Chapter 300 - Pieces Of The Past
NOTE: New Volume Synopsis: "The Daedric Labours: Jon faces the toughest challenges of his life before the Dragon Rising of the Fourth Era that will change him forever and will set him on a journey of redemption across the continent to meet things beyond the extent of his knowledge."
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The Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon, a cursed place built in the frozen wilds of Hjaalmarch atop a desolate mountain. Befitting of the Daedra it is dedicated to, the shrine is devoid of any signs of worship as no mortal is to be associated with the terrible Daedric Prince that almost destroyed the world.
The Exalted and Most Puissant Lord, Gerent of Dagon, Mehrunes, also the Black Daedra Lord, Mehrunes the Razor, Mehrunes the Thieftaker, Mehrunes Godsbody, and Mehrunes the Red Arms That Went Up, Mehrunes Dagon the Daedric Prince of Destruction, Change, Revolution, Energy, and Ambition, had a status carved on the shrine revealing its savage form of a gigantic humanoid with a goblin-like face and four arms seated on the peak of the mountain and wielding a gigantic axe. Between its legs, a large door to an inner sanctum could be seen but that was definitely sealed, the only way to contact the Daedric Prince was by the altar in front of the door.
Jon felt some cold shivers from the foul presence surrounding the place remembering how such a Daedric Lord came to be. Unlike the majority of the Daedric Princes, Mehrunes Dagon was not one of those who refused to help Lorkhan in the creation of Mundus [The Daedra] or one of those who escaped Mundus after discovering the Scheme of Lorkhan [The Magna-Ge], but he was created by the [Magna-Ge] in the bowels of Lyg to be a prince of good, and imbued him with Oblivion's most precious asset, hope. And as hope spread like wildfire as destruction and ambition broke loose.
Dagon created one disaster after another, from the destruction of Ald Sotha and Mournhold (and possibly Old Saarthal), to the invasion of Battlespire Academy of Imperial Battlemages, to the last known disaster [The Oblivion Crisis] that took millions of life, ended the Septim Dynasty and brought the Empire to its knees.
Just by [The Oblivion Crisis], every cult of Mehrunes Dagon was hunted down to extension and each follower of the prince of destruction was pardoned from living once found.
There were only a few Daedric Princes that Jon wanted to have nothing to do with and that included Mehrunes Dagon, Sheogorath, Molag Bal and Mephala. Still, for the existence of the [Daedric Artifacts], Jon realized very well that he must make sure that these four Daedric Princes are not contacted by other people to prevent any crisis from being unleashed on the world.
Jon's eyes were glued on the shrine as if it would bounce on him if he didn't look at it but he kept a steady presence and a firm look. Once he climbed the steps to the altar in front of the Shrine, the cold wind and frost blew hard and he felt it in his bones. The evil presence was surly thick here.
Jon stood in front of the altar and took out the fragments of [Mehrunes' Razor] then placed them on the altar.
"Mehrunes Dagon, Lord of Destruction and Change… I brought your blade to bring it back to its glory and to unleash its might with my hands."
Jon Dare lived up to his name and didn't flinch as he made a ballsy demand rather than a meek prayer.
The evil presence in the place thicker and a foul Aura assaulted Jon out of nowhere. Anticipated it won't be easy, Jon hardened his heart and assaulted back.
His [Tyrant Aura] broke forth and his voice echoed.
"THUROT ULD REL!" (Absolute, Might, Dominance)
The Shout supported his Aura and his Aura supported his Shout creating a unique effect that stood in the face of the mighty evil Aura of the shrine and brought the clash to a draw.
All the living beings one mile around the shrine trembled in fear and ran away from the area.
Jon kept glaring at the Shrine and didn't budge from his place. He then stepped forward to the altar and put his hand on it unleashing his [Tyrant Aura] one more time, as soon as he did so, a loud voice spoke to him in his head.
{You, Mortal, you have got my attention. You are worthy of speaking to. You have gathered the pieces of my Razor. Killing those Orcs were was an amusing game to witness.}
Jon listened to the foul hoarse voice that echoed in his head while enduring the pain of being spoken to by a higher being.
{But… Dagon does not declare a winner that did no more than just that.}
Jon's face almost twisted in anger but he kept a composed behavior.
"So, what do you want me to do? Bring a calamity of some sort on the world?"
{It would amuse me if you really did so but I can see the mockery in your heart, Mortal. Your arrogance will be your demise.}
"I know… I just can't help it. But still, you won't find a more suitable person than me to wield the Razor."
{Oh! How so?}
"I Revolt and Change, I Charge and Destroy, I Wish and Achieve. I revolted against a ruler and took his place, I erased a whole bloodline from the face of Nirn, I harvested the lives of those who opposed me and my ambition is far from over. Who else is more fitting?"
{Is that so? You deemed yourself worthy by just that?}
"Even if you belittle it, I have more for you. Something that you should thank me for recovering before anyone else."
Jon took out his last card. A Diamond Gem that emitted a wave of magical energy. Mehrunes Dagon did not respond to it but Jon took out a Light Screen and fixed it in front of the altar and inserted the Diamond in a certain spot on the screen.
"I am not sure if you are keeping up with the 'Magical Technology magazine' that gets issued in Winterhold… You don't have a subscription? Don't worry, we have special discount multidimensional villains. The point is… this is a Memory Crystal and that is a Light Emitting Screen. Put the two together and you will view recorded memories."
{...}
Still no response.
"This memory crystal have memories from the [Hero of Kvatch]."
As soon as Jon said that, the evil aura around the shine turned more foul and the atmosphere became a few degrees colder. After all, the [Hero of Kvatch] is the arch-enemy of Mehrunes Dagon, the one who destroyed the prince's ambition of claiming Tamriel. The game previous to 'Skyrim' known as 'Oblivion' told that Story. The [Hero of Kvatch] was a prisoner in Cyrodiil whose cell had a secret escape tunnel for the Emperor, after a witnessing the Emperor escape from assassins of the [Mythic Dawn Cult] that worshipped Mehrunes Dagon. The hero was set free and participated in the fight against the cult and helped the last Emperor of the Septim Dynasty, Martin Septim.
In this Memory Crystal, there was the memory of the last showdown between Martin Septim and Mehrunes Dagon witnessed by the Hero of Kvatch. How could Jon get his hand on such a thing? Well, he played the game himself.
Jon inserted his Magicka in the Light Screen and images and sounds started coming from it. Of course, 'Oblivion' was not the prettiest of games but Jon can always say…
"The memories are old but we can still see them, right?"
{...}
No response came but Jon was grinning ear to ear.
Scenes from the game were shown on the screen and conversations were heard. Martin Septim was being escorted by the guards and the Hero to the [Temple of the One], Mehrunes Dagon appears in the Imperial City in his true form, Martin Septim reaches the Dragonfires in the [Temple of the One], Mehrunes Dagon destroys the walls as Martin Septim destroys the [Amulet of Kings] to shift into the Avatar of Akatosh, a great dragon that rivaled the gigantic size of Mehrunes Dagon, a great battle breaks out between Dagon and Martin Septim in the form of the Avatar of Akatosh and Dagon's butt is royally kicked but the young Emperor Martin Septim didn't survive shifting into the Avatar of Akatosh and died sacrificing himself for the sake of Tamriel.
"So, what do you think?" Jon looked at the statue of the shrine with a wide grin. "I am sure the Empire will pay a ton of gold to acquire such a rare memory crystal to view it on public and show the deeds of the heroic men who defeated the Prince of Destruc…"
{INSOLENT MORTALS!}
It seemed that Jon has conjured the wrath of the prince.
"Oh! Don't be triggered, Lord Dagon. This is the only Memory Crystal in the world that show such a thing. I've brought it to… you know… gain your favor."
There was no need to question Jon's intentions. Mockery was sound and clear in his voice and he was trading the Memory Crystal for [Mehrunes' Razor].
{... You want the Razor so bad? You will have it. Place the damned crystal on the Altar and witness my great power.}
"A wise choice, Lord Dagon." Jon said and gave a slight bow.
As the Memory Crystal was put on the Altar, a strong magical power came from it and the Crystal disappeared. The fragments of the Razor all rose up in the air and reddened as if they were on fire then got put together once again.
These broken fragments turned into a well shaped and very balanced elegant dagger. Jon was indeed impressed even though he knew it would happen like that but witnessing the magical process was an eye-opener.
The Dagger was kept hanging in the air by the magic power of Mehrunes Dagon. Jon extended his hand to take the Dagger but it didn't budge.
{You are one slimy mortal. So, before you go, one final challenge! Ha ha ha!}
The laughter of Mehrunes' Dagon echoed and the force holding the Razor loosened but as soon as that happened, the void in front of Jon broke open and three Dremora Markynaz appeared.
"Hahaha! Mortal flesh!"
"Die, Mortal!"
"I'll shatter your bones!"
The large Daedric Humanoids laughed savagely as they looked down on Jon as if he is some sort of prey.
"Humph! Lowly Daedric beings, you dare act haughty in front of me?" Jon's attitude turned naughtier than the Noble Dremora Markynaz themselves as he wielded the Razor.
Jon waved his hand and threw the dagger towards the Dremora Lord in the middle and he didn't forget to cast a space mark on the Razor. Once [Razor] passed the first Dremora, Jon teleported where his mark was and appeared in the middle of the three Dremora, waving [Bloodskal] at one and [Greed] on the other beheading. [Razor] grazed the third Dremora but he didn't get the time to react. Jon was already stabbing at him with [Bloodskal] reinforced with [Greed] and the Dremora got penetrated. Jon left him up on [Bloodskal] and the two looked at each other.
Jon had a sadistic smile on his face. The Dremora which was an immortal being felt his heart quivering.
"Mortal!" It shouted at Jon trying to wave its sword.
"Mortal this, mortal that! You guys are shit… you live for eternity in servitude while enduring thousands of deaths. You may think mortal are weak but you guys are pitiful. Tell me, if I marked your soul right here right now and kept summoning you and slaying you… how long will it last till you kneel and beg for mercy?"
"..." The Dremora Markynaz felt shaken but his hate clouded his fear.
"Mortal! You dare? You *BLAWG*"
Once the 'D' word was said, Jon got triggered right away. His Aura moved through [Bloodskal] and exploded inside the body of the Dremora.
"For a being that died many times, you are shit at dying."
Jon retrieved his new dagger, the Razor of Mehrunes Dagon.
[Razor] Inflicts a corrosive poison, Ignores Armors, Has a 2/101 chance to insta-kill.