Timeless Assassin

Chapter 1080: The Cost Of Victory

(Planet Granada, Leo’s POV)

"So tell me, Skyshard, do you have the guts to follow through on the events you have now set into motion?" Mauriss asked, as Leo exhaled slowly, extending his hand forward in silence.

His palm remained steady, open and patient, as he gestured for the dagger without breaking eye contact, his gaze unwavering despite the weight of what was about to follow.

Mauriss studied him for a moment, then smiled faintly, as he placed the Origin blade into Leo’s hand, the exchange quiet yet heavy with unspoken understanding.

The dagger felt familiar.

Its weight, its balance, its presence, all identical to the one Leo already had in his possession, as he began to twirl it lightly between his fingers, his thoughts turning inward.

When he had designed this game, he had already accounted for this moment, as he knew there might come a point where sacrifice would become the only path forward.

The multiplier had never been random.

It was designed as a final lever, something he could control depending on how deep he found himself pushed into the corner, as a means to force an exit.

Leo had never believed he could defeat Mauriss cleanly.

Winning against the Deceiver in a fair contest of wit was not something he considered realistic, as the longer the game stretched, the worse his odds became.

A draw meant another round.

Another round meant a clean slate for Mauriss, and there was no guarantee that he could replicate the results of this round in the next.

Which was why, he wanted to end the game here and now, while he still had the chance to decisively do so.

’This is my only window....’

Leo thought, as he understood, that this was a narrow opening where victory could still be forced, as even if the price demanded a piece of himself, it was a cost Leo had already accepted.

Because without the multiplier, his attack would never be enough.

Defend would reduce the damage, and the match would end in a draw, leaving him trapped in a cycle he could not afford to remain within.

But with amplification, even a dampened strike would carry enough force to end it, as the outcome would no longer depend on prediction, but on execution.

Leo stopped twirling the dagger.

"Watch me...."

He said, as in one decisive motion, he brought it down.

*Slash*

The blade cut cleanly through the little finger of his left hand, as blood splattered outward, scattering across the table and onto Mauriss’s face while a scream rose within Leo’s throat, clawing to escape.

"UMFPH—"

He did not let it out.

His jaw tightened, teeth grinding against each other as he forced the pain down, his breathing turning ragged while his gaze remained locked onto Mauriss without breaking.

The Origin blade cut through his finger clean, the edge going through flesh and bone alike, as Leo’s hand trembled slightly, yet his posture held firm while the multiplier card in his possession began to shift.

The text changed.

The card pulsed once, then settled into its new state, as the informational value transformed into a definitive outcome, an amplification now bound to his choice.

X5.

Leo reached forward and slotted it in alongside his final move, his movements slower now, controlled through sheer will as the pain coursed through him in relentless waves.

"Your turn... Deceiver," Leo muttered, his voice low, strained, yet steady enough to carry across the table, as Mauriss wiped the splattered blood from his face, then licked it.

*Slurp*

A grin spread slowly across his lips, before laughter burst from him, loud and unrestrained as the madness returned in full force.

"Hahahahaha!"

"You’re a crazy one, Skyshard!" he said, his voice filled with genuine excitement as he stared at Leo with a look that carried both admiration and disbelief.

"A crazy bastard with resolve," he continued, as his eyes gleamed with something deeper now, something that recognized what stood before him.

"I have never seen someone this calculated, this daring, and with these big balls in all my life!" Mauriss said, as he retrieved the dagger from Leo’s grasp, his expression shifting into thought.

He weighed his own options now.

As he understood that he could still secure a draw in this match if he chose to sacrifice his own limb.

However, when he compared between letting Leo go away from Granada with a few litres of water, or losing a limb and living with the pain for an eternity.....

The decision was obvious, as he chose to sheath the blade with a satisfied smile.

*Sheath*

Mauriss had seen enough.

Leo had already proven what he needed to prove, as the outcome of this match no longer mattered as much as the man who stood across from him.

And hence, without hesitation, he placed his final card into the slot without using any multiplier, his decision made with quiet certainty as he relinquished the path to victory.

Both constructs moved.

Leo’s golem surged forward, its strike carrying amplified force as it crashed into Mauriss’s, which raised its guard in response, bracing for impact.

*BOOM*

The collision rang out across the field.

Mauriss’s construct held for a fraction of a moment, cracks spreading rapidly across its surface as the accumulated damage and overwhelming force converged into a single breaking point.

Then it shattered.

*Crack*

*Crshhhh*

The body collapsed into fragments, dissolving into dust as the result became undeniable, the match ending in Leo’s favor.

The contract activated instantly.

A binding force wrapped around Mauriss, restricting his movement as the agreement enforced itself without delay, granting Leo the freedom it had promised.

Leo rose from his seat slowly.

His hand still bleeding profusely.....

His breathing still uneven....

Yet his eyes were calm as he looked toward Mauriss and gave a small nod, acknowledging both the game and the man before him.

"Until next time then..... Deceiver." Leo said quietly, as he turned away, now free to take what he came for and leave Granada on his own terms.

As Mauriss chuckled in the background, as though he had seen the making of a legend before his own eyes.

"You’re different Skyshard..... you’re not Soron, you’re not like the Timeless Assassin.

You’re ... Leo Skyshard, the first and only.

And I, Mauriss, acknowledge you today as a worthy rival!"

Mauriss muttered softly, as he decided here and now to support Leo’s growth until he became an opponent that could tantalise him for an eternity to come.