Chapter 862 Ater's Death
'This man… he's dangerous.'
That was Fae's current thought as she stared down at Ater, who was no more than a speck of dust to her. Despite how insignificant he seemed, there was still this chill radiating from him that was difficult to ignore.
'Even with [FairyTale], I can't appraise him or detect anything about him in the slightest.'
The only thing she really knew about him was that he was a dangerous stain on the world—repugnant in every way—and that he had to be eliminated.
He was something like a virus—a part of the System, but also not a part of it.
Something like him was best deleted as quickly as possible.
'As much as I want to prolong his suffering, my instincts are telling me to finish him off as quickly as possible. He's too dangerous and crafty for me to be messing around.' Fae thought to herself.
At this point, she had practically used up all her Skills except for one.
[FairyTale] could only be used in [FairyLand], which was why she had to use both Skills in conjunction—all so she could take care of her injuries and also mete out sufficient punishment on her adversary.
Now that she had gained a clear upper hand, Fae was careful enough not to lose it.
'I can't afford for this to drag on for any longer!'
As such, she quickened the sinking process on her opponent, watching him powerlessly descend into her palm. Once he was completely immersed, she would show him such suffocating pain that he would die in an instant, yet feel like he was being afflicted for nearly an eternity.
This way, she could kill two birds with one stone—eliminate him quickly, but gain the satisfaction of his agony.
"Any last words?" She asked him, watching as his head was now descending into the colorful depths of her creation.
"I would still like to strike a deal with you… if it isn't too late for that."
Fae chuckled as she watched him try to be calm despite the inevitability of his demise. The vermin was clearly growing desperate, yet he tried to suppress it.
'The haughty expression on his face has vanished, and I can see him oozing sincerity. But… it's too late for that.'
No, it had been too late from the very beginning.
"The King only told me about Rey Skylar. You are clearly not him, so there's no way I would ever hear you out."
"R-Rey…?" She heard a muffled sound from him as his lips became submerged. His expression told her that he knew something about the person she spoke about, but Fae chose to ignore it. He was so desperate to live that he was most likely pretending to have some useful information for her.
However, she didn't need any of it.
'The old fart already said Rey Skylar would show up soon, so I simply have to wait it out. There's no need to go out of my way for it.'
Besides, wouldn't it be better if Rey didn't show up? From how the Fairy King sounded, it seemed Rey could somehow bring salvation to them… and that was the last thing Fae wanted at this point in time.
All her life, she had waited for the end to come.
She wanted to fight a glorious final battle alongside her people, and finally die after fulfilling her duty. If Rey's appearance was going to get in the way of that, then she didn't want him to show up at all.
'Still… it's not like I can disobey the orders of the King, so here we are…' She sighed to herself, watching as the final components of Ater sank deep into her palm.
All of this would soon be over, and she could finally return to her boring duty post… waiting for the arrival of the unexpected savior of their race.
'Rey Skylar… Rey Skylar… what a stupid name.' As she thought this to herself, she suddenly felt a certain pulsation within her palm. It started off slight, so she initially assumed it was a signal that the horrid man was dead.
But then… it intensified.
She indeed felt Ater die, but just a moment after… she found that he was still alive.
'He didn't die?'
At this point, she cast away all her thoughts about everything else and decided to place all of her attention on killing him properly. This time, she would be leaving no loose ends—though her initial method should have been more than enough.
However, right before she could kill him a second time, a miracle happened.
No… a nightmare.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!~
Her whole palm—the size of a very small island—was blown away in an instant.
'W-what?!' Her eyes widened as she instantly backed away, but was met with a wall of sparkling smoke and glittering dust.
No further space existed beyond the walls of smoke, so she didn't have much room to escape.
'W-what just happened?!'
As she had this thought, all of her attention coalesced on the site of her hand's destruction, and the swirling darkness that was responsible for it.
This blackness was the size of a small island—the same as her hand—and almost as soon as it burst out, it began to reduce in mass and increase in intensity.
'T-that is…!' At this point, Fae broke into a cold sweat.
She could see what stood at the center of the condensed darkness—or rather… who was the darkness.
"... YOU!" She shrieked, her face displaying a mixture of shock, anger, and then fear.
The darkness had become Ater, and while his physical form had formed, parts and pieces of the darkness danced around his blackened body like tentacles.
"Looks like my fragmented memory wasn't a match for you, so it had to die… thus awakening me." As he sighed, heated steam left his lips.
Then, he stared hard at Fae, causing her to experience even more of his icy chill.
In his eyes—filled with a never-ending swirl of darkness—such concept as malice, hatred, arrogance, feat, etcetera, did not exist.
It was just empty.
"I didn't think I'd be using this so soon, but it can't be helped." Ater whispered. "You're just that strong…"
He took a step forward, and the reality around the two of them seemed to tremble.
No… it cracked!