OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 278: Chained Ruler

Chapter 278: Chained Ruler

?

That student, that Reaper was Elijah.

He was alone.

The Elite training room on the fourth floor, which should've been full, was empty.

As if it were a ghost town. A house of horrors.

Maybe that was too much.

Right, well, in this case, it would've been more accurate to say 'horror' instead.

It was obvious that Elijah was the cause of such a scene.

His existence seemed to be ignored but also feared.

Why?

Was it because Elijah was an Elite?

No, as Emir 'scrolled' through his other 'named' students, he found them surrounded by many who wished to be in their graces.

Max had his goons with him, threatening another poor soul.

Those goons appeared to be less enthusiastic about it, however.

'A good burial would do.'

Sofia had many admirers flock to her, like a stampede pushing and pulling to reach her, groveling at her feet even.

She ignored them.

'Keep up the good work, kid.'

Arthur visited the Hub to get himself fixed up, and as fate premeditated, he met his nerdy friend there.

Two bullied peas in a pod.

An 'unnamed...' Quinn.

She was training with an assault rifle at the gun range, shooting holographic targets one after the other while also engaging them in CQC.

'Interesting.'

It appeared that her talents remained a mystery to her.

'I can do something with that...'

Ava was with Aria. They were out in the shopping district connected to the Academy.

Aria seemed to have given up trying to make up with Elijah.

At least for today.

So Elijah was the only one who remained lonely.

Quite a sorrowful sight.

Now then, here comes the same question again, if it wasn't for him being an Elite, why was he alone?

It was because of his specialization. His path through the Nether's River.

The label of the Reaper. One frowned upon by the masses.

A Celestial that would benefit from anyone's death... Was a hated, feared being.

And what he did in the test had also spread.

His act of burning down towns of people without knowing that he was in the digital realm.

While he did know that, or so he claimed that he did, rumors weren't always about the truth, now were they?

However, ironically it was actually the truth this time around, so such a phrase would not work.

Heh.

Emir chuckled, then took his eyes away from the holoscreen.

[Hey... Lyra.]

The girl took a moment to respond, as she didn't expect him to call for her any time soon.

[...Y-Yes?]

[Should I help him out?]

[No... he needs no pampering.]

Emir nodded at her answer.

If one judged by how he initiated the conversation, it would seem that he was over what had happened between them.

But was he really?

[Good.]

Lyra once again had no idea.

But for now, her focus was on keeping the status quo.

So with that in mind, she quickly caught on to why he asked her such a question.

[Were you... testing me?]

He stood up from the seat and put it back under the desk.

[Yeah, I just wanted to make sure of a few things.]

In a few steps, he crossed the gate and followed after the blob.

[Being?]

[A question of whether you'd say the truth, speak your mind, even after what happened

today.]

[I see... Did I pass?]

[Pass what? Did anything happen?]

Seconds passed in silence before Lyra released a few telepathic giggles.

It appeared that she, in fact, had an idea.

[I don't know either; hehe, don't mind me.]

With their conversation over, Emir left the ninth floor.

Brain bid him goodbye on the way out, its blobby self disappearing into particles of light, and

he was soon walking the halls of the fourth floor.

All the students there made way for him.

They appeared scared to be even near him.

Emir noticed that and assumed that rumors about his 'style' had already begun to spread.

Other professors might've disliked being feared, but it was something that he enjoyed and

even wanted.

It gave him 'space' to think, both figuratively and literally.

[We close?]

[Take a right then just continue straight.]

He nodded, his thoughts halting, returning to focus on the present.

His current destination was the meeting room on the fourth floor. One that was accessible

only to professors.

Amon, their principal, requested that they introduce themselves to each other, so they had

this meeting planned earlier today.

Emir agreed on the time during his stay in his office.

Ting!

The bracelet rang to remind him that the time of the meeting was near.

But he didn't need such a warning, as he was now standing outside the meeting room.

After a quick scan, the plain white door slid open with a whoosh.

His eyes first met the twins.

One mimicked the blind, while the other had his arms relaxed in his pockets.

They were closest to the entrance, standing next to a long oval table.

The place looked extremely similar to what Emir had designed back home for their dining

room.

It was mainly because he took 'inspiration' from this place...

Right, he didn't steal it or anything.

In fact, the colors were different, so he could deny their relatively concrete plagiarism claims

if they ever went against him in court.

Though if anything, they only differed because this room followed the Academy's insistence

on having everything be either a varying shade of gold, green, or blue and he didn't want

anything to do with that.

After all, it was the same color scheme as the UEF's insignia.

'Here we go~.'

Emir already began to dread the meeting as Professor One approached him with a smile.

"You're early."

"Yeah, I wanted to introduce myself to the seniors."

Professor Two chuckled at Emir's reply.

"That doesn't really match your speech, but who am I to judge, eh?"

'Fuck you too.'

Emir joined him in laughter, hiding his sharp thoughts behind his friendly demeanor.

"My bad, my bad... just wanted to keep things straight, you know?"

Professor One tapped his back.

"It's fine, but what's up with you not using formal language?"

"I respect my seniors based on their ability, not age."

Professor Two appeared offended.

"So you don't respect us then?"

'Yes.'

"No... You being a professor in the academy warrants that."

"Hm, I like your honesty, Emir. My name is; it's only my second year here, so it's nice

to see another junior."

Professor One introduced himself next:

"And I'm ———, third year. He's a Champion while I'm an Exarch."

"It's nice to meet you guys; please take care of me."

"You're acting so different from how I expected you to be..."

Professor Three interrupted their conversation as she stepped closer to Emir.

"That's a good thing, no?"

She nodded, bringing her arms closer to his wide shoulders.

"Yes, it is~."

He shrugged her off and nodded towards the two professors.

"Right, well, excuse me... I need to introduce myself to the rest."

"Of course, don't keep the twins waiting."

"No worries."

|| ||

The trio watched him leave, two of them struggling to hide their grins, while the ignored

woman remained stunned in place.

[Ly...]

[...]

[Lyra.]

[...]

[Lyra!]

[...]

[LYRA!]

[W-what?]

[No killing her; you got that?]

[But... she-]

[Look, I don't care if she dies, but you can't kill her now.]

[...]

[Do it during the Templar Major event, one more professor dying wouldn't change much.]

[...Thank you.]

Emir chuckled while shaking his head.

'Looks like what happened with Arthur still has her jumpy...'

'I guess we can talk after today's little heist.'

With those thoughts out of the way, he approached the twins with caution.

Once he stood in front of them, his eyes latched onto theirs like a hawk.

Based on their expressions, it seemed that Judas and Judal had grasped everything he had laid

down.

But they didn't interfere and just watched, interest apparent on their faces.

Previously, while talking with the two professors, Emir changed their question and replied

while not even answering it.

And yet... they were none the wiser.

With this, he understood the level they were at.

And it appeared that most professors there, at least S-level, were of a similar disposition.

When related to the Academy, this wasn't anything particularly bad.

They looked to be experts in their paths, but they didn't have much experience outside the

sector's walls.

This would prove advantageous for Emir in the future, but for now, he needed to lay down the foundation of that future.

'Looks like their anger died down a bit...'

"Nice to meet you both; I'm called Emir, Champion, untrod path."

He didn't bow towards them, but he did salute, his hand hovering over his second heart for a

short moment.

"Ya better be grateful to be in our presence, ya tall piece of crap!"

As expected, Judal reacted like a wild gangster.

"Please, brother..."

But his twin calmed him down, or at least tried to.

"Whatever!"

Judal shrugged him off and went to terrorize the other professors, leaving the two alone.

"Apologies for his behavior, Emir; he has a certain dislike for the impure." Judas, a man who showed a bright, 'kind' smile, began his battle of words with Emir.

"It's fine, sir Judas; even as an 'impure' my expectations of how lovely the welcome would be were more than exceeded."

"Hoh... and why is that?"

Emir grinned.

"Our dear principal seems fond of me; he even told of a certain puppet belonging to you."

And Judas... finally fluttered his eyes open, revealing two bright browns.

"Puppet?"

"Yes, a puppet; I heard it's a part of your underworld collection."

While acting surprised, Judas let out a low chuckle.

"Oh, right, that's a private... hobby of mine. It seems that I never grew out of collecting

dolls."

"Hmhm, the one I liked most was that chained ruler."

""

"Doesn't ring a bell? You know that one uhh... the leader of an army that fights for the

people's liberation."

Judas sewed his mouth shut, not letting out a single breath, yet his eyes didn't leave Emir's.

"It's fine, sir; you shouldn't be so embarrassed."

"..."

"Look, I get that you have your brother covering for you, but you should've known that this

secret was bound to spread one day."

||||

Emir frowned as if he were confused.

"Ah..."

Then, like a bulb going off in his head, he palmed his forehead.

"Sorry, sorry, it seems I've said too much. Please don't hold it against me; you know how us

'Impure' are. We tend to vomit out our brain cells every once in a while."

"..."

Emir joined Judas's silence and locked his gaze with the bright browns opposing him.

Both had evil, sinister eyes visible in their depths.

Yes, they weren't heroes by any means...

And it showed.

Emir was known to lean towards such cruelty, his past exploits shared and much exaggerated

within the Academy but not Judas.

His reputation remained untouched by such tales.

No one would've suspected him to be the true leader of one of the three underground factions.

The Liberation Army itself.

The prince's enemy.

A fact unknown to the 'blind' man himself.