Timeless Assassin

Chapter 981: Decision

(Temporary Skyshard Quarters, Planet Ixtal, Leo’s POV)

*Childish Cackle*

*Laughter*

Innocent laughter reverberated across the room, as Caleb and Mairon played a game of tag, whereby the brothers leapt over every obstacle in the room in an attempt to catch one another.

*Slurp*

*Smile*

Drinking his soup, Leo observed the children play with a satisfied smile on his face, while Amanda beside him looked at them with an anxious expression, as if worried that they might tumble and fall at the speeds they were currently going at.

"Caleb, slow down.

Mairon, how many times have I told you not to try to bite your brother?"

Amanda scolded, as the children paused playing their game for a single heartbeat, before continuing as though nothing happened.

*Innocent laughter*

*Excited screaming*

"I can’t believe I’ve missed this all these years....."

Leo muttered as he watched the kids play, his words directed more towards himself than Amanda, who fed him more soup.

"Their innocence is a rare commodity in this universe.

Very soon, they’ll grow up and will no longer enjoy simple things like a game of tag."

He noted, as Amanda shrugged her shoulders in response, as if trying to imply that such was the way life worked.

"Well, it’s not too late. With you being around more now, you can watch them grow with your own eyes."

She said softly, as Leo nodded in quiet agreement.

Because even though he had no clear idea as to how he would lead the Cult going forward, or what challenges awaited him next, if there was one thing he was certain of, it was that he would not be an absent father in Caleb and Mairon’s lives ever again.

"You know Amanda..... looking at them, I feel like I want to try and make this universe a better place.

Not just for them.

But for their children and their children’s children.

So that, perhaps, just perhaps, we can protect their innocence a bit longer than what we can with Caleb and Mairon."

Leo said, as Amanda raised an eyebrow at his words.

"First let’s focus on raising our children, before worrying about our grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Those are events too far in the future."

Amanda advised gently, as Leo couldn’t help but chuckle at her words.

She wasn’t wrong, but what she did not realize was that he was weighing far more than just his own path, and whichever road he chose next would shape Caleb and Mairon’s lives as well.

’I hope my children don’t end up hating one another like Kaelith and Soron.

I hope their bond stays close and intact, just like mine is with Luke.

And that I give them a better platform at life than what I had as an Earthling.’

Leo thought, as he took in another sip of his soup, his mind slowly wandering towards his past meeting with Destiny, and the public broadcast speech he had to hold tomorrow to calm the nerves of the Cult.

’What do I do?

Do I try to break the cycle of history? Or do I just live for myself? And let the universe rot the way it wants?’

He asked himself, as he closed his eyes and blocked out all the other sensations of his body except for sound, whereby he listened to the innocent laughter of his children around him.

*Cackle*

*Laughter*

Slowly, surely, his lips curled into a faint smile as he arrived at a conclusion.

A conclusion, where he decided that he would fight for a better future.

Not for himself.

But for the generations of Skyshards to follow.

And for the generations of Cult descendents to follow as well.

’I need to inform the Cult in tomorrow’s address that the time for hiding is over.

That we need to reclaim what was lost.

And that over the next one hundred years, I plan to restore the Cult to its former glory.’

Leo decided, as his eyes sharpened at the thought.

’History doesn’t change because someone wishes it to.....

It changes because someone strong enough forces it to.’

He had seen this truth echoed across eras, across empires that believed themselves eternal until they were dismantled by those willing to go further, endure longer, and shoulder what others refused.

The Timeless Assassin had tried to bend history through restraint, believing wisdom and selective intervention would be enough to guide the universe onto a better path.

Soron had tried to survive it through loyalty, anchoring himself to blood and tradition, enduring rather than commanding, convinced that perseverance alone could outlast the storm.

While Kaelith had tried to seize it through resentment, mistaking grievance for destiny and mistaking entitlement for strength.

All three had reached for control in different ways.

All three had failed.

’Good intentions don’t survive contact with inevitability.’

Leo understood that now.

History did not reward balance. It devoured it.

It did not respect loyalty. It exploited it.

And it certainly did not bend to those who sought justification before action.

’If I want to change the outcome, then I can’t imitate any of them.’

To rewrite history, he could not stand beside it.

He had to stand above it.

Not as a guide.

Not as a martyr.

But as an authority so absolute that resistance became irrational.

’The universe doesn’t respond to reason,’ he thought. ’It responds to pressure.’

The Cult had hidden long enough, reacted long enough, survived long enough.

Survival was no longer the objective.

Dominance was.

’An ocean of fire doesn’t part for those who negotiate with it.’

His breathing steadied.

’The only way to cross it... is by drowning.’

By abandoning the illusion that change could be clean, or that power could be wielded without consequence, as history demanded sacrifice from those who dared to reshape it.

’Tomorrow isn’t just an address,’ Leo realized. ’It’s a declaration.’

A declaration that the Cult would no longer adapt to history’s momentum.

It would seize it.

And this time, the cycle would not be resisted, endured, or exploited.

It would be broken through absolute control.