Azimuth: The Elden Throne (New Version)

Chapter 148 'Justice'

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Fray's sword slashed the wind faster than a bullet, aiming to decapitate Dale during his moment of momentary 'carelessness'…

"DIE!"

He poured his everything into this one move, brutality and anger moved his body forward in a way he never thought possible.

His reason was completely gone, rage dictated his actions...

For the first time in his life, or perhaps for as long as he could remember, Fray lost his cool-headedness. 

As even during his most excruciating fights, Fray kept his cool...

Because he learned, or at least had been forced to stay calm whenever he held his blade.

As the sharp glimmer of its edge signified an oath and a promise he made for himself when he started training all those years ago...

/SMASH!/

But just when the blue sword was a palm away from his neck, Dale's hand came crashing down.

"?!"

/Fwosh…/

/CRACK!/

His hand landed directly on Fray's shoulder, breaking it, the impact was so great his entire arm went numb and the momentum it carried was completely dispersed, causing his energy sword to be flung away, not even touching Dale's neck…

It flew into the distance, eventually falling against the ground in a weak manner, sliding away as it slowly vanished until it regressed into just the broken handle it was before.

/Thud…/

Fray kneeled on the ground, his eyes wide as disbelief plastered onto his face.

"..."

In the end, Dale said nothing, not even taking his attack on with honor, instead, he cut him down savagely without even giving him a chance to shine…

But he did that on purpose.

Someone like Fray, who had no respect for others, had no right to receive any as well.

Although there was the justification that, if you never gave Fray respect, then how was he supposed to change?

The problem was that Fray received a lot of respect, even if only from his Master...

Still, Dale didn't know much about him, everything he knew was told to him through the perspective of Zaw as they walked around the Village, and from what he heard and saw during their first meeting.

And just from that, his opinion of this man had reached rock bottom, and until he was proven the contrary, he wouldn't show him any mercy, even if that meant completely breaking their relations apart.

Because he saw no regret, no reconsidering, just an ugly reckless desire in Fray's eyes.

It wasn't even the recklessness of a warrior going into his last fight, protecting those he loved, Fray had no true calling, no cause, it was merely...

A very ugly thing to see.

And he found that pretty pathetic.

You may judge him by your standards, but Dale wouldn't care, as he follows his own desires and he is very clear about them.

He never expected all to agree, that was only natural.

People wish to believe they live in a world where everyone can be happy, but they often neglect the fact their ancestors killed each other brutally for even the silliest of reasons.

While Fray seeks his own pleasure, so does Dale.

In this aspect, perhaps both he and Fray are similar, but that is where their similarities end.

"Ha... Haha... Haa..."

Collapsed on the ground, blood falling onto his lips from his broken nose, Fray started to laugh dryly, his lips breaking apart as blood poured down, and -a shadow fell on his face.

/SMACK!/

Dale fiercely punched Fray's face, sending him recoiling backward, his head crashing against the ground, cracking the rocks as splinters flew across the area.

"So that was all."

"I must say, I'm fairly disappointed."

His tone getting heavier, he gazed at Fray with a sharp gaze as he had the urge to kick him down for good.

But he ended up stopping, given Fray's current condition, another punch might as well end up killing the boy or causing irreparable damage... If he hadn't caused it already.

An Elixir might do the trick, but he had none left.

"Time to end this."

'I've already determined what I wanted to know, now, it's time to go on with my day.'

He raised his hand right into the sky, and not long after, the sound of wind being cut resounded on the street.

/FWOOOOSH!/

/GRASP!/

"!"

From the sky, a massive Greatsword descended like a diving bird, being grasped by Dale's hand.

Somehow, that tiny hand managed to put a stop to that herculean sword's momentum…

"Clench your stomach and butt-cheeks, this is going to hurt." Dale said as he raised Caladgolg, putting it on top of Fray

"Ervughim…?..."

Fray said something incomprehensible, confused mumblings from someone whose head was already half into the dreamland…

/Drop/

Without saying much more, Dale dropped Caladgolg on top of his stomach…

His final challenge for the arrogant boy.

"!"

Albeit Fray couldn't really see very well due to the pain around his eyelashes and his weak concussion, his hair started to rise, as if saying that whatever was going to happen would be pretty serious...

A natural reaction, an instinctive reflex, Fray's body tensed, becoming like a rock as he raised his arms to protect his chest

/THOM!/

/CRACK!/

"GARRRAAHHHH!"

Screaming from the top of his lungs, Fray had to use everything he had to impede his body from being squashed.

The sound of bones breaking echoed as the sword fell on his chest, and Fray was already started to feel lightheaded…

Even when the sword fell to the side, Fray had to use everything he had to support it...

And it would be game over if the sword slid to his neck.

Since considering he can barely hold it with his arms, if the sword slid sideways, his head would be gone in no time.

".. Me… Lift it up?..."

"Undeser..."

Fray could barely understand what Dale was talking about, he just knew it was some sort of mockery, but amidst his desperation, he could think of nothing as he put all of his efforts into surviving this tribulation.

For the first time ever since he was small, Fray prayed for help, for someone to free him from this madness!

Today, there were a lot of firsts for him, albeit none of them were of the pleasant kind...

He cried silent tears as he clenched his jaws, his hands bleeding as his nails breached his skin.

"Arg... Ha... a..."

As his arms lost strength, as the sword pressed down on his broken ribs, he let out his final breath as he bleed from his eyes, mouth, and nose…

"..."

/Clench/

At that moment, Caladgolg was retracted, flying back onto Dale's hand, but Fray was already completely unconscious.

/Pierce.../

Dale pierced the ground, letting Caladgolg rest.

The fight was over, but there were no claps, nor there were any ovations.

This wasn't a fight, it was…

Some shook their head, trying to think what the boy had done to deserve this treatment, while others even started to see Dale in a bad light.

Such is how things go, the masses will judge based on what they see without thinking because what the eyes don't see, the heart doesn't feel.

Dale did feel something as he saw the young man bleed, he wasn't completely heartless.

So with a small sigh, he took out his collar accessory, putting it around his neck.

/Whispers…/

"He's really fierce aye, he won't even leave the dead be…" Some random player said as he watched Dale crouch on the ground and put something around Fray's neck

"..."

'He's not dead though?' Dale thought as he listened to the whispers

"I know right?"

"Is that even allowed? Shouldn't he be reported or something?"

"That likely won't work…"

The players shook their heads, some even wanted to shout so that Dale would leave the man alone, but no one wanted to be the next one on the list…

"Leave him be asshole!"

Until someone shouted from within the crowd.

"... Yeah! Get your hands off him!"

Feeling emboldened by someone else, some of the frustrated players decided to act for justice, calling out Dale so he would stop whatever he was doing.

/Screams…/

Like a gunpowder barrel, the previous atmosphere made a complete 180 as people started to point at Dale.

People started to scream louder and louder, feeling powerful, as if their words meant anything...

As if together, they would stop him, and put an end to this barbaric display.

The villagers felt that something was wrong, so they quickly scattered, getting away from these noisy outsiders.

The youngsters whose eyes were blocked were pulled away, while the adults had already left... Joining in with the wise seniors that had already retreated.

"?"

'What are they doing?'

Dale rose up from the ground with a confused expression, he had just finished using a health potion discretely, and now that his collar had been placed on Fray, he shouldn't be able to die that easily...

His wounds did look severe, but he never wilded his sword, only his fists.

Overall, he could tell that his face had several broken bones, his nose was likely shattered, his jaw was dislocated, and he might've gotten a concussion...

The back of his head was bleeding, and he may need some stitches or a pretty powerful potion...

His shoulder was likely both broken and dislocated, and he might have some internal bleeding somewhere on his stomach, but Dale couldn't tell if his punches had been strong enough for that.

There weren't any cuts on his body, so he wasn't bleeding that much.

The only big risk might come from his ribs since the weight of the sword might've pushed something somewhere it shouldn't be...

Still, with a potion and his collar, he should be more than okay until proper help arrived.

So why were people telling him to leave the corpse alone?

Were they cursing Fray?

"Humph!"

One of the players felt extremely emboldened by the collective power of his comrades, so he decided to step up…

He walked right by Dale, pushing him aside…

"Eh?"

'So heavy...'

Or so he tried, as the one being pushed ended up being himself…

Dale did not move in the least, instead, he merely looked down at the man with a frown.

[Resko's Reputation -30]

Following this action, the player suddenly heard the most heartbreaking message of all time, and immediately, all of the adrenaline that was coursing through his veins vanished, and he started to curse the man that pushed him forward.

"I…"

/SMACK!/

The player had no time to ask for forgiveness as Dale's fist obliterated him like he was swatting a fly...

For those that had Gore turned on, they saw the player's body turn into a blurry pile of flesh before turning into light, while those that did have it on simply saw the player scatter into brilliant light…

/Reek…/

It was enough to cause strong nausea… As some players vomited.

The Villagers were a bit far, so they couldn't see very well, but none of the children had seen this as their mothers had already left with them by this time.

/Clench/

"!"

Following his brutal killing, Dale grasped Caldgolg, pulling it from the ground in one swift motion, making the players tense.

They felt safe with each other, but some of them were already considering fleeing…

"Tsk."

'The worst thing someone can do is to follow the masses unless you're the instigator...'

'How useless... But this should be good enough for now.' Dale thought as he looked around

This would work to make them calm down and scatter...

Especially a certain skinny man on the back, the very person that had screamed ""Leave him be asshole!""...

This man was tall and skinny, and he looked sketchy… This was Fimbroy, the very merchant that confronted Dale upon learning of his age!

Upon arriving at the village, he was isolated by his fellow merchants, his previous acts had already soured his relationship with the Villagers, and they didn't want to end up like him, so they used him as a scapegoat.

And who was he supposed to cry to? His connections were far away, and his 'allies' abandoned him...

So he had to find a way to turn things around.

He could make new allies... Or make his previous allies come back.

And if the very elder he previously offended lost his reputation and standing in the Village, then his allies would have no reason to segregate him anymore.

It was simply how things worked, there was no space for feelings in this craft, it was about the benefits.

'Time to go.'

Before he was recognized though, Fimbroy snickered and turned around, walking back to the shadows.

One failed attempt, right to the next one...

He didn't even care about the people he used, they were fools to have fallen into a stupor anyway.

"..."

And while he did so, Dale became pensive.

'I thought I had a good grip on the players, but it seems I was wrong… Why did they do this self-destructive action?'

'... Pity? How come?'

'Unless they were totally immersed in a game, no players would sympathize with the enemy of the main character unless they knew his background... Something they definitely don't know.'

'Either I am misunderstanding something or they misunderstood something…'

'Hum... Perhaps they simply found it too brutal.'

'Well, it's impossible to account for everyone's perspective at the end of the day.'

'I'll learn more about it once I log out and see the videos, their perspective will be shared with me.'

'There will definitely be online discussions about my actions, I can just adapt to whatever they find "moral".'

"I feel empty... Such a waste of time." He muttered to himself as he clapped his hands, cleaning them of the dust

He turned around, resting the sword on his shoulder as he made his way to a trio of people, watching his every move from afar.

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Notes