Timeless Assassin

Chapter 1116: Lord Dumpy

(Meanwhile, within the Time-Stilled World, Dumpy’s POV)

*Pant*

*Pant*

Dumpy panted heavily as he fell to his knees in exhaustion, his giant sword supporting the weight of his massive body while acid sweat rolled down his skin and sizzled upon contact with the ground below.

*Fssshhhh*

*Fshhhhh*

Wherever those drops landed, the stone cracked and hissed violently, as the corrosive fluid ate into the surface and left behind fresh fissures that spread outward like the marks of some invisible beast clawing at the earth.

"Must break through... must endure this pain for a few more days..." Dumpy muttered, his voice strained and ragged as his breathing remained uneven, while the burning sensation crawling through every part of his body refused to lessen even slightly.

It felt as though his flesh was being roasted from within, as though every vein, every organ, and every piece of muscle hidden beneath his skin had been tossed into a furnace and left there to endure.

And yet, even through all of it, Dumpy remained conscious... Although just barely, as he understood better than anyone that if he allowed himself to pass out now, if he allowed his will to waver even once during this critical phase, then the road to the Demi God realm would slam shut before him for good.

Unlike humans, who relied heavily on breakthrough potions to cross major thresholds in strength, Dumpy had no such shortcut available to him, as beasts did not traditionally ascend through carefully refined alchemical mixtures.

Beasts rose the old-fashioned way.

The brutal way, just like the Beast Gods of old did many millennia ago, long before potion-making became widespread among the civilized races of the universe and changed the nature of breakthrough forever.

In theory, a natural breakthrough and a potion-induced breakthrough sought to achieve the exact same end result, as both methods aimed to transform the body from a mortal vessel into something capable of enduring divine essence.

However, the difference lay in the method of how that change was achieved.

A potion-induced breakthrough was immediate, overwhelming, and explosive, as the potion flooded the body in one violent burst and forced the user to adapt or die within the span of mere minutes.

The mana circuits, cells, organs, and blood pathways of the user were all drowned at once under an excessive amount of power, as the potion attempted to instantly bridge the gap between two realms through sheer concentrated force.

That was why potion breakthroughs were dangerous but also extremely useful, as they were fast, easy, and less painful than natural breakthroughs.

While on the other hand, a natural breakthrough was exactly opposite in rhythm.

As unlike a potion breakthrough, it did not come all at once and was instead a slow, excruciating transformation, where the beast’s body began to absorb increasing amounts of ambient mana and divine essence from its surroundings over an extended period of time.

At first, the change seemed small.

Barely noticeable.

Just a slight increase in sensitivity, a slight rise in internal heat, a slight discomfort beneath the skin that made rest difficult and stillness feel unnatural.

Then the body began to escalate that process on its own.

The cells absorbed more.

The blood thickened with energy.

The flesh became overcharged.

And slowly, relentlessly, the same effect that a potion caused in minutes began to occur naturally over the course of weeks or even months.

That was why the process was so punishing.

Because although the end goal remained the same, the beast undergoing the transformation had to remain alive, conscious, and mentally stable throughout a prolonged state of internal collapse and renewal.

There was no instant finish line.

No short sprint of survival.

No moment where one simply clenched their teeth for a few breaths and endured until the storm passed.

A natural breakthrough was a campaign of pain.

A drawn-out siege upon the body and mind, where every day felt like another battle, and every battle had to be won through stubborn endurance rather than sudden resilience alone.

That was also why only a limited number of beasts throughout the history of the universe ever reached this benchmark, as not only was the bloodline of the beast important in such scenarios, as the beast needed to have a constitution strong enough to endure such change, but also a mind and will strong enough to breakthrough to the next stage.

Among beasts, strength developed differently than it did among humans or other potion-reliant species.

As a beast did not always choose when to attempt a higher realm breakthrough.

More often than not, its own body chose for it, as once a beast grew powerful enough and reached the upper boundary of its current realm, its constitution automatically began leaning toward evolution, as if the blood inside it could sense that it had reached the edge of what it currently was.

At that point, only two futures usually remained.

Either the beast pushed forward and began transforming into something greater, or its body failed to complete that leap and slowly regressed with age until its prime faded and death became inevitable.

That was the cruel truth of the beast path.

Beasts did not linger comfortably at their peak for endless centuries while deciding whether they felt like evolving or not.

Once they hit the threshold, the body demanded an answer.

Advance.

Or decline.

That was why the type of life a beast lived mattered so much in determining whether it could one day become a Demi God, as unlike potion users, beasts were not simply relying on ingredients, formulas, and timing.

A beast’s body was a record of its life.

Its strength reflected not just how much mana it held, but what it had endured, what it had consumed, how often it had fought, and how intensely it had forced itself against death.

A beast that fought endlessly throughout its life, that survived dangerous battles, devoured potent prey, endured harsh environments, and constantly pushed itself against powerful opponents, had a much greater chance of reaching its true threshold, because, through these experiences, its body became tougher, its instincts sharpened and its primal bloodline awakened more deeply.

Meanwhile, a beast that lived passively, fed poorly, avoided life-threatening struggle, and drifted through existence without true danger gnawing at its heels, often never reached the upper limits of what it could have become.

It aged.

It weakened.

And then it regressed.

That was how nature judged beasts.

Not through theory or talent, but through whether their lives had tempered them enough to justify greater strength.

As this was exactly where Dumpy excelled.

Dumpy had lived the kind of life that pushed a beast toward transformation.

From the moment he had pledged himself to Leo, his path had been soaked in battle after battle, as he spent countless years inside the Time-Stilled World fighting the mindless mutated beasts that roamed those lands in endless numbers.

He had fought when wounded.

He had fought while starving.

He had fought while outnumbered.

He had fought through exhaustion, through pain, and through countless situations where lesser beasts would have long since broken down and accepted decline.

And as a result, each of those battles had strengthened him.....

Each clash, each wound, each near-death struggle had tempered his body further, until eventually his bloodline and his accumulated experience reached the critical threshold where his body could no longer remain what it once was.

And so, the process of breakthrough began naturally.

Now, at this point, there was no stepping back.

There was no choice to delay.

There was no option to say, ’I will try again later.’

His body had already chosen evolution, and now Dumpy’s only job was to survive the journey long enough to meet the end of it.

That made this stage uniquely terrifying.

Because during these weeks, he could rely on no one.

No ally could ease the pain for him.

No healer could step in and lighten the burden, and no amount of external support could replace the one thing that determined whether he would succeed or fail....Which was his own ability to remain conscious, sane, and resolute while the transformation continued tearing him apart from the inside.

Thankfully, the Cult had prepared an isolated breakthrough site for him deep inside the Time-Stilled World, where he could undergo the process in peace without external threats interfering and without the risk of wandering mutated beasts finishing him off during a moment of weakness.

The site itself was quiet, empty, and secure, which was exactly what he needed.

Because the breakthrough demanded isolation and focus.

Unfortunately, during this critical time, he could not eat properly, nor take any rest.

He had to constantly stay awake and prevent his instincts from descending into blind panic, because if his mind wandered too far, if he surrendered too much to delirium, or if he lost himself in the pain before the transformation stabilized, then the process would derail and his body would begin collapsing instead of ascending, which was exactly why staying conscious mattered so much.....

And why, even now, kneeling there with his sword dug into the ground and acid sweat melting stone around him, Dumpy kept forcing himself to breathe through the fire.

"Not dying here..." He muttered, his eyes sharp as he kept his mind stable.

"Must be strong to stand beside Lord Father..."

"Must make him proud....."

The words came out broken, but the resolve behind them remained unshaken, as he continued to fight through the pain.

All his life, he had wanted strength above all else.

Real strength.

The kind that let him stand at Leo’s side without shame.

The kind that let him protect the Cult, crush enemies, and rise high enough that even enemy gods would one day have to acknowledge his existence.

And so he endured....

He endured for his future.

And for the promise that when he emerged again from this isolation, he would be a beast that would put the universe on notice with his power.