OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 268: The Last Campfire

Chapter 268: The Last Campfire

?

Minutes later...

"So we're going to be asking them some questions now?"

Emir nodded at Aquila as they walked together towards the elevator.

"Yeah... 'We' being us, the professors, you'll only be watching from the sidelines."

"That's alright, I'll just have you do my job for me!"

They turned right at the end of the hallway, with Emir leading the way to their destination.

"Just know that you ain't getting the ones I have my eyes on."

"Fine, but since I'm not the one talking to them, I need you to ask something good."

"Sure, but weren't you supposed to know this already?"

Aquila stepped to the side, ensuring that the elevator would scan Emir's bracelet first; only after that would it scan his, thus allowing him entry to the exclusive elevator.

"Nah, this is something new; last year we could watch them from afar and snatch them up in secret."

Emir chuckled.

"Well, the second one still stands."

"True..."

Ting!

The professors' elevator arrived, and they stepped in.

Emir pressed the button for the second floor.

"And by the way, is your friend alright?"

Aquila seemed to have had this question bubbling in his mind for a while.

"He'll be fine; it's just that... Your dog brought some bad memories."

"That bad?"

"Yeah, only if you times a hundred of whatever's on your mind right now."

They shared a silent laugh as they exited to the second floor.

"So I guess you don't regret taking that favor then?"

While they walked out of the lobby, heading in the opposite direction of where the train came through....

"Of course not."

Emir spotted Ragnar waiting on them with Morgiana.

"Bro... What the fuck did you do?"

A grinning Emir approached Ragnar until they stood facing each other.

"Didn't Mag tell you?"

"Mor-Ahem."

Morgiana almost interrupted them by reflex, but she knew that it was a serious moment, so she shut herself up.

"I want you to say it."

Emir's grin widened even further until it was a full-on, toothy smile.

An unnatural one.

"I pulled her skull out of its body and crushed it beneath my foot..."

He took a quick glance at Aquila.

"I put him out of her misery."

Neither of the two reacted much to what he said, as they were already used to even gorier deaths than this.

However, Ragnar soon showed a saddened face.

Obviously, it wasn't because of what happened to his ex, but...

"I should've killed her myself... I thought that I was over it—"

Emir gestured for him to quiet down as he spoke, cutting him off:

"It isn't easy."

Ragnar's brows twitched.

"Hah? You out of all people shouldn't say that!"

"Why?"

"You make everything look easy."

Emir sneered.

"Right, I make it 'look' easy."

"But the fact that you can do that is..."

Ragnar sighed and left his brother to watch his back as he led the way toward the 'Rite.' "Emir... I can't even do that, so what does this say about me? Am I—"

He, who was following behind, smacked Ragnar's back, causing him to swallow his words.

"Look, you'll learn from this, but in the meantime, know that the world is better with you in it... Your existence is mandatory."

|| ||

Flabbergasted, Ragnar silently started at Emir, never once did he expect such words from his brother.

And neither did those around them.

"You get that? So shut up."

Emir didn't care for their reactions though.

"But I'm weak..."

"Weak? Look at you..."

He chuckled.

"A man who's almost as big as me has no right to say that."

"..."

Ragnar didn't know what reply to give so he kept quiet, allowing Emir to end his point.

"So no... you're strong... The weak... they already died."

"...You mean her? The bitch I was supposed to KILL?"

Emir laughed aloud while cracking his neck.

"Right, the one you passed out after seeing."

Ragnar's brows twitched as he stopped moving and turned around to face his brother.

"But you knocked me out!"

Emir shrugged his shoulders.

"No one told you to play freeze."

"Guys, chill out-"

"Ha?!"

Morgiana was shut down as Ragnar roared and grabbed Emir by his suit's collar.

"Yes, Sir Ragnar?"

"You... fucking-"

"What? C'mon, say it."

"YOU!"

"What, what? SAY IT!"

"...FUCK!"

Ragnar sighed while letting him go and stepping back, reason returning to guide his actions.

"Bleh, you were pussy back then and a pussy now, guess I was wrong about you learning

anything."

The bearded man had finally snapped.

Emir's last comment had destroyed all his rationale.

His rage-filled eyes locked with Emir's black shades.

Then suddenly, a pulsating portal appeared behind him.

"Let's talk outside Emir."

"Awww... Are you lonely?...Go out yourself."

Emir, who gave him no face, passed him by and headed into the gate.

The one that blocked their access to the Rite.

"Are you running away?!"

"You are strong, Ragnar... But you're still way below me."

Aquila, finally finding a chance to intervene and calm things down, added a few words after

Emir's.

"He threatened to kill all ten of us Ragnar... You might not be strong enough to do that but

you still killed a Six Core, something that I can't imagine doing anytime soon."

Ragnar paused at those words as a smile slowly began to appear on his face.

"He's right, you know! Not everyone can kill a Six Core!"

Morgiana chimed in as well, stepping up to Ragnar and helping boost his mood while leaving

Aquila by himself as he awkwardly trailed a few steps away.

'He isn't at my level yet... But if we fight I'd be sure to lose an arm.'

Emir looked back at that scene, nodding his head in approval.

"C'mon let's go."

***

Everyone screamed at me.

They called me names.

Why?

I only did as I was told.

I, the Reaper, had them as targets. Wasn't it only natural that they died?

So why were they screaming at me?

Well, I knew why.

I killed them.

Or rather, I was in the process of killing them.

Burning them alive.

Their families.

Their friends. Their loved ones.

Their enemies.

Their acquaintances.

Their entire city.

Their everything.

So I knew... I knew that they hated me.

Hated all of us.

I wasn't crazy.

And unlike my big brother, I still disliked killing.

Normal...

That word would describe me well.

Yeah, I...

I wasn't crazy.

Yet Aria told me that I was.

What was wrong with her?

Seriously, one moment she chased me around like a lost puppy, and the other...

She threw curses at me.

Saying that I damned us all.

Should I be thankful that it stopped at just that?

Maybe.

However, unlike that brat, Sofia didn't care much for what was happening around her.

She gave up and waited for death.

A good woman she was.

Lily was a million times better though. Anyhow, Max and Quinn felt the same as Aria.

Though it was for a different reason compared to her.

Those two once believed my theory.

My lie.

I told them that this was how we were supposed to pass the test.

If we killed those people, we would weaken the mammoths.

That was the only way.

Such a lie wasn't hard to deconstruct, and yet...

The situation didn't give them the chance to think long about it.

And it wasn't just that...

I, Elijah, a student, had no reason to lie.

Right?

Well, yeah, I did.

But how would they know that, though?

'Hah.'

Aria didn't catch me on that lie however, she simply had an emotional outburst.

Similar to Ava and Arthur, who stayed huddled up in the corner, awaiting the fire to reach

them.

Oh... yes.

Right. The fire.

Our campfire.

Our last one.

It was coming.

It caught on to the fur and quickly spread everywhere.

It took no more than a minute to engulf the mammoth's back.

Now, we six hid above a few hill peaks, watching as it approached.

We awaited our deaths like good little souls...

And with every blink of my eye, the fire surged forward.

'Wow.'

Arthur truly was the protagonist of this world.

I tricked him into writing down the runes for fire on a piece of wood...

Then it spread.

From a house.

To another.

From a family.

To an entire tribe.

From insiders.

To outsiders.

Us.

Yes.

It reached us.

I was currently being engulfed by flames.

Should I have run away like Max?

No...

Dropping from that height was suicide.

We couldn't go slow either, the mammoth shook continuously.

Max certainly fell to his death by now.

And I was to join him soon as well.

'Oh.'

I heard screams.

It had been a while since I last heard something... Screams weren't at the top of my list of things to listen to, but at least it wasn't dead air-

'Wait...'

'Are those mine?'

'Probably.'

But some also came from behind.

Is that where the others were I wondered...

I truly couldn't know.

Why?

Because I died.

...

'Hm.'

I blinked.

'Hmmmm.'

What?

Didn't I die?

So why was I standing in this room?

It was dark.

But I still saw others next to me...

Was this Hell?

'No wait.'

Something appeared before my eyes.

A hologram.

'How?'

'Do they have technology in Hell?'

Well, Hell looked like a better place than I thought. [Test Completed.]

[Objective: Survive.]

[Time: 2 Days.]

I blinked.

"Ah."

I... only needed to run away from the mammoths.

Everything I did was unnecessary. And it was nothing but a fucking simulation.

Something that I had eluded myself into believing as the truth, all so I could finish the

mission, turned out to actually be true.

'Damn it all.'