The Asssassin Who was Rumoured To Be Able To Foretell The Future

The story begins at an unmarked shrine, deep within dark territory, where the remaining champion has been ambushed by several assassins. The champion does well to fend them off and succeeds. However, there was another assassin, determined to take the champion's life, that stealthily snuck behind her. As the assassin raised their katars, ready to deliver the decisive blow, a sword piercing the air struck the assassin. The champion, taken aback, looked at the fallen corpse of the assassin and quickly searched for the person who threw the sword. To her surprise, he wasn't concealed. There standing below the stairs to the shrine, stood one figure. He wore a hood and a mask that resembled a wolf.

"If you were attempting to gain my trust, you are sorely mistaken." she declared, pointing her spear towards his direction.

"Indeed, I would be. I'm sure you know who I am. This mask of mine is, quite the trademark." he said as he stroked his mask.

"I was wondering when you would appear. The notorious prophecy assassin. Even if you can foretell the future, don't think I will give up so easily." she declared.

"You can try to kill me but, I didn't come here to fight you. I too, know of your renown as the lightning knight and it would be quite annoying to have to fight you. So, instead, I have come up with a proposition. I have seen a future where you succeed and the reign of darkness ends, and I want to help you reach that future."

"Do truly think I'll believe you? If this is merely an attempt to stall me, I'll just have to kill you before you can say anything more."

She started to charge the assassin, imbuing her spear with lightning to end him in one strike. She felt a little uneasy at the sight of the assassin who seemed too vulnerable but held on to her conviction to strike him. As she started to close the distance between them, the assassin spoke again.

"Although your magic is strong, it does have a caveat like all other magic."

As he finished his sentence, the spear collided with his body and a flash of light was emitted. After the flash of light had dissipated, the assassin still stood in place unharmed and unfazed.

"I happen to know what your caveat it is. You can't harm anybody who genuinely helped you."

"Tsk. What's your motive!?"

"As I said, I want to help you finish your journey."

So began the journey of the lightning knight and the prophecy assassin. As they ventured through dark territory, coming across several assassins, the prophecy assassin's ability proved useful. He was always between the line of confidence and arrogance. To the lightning knight, she had trouble discerning between the two because, as confident as the prophecy assassin was, he was usually correct about the future. He could tell what events would unfold and when.

"How did you know the assassin with blast magic had such a detrimental caveat? Is this something you can tell from seeing the future?"

"Yes, there are many things which I can foresee and a person's caveat happens to be one of them."

"With such a strong power, why did you side with the dark kingdom?"

The assassin looked down as if ashamed and under his breath, he spoke.

"I was forced to." He said with a grim tone, "That aside, I'm surprised you trust me enough to have an idle chat with me. I am the notorious prophecy assassin after all. An assassin that has never known defeat."

"Don't get full of yourself. This trust, I have for you is thin. I am fully aware of the assassin you are and I might as well learn something from you along the way, considering I can't harm you. But, I check every time you seem to be asleep if it was just a fluke that saved me. Lucky for you, I haven't been able to strike you yet."

"Ooh, scary. I can assure you though, it wasn't a fluke. I do genuinely intend to help you, and with my help, I'm sure we can end the dark kingdom."

"I wonder when that confidence of yours will be lost. You've seen the future already so when you say that I succeed, isn't that guaranteed?"

"I wonder as well, we'll just have to continue and find out."

They journeyed through rough marshes, scorching deserts, following a map which the lightning knight held. However, as they followed the map, the assassin made a different suggestion that strayed from the path on the map.

"I would advise going in that direction."

"Why? It's the shortest route to the crystal."

"What lies past this forest is a harsh environment. I suggest we go around and through the mountains."

"That would take us around 10 days more to reach the crystal!" she complained.

"Yes but, it's better we live and make it to the crystal rather than us die and accomplish nothing." he reasoned.

"Why should I believe you instead of the trusted scouts that made this map?"

"One, I can see the future. Two, the future I see, hasn't been wrong yet. Three, I live in the dark region."

The knight thought upon his suggestion. She paced back and forwards, before agreeing reluctantly.

"If this is another attempt at stalling me-" she began to threaten before she was cut off.

"You'll what? Strike me?" he teased.

"You're lucky caveats exist."

"I guess."

With a new direction, the assassin began leading the way. Of course, it was no smooth travel as they encountered more minions of the dark kingdom attempting to stop them. They made progress on their journey, and as they did the prophecy assassin started to fidget. Although it was quite unnoticeable, the lightning knight took notice. After some time they finally made it to the summit of the mountain, where it was filled with snow and breezed with a cold air where they set up camp.

"We should be safe here for a few days."

"We should be? Did you lose your confidence or something?"

"What? No."

"Really? Whatever, if it's because you aren't really helping me, I'll just try and stab you tonight to make sure."

"Go ahead. Your spear will never pierce me."

"Hmm, now that I think about it, I don't know what your caveat is. I do have a guess though."

"What's your guess?"

"You can't use any other magic."

"Interesting. Can you explain?"

She began pointing at a tear on the assassin's cloth wear he was cut.

"That cut you received could be avoided if you had used magic. People usually have one main type of magic but that doesn't stop them from practicing any other magic. An assassin of your calibre should be able to use some type of protection magic."

"Go on."

"You could use a simple healing spell to heal your wound and yet you don't. Also, every time we set camp you never start the campfire with magic. It's either me who starts a fire or you rubbing some sticks together."

"Well, I can't argue with your evidence. It is as you say, I can't use any other magic besides telling the future."

"I'll keep that in mind in case you betray me."

"I'll stay with you until the end of your journey so, no worries. What do you plan to do after you finish your job?"

The knight was surprised at the question. She thought that since he could see in the future he would already know what would happen. It was then that she started to doubt his ability.

"If you could see the future, wouldn't you already know what would happen?"

"True, but I just wanted to ask."

After some small talk, they went to sleep and the next day arrived. The next day didn't start well for the two, as the knight was awoken by the sound of metal clashing against each other. In her tent, she could hear a conversation.

"When I came here on the orders of the dark king, I didn't expect to find you here. But, what I found to be more unexpected, was that you would protect the remaining champion. Now it's not even a surprise that she got this far."

The knight exited the tent spear in hand to find two people in red armor that protruded spikes. They held a blade that gleamed red, and at the opposite end of those blades was the assassin who helped her. He was on his knees, deep into the snow, with only his sword to defend against the swords that were steadily pushing down on him. Quickly, she intervened and jabbed her spear at one of the guys in red armor. The guy targeted, immediately disengaged with the assassin and blocked her attacked.

"She's finally awake. What a waste, I had hoped to end this traitor's life before fighting the champion."

The assassin kneeling on the floor, slowly got up and pushed back his attacker and stood next to the knight.

"Careful, these guys are demons, the most loyal servants to the dark king. They are very skilled."

"I figured. Can you tell me anything else useful?"

"Don't die."

They began to clash against the demons. The knight seemed to have no problem fighting one of the demons and exchanged blows without either her or the demon getting scathed. The assassin, however, seemed to be struggling. The assassin was on par with the demon, maybe even better, but the fight soon turned into the demon's favor when the demon started using magic. The assassin could no longer fight the demon head on and instead resorted to dodging as the demon started to launch projectiles at him from one hand and swung his sword on his other hand. The assassin waited for the moment to strike and when he found one he charged at the demon. The demon expected this and dropped his sword and started to cast magic with the now free hand. The assassin did not expect this and he was sent flying as a dark blast was emitted when the hand touched him. The assassin was now near the cliff, close to falling off the edge and the demon approached him. The knight looked at the assassin's direction noticing his predicament but, that distracted her and the demon took advantage of that. As she looked at the assassin the demon quickly swept the knight's legs and locked weapons with her as he struck down. Despite the demon in front of her, she once again looked at the assassin. The demon was going to deliver the finishing blow on him and letting go of one hand on her spear, she cast a bolt of lightning that sent the demon of the cliff. Using her one hand to save the assassin was costly, she didn't have enough strength with her one hand on the spear to repel the demon's sword. The demon raised his sword and the red aura that gleamed from it quickly turned into fire and he was about to deal the final blow.

The knight no longer able to resist thought about how dumb it was that she saved the assassin's life despite the kingdom relying on her. I failed she thought in her mind. The demon's sword came down upon her and before his blade struck his body fell over the knight. The knight who had her eyes closed awaiting death opened her eyes. The demon had a sword protruding on his side. She quickly pushed off the demon's body and stood up.

"Wow, I'm great. You don't mind taking my sword out of his body do you?" the assassin said, still lying on the floor.

"No, I don't mind. Now we're even. You saved my life, and I save yours." she said, pulling out the sword from the demon.

"I'm pretty sure we're not even. I've saved your life many times. But, tha-" before the assassin could finish his sentence he entered a coughing fit.

"You okay there?" the knight teased.

She walked towards the assassin to give him his sword and saw that the assassin's hand was red with blood. His hand was grasping at his chest which seemed to be bleeding.

"Never mind, you are not okay. Stay still, I'll heal your wound."

The assassin nodded, unable to say anything more. The knight started to heal him, a green glow emanating from her hands. She kept her hand on his chest and the bleeding stopped. The assassin tried speaking again but was met with another series of coughs, and blood escaped from the side of his mask.

"How are you still injured? The magic I used-"

Before she could say anything else the assassin pulled out a map from his pocket. He proceeded to mark a location on the map. Before the knight could question him, he closed his eyes. The knight didn't have much time to think and quickly left for the location he marked. She carried the assassin over her shoulder and proceeded. As she traveled, she wasn't met by any conflict and the knight didn't think anything of it. The location on the map led her to a forest and she began to look around. The forest was filled with an eerie fog. The knight couldn't see anything through the fog except for trees. She walked around for a while wondering why the assassin marked this location on the map. After a while of wandering about, the floor beneath her quickly opened, and not being able to move fast enough with the assassin on her shoulder, she fell down. The assassin was still unconscious and she picked him up again. The trapdoor led her underground into a tunnel which was lit with torches. She followed the tunnel and found a house at the end of the tunnel. It was in a wide space that was dug out and illuminated by magic. Not knowing what else to do, she knocked on the door. She could hear footsteps behind the door and then the door swung open. The figure that appeared in front of her was someone that resembled a human but had a strange marking on her head. The figure quickly looked at the knight and the assassin that was on her shoulder.

"Come in." the figure said.

The knight didn't know if she should trust this person but there weren't many options. She walked inside and the figure told her to lay him on a bed.

"You can wait outside the room," she told the knight.

The knight stood outside the room wondering who this mysterious figure was. Moments later the figure came out of the room.

"What's he doing with a girl like you?"

The knight didn't know how to respond. She too didn't know what the assassin was really trying to achieve. She only knew his motive by what he claims, and she chose to tell the figure that instead.

"He said he wanted to help me bring down the dark kingdom."

"Is that so? Well, good luck."

"Can I ask who you are?"

"I'm that fool's mother."

The knight stayed in the house that was underground and another day had passed. She was going to visit the assassin and overheard a conversation.

"Quite the objective you got there. How many times have you tried?" the figure asked.

"327 tries. I failed every, single, time."

"Knowing you, I know you won't give up."

"I won't. I think this might be the final try though. The dark king sent his two demons this time and they're dead now. They were one of the toughest obstacles to get through and we might have a chance."

"I hope you succeed but, don't torture yourself like this."

"I'll try not to."

The figure left the room after a while and found the knight standing outside.

"If you were going to talk to him sorry, he went back sleep again. Those demons casted a potent poison in him."

"It's fine. I just wanted to tell him I'm leaving tomorrow. If he's still asleep by tomorrow, you don't have to tell him."

"Ok, but why the rush?

"Everyday that passes, the kingdom I serve falls closer to ruin."

"He never told me who you are but, I think I have an idea. Good luck on your journey tomorrow."

The next day had passed and came morning. The assassin had not yet awoken and the knight left, taking the map. She began making her way towards the crystal which Umbra resides, alone.

Later that day the assassin woke up. His mother beside him sitting down on a stool.

"Quite an interesting person you've met. Does she happen to be one of the champions sent by the kingdom of light?"

"Yes. Something wrong with that?"

"Not really. Although, I found her quite odd. One night I found her trying to kill you but, she couldn't."

"One night? Wasn't I here for a few days. Did she try any other time? Also, where is she?"

"I only saw her try and kill you once. She also left this morning."

"I'm going to get ready. My body feels okay for now."

"Just don't overdo it."

The assassin quickly got his gear and before making it out the door he was asked another thing.

"Is this the farthest you've ever gotten?"

"No, but, it may turn out to be."

He quickly left and using the spare map his mother gave him he made his way to the knight. A few days had passed and the assassin was finally able to track down the knight. She was in ruins of an old castle where the assassin met her again. The knight was sitting down with a lonely expression as she polished her spear.

"I finally made it."

The knight was startled but quickly regained her composure.

"Took you long enough."

"These ruins are quite close to the crystal. It won't be long before you finally finish your journey."

"It would seem so."

"You don't look so excited."

"I may not look excited but, I am. I just have a few regrets."

"Well, doesn't everybody have regrets."

"I suppose."

"Since we are close to ending the dark kingdom, I can tell you something about the castle guarding the crystal. The king will most likely be around the crystal and his magic is nullification. The king is immune to magic. Its caveat, however, is his magic itself. He can't control it so useful magic like healing magic won't affect him."

The assassin told her what he knew of the castle and he soon went to rest. Instead of stabbing the assassin this time, the knight went to take off his mask. The assassin, however, was not yet asleep. She slowly crawled up to him and just before she could take off his mask, he spoke.

"So instead of stabbing me, it's taking off my mask that interests you now. No worries. I don't mind taking it off."

The assassin removed his wolf-like a mask to reveal black hair and a face which resembled a human's but, had red eyes.

"You look like a human but, so did your mother. Your red eyes are also quite unnatural."

"Although I may look like a human, I'm not. I'm what you can call a hybrid between a demon and an immortal. A pureblooded immortal like my mother have long life spans and resemble a human but they aren't human. Immortals have a strange marking on their head which I don't happen to have. The red eyes I have are from my demon blood, though I don't have the horns of a demon. With both immortal blood and demon blood, I retain a long lifespan and the prowess of a demon."

"Is your birth the reason why you want to topple the dark kingdom?"

"Who said that?"

"Your mother. While you were sleeping I had plenty of time to talk to your mom. She said you were born with the sole purpose of being a weapon."

"That is part of the reason. But, there is another reason why I want to end the dark kingdom. In all my life all I did was assassinate people. Then I met a certain someone who I wanted to save. This person became my salvation and I did my best to save her. Yet, she died more times then I want to count."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll save that story for next time. How about you? Now that you know a bit about me don't you think I should know a bit more about you?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt."

The two talked for a while before they finally went to rest. A new day came and new conflicts were encountered. The assassin led the way and they traversed the land seeking no attention. Unbeknownst to them, they were about to be ambushed.

"Past this marsh should be the castle. You remember the weak points of the castle that I told you right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't want to end up failing having gotten so far."

"Good."

Before they could continue any further, minions of the dark kingdom surrounded them. The amount that surrounded them was by no means small.

"I think it's best we surrender."

"Can't you foretell a way out of this situation?"

"Umm, the future tells me to surrender."

The assassin raised his arms up, dropping his weapon. After seeing the assassin surrender, the knight too dropped her weapons and held her hand up. The minions took them to the castle where they were led to a dimly lit cell.

"So much for this power of yours. You didn't see the ambush coming."

After finishing her sentence, laughter could be heard from someone who seemed to be approaching them.

"You didn't tell her what your true power was did you?"

A figure stood in front of the cell staring at the two dangling prisoners. He was in formal wear and had two horns and bore an evil smile on his face.

"Don't look at me with such a rebellious face, traitor." the figure looked at the assassin with a disappointed face.

"What do you mean by true power?" the knight questioned.

"Since he didn't explain it to you, I might as well. You won't be alive for long anyway when I take you to Umbra to release me from this assassin's accursed magic. If you thought his magic was to foretell the future, you wouldn't be wrong but, you wouldn't be right either. You see, if his power was to be able to see the future, how is it that I can see the future too? Well, the answer wasn't simple to find. It first began when I sent him on his first assassination mission. A few days after I sent him his mission a report came back to me claiming the assassination failed. I sent another assassin after the target and before I heard word whether it was a success or not, everything around me seemed to be moving backward. It was as if, time itself, reminded. At first, I thought I was imagining things. But I soon realized it wasn't my imagination. Everything that I saw happened, happened in the same exact way. This process repeated itself until one day or several rewinds later, something was different. Instead of getting a report that the assassination failed, I got a report saying he had succeeded. It was an odd occurrence and he was the only thing that stood out. I had a scout become his partner and the scout reported to be anything unusual. I sent the assassin on more missions, and he died again. I had my scout finish the job and to my surprise, time rewound again. This happened several times as well until I got a report saying he succeeded. At this point, I was certain he was the cause. The more missions I sent him on the more proficient he became and time rewound less and less. He gained a notorious reputation as someone who could tell the future in that he seemed to always know what to do. Now that you've heard all this I'll simplify his power for you. He can rewind time by somehow marking someone and time will rewind when that marked person dies. The time would rewind up to the point, I believe to be when he marks someone. I don't believe many people know his true power considering I might be the only one immune to it. Enjoy talking to each other while you can. It won't

last long."

The dark king left the prison chamber and in the silence was left two prisoners.

"I meant to tell you my power after all this was over. Sorry for lying."

"You must have tried really hard to get here. I overheard you speaking to your mother. If I remember correctly, this is your 324th try?"

"Close, 327th."

Silence followed between them.

"You don't seem surprised about my power."

"I am surprised but, not too surprised. I figured you were lying about what magic you had when you started fidgeting."

"It was that obvious huh. When I met you and I accompanied on your journey the beginning was relatively easy. I knew what moves the king could make against when he realized I betrayed him. As we made progress, however, there were many options the king could make against me. I did my best to remember all the notable tricks he used but, the two demons were my biggest obstacle. I could never kill them before. It was great, that this time we were able to beat them but, disappointing that we would end up in a cell again."

"This has happened before?"

"Yep. I witnessed times when we got captured and tortured or kept alive, slowly withering away as the king used my power to think of strategies to use against your kingdom. There were also times when I died unable to know what occurred after my death. There was always a limit though. After around 40 days my power would activate, despite the king leaving you alive. There were even times when I wondered if you were able to accomplish your mission after I died."

"Was I just a tool used for you to end the kingdom?" she said with a depressed tone.

"No. I meant what I said when I told you I wanted to help you."

"How can you prove it?"

"Do you remember when I told you there was a certain person I wanted to save?"

"Yes."

"That person was you."

"Why try and save me?"

"It's a story before we met at the shrine. You won't remember since time rewound then but-"

Before the assassin could speak anymore the doors to the cellar opening.

"Umbra is awaiting you." the king said with a smile.

His minions took off their chains from the hook that they dangled from and made their way through the castle. As they were pulled along, the knight used this chance to speak to the assassin.

"Do you know why the champions were sent to the dark kingdom?"

"I thought it was to defeat Umbra."

"Yes but, we champions don't possess the power to kill Umbra."

"Then why go on a useless endeavor?"

"I haven't told you our true purpose before?"

"Nope. You never trusted me as much as you do now."

The knight had an expression of sorrow. The assassin thought she was sad because they were about to meet their end. However, the assassin was only partially correct.

The two were brought upon a door which seemed to be emanating an evil aura. The door slowly opened, revealing a crystal purple in color rotating. From the crystal protruded an overwhelming sense fear.

"So these are the enemies you were having trouble with." a powerful voice came out from the crystal. A voice that pounded in the heads of those who heard her.

"Bring the girl to me," spoke Umbra.

The minions began to undo the knight's shackles. As they undid her shackles the assassin looked at her. He had an expression the knight had never seen. The knight mouthed a word when the minions finally undid her shackles and began to bring her to Umbra.

"So, how does it feel to fail after so many rewinds?" the king asked the assassin with a smug face, "After all this time I can finally move on. Your magic has annoyed me quite a bit but was quite useful for me."

The assassin didn't respond.

"Speechless now are y-"

The words of the king were overshadowed by the shouting of Umbra.

"What! This power cannot be! I sealed You!" bellowed Umbra.

The assassin looked to see what was the commotion. The knight which stood in front of the crystal was shining brightly until that light left her and entered the crystal. Rumbling soon followed and the crystal started to crack before finally exploding radiating bright light.

"What happened! My beloved god!" The king started to shout.

The castle soon started to fall apart and the assassin using this opportunity pushed the bewildered king beside him to where a piece of the castle was about to fall.

"How da-" were the last things uttered by the king before he was crushed.

The minions holding the assassins chains were no longer to be seen, as they ran panicking, from the collapsing castle. The assassin ran towards the knight who was on the floor.

"Hey! Are you okay?" the assassin too, was panicking.

"Can you undo the mark you placed on me?" the knight said slowly, struggling to get the words out.

"No, I won't let you die."

"If time rewinds, I might not be able to complete my mission again."

"No, I will try again and again until I find a way for you to survive your mission."

"It's impossible. The champions were sent on a mission to obtain Aurora's power. The champion who would become Aurora's vessel was never going to survive in the end. I can only sustain her power for so long before I die."

"There has to be a way for you to survive. Someone else can take your place as the vessel."

"It would be too late, I became the vessel at the shrine we first met at."

"I'm sorry. I can't remove my magic from you. Once I put it on, I can't apply it on the same person again. So, while there is still a chance, I'll find a way to save you, no matter what. "

"Don't torture yourself. I can feel my life fading. Please, remove the mark from me." the knight started to plead, tears falling from her eyes.

The assassin was struggling between leaving a mark or removing it. He didn't want to regret removing the mark, so he made a decision.

"I will leave the mark. If there truly is no way to save you, I promise you, I will help you finish your mission again."

"It seems I can't change your mind. Sorry, I didn't trust you early on." the knight whose face was filled with an expression of sorrow started to show a face of relief.

The assassin holding her in her arms accepted another fail. As her body fell limp in his arms time started to rewind. The journey that had transpired would become a lost memory to everyone else besides the assassin. Time rewinds up to the point when the knight was at the shrine.

"328," the assassin said. He steeled resolve and began to make his move.

At an unmarked shrine, deep within dark territory, the remaining champion has been ambushed by several assassins. The champion does well to fend them off and succeeds. However, there was another assassin, determined to take the champion's life, that stealthily snuck behind her. As the assassin raised their katars, ready to deliver the decisive blow, a sword piercing the air struck the assassin. The champion, taken aback, looked at the fallen corpse of the assassin and quickly searched for the person who threw the sword. To her surprise, there was nobody in sight.

Instead of going with the knight, the assassin instead decided to learn about the power of Aurora. The assassin decided to leave the dark territory and learn about Aurora in the light kingdom. He knew he had a limited time to learn about Aurora and wasted no time getting to the light kingdom. He used the knowledge of the light kingdom based on what he learned when he was sent for assassination missions. When he finally reached light territory he took off his mask and kept his head down. 6 days had passed by and time hadn't rewound yet. He quickly found the nearest library and began to study Aurora and shrines. He looked for anything regarding vessels and other topics related to it. After a few more days had passed time hadn't rewound yet. He found this odd since the knight wasn't able to make it far without his help. After a few more days, time rewound, and he repeated the process. He repeated the process again and again and again until he ended up reading all the books from the library. He didn't learn anything useful to him besides information that Aurora can only speak to beings born in the light kingdom. He moved on to a different library farther from the one he was at. In the new place he was at he heard people say that the minions of the dark kingdom were disorganized and rumors that the dark king may be dead.

"Rewinding time wasn't enough to bring him back to life. What bad caveat he had." the assassin thought to himself.

Time rewound many times and the assassin didn't give up. He kept going from library to library, still unable to obtain useful information. The assassin nonetheless kept looking for a way to save the knight. Time rewound again. And again. And again. After many rewinds later, he finished reading all the books from the libraries he could reach. The assassin learned nothing. There were no more libraries to research from. Libraries in the dark kingdom didn't exist, as they were burned down. He began to try other tactics instead of research but to no avail. And so time rewound again.

Where, at an unmarked shrine, deep within dark territory, the remaining champion has been ambushed by several assassins. The champion does well to fend them off and succeeds. However, there was another assassin, determined to take the champion's life, that stealthily snuck behind her. As the assassin raised their katars, ready to deliver the decisive blow, a sword piercing the air struck the assassin. The champion, taken aback, looked at the fallen corpse of the assassin and quickly searched for the person who threw the sword. To her surprise, he wasn't concealed. There standing below the stairs to the shrine, stood one figure. He wore a hood and a mask that resembled a wolf.

"If you were attempting to gain my trust, you are sorely mistaken." she declared, pointing her spear towards his direction.

"Indeed, I would be. I-I'm...I'm, sorry," the assassin who was between confidence and arrogance was on his knees. He could no longer hold in his despair. Tears streamed from his eyes. He knew now, that it was truly impossible to save the knight.

The lightning knight stood on upon the stairs. She didn't know what to do at the sight of an opponent sobbing in front of her. After a while, the assassin got up and composed himself.

"If that was merely an attempt to stall me, I'll just have to kill you before you can do anything more."

She started to charge the assassin, imbuing her spear with lightning to end him in one strike. She felt a little uneasy at the sight of the assassin who seemed too vulnerable but held on to her conviction to strike him. As she started to close the distance between them, the assassin spoke again.

"Although your magic is strong, it does have a caveat like all other magic."

As he finished his sentence, the spear collided with his body and a flash of light was emitted. After the flash of light had dissipated, the assassin still stood in place unharmed and unfazed.

"I happen to know what your caveat it is. You can't harm anybody who genuinely helped you."

"Tsk. What's your motive!?"

"I want to help you finish your journey and this time, without lies." the assassin said as he took off his mask.

So began the journey of the lightning knight and the assassin. As they ventured through the dark territory, coming across few obstructions, the prophecy assassin's ability proved useful and was usually able to deal with the conflicts that came up with conviction. To the lightning knight, she didn't know why the assassin was filled with much conviction.

"How did you know the assassin with blast magic had such a detrimental caveat? Is this something you can tell from seeing the future?"

"No, I have the power to rewind time when somebody I mark dies."

"Are you trying to mess around with me!?"

"Don't misunderstand. What I said is the truth. Currently, the marked person is you. I'm sure Aurora has told you about the weird magic that lingers on you."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't need to play dumb with me. I know you are the vessel for Aurora." the assassin smiled.

The lightning knight pointed her spear towards the assassin.

"Who told you that?"

"You did."

"Those are lies. I have never once said anything of the sort."

"Not this time you haven't."

"What you're just saying confuses me right now."

"Would you believe me if I told you a story?"

"If the story seems plausible enough, I'll believe you."

The assassin recalled the time they defeated Umbra and told her everything he could recall.

"So you want me to believe that the dark king is already dead and I that I chose to save you over my life?"

"Yep. Normally we would across much more obstacles but, we aren't."

They continued their journey through rough marshes, scorching deserts, following a map which the lightning knight held. However, as they followed the map, the assassin made a different suggestion that strayed from the path on the map.

"I would advise going in that direction."

"Why? It's the shortest route to the crystal."

"What lies past this forest is a harsh environment. I suggest we go around and through the mountains."

"That would take us around 10 days more to reach the crystal!" she complained.

"Yes but, it's better we live and make it to the crystal rather than us die and accomplish nothing." he reasoned.

"But if I die, couldn't you just rewind time and do something about it?"

"I'd rather not have to see you die again."

"Since when did you care about me?"

"Before I met you at the shrine, actually."

"Nice attempt to flatter me. If this another attempt to stall me I-"

"You'll what? Strike me?" teased the assassin

"You're lucky caveats exist."

"I truly am."

With a new direction, the assassin began leading the way. It was not quite hard to travel as they encountered few minions of the dark kingdom attempting to stop them. They made progress on their journey, and after some time they finally made it to the summit of the mountain, where it was filled with snow and breezed with a cold air where they set up camp.

"We should be safe here for a few days."

"We should be? Haven't you already lived the future?"

"I have but, this time it's different. At the time the king was still alive, and now he isn't anymore."

"Getting to Umbra should be easy then right?"

"I don't know. This is my first time trying."

"Couldn't you have taken off the mark on me when we succeeded in killing Umbra? Then you wouldn't have to go through this whole process again."

"I wanted to find a way to save you so that you wouldn't die upon releasing Aurora."

His words made her recall the time they first met. He was on the floor apologizing for not being able to save her.

"I take it to you...didn't find a way to save me."

"Nope. It was quite depressing for me. All my life I was used as a weapon. I was forced to kill but, I met you. You probably won't remember but you became my salvation. For the first time, I wanted to use my power to save someone's life. Your, life." the assassin said with a wavering voice.

"Are you going to take the mark off this time?"

"Yes, I promised you, that if I couldn't find a way to save you, I would help you finish your mission."

"What will you do after we kill Umbra?"

The assassin chuckled for a bit.

"I remember I asked you this question before. Now it is I, who has to answer." the assassin thought upon the question before finally coming up with an answer.

"I don't know."

The two went to sleep and the next morning came. This time, the demons weren't at the mountain and the two safely left the mountain. Instead of going directly towards the crystal the assassin wanted to take an short detour, to which the knight agreed to. They then went to a forest filled with fog and went under a trapdoor. Under the trapdoor revealed a tunnel lit by torches. The tunnel led to a wide space illuminated by magic, where a house was present. The assassin knocked on the door. Footsteps could be heard approaching the door until the door opened.

"What happened to you? Your eyes are dead."

"A lot has happened."

"Come in."

The two spent some time in the house and the knight overheard a conversation between the assassin and his mother.

"I'm pretty sure I would have told you not to torture yourself. Your dead eyes say you did, torture yourself."

"I didn't want to give up."

"I know. You are always persistent but, it seems like you have finally given up. How many times have you tried?"

"648. And it all ended in failure."

"I hope you find some sort of resolution. Will this be your final try?"

"Maybe."

After visiting his mother, the knight and assassin left. They made progress and camped at a castle ruin.

"Thanks for helping me." the knight said.

"No problem."

"If I haven't told you before, I appreciate you accompanying me. After the other champions had died, I felt alone."

"I'm glad I could be with you."

"I guess this will be the last time you'll see me alive."

"Yep."

"Don't you have anything else to say?"

"There are other things I want to say. If I don't say them, I'll feel regret. If I do say them, I'll feel longing. I don't know which of two is worse."

"If you have helped get this far, that means you already accept my death. I'd rather you not feel regret, so if you have something to say, say it already. There's not much time left for me anyways."

"Fine. I never once told you this before. I'm sure it is quite obvious already but, fine. I'll say it." the assassin began to inhale and exhale before finally speaking, "I, love, you. Satisfied now?"

"Yes."

That night the assassin made a plan to get inside the castle and the next day came. The two were able to sneak into the castle until they had reached the door to the crystal. There was no other way inside so they decided to forego sneaking and fought the guards in front of the door. After beating the guards they quickly opened the door to find the crystal and the two demons guarding it.

"I'll handle the guards. All you have to do is reach the crystal."

The knight nodded and the assassin engaged combat with the two demons. The knight using this chance quickly ran to the crystal, avoiding the demons. The assassin struggled to keep both demons away from the knight but he was able to hold them off. The shouts of Umbra could be heard again before the crystal exploded. The castle started to rumble and soon the castle started to fall. The assassin stopped fighting the demons and took the knight outside the castle before it collapsed. Outside the castle, the assassin held the knight in his arms.

"I don't think I'll be able to return the favor for helping me reach the end of my journey."

"It's fine. You existing was bigger than any other favor you could return to me."

The knight smiled as tears fell from her eyes.

"I'm sorry you tried to save someone who couldn't be saved. In order to make it up to you..."

The knight raised her arms and put them around the assassin's head before finally kissing him.

"Now we're even."

The assassin smiled in response. He did his best to force a smile to prevent himself from breaking down, his heart, barely enduring the crushing force that surrounded it. As the knight lay in the assassin's arms she asked him one more thing.

"You mentioned that we met before I was at the shrine. Do you think you can tell me about the first time we've ever met?"

The assassin was filled with grief, experiencing his greatest failure of all time. It wasn't the kingdom of light he wanted to save or the destruction of the dark kingdom. All he wanted to do was save the lightning knight. After taking off the mark, he would proceed onto a time without her. The assassin accepted her last request.

"Yes. It happened during a time that rewound, and it went something like this..."