OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 542: True Sky

{Step Twelve}

Emir had finally become an Archon.

It felt strange. Not the power—that felt right. Like it had always been waiting for him. Like the universe had finally acknowledged what he already knew.

No, what felt strange was the balance.

The contradiction.

He had walked the path of the Unblessed, carving his own fate with nothing but raw will. And yet, here he was, touching Godhood. A Divine Spark now burned inside him, proving that even gods had to recognize him.

Vardyn promise held true.

Emir now possessed a Reaper's Unique Ability.

Death itself bent to him, even as he stood outside fate's grip.

His system updated. A new stat blinked into existence.

Spirit.

He had been waiting for that. Holding back. He had an ability—a Spirit-related ability—that he hadn't been able to unlock. Not until now.

Lyra and Ragnar weren't far behind. Their boons were nothing to scoff at either.

The three of them?

They weren't just strong.

They were a problem.

The kind of force that even the universal powers would hesitate to cross.

{I Have Returned}

"Earth!"

Emir roared as he arrived, his voice thundered across the land.

"Your prince has returned!"

And then, as if the universe itself held its breath—

"I bring the destruction of Order."

The war—the war that had dragged on, draining lives and hope, grinding the world into dust—

Ended.

Just like that.

No fanfare. No final stand. Just Emir.

After that, the real work began.

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With Lyra and Ragnar at his side, they turned their attention to the Behemoths.

The monsters had made Africa their hunting grounds, their domain.

But not for long. The Four Family Heads' struggle would end soon.

By the time they arrived, Eldritch was barely standing.

Purple was there, too, shock clear in her eyes as she stared at him.

She asked what everyone had been asking.

"How?"

How was he alive?

Emir just chuckled, dodging a Behemoth's attack like nothing.

"I am the Fateless One... throughout all the realms."

And then, with the world as his audience, with his students—his old students, crying at his return—watching his every move…

He put on a show.

Aether blazed in his vision. He saw paths. Roads unseen, veins of the universe itself.

And he moved.

Not through space. But through Aether.

The fight stretched across the planet. From deserts to oceans to the edges of the wilds.

Emir fought.

He won.

And the world celebrated.

{True Sky}

Emir had finally come home.

For real, this time.

No looming battles waiting just outside.

No lingering ghosts of war following him through the door.

Just family.

His mother, sister, and little brother.

The moment he saw them, something deep inside him—something that had been coiled tight for so, so long—finally loosened.

Emir teared up.

It had been too long.

Way too long.

His mother clung to him, refusing to let go. His little brother, or rather, his brother-in-law had grown taller. His sister punched him in the arm before hugging him twice as hard.

And for a moment—just a moment—everything felt okay.

The rest of the gang was celebrating too.

Little Faye had stepped up in his absence, turning into an efficient merchant.

Though she was more cute than intimidating, being a little devil.

Once her eyes landed on him, they never left.

She returned to her rightful place.

The top of his head.

Jake and Emma? Yeah, that was a thing now. Emir was grateful.

Jamal? Snatched up by that Kalahari girl.

Emir still hadn't bothered asking for her name.

Kiera? Didn't join the trend.

Marriage wasn't her thing. Her faith was her everything.

Her little gang of five hadn't changed either. Though Leo seemed to be worshipping his machines a little more than usual.

Nathan and his people? More jaded than ever due to the war, but alive.

That counted for something.

His students were there too.

Sofia was still obsessed with chasing after her sister, but she'd gotten smarter about it.

Less fighting, more corporate takeovers. A different kind of battlefield.

Aria? Still bitter. Still trying to figure out how she felt about falling for the guy who once kidnapped her.

She understood his perspective now, but that didn't mean she liked it.

Max? Max was just Max. A copy of his father, but more emo.

And, somehow, married.

Not to Sofia. She still didn't give a shit about him.

But to Ava. The only person in the world who could actually stand him.

Aria took over her dad's company and was more of a gun nerd than ever. Talked about firearms with more love than she ever gave her husband.

Junior? Made it big in the army. Lived up to his father's expectations. Worked closely with Aquila and the other Hunter Groups, blending the line between state and private forces like never before.

Catching up with them all was fun.

A break from the death.

But eventually, he needed rest.

He went to his old room and just… froze.

It hadn't changed. Not a single thing was out of place.

His mother had made sure of that. No one had moved a damn thing.

Just cleaned.

Like she'd been waiting.

Like she'd known.

Emir let himself sink into the bed.

Then his terminal buzzed.

Turns out, he was topping the charts in the Order's Bounty Leaderboard.

Not for power level.

This wasn't about who was the strongest.

This was about who the Order considered the biggest threat to the universe.

And according to them?

Emir was very, very dangerous.

He just chuckled.

Then got up and went outside.

He found Ragnar lying on his back, smoking a cigar, staring at the sky.

Emir joined him.

But they weren't alone.

She was there.

His wife.

Badroulbadour.

The conversation they should have had years ago finally happened.

And the truth?

His paranoia ruined it.

She didn't care about his past.

Didn't care whether he was a Blackeye or not.

Did it surprise her?

Sure.

But it didn't change a damn thing.

She was chill.

And as they lay there together, staring at the night sky, Emir realized something.

A fact so simple, yet so huge.

Only those from Earth had the mutation.Only their Celestials could see brighter in the dark.

He figured it out when he started talking about the stars.

She didn't see what they saw.

Because the stars were highlighted in his vision.

To her, the night sky had always been empty.

She had never seen the true sky.

{Highway To Hell}

The final act of his own story was about to begin.

Emir didn't do grand speeches or long-winded goodbyes. He just moved.

Using the club gathering, he bought a few spaceships—enough to fit his entire family a few times over—and without any more hesitation, he left Earth behind.

He had a mission.

A target.

And the road ahead? It was long.

The first planet they stopped at for refueling was nothing special.

A standard pit stop in the cosmic backroads.

But while he was there, Emir registered as a traveling bounty hunter.

It was a formality, really. A way to get less questions asked when he started tearing through Order territory.

They gave him a tattoo. A vine-like pattern wrapping around his wrist.

One for each rank.

Since he was an Archon, he got three.

A mark of authority. A warning.

To some, it said:

"This guy is a force to be reckoned with."