron. Nowhere close."

Lu Han commented, as Mu Shen nodded grimly while adjusting his stance.

"No.... No he’s not."

He agreed, as he knew from firsthand experience that Soron would have already shattered their formation, while Mauriss could barely breathe.

*SWOOSH*

*BOOM*

*PARRY*

Another exchange erupted instantly as six attacks crashed toward him from different directions while the air itself imploded between them.

Mauriss avoided two.

Slipped past another.

But Ru Vassa’s magical spell hit him this time, as a chunk of his flesh was blown apart from above his shoulder.

"There."

Lu Han grinned.

"He’s fast," he admitted.

"But he’s not untouchable."

Mauriss spat blood onto the ruined ground while his smile slowly widened again.

Above them, the sky had begun tearing open under the pressure of the battle as reality flickered violently while gravity shifted across the shattered plains.

Mu Shen spoke quietly as the formation closed in once more.

"Keep pressing."

Because for the first time since the fight had begun, the six Gods realized something important.

Mauriss might be powerful.

But he was not Soron.

And if they continued pressing the attack long enough...

They might actually kill him.