Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

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As they walked past the door of Promise, the environment started to change.

Just like how the Sewers slowly transitioned into the hallway where the door of Prosperity was located...

The architecture, the walls, the very bricks started to become more... Common.

Changing in color and texture.

The first one to notice that change was Testros, who immediately touched the wall with a heavy sense of nostalgia.

"These bricks… I remember them."

Dale turned his head to face the old man, asking:

"What about them?"

"... It seems we have arrived."

"These were the bricks used to construct the Wall… At least, they're made from the same stones."

As if reciting something from a book, Testros said:

"The wall itself is made out of many sections, each with its own brick layout and structure."

"Some individual bricks could be tens of meters long, while some others were just as small as these, fitting in the palm of my hand…"

"..."

Dale remained silent, it was clear all of this was very emotional to the old man.

So he pressed forward and kept walking.

…

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a dark spiral staircase leading up.

It was very narrow and the stairs were rather tall, it would surely be quite the effort to climb them…

Though it was clear from the get-go that these stairs weren't meant for many people to use at once...

"This is probably the way… But I can't see the top… We're probably rather deep." Dale said as he looked up

"Not quite, Resko is located at an elevated position when compared to the wall, a difference of about 200M in elevation." Testros remarked as he climbed the stairs

"So if the tunnel were to be completely straight, we would've been on the surface, but we're not."

"And taking into account the structure of where we are... This tunnel connects directly to the insides of the Wall, and it would make sense considering this was an emergency passageway…"

"We could also be directly below it, but without a doubt, we are within the confines of the Wall."

However, as Testros said that, the doubt he had in his heart continued to increase…

Why would there be an emergency passage in this place...?

If this passage was meant for the Higher-Ups... Then...

The job of the commander is to lead his troops! Never would he retreat alone and leave them to die!

There are many other ways of long-distance communication...

So what's the meaning of this?

Of course, he tried to think of many excuses to justify his faith in the Corps…

Perhaps it was a way for important people to flee in case of a sudden attack, or for them to relay information quickly and safely…

But Testros couldn't confirm it.

While Dale knew the truth behind it, albeit, how was he supposed to explain it to him?

Frowning and without saying much more, they continued climbing the narrow staircase.

…

/A few minutes of climbing later.../

"Phew… This was rough…" Dale said as he rested his back against the wall

'Climbing with this dammned sword... I'll have to go back eventually... What a day.'

'But where's the door?'

Dale and Testros climbed to the top, but they saw no door, it was a dead end.

A small circular room atop the stairs made of solid stone.

[It's obviously a ruse]

'A ruse?'

[It's because you're not used to these, but try pushing that wall to your right] David said

'Oi... I do know what a false passage is...'

[I'm not blaming you for anything, but instead of talking, do push the wall for me...]

"..."

His expression a bit twisted, he pressed one of the bricks.

'This one?'

/Knock…/

'It doesn't sound hollow…'

Testros noticed this and said:

"It's obvious that this isn't the end of the road, but we must be careful, we don't know what's around us outside."

"We must strive to make as little noise as we can… To let out presence at a minimum for as long as possible."

This surprised Dale.

"I thought you were…"

"Eager to explore? Yes, I am, but I'm old, and I have a lot of patience…" Testros said as he interrupted Dale

"I won't let my emotions get a hold of me Dale." He said with a smile, as if he could read his thoughts

/Clack!/

As Trestos spoke, Dale continued with his efforts of pushing the wall, and with a noticeable click, something seemed to fall in place as an entire section of the wall started to move…

"Let me give you a hand." Tretos said as he pulled his sleeves

/Creeeeak.../

/CRUNK!.../

The wall was very heavy, even for Dale, he felt as if the very ground was working against him, resisting his push...

But with Testros, the job became fairly simple…

/Flash…/

As they opened the wall, faint light illuminated the stairs behind them, almost blinding them.

This startled both of them, who quickly moved and prepared to fight.

The sun had already dawned, so it was impossible for this light to be coming from it…

The two of them looked at the thin golden light that passed through the small opening of the wall…

It could be hope, but it could also be Doom…

[There's nothing on the other side, you're safe to go]

"..."

Trusting David, Dale went in to check…

"Wow…" He said in surprise

On the other side, he saw a beautiful office…

And the light was coming from what seemed to be a lamp in the ceiling, although Dale wondered what was powering it.

It flickered from time to time, making this place look rather eerie, like a place forgotten by time...

/Creak…/

He continued to push the door open, it was clear the mechanisms of this secret passage were long broken, as they creaked loudly.

Especially the sound it made as the stone wall scrapped against the wooden floor… This was obviously not meant to happen.

A secret passage wouldn't be one if it left clear signs on the ground...

Once the wall was pushed just enough for them to pass, Testros made his way inside followed by Dale.

/Thud/

But Testros suddenly stopped, stunned.

"Hum?... Why did you stop?" Dale asked as he tried to look at the other side

It was then that he had a better look at what had happened inside the Office…

It was a simple yet fancy Office.

It was a rectangular 6x8x4 M room with a single decorated door... Broken door.

Opposite to it was the main and sole table of the room where probably the person in charge sat at.

And behind it was a broken window occupying most of the wall.

Deeming by the fragments of glass all around it, this window was once very beautiful…

All around the table, on its left and right side were two rolls of bookshelves that filled the entirety of the walls from one end to the other, their contents a mystery to Dale.

In fact, the wall he just pushed was in fact connected to one of these shelves.

However, there were a few noticeable things about this room…

First, the door was completely broken, but in a way that made Dale think as if something had forced its way through and not due to natural deterioration.

The very wall around the door was broken and shattered, he even spotted some of the old hinges on the ground next to it.

But deeming the thick layers of dust, it became clear that whatever was the cause of it… Left long ago.

Following the broken door, faint footprints of something very heavy, so heavy it cracked the ground could be seen, and not only that but the ceiling was also broken.

Whatever passed through the door was big, and clearly uncaring of everything around it as it cleaved a long trench on the ceiling of the room, shattering 2 of the 3 ceiling lights, leaving only one half broken behind.

It was big enough to not fit in this room, and strong enough to treat these bricks as if they were clay.

Thankfully or surprisingly, the ceiling lamp was still working despite its damaged state.

However, whatever this creature was, it was hurt, badly.

A long line of now brown and dried blood slowly made its way to the table.

And it was clear, that as the creature walked, its wound healed as the amount of blood on the ground decreased rapidly, becoming almost non-existent halfway through the room.

This was what made Dale figure out the blood came from the creature and not from... Whatever it had killed, as were it the latter, the marks on the ground would be a tad different, like the droplets of water one left on the ground as they walk out of a pool.

Without a doubt, the creature was making its way to the other side of the room, stopping for nothing at all...

And it became evident what its objective was...

In front of the wooden table laid a body, or the remains of one, donning a beautiful and well-made armor… Now broken into pieces.

The armor was broken in many places, some looked like cuts... Tears.

Others looked like it was crushed with some even looking as if the metal had been torn out and shredded like paper…

But the most impactful of them all were the two wounds on its chest…

A beautiful sword with a molten hilt stabbed the person's stomach, while a strange-looking reddish-black thorn stabbed the heart…

But before Dale could say anything, he noticed one last thing in this room…

At the very center of it, the ground was broken in a very unnatural way, as if something had cut through it, a diagonal slash that went from one side of the room to the other.

Dale came to the conclusion that this man was fighting this monster, and these scratch marks are the remnants of his last stand…

One he lost.

"I… I'm finally here." Testros said as a small tear fell from his right eye

"I should've expected it… That this pathway would lead here."

"It... It was the only conclusion... I'm sorry... For doubting."

/Thud!/

Testros suddenly stopped what he was doing and placed his right hand in front of his chest, making a salute.

Dale didn't know what to do, he didn't even know who was there, but out of respect for his teacher, he did the same.

Regardless, the man was bound to be deserving of some respect…

Dale assumed him to be a man due to his short hair and the way his armor was designed.

"... Alright… We should move on. This place isn't safe." Testros said as he turned around to face Dale

He placed his hands on his shoulder and said emotionally:

"Thank you for bringing me here, it means a lot to me."

[Your actions have deeply impacted Testros, making him greatly indebted to you]

[Reputation with Resko has increased by +5]

[Total 167]

"We can talk more about this later, as it isn't wise to discuss such a thing in this place." He said as he looked around

"..."

[He's right Dale, down there I couldn't feel it due to the interference caused by the stones, but I can feel some pretty strong creatures…] David added as Dale thought about what to say

'How strong?...'

[The old man can definitely deal with most of them, but the problem is the commotion we would cause, so grab all of the loot and run away before that door closes]

[But it would be best if you didn't attract any monsters from the start...]

"What do we do now?" Dale asked as he tried to get things going

"First… I want to take a look around and see if I can figure out what happened to the Commander."

"As for you… Collect everything you can put your eyes on... Don't worry about the consequences... I'm sure the Commander wouldn't mind."

"The bookshelves are filled with mostly useless information for us, documents about things that don't matter anymore, records of events that won't affect us... History that matters little now..."

"But we don't have time to sort through each and every single one of them."

"We are currently in the Commander's office if you didn't realize it by now."

"All sorts of combat techniques and information regarding our environment and surroundings are bound to be here."

"Many of the things I never had the chance to learn or forgot over the years will be here…"

"But now, thanks to you, I can finally carry them on. The legacy of the Corps is still very much alive…" He said with a bit of emotion

"What about him?…" Dale asked as he turned to the Commander, trying to be sensible

"... Leave him."

"Pardon?"

"The Commander died doing his job, and I'm sure he wouldn't be able to rest easy if we took his body back to be buried in the Catacombs…"

"At least, not unless we took every single soldier and buried it together with him."

"..."

'So it's the same pride a Captain of a ship has... To sink with their ship.'

"That's why… Leave him be for now, until we can claim this place once more." Testros said with determination as he turned around to move toward the door

"But enough of this, we need to move."

"Yes!" Dale said as he looked around him

'So uh...'

'Where should I start?...'

[Go to the Office table, whatever valuables this place has, they would likely be right below the commander's nose, an arms reach of him]

[After all, amidst every single place one could choose to die, especially for a group that valued passing on their traditions, the personal Office of the Commander wasn't a very bright option amidst the entirety of the battlefield]

[He put their entire history in peril by fighting here... So he must've had at least one purpose aside from a symbolic last stand]

[Take a look around, we might be able to discover his reason for being here]

Dale couldn't refute David's words, so he made his way to the table…

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Notes