Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

Chapter 261 Going a bit overboard?

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With a surprised expression, Dale read his stream's chat:

*BROOO! I CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE!! PFFS10!!!* Someone commented while adding a begging emote on the chat[1]

*PFFS!* 

*PFFS!*

*PFFS!*

*What was that strange Skill he used? Does anyone…*

*PFFS!*

*PFFS!*

*CARRY ME PLEASE!!*

...

At least half a dozen comments were pouring into his chat every second, albeit most of them were mostly spamming of the same text and funny emotes of a beggar holding an empty paper cup.

Any interesting comment, inquiry, or attempt at a conversation was drowned in the never-ending wave of posts.

"..."

'Woah… I didn't expect people to be so overwhelmingly interested in a stream that barely started a few minutes ago and lasted less than 10 minutes...'

'I know my first few streams exploded in popularity, but I didn't expect things to follow up like this.' Dale thought as get scrolled up the chat to read some older comments

'Hum… There are many comments wishing for the stream to come back… Well, I've set the stream on hold and disabled both the camera and the audio but I'm still live since I was planning on getting back to action soon.'

'There are a few comments asking about the identities of the people playing with me, most of them being jokes though… And the rest are people trying to figure out what I did.'

'Some aren't surprised… They're likely the people who have watched all the streams. Because if they did, they'll realize that this is far from my utmost potential.'

'Urg… A few are accusing me of cheating…'

Against his expectations, his stream was doing very well, as right now he had over 2000 viewers, which wasn't easy to get in a world oversaturated with such content, much less for someone who just started in the field.

What surprised him the most was the fact there were so many people interested in the game yet weren't playing the Event... He thought it was a waste of an opportunity.

But then again, not everyone was interested in playing an action RPG, some preferred other forms of entertainment... Such as watching someone instead.

'Since It's like this, I'll make some changes for the future...' Dale thought as he opened the editing feature, adding more descriptions to his stream and a few more details here and there

"Dale? We're ready to go." Ermin said with a sigh 

"Are you? It's not like anything changed." Dale replied as he closed his stream chat

He made sure that all of the modifications he made were in place before doing so.

"We just changed some of our items since… You know… We have you now." 

Now that Ermin mentioned it Dale noticed their changes.

Ermin now had a prismatic crystal in his right hand while Eleonora had a large dual-handed sword, meanwhile, Erminia switched fully to the bow and arrow style, removing her swords from her waist while switching her bow for a bigger, bulkier one.

"Since you're in the frontlines, we won't need to worry about who's going to tank, I'm putting my trust in you bro." He said with a light smile

"No problem… But that on your hand, is that the Meraid Prism?" Dale asked as he squinted his eyes

One of the hidden items one could acquire while in the Tutorial Lobby, or in other words, a Hidden piece.

"That's right, I've never used it since it wasn't very useful given our party composition, but ever since my Class changed… This may be a good time to put it to a test."

"Speaking of that, I still have those items you asked for." Ermin said as he opened his inventory

"Items? Did you get something cool in the tutorial zone?"Eleonora asked with a thin smile as she looked at Ermin

'That was the only time he ever played alone, it's the only possible time he could've gotten something like that.'

"!"

'Crap! I forgot they were here for a moment!' Ermin thought silently as he smiled in a low tone

"It's just some old items I asked him to see if they still existed, because you see…" Dale interjected as he realized his friend was in trouble

He quickly explained their situation in a way that could save his friend from his predicament. Not that he understood why he was so bothered about it.

"Hum… If you were going after such a thing you should've told us, we would've helped you." Erminia said with a pout as she looked at Ermin

"Hahaha… Haa… My bad…" Ermin said as he scratched his head awkwardly 

'As fucking if, in the best scenario you two would've already sold all of those items once you experienced any hardships.'

'You already pondered over selling the gear I had to sweat over to get while in the tutorial just to make some extra cash to get some good food and consumables… Much less those…'

Struggling to keep his expression, Ermin eventually just decided to transfer the items to Dale, at least this way they would be safe.

"I have no use for all of these and I still don't think you'll find a use for them either." He said with a shrug

"I'll figure something out." Dale replied as he checked the list of items

'Ermin really worked hard to get these… I'll make good use of them.'

'If these can be all repaired… Even if they're not to the standard I expected they'll reach, they'll still be good historical pieces of a time already lost.'

"Shall we go?" He asked everyone after he was done receiving the items

"We were just waiting for you two." Eleonora said as she looked at him

"Then onwards." Dale said as he pressed the 'yes' option

[DING]

[You have accepted the mission, moving to…]

While the notifications played in his ears, Dale took the time to check the description of the items.

And since the stream was offline, he didn't need to worry about others peeking into his stuff.

[Lord's Torn Cape (Broken) (Unique)]

[Erier's Broken Shield (Shattered) (Half-Epic)]

[The Revolving Cog (Relic)]

[Earth Rebellion (Broken) (Relic)]

Over a dozen items, each with its own deep history and value, some he once saw in action while others he only ever heard of… Were now in his possession.

All items possessed some degree of damage, rendering them half useless, the very reason Ermin was uninterested in them.

But Dale believed in their potential.

/FLASH!/

…

/A moment after…/

Long ago, a great army gathered atop an endless field of green grass.

/MARCH!/

/MARCH!/

They marched for weeks, rested for days, and created a garrison in the remaining time.

A crusade that lasted months, all for this day.

Ten thousand soldiers, all wearing armor, gathered together to rid this world of Evil!

Of those, two thousand were archers, ready to bow down their foes.

Five hundred of those held extremely long bows, true marksmen, and five hundred others held crossbows, powerful enough to pierce the thickest of armor.

Five thousand were foot soldiers, holding a silver shield in one hand and a sword in the other, sometimes a mace or an axe, with around a thousand holding spears to push against the enemy.

Of the rest, one thousand were mounted atop gallant War horses clad in polished metal armor, beasts of the battlefield.

And to complete the numbers, around two thousand soldiers stood in the rear, ready to support any of the flanks, they also maned the Siege weapons of the army.

Amidst them stood people clad in white and golden robes, their identities a mystery, but to those around them, they released a faint presence, akin to that of the dawning sun.

They were all led by a knight in Golden armor, resplendent under the sun.

Opposite to them stood a gloomy but grandiose castle at the base of a tall gray mountain.

Thousands of soldiers were silently positioned in all perimeters of its structure, gazing down at the glorious army underneath them with dark, cold gazes.

/THUNDER!/

Shadowy dark clouds thundered in the sky, the omen of the bloodshed that was about to downpour.

"... Are we here?" Erminia whispered as she looked around

'Another battlefield...'

"It seems so." The older sister replied as she crossed her arms

'This will be fun... If Dale doesn't destroy everything that is.'

Amidst the army, the most heroic of parties materialized, gazing around as they tried to make sense of the situation.

They didn't quite fit with the surrounding army, they were like pimples on pure white skin... Especially so for Dale and his reddish armor.

"Incredible… So this is Ingur huh." Ermin said with his arms crossed

""Hum?""

Everyone turned to him with confused glances, including Dale.

"Do you know anything about this place?"

"Yes, mostly out of coincidence." He replied as he scratched his chin

"I once read it at a post, Ingur used to be a Citadel at the Northern Parts of Zenith, it collapsed after… Well, the very event we're experiencing now."

"... I see now, so we're witnessing history." Dale said with a faint smile as he turned his gaze to the castle

'I've thought about this before, but wouldn't it be a waste for most of these "cinematic" Events to have been created from scratch?'

'In a world with so much story, why not use it?'

'And on that note... This may be a chance. A chance to experience legendary moments in history and learn from the Heroes that appeared in them.' Dale thought as his gaze sharpened

'Of course, this isn't it yet... But this seems like a Crusade of sorts, I can learn from how they organize themselves and do the same in the Church.'

'In any case, if this is a faithful historic Event, this means that we'll win regardless of what we do, though that would likely take extremely long and we wouldn't gain much.'

'But I don't have the time for that.'

'Just a shame that we won't be able to experience things as they were.'

[DING]

[Siege Mission, START!] The System said out loud to all four of them

[After a century of tyranny, those blessed by the sun bring its radiance to the land of neverending storms!]

[The Dark Priests of Ingur have nowhere to flee, as due to the upcoming Feast of the Seven Lords, all Dark Priests from the surrounding lands have converged into the Citadel]

[This is the perfect chance to wipe them all out and rid the lands of this filth]

[Together with the Legion of the Sun, led by Paladin Tersa, breach Ingur's defenses and take down the Dark ArchPriest Kulvan!]

[But beware, as the Dark Priests won't remain idle for long, they'll soon launch a counterattack of their own]

[Time until the Dark Ritual is completed: 119 Min, 58 sec…]

"So our goal isn't to take over the Castle but to take down its ruler..." Ermin muttered as he scratched his chin

And while Dale thought about that as well, he took something from his inventory:

[Great Instance Modifier (Dark)]

'I'll only use one for now, see how much it actually changes, it also seems fitting enough...'

/Cr-rack!... CRUSH!/

/SHUA!/

"D-Dale?! What have you… URG!"

The moment Dale crushed the seed, a powerful wind current was released from within the broken remains of its shell, aiming at the golden skies above the army of Crusaders.

/THUNDER!/

The sky started to rumble and the dark clouds above the Citadel expanded, covering the sun above their heads, casting them in shadow.

And an ominous aura rose from the castle walls…

[DING]

[A Seed of Cataclysm has been imbued into the land]

[Due to its presence, the Dark Ritual has been completed and strengthened]

Atop the Citadel, a mass of shadows gathered and a massive purple pupil opened, casting the entire world into darkness.[2]

(Image?)

[Under the gaze of the Lord of Fragile Ego, the Dark Priests' powers are magnified]

[Under the gaze of the Lord of Fragile Ego, the Legion of the Sun's prayers are suppressed]

[Fall of Ingur's Rating has been raised from 4.5-Star to 5-Star]

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Notes

[1] PFFS means -> PLEASE For Fuck's Sake!!

[2] I had to, I couldn't resist it!