Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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"Your… What?" Dale asked in confusion

"Ahem… My current appearance does not escape my senses… Even if I'm currently trapped within this block of stone." Qrubin said ironically

"I'm dying… Maybe I'm even already dead, it depends on the perspective as this was the price I chose for the sake of preservation."

"The old giving way to the young… You know how it goes."

"... But… What happens if you… You know…"

"There's no need to beat around the bush, I don't quite mind it… Well… Maybe not as much as I would've in the past, I'm now too old and too far gone to care."

"..."

"As for why I chose this… This goes back to a few years before the Wall fell." Qrubin said as he closed his eyes, remembering long-lost conversations with his comrades and family

"You must already be aware but… We knew our end was coming. We had long predicted the coming of an invasion like none before, a wave of monsters not even recorded in the books."

"I always found it ironic that the strongest wave would come during our weakest times… Maybe that was fate all along."

"We prepared, as much as we could, and it paid off, the fact you're here breathing and well is proof of that."

"Those monsters never crossed… Partially at least."

"My task was one I decided myself when I realized that all of our efforts would be for naught if we didn't first take care of our current underlying problems."

"I knew the Seal beneath the Church wouldn't last long without maintenance, and I knew I couldn't keep it going without someone to suppress it…"

"So I came up with an idea… That I would become said seal."

"A retarded idea really, but it worked somehow." David added with a scoff on the side

"Ahem... By sealing myself in Treflux, an extremely rare variation of Sapphire, I could act as sealing factor for the Cathacombs while also maximizing on its already existing defenses."

"Not only that, I would be able to maintain the distant systems of the Wall together with those of the Magic Tower, thus prolonging their shelf life."

"But that came with a problem… No usual magic would allow me to seal myself perfectly in the stone… I could put myself into hibernation for years and prevent aging, but that isn't the goal I had in mind… That would be only escapism."

"So I turned to the Dark arts upon finding myself with nothing but failures by following the ordinary path."

"Most would've given up, I don't know if I should commend you for your persistence or punish you for it." David added abruptly once more in between Qrubin's words

"You keep talking about me but you had no solutions either..."

"As I was saying... I researched and researched, eventually coming face to face with a solution."

"By tapping onto an ancient forbidden ritual, I would turn myself into a monstrosity the likes of that we sealed deep beneath the earth… But by freezing such process in the middle, I would achieve the estate in which I initially sought over."

"To be conscious and alive while maintaining most of my power, together with an extremely long life and the lack of a need for the usual Human necessities."

"Together with immunity to the corrosion brought forth by those abominations and a few other miscellaneous things."

"Above all, I managed to modify the ritual by using a rather unorthodox method… If that can even be said given the nature of the Magic at hand." He said as he turned his gaze to David

"Urg… Just remembering that day makes me sick." David replied as he closed his eyes in disgust

"... What happened?"

"This bastard… This senseless Mana addict... Asked the ArchBishop to help him with his darned Dark Magic Ritual!" David proclaimed as he gnashed his teeth

"He just came up to a bunch of priests and gave them hope that he had an idea, only to go and propose a Dark Ritual so foul it would even pop the Pope's eyes out!"

"... To this day I still find their expressions rather amusing." He added with a chuckle

"..."

'Aren't you the holy relic? Is it really okay to speak like that?...'

"It was the only way, with my knowledge of the Dark Arts, there wasn't much I could do to break apart the process and bring some of its methods to the realm of the 'acceptable'."

"Thus, with the holy powers of dozens of Priests together with my Magic, a modified ritual came into being, with its final cog being the placement of the Holy Relic, David, on the pedestal on the Fifth floor within the Hall of Heroes to magnify the effects of the Seal."

"That was how I came to be… I sacrificed my past life to be here, not that it would've lived any longer anyway... I would've died with them instead, and honestly, that's not too bad."

"You're wrong though." Dale said as his eyes sharpened

"Hum?"

"So far, I've not been able to confirm the deaths of the other Division Commanders, and among them, Sarferato survived."

"Wh... Really? That bald head did?..."

Qrubin's voice was filled with something Dale hadn't seen before, hope.

/Nod.../

"... This... Doesn't change anything. But I think I'll exchange some words with him whenever possible."

"As for the others... If he managed to survive, then there's a sliver of a chance the others also managed to accomplish their own tasks and leave safely."

"Yet, given how long it has been... I'm not too confident that they're still around."

"But death by old age is many times more welcoming than in the battlefield... Though I met some people that would disagree with that." Qrubin said in a somewhat amused tone

"For now... Let us continue."

"Together, the combined prowess of my Magic and the Priests would've been enough to suppress the Catacombs for centuries… Or at least for as long as I retained my sanity."

"Or until the reinforcements of the Church arrived to reinforce the seal... Though they never came."

"..."

'This is the second time I've heard about this, first from David when I rescued him and now from him.'

'Just what happened to the Church for them to not send anyone after they left Resko?'

"Those creatures outsmarted us, they drained the Holy relic of its powers, rendering it useless if not a burden since I had to make up for the loss of power that came with the constant withering of the node it was in charge of."

"Of course, that would've been solved if I were awakened, but as I said before, this has been the first time I've been fully 'aware' in a century almost, it had to be done to maximize the time of the ritual."

"Now, it's not like everything went smoothly."

"Eventually… The Ritual will be completed. Once it does… I don't think I need to tell you what will happen."

"A Lich with the abilities of Elriharad Qrubin but magnified to an unknown degree, everything I could do and more will come into being."

"If the Ritual ends up as a perfect one, the Lich would keep my memories, perhaps even an aspect of myself, albeit how big it would be I cannot say."

"If the stars align and I manage to keep my own consciousness… Then all of our worries would end."

"Following the promise I made long ago to this dunce you carry, I'll pass my everything onto a worthy individual… And then… End my own life."

"If not, then you better pray to be ready for it or that the Lich is uninterested in you and leaves you be, albeit it won't change the fact that it's an issue someone will have to deal with eventually."

"To leave an immortal Skeleton Artificer alive to do whatever it deems fit is the last thing this continent needs."

"Do you understand now? Why my 'death' is of great concern to you?"

"..."

"Then… Won't that be solved if we just prevent the Ritual from completing?" Dale asked as he raised an eyebrow

"Of course, that is one of the ways of doing it, nevertheless, for how long do you intend on delaying the inevitable?"

"..."

"Not that it would be an easy thing to accomplish… That head in your hands would be able to keep me going, but its efforts are better put elsewhere."

"Humph."

"..."

'David acts as if he's bothered by this old man but aren't they rather similar to one another?'

While Dale thought about that, Qrubin continued:

"I called you here to speak mostly of that and to discuss what we should do until that time comes, and of course, to answer whatever questions you have as I'm sure you possess many."

"I initially planned on calling the people that caused a stir at my Tower, to try and understand a bit more of the outside world… But that's already answered."

"I told you my story and my fate… How about you tell me yours?"

"I still have some time, and I'm very curious about the actual state of things, how the world beneath the sun actually looks like after so long."

"Once that's done… Let's talk a bit about the future, I have several ideas and most importantly, I can see that you're practicing the standard Mana handling method of the Corps."

"And that you're pretty poor at it, as such, why not learn under me?"

"..."

"Don't look at me like that, it's an incredible opportunity, besides, I'm bored out of my mind and I can give you 100%... 95% of my attention, I couldn't even give my wife that much attention mind you!"

"That was why your daughter always caused trouble, you never taught her well enough." David complained as he remembered the mischiefs of a certain little girl

"Shut it Gold Nugget I don't want to hear it from you, the very person responsible for blowing air at the dresses of the Wizard apprentices back then!"

"I was only having some fun, do you know how boring it is to stay as a prop all the time?"

Qrubin rolled his eyes around before saying:

"... Just ignore him, as for what I said before, what do you think?"

"..."

/Nod.../

Dale nodded, opening his mouth as he slowly narrated everything he knew about Resko in the most resumed way possible.

Every once in a while, David would say something amidst his words, adding onto his story.

And like that, time flied by…

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Notes

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