OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 222: The Answer

'How can I kill you?'

'How can I kill you?'

Both the past Emir and the current one thought of the same thing.

'I knew it!'

A wild smile hung over Emir's face as he watched the figure remain standing in stunned silence.

'It' probably never expected such a question from someone who just 'reincarnated.'

Or maybe 'It' did, but the fact that the past Emir voiced such a question was the shocking part.

He was 'brought' to a new world as a child and was facing a Primordial.

Quivering in his boots and begging, 'It' not to kill him, should've been what happened.

But no, Emir made fun of 'It,' challenged 'It,' and now asked how he could kill 'It.'

How someone who was not yet a Celestial, could kill a Primordial.

'I've got massive balls.'

The figure now moved once again, the fog slightly obscuring 'Its' movements.

That was until 'It' appeared right before Emir, and now for the first time since 'Its' appearance....

'It' was looking directly at him.

'Hey, what are you doing over there?! Come back and answer me!'

Emir and the figure ignored the past Emir, as they stared at each other.

'What are you looking-'

Tick!

Tock!

The past him paused-his body, thoughts, everything.

Emir stayed silent, waiting for the figure's answer.

"I know that you're here, Emir."

'Yeah, you're staring right at me.'

"Don't be snarky with me, even after fifteen years in this world have you not learned to respect primordials?"

'I do respect them, they are gods after all....'

'But you can stop trying to scare me now, I know that you're not here.'

"How so?"

'Simple, you might be an incredibly smart god with time-bending powers, but you said something that limits you.'

"What makes you think that I didn't want to visit you now?"

'Again, it's simple.'

'I am nothing but a soon-to-be Seraphim... I might be of 'importance' in my 'planet' but what of the universe?'

"Isn't that rude? Trying to predict my actions?"

"My believers would consider that blasphemy, you know."

'Not really, we're having a conversation right now, 'man' to man....'

'Though I guess I'm the one having the convo while you're talking to yourself right now, heh.'

"Aren't I Impressive?"

'Definitely.'

'Predicting my every response, or maybe you just used your time magic, but who cares, it's still impressive.'

"Hm-Hm, your ancestor saw promise in you, and promise you delivered.'

'So... What's the answer?'

"You know that already, don't you?"

'The Script of Creation.'

"Correct."

'...'

|| ||

'Are you coping out?'

"No, I simply can't tell you, you would die."

'So you are coping out.'

"Yes and no. I'll give you a hint. A gift. And a ticket..."

'Go on....'

"You see... every path has its own script, based on one's own unique celestial essence."

"Mine is that of time, yours is that of pure Aether manipulation...."

"Now think back to what you people call Specializations."

"You all start as stranded roots, trying to find their way back to the mother tree."

"You scrape through the mud and stone, surrounded by paths that are muddier than others, some of those paths might be locked entirely by impenetrable concrete, but that doesn't

matter to you."

"You've chosen the right path, or maybe you've forged your own."

"And now you are finding yourself inching closer and closer... until your root can no longer

sustain its length."

"You were on the cusp of reaching the tree, yet you could not do so. As the moment you try, is the moment that root snaps."

"To sustain your own root, you need the Script of Creation."

"To learn the laws that govern the universe and when you finally comprehend it, your root

will connect to the mother tree...."

'So I'll be a part of Aether itself?'

"Not quite but yes, you will be one with Aether, the energy that binds our universe."

Emir nodded and remained still for a while, lost in thought.

After many minutes went by he looked back at the figure and asked:

'What of the gift and ticket?'

"These correlate. One of mine grew interested in you, or rather he would grow interested in

your time."

"But that was it, interest."

"So I proposed that he invite you to his special gatherings."

"In those gatherings, he likes to ask his members to provide any pages of the script that

they've found."

"Those members are much higher in the hierarchy than you are, so they're able to at least

copy those pages in their minds, while you can't."

'Let me guess, you'll give me the ability to memorize them.'

"Bingo! Or so they say."

"Anyways, you're correct, it's against our rules, but I'll make do, so don't worry about me."

'I'm not.'

"I know... Now, prepare yourself, child."

A moment passed in silence and then....

'ARRRRGGGGGGGGH!'

Emir's scream of pain echoed through the void.

Tick!

Tock!

And soon another joined the chorus.

It was silent, yet the Emir of the past still bellowed in pain.

Slowly their bodies began to merge together.

And then... they became one as the memories of his dream now fully returned.

"Heavy.... Your question was incredibly heavy. But I should've expected this from Sultan's

blood."

'W-what happened?'

The figure sounded a chuckle, and it soon began increasing in volume until 'Its' every laugh resembled a chorus of deranged opera singers.

"...Although expected, seeing it happen in front of my very eyes makes me so incredibly

happy."

'Tsk, ignoring me again.'

"You can go now, child... Good luck!"

'What?! DON'T LEAVE—'

Tick.

.....The figure was gone.

And a single flabbergasted Emir remained.

'What the fuck just happened?'

'...'

'I should've woken up after that.... But I'm still here.'

'....Seriously?'

Emir gave up on thinking all together.

This situation was too nonsensical to keep track of.

One moment he was stuck in the void, and the next some primordial being came over, invading his dream...

Or rather, the memory of the Primordial's visit showed itself to him.

And then his memories returned, and he experienced the figure's departure firsthand.

As if he spoke the same words again.

'Weird.'

Emir didn't know what else to call that feeling.

Soon, however, his mind focused on what the figure said at the end.

'Sultan's blood....'

'Child of the sand....'

'So is that my ancestor?'

'Sultan Of The Sand could be a title....'

'Eh-It doesn't matter, now I at least have a name to call 'Him' now.'

After reaching that conclusion, he quietened his thoughts....

'GET ME OUT!'

And again came the screams.

But this time, his mind complied.

His eyes finally saw light.