Timeless Assassin

Chapter 1004 The Great Conundrum

(Planet V-Star, Inside The Enchanted Hut, Leo’s POV)

For a good twenty minutes, Leo narrated the story of the Great Betrayal and everything that followed to the Timeless Assassin’s Projection, before realizing that he was running out of breath, as he requested to be excused for a moment.

“Please, excuse me for a while, I’ll be right back….”

He said, as he opened a fourth dimensional portal, and made a short trip back home, before returning a few minutes later, with his lungs full of air.

“Yes, like I was saying….”

He continued without pausing, as for another half an hour, he recalled more lore that transpired, before eventually tying it all up with why he was here now, as the Timeless Assassin’s Projection finally understood the full picture.

“I see, so that’s how it turned out in the end….”

The man said, looking surprised, as he found it hard to accept that his life had turned out to be such a failure.

“I never expected Kaelith to kill me, or for myself to die without completing this project.

Hahahaha!

I always thought I would understand the universe’s greatest conundrum before dying.”

The projection said, as Leo’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“What conundrum? What was the problem you were solving which you could not? What prompted you to leave this projection of yourself behind?”

Leo asked, as the Timeless Assassin’s Projection paused for a while

before answering.

“It is difficult to explain this to someone who has not yet crossed into Demi Godhood, because until you stand within the current of time rather than merely being carried by it, your perception of what time truly is remains incomplete.

However, if I were to explain it, this is the best I can do, so try to follow the picture I’m painting…..”

He began, as Leo listened in rapt attention.

“Everything the Gods have come to understand about time suggests that time is not a straight line but a closed system, a loop without origin and without termination.

You can think of it as a self sustaining continuum in which past, present, and future are not separate points but different angles of the same unbroken circle.

Which is exactly why, when a being becomes a God, he does not merely move through time, he aligns with it, merges with its structure, and gains the ability to correct disturbances within the loop, which is why divine injury lacks permanence.

If harm occurs at one coordinate, the flow compensates at another, restoring equilibrium as though the damage had only been a

temporary fluctuation within a larger cycle.

Under that model, true death for a God should be impossible, because nothing within a closed loop can fall outside its own continuity.

And yet, Origin Metal exists.

Origin Metal does not obey the loop.

It does not rewind, it does not correct, and it does not reconcile with adjacent moments.

A wound inflicted by it remains absolute, as though the strike never entered the circle in the first place but pierced it from beyond.

And for me, that implies something profoundly troubling…

For Origin Metal to function as it does, it must originate from outside the temporal system entirely.

But if time has no beginning and no end, then there should be no outside from which such a substance could emerge!

So tell me, how can something exist beyond a loop that has no end?

And how can a material precede time…. if time has no beginning?

If the loop theory is correct, the existence of Origin Metal should be impossible.

And if Origin Metal is real, then the loop theory is incomplete. Which is why that contradiction between divine immortality and temporal exclusion is a conundrum.”

The projection explained, as Leo blinked in confusion.

In theory, he understood what the projection was trying to imply, however, without having the fundamental knowledge of time, or how the universal law of time worked, he could not understand why this conundrum was so confusing, or what its implications meant for God-Hood.

“So what exactly is it that you wish to achieve here?”

Leo asked next, as the projection’s face brightened at the question.

“What I wish to achieve,” he said slowly, his translucent frame seeming to steady with conviction, “is not merely to understand the contradiction, but to surpass it.”

He did not pace, yet the air around him felt as though it tightened.

“If Origin Metal proves that something can exist outside the temporal

loop, then the loop is not absolute.

And if it is not absolute, then it can be transcended.

And if it can be transcended, then one can move beyond it….

His gaze locked onto Leo.

“My ultimate aim is to move beyond it and become something greater

than a mere God.”

Leo’s brow furrowed.

odhood is alignment with time. It is merging with the ow and

gaining the authority to correct disturbances within the loop.

It grants resilience, yes.

But it does not grant freedom.

You are still inside the architecture.

You are still bound by its design.”

He lifted his chin slightly.

“I wish to break the loop. I wish to step outside the system entirely. Because only by doing so can one become something greater than a

God.”

Leo felt a subtle shift in his heartbeat.

“Greater than a God?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” the projection replied without hesitation. “A true divinity. Not a being that participates in time, but one that stands beyond it. If you think about it, neither fate nor karma are affected by time. They are not wounded. They are not rewound. They are not corrected.” He stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“They persist regardless of era. Regardless of destruction. Regardless

of which branch of history manifests…. Which leads me to a singular

hypothesis.”

His gray eyes narrowed.

“They exist outside the system.”

Leo’s heart skipped.

Outside the system.

“You are saying you want to become something like fate?” Leo asked

carefully as the projection’s lips curved faintly in response. “Not an abstract force. Not a passive principle. But an existence of equal standing. An entity that shapes the flow of time without being

shaped in return.

Gods flow with time.

Fate does not flow.

Karma does not bend.

They simply are.”

The weight of that idea pressed into the hut like invisible gravity.

“Gods cannot escape the loop,” the projection continued. “But

something outside it can define it!”

He leaned forward slightly.

“And if Origin Metal proves that something stands beyond time, then

the system is not sealed.”

His eyes burned with quiet obsession.

“And if it is not sealed… then there must be a door…. A door we can

find together.”