Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

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/Smash!/

/Silence…/

In the blink of an eye, the faint shadow in the sky crashed against the earth in front of the berserking beast.

And as the dust slowly cleared, the scene of a knight standing in front of the Giant masked monster was revealed for all players to see.

/Grr.../

The Karkavan simply stared down at Dale, he could tell he was a bit different from the others that he fought so far.

He could feel his blood boil merely by being in his presence.

Still, he didn't say much, taking a step forward as he thought the Knight was just another 'challenger'...

But against his expectations, the knight did not attack the monster, and instead…

"Who are you?" Dale asked in a low tone as he held Caldgolg in his right hand

Far away, the players that had managed to retreat due to Karkavan's momentary stop in his rampage turned around to stare at them from afar.

And albeit they were unable to hear him due to the distance, they were ready to charge in at any moment.

From their perspective, as long as they had a strong NPC to tank the hits then this would be a walk in the park...

Because for them, it was clear that Dale was taking a defensive stance against this creature.

But his reason to do so was completely different from what they thought.

Dale was simply on the defensive because he didn't want to get ambushed by either the guy in front of him or the players.

He had already experienced his fair share of annoyances during these past few days.

As a Hardcore player, he had no room for blunders, as a single life meant just that.

He could die if his arteries were cut if he didn't have first aid in time, he could be poisoned, or he could lose function in one of his limbs...

And albeit right now, his body's natural regeneration was strong enough to offset such kinds of injuries, he did not want to rely on it too much.

As it was better to not get hurt in the first place.

"..."

/Clung.../

The warrior lowered his cleaver, resting it on the ground as he dropped his head in the form of a nod.

/Growl... Growl?... Growl!/

The creature seemed to try and speak something, but upon noticing that there was no reaction, it scratched the top of its head before thinking really hard...

"Balarka... Corps… Terveri? Warrior!… Muddan greets." He said in an odd accent, rough and loud, strong yet... Indecisive?

"?"

At first, Dale was confused, but he knew that silence wasn't the answer, so he quickly thought of something to say:

"Did you come here for me?" He asked, trying to gesture as much as possible to aid with comprehension

'This is surely a first for me... But now's not the time to be flustered.'

'Albeit it would be weird for this creature to be here for me, it's not like it was the first time it has happened...'

'Deeming what happened recently, it wouldn't be completely out of the ordinary.'

'I wouldn't be surprised if the Devils from beyond the wall decided to invade again...'

Dale quickly stopped his dangerous thoughts.

"..."

Muddan raised his head to think deeply once more as if trying to make sense of the words he just heard, and trying to find the appropriate ones to use as a reply…

And finally, after a few seconds of thinking, he said:

"Indeed."

"May... I... ask... why?" Dale said, spacing out his words to, once again, ease with comprehension 

'Despite his looks, he seems friendly. But if that's the case... How did he start to fight with the players?'

'Did they attack him first?'

'That does seem in line with the average player behavior of attacking any monster... Shooting before asking...'

'But isn't him a bit too... "Civilized" for them to attack first?'

'Then... They must've been incentivized to do so...'

'An... Event?'

Dale started to theorize while Muddan...

"!"

Muddan's eyes sparkled. He recognized that word, he was told to pay attention to it… "Why"…

So like reading a script, he mumbled, "*&%&*" but noticing his blunder, he opened his mouth to say:

"I was… Tasked with scouting… &$#^%..."

His words would often mix between things Dale could properly understand to a mix of grunts and blabbering he couldn't even put into words...

But the more he spoke, the clearer things became, at least on a surface level...

"Hum… Beyond the agreed borders… In search of the remnants…"

"Uh-Oterevefitulakan... ^%&$#..." He said as he shook his head

"Of the Great #@$@%... Corps."

Muddan didn't seem dumb, but he was struggling very much in speaking the common tongue.

It would make sense since he's from another species, one that lives in complete seclusion, already being able to speak something cohesive is impressive.

Though at the same time, was it that impressive?

But this wasn't the time to think of that.

"So you came here to search for the Southern Corps?" Dale asked with a frown

But with his armor, no one could see his facial expressions.

'Whoever they are, they know Resko is a thing by the looks of things, but they are unaware of its current conditions.'

'In that case, he came here in the blind under the premise something would be here.'

'This would indicate that... They are desperate to some degree.'

"..."

Muddan had to once again think for a moment before scratching his head full of thick black hair.

"Muddan was tasked by… By t-the... Jier Xacto… Warriors!"

But he didn't stop there, he raised his hands, clenching them in agony.

"%^#%$! Fallen! Equality… Broken!"

"Inability to deal ^%&*... So… Muddan was tasked with… Abarat!"

"Warriors from beyond the %$%&!!"

"..."

Muddan stopped talking, waiting for Dale to reply.

'Urg… I understand close to nothing from this…'

'Can't the game do something for me and translate his words? How vexing.'

Dale scratched his head, it seemed things were more complex than he initially imagined.

While he thought, Muddan looked beyond Dale, raising his head and staring at the players in the distance.

His eyes sparkled inside the mask, bloodlust rising as his fists clenched…

"!"

Dale felt the hairs on his body rising…

Amidst this tense atmosphere, Muddan said:

"F-Friend… From afar!"

"Allow Muddan to P… Partake in Uoo Fra!"

"Uoo… Fra?" Dale asked, extremely confused

'Perhaps I should've studied a bit of foreign language as well?...' He thought with a dark expression

'There should be some tomes in the library, since, considering these guys knew about the Southern Corps, then the contrary should also be held accountable...'

'Especially since the earrings I acquired mentioned these... Karkavan...'

/THUD!/

"UOO FRA!" Muddan exclaimed loudly as he smashed his chest with his left hand

/CRACK!/

Muddan jumped into the sky, blasting the earth with his strong leg muscles, holding his cleaver as he flew towards the crowd of players in the back, leaving Dale with his mouth open and eyelids twitching…

[DING!]

But while Dale tried to make sense of the situation, the players started despairing…

[Disclaimer, the Unique Event, Ritual Combat has started]

[Karkavan Warrior Muddan has issued a challenge to all players!]

[Until Muddan's defeat, all participants are blocked from leaving the Field, this includes logging off or using other escape items]

[In exchange, the greatest contributors during the fight shall receive additional rewards after Muddan's fall]

[Failing is applied if:

The participant dies

The participant tries to escape

]

[In case of failure:

The participant loses up to 20 Reputation points with the Karkavan

* -5 to Reputation Score in case of defeat

* -20 to Reputation Score by trying to escape

The participant will receive either the Mark of defeat, or the Mark of Cowardice

]

[Current Rankings:

1:...

2:...

3:...

…

]

/BOOM!/

Muddan fell like a meteor crashing onto the Earth, he stared at the players in a similar way a child stares at food after starving for a few hours…

It wasn't possible to see it due to his mask, but beneath it, Muddan was smiling widely.

He raised his clever, blocking the sun.

"Mo... Mommy..." The player said as he raised his head to look at the sharp cleaver

"RUOOOO!"

/FWOOSH!/

He swung his great cleaver with a mighty cry, and with it, chaos broke loose!

Screams, wails, cursing, and more escaped the players' mouths as Muddan went on his killing spree.

"..."

'Damn…'

Dale did receive a notification, but his was a tad different from the players…

[Your quest has updated]

[Visitor of the Wooden Heart

Many creatures…

>Requirements:

Meet with this foreign being and understand its motives behind its visit 1/1

Or put a short end to its trespassing 0/1 /Not possible/

Wait for Muddan to partake in his Ritual fight 0/1

*Optional* Challenge Muddan into a Ritual fight and preferentially, win 0/1

]

After he finished reading it, Dale cracked his neck in annoyance.

"Can't I have a moment to rest…"

'At this point, I'm starting to miss the last two weeks of hard work…'

/BOOM!/

"AHHHHHH!"

Dale looked at the screaming players with some pity, this was a classic display of biting more than they could chew and suffering the consequences of it…

They came here thinking they would get some rare items, but instead, they lost theirs...

"Oh my..."

But when he looked at the sparkling items on the ground, his expression turned back to normal, all guilt vanishing, as if water had washed it away...

Their fallen loot would be put to good use…

/Screams…/

And as they fell like flies, Dale did a silent prayer, thanking them for their items.

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Notes