Timeless Assassin

Chapter 1121: All Enemies

(Planet Satoru, Central Military Base, Leo’s POV)

In the days that followed Yu Rulo’s audience with Yu Kiro, orders began moving rapidly across Yu Clan territory, as branch leaders, frontier governors, and distant outpost Commanders all received urgent summons to contribute forces toward a counter-offensive aimed at reclaiming Planet Satoru.

What had first begun as a contained military response soon started resembling mass mobilization, as fleets were reassigned, reserve battalions recalled, supply routes redirected, and staging points established across multiple Yu Clan worlds in preparation for a campaign far larger than an ordinary punitive expedition.

Naturally, movements of that scale could not remain hidden for long, especially not from a Cult information network perfected by Chaosbringer, and so it was only a matter of time before a compiled report reached Leo’s desk.

"My Lord, it is unfolding almost exactly as you anticipated," Shadow Number One said, as he stood before Leo with the report open in hand while several tactical projections hovered beside him.

"It appears that the Yu Clan Patriarch, Yu Rulo intends to lead the counter-offensive personally, and current estimates suggest he is assembling a grand fleet large enough not merely to contest Satoru, but to force us into revealing the extent of our strength whether we wish to or not," he continued, his tone measured as he relayed the intelligence.

Leo listened without interruption, and as the report continued, a faint smile gradually started to form across his face.

"Yes... that sounds about right," he said at last, his voice carrying quiet satisfaction as though hearing confirmation of a move he had already seen several steps in advance.

"I reckon they will need another three or four weeks before their force is properly assembled, and once it is, they will come down on us with everything they believe necessary to overwhelm us in one decisive blow," he continued, as his smile sharpened.

"They will believe they have the upper hand. And then, when we crush them...."

Leo paused, as he let that thought linger while stifling a chuckle.

There was no bravado in the statement, only conviction, as by now he had already run through this scenario enough times in his mind to feel almost bored by its predictability.

Because from his perspective, the approaching fleet was not a threat interrupting his plans.

It was his plan.

Its arrival was the next piece falling where it was supposed to in his grand scheme to restore the Cult to its once former glory.

Shadow Number One seemed to understand that much, though he still asked carefully, "My Lord... are you certain that killing Yu Rulo will be enough to force Yu Kiro to act personally?"

As Leo nodded in confidence.

"From my perspective, he has no other choice...."

Leo began, as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"The fleet itself is secondary.... because ships can be rebuilt and armies can be replenished, but a Patriarch dying at the hands of the Cult is something that must be answered to keep the pride of the organisation intact.

So yes, I’m sure Yu Kiro will come."

Leo assured, as Shadow Number One nodded in understanding.

—---------

(Meanwhile, Mairon’s POV)

Mairon had been on Planet Satoru for three weeks now, and as scheduled, exactly on the twenty-first day, he finally received the marching orders he had been restlessly waiting for, as Commander James’s fleet was set to depart for Planet Yamuna the following day to conduct reinforcement operations there for three days before moving onward toward a new military campaign.

The moment the order reached his hands, something inside him stirred instantly, because after weeks of drills, inspections, fortification duties, and routines that often felt painfully ordinary, the word deployment suddenly made all those slow days feel like prelude rather than delay.

"FUCK YEAH, FINALLY I GET SOME ACTION!"

He yelled, as he felt excited to get out of this monotonous routine that had settled over his life.

And yet, as excited as he was to go forward, those twenty-one days had changed him more than he expected, because in that short span he had learned more about the outer universe than years of studying ever taught him back inside the Cult.

Because reading about the Galaxy Net in textbooks, and actually accessing it as a Lieutenant were two different things, as once he finally saw the kind of hatred the Righteous Netizens had towards the Cult, he felt enlightened in a whole different way.

90% of the information up there about the Cult was wrong, and it was not even the soldiers and Righteous Military that hated the Cult the most, but rather some Commoners, who seemed to hate the Cult to their bones.

"If I ever get my hands on a cultist, I will ***** ******* ******,"

"I heard they eat child meat at the Cult. The reason behind why they’re so much stronger at the same tier is because they consume taboo substances."

"I heard Leo Skyshard once ordered the death of a thousand enemies by bleeding them out through the asshole.

He’s a perverse and sick bastard that made his soldiers stick weapons up Righteous Soldiers’s rectum and made our brave men bleed to death slowly then."

Someone had written, as the more that Mairon read, the more surprised he became at how different the universe really was versus what he had imagined.

"Yeah.... Dad is too kind to let the Righteous Citizens live with the kind of hatred they have towards us.....

If it were me in charge of the Cult.

I’d show these bastards no mercy."

Mairon muttered, as he shook his head from side to side in disappointment.

"Once all this is over.... Once we win the war against them.

I’ll have a conversation with the old man on how to achieve lasting peace.

He’s too soft.....

He thinks our enemies are only men who point their weapons towards us.

While what he should think is that, everyone who isn’t one of us are our enemies....."

Mairon muttered, as he closed the Galaxy Net and let out a deep sigh.

He was young, and he still had a lot more to see and mature, and yet, he already had an image forming in his head about the Righteous Faction....

An image where every last one of them felt like an enemy in his mind.