Timeless Assassin Chapter 1116 Lord Dumpy

(anwhile, within the Ti-Stilled World, Dumpy's POV)

*Pant*

*Pant*

Dumpy panted heavily as he fell to his knees in exhaustion, his giant sword supporting the weight of his massive body while acid sweat rolled down his skin and sizzled upon contact with the ground below.

*Fssshhhh*

*Fshhhhh*

Wherever those drops landed, the stone cracked and hissed violently, as the corrosive fluid ate into the surface and left behind fresh fissures that spread outward like the marks of so invisible beast clawing at the earth.

"Must break through... must endure this pain for a few more days..." Dumpy muttered, his voice strained and ragged as his breathing remained uneven, while the burning sensation crawling through every part of his body refused to lessen even slightly.

It felt as though his flesh was being roasted from within, as though every vein, every organ, and every piece of muscle hidden beneath his skin had been tossed into a furnace and left there to endure.

And yet, even through all of it, Dumpy remained conscious... Although just barely, as he understood better than anyone that if he allowed himself to pass out now, if he allowed his will to waver even once during this critical phase, then the road to the Demi God realm would slam shut before him for good.

Unlike humans, who relied heavily on breakthrough potions to cross major thresholds in strength, Dumpy had no such shortcut available to him, as beasts did not traditionally ascend through carefully refined alchemical mixtures.

Beasts rose the old-fashioned way.

The brutal way, just like the Beast Gods of old did many millennia ago, long before potion-making beca widespread among the civilized races of the universe and changed the nature of breakthrough forever.

In theory, a natural breakthrough and a potion-induced breakthrough sought to achieve the exact sa end result, as both thods aid to transform the body from a mortal vessel into sothing capable of enduring divine essence.

However, the difference lay in the thod of how that change was achieved.

A potion-induced breakthrough was imdiate, overwhelming, and explosive, as the potion flooded the body in one violent burst and forced the user to adapt or die within the span of re minutes.

The mana circuits, cells, organs, and blood pathways of the user were all drowned at once under an excessive amount of power, as the potion attempted to instantly bridge the gap between two realms through sheer concentrated force.

That was why potion breakthroughs were dangerous but also extrely useful, as they were fast, easy, and less painful than natural breakthroughs.

While on the other hand, a natural breakthrough was exactly opposite in rhythm.

As unlike a potion breakthrough, it did not co all at once and was instead a slow, excruciating transformation, where the beast's body began to absorb increasing amounts of ambient mana and divine essence from its surroundings over an extended period of ti. At first, the change seed small.

Barely noticeable.

Just a slight increase in sensitivity, a slight rise in internal heat, a

slight discomfort beneath the skin that made rest difficult and stillness feel unnatural.

Then the body began to escalate that process on its own.

The cells absorbed more.

The blood thickened with energy.

The flesh beca overcharged.

And slowly, relentlessly, the sa effect that a potion caused in minutes began to occur naturally over the course of weeks or even

months.

That was why the process was so punishing.

Because although the end goal remained the sa, the beast

undergoing the transformation had to remain alive, conscious, and ntally stable throughout a prolonged state of internal collapse and

renewal.

There was no instant finish line.

No short sprint of survival.

No mont where one simply clenched their teeth for a few breaths and endured until the storm passed.

A natural breakthrough was a campaign of pain.

A drawn-out siege upon the body and mind, where every day felt like another battle, and every battle had to be won through stubborn endurance rather than sudden resilience alone.

That was also why only a limited number of beasts throughout the history of the universe ever reached this benchmark, as not only was the bloodline of the beast important in such scenarios, as the beast needed to have a constitution strong enough to endure such change, but also a mind and will strong enough to breakthrough to the next

stage.

Among beasts, strength developed differently than it did among

humans or other potion-reliant species.

As a beast did not always choose when to attempt a higher realm breakthrough.

More often than not, its own body chose for it, as once a beast grew powerful enough and reached the upper boundary of its current realm, its constitution automatically began leaning toward evolution, as if the blood inside it could sense that it had reached the edge of

what it currently was.

At that point, only two futures usually remained.

Either the beast pushed forward and began transforming into sothing greater, or its body failed to complete that leap and slowly regressed with age until its pri faded and death beca inevitable.

That was the cruel truth of the beast path.

Beasts did not linger comfortably at their peak for endless centuries

while deciding whether they felt like evolving or not.

Once they hit the threshold, the body demanded an answer.

Advance.

Or decline.

That was why the type of life a beast lived mattered so much in

determining whether it could one day beco a Demi God, as unlike potion users, beasts were not simply relying on ingredients, formulas,

and timing.

A beast's body was a record of its life.

Its strength reflected not just how much mana it held, but what it had endured, what it had consud, how often it had fought, and how intensely it had forced itself against death.

A beast that fought endlessly throughout its life, that survived

dangerous battles, devoured potent prey, endured harsh environnts, and constantly pushed itself against powerful

opponents, had a much greater chance of reaching its true threshold, because, through these experiences, its body beca tougher, its instincts sharpened and its primal bloodline awakened more deeply.

anwhile, a beast that lived passively, fed poorly, avoided life-threatening struggle, and drifted through existence without true danger gnawing at its heels, often never reached the upper limits of

what it could have beco.

It aged.

It weakened.

And then it regressed.

That was how nature judged beasts.

Not through theory or talent, but through whether their lives had

tempered them enough to justify greater strength.

As this was exactly where Dumpy excelled.

Dumpy had lived the kind of life that pushed a beast toward

transformation.

From the mont he had pledged himself to Leo, his path had been

soaked in battle after battle, as he spent countless years inside the Ti-Stilled World fighting the mindless mutated beasts that road those lands in endless numbers.

He had fought when wounded.

He had fought while starving.

He had fought while outnumbered.

He had fought through exhaustion, through pain, and through

countless situations where lesser beasts would have long since broken down and accepted decline.

And as a result, each of those battles had strengthened him.....

Each clash, each wound, each near-death struggle had tempered his

body further, until eventually his bloodline and his accumulated experience reached the critical threshold where his body could no longer remain what it once was.

And so, the process of breakthrough began naturally.

Now, at this point, there was no stepping back. There was no choice to delay. There was no option to say, 'I will try again later!

His body had already chosen evolution, and now Dumpy's only job

was to survive the journey long enough to et the end of it.

That made this stage uniquely terrifying.

Because during these weeks, he could rely on no one.

No ally could ease the pain for him.

No healer could step in and lighten the burden, and no amount of

external support could replace the one thing that determined whether he would succeed or fail....Which was his own ability to remain conscious, sane, and resolute while the transformation continued tearing him apart from the inside.

Thankfully, the Cult had prepared an isolated breakthrough site for him deep inside the Ti-Stilled World, where he could undergo the process in peace without external threats interfering and without the

risk of wandering mutated beasts finishing him off during a mont of weakness.

The site itself was quiet, empty, and secure, which was exactly what he needed.

Because the breakthrough demanded isolation and focus. Unfortunately, during this critical ti, he could not eat properly, nor

take any rest.

He had to constantly stay awake and prevent his instincts from descending into blind panic, because if his mind wandered too far, if

he surrendered too much to delirium, or if he lost himself in the pain

before the transformation stabilized, then the process would derail and his body would begin collapsing instead of ascending, which was exactly why staying conscious mattered so much.....

And why, even now, kneeling there with his sword dug into the

ground and acid sweat lting stone around him, Dumpy kept forcing himself to breathe through the fire.

"Not dying here..." He muttered, his eyes sharp as he kept his mind

stable.

"Must be strong to stand beside Lord Father..."

"Must make him proud.....

The words ca out broken, but the resolve behind them remained

unshaken, as he continued to fight through the pain.

All his life, he had wanted strength above all else.

Real strength.

The kind that let him stand at Leo's side without sha. The kind that let him protect the Cult, crush enemies, and rise high

enough that even enemy gods would one day have to acknowledge

his existence. And so he endured....

He endured for his future.

And for the promise that when he erged again from this isolation,

he would be a beast that would put the universe on notice with his

power.