Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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/Shuaaa…/

As the mist receded and the outline of the man became stronger, Dale slowly opened his mouth to speak.

With his patience nearing its end, he only wanted to sit down and enjoy his trip to another country as he relaxed in what would likely be an overly luxurious seat.

Maybe eat something as well.

So he only spoke what was on his mind:

What else was he supposed to say?

Good morning? Try to reason with him to leave peacefully?

Someone who stole his place deserves no respect, and he'll give him none.

Try to act peacefully and 'civilized'? He was no pushover, there was no need for that.

He didn't need to play with words in fear of bringing forth a counteraction from this strange man.

Violence leads nowhere? Human history is written by their blood.

"..."

"!"

/Push!/

But suddenly, Dale pushed Mei to the side, and in the next moment…

/BAAAAAAM!/

He was blasted across the protective railings of the emergency exit, flying into the middle of the Airport's tracks.

/Step…/

From the cold mist, the man who punched Dale stepped out, slowly going after him as he jumped out of the Orbital Craft.

"..."

Meanwhile, Mei looked at this entire situation with an agape expression, trying to understand what had just happened.

It seemed she had one more thing to report now…

…

/Fwoosh!/

/Crack…/

"Humph…"

/Crunch…/

Below, Dale freed himself from the hard concrete ground, dusting his shoulders and cleaning his hands as he checked his current state.

'My clothes are a bit busted, a shame, I liked them quite a bit.'

'In any case…'

He turned to the side, looking at a man as he slowly approached from the side.

He was wearing an open white shirt and a pair of flower shorts, together with a pair of leather sandals.

His hair was blond and a little messy while his eyes were ocean blue, he was quite the handsome lad.

As he walked, he moved his arms around, stretching them.

'A European? Or maybe not… He looks "free-spirited", that's for sure.'

'Maybe too relaxed...'

Looking at the man made him think of Europe, but it would be too much to assume that in this situation.

/Exhale…/

But finding that out wasn't his priority.

'I was already attacked once, would twice make any difference?'

'Hum... I could even say this was my third time being actively pursued like this.'

'I'm still trying to understand who attacked me first and their reasons, and I don't expect things to change with this guy.'

'So I might as well make this short.'

Dale wasn't interested in asking questions, he was just…

/DASH!/

"..."

As soon as the man in front of him finished stretching his arms, he ran ahead with monstrous momentum!

/PUNCH!/

/BOOOM!/

As his fist cut through the air, sparks of electricity lashed in the air chaoticly.

The air split apart, the sound barrier cracked, and heat was released as his arm reached Dale's face.

/GRAB!/

/CRACK!/

But without moving even a step, Dale grabbed the fist, and the moment he did so, the ground underneath them caved in as multiple cracks formed across dozens of meters.

Dale had perfectly redirected the energy from the man's blows onto his fists, this was necessary so he wouldn't be flung away even if he blocked the strike.

However…

/SMASH!/

It didn't impress the man as he immediately followed through with another strike, this time aiming at his waist with his free hand.

/BOOOOOOOM!/

The strike connected as Dale did not react, but as the dust reseeded and the man saw the fruits of his labor, he realized Dale was still holding onto his fist as if nothing had happened.

Then, he took a close look at his appearance, he wasn't hurt in the slightest.

"Are your fists made out of cotton?" Dale asked with a smirk as he let go of the man's hand

In a sense, he grew curious, this man seemed just a bit older than him, making him just old enough to be eligible to be called "Young".

And his strength would've been enough to strike him a position in the Arena during Babylon's time, yet he had no recollection of his appearance.

The only possibility for that was the fact this man was playing with another appearance, but that is only possible if he created a random character before choosing HardCore difficulty, since if you choose that, character customization is most if not entirely disabled.

And for a good reason.

Two months had passed since Babylon closed its gates and Dale had gone through the web watching and rewatching matches to learn and improve, he didn't remember seeing this man nor anyone that resembled him anywhere.

"Hum… I haven't seen you before. Do you play Azimuth?" He naked nonchalantly as he clapped his hands, clearing them of dirt and dust

/Rolls eyes…/

"So you're like that too, huh." He said in a deep tone as he cracked his neck

/DASH!/

"Does anyone strong have to play that stupid game?!" He asked with a distorted smirk as he smashed Dale's face!

/SMASH!/

Or tried to…

"... You're a nasty guy." Dale replied as he punched the man away

/BOOOOM!/

The moment the man's fist was about to reach his face, Dale's hand turned into an afterimage, hitting his chin with incomprehensible speed, sending him flying back only to hit a large truck in the back.

/CRUNCH!/

It was clear that Dale wasn't taking his seriously at all.

"Huu… Good." The man mumbled to himself as he unlodged himself from the truck, punching it away and blasting it into pieces

He spat some blood onto the ground as he massaged his chin, chuckling to himself as he walked forward.

/BOOOM!/

The truck exploded, sending metal bits around as it burned in strong flames.

"It would've been boring if you couldn't do this much."

"... Did you come to bother me knowing who I was? Was all of this planned?" Dale asked as his eyes narrowed

"Heh, what if I did?"

"Then we have a problem on our hands."

"Do we?... Isn't that only you?" The man asked as his body began to glow in yellowish light

It was time for round two!

/BLAST!/

The man's body began to emit lightning bolts, becoming something akin to a Tesla Coil.

"..."

'Hum… What kind of show is that?' .

'A Martial Art of some kind? That doesn't seem to be the case, It can't be his Vitality, Magic? Not quite like that either… It's Yellow…'

'It's originating from his chest… Lungs? Interesting.'

While the man went through his phase changed, the tired Dale tried to figure out what was going on… Only to be forced to stop as the man charged again.

Even though Dale had trained greatly, Earth's Martial Development always seemed to catch his attention.

It did so more then once during Babylon's time, and it is doing so again today.

It made him wonder about that girl, how was she doing now?

Had she grown stronger as well?

/SMASH!/

/BOOOOOOM!/

His fist clashed against Dale's forearms, blasting a wave of lightning across the Airport, causing a momentary blackout.

But as dozens of meters of stone were broken and destroyed, Dale realized this man had no intention of holding back at all.

One of the reasons he was so laidback with his display of strength was due to the infrastructure and the civilians around him, anything he did could end up being severely damaged.

If he released his Vitality, it could and would likely kill every one of them in an instant.

And if he acted too aggressively, he could permanently damage the infrastructure supporting the Orbital Cannon.

Dale knew he was strong, Sarferato had already told him that physically, he was stronger than him.

But he lacked what he had, experience, control, practice, mastery, understanding, wisdom, and more.

In the past few months, he trained all of those aspects to no end, albeit it did not mean he neglected his Physical training.

To channel his strength, and control it. To understand how it worked and how everything affected it, in and out.

He couldn't let himself be swayed by this barbaric man's attacks and lose his reason...

And neither would let him run rampant.

/SWIPE!/

/PUNCH!/

The man moved his hand sideways, and Dale ducked underneath it before delivering an uppercut to his chin!

/Crack!/

/SMASH!/

Once his strike connected, Dale used his left foot to step over his right one, pinning him in place before delivering a hook strike against the side of his head with his right hand.

Before long, blood was already seeping out of the blond man's face as his body swayed, but he wasn't done yet.

/CRACK!/

Dale held his face, smashing the top of his head against it, breaking the man's nose before using his left leg to break his balance and his right fist to punch his chest, sending him away like a cannonball.

/BOOOOM!/

"... Phew."

/Light…/

Dale's right arm glowed in a slight red hue as he got out of his fighting stance.

/Twitch…/

From afar, the blond man slowly moved his body, suffering from a severe concussion from his strikes.

It didn't seem like he was going to get up anytime soon, his breathing alone prevented him from moving.

Dale's punch had completely disrupted his control over it.

"..."

'Is that what he meant by strong?... Pathetic, some of the Top 30 two months ago were better than this pathetic sod... Even top 50 to some degree.'

'By his words, it seems he doesn't play Azimuth, but it's impossible he doesn't understand its significance.'

'Does he consider his Skills above it? That he doesn't need to pursue more than what he already has here?'

'It is possible to refine one set of skills to the Limit and become "Supreme", but he doesn't look like the guy with the capabilities to achieve such a feat.'

'... Whatever it is I'll ask Roger later after this is all over.'

With his fight concluded, Dale walked away from the man, making his way to the Orbital Cannon.

He knew he was late for the launch, but even if he had to kick the AI he would make it launch the Craft.

It was time to leave, no interruptions this time.

… And if there were any, he wasn't going to entertain them for long.

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Notes

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