Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

Chapter 311 Ancient Battlefield

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/Flash!/

"... Huff… Huff…"

/Shua…/

/Cling… Clang…/

After being thrown across the white space and traversing the light, Dale found himself amidst an expansive field of stone and grass.

The wind rustled in his ears soothing his tiredness, the warm sunlight fell onto his skin rejuvenating his strained muscles, and the flapping of the birds calmed his mind...

As he lay down on the ground, he had the desire to never get up, as why should he?

"Huff…"

But that was the first thing he noticed about this place, and soon enough, he figured out that something seemed wrong about this field, severely so…

He couldn't quite remember how he got here, much less why he was here…

But only a minute after, he forgot about that too.

/CAW!/

/CAW!/

Maybe because he stood too long lying down, crows began to cluster around him, flying up in the air.

/Walk.../

One of them approached him, tapping on the side of his head gently as if beckoning him...

That it was time to get up.

/GASP!/

/Stand up…/

Dale suddenly stood up, trying to figure out what he should do and where to begin, starting with his surroundings.

He hadn't noticed before, but he was surrounded by a field of weapons, some of which were being used by the birds to observe him, maybe waiting for him to die.

He looked back next to his hand, and the crow that woke him up was still there.

/CAW!/

And the moment their eyes met, it cawed, and quite a bit louder than the others before taking off into the distance.

Looking at where it went, Dale began to piece together what he knew, forming an idea of where he was.

He seemed to be at the foot of a gargantuan mountain range, in the middle of a battlefield, or better put, a graveyard full of ancient weapons, statues, broken pieces of armor, and half-broken skeletons of beasts he couldn't quite identify.

Likely all eaten by the crows.

Torn banners and other symbols cluttered the graveyard, but he couldn't identify any.

As for himself, he was standing atop a circular platform so worn out he couldn't identify anything on it anymore, it was just a platform with moss and grass growing in between the slaps of stone that composed it.

He was also wearing clothes now, some sort of traveling clothes consisting of a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of long pants that went down to his shoes, together with a half-torn cape.

"Huff… ?!"

"ARG!"

Suddenly, as he looked around, Dale's head flared in pain as his vision grew turbid, causing him to step back as he breathed deeply.

/CAW!/

/CAW!/

His memories started to flash, going in reverse, his breath grew erratic, and he felt as if ants were crawling under his skin as his ears rang with the sharp sound of bells and the Crows' calls.

His knees gave in and he fell onto the platform, his body seemingly growing extremely frail by the minute.

An indescribable thirst filled his throat as his mind grew empty, a desire to fill it back up...

To become whole again. 

/Silence…/

Yet, just as suddenly, silence came, and with it, an idea, another desire, a single need, something greater than anything he had ever felt before.

/Grab…/

Following that need, Dale only looked around for a few seconds before he grabbed one of the ancient spears around him, strapping it to his back as he fetched a leather chest piece from the dirty ground.

/Shine…/

As he walked, he touched a giant sword from the ground, causing it to shine as it trembled slightly…

/Crack!/

The sword sprung from the earth, following after him as he walked, leaving heavy steps in his wake as he made his way to the mountain.

It was far, extremely so, but it was just the start.

But before leaving the field of weapons, at the very edge before the worn grass fields, Dale saw a bow without a string, and for some reason, he grabbed it also.

Like so, he started his pilgrimage.

…

An extensive wasteland of dead grass and dried rocks, followed by many hills, some green, some not, and then a mountain whose tip he could not see, hidden by the clouds above.

Dale climbed it all, and even as the stone beneath his feet and fingers gave in, he kept climbing, going beyond the clouds, only to find out there were more out there.

Hours, days, weeks, even the nights didn't seem to come.

The scalding sun behind his back, he never slept, his body didn't seem ready to do so, not until it reached the end.

"Huff…"

But even when he reached the tip of the mountain, his tiredness didn't come, his energy grew instead.

The more he climbed, the greater he felt... And so did his desire for more.

Because at the edge of the vision, behind the tip of the mountain he just climbed, there was a plateau of even larger proportions, like an ancient wall protecting the halls of the Gods.

The Sky had another sky, and the tip of the mountain had another…

Clenching his fists even harder, Dale went after the next sky.

…

/Thunder!/

The skies began to rumble as he climbed the cliff, lightning was brewing within the distant clouds, and mist filled the world around him.

Barely able to see even a few feet in front of him, Dale couldn't tell where he was or how far he was from his objective.

Only from time to time when the strong winds blew did he manage to take a peak of his surroundings as the mist scattered around.

/CRACK!/

/SMACK!/

From time to time, the bolts would hit the world, breaking the rocks around him, causing them to fall on him… Some he blocked, a few he broke, and others... He was forced to evade.

And sometimes, they would hit in the distance, illuminating the world beyond the mist, revealing the outline of ancient ruins whose purpose he couldn't tell.

Fallen Statues of gigantic stature, fallen alongside the edges of the mountain range.

"Hupp!"

With one last bout of strength, Dale jumped, grabbing onto a finger of a decadent statue, now embedded in the rocky cliff's walls before jumping onto more to the edge of the cliff.

/Shua…/

/Sun…/

"..."

What awaited him was an extensive field of Golden wheat that went as far as the eye could see, being illuminated faintly by the golden sun half obscured by the dark cloudy sky.

/Step…/

He walked to a nearby statue, the hilt of a giant stony sword, maybe the one being used by the now fallen statue... But there was no way to tell.

Nor would he look for the answer.

Nonetheless, as he walked beyond the hilt, instead of moving on with his journey, he stopped, tilting his head to the side.

/Sheen…/

Behind him, a man jumped from atop the broken hilt, holding a pair of large daggers that curved outward, wearing a dark mask that covered half his face and a red scarf that flowed behind him in the wind.

For some reason…

/Pierce…/

The moment he felt his presence, all of his desire to climb became second to another...

/Grab…/

Dale grabbed his spear and plunged it onto the fields below him before grabbing his stringless bow and strapping it around it.

He then raised his right hand and grabbed the hilt of the floating sword next to him.

/THUNDER!/

As if knowing what was about to happen, the dark clouds in the sky began to rumble even more intensely, covering the entire world in darkness as the sun slowly backed off, its rays vanishing amidst the thunderstorm.

As if it didn't want to witness the glorious golden fields be tarnished.

"..."

"..."

... The desire to fight.

/FLASH!/

"!"

/CLANG!/

All of a sudden, the assassin dashed forward, leaving behind a dark flash of light as he cut with his two blades forward, forcing Dale to block them with his sword.

The impact of the two blades left behind two trails of air that cut through the wheat, but that was only the beginning.

/PUSH!/

/SLASH!/

With his strength, Dale pushed the man back and slashed downward, cleaving through his body and ground, destroying the wheat fields…

/Smoke… SLASH!/

"!"

/CLANG!/

But as expected, the assassin wouldn't lose like this, it turned into smoke and slashed at him from a blind spot in his back.

However, Dale blocked the strike by tilting his sword and turning, causing his blades to graze against his shoulder.

/SHUA!/

Each of their strikes laid waste to the fields around them, no wonder the sun closed its eyes to it...

/SMACK!/

Ignoring the pain, he kicked the assassin back, causing him to slide across the fields.

/JUMP!/

/SLAM!/

/Light!/

"!!"

Dale jumped after him, his sword momentarily flashing with a chaotic red light...

And before the Assassin had the chance, his eyes bulging as he screamed beneath his mask, he slammed his sword on the ground, creating a massive crater seven meters wide.

/Thunder!/

Amidst the clouds, lightning bolts flared, creating the shadows of two warriors, an assassin with a single knife and a knight in heavy armor.

/BOOM!/

"..."

/Pull…/

With his opponent now dead, cut in half at the bottom of the hole, Dale climbed out before fetching his spear and continuing his journey…

/Rumble…/

Just before he went to grab his spear, the skies parted above and a beam of sunlight fell on his spear, causing much of its rust to fall.

That wasn't the end of it as his bow also began to change, with the strange wood it was made out of becoming more lustrous.

But it was still stringless, and thus, useless as a bow.

"..."

Seeing this, Dale only hesitated for a moment before he grabbed the spear, pulling it from the ground before strapping it around his back.

He did the same for the bow, making sure it wouldn't fall, no matter what.

/THUNDER!/

The skies trembled once more and he raised his head, and for a moment, he saw the outline of a knight throwing his spear forward toward the horizon before it all dissipated.

And the skies grew calm.

"..."

Imprinting this sight onto his mind, Dale went after the spear, into the distance, beyond the seemingly infinite golden fields…

Where another mountain stood.

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Notes

If you are unaware, this chapter was greatly inspired by RISE | Worlds 2018 - League of Legends.

Yeah, I know, but hey, even if the game is gay, the songs are????

Check them out, they're good enough to try at least once.

Anyway, that's it, peace!