Timeless Assassin

Chapter 1064 Contemplation

(The next day, The Time Stilled World, The Skyshard Mansion)

After returning from planet V Star, Leo redirected all his energy towards figuring out what sort of a game to play against Mauriss, as he began to prepare for that challenge next.

The room was silent, save for the faint echo of his footsteps as he paced slowly across the polished floor, his brows furrowed while his mind cycled through possibility after possibility, each one forming with promise before collapsing under scrutiny.

“What can I do…” he muttered under his breath, as his fingers tapped lightly against his arm, his thoughts moving faster than his body ever could.

Simple games came first.

Rock. Paper. Scissors.

A coin toss.

At first glance, they seemed perfect.

Quick. Clean. Decisive.

But the more he thought about them, the more flawed they became.

Because against Mauriss… nothing was ever truly simple.

Leo stopped mid-step, his gaze lowering slightly as he imagined the sequence.

The flick of a thumb.

The arc of a coin spinning through the air.

A moment so brief that to a normal man, it would be impossible to interfere.

But Mauriss was not a normal man.

“There’s no guarantee…” Leo murmured, as his jaw tightened slightly.

No guarantee that in that split second, the Deceiver could not alter the outcome.

No guarantee that he could not read the rotation of the coin, influence the air around it, or even manipulate perception itself.

And Rock Paper Scissors?

Leo let out a quiet breath.

Even worse.

If Mauriss could perceive intent even a fraction of a second faster than him, then the game was already decided before it began.

He could simply react.

Adjust.

Win.

Leo shook his head.

“No… these games are too easy to manipulate.”

He muttered, before resuming his walk, as his mind wandered to the next prospect.

‘If simplicity isn’t the solution… then maybe complexity can work?”

He wondered, as the thought about card games came next.

Poker.

Blackjack.

Games he remembered faintly from Earth, where probability,

psychology, and hidden information created a battlefield of its own.

For a brief moment, he entertained the idea seriously.

Bluffing.

Reading tells.

Controlling risk.

It sounded viable.

Until it didn’t.

Leo’s steps slowed again as his expression darkened.

“What’s stopping him from seeing through the cards?” he muttered.

Or worse…

What if Mauriss could manipulate the shuffle itself?

A deck of cards was nothing more than a system of arranged matter.

And Leo had just spent months understanding how matter, energy, and space interacted.

If he could begin to perceive those interactions…

Then Mauriss, a being far beyond him, could undoubtedly control

them.

Even on Earth, people cheated at card games.

Marked decks.

Sleight of hand.

Rigged shuffles.

And those were done by ordinary humans.

Against the Deceiver?

Leo exhaled sharply.

“It’s impossible.”

There would be no fairness.

No certainty.

Only a slow, inevitable loss disguised as a game.

He turned again, his pacing growing slightly faster now, as frustration

began to creep into his movements.

“Think…” he whispered.

“If not randomness… and not hidden information…”

Then what?

Chess.

The thought came naturally.

A pure game of skill.

No luck.

No hidden variables.

Just intelligence.

Leo stopped completely this time, as he considered it seriously.

On the surface, it seemed ideal.

Cheating in chess was difficult.

Every move was visible. Every outcome could be traced.

It was a battlefield of logic.

But that was exactly the problem. Leo’s eyes narrowed slightly. “There’s no guarantee I win…”

And that alone made it unacceptable. Because this was not about fairness.

It was about certainty.

He could not gamble his life, his plans, or his future on a game where

the outcome depended purely on skill.

Not against Mauriss.

A being whose mind had outplayed Gods, Empires, and entire

Factions.

Even if Leo improved…

Even if he prepared…

There was no assurance that he could outthink him.

And that meant….

Playing chess against the Deceiver was not good enough.

*Clench*

Leo clenched his fist slightly.

“I don’t need a fair game…” he muttered.

“I need a winning one….

A game that appears fair, but is rigged in my favor.”

The distinction mattered a lot.

His pacing resumed, faster now, more restless, as he ran his hand

through his hair in irritation.

“Then what about physical games?”

The thought surfaced abruptly.

Something simple.

Something measurable.

Throwing daggers.

Darts.

Tests of precision and control.

For a moment, Leo considered it seriously.

After all, this was his domain.

His weapon.

His specialty.

But even that idea crumbled almost instantly.

Because deep down…

He already knew the answer.

Whatever he could do…

Mauriss could do better.

Faster.

Cleaner.

More precise.

*Sigh*

Leo let out a quiet breath, as his shoulders dropped slightly.

“Yeah… no.”

There was no point pretending otherwise.

Skill-based games, whether mental or physical, all shared the same

flaw.

They left room for Mauriss to dominate. And that was something Leo could not allow.

He stopped near the window, his gaze drifting outward as his

thoughts slowed just enough for clarity to begin forming again.

“I need that water from Granada to become a Demi-God…” he said

quietly.

“There’s no question about that.”

His fingers curled slightly.

“But I don’t understand how to beat Mauriss.”

The words felt heavier now.

More real.

“That man is too dangerous to take on without a solid plan.”

Leo closed his eyes briefly, as he forced himself to calm down, to

push past the frustration and return to logic. “This is not something I can wing on the go…”

A long silence followed, as the room itself seemed to grow still around

him, as his pacing came to a halt.

“Fuck, this is a lot harder than I expected….

Just what am I better at than Mauriss?”

Leo asked himself, as at that point he realized something important.

The problem was not the game.

The problem was Mauriss.

And until he found a way to eliminate the Deceiver’s advantage

entirely…

No game in existence would ever be enough to beat a cunning fox like

him.