OLD-WORLD EXTRA

On the way, Emir thought about taking Blanc's head as well, but quickly shot down that idea. That priest only had a slightly better shield than him, nothing interesting.

Besides, it had the same weakness as a first-rank ability, which automatically placed it among the lower tier of second-rank abilities.

It wasn't worth the time or effort to extract it from his mind.

With that decided, Emir safely reached the outside.

While the doors were locked, made to resist even second sub-rank Seraphims, Exarchs, he managed to blast them off by the hinges using Aether Blast.

Just as he stepped onto the street, four men dropped down from nearby buildings, surrounding him.

Emir didn't react, only watched as they moved towards him.

They walked slowly until they stood right in front of him, their actions uniform.

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""

No words were exchanged.

There simply wasn't any need for them.

Emir put forward two of the three items, throwing them on the ground.

His arm, and a man's head.

They quickly took them off the ground, and stepped back, saluting him.

He nodded, turned around, and went back in.

Once he climbed back down, he saw that the doors had already been replaced.

'Of course~!

Emir chuckled.

Thankfully, he didn't need to waste his Aether blasting them off again as they could be easily pulled open.

Like his Aetheric Shield, those doors only blocked him from going out, not in.

He went through the first and second rooms, crossing a third door that led to a wide hall.

It was similar to the one before, only difference was that it slopped downwards.

Emir didn't sense anyone's presence, so he calmly walked forward, his right hand firmly gripping the curved blade's hilt.

The blade rested on his shoulder, gleaming in the flickering light.

Its surface was a pristine white with a delicate engraving etched near the base, just above the hilt.

The hilt itself was a stark black, smooth to the touch, and in its center, a white eye was set, mirroring the insignia of the Order.

He didn't know what ability it had, but judging by its previous user, it was mostly likely related to indestructibility.

No matter-he'd have Raymond inspect it later.

For now, his attention shifted to the empty hall stretching before him.

After a solid minute of walking, it opened up into a church, half the width of the hallway but no less imposing.

This church was a marvel of dark elegance, with towering arches and carved stone walls.

The ceiling, far above, was held aloft by thick, blackened pillars, each adorned with grotesque eyes repeatedly etched into the stone.

Stained glass windows reflected the inside, displaying candles lining the walls.

Emir was mesmerized for a moment, appreciating the view.

'Not bad... not bad at all.'

Stepping closer, he pushed open one of the two massive stone doors, its weight barely a hindrance.

Inside, a thick wave of incense hit him, though his body quickly adjusted.

Hundreds of eyes turned his way, all belonging to people draped in identical cloaks, seated on wooden benches lining both sides of the church.

Emir didn't care about them-they were mortals, insignificant to him.

Instead, he quickly scanned the area for any potential threats.

At the far end, an altar dominated the space-a slab of dark marble, polished to a mirror-like sheen.

Above it loomed a massive wrought-iron cross, painted in gold.

It cradled an eerie eye of white, its pupils conjoined by a twisted tree spiraling around the cross like a coiling serpent.

Before the alter stood a white-haired man, adorning a look similar to the last two.

Emir glanced at the crowd, then at that man, beginning to approach him right after.

The church was deathly silent.

His footsteps and the whisper of an occasional breeze were the only sounds that disturbed the stillness.

Those cloaked figures seated on the benches around him remained wordless, though they weren't entirely stationary.

Their heads turned in unison, tracking his every movement.

None of them moved beyond that, just watched as Emir closed the distance between himself

and the man at the altar.

Emir didn't know if it was an intimidation tactic or something similar, but he didn't care.

He continued to walk until he was directly in front of the man.

For a long moment, there was... nothing.

No movement, no words, just silence as they locked eyes.

Emir waited, expecting something a reaction, a challenge, perhaps even an attack. But none

came.

Everyone around him remained still, as time itself was frozen.

Growing impatient, he decided that he had waited long enough.

With a practiced motion, he shifted into his combat stance, his muscles tensing.

"I'm Emir, a professor in the Academy, and the leader of Azazeel."

As he introduced himself, the man let out a soft sigh and then smiled. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"....I'm White. The one you last killed was called Weiss. Unfortunately, he was too excited to

introduce himself to you. My apologies for that."

Emir shrugged his shoulders.

"It's fine. I killed his daughter, he deserves to be angry."

White's smile died down.

"Oh, so you know."

"I do. It was pretty obvious. I think he hated me the third most in this world."

Chuckling, White shook his head.

"As expected of the devil. A being who only breeds hatred."

"Ah, really?"

"Indeed. If you're not knowledgeable of the name, you might know Lucifer, Prince of

Darkness, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Baphomet, Lord of the Flies, Father of Lies, Moloch, Satan, or even Iblees, and Shaytan judging by your filthy ancestry."

Emir inwardly scoffed.

'Even this guy is hopping on the bandwagon.'

He glanced behind him, smirked, then looked back at White with a neutral expression.

"I'm filthy now?"

"Yes. You call yourself Azazel, and that was a direct attack against us I presume. You can't say that you don't know. Azazel was 'His' name before 'He' lost his life, got cursed, and became a Fallen Angel, forming the Clan we know today."

While Emir didn't fully understand the meaning behind White's words, he played the part

convincingly.

His expression remained composed as if he was entirely in control of the situation. Maintaining his image in their eyes was paramount.

His focus now was on gathering more information-he mentally shelved the need to process what the man had just said for later, seamlessly keeping the conversation flowing.

"So you know of the clan? And here I expected you to be ignorant."

White snickered.

"Unlike you, a man chained to the Order like a puppet, we act as Templar's foothold onto

Earth. They are us and we are them."

Emir tilted his head slightly.

"You say that, then I'm sure you know who killed Lucifer, no?"

White's face lit up with righteous conviction.

"Of course! He fell because he refused to bow and acknowledge Adam as the holder of

creation!"

Nodding, Emir held himself back from smirking, continuing his act:

"It seems that you're not lying."

White's expression darkened, clearly insulted by the insinuation.

"Ha?"

He crossed his arms defiantly and raised his voice.

"Who do you think we are?!"

Emir's calm demeanor finally cracked, and a sneer spread across his face, his smirk widening.

"Lying fanatical pieces of shit."

White was truly angered and he stepped hard on the ground, denting the wood.

"Do not swear in the house of God!"

Raising his remaining arm in surrender, Emir chuckled.

"Sure, sure. But in return, will you tell me about Alex? I want to know how you figured out

that we're the ones who killed him."

White calmed down and puffed his chest.

"Me. No knowledge escapes an Astral. Besides, we had private dealings with Alex, and we

knew more of his movements than his own faction. He wasn't one of us, as he was non- religious, but we held the same goal of saving Earth, unlike those hacks at the Liberation

Army. He would've done Earth some good, it's too bad that you killed him."

Emir repeatedly nodded his head.

"Hm, hm, hm, it's too bad indeed... But why keep that knowledge secret?"

White snickered, his next words filled with disdain.

"The commies can't act well, and we needed them to be truly mad. Though it doesn't matter

now that you caught on, we'll just tell them after our attack is over."

"Are you sure you should be saying that in front of me?"

White rolled his white eyes, ignoring Emir's threat, and asked:

"Do you believe in God?"

"I do... they obviously exist, but they are not to be worshiped... I don't worship those I could

match."

"Interesting answer..."

"Boring question. Now tell me, are you Templar's leader?"

"Yes."

Emir's smirk blossomed into his signature smile, an unsettling, maniacal one that stretched

impossibly wide across his face.

"Lies? ...In your own house of worship? No wonder..."

Pausing for a moment, he stepped closer to White, his voice deepening as he continued:

"No wonder your God abandoned you."

"Yo-"

Emir's spike of killing intent immediately shut him up, leaving White unable to utter a word.

He struggled to properly breathe, facing the full weight of Death's Shadow.

The ability's true power flourished against those two sub-ranks below the user, and judging

by his pathetic sight, all the conditions were met.

This confirmed Emir's suspicion from the moment he entered the church.

The man before him posed no real threat.

Without a doubt, this man was the fake.

A puppet that wasn't even a priest.

"But I like you... we like you."

Emir raised his curved blade.

"So let your God..."

An Aetheric construct in the shape of a cross materialized above White.

"Weep."

It fell at once, piercing his head and crushing his body, splattering his remains all around the

altar.

Heavy silence returned to the church with a subtle but noticeable difference.

Instead of steps, rhythmic dripping could be heard.

Nothing else.

The cloaked figures didn't react.

They only watched as blood began to drip off his cross.

That was when Emir turned around and addressed the crowd for the first time since his arrival:

"Everyone my bad for keeping you waiting."

He bowed slightly as if performing on a stage and continued:

"I'll just say a few words, yeah?"

None replied.

"From now on, all of you will heed my commands."

Finally, that got a reaction out of them, but Emir picked up on none of that.

He wasn't interested.

All he knew was that the majority opposed him.

How or in what way?

He didn't care to know.

It was all a blur.

"Hm. This's annoying. Oh, how about this..."

Emir raised his remaining arm and pointed his curved blade at a random person in the crowd.

"You there, can you come up here for a moment?"

The man he pointed at looked around, then looked back at him, confused.

"Yes, you."

Still silent, he complied, slowly approaching the prince without resistance.

Just as his foot neared the altar, Emir unleashed a small amount of his Aether.

The pressure alone crushed the man's entire body into mush, splattering blood all over the

place.

A drop managed to touch Emir's face.

Disgusted, he quickly wiped it off with his finger and cleaned it using his augmented suit.

"So, I'll say it for the last time..."

He scanned the crowd and commanded:

"You guys better obey me."

One man stood up, quiet, face hidden, but his intentions were evident. Emir, baffled by the creature's foolishness, approached him and grasped his neck.

"You like movies? Horror movies? Well, you know in the start there's always this nice guy that

you're sure he'll get himself killed? Then it happens... he gets killed. Trust me... you're going

to be that guy."

Emir glanced around the room, his eyes narrowing on a particular figure.

"Unless the true leader has anything to say about it."

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Silence hung in the air.

A moment passed, then a second, then a minute, the man's choking was heard.

After two minutes, he neared death, and then finally...

A woman rose from the crowd.

She looked directly at Emir, and as they locked eyes, he froze.