OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 503: Character Development...?

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Once I got back from the church, my room felt... tiny?

Yeah, the walls were closing in, pressing against me like they were trying to suffocate me.

It was quiet, way too quiet, and it made my skin crawl.

But that didn't matter. It couldn't matter.

Not with the Aether Core sitting right there, glowing bright and full of promise.

This was my one shot, my one way out of being nothing.

My fingers hovered above the Core, shaking a little, but I forced them still.

I couldn't mess this up, not after everything.

Especially not after what I did in that stupid church, begging and crying like some... pathetic wretch.

My knees had ached from pressing into the cold stone floor, my voice cracked as I screamed for someone-anyone-to hear me.

No one did. No one except the Creator, or God, or whatever 'It' was.

'He' listened to me when nobody else would.

They all ignored me, left me alone to be weak, but 'He' didn't.

'He' was the only one who answered.

"Please... bring him down."

I remembered whispering that, voice shaking like I was about to break.

It made me want to hurl just thinking about it.

I hated myself for it, for being that weak.

But it was true, all of it.

Emir had everything I wanted.

He had power, friends, respect.

He stood at the top, untouchable, while I fought to even be seen.

And Sofia-he even took her from me.

Emir took everything.

I blinked back the leftover sting of tears and glared at the Aether Core.

This was it.

'It'll change everything."'

I reached out and touched the Core, the coldness of it making my skin prickle.

It pulsed, almost like it knew what I wanted, and I shivered.

My heart pounded as I reached into that tangled mess of anger and desperation inside me.

That made my breath come out in short gasps, but I pushed down the panic.

I couldn't be weak now. Not when I was so close.

Aether rushed into me, warm at first, almost comforting.

But as I pulled more, that warmth turned to fire, searing and white-hot, burning from the inside out.

My whole body felt tight, like it was too small for the energy surging through me.

It was. But I kept at it. I had to do it.

My jaw clenched so hard it hurt, but I didn't make a sound.

I couldn't. Again, this was my chance. I wasn't going to stop. No way.

I was done being weak. Done being less than him.

I needed to be more than him, than everyone.

Me, I'm the one who everyone would look at with awe, with fear.

More. I needed more!

'MORE!'

Aether surged, so strong it almost knocked me out then and there.

My head swam, my vision blurred at the edges, but still, I didn't stop.

I NEEDED this.

The energy was addictive, feeding a hunger that had gnawed at me for years.

I could feel it filling every inch of me, overflowing, the heat turning into a scorching pain that made my skin feel like it was splitting apart.

"Endure your powerlessness."

Yagami's, Fang's, and Emir's voices overlapped, repeating a phrase I loathed within my

mind.

Endure my powerlessness?

"...No."

I whispered. Then louder:

"NO!"

I was done enduring.

Those chains would not bind me anymore.

I was done being small, being weak.

The room exploded with light, the Aether Core shining so bright I could barely see.

It was too much, maybe, but I shoved that thought aside.

I didn't care anymore. I kept pulling.

This power was mine now. I'd show them all.

But then, all of a sudden... something shifted.

A sharp pain shot through my chest, making me gasp.

My core, the center of my strength-it felt like it was tearing apart.

The realization hit me too late.

And worst of all, the power wasn't stopping.

It kept coming, wild and too much, simply out of control.

I tried to push it back, to stop, but it was like trying to hold back an avalanche with my bare

hands.

"No, no, NO!"

My voice cracked, the panic rising to a scream.

The room shook, and I heard the splintering of concrete as cracks split across the walls and

floor.

The Core in front of me fractured, lines of white-hot light crawling across its surface,

spreading like the veins of a leaf.

I couldn't breathe; my chest felt like it was splitting open, and the pain-

Whineee!

The world turned white, blindingly bright.

It... happened.

Everything, all at once, in an instant.

And in that instant, I knew that I had messed up.

I'd wanted too much. I'd gone too far.

What happened next was the price of my greed.

My own core exploded, blinding me with pain.

The roar in my ears was deafening, drowning out everything else.

I felt my body twist, the fire eating through me, burning, then... nothing.

Numbness. I couldn't feel my arms, my legs, anything.

It was like they were gone.

Time seemed to slow as the pain became an all-consuming presence.

But then, just as I thought that my end had come, that I was about to die... dark figures

emerged, visible even in the blinding light.

Their movements were a blur, even faster than Album, the priest we fought. Unknowingly to me, these were the UEF Guard-Seraphims of the Champion sub-rank.

The moment they surrounded me, runes carved all around the room glowed with a cold blue.

If I had been in my right mind, I would've realized that they weren't here to save me.

They were simply here to contain the damage.

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But, as I wasn't, I believed in what I hoped. I was going to be fine.

"Mirror." One of them weaved their hands through the air, and a lattice of light formed, containing the

implosion to just my room.

Somehow, I could feel it pull back, reversed by the barriers they erected.

"Stabilize him."

And as a robotic voice resounded in my ears, I felt a sharp tug, a mechanical limb pressing against the remains of my arm, stitching and patching faster than any surgeon.

Their touch was cold, unfeeling, but it pulled me back from the brink... at least I thought so at

first.

As the white glow dimmed and the noise dulled, my overwhelming pain remained the same.

Death was still my ending.

I didn't pass out; I couldn't, but I really wish I had.

It was torture.

I tried to speak, tell them to end it, but my body wouldn't respond.

All I could do was watch through half-lidded eyes as they pieced me together, metal limbs

extending and retracting with clicks.

Soon after, the last of the noise faded, replaced by a chilling silence.

I could no longer hear anything.

With the last of what I had, I lifted my head, just barely, and saw the mess around me.

My body was ruined, metal where skin should be.

My fingers twitched uselessly, while my left leg was missing entirely.

Tears dripped down my face, mixing with the blood. I'd failed. Again.

"...Haha.. ha."

A broken, bitter laugh escaped my lips, one I couldn't hear but knew to be hollow.

The room spun, fading into darkness.

But before it swallowed me completely, I saw them-Fang and Yagami, looking down at me

with twisted smiles.

'...?'

Something cracked inside my head, splintering like the Core.

And then... there was nothing.