Timeless Assassin

(In the skies above Planet Vorthas, Charles's POV)

Charles soared silently through the evening sky, the cold air brushing past his coat as he kept one arm slung behind him, gripping Leo's unconscious body like a sack of wheat, while his free hand casually carved through the wind to reduce the drag pressing against him mid-flight.

His expression remained calm, his flight graceful and unhurried, and though he fully expected that someone might eventually try to trace Leo's abduction and investigate who was behind it, however, what he did not expect in the slightest was that the one tailing him would be a frog.

'Huh? Why is there a frog behind me?' Charles wondered for a moment, seemingly confused as to why a Frog was hot on his trail, however, what he did not understand was that Dumpy was no ordinary Frog.

Dumpy was a bulbous, yellow-eyed, absurdly stubborn ancient swamp frog that had somehow leapt from the manor's boundary wall and was now tailing him with a persistence that bordered on insult.

At first, Charles didn't even look back.

Because really, what was a frog supposed to do?

Frogs couldn't fly, and he could evade it easily by rising higher in the sky, as he fully expected Dumpy to lose vision, or vanish into irrelevance once he did so.

However, what he did not expect was what happened next.

Because the moment he actually increased his altitude and tried to fly faster, Dumpy actually managed to match him.

"RIBBIT!"

With a guttural croak that cracked the heavens, Dumpy began to expand, his tiny frame bloating into a monstrosity the size of a small hill.

His limbs stretched unnaturally as his entire body surged with concentrated mana, and in the next breath, the ground below him trembled violently as Dumpy kicked off with a leap so mighty, that it shattered the common building beneath him to dust and caused a sonic boom to ring through the air, like the sound of a cannon being shot.

*BOOM*

"Mongrel! How dare you put your filthy hands on Lord Father!" Dumpy bellowed, his booming voice rippling across the city like a thunderclap as stunned civilians, guards, traffic drones, and local enforcement officials stared upward in unified disbelief, their mouths falling open as they watched what could only be described as a giant frog hurtling through the clouds like a meteor of vengeance.

Charles, still mid-air, blinked once and then narrowed his gaze slightly, his brows furrowing not out of fear but from complete confusion.

"What the hell…" he muttered, turning back just in time to see Dumpy lunge at him with astonishing speed, his size apparently no burden to his momentum.

Reacting out of instinct, Charles extended his hand and activated a containment spell designed to suppress plus-sized magical creatures, as rare tiered seals began to drop from the clouds like a divine trap.

[Gigantic Bind]

From above, glowing golden restraints forged in beast-subduing energy came crashing down like heavenly chains, aimed straight at Dumpy's limbs and core, intent on wrapping around him before he could make contact.

And for a split second, Charles thought it would work.

But then…

*Shing!*

Dumpy reached over his bloated back and drew not one, but two massive curved blades, each forged from enchanted steel and mana-tempered to the point of glowing blue at the edges.

"RIBBIT!"

With a ferocious croak of defiance, he slashed the falling binds apart with clean precision, spinning mid-air with surprising grace for his size.

Charles raised an eyebrow, genuinely impressed now.

The sheer force behind Dumpy's cuts sent shockwaves rippling through the air as bits of magical restraint disintegrated into harmless glitter.

"I said! Let! Lord! Father! Go!" Dumpy said without missing a beat, each word punctuated with another series of sword strikes, as each swing he took proved to be powerful enough to rupture the wind and carve out glowing scars in the sky.

*SHUA*

*SHUA*

*SHUA*

Charles blocked them all with smooth, one-handed counters, his own arm now coated in a thin layer of mana shielding that shimmered with faint platinum tones, and while none of Dumpy's attacks got through, the raw weight behind each clash forced Charles to stabilize himself mid-air as he was slowly but surely pushed back.

"Hmm… That strength," Charles muttered under his breath, a small grin forming as he allowed one of Dumpy's sword slashes to graze his bare skin slightly, just to test its bite, as he was shocked to see it actually managed to cut through his skin and draw a line of blood.

"You're no ordinary Frog. That much is clear." Charles concluded, as suddenly he became interested in Dumpy.

"You! Beast!" Charles called out, raising his voice slightly as he finally stopped dodging and floated backwards, squaring his stance as he observed Dumpy's movement.

"Do you have a soul contract with this boy?" He asked, but Dumpy didn't waste time answering.

He let out a snarl and vanished in a blur of movement, aiming both blades at Charles's neck without hesitation.

"I'll take that as a yes," Charles muttered as he sidestepped the blow at the very last moment, twisted slightly, and placed two fingers on Dumpy's swollen temple.

A flash of gentle energy pulsed through him, and in the blink of an eye, Dumpy's massive body seized up, his blades slipping from his fingers as his limbs twitched once before collapsing, his monstrous form shrinking rapidly until the tiny, grumpy frog was all that remained, still radiating defiance even as unconsciousness claimed him.

"Zooop---"

Charles caught him mid-fall with his other hand and looked down curiously at the unconscious frog, now barely the size of his palm.

"You'll make for a nice sidekick for the boy," he murmured, slipping Dumpy into the inner pocket of his coat as he resumed flight, his mind still slightly unsettled by the surreal experience.

Because in all his years as a soldier for the Cult, in all his missions across planets and realms…

Never — not once — had he been chased across the sky by a frog wielding twin blades and screaming about paternal kidnapping of a human.

As for the first time in a long while, Charles chuckled at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

"What a wild duo," he mused, as he continued with his journey to the Hangar Bay Area.