THE VILLAIN'S POV

Chapter 309 - 309: Journey’s End (2)

Once the moment passed, the three of us roamed the castle, looting anything that looked useful.

After some

Even he wouldn't dare linger in the same land as the Lord of ligtt, who was still nearby.

"The real problem is what's waiting for us on the other side."

Nearly three months had passed since we left Earth.

"We've got a lot to explain…"

"Yeah," Snow muttered with a smirk. "Pretty sure winter's hit by now. We were at the end of the year when we left."

"I bet we're going to be expelled from the temple when we return."

"Worse ... we might be listed as missing."

I had sent Ada a warning that I'd be gone for a while, but I could imagine how worried she'd been. She probably searched for me everywhere.

Still, none of that mattered anymore.

We just wanted to go home.

We stepped through the portal without delay, leaving the barren land of Londor behind.

A place where we saw and experienced far too much…

The place where it all began.

Once we returned to Earth, we arrived back at the Shadow Sect ... the very place we had departed from.

I knelt and touched the soil, filled with pure aura, and realized just how much of a blessing it was to live on a planet that wasn't dead.

"Never thought I'd miss the Shadow Sect," I murmured, staring at those dark walls.

"Nothing like home, man. Let's move," Snow replied.

We didn't linger.

The journey took only a few days thanks to our current strength, which made it easy to destroy anything in our path—especially since Earth's monsters were nothing compared to the ones in Londor.

At first, we thought the magic circle we used to arrive had long since faded… but to our surprise, it was still there.

"That's strange. Was that hired mage really that strong? For his spell to last this long?" Snow asked.

I nodded slightly.

"The last time I came here through a similar gate, the caster had to borrow aura from the entire Starlight estate. This… this isn't normal." I stared at the glowing magic.

It was suspicious, but its presence saved us a lot of time. Instead of crossing the entire Eastern Nightmare Lands, the portal would take us straight home.

"Let's go," I said, and both Snow and Ghost followed.

We expected snow the moment we arrived—but the weather didn't seem all that different from when we left.

A bit odd, but nothing worth overthinking.

After crossing the Oclas Mountains…

We were officially back in the Empire after our long absence.

"Lord Starlight?"

One of the border guards attacked us by mistake the moment we stepped forward.

He ended up attacking us ... but I took him down effortlessly.

"It's been a while…"

I assumed three months was long enough to be missed.

But the guard's reaction surprised me.

"What are you doing here, Lord Starlight? Didn't you just return a few days ago with Lady Ada?"

"…Huh?" I blinked in confusion.

To confirm my doubts, I quickly checked the date on his smartwatch…

What I saw left me and the others stunned.

We had definitely been gone for three whole months.

That much was certain.

But according to the clock…

Not even half that time had passed.

In that moment, we all came to the same realization.

"Time flows differently here than it does over there," I said.

Only three days had passed on Earth...