The one reason I can think of for the sense of urgency is that Ascians can't just make calamities happen, but rather coerce and take advantage of a natural course of events to engineer their manifestation. What this means is that if conditions are prime for a calamity to take place, as is the case with the ShB initial story line; they need to act pronto. It would seem that this particular window of opportunity is closing fast, if not already shut and Elidibus is just living a pipe dream trying to re-initiate the flood.

Quote Originally Posted by Vyrerus View Post
I'm still also inclined to take anything they say with a grain of salt, because like, Lahabrea was all, "We will need the primals in order to get the calamity going." But like, nah, not really. They resort to a chemical weapon to kick off the 8th, which did happen in one of the timelines. No primal involved at all. Ascian words are as air.
Early dialogue from a developing story. Though still relevant. If primals are allowed to run rampant, they will continue to drain the aether from the planet, which would set the conditions required for a calamity. While this would technically still work, primals are put away just as quickly as they are summoned, so it would only make sense for the Ascians to abandon this plan at this point considering that they are fodder to the WoL, and now there are more warriors with the echo capable of dispatching them as well.

Ascian words are as air because we make it that way. It's not like they don't try to fulfill their promises, we just keeping throwing a monkey wrench in their plans.