OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 536: Love Letters V

{No Man's Land}

The battlefield was divided.

A thousand interception points—each numbered.

The lower the number, the closer to death.

In the midst of war, mechanical sentinels roamed the battlefield.

Angels. Shepherds. Dogs. Cubs. Sheep. All constructs.

But the Angels—they were the true terrors.

They hovered above like silent gods, wings spread wide, bodies gleaming.

A massive railgun was mounted onto their forms, a weapon so powerful, it could shatter entire sectors.

Some fired rapidly. Others charged slow, devastating shots.

Their attacks moved at Mach speeds, illuminating the battlefield with a blinding flash—opposite to an EMP.

Not destruction, but revelation.

A warning.

A final moment to see the face of death before it struck.

War was never fair.

But it was always fought.

And in response—

The UEF opened its coffers.

They gifted their soldiers weapons.

They gifted them vehicles that hovered just above the ground.

{Flairs of Tragedy}

It started with a single red flare.

A signal of failure.

Then—another.

And another.

Until the sky was bleeding.

Emir stood beneath it, his men beside him, all silent as the flares painted the heavens a brilliant, burning red.

Acid rain fell.

Hissing against their armor.

Burning into their skin.

None of them moved.

None of them spoke.

A shadow stirred in the sky.

And Emir knew.

Their target had finally arrived.

The one his family was meant to slay.

His hands curled into fists.

His voice cut through the rain.

"None of you will die today."

His men looked up.

"I command it."

Their hearts pounded.

"If it is your fate to die—then I declare war on fate itself!"

The flares burned. The rain poured.

"If fate makes you kneel—then you will answer it in my name!"

His eyes blazed.

"I will never kneel!"

He raised his spear to the sky.

"Tell fate—"

"That I, EMIR HAYDAR, COMMAND YOU TO REMAIN STANDING!"

For a moment—

The world was silent.

Then—

"YES, LORD!"

A thousand voices cried out.

And at that moment—

Emir Haydar was no longer just Emir.

Their boss.

No.

He was a Lord.

And none dared to call him anything less.

Jake stood among them.

And he realized that they could no longer be friends.

Not anymore. Emir was above him.

Far above him.

Emir turned to Jake.

And he chose him first.

"You shall now become my First Blade."

And at those words—

The sky split open.

{Sunshine}

There were eleven sectors.

Now, there were ten.

One of them—wiped clean from existence.

Not by war. Not by fire. But by a beast.

A hydra. Gargantuan. Three-headed.

The same kind of monster that Amon had once fought.

No one tried to save it. The sector was written off the moment the hydra arrived.

Everyone knew the rules. When a disaster like this struck—You cut your losses.

It was a net positive in the grand scheme. The sector's destruction allowed for stronger defenses, better planning.

Even Emir knew that.

And yet—

He still tried to save them.

Not because he cared.

Not because he believed in duty.

But because he wanted to know—

If the Rule of Ten could be broken.

Could he defy it?

Could he take a rule carved in stone—and shatter it?

He had to know.

Even if it cost him everything.

{No One's Left}

The battle was supposed to be straightforward.

Emir. His gang. One monster.

They fought together.

Then—one by one—they fell.

Wounded. Out of the fight.

Emir stood alone.

His body was already broken...

But he still moved.

He took the blows no one else could.

Shielded his limbs. Kept standing.

Then, Arthur, the idiot...

He charged in, thinking himself some kind of hero.

And the monster punished him for it.

A blast of poisoned fire shot toward him.

Arthur should have died.

But his luck saved him.

The attack deflected into someone else.

Into Longshot.

'...'

Emir ignored the monster.

Ignored everything.

He was at Longshot's side in seconds.

He pressed against his chest.

Did CPR.

He felt ribs crack.

He heard the death rattle.

Watched his eyes glass over.

His ears turn red.

His lips turn purple.

He was dying.

And then—

"You're gonna carry that weight..."

A weak, broken voice.

"See you in hell, cowboy."

"..."

Silence.

Gone.

Just like that.

Emir didn't move.

Didn't breathe.

Amon's words rang in his head.

"You're overconfident."

And now he knew.

His fingers curled around Arthur's collar and he ripped him away.

He fought after that. He fought like hell.

The monster wouldn't die.

Every time he killed it, it healed.

Its poison wasn't just a weapon—

It was its lifeline.

So Emir fought.

And fought.

And fought.

For three days.

Until his family finally stood back up.

Healed.

Whole.

And together they ended it.

The final blow. An explosion.

And when it cleared everyone was knocked out.

Darkness.

{End}

That was the last thing Emir remembered.

The battle had ended.

The war had been won.

A crack split the world in half.

A voice came.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

Faint. Distant.

"Honey! He's awake!"

What?

"What?! He is?! Let me in!"

More voices. More people.

A blur hovered over him.

A woman. Familiar. But her face was nclear.

She turned and called someone.

A man entered.

"...Hey, Asher. Do you remember us?"

Asher.

That wasn't his name.

But it felt right.

It felt real.

A warm hand on his. A smile.

"Honey?"

Emir stared at them both.

Unblinking.

And then, he spoke:

"You're not real."

The illusion shattered.

The warmth disappeared.

The house. The people.

Gone.

Emir opened his eyes to the real world.

The monster was still there—weaving its illusions.

It thought it had trapped him.

It was wrong.

He killed it.

...He won.

Against the enemies.

Against the war.

They survived. Came out on top. Stronger.

He went back to the academy. Stronger.

He killed Arthur.

Then he left.

To kill Magnus.

And he did.

After that, he married Lyra.

They lived happily ever after.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"So this is your dream."

A man with blue eyes smiled.

"Let's change it."

{Mad Worlds}

The next illusion was crueler.

This time Emir was sick.

Cancer.

Just like his past life.

He went to the gym like he always did.

But it got bad again.

Emir died.

…

A new life.

A police officer.

Stopping a speeding car.

Inside—a kid.

Nervous. Shifty. Lying. Twice.

Emir threatened him.

"Don't lie again."

A voice behind him.

"That kid stole the car."

He turned.

There was a body in the trunk.

Emir stepped back.

Bang!

A gunshot.

Darkness.

…

Next illusion.

Cave diving with his friends.

A storm. The rain flooded the caves.

Emir helped them up—

And they betrayed him.

Left him behind.

Drowning.

…

Next illusion.

Happiness.

A perfect life.

His family was alive.

His friends were whole.

Not for long.

They died.

All of them.

Gruesome.

Horrific.

And he was powerless to stop it.

…

{Achilles' Heel}

The final illusion was the worst.

Because it was the most real.

Emir wasn't sick.

He wasn't dying.

He wasn't being hunted.

But—

No one remembered him.

His friends.

His family.

They were happy.

Living their lives.

Without him.

Like he had never existed.

It wasn't death.

It wasn't pain.

It was worse.

It was erasure.

And that—

That was his greatest nightmare.