For a while, both Leo and the projection sat in awkward silence, as Leo contemplated whether or not he even wanted to walk down such a path.
The hut felt smaller now.
The air felt heavier.
And the idea of "defying destiny" sounded significantly less poetic and far more life-threatening the longer he thought about it.
Eventually, it was the projection who broke the silence.
"Listen to , young Cult Master.
You might not know it, but my understanding of the laws of the universe is second to none. With my expertise and your talent, this might not be impossible...."
He proposed, as Leo slowly lifted his head in restrained frustration.
There it was again.
'Might!'
'Not impossible.!
As just listening to those words made him rub his temple hard.
"You do realize," Leo began calmly, "that every ti you say 'might not be impossible, my survival instincts start screaming?"
The projection frowned slightly.
Leo exhaled.
"This is insane. Completely insane. The kind of insane that has never been even attempted across history."
He leaned back against the wall and stared at the ceiling of the hut.
"To be very honest......
I don't want to try and break the loop of ti. I don't want to 'challenge destiny: I don't want to be so experintal anomaly in your grand taphysical research project."
He paused.
Then sighed.
"But unfortunately...."
His tone shifted.
"I don't exactly have the luxury of picking safe options anymore."
The projection watched him carefully now.
"I am the new Cult Master," Leo continued, a faint bitterness creeping into his voice. "That's not a title I can shrug off. It's a target painted on my back."
He looked up again, eyes steady.
"And your darling first son Kaelith is not exactly the forgiving type.
I killed his son, Raymond, in the recent war, and if there is one thing I am absolutely certain of, it's that the mad Eternal Sovereign is going to co for sooner or later."
His jaw tightened.
"And when he does, he's not coming for alone. He's not coming half-heartedly. He's coming to erase everything. . The Cult and the people I care about."
Silence settled again.
"I don't get to say 'this is too crazy' and walk away," Leo muttered. "Because the alternative isn't just staying stagnant. It's annihilation."
He gave a dry, humorless laugh.
"So yes. Your plan sounds like it was drafted by a cosmic gambler high on theoretical optimism."
He looked directly at the projection.
"But if the only way for to stand against Gods as a Demi God... is to start learning the laws early..."
He closed his eyes briefly.
"Then I don't really have a choice, do I?"
The projection did not answer imdiately.
Leo opened his eyes again, resignation settling where resistance once stood.
"I'm not agreeing because I believe in your door," he said flatly. "I'm agreeing because if I don't find more power soon, I'll lose everything that I hold so dear."
A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
"And I'd rather be the blind painter trying to paint sothing impossible... than the idiot who stayed blind and got erased."
He folded his arms.
"So fine. Let's say I'm your lab rat."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Let's say I am agreeing to go on this journey with you....
It doesn't an, my patience with you is endless.
If at any point, you lose your pragmatism and start talking in gibberish ominous nonsense, I'm not going to take the abuse lying down, and I'm going to push back hard this ti motherfuck-"
Leo warned, as the projection frowned as though it was comically
wronged.
"I don't know what your trauma is, boy, but I, for one, have never
talked around the bush.
Matter of fact.
I don't talk much at all.
I let my daggers do all the talking!"
The projection said in its defence, as Leo shook his head and let out a deep fake sigh.
(anwhile, Inside a Virtual Conference, The Five Great Clan Gods)
After Mauriss's unprovoked attack on Ru Vassa, Yu Kiro called for an ergency virtual assembly of the Five Great Clan Gods, as their colossal projections materialized within a sealed chamber of shifting light, each one radiating restrained fury and unease.
Yu Kiro did not waste ti.
"This is absolutely unacceptable," he began, his voice cold and resonant. "The Deceiver has lost his mind, and we need to punish him
for his actions. An unprovoked attack on one of us cannot be allowed
to go unpunished.
For if we hesitate now, he will only grow bolder in the future and
there would be no stopping him!"
The others nodded with grave expressions, their auras flickering subtly as tension spread across the chamber.
Ru Vassa stepped forward next and removed her hand from the back
of her neck, revealing the partially sealed wound where Origin tal had carved into divine flesh, the corrupted edges still faintly resisting
regeneration.
"A microsecond," she said evenly. "If I was a microsecond slower, I would not be standing here."
A murmur rippled through the assembly.
"Mauriss with an Origin Blade is far more dangerous than we initially believed," she continued.
"He tried to sweet talk into betraying the alliance, and joining him
to form a new universal order.
However, when I declined, he simply smiled and attacked!
The man has beco completely unhinged.....
Several of the Clan Gods exchanged dark looks.
The implications were clear.
If Ru Vassa could be nearly decapitated within her own fortress, then
none of them were beyond reach.
"This was not opportunism," Yu Kiro added grimly. "It was an
attempted assassination."
The room fell into heavy silence as the Great Clan Gods absorbed the
reality of her injury, their expressions hardening as each silently considered the sa unsettling thought.
If Mauriss had chosen Vassa this ti...
Who would be next?
And whether or not the next target would even be fortunate enough
to be left alive to tell the tale?
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