Show menu Novel BinNovel Timeless Assassin Chapter 281 281: Tree NymphsTimeless AssassinC281 281: Tree Nymphs
(Time-Stilled World, 5 Kilometers into the Forest of Death)
Minutes passed, and the fog surrounding the team did not stop thickening.
It kept creeping higher and higher, rising from their chests up to their necks, as Patricia— the shortest in the group at 5'10"— now had her night vision goggles dipping beneath the line of fog, making it impossible for her to see more than half a meter in any direction.
Shadows flickered where there should be none, trees vanished into the white of the fog, and the path ahead seemed to narrow, collapsing into a corridor of ghostly haze.
"Everyone, link up. Use the same hand you're holding your mana stone with to grab the wrist of the person in front of you," Raiden instructed, as each of them reached out to clasp the wrist or forearm of the one ahead, moving in single file like children crossing a battlefield.
Leo was near the center— Patricia ahead of him, Bob behind.
Raiden led from the front, with Cipher and Karl forming the rear.
"Don't speak unless you have to," Raiden warned.
"If the grip loosens, shout. If someone breaks off, stop."
The rules sounded simple on paper— yet in execution, they proved insufficient.
Because just minutes later, it happened anyway.
A flick. A twitch. A whisper.
"Something moved behind me," Bob said lowly.
Leo turned sharply, his grip instinctively tightening around Patricia, who also shifted at that moment.
And for that one terrifying moment, her hand slipped from Karl's, which immediately alarmed her as she tried to grab it again, only to miss it completely as she clutched at nothing but air.
"RAIDEN!" Karl's voice tore through the fog.
"There's a break!" Patricia followed up, as she took two cautious steps forward, hoping to bump into him— but her hands met only emptiness.
"What the hell—" she whispered, unable to fathom how someone who was just ahead of her could disappear so suddenly.
"Stay put! Patricia—"
"I can hear you! Hold on!"
"Over here!"
Voices called from a distance, sounding like they belonged to Raiden, Cipher, and Karl, but coming from at least 20 to 30 meters away.
"There's no way to be sure if it's really them, don't respond," Leo said immediately, his voice tight and low, as he narrowed his eyes in anger.
"Those voices might not be real… We can't trust any voices in this forest." He warned, as Patricia nodded, her eyes wide.
"Do not chase. Do not move. Let's just stay put for now… I doubt even this cursed forest can perform teleportation magic, so we should be fine as long as we don't move, The fog must clear out eventually" Leo reasoned, as both Bob and Patricia gave firm nods in return.
The trio backed into each other, forming a three-point stance. Triangle formation. Blades drawn. Fog curling up to their noses now.
Leo's mind reeled. He tried [Absolute Vision] again— but instantly regretted it, as the skill returned nothing but screaming white static, which forced him to shut it down before it made him nauseous.
"This fog's not normal," Bob muttered. "It's hard to breathe in… and there's no way to know if it's toxic or not."
He tore a strip from his assassin robe and tied it over his mouth like a makeshift mask.
Leo didn't argue. He reached into his storage ring and pulled out an actual gas mask, one he had bought from the Orange Panthers Store before departure.
*Creek*
A wooden creaking echoed from somewhere nearby, instantly alerting the team.
Then— a human-shaped silhouette drifted behind the mist which faintly bore the height and shape of Raiden.
"Raiden?" Leo called once, hoping to hear back from their teammate, but unfortunately only silence followed... until finally:
"We're here. Hold on."
The voice came, soft and slow— in Raiden's tone, but distorted. Like someone playing a recording just a little too slow.
No one replied.
*Squeak*
Bob's fingers tensed around the leather shaft of his tall knife, the slight squeak sounding as he adjusted his sweaty grip on the weapon.
And although no words were exchanged, that sound alone was enough for Leo and Patricia to understand his thoughts.
They felt it too— deep in their guts.
That silhouette wasn't Raiden.
And whatever was approaching them…. Was definitely not their teammate.
The silhouette didn't stop.
In fact, it multiplied.
Two more forms emerged behind the first, gliding forward through the mist in eerie synchrony— just like their formation.
All three walked hand-in-hand, the leading figure bearing Raiden's frame, followed by Cipher and Karl, their outlines vague but familiar enough to stir the heart into hoping.
They stepped into partial view, their faces calm… too calm… their movements precise…. Almost too precise.
Karl was the first to speak, his voice carrying a light cheer as if nothing was wrong.
"Sorry," he said, smiling gently. "My hand must've slipped."
He reached out toward Patricia once more, his hand extended for hers.
But before he could make contact, Patricia slapped it away without hesitation, eyes sharp with distrust.
"Don't," she said coldly, fingers curled tighter around the hilt of her blade.
Raiden's gaze shifted to Leo next, locking on like a magnet finding its charge.
Leo didn't flinch.
He tilted his head slightly, his voice casual, almost amused as he spoke.
"Say, Raiden… What was the name of the bistro we first met in?"
There was a pause.
Too long of one.
Raiden's brow furrowed, his tone turning clipped.
"What does it matter?" he snapped. "We don't have time for games, let's move on."
He reached forward, this time for Leo's wrist, as–
*Slash*
Bob moved.
A single, fluid motion, as his blade carved through the fog, slicing through Raiden's arm at the elbow.
*Thud*
The limb dropped with a dull thunk, but there was no blood, no bone visible.
Just bark.
Where flesh should have been, there was splintered wood wrapped in a tight weave of fibrous vine.
Cracks raced along the remaining arm like spiderwebs, spreading through the figure's body like fractures in a porcelain shell.
And then the truth unraveled.
The three forms contorted— first twitching, then unraveling as the illusion peeled away to reveal creatures carved from rot and bark.
Their faces remained human-like, eerily accurate masks molded from the memories of those they mimicked.
Tree Nymphs.
Born from cursed trees. Fed by fear. Molded by memory.
Over the past few hours, these damn creatures had learned their formation, their voices, their rhythm.
And now, it was testing how much they remembered about each other, as if Leo had not somehow figured their deception out, then it would have probably led them to their source tree, where they would be restrained and absorbed for nutrients.
*Sigh*
Leo took a step back, raising his blade with a slow exhale.
"Well," he muttered, cold and steady. "So much for waiting out the fog."
As he lunged at the three targets in front of him, with Bob and Patricia in support.
Together, the three of them easily dismantled the tree nymphs, who were barely any fighters apart from their deceptive abilities, as once they took care of the nymphs, the fog began receding noticeably.
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Show menu Novel BinNovel Timeless Assassin Chapter 282 282: SeperationTimeless AssassinC282 282: Seperation
(Time-Stilled World, 5 Kilometers into the Forest of Death – Team B)
"I lost her. I lost Patricia."
Karl's voice came out broken and frantic, as he began hyperventilating like a tired dog.
"Keep your voice down," Raiden replied immediately, one hand stretched out, palm raised in caution, as he tried to peer through the ever-thickening fog.
"I had her wrist! I did! But she just—she let go or I slipped—I don't know—"
"Breathe," Raiden said, voice calm but stern. "Nobody moves, we stay right here. If they're nearby, they'll find us."
Cipher didn't say anything at first, but his eyes flicked sideways, scanning the dense mist swirling just centimetres from their night vision goggles, his expression unreadable.
Seconds passed. Then minutes.
Still nothing major happened, there was no movement in their surroundings, and no signs of Leo, Patricia, or Bob.
The silence in the air dragged longer than any of them liked, as eventually, it was Cipher that shifted his stance.
"I don't like staying still," he muttered. "Not in this place. Feels like we're sitting ducks for someone to come and kill."
Raiden exhaled through his nose, then gave the faintest of nods. "Fine. But we move slowly, only one step at a time, and that too with extreme caution."
With Cipher at his side and Karl following behind, the three of them began advancing at a snail's pace, every footfall deliberate, every breath shallow.
The fog continued to get worse.
It clung to their bodies like webbing, and swirled under their armor like worms.
Their visibility was practically zero, and the density of the fog felt weird, like they were walking through swamp water rather than mist.
"Guys…" Karl's voice came again, softer now, almost a whisper. "I think I hear something behind us. Sounds like… fighting?"
Raiden stopped, but didn't look back.
While Cipher shook his head.
"Don't turn, don't listen, it's nothing but Illusions," he said flatly. "That's exactly how the forest of death gets you. Makes you doubt your senses…. Makes you chase ghosts."
Raiden said nothing, only kept moving. Karl followed, though his face remained twisted in hesitation with every echo of metal on metal coming from somewhere beyond the fog.
Then—
*Snap*
The unmistakable sound of twigs cracking, rang from beside them, which was followed by movement.
Three forms emerged.
Vague at first, then clearer, though still wrapped in mist.
Raiden's chest loosened ever so slightly when he recognized the shapes— Leo's sharp frame, Patricia's lean stride, and Bob's towering bulk.
They walked forward in a slow, synchronized line, just like the rest of them had been trained to.
"We found you!" Raiden called out, relief flooding his face as he hurried toward them.
Bob didn't say anything, just gave his signature smile, twisting the twig in his mouth from side to side.
Leo raised a hand and gave thumbs up.
While Patricia smiled faintly, as she initiated the touch to Karl.
The two teams merged without hesitation, as Raiden took a quick headcount and counted six.
Finally, they were back together.
"Stay close this time and don't let go," he ordered. "Let's keep moving."
They resumed formation.
But just two minutes later, it happened.
Karl stumbled.
His foot caught on a root, and as he pitched forward, he yanked on the arm of the person in front of him.
Only the arm… didn't resist.
It broke free and came apart in his hand, before suddenly turning woody in texture.
"The hell?" Karl muttered before dropping it immediately as he scrambled backwards.
"RAIDEN! Patricia's arm just came off from her shoulders and turned to wood in my hands!" He declared, as Raiden froze, while Cipher drew his weapon in a blink.
The figure they'd believed to be Patricia jerked— then twisted.
Her smile cracked like glass, her eyes rolled to black, and bark peeled from her skin like dead scabs.
Raiden didn't wait.
"Form up! They're fucking Tree Nyphs!" He warned, as the figures began to unravel.
Each face— Patricia, Leo, Bob— morphed into something wooden and warped. Smiling masks over rotting trunks, as their limbs twisted unnaturally, stretching like sap-drenched tendrils as they lunged.
They struck fast, but Raiden and Cipher were still faster.
Cipher ducked a sweeping vine-arm and drove his dagger into the creature's neck, only for it to explode into dust and bark.
Raiden cleaved another from shoulder to hip with a mana-coated arc, while Karl backed away, using kitchen knives to disrupt their balance.
It wasn't a hard fight.
But it was sobering.
As the last of the false figures collapsed and dissolved, the fog began to thin.
Slowly, light seeped back into the space around them, with the surrounding trees becoming visible once again.
But there was still no sign of the real Leo, Patricia, or Bob, as the trio realized their big mistake.
"Shit," Raiden muttered.
"We've walked too far to find them now" He added, as Cipher nodded in agreement.
"Unless there's a miracle that can re-unite us, we have to assume that we are on our own now," Cipher said, as Karl clutched his head in disbelief, behaving like the world had just ended.
"We need to find them…. We need to find them somehow!" He muttered, as Raiden placed a sympathetic hand over his shoulder.
"I want to find them as well, Karl, but look around you? Can you differentiate the next tree from the one behind us?
It's impossible to maintain any true sense of direction in this place— all we know is that we're heading west, though even that feels more like a guess than a certainty.
Our only hope is that, if we keep walking west, we'll cross the forest within seven to ten days.
However, if we don't keep sight of that goal and begin searching all around for the rest of the team, we might actually get lost without a way out.
So unless you want to stay in this cursed place permanently, dust yourself off, man up and continue walking—" Raiden said, as he forcefully pulled Karl back to his feet and urged him to keep walking.
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Show menu Novel BinNovel Timeless Assassin Chapter 283 283: DecisionTimeless AssassinC283 283: Decision
(Time-Stilled World, 6 Kilometers into the Forest of Death, Leo's Team)
The fog had finally lifted.
Gone was the choking whiteness that had wrapped around their necks like a noose, as it was now replaced now by a haunting clarity that somehow felt even worse.
The white trees loomed larger without the mist to blur their forms, their trunks twisting unnaturally, as they all looked gloomy and impossible to differentiate from the other.
The silence surrounding them was deeper too, as gone were the occasional whispers and false illusions, as the forest seemed to have reset to its base settings.
"We're not finding them, are we?" Patricia finally asked, her voice quiet as she lowered her goggles, revealing tired eyes.
Leo said nothing at first. He simply looked around, eyes scanning the now-visible terrain, as if expecting Raiden, Cipher, and Karl to suddenly step out from behind a tree.
But unfortunately, they didn't.
"We're too far," Bob answered instead, adjusting the massive blade in his hands.
"Even if they're alive, the forest's probably shuffled us all apart."
Patricia sighed. "Shuffled us apart? What are we, cards in a deck?"
She kicked a stone, watching it bounce down a slope before muttering, "So what now? Do we head back to base? Try to trace our steps and pray they do the same?"
Leo finally spoke, his tone firm. "No. We keep moving forward."
Patricia's head whipped toward him. "Forward? Are you insane?"
She stepped closer, gesturing wildly as she spoke. "Karl was our ration mule, Leo. He was carrying the main storage ring for supplies. Without him, we don't have enough food to finish this expedition."
"I know," Leo replied, calm as ever. "We all have emergency packs. Enough to survive ninety days. A hundred and fifty, if we ration smart."
"That's not enough to complete the mission and make it back," she snapped. "Even if we sprinted, we'd be gambling every day after day ninety. And if we don't find Karl or the others by then?"
Leo met her gaze evenly. "Then we die."
Patricia stared at him like he'd just grown a second head. "Are you serious right now?"
Leo didn't flinch. "We didn't come here for a nature walk. You knew the risks. So did I. The mission doesn't stop just because it got hard."
Bob crossed his arms, nodding. "I'm with him."
"Of course you are," Patricia muttered bitterly. "Two idiots with a death wish."
She paced for a second, hands running through her hair, before spinning back around. "And what if we don't find food? What if we don't find the damn castle we are supposed to? What if this place just... keeps getting worse?"
Leo looked away for a moment, eyes drifting to the unnatural treetops above. "Then we improvise."
Patricia laughed— short, sharp, and bitter. "Improvise. Right."
She stared at both of them, trying to gauge if this was really happening. If they were truly choosing to march to their deaths for a mission that might already be a lost cause.
And then, reluctantly, she sighed.
"Fine. I'll come."
Bob raised a brow. "Really?"
Patricia's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. But if we don't find food in the next few weeks, I'm eating one of you."
She looked at Leo first.
Then Bob.
Then back at Leo.
"Probably you," she decided. "You look weaker than Bob, I can probably take you on"
Leo didn't even blink. "I'll shred you to 51 pieces before you even touch me"
Patricia smirked. "I was hoping for 69."
And just like that, the decision was made, the trio were moving forward and relying on their emergency rations, as they hoped and prayed that they would reunite with the other team some time soon.
—------------
(Meanwhile, Twin Fang Planet, Black Serpents Guild Headquarters, Administrative Wing)
[Location: Central Data Operations Hall | 18:42 Local Time]
The room buzzed with quiet activity— dozens of analysts hunched over terminals, holo-displays flickering with mission data, planetary scans, and Guild-related assignments.
The air smelled faintly of room freshner and strong coffee, as the Black Serpents were nothing if not efficient and alert.
*Ping*
A shrill tone cut through the low hum of conversation.
"New high-clearance communication," barked one of the analysts, eyes widening as red overlays flashed across his screen.
"Universal Government header. Real-time relay. Priority Alpha-Three."
That got the room's attention, as a senior operations officer, Administrator Talo Venn, strode over.
"Display it," he ordered.
The hologram expanded above the central table, as lines of encrypted code decrypted to show a formal message bearing the Universal Government seal.
>> NOTICE: CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL SECURITY FLAG <<
SUBJECT: MAXTERN, KARL— False Identity Alert.
LEVEL: TRANS-GALACTIC THREAT (Level II)
Summary:
Recent purges within the Intelligence Oversight Division have revealed forged identity records spanning three galactic sectors. The individual known as Karl Maxtern is not a certified Culinary Division contractor or a Master-Rank warrior.
Real Identity: Karlan Vesteel.
Known Alias: The Ash-Sworn Butcher.
Threat Level: Transcendent-Class Combatant.
Affiliation: Confirmed ties to the Evil Cult.
Last Verified Movement: Dispatched under forged credentials to Operation: TSW Expedition #045-A under Squad Leader Raiden Voss.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED:
•Initiate recall protocol if possible.
•Notify Galactic Police.
•Log breach in Black Serpents Personnel Ledger.
The room was silent.
Talo Venn's mouth twitched. "You're telling me," he said slowly, "we greenlit a Transcendent-level cult operative… into a godforsaken Time-Stilled World... with one of our elite licensed squads?"
One of the analysts ran a cross-reference through the registry. "He's embedded with Raiden's team, sir. They're already into the time-stilled world, we can't stop or alert them now…. They're on their own."
"Fuck!" Talo cursed, running a hand through his head, as he almost couldn't believe it.
How could they allow such a security lapse to happen?
Sending a transcendent level criminal with their elite team of Grandmasters was a sure shot death sentence.
As if they were not dead already, they were sure to be dead soon.
"Put an arrest order on the criminal, inform all flights going in and out of the spatial anomaly that Karl Vesteel is not to be rescued out!" Talo instructed, as the administration workers immediately followed.
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Show menu Novel BinNovel Timeless Assassin Chapter 284 284: The Real KarlTimeless AssassinC284 284: The Real Karl
(A few days ago, the real universe, Planet Radiance)
Karl was living his undercover life as a simple Universal Government Clerk on Planet Radiance, when suddenly one day, he received a sealed package from the cult— sent personally by the Eleventh Elder.
He immediately locked his doors, activated his privacy seals, and turned off the surveillance nodes scattered around his unit, before unwrapping the obsidian-threaded parchment with trembling hands.
Inside was a single note.
"Infiltrate the Black Serpents as an external help, enter the time-stilled world and retrieve what Dupravel seeks."
Attached beneath it was a secondary fold, bearing a full mission briefing: forged identity papers, a purchase bill for an aura suppressing tool, and a fabricated combat record labeling him as a Master-tier culinary support specialist with mild healing capabilities.
His new name?
Karl Maxtern. Age 31, Master-tier, Field chef.
For a moment, Karl simply stared at the papers, eyes narrowing in disbelief.
"A Time-Stilled World?" he muttered, the words tasting like ash on his tongue.
Everyone knew what it meant to enter such a place. A slow death. A distortion of time. A trial of the mind.
And yet, as he read the next paragraph, his heart began to beat harder.
– Dupravel Nuna has entered the Time-Stilled World of Sector 12. After his alleged communion with the Deceiver Mauriss, he now seeks an item of critical importance.
We do not know what it is. Only that it holds enough value for Dupravel to risk his life.
And hence we must acquire it first.
That last paragraph changed everything for Karl, as If Dupravel, the very spine of the Black Serpents, had gone personally to retrieve something, it could only mean that the item hidden inside that world wasn't just valuable….. It was game-changing.
Perhaps a divine artefact. Perhaps a remnant from a past age. Perhaps something even Mauriss himself wanted desperately.
And whatever it could be, it was surely better in the hands of the cult, rather than the enemy, and hence it was important that Karl retrieved it first.
*Gulp*
Swallowing hard, he first pulled out the payment slips to a local blacksmith shop— documents provided by the guild— showing that he had already purchased a full set of aura-suppressing artifacts, as without delay, he began walking toward the designated store to retrieve them.
Upon arrival, the shopkeeper— himself a Cult sympathizer— recognized the code on the envelope and immediately assisted him, helping secure each piece of the relic set onto his body with practiced efficiency, as the transformation began the moment the final clasp clicked into place.
His once overwhelming, transcendent-level aura began to fade, swallowed beneath the web of suppression artifacts until what remained was the quiet, unassuming presence of a mere master-tier warrior, as even those sensitive to mana would now see nothing more than a forgettable field cook.
But concealment required more than relics, as he hunched his posture slightly, rounded his shoulders with the tired curve of a man who lacked pride, widened his eyes to appear constantly nervous, and adopted a shrill, almost childlike tone— one that made him sound younger, less experienced, and completely unthreatening, the kind of man who wouldn't survive a real battlefield even if his life depended on it.
—--------
A couple days after that, Karl met the team for the first time on Planet Twin Fang, and from there onwards, he played his part flawlessly.
He adopted a Timid, fidgety, stammering personality, whereby he clutched his culinary satchel close at all times like it was his lifeline.
He bowed too often, lowering his gaze whenever someone looked his way, and spoke with a stammering accent, which conveyed to others that he was not the most confident kind of kid.
However, behind those veiled eyes, he studied each member and carefully profiled them.
Raiden: Calm, disciplined, predictable.
Cipher : Quiet, sharp.
Patricia : Dangerous and narcissistic.
Bob : Cold, analytical, not one to underestimate.
Leo : The enemy of the Cult who led to one of his brothers dying…. He was smart, however, Karl resolved to kill him in a special way once they were alone inside the time-stilled world.
—----------
A few days after his first meeting with the team, when they finally did enter the time-stilled world, Karl already saw the mutated lizard ambush coming five minutes before Leo was alerted, as he saw the shadows moving near the ridge far before he did.
If he wanted to, he could have warned the team about it.
But he didn't.
Instead, he let the beasts arrive. He shrieked when they lunged. He soiled himself with a simple water spell to add authenticity, and by the end, he played the part of a timid and scaredy master tier warrior to perfection, as everyone grew even more assured of his weakness.
Their eyes revealed that they saw him nothing more than a harmless, unfortunate cook caught in the middle of chaos.
Which was exactly what he wanted them to believe.
—-----------
Even inside the forest, Karl's act remained consistent, as he did not let anyone find out that he did not actually need the night vision goggles to see in this dark terrain.
He trembled when holding hands, flinched at every sound, and kept his actions consistent.
But when the tree nymph eventually linked with him and Raiden and Cipher failed to catch the deception, he finally knew that he had to act.
The texture of her hand was wrong and felt too dry to be that of a human.
And even the mana in her body was too still to belong to a living person.
Hence, he knew it was a monster and could have easily severed the arm on instinct. But he waited.
Waited until a couple minutes passed, and Raiden and Cipher also dropped their guard, before tripping and pulling its arm off, as he exposed the fraud in front of them.
He did so, because he wanted to make the reveal seem like an accident, rather than him picking on information that the others missed, which was why he waited as long as he did for the 'accident' to take place.
For Raiden and Cipher, he was nothing more than a foolish and timid chef.
However, the truth of the matter was that he wasn't a fool.
He was a Transcendent-tier agent working under the Eleventh Elder of the Cult Of Ascension.
And his hunt inside this cursed world had only just begun.
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Show menu Novel BinNovel Timeless Assassin Chapter 285 285: Life For Both CampsTimeless AssassinC285 285: Life For Both Camps
(Time-Stilled World, 21 Kilometers from Forest Entry – Leo's Team, Day 2)
Almost an entire day had gone by since Leo and the others got separated from Raiden's group— and thankfully, nothing significant had happened during that time, as the last twenty-four hours passed in a haze of silent walking, cautious glances, and the ever-present weight of the forest pressing down on them from all sides.
Patricia adjusted the strap on her satchel with an irritated grunt, her boots sinking deeper into the mulch with every step.
"Are we even going the right way? Or are we just walking in fucking circles?" she snapped, glancing around at the seemingly identical trees stretching endlessly in all directions. "Because none of this shit looks different."
Leo didn't answer right away, he kept walking with the confidence of a man who knew exactly what he was doing, as he said, "We are moving in the right direction, don't worry. Just follow my lead–"
However, while he himself was confident of his directional skills, both Bob and Patricia seemed uncomfortable with continuing to walk blindly.
"She's got a point. This terrain hasn't changed for hours. How do you know we're not looping?" Bob asked in a firm tone, as Leo paused and let out a deep sigh.
"Watch—" he said, as he pulled out a dull gray radar from the satchel Raiden had given all team members and pointed towards the reading being displayed on the device.
"The two of you also have this device on you, pull it out and note the distance being displayed here.
It shows that we are 161.0 kilometers from the entry point beacon we set up," Leo said as he walked up to a nearby tree and carved an 'X' into the bark.
Then he took a few slow steps forward.
"See? 161.1 now."
He stepped a few paces to the side.
"Back to 161.0."
He looked at them both. "This is the straight line, I've been mentally keeping track of it while walking, as the moment we deviate even slightly from this line, the distance resets.
Currently, it takes me about 124 steps to cover the distance of 100 meters, and so anytime that it takes me 127-130 to do the same, I make a small course correction and ensure that we get back to the precise 124 step pathway, which is the shortest, straight line distance due West.
That means we're not circling. We're still heading west— toward the exit of the forest."
Patricia stared at the mark, visibly calming, as Leo's explanation made a lot of sense to her.
"Gee… I've never felt so wet and turned on because of someone's brains…. Guess there's more to men than just their pretty faces" she said, almost smiling now.
"Alright then, since you know what you're doing, lead on, Skyshard." Bob added, as they resumed their journey.
—------------
After every 8-10 hours of walking non-stop, the team took a short break where they made a clearing on the ground, dumping surrounding moss and dirt to make a boundary, as they ensured that their backs touched no trees or roots.
"Gods, this is dry," Patricia muttered, nearly gagging on a tough piece of dehydrated nut loaf, as she ate the emergency rations with a visible disgust on her face.
"Chewy and joyless. I used to think good food was nothing special back home, but now I realize it's the only thing that kept me sane in this cursed world." She said, as she tore a bite of the loaf in anger and kept chewing at it grumpily.
Leo didn't comment. Neither did Bob.
Although the two of them also did not enjoy the dry rations, they were thankful for the meal regardless and did not fuss about it like Patricia.
—------------
(Meanwhile, Raiden's Team, in a different part of the forest)
Unlike Leo's group, who were surviving on dry rations and flavorless packs, Raiden and Cipher ate like kings.
The fire stones that Karl set up glowed a soft orange beneath the blackened cooking wok, as he dropped in thin slices of root vegetables, letting them hiss and sizzle before swirling in a few bottles of sauce, turning it into a steaming, aromatic broth that filled the air with warmth.
Cipher slurped quietly, expression blank, while Raiden sat a few feet away with arms folded, his back against a moss-coated tree, saying nothing.
The last two days since their separation had been nothing short of exhausting, as unlike Leo's team, who had somehow escaped further chaos, they were attacked almost every 2 to 4 hours, and were forced to fend off against wave after wave of twisted creatures lurking within the forest.
Unfortunately for Raiden, Cipher wasn't much help in actual combat, and Karl was about as useful as a wet twig— forcing him to shoulder the brunt of the fighting alone, pushing harder and taking more risks than he ever liked to.
Thankfully, he hadn't picked up any major injuries just yet, but if he did, he already knew what he'd have to do, which was to set up a temporary shelter, hunker down, and wait out the pain until his body normalised again.
As without anyone else to rely on for safety, he did not wish to continue moving while in an injured state.
Karl, meanwhile, stared down at the broth, his thoughts far from the moment.
'Raiden and Cipher, they're steady, I'll give them that, but they're also slow, dull, predictable and replaceable.'
His hand twitched slightly on the ladle.
He could've done it last night. A bit of powdered root extract in the soup and he could have taken both of them out without a struggle—
But he didn't.
'Not yet. Not here.'
Because the truth was… he didn't want to be alone.
Even in a broken world like this, the silence that followed solitude wasn't something even a transcendent assassin like him could afford.
Raiden and Cipher were tools. Imperfect ones. But ones that still helped him feel grounded, keeping him sane.
So for now, they lived.
And he continued stirring the pot.
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Show menu Novel BinNovel Timeless Assassin Chapter 286 286: FlaggedTimeless AssassinC286 286: Flagged
(Time-Stilled World, 46 Kilometers from Forest Entry, Leo's Team, Day 4)
Days and nights bled into one in the Time-Stilled World.
There was no visible sun, no moon, and there was no true change in brightness or rhythm between night and day.
The sky overhead hovered in a permanent twilight, never truly dark, never truly light, just a constant muted orange-gray, that modulated a couple tones at best throughout the day.
However, while the world's skyline was depressing on its own, inside the forest, things were even worse.
The forest canopy was so thick, it strangled what little ambient light made it through, as no matter the hour, it felt like the world had collapsed into darkness— and the only things that gave shape to it were the ghost-white bark of the trees and the faint green hue of their night vision goggles.
Everything looked the same. Everything felt the same. And slowly… It was driving Leo and company insane, as Patricia became the first to crack.
"Ugh—" she clutched her forehead, her steps faltering as she staggered to a stop and leaned against a tree.
"I can't take it anymore," she muttered, voice tight, like she was holding back a scream. "I want to light a fire. I want to see color. Any color. Red. Orange. The color of my own goddamn skin, even if it's just for a second, because as things stand, this night vision and this constant darkness is giving me a severe migraine"
Leo didn't stop walking, but he glanced over his shoulder, his face unreadable behind the shadowed lens of his goggles.
"We can't," he said flatly. "You know the rules of the forest. No open flames. It attracts attention."
"Not even for a second?" Patricia snapped, stomping her foot hard into the dirt. "I'm going mad, Leo. Do you get that? You at least have your weird mind-blank assassin discipline. I don't. I need something human to hold on to. Even a fucking matchstick, who knew that not seeing color for a few days will turn me insane?"
Bob didn't speak. He just walked, but even he looked more tired than usual— like the darkness was clawing at the edges of his patience too.
As it wasn't like he and Leo did not understand what Patricia was going through.
They did.
Infact, the two of them also felt the same way, however, they also understood that taking such a risk was not worth it.
And hence despite Patricia's demands, they remained steadfast in their denial and restricted her from lighting a fire.
No more words were exchanged after that.
Not for a few hours.
But the tension stayed.
———
When they next stopped to rest, Leo dozed upright with his back to a rock while Bob sharpened his blade with short, deliberate strokes.
At this point, watching how the two of them were not paying attention to her, Patricia wandered off just a few steps.
Just enough to be alone.
Just enough to think.
Then—
She crouched low, and brushed aside some damp leaves, before scooping a small patch of dry moss from beneath a root.
Her hands moved without much thought, as if lighting a fire was something that came natural to her, as she rubbed her blade against a stone and tried to create a spark.
Fsshhh.
Fsshhh.
Fsshhh—
Spark.
A tiny flame leapt up, dancing across the moss like a fire spirit that had been trapped for too long.
It flickered gold. Then orange. Then red.
And Patricia's eyes widened.
Her face lit up.
"Oh my god—" she whispered, laughing through clenched teeth. "I saw it. I fucking saw it. Red, orange, yellow—and my skin—I saw my own skin." She clapped once, a giddy high-pitched noise escaping her.
However, just as the fire reached its peak brightness, a deep primal roar seemed to arise from the ground, as a tremor shook Leo awake.
*GROAANNN*
A loud groan could be heard, and as he looked around, Leo immediately saw the brightness bouncing off against Patricia's face.
'No she did not—' Leo thought, as he watched how the small fire she lit up began dying almost as fast as it caught fire.
As from start to end, it barely lasted a grand total of 15 seconds.
However, those 15 seconds were enough to room the group.
"Patricia!" Leo hissed, his voice almost panicked. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"It was just a flicker! I didn't light a beacon! I didn't start a bonfire!" she shot back, still grinning like a child who thought she had gotten away with sneaking cake.
"Besides, nothing's coming. We're fine. That sound we heard surely can't be related to this tiny fire" she argued, as Bob didn't speak.
But his eyes were narrowed.
———
And for the next hour… shockingly the group remained unharmed.
The trees didn't shift. The wind didn't howl. Nothing crawled from beneath the roots or blinked between the trunks.
But what they didn't realize was that the forest had already taken notice.
Not in the way a predator notices prey.
But like a system tagging a virus.
It had marked Patricia.
Not for what she was.
But for what she had done.
And from that point on…
The forest began to move.
Quietly. Patiently.
As it's natural, 'white blood cells' were mobilized to take her out.
Because what none of them had truly understood until now… was that the Forest of Death wasn't just a landscape.
It was a living organism.
A singular entity.
Every tree, every vine, every pulsing root that curved beneath their boots— was part of the same body, the same mind.
The reason why no tree inside the forest of death looked different, or why no direction felt distinct, was because there was no variety to begin with.
There were no thousands of trees within this forest.
But rather just one.
One massive, ancient consciousness spread across countless trunks, all connected through a sprawling, dense network of roots buried deep beneath the surface that were constantly breathing, listening and watching.
And Patricia, by striking a spark into that silence, had made her presence known.
She was no longer just a traveler.
She was a threat that could bring the whole system down if she started a forest fire, and hence she had been flagged.
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Show menu Novel BinNovel Timeless Assassin Chapter 287 287: Sole TargetTimeless AssassinC287 287: Sole Target
(Time-Stilled World, 49 Kilometers from Forest Entry, Leo's Team, Day 4)
It began a couple hours after Patricia lit the fire.
For a while—two hours, to be exact, it seemed like her little act had gone unnoticed.
Like maybe, just maybe, the warnings had been exaggerated, and the forest didn't care about a flicker of flame that burned for less than fifteen seconds.
However, that illusion shattered when, without warning, a wooden spider dropped from the treetops like a curse.
THUD—
A sharp noise came from above, like the snap of a branch— only heavier, as by instinct, Patricia looked up.
'The hell?' she wondered, as she watched the underbelly of a six tentacled beast drop down on her.
She wanted to evade it, however, it was already too late, as by the time she noticed it's descent, it was already on the ground in front of her.
The creature looked like a spider, if it could even be called that, as it was clearly made from wood and had hollow holes where eyes should have been.
Its legs were long and jointed like spears and its entire body gleamed with the sickly sheen of wet sap.
"The hell is that ugly thing?" Patricia wondered out loud, as the creature did not hesitate and lunged straight for her.
"MOVE!" Leo shouted, reacting in a blur as he yanked Patricia sideways by the wrist, while Bob's knife sliced up from below— cleaving through one of the spider's legs and sending it skittering off to the side, as it hissed like rotting timber rubbed together.
The fight from that point onwards lasted mere seconds.
As Leo took out two more of its legs, completely immobilizing the thing before Bob stuck his knife through its mana core.
"What the fuck… was that?" Patricia gasped, breath uneven as she stared at the lifeless shell.
Leo didn't answer right away.
Neither did Bob.
Because neither of them had sensed it before it landed.
And that terrified them more than the creature itself.
"I didn't hear it," Bob muttered. "Didn't feel it. Didn't see it. Nothing."
"That thing was perched up there the whole time?" Leo asked quietly, his voice hard and even, as he slowly looked up toward the dense canopy above them, where nothing moved, nor did any shapes stir.
"We've been checking the ground this whole time," Patricia whispered.
"What if the threat comes from above?" She asked, as for the next few minutes the three of them took turns to lookout for threats from the treetops, however, nothing followed.
No creaks.
No rustling.
Just that same stretched silence, that they had been experiencing in the forest since the day they entered it.
"I think it's safe…. Might be a one off predator," Patricia suggested as they covered another kilometer, but then—
*CRACK*
.
.
*THUMP*
Another spider fell.
Then another….
Then another….
*CRACK-THUMP*
*CRACK-THUMP*
One.
Two.
Six.
Nine.
Twelve.
From every direction, they rained down on their location like snow under a blizzard, as dozens of those same wooden spiders began twitching and wildly attacking Patricia in sync.
"Brace!" Leo roared, already moving to intercept as one spider lunged for her face.
Bob hurled his dagger into another's thorax and drew a second one from his hip in a single, fluid motion.
The trio moved as one. Or rather—two moved to protect one.
Patricia tried to fight, but her panic ruined her aim. She blasted her offensive spells wildly in arcs that did more to scorch the ground than hit her attackers, as the spiders only grew more coordinated, more aggressive, never once shifting focus.
None of them attacked Leo.
None of them attacked Bob.
It was only her.
One of them even brushed past Leo's shoulder, completely ignoring him, just to try and leap onto Patricia's chest.
And that was when it clicked.
Bob realized first.
"They're not here for us," he grunted, driving his blade down through a spider's back.
Leo followed a heartbeat later, sweeping Patricia behind him.
"They're hunting her."
Still, they fought.
Still, they didn't let her fall.
And after three long minutes of violence, bark, splinters, and heavy breath, the last spider fell, Bob stomping its twisted head into the soil with a sharp crunch that echoed in the sudden silence that followed.
Patricia collapsed to her knees, sweat dripping from her brow, her arms trembling.
She looked up at them, her voice breaking into a raw, panicked rant.
"Why… why only me?" she whispered.
She tried to laugh. Tried to play it off. But her voice was too brittle.
"Why not either of you? Is it a gender thing? Or are these freaks just horny for redheads?"
Leo didn't speak.
He simply stared.
Bob, however, wiped the blood off his blade and looked down at her with a cold expression.
"Maybe," he said, voice flat as stone, "because you're a dumb bitch who lit the fire."
The words landed like a blow.
Patricia froze.
Her lips parted, but no sound came.
The three of them had been travelling together all this time and had never been attacked by spiders before.
The fact that it only started to happen now after Patricia lit the fire and the fact that it only targeted her, made it seem probable that they were only hunting her because of it, as between them three, they had done pretty much everything together, except that one dumb crime.
"Ridiculous! They can't be after me because of that…. Tell him Leo! He's speaking delirious nonsense!
Also, how dare you call me a dumb bitch! Your wife might be used to such insults, mister, but I'll cut your balls off if you show me that attitude!" Patricia retorted, trying to stand her ground and appear strong, however, all it did was make her look even more pathetic in Leo's eyes.
"You? Cut my balls? Bitch, you couldn't graze me if your ancestors spent the next seven generations trying—
Don't test my patience, because if I snap, it won't be the spiders who will have to kill you, it will be me!" Bob countered, as he puffed his chest and took a step closer to Patricia.
"L-L-Leo! Leo, he's intimidating me!" Patricia complained, clearly in panic, as Leo let out a long sigh and raised his hand for peace.
"Bob, excuse the bitch she's clearly in a lot of Duress.
Patricia, stop with the victim act. There are only three of us here, and if you start being a pain in the ass, neither me nor Bob have any qualms about killing you.
So your best choice is to own up to your mistake and start finding solutions to help yourself.
Because, if the next round of spiders being sent to kill you are 144 in number, then even me and Bob won't be able to save you—" Leo said, as his speech left Patricia absolutely speechless.
For a moment she opened her mouth in protest, as if wanting to convey how offended she felt at being called a 'bitch' by Leo.
However, soon she decided against it, as it was really how Leo said.
She only had the two of them to rely on, and antagonizing them wasn't going to help her at all.
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Show menu Novel BinNovel Timeless Assassin Chapter 288 288: The First VictimTimeless AssassinC288 288: The First Victim
(Time-Stilled World, 53 Kilometers from Forest Entry, Leo's Team, Day 4)
After almost coming to blows when Patricia threatened to cut Bob's balls off, the team recovered slightly over the next hour, as Patricia turned oddly submissive and began trying her best to not antagonize either of them again.
She stayed quiet at first, unusually so, only nodding when spoken to and maintaining a safe distance while they walked.
But over time, she began cracking dry, nervous jokes, most of which landed flat, but in the stifling silence of the forest, even those awkward attempts at humor were a welcome change.
Leo didn't smile. Bob didn't laugh. But neither of them told her to shut up either, which for Patricia felt like a win.
It wasn't peace.
But it was something like it.
As for the first time in hours, the group found a fragile sense of unity amongst them once again.
—---------
The next wave hit roughly four hours after their last skirmish…. though calling it a wave was putting it quite lightly.
This was a tide.
It began as a low hum beneath their boots. Subtle at first, like a breath held too long, or like a vibration felt more in the bones than the ears, but it grew….. and it kept growing, until the ground beneath them began shaking so strong that the tree-tops began to sway.
Then came the shocks.
Not tremors—jerks. Violent and sudden. The kind of force that ripped loose rocks from the earth and sent Patricia stumbling into Leo's side as they all scrambled to stay upright.
"Do you feel that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
However, Leo did not respond.
Not because he didn't hear her, but because her question itself was so stupid that it almost left him speechless.
Of course he felt it!
It was hard not to when the entire goddamn forest was convulsing like a beast shaking off fleas.
*Skrrrkkk*
*Skmpkkk*
Unnatural sounds echoed through the fog-draped woods— like dry branches snapping underwater, warping and bending at the same time as dark shapes began to appear in the trees above.
But it wasn't just above.
From the soil around them, thin pointed legs began poking out of the ground, slow at first, like worms testing the air. Then all at once, hundreds of them burst forth, tearing their way out from underneath the roots, as they broke through the surface while being covered in rot-soaked dirt and bodies glistening with wet sap.
"The fuck…?" Leo muttered, spinning in place, as he saw the sheer scale of the attack this time.
There had to be thousands of spiders surrounding them at the minimum.
Wooden. Grotesque. Some the size of dogs, others large enough to crush a man under their jointed limbs, and every single one was closing in on them.
"Back to the tree!" Bob barked, already pressing his back against the nearest trunk, as Leo and Patricia mirrored him and immediately drew their blades.
The three of them together, formed a tight wedge formation around the trunk, as the entire forest shifted around them.
*Skitter*
*Tremble*
The spiders didn't charge.
They crawled.
A sea of mandibles, legs, and clicking joints that moved in perfect unison, as if summoned by a single thought.
And they were all coming for her.
Patricia.
Not Leo. Not Bob.
Just her.
"Fuck, we have nowhere to run!" Leo shouted, sliding a dagger into the hollow eye socket of the first spider that lunged.
"Don't panic! Hold the line!" Bob growled, lopping off another's limbs in a smooth arc of steel, his face grim and blood-slick.
For the first sixty seconds, they held the line.
Then the second wave hit.
Then the third.
More spiders. From above. From below. From the gaps between trees.
Endless.
Leo's blades became a blur. Bob fought like a butcher in a storm. But it wasn't enough.
No matter how many they killed, they were just stalling the inevitable.
And Bob knew it.
"She's the infection," he said flatly, watching yet another spider ignore him to barrel straight into Patricia's chest, only to be blocked at the last second by Leo's dagger.
Then he made his choice.
"I'm out of here, Skyshard. We're wasting stamina. We can't hold this wave. And if they kill her, we don't know if they'll turn on us next or still let us leave. Better to run now than risk getting caught trying to play hero for a girl who lit the damn match in the first place."
Bob stepped away from the formation, slashing a spider across the jaw before starting up the nearest tree trunk, hand over hand with practiced speed.
"BOB! BOB, HELP!" Patricia shrieked as spiders began swarming her from the side previously covered by Bob.
Her voice cracking in a panicked pitch Leo had never heard before.
She was terrified.
But Bob didn't stop.
He looked at Leo.
"This is the moment," he said. "You stay, you die."
Leo glanced at Patricia before making his decision.
As he noticed the gash across her thigh. The blood on her arms, and the way her spells missed more than they hit.
She was already halfway dead, and it was exactly how Bob said….
He really couldn't save her from this full wave even if he wanted to.
And hence he made the more practical choice.
"I agree," he said coldly. "We can't save her. And I'm not dying here."
With that, he turned and followed Bob up the tree, just as a dozen spiders slammed into the spot where he'd stood a second before.
"LEO! LEO YOU FUCKING CUNT, HELP ME!" Patricia screamed, voice raw with disbelief. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!"
But he didn't look back.
Neither of them did.
They leapt through the treetops and vanished into the fog, leaving the forest to devour its marked prey.
Behind them, Patricia's screams echoed, high and manic.
"WAIT! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! I'M STILL HERE! DON'T LEAVE ME—DON'T LEAVE ME—DON'T LEAVE ME—"
And then silence.
The kind that wasn't peaceful.
Just final, as although she tried her best to hold her ground.
A minute and half after Leo and Bob left, she was too overwhelmed to hold her own and eventually succumbed to the forest's forces.
—--------
Running away, Leo did a calm introspection of his emotions on how he felt about abandoning Patricia, and to his surprise, he did not feel anything at all.
Neither did he feel happy to have gotten rid of one of the teammates he was eventually planning to kill anyways, nor did he feel sad to have lost a teammate that could have helped keep him sane and protected for a while longer.
It was as if her life or death did not matter to him at all, which made him realize just how terrifying [Monarch's Indifference] really was.
'I'm surviving this world on easy mode thanks to 'Monarch's indifference', as without that skill to keep my emotions in check, I'm sure that this world would make me feel all sorts of guilt for abandoning a teammate' Leo thought to himself, as he shrugged his shoulders and continued running behind Bob, like nothing much happened.
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Show menu Novel BinNovel Timeless Assassin Chapter 289 289: Unexpected ReunionTimeless AssassinC289 289: Unexpected Reunion
(Time-Stilled World, 98 Kilometers from Forest Entry, Leo and Bob, Day 7)
Two days had passed since they left Patricia behind.
And in those two days, Leo and Bob covered more ground as a duo than they ever did as a trio.
This increase in pace could be attributed to the fact that there was no idle chatter slowing them down anymore.
There were no frequent toilet breaks, nor excessive rest periods, as the duo kept moving with a ruthless momentum, cutting through the terrain with an almost machine-like efficiency that suited them both.
They didn't share more than five sentences across the last forty-eight hours.
No talking at all, however still, they understood each other clearly, as they communicated through glances and blinks alone.
For 48 hours, they avoided talking about their decision to leave Patricia behind, however, the tension still lingered in the air.
The brutal coldness with which they had abandoned a teammate made it clear as to what kind of individuals they really were, and the pretense of camaraderie had shattered.
Now, both Bob and Leo knew that the other could easily stab them in the back if presented with the opportunity, which was why they grew even more wary of one another.
Ofcourse, they never addressed this directly, however, the tension remained in the silence between footfalls and in the occasional periods of rest where they were forced to tolerate each other's presence in close proximity.
However, today, as they camped near a shallow ditch that was surrounded by mossy roots and half-collapsed tree trunks, Bob finally decided to open up about his decision to abandon Patricia.
"I see her everywhere now." Bob spoke without preamble.
Leo didn't look up, but his wrist paused for a moment from the food he was eating, as he put it back down into the packet and waited for Bob to say more.
"Every shadow I catch between the trees. Every whisper behind the wind." Bob continued, voice low and distant, his glass of water untouched in his hand. "It's like she's a ghost… and she's haunting me."
Leo glanced over. Their eyes met. But he said nothing, as Bob chuckled bitterly.
"I don't regret the decision we made. I don't think we had a choice. But this fucking world doesn't let you forget, does it?"
His voice frayed at the edges, like the thoughts had been festering in his mind for hours and had finally forced their way out.
As Leo gave him a small nod.
"It's happening to me as well," he said, lying through his teeth. "But what can you do about it? It was the right call to make."
That was all he said.
However, unlike Bob, he didn't mean it.
Because for Leo, the last two days hadn't been torment, but had rather been recovery.
He was finally growing more accustomed to his new environment, as the brutal silence no longer clawed at his mind, and the lack of colors did not weigh in on him as heavily as they did when he first arrived.
If anything, the last two days had been the most peaceful he had ever felt since entering this world, as slowly but surely he felt like he was growing more accustomed to this gloom.
Unlike Bob, he suffered from no guilt trips. No hallucinations. No disembodied voices whispering from the dark.
As for him, Patricia was gone, and that was that.
If anything, his head had felt clearer than ever.
He wasn't at peace.
But he wasn't suffering either.
Of course, if given the chance, he would never choose to stay in this world forever. But as far as survival went, he'd adapted just fine.
Bob, on the other hand, looked like he hadn't slept in days.
His eyes were bloodshot, ringed in red, and his movements had taken on a twitchy, uneven rhythm— like his own limbs didn't trust him anymore.
He walked like a man holding himself together out of sheer pride, trying to pretend everything was fine, but Leo saw straight through it.
*Exhale*
Leo let out a slow breath through his nose and turned back to his food, not interested in playing the therapist.
When suddenly, a sound interrupted his meal once again.
*Crunch*
He heard a footstep come from nearby, as his hand froze over his packet.
Then again—
*Crunch*
*Crunch*
As this time, he went up in an instant.
Bob too, rose immediately, fingers curling around the hilt of his tall knife, as he prepared for action.
Without a word, the two men dropped into formation, backs against each other, weapons drawn, muscles coiled tight, as the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder… heavier… closer.
Until finally, three figures emerged from the gloom— vague outlines at first, but then unmistakable:
Raiden, Cipher and Karl.
Alive, armed and equally stunned to see them.
Nobody spoke at first.
Not even a greeting.
Just five men, standing in silence—staring at one another with a mix of disbelief and tension, as if unsure whether to lower their weapons or raise them higher.
Then Leo spoke first, voice calm but edged with steel.
"Raiden… what was the name of the bistro we first met in?"
Raiden's frown deepened, but his reply came without hesitation.
"Venom Lily Bistro."
A beat passed.
Then Raiden asked in return, eyes narrowing.
"What was the table number we sat at last?"
Leo didn't blink. "Thirty-three."
As both men slowly lowered their weapons, seemingly assured that the other one was real and not a nymph.
"Where's Patricia?" Cipher asked at that moment, his voice low and unreadable as he searched all around the duo for signs of Patricia.
For a second, Leo didn't answer.
He looked at Bob.
And Bob looked back.
It was a silent exchange—brief but loaded—as if both were weighing what version of the truth to share, and how much of it they could afford to tell.
A breath passed between them.
Then Leo stepped forward, his expression unreadable, voice steady and fluid as he spoke confidently.
"She broke the rules of the forest," he began. "Lit a fire when we stopped to rest. It only lasted a few seconds, but that was enough. The forest marked her from that point on."
He let the sentence hang just long enough to let it settle.
"We didn't realize it immediately, but a few hours later, the attacks started. First a single spider, then dozens. Then thousands. All of them aimed solely at her. Not a single one came for us."
He exhaled slowly.
"We fought with everything we had. Protected her through wave after wave. But it was never going to be enough. She was wounded. Panicked. Slipping."
Bob spoke next, his voice low and blunt. "We stayed until she took her last breath, but there was nothing more we could have done to save her—"
Raiden's brow tensed.
Cipher said nothing.
While Karl's jaw slackened, his mouth slightly ajar, as if the news short-circuited his ability to speak.
Then—
After a long pause, Raiden finally nodded once, solemn and curt.
"She broke the rules of the forest and paid for the consequences of her actions. You guys did as much as you could, it's unfortunate….. but it is what it is."
And with that, no more was said.
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Show menu Novel BinNovel Timeless Assassin Chapter 290 290: SuspicionsTimeless AssassinC290 290: Suspicions
(Time-Stilled World, 98 Kilometers from Forest Entry, Day 7 Nightfall)
Of course, it wasn't just a coincidence that Karl, Raiden, and Cipher had randomly bumped into Leo and Bob in the middle of a forest that defied direction, light, and logic.
It was Karl.
It was always Karl.
The moment his transcendent-tier senses picked up subtle movement patterns within a one-kilometer radius, something faint brushing against a root, a couple figures bound West with clinical precision— He began tracing it.
He didn't say anything aloud. Not yet.
But he tracked it. Quietly. Patiently. Taking note of every footfall against projected human motion, as he watched for the rhythm, the spacing and the weight behind each impact.
Once satisfied that the movement was human, and more importantly, not hostile, he nudged the others in that direction with careful, subtle steering.
Not that Raiden or Cipher noticed, as they were simply too tired, too whittled down and too grateful to question the sudden stroke of luck.
'Idiots,' Karl thought, lips curling faintly as he stirred the contents of the pot, watching the broth simmer above the fire stones.
The warmth spread slowly through the shallow clearing, as vapour rose from the pot and carried with it a whiff of delicious stew cooking.
"I still can't believe you two ran into each other like that," Cipher said, pulling off his gloves and stretching his arms.
"Neither can I," Raiden added, smiling faintly as he sat down beside Leo. "I'd almost given up hope of reuniting with the two of you.
Even doubted if you two headed back for the emergency beacon,"
Leo didn't say much.
Just offered a faint shrug and nodded, as if the whole affair had been inconvenient but not worth dwelling on.
Bob said even less.
He just chewed slowly through the dried nut bread Karl handed him and avoided making eye contact with anyone.
Karl, meanwhile, remained crouched beside the cooking pot, head slightly bowed as he stirred, but his gaze flicked up every few seconds, observing them all in turns.
'I don't buy it,' he thought, scooping a ladle of broth into Cipher's wooden bowl.
'That bullshit story about protecting her until the end? That's clearly a lie.
I saw Patricia fight, she was not a dead weight, but she wasn't worth dying for. And those two cold bastards definitely left her behind the moment things got hard—' he thought, as his eyes flicked to Leo first and then to Bob.
'Too calm. Too composed. Not even a tremor in their tone when they said she was gone. They're clearly not saddened by her death… They're relieved.'
Karl's lips twitched, almost in amusement.
'And yet look at Raiden… sitting there like he just got his family back. Cipher's face says nothing, but even he isn't doubting the story. Fools. Both of them.'
He dropped another slice of dried root into the pot and stirred gently, letting the steam fog his vision while his thoughts remained razor-sharp.
'The Skyshard kid… and Bob. They're not just ruthless. They're cold. Ice-blooded bastards who made a decision to abandon a teammate and didn't even flinch…. They're both killers to their core,'
He smirked to himself.
'The question is… which one do I kill first, once they outlive their usefulness?'
—-----------
After dinner, the group resumed their westward journey as a unit— only for trouble to start knocking every couple of hours, much to Leo and Bob's surprise.
What had been a relatively quiet stretch of travel for the two of them turned into a constant string of skirmishes the moment they rejoined the others as monsters of all sorts began zeroing in on their location all of a sudden.
First it was a large python.
Then a different version of the plain lizard.
However, the first real challenge came just before their next break, as a low, guttural bellow tore through the forest, louder and more primal than anything they'd heard so far.
*THOOM*
*THOOM*
*THOOM*
The ground vibrated with each step, as bark cracked and branches snapped under the weight of something enormous approaching from the northeast.
Then it emerged.
A towering six-armed gorilla, its frame covered in bark-like plating, its chest heaving with every breath it took.
Moss clung to its fur, and fungal growths pulsed across its back like tumors ready to burst.
Its eyes glowed a dull, necrotic green, as it beat all six fists against its chest and let out a thunderous, echoing roar.
*RAAAWWWRRR*
"Formation!" Raiden shouted, already unsheathing both his blades, as he slid the mana stone in his hand back into his utility belt.
Karl ran back, avoiding conflict.
Cipher vanished into the shadows.
Leo stepped right.
And Bob didn't wait, he charged forward first with his skill [Silent acceleration], his tall knife glinting as he slashed toward the beast's right leg.
*CLANG!*
The blade bounced off against the beast's tough skin, barely leaving a scratch.
"Too tough!" Bob yelled, twisting away as a massive arm came down to crush him.
"I'll try and break the outer plating!" Raiden growled, leaping forward and slashing across the creature's shoulder, as although sparks flew, the beast barely flinched from impact.
Leo's eyes narrowed.
His footing shifted as he darted to the rear, finding the narrowest window to strike.
*Clink—*
*SHUNK*
One dagger went in, just beneath the armpit of the lower right arm, puncturing a soft patch beneath the fungal armor, as he activated [Kill Strike].
*BOOM*
The beast shrieked, as the explosion took off his right arm entirely, with Raiden not missing the cue.
He followed up with a precise stab at the opposite side, while Cipher reappeared from the shadows and launched a mana-imbued bolt of condensed lightning straight into the creature's open jaw.
*KABOOM*
It staggered.
And that was when Bob drove his blade upward— straight into the lower spine, to end the beast's life for once and for all.
*Thud*
The monster collapsed like a sack of wet stones, all six arms twitching violently as it let out one last gurgling moan before going still.
Breathing heavy, the group stood in a circle around the carcass.
Steam rose from the beast's open wounds. Sap like blood oozed from its body onto the soil, as the forest fell silent once more.
"…Well," Bob muttered, wiping a few specs of blood sap from his face. "That was new."
"That's the second gorilla we faced," Cipher said, panting lightly. "Those are not fun"
Leo crouched beside the corpse, inspecting the broken fungal plating with narrowed eyes.
"We haven't run into anything like this in the past few days," he said, almost to himself. "In Fact we have run into nothing apart from the spiders…. "
He trailed off, as Raiden looked over with a big frown on his face.
"None?" he asked, as Leo shook his head in confirmation.
"Nothing. We walked for the last two days without coming across a single monster," he said, as both Raiden and Cipher frowned deeply at his response.
"We've been getting hit by beasts like this every two to three hours," Raiden muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "It's made progress nearly impossible."
Leo didn't respond aloud, but his gaze lingered on the fallen creature as a thought began to stir in the back of his mind.
Because if there was one thing he'd learned during his time with Patricia… it was the fact that the forest never targeted anyone without reason.
Something always triggered it.
And if it was targeting this group, then it meant that someone within it was surely attracting the trouble.
But….. Who?
Contact - ToS