OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 128: Creation

As Emir fluttered his eyes open, he found himself surrounded by an expanse of complete darkness.

It stretched out in all directions, an eternal void that seemed to devour all traces of light and sound.

There were no discernible features or landmarks to anchor his perception, leaving him suspended in a disorienting emptiness.

Beneath his feet, the surface seemed to be the same, devoid of any texture or substance.

It was as if he stood upon an abyssal plane, where even the concept of solid ground dissolved into nothingness.

Emir extended his arm, hoping to find something tangible, but his hand went through the darkness, showing no signs of resistance.

The absence of any sensation intensified the feeling of being lost.

Above him, the darkness stretched infinitely, like an impenetrable cloak enveloping everything.

No stars adorned this canopy, no glimmers of light to guide his way.

It was a desolate expanse that seemed to defy the very notion of space and time.

The silence itself was oppressive, bearing down on him like a mountain's weight. "Now what?" He said, his voice echoing in the vast emptiness around him.

Emir let out a sigh, but before he could ponder further, a sudden shift occurred, as if answering his question.

Many figures materialized before him, forming a group of fifty or more individuals who stood in an orderly formation.

Appearing unsurprised by what just happened, Emir stepped forward, curious, his gaze fixated on the closest figure.

And as he approached, he waited for them to move, but seeing them to be inanimate, he continued on.

The individuals seemed frozen in time, their bodies suspended in an array of postures.

Emir now found himself standing before what appeared to be a man, though the word 'man' hardly did justice to the figure's bizarre appearance.

He wore a random assortment of clothes, some tattered and others mismatched, giving the impression that he had taken whatever he could find and thrown them on without a care.

But what struck Emir the most was the state of the man's face.

It was as if his skull had been brutally bashed in, leaving deep gashes and fractures that distorted his features beyond recognition.

Blood trickled down his face, mingling with the dirt and grime that coated his skin.

One eye was completely missing, replaced by a hollow socket that seemed to peer into the depths of Emir's soul.

Emir stared at the distorted faces of the people before him, knowing deep down that these were the remnants of those he had taken lives from-those that he remembered at least.

A twisted sense of amusement washed over him, as if this grim display was merely an experiment to test his own perception of himself.

With a dark chuckle, he raised his hand and waved it in front of the disfigured man's face.

"Can you tell me... Why am I subjecting myself to this self-inflicted torment? I was not wrong in killing you..."

Emir had long since abandoned any semblance of morality, so why did his mind persist in reminding him of his transgressions?

Leaving the man behind, he continued to stroll past the other lost souls as if he were casually browsing through an art gallery.

He detached himself from the weight of their existence, viewing them merely as remnants of his past actions.

To him, they were nothing more than items on a checklist-tasks he had fulfilled to reach his goals.

Yet, deep within the recesses of his mind, a whisper of doubt lingered.

Was he truly capable of such detachment?

Could he genuinely see these lives he had taken as inconsequential?

Emir shook himself out of those thoughts and eyed Raven for a moment, snickering as he walked past her.

But then, something in him compelled him to stop in his tracks as he looked at who was beside her.

His face, which had been devoid of emotion, now betrayed a flicker of recognition and a tinge of sorrow.

It was her the girl who had set everything in motion.

The catalyst that had triggered the chain of events leading him to this twisted game within the universe.

He approached her cautiously, his steps measured, until he stood by her side.

Gently, he reached out and touched her blurred face, his fingers tracing the contours of her features as if trying to summon the memory of her visage.

She had been the spark that had ignited his journey, leading to all the events that made him confess his secrets to his family.

She was the beginning of Lyra's plan to reveal the truth.

One that had been concealed for so long.

And now, he found himself entangled in this twisted illusion of forgotten souls.

He couldn't help but wonder what fate had befallen her-whether she had been discarded like garbage, left to decay and be devoured by rats.

Or cast aside in the desolate wasteland, a mere morsel, a snack for the monstrous inhabitants.

As he studied her face, a single tear welled up in his eyes, cascading down his cheek.

But this tear did not stem from the guilt that had long abandoned his heart. Instead, it was an expression of gratitude-a profound appreciation for the role she had played in his life.

She had been the catalyst, the fire that had ignited the flames of his transformation. But despite all that she had done to him, he couldn't even recall the details of her face.

The darkness of that fateful encounter had obscured his vision, rendering her features

indistinct.

The memory had faded, blurred like the distorted visages of the other lost souls surrounding

him.

Yet, at that moment, he realized that it was not her face that mattered.

It was the impact she had on his existence-the path she had set him upon that held

significance.

Emir's tear was a symbol of acknowledgment and gratitude.

It was a silent tribute to the girl who had unknowingly shaped his destiny.

But he suddenly flinched, as a whisper, of his own voice, echoed in his mind, heavy with

confusion:

"Does she even want your thanks?"