Chapter 885 A Temporal Problem
"How fast…?"
For the first time since the start of the conversation—no, since his arrival in the Fairy World—Ater began to show cracks in his calm facade.
Even if he tried to hide it, the worry displayed in his creased brows, narrowed eyes, and subtle frown were enough to give his unease away. All this time, he had suspected something of the sort being the case, but he never fully considered its severity due to the more pertinent things he had to consider.
But now… things were different.
He had managed to secure the Fairy King as an ally, which meant all the pieces were finally in his hands.
But, wouldn't all of that be in vain if he had run out of time?
"Hmm? I can't really give an accurate estimate, since it varies depending on season… but right now it should be…" The Fairy King rubbed his bald chin as he stared at Ater. "... a 1:5 ratio."
"One day equals five days in the outside world?"
That was a lot of time, but it wasn't damning. Ater was confident that if he orchestrated things properly and adjusted his plans within the time-frame in question, things could still work out the way he wanted.
"If that's the ca—"
"No, it's not that. It's 1 hour here equals 5 weeks in the outside world."
The moment he heard this, Ater's composure met the final straw that had it completely shattered.
'W-what?!'
The time that Ater and Esme spent in the Fairy World was about a few hours. Journeying from the entrance to the Fairy King's palace didn't take too long. However, they had to wait for a while before being granted an audience with the King.
The meeting itself hadn't taken too long, so by estimation it was around five hours.
'That's roughly twenty-five weeks!'
In essence… about six months! That was how much time had passed since he arrived in this world.
'Oh no…' Beads of sweat formed on his face almost instantly.
'Master… my plans… DAMNIT!'
"The reason for the Time Dilation is so that waiting for our inevitable destruction would be much more bearable. It would have felt longer… postponing the inevitable… you know?"
'I don't care about that right now!' Ater almost yelled out his thoughts to the Fairy King, but he held them in since it would be foolish to lash out at this moment. If he managed to undo all the progress made on the Fairy King, what would have been the point of the severe blunder that now haunted him.
Besides, it wasn't the fault of the Fairy King that he was in this predicament.
It was his own.
'I should have considered all the possibilities. How could I have let myself be so careless? I got carried away by the other prospects that I failed to consider the negative scenarios that could emerge.'
And now, he was suffering for his carelessness.
"We will be taking our leave now, Fairy King." Ater slightly bowed at the entity on the throne and turned his gaze towards Esme.
She nodded instantly, already grasping the situation.
'Smart girl.' He nodded back. "It will take some time to prepare the forces for the war, but we will get it done in a series of days."
"Understood! So please dissolve the time dilation so that we can face the Dragons as early as possible."
"I will do so."
"Thank you, Fairy King… and you too Fae." Ater turned his attention towards the Fairy and gave her his signature roguish smile.
The suicidal Fairy blushed at that moment, smiling broadly as she looked into his eyes.
"I look forward to our next meeting, At—"
~VWUSH!~
Before she could conclude her words, a dark spatial surge appeared and disappeared, swallowing both Ater and Esme as soon as it manifested. They had completely left the Fairy World, and the method they used showed just how much of a hurry they were in.
"Hmm… it seems he didn't expect to spend so long." The Fairy King muttered, turning his attention to the distracted Fae. "Didn't you tell him about the Time Dilation?"
"Time Dilation? What's that?"
"What the hell do you mean by 'what's that?' I remember telling about it before you set out to find Rey Skylar!"
"Really? I don't remember any of that."
"You little… it was just discussed not too long ago as well." The Fairy King couldn't help but grit his teeth at this point. "Or have you forgotten that too?"
"To be honest, I zoned out at some point… sorry for not paying attention."
Slapping his hand on his face, the Fairy King groaned and shuddered at the same time—completely exasperated by the stupidity of his own creation.
'She must not have been paying attention when I told her about it back then. Should I have sent someone else to fetch the Singularity back then?' He wondered.
It was too late for regrets now, anyway.
"Let's just hope that Ater gets to his Master on time and this doesn't badly affect their plans to defeat the Dragons. In the meantime…" His gaze fell on the Sentinels that encircled his Royal Court.
"We must prepare everything on our end."
First, he would slowly reduce the Time Dilation effect until it was practically nonexistent. While he did this, his subordinates had to get hard at work in order to begin preparation for the impending war.
"The fate of this world… of our people is at stake here." The Fairy King declared, slowly rising from his seat.
As he did so, his wings spread and he raised his hands as if in complete devotion.
"May we all be saved from certain damnation."
*********
As soon as Ater re-appeared in the world outside the sea of trees that marked the entrance of the Fairy World, he felt the sudden shift of time.
'It's been four months… not six.' It seemed the Fairy King had given him an inaccurate calculation, or their definition of an hour varied differently from his.
That aside, the most important issue came next.
"Master…!"