Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

Chapter 288 Ruler VS Challenger Part 4

Okay, I think this is enough.

I've sat in this chapter for a long while not gonna lie and I think it did not convey what I wanted in the end.

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/Lightning!/

/Blast!/

There was no time to think, the moment their eyes met, their fight resumed.

Thunderbolts surrounding her body, the Queen took the first step, splitting the ground into dozens of chunks as she rushed after Dale, her blue hair flowing behind her like storm clouds in the sky.

Now, her face wasn't devoid of expression, but it was still hard to tell what she was feeling.

Anger, excitement, desire, anything...

One thing's for sure, she was pushing herself into action now.

/PIERCE!/

The Queen thrusted her rapier into Dale's chest, as she stopped running, the sheer strength of her blow ravaging the earth around her.

/CLANG!/

But the latter spun his spear, deflecting it to the side, followed by spinning his own body, swinging his spear at high speeds towards her face.

/FWOOSH/

/CLANG!/

She did not remain idle either, taking a step back and kicking the spear above her.

/BAM!/

The impact between the spear and her legs caused the sand around them to jump high into the air as the ground was pushed down from the impact wave.

An impact so great their bodies moved back a little to each other's prowess.

"..."

"..."

Looking at each other for a moment, they reset their stances as they went at it violently again!

Once again, the Queen's posture changed, to something none of her challengers had seen before, the posture of a technique she seldom used against someone.

But Dale was more than worthy of it!

/Lift…/

/CLANG!/

Dale lifted his spear and pushed it down, while the Queen pointed her sword upwards.

"Galatine." She muttered softly, almost sweetly

/Shine…/

At that moment, the world slowed down for Dale as his eyes scoured around frantically.

Sunlight from above started to converge, falling onto the tip of her blade.

Golden-black sigils manifested from its base all the way to its tip, in a language he couldn't recognize, albeit it felt somewhat familiar.

In ordinary times, he would ponder over their nature, pointing out possible look-alikes, but now wasn't such time...

He didn't know what was happening, but the feeling of the situation wasn't foreign to him, after all…

[Galatine (Legendary Armament)[1]

Rating: ???

While under direct sunlight, all Stats +?

The purer your devotion to yourself or a cause, the stronger the light within Galatine gets, allowing you to grasp the light of the Sun.

???

???

…

Gives the temporary Skills: Sun Strike 9-Star, Forward Thrust 9-Star, Morning Dawn 9.5-Star, ??? 10-Star… 

Requirements: Strength: 290, Dexterity: 390, Reflexes: ?90, ??00 Mana

???

…

]

Dale didn't know why this pop-up appeared in front of him but he only managed to read the item's description for a moment before golden light took over his vision.

Next thing he knew, the world turned to Hell.

/FLASH!/

/BURN!/

Golden light took over the Arena, and with it, a wave of indescribable heat, turning even the sand beneath their feet into distorted colorful glass.

/Dark…/

However, following this outburst of power, the glorious sunlight coming from up above receded, and the world became a bit darker, as if clouds had covered the sun.

"... Huff..."

The Queen stood tall in front of a desolate landscape, taking a single deep breath as she recovered her breathing.

She kept looking a the field of scalding glass and sand as she waited for her opponent to resurface, knowing full well he was still there.

/Grab!/

/Crack…/

From within the sand, much to the surprise and cheers of the crowd, Dale climbed out from within the sand, slamming his gauntlets against the field, crushing multiple glass pieces as he did so.

Pulling himself from the ground, he got up again.

But just like the Queen, no visible injuries or damage could be spotted on his red armor, and to no surprise, Wyverian Ignition was made to withstand the most violent of heats.

"Huff…"

Taking a deep breath as well, Dale looked around momentarily, searching from his spear.

But when he found it, now a half-molten slab of iron on the ground, he immediately disregarded it, focusing on the Queen instead.

From the stands, the people discussed with one another how unsatisfying this conclusion was, believing the fight had already come to an end.

To lose due to a lack of a weapon… How shameful.

If only he had a weapon of similar caliber…

/FLASH!/

When most people believed Dale would give up, he charged ahead with his arms raised in front of his chest!

That's right, he was rushing empty-handed to fight a swordsman, not just any but the best in the world!

"..."

The Queen did not look down on him because he lost his weapon, on the contrary, her waryness increased tenfold.

Because now he wasn't limited by a flimsy weapon…

/PUNCH!/

/SWING!/

Dale's punch burned with red thunder while the Queen's swing flashed with golden lights.

/Step…/

"!"

Instead of committing to the punch, Dale let himself be slashed in the arm, using the Queen's own strength to push his body away.

Even with the Rapier's sharpness, cutting through his armor wouldn't be easy, much less if he moved with the flow, not resisting the slash.

In other words, it was a faint.

Meanwhile, he used his left arm to hold onto her dominant right hand, grasping her wrist forcefully!

/Crack!/

Dale's grasp was so overwhelmingly strong that the metal guards around her arms were crushed!

/Raise… PUNCH!/

Not hesitating in the slightest, Dale punched forward toward her stomach!

She couldn't evade it as he still had her arm locked in place, moving too abruptly would risk damaging her own body too much, which would only benefit him more.

So she punched as well.

/THUNDER!/

Putting her strength to the test, the Queen punched for the first time ever since she stepped within these halls!

Performing so strange technique, she moved her Mana within her body to her arm, channeling great strength from within...

/SMASH!/

The armored fist and the hand clashed together, but as expected, the Queen was pushed back, her knuckle bleeding considerably!

This was the very first time someone had ever injured her!

/Kick.../

Knowing things couldn't stay like this, she tried to kick him away, but Dale never gave her the space to raise her legs, much less gather momentum to deliver a powerful blow.

He stepped on her foot and tugged at her clothes, and eventually, she had enough too.

/BLAST!/

/Throw!!/

Her body exploded with lightning once again, and a film of transparent blue light surrounded her as she threw her rapier from her right hand to her left one, swinging it towards his neck!

"..."

/SPLURGE!/

/Gasp!/

What happened after was a mix of disbelief and madness.

Instead of evading or doing any kind of incredible movement… Dale… Let the rapier pierce his palm!

/Grab…/

But at that moment, he also grabbed her weapon.

/PULL!/

/BLAST!/

With everything he had, he pulled at the rapier while he kicked her away, and despite doing everything in her power to prevent him from taking her weapon, the Queen was forced to retreat or face a towering blow.

/CRASH!/

She fell down far away, smashing onto the wall next to a statue, raising her head as she looked at him with a frown.

/Vibrate…/

Meanwhile, Dale looked at the Rapier in his hand, it vibrated faintly but quickly as if trying to get itself out of his hand.

He could barely hold it, as his large hand combined with his armor barely fit within the flower ring guard of the rapier, making swinging it a bit of a hassle.

The pain and the bleeding were secondary, he almost did not process them, in fact, even now, his body quickly healed itself in a monstrous display of what his flesh had become.

"..."

/SWING!/

Dale swung the blade, but nothing happened, something kept absorbing his powers, impeding them from being released, much less amplified or enhanced.

Even if he wanted to use its Skills, he could not.

As expected, it did not recognize him at all… 

/PULL!/

"!"

Suddenly, the Queen raised her hand, and Dale felt a terrifically strong pull on his right hand, dragging him across the sand like a chained beast trying to escape. 

He pulled back as well, spreading his Mana throughout the environment, locking him in place together with the Arena.

/Crunck… Crack…/

Despite that, the rocks beneath his foot started to give in, dust gushed from within the cracks, the pull was so great an entire section of the Arena was being pulled with it.

"..."

At that moment, dozens of ideas passed by his head.

In truth, throughout the fight, Dale constantly had ideas, every move of the Queen filled him with inspiration, it was just that he was too occupied to try and understand them more.

He wanted her to show him more, he wanted her to try her best too.

He was stronger than her, but she was better than him, at least in the diversity of what she knew and how to employ it.

Above all, she had something to channel her strength into, his previous Spear was lackluster at best.

To win, he needed to level the field, to win… He needed to think outside the box.

"..."

/Channel…/

That was when Dale started to move his Mana somewhere else, not towards his foot but the opposite of that.

/Fwoosh…/

This caused him to lose his grip and to be dragged in the air by the sword, but he did not care.

Mana moved back into his heart and upwards… Towards his head.

His Prime Source manifested also, gathering around his brain…

He was trying to do something, looking for something, and no one could tell what it was…

Aside from…

"..."

The red-haired man looked down at Dale's appearance, and momentarily, his eyes opened wide.

He knew what he was trying to do, and it amused him to no end. I

It concerned him greatly as well.

/Flash!/

Just a few meters away from her, Dale's head shone as his eyes closed.

/Cut…/

A spot of light lit up in the middle of his forehead…

/Spark!/

Golden Sparks, the same ones that limited him before manifested around his body.

Whatever he was trying to do went against the rules of the tower, but Dale did not stop, in fact, he only pushed harder.

/ZAP!/

The lightning grew stronger, but so did his momentum, so much so the Queen was forced to retreat, or else be affected by the bolts too.

With that, he fell to the ground, where he was constantly assaulted by the golden bolts.

...

/VIBRATE!/

Far away, Caladgolg shook violently.

...

Amidst a torrent of lightning, Dale opened his eyes.

And the moment he did so, the lightning stopped... In fact, everything seemed to stop.

Even time, but that was only from the perspective of the girl...

[DING]

[DING]

[D…]

As dozens of notifications played around in his mind, Dale rose from the ground, drops of blood falling from his fingertips.

And as he looked forward, he took a step forward.

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Notes

[1] Originally, I wanted to invent another name.

This is because Calagolg isn't the right name for Dale's sword, it's Caladbolg.

This mistake comes from the very first time I presented the sword, and something I stuck with since then.

I thought about making similar names for every Legendary weapon that has a similar one to Earth's mythology.

By now, I think it's too late to try and fix Caladgolg's name from every chap, since there are likely over 100 mentions over 200 almost 300 chaps.

And I think it's too strange to go and just assume the name is different now.

Anyway, opinions on the matter are welcome.