Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

Chapter 292 Pending Notifications

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/Meanwhile, Japan…/

[Call Closed]

"... Humph."

'It seems like my old pal is still a bit on the fence regarding what to do.'

'But I can't blame him for his lack of action. Different from me whose position impacts mostly stocks and the image of the company, he is responsible for millions of lives.'

'However, I'm not wrong, staying still won't save him, it may extend his peace, but when trouble comes, it'll likely be heavier and more brutal than had him chosen to be active from the start.'

'Still, with this, I say my chances of bringing him to my side are about half, it all depends on his own wishes...'

'It's all because of that brat. I knew he was going to cause some waves on these beaches, I knew it from the moment I first saw him that he was innately a troublemaker.'

'I just couldn't predict him to topple the entire damn shore.' Roger thought quietly as he got up from his seat

'He's an expensive one to keep at bay, that's for sure...'

'I never thought that the kid I contacted would end up like this… I can't tell if this was a good investment or something a little too big for me.'

'The Number 1 worldwide Champion... Of course, this is just the first round, there are two more left before Babylon ends, so there will be three first Rankers.

'But the first one is the most valuable of them all.'

'By defeating everyone, now everyone knows, soon enough…'

"Sigh... What am I even saying?"

'I'm already at the top of the world, who else would be a better support for the Kid then me?'

/BZZ! BZZ! BZZ!/

[Incoming Call, Priority Level… 6]

[Sender… L]

"And... Here it is. I knew it." He said as his expression grew tense

'Nonetheless… This won't be easy.'

After thinking for a moment, Roger went around his chair and left his Office.

"Put her on the line." 

'If they come at me thinking I won't be able to defend myself… They're severely wrong.'

'Just because I lived the past few decades on the fence doesn't mean I fear the ground.'

With a serene expression, Roger closed the door.

/Clack!/

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/Gaze…/

/Sparkle…/

Amidst the wave of people watching the final match was a man holding a shining golden fragment.

With the end of the duel and the destruction of the Arena, the man found himself in a crowd where he quickly left, opting to stay out of sight in the distance.

His expression was one of awe together with a tint of thinking and worry.

Trying to make sense of what he just saw.

"This is worse than I originally thought." He said as he crossed his arms

'I never thought things would go down this route to the point she would be overthrown.'

'This is beyond the expected, but is this enough for a change of plans?'

/Shine…/

As he thought about that, his right eye shone with faint golden light, and a golden book materialized in front of him.

/Fwoosh…/

The pages quickly moved around but as expected…

'Things have deviated from their expected outcome… And massively at that.'

'The South did not fall, and even if it will later on, it does not change the massive implications this will have in future events.'

'The Armies of the Capital will never move, and with it, they won't be able to profit off the Empire's moment of weakness.'

'This will either result in a period of full-blown, all out War, or an extended "peace".'

'But with this, even more, variables are introduced into the equation… What do they have in common?'

'Their Source...'

"... Is it like that?" He muttered to himself as his eyes sharpened

'... It won't be easy to win, this race… I'm already far back and now…'

'A powerful competitor has risen.'

'Grains of sand may be just that, grains, but over time, they can pile up to form entire mountains, and these mountains end up covering the whole land.'

His expression darkening, the man started to think if what he knew was even the truth.

But doubting himself wouldn't lead him anywhere, so in the end, he turned around, walking into the center of the Plaza.

To move forward, he needed to grow stronger, much, much stronger.

Only then would he be able to plan ahead and above all inconsistencies.

…

/Splish… Splash…/

"Urg… Where… Am I?..." Dale muttered to himself as he slowly recovered his conscience

'How did I get here… Yeah… I was in the Arena… And then… Right.'

'I let myself go and went to sleep.'

/Splish…/

"Hm?... Huh…"

With his mind back on track, Dale quickly realized the situation he was in.

He was currently submerged in one of the many fountains of the plaza with the only thing out of the water being his head.

He could see some colorful fish around the pound, some were curious about him as they tried to nibble at his armor, though unfortunately, it was too tough for them to do anything about it.

They were cute.

"What the… What kind of service is this?" He asked out loud with some degree of amusement

'Shouldn't I have been transported back to my seat? Is this the tower's way of telling me to screw off after I broke the Arena apart?'

'I don't know who's in charge of transporting people around from the Plaza to the missions, but they got me.'

"Well… No one saw me so the only thing that's hurt is my ego." 

With that, he quickly got out of the fountain, sitting next to it as he cracked his neck.

'My body doesn't hurt as much as before, but I'm still feeling sore, I'll need some time to rest.'

'The cool water must've helped a little, so I'll let go of my resentment...'

'In the end, I'm not bothered by it either way since I made a lot with the last fight, and it was about time I stopped playing for a bit after having 56 consecutive duels.'

'My stomach is grumbling a little and I want to take care of myself a little.'

'Anyway… There are some notifications left for me to check.' 

[DING]

[Your Mind is being overly saturated with Mana, clogging its ordinary functions]

[Under the protection of your Prime Origin, you remain sane]

[Your Mind is being overly saturated with Mana, clogging its ordinary functions]

[Under the protection of your Prime Origin, you remain sane]

[Your Mind…]

…

[As Mana overflows within the confines of your clouded mind, a tiny Spark of inspiration shines within the darkness]

[A moment of clearness reveals the full picture, that which was Sealed is laid bare]

[Under the stimulation of your Mana, the Mind Gate Stirs]

[Mana Conduction 5-Star -> 6.5-Star]

[Prime Source 2.5-Star -> 3-Star]

[DING]

[Under your guidance, your Mind is beginning to open]

[The World beyond the physical manifests and that which cannot be seen is made visible]

[Special Stat -> Spiritual Body has been created]

[The Third Eye partially awakens]

[DING]

[You went against the will of the world and peered into the forbidden, taking another step forward in your journey of self-discovery]

[You have Attained a new Tale! The World Beyond Golden Thunderstorms]

[Your Spirituality increases]

"..."

Dale could still remember, the feeling he had when everything happened.

His course of action, the reasons why he did it, and how it came to be...

The desire to breach further into his own body, which led to this.

The only problem was...

'At the time, everything I did was under the impression I knew what was going on... The problem now is that I don't.'

'I can't figure out my own string of thoughts then... How troublesome.'

'I didn't even imagine the Reflection could permanently alter my body like this.'

'This is both beneficial and extremely dangerous.'

'This time, it seems there are no side effects, but if I had to understand something in order to maintain this state there was a chance it could degrade and possibly even severely handicap me or cripple me, maybe even worse.'

'And that is only on a Macro scale because now that I think about it, there is a possibility the Reflection is performing a multitude of Microscale changes which I cannot follow when it deactivates.'

'I'm all for growing stronger, if I understand what's at stake.'

"In any case, there are more messages to read..."

[Ding]

[You received a message from player...]

'Ermin?'

Curious, Dale opened the message, being blasted with a long wall of text:

[LET'S GO DUDE!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WE MADE?!?!/! HOW MUCH YOU ASDK?! WELL, LET ME TELL YOU, I BET A TOTAL OF NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE WHOLE MILLION IN YOUR MATCH!!! AND DO YOU KNOW HOW HIGH THE RATE WAS?! THAT'S RIGHT! AN INSANE 49-1!!! AND YOU KNOW WHO PUT THEIR ENTIRE SAVING INTO THIS?! YEAHEAHEA!!!! I'M GOING INSANE WRITING THIS, YOU BET IT WAS YOUR BOY WHO MADE ALMOST 150 MIL. MY SISTERS HAVE GONE HALF INSANE TOO, MY YOUNGER SISTER CAN'T EVEN PROCESS ANYTHING BENEATH 10K IN PRICE, SHE'LL JUST BUY IT AND MY OLDER SISTER IS NOW IN THE SHOP TOO AND I CAN'T BLAME THEM, IN FACT...]

The message went on and on and on and... Well, Ermin was very excited.

The longer the message went the more incoherent it became, but Dale couldn't help but keep smiling and chuckling as he read it.

In a sense, he even felt envious, the betting odds from the spectators were different from the one he got when he bet on himself.

If the Odds were the same and if he had no betting limit... He would be a Billionaire by now.

Thinking about this, Dale understood the fears of gambling and why it was so lucrative to exploit human emotions...

He himself almost desired to go back into the Arena and Bet a bit more, maybe if he fought the girl a few more times he would be set for the Event?

Thinking about that, he continued reading his notifications.

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Notes