Timeless Assassin

Chapter 971: Bitter End

(Meanwhile, Raymond’s POV)

’Is this a bad dream?’

Raymond’s decapitated head wondered, as even though it had been severed from his body, consciousness still clung to him for a few fleeting moments, stubbornly refusing to accept what his senses were trying to tell him as the world tilted strangely and the sky felt far too close.

Something was wrong.

There was no weight.

No body.

No breath moving through his lungs.

And yet, vision and thought persisted.

’Huh? What’s going on?’

He wondered, as sound arrived in fragments, distorted and distant, as if the battlefield had been pushed far away from him, muffled beneath layers of cotton and blood, while the ground rushed up toward him far too slowly.

’How did he even move that fast?’

The thought came next, sharp and panicked, cutting through the fog as memory replayed itself in broken flashes, Leo’s step forward, space folding unnaturally, the sensation of pressure screaming through the air before Raymond’s instincts could even finish screaming danger.

’What inhuman technique was that?’

He wondered, as confusion curdled into disbelief as he tried to piece together the moment again, replaying it from every angle he could remember, searching desperately for the mistake that had to be there.

’That speed wasn’t mortal.’

His eyes shifted, vision swimming as his head rolled slightly against broken stone, as through the blur, he saw him.

Leo Skyshard.

Still standing.

Still breathing.

Still smiling.

Leo’s body was in ruins, blood soaking through his clothes, running freely from his mouth and wounds that should have dropped any other man long ago, yet his posture remained upright, his gaze calm and steady as he looked down at Raymond, not with hatred or rage, but rather with the quiet certainty of someone who had already won.

’No...’

Raymond’s thoughts spiraled violently as the reality began to settle.

’How could I ever be defeated by a mere mortal?’

The question echoed uselessly inside his fading mind, pride screaming louder than pain, as rage ignited in his chest, hot and suffocating, pushing back against the creeping darkness.

"Don’t you dare look down on me, mortal!"

He tried to shout.

However, instead of words, only blood spilled from his mouth, thick and bubbling, as it spilled uselessly onto the stone, as his jaw trembled and his vision blurred further, his anger finding no outlet as his body refused to obey him one final time.

*Splat*

*Indiscernible gurgle*

Seconds passed, and slowly the rage faltered, the heat draining away, as something colder took its place.

Fear.

’This has to be some sort of mistake.’

The thought came weakly now, no longer sharp, no longer commanding.

’I cannot die here...’

His surroundings dimmed as though someone were slowly turning down the light on the world, the edges of his vision darkening first as shadows closed in from all sides and sensation began to slip away piece by piece.

’I cannot die yet.’

Panic surged anew, raw and desperate.

’Father!’

The name tore through his mind like a lifeline.

’Someone call my father!’

He searched wildly, his eyes straining, scanning for any sign of Kaelith, for any presence that might intervene, might deny this ending or might pull him back from the edge he was sliding toward far too quickly.

However, much to his horror there was no one.

No familiar aura.

No answering presence.

Just Leo.

And silence.

The battlefield felt impossibly distant now, as though it belonged to another world entirely, the realization settling with crushing weight that this was not a mistake, nor a dream waiting to end, but rather something real.

’I had so much left to do...’

The thought drifted through him, slower now, heavy with regret rather than anger.

’So much left to achieve.’

Memories surfaced unbidden, ambitions, expectations, futures he had assumed were guaranteed simply by virtue of who he was, images of power not yet claimed, heights not yet reached.

’I hadn’t even become a God yet.’

The irony stung sharply, bitter and final.

’And now...’

The thought never finished.

His awareness fractured, consciousness slipping through his fingers like sand, as his eyelids grew unbearably heavy, each blink lasting longer than the last.

*Darkness*

The world narrowed to a tunnel, and at its center stood Leo Skyshard, bloodied, broken, and smiling.

That image burned itself into Raymond’s fading mind.

’Leo Skyshard... you bastard.’

The resentment lingered even as everything else began to fall away.

’My father will avenge me...’

The thought echoed faintly, more hope than conviction now, as the darkness finally swallowed what remained of him, his eyes closing forever, as his consciousness dissolved into nothingness.

’My father will make you pay for this....’

He prayed, as the last thing he ever saw was the mortal who had ended him standing tall in victory, after which there was nothing at all.

—-----------

(Meanwhile Leo)

Leo had no strength left in him to even walk properly, as after killing Raymond his body finally turned against him in full, the accumulated backlash crashing down all at once as muscles seized, nerves burned, and every breath felt like it was being dragged through shattered glass.

*Spasm*

*Tremble*

His legs buckled repeatedly beneath him, thighs locking and unlocking in painful jerks as torn muscle fibers screamed in protest, while his core felt hollowed out, as though something vital had been scooped from inside his chest and never put back.

*Choke*

*Cough*

Blood kept spilling from his mouth in wet, choking coughs, each one sending fresh pain through his ribs as fractured bones shifted with every movement.

*Hack*

*Cough*

His vision swam, dark spots blooming at the edges as the ground tilted dangerously beneath his feet, as for the first time since the battle began, Leo felt gravity winning, his body leaning forward uncontrollably as his knees began to give.

*Wobble*

*Tilt*

However, just before he could fall, something solid moved beneath him, a broad, powerful back catching his weight, as he somehow managed to stay upright.

"It’s time to run, Lord Father," Dumpy said, his human-sized frog form braced firmly beneath Leo as he lifted him with surprising gentleness.

"Everyone else has boarded the ships already, we need to go fast now... and you need to open the portal to lead us out."

He reminded, as Leo chuckled and retrieved a health recovery potion from his storage ring, before starting to chug it like it were water, understanding full well that this war wasn’t over till they were out of here.