章 22: Destruction
"So, why are you here?" Zenesha stood just below her throne and leaned her back on the side of it while looking down at where Prime was.
He shrugged and threw the almost-finished fruit in his hand, which was then engulfed by the mist and vanished. It looked like she only blinked, and their distance became closer in an instant; the room had been rearranged in the way Prime wanted it to.
The assembly hall parted with the seats, and the participants in the meeting surrounded them, with Zenesha and Prime at the center of them all. They didn't change positions, as she was still standing at the foot of the throne while Prime was sitting in his seat. The only difference was that they were now on equal footing.
"You see, I don't like it if someone I'm talking to is looking down on me." His eyes glinted dangerously but were still casual while he said all of them, not bothering with the possible terrifying underlying meaning of those words. "This makes it more convenient, right?" he asked somehow dominantly, not really asking for Zenesha's opinion.
Zenesha gulped down the complaint in her throat. Just now, she knew... he was extremely dangerous. She always knew, but sometimes she forgot about it because of Prime's casual and playful demeanor.
She might not be afraid to tell her thoughts, but she wanted to avoid complaining and fighting the man before her, who was technically more powerful than the current her, if not ever.
"I don't care." Zenesha also shrugged and did not show that she was a bit frightened by his smile. Under the amused gaze of Prime, she stepped forward and walked even further close their distance, soon she was already in front of Prime.
"Mind conjuring my seat as well?" She requested, ignoring the throbbing of her heart, testing the patience and bottom line of the peculiar time dragon.
It was only Prime's seat and a small table was in the center. With a smile on his face, he did as Zenesha requested, and a new seat manifested exactly before her, which she could readily sit on.
Without saying anything, she sat casually, looking at the man before her. Their gazes clashed; both had something in mind but weren't saying anything.
A few minutes later, Zenesha was the one who couldn't take anymore and finally asked something, making Prime grin as if he had won their unknown and nonsense competition.
"What is it that you want to say to me?" Her gaze lingered on him, still trying to get even the slightest clue as to what he was thinking, but it was futile.
Prime was like the most expressive person she had ever seen, but also the most unpredictable and unreadable as well. She could never grasp his thoughts or even his expressions.
She leaned on the seat and shifted her gaze to her surroundings for a bit to observe the result of Prime's work. Everyone was still frozen; it made one awed and terrified.
"I don't think you're just doing all this shit for your satisfaction?" Zenesha's words were unafraid, contradicting her emotions. It was only her thought, there was no way Prime would do this and could possibly be detected by those beings just because 'he wanted to'.
If that was it, working with a powerful yet reckless man held a lot of unnecessary risks.
"Haah," his sigh, not with disappointment but more with a bright amusement with an obvious grin drifted in her ears, which made her shiver for some reason.
Soon, she found out the reason. Prime looked at her with chilling admiration, but it was especially creepy, as though looking at a potential addition to his treasure box.
Zenesha was reminded of what Prime said before: that she was becoming more like a shining gem in his eyes. In other words, he was becoming interested in her, though it was twisted!
"You're too adorable, I can't help it." Prime smiled as he honestly said it, looking at her with his predatory gaze. Zenesha was extremely shocked inside, not anticipating this conversation to become like this.
She swallowed a mouthful of saliva, calming herself. Damn, this dragon!
"Can you answer my question?" She chose to dodge it and tried to bring back their serious conversation, which was intentionally made crooked by Prime with his twisted mind.
And since it was last minute, her intention was laid bare and obvious in Prime's eyes. It only made the admiration and amusement in his eyes deepen, yet he ultimately shrugged with a pleased expression.
"This world is on the brink of destruction." Prime casually said once more, but Zenesha was not the same, and her eyes widened in surprise. This time, she didn't make an effort to conceal the shock in her expression.
What did he mean by that? Seriously, Prime was always like this, his expression was almost casual, but what came out of his lips was like a bomb that distracted her to the core.
"W-What do you mean?" This topic was too sudden; she wasn't that ready. If she could indeed escape her fate, and the world was gone, where would that lead her? Still, with her death? No, she wasn't reconciled with that outcome.
Prime seemed unsurprised by her reaction, which was truly understandable. If his expression had been casual before, it was now tinged with solemnity.
It appeared that the urgency had already seeped into him as well.
"I didn't notice it as I wasn't paying attention at first, but..." the golden mist boiled as Prime's expression became dark, which was a rare one to see on his face. "The way this world's laws have been tampered with to this extent, it will not be long before it becomes a Ruined Book World."
Ruined Book World? Zenesha's brow furrowed, but she didn't interrupt and let him continue.
"The time," he paused and raised his gaze, seeming to be looking in the distance. Her face paled, thinking that those beings had finally detected the abnormality of this place, but she soon dispelled it as Prime was still calm before he shifted his gaze to her. "The time in this place is exhausted; it can only run for one cycle before the essence that seeps from the book plane will be exhausted."
Zenesha didn't understand a thing or have any clue what Prime was talking about, but she could comprehend some of it from common sense alone.
"Then... how much time do we have left?" Zenesha trailed off as she asked, her heart pounding as she waited for the answer.
Of which Prime didn't make her wait.
"One year," he simply answered.
And yet those two words were enough for Zenesha's world to crumble, in one year. It was too short. It made her doubt if what she had been doing was worth it all along. It was like all of this was useless.
Then she realized that in one year, the plot only had that duration before it ended. Her eyes flickered, and she eagerly looked at Prime. Was her guess right?
The seriousness was still there, but a trace of a smile appeared on his lips. "You want to save the world?" he inquired, chuckling, teasing her with a tone that, for some inexplicable reason, calmed her down.
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