DS 741 (Patreon)

741: Going After Miraak

Miraak managed to pull one on Jon, but thanks to the creation of the Failsafe, Jon kept his mind from being pried open.

There is one thing Jon trusts the most, and that is his effort. He knows that even without his full knowledge, those skills he honed will never betray him, and he will be just as deadly without his knowledge as he is now… Well, maybe not as deadly, but he'll still be very lethal.

For that, it was only a matter of time for him to escape Apocrypha's confinement and return to Nirn to kick Miraak's ass.

Still, that thing that ambushed Jon wasn't truly Miraak; it was a portion of him created by Conjuration. Until Jon assimilates completely with Apocrypha, Miraak won't be free to roam the Nirn.

For that, the first thing Jon did after returning was secure his front. He returned to the Skaal village only to find that it seemed to have had a battle against the Daedra of Hermaeus Mora.

The Dare Troopers held their ground and established many kill zones in order to buy time for the Skaal to evacuate their village. However, the real problem came from the sky, as Miraak still had Dragons in his force, ones that Jon needed to take care of.

Still, if Jon keeps running around after Dragons, he'll keep missing the head of the snake. He needs to go after Miraak even though his initial plan was to power himself up for the ultimate confrontation by gathering all the black books and absorbing as many dragon souls as he could.

Jon is a slow player; he likes to be patient about things, but this matter had to be solved with haste. For that, the first thing Jon did when he entered the Skaal village was to unleash himself upon the remaining Deadra forces using all sorts of weapons and spells. He even resorted to ranged attacks to drop the Daedric creatures as fast as possible.

Once that was done, Jon was informed by the Sergeant Trooper stationed in the Skaal village that a greater force of Deadra was heading towards Raven Rock, and that's where everyone else went, including Alina, Wulfur, and Jullanar. He was also informed that the settlement of Tel Mithryn, Neloth's estate, had seen its share of the action, and a patrol was sent there to scout and report.

Moreover, the survivors of the Riekling tribes seemed to be gathering over the mountains and raiding the roads and the minor tribes around the island.

"It is a distraction operation." Jon said as he was very familiar with the tactic.

Someone was clearly leading the forces of the Deadra and controlling the Rieklings. Without even thinking, Jon knew it was Miraak, but he also knew where Miraak was at the moment. It's definitely the only place where he can oversee this entire mess and act like a god among men.

"So childish, so goddamn childish!" Jon turned towards the faraway mounts at the center of Solstheim and sent his Magicka in a pulse to scan that entire region right away.

With a slight grin, Jon proved himself right.

"If the village is empty, abandon it. Contact the guys near Tel Mithryn and tell them not to irritate Neloth and just head to Raven Rock. As for the Rieklings…" Jon paused for a second before witnessing Nefertiti go out and hunt them, "They won't be a problem."

If Miraak wanted to buy time, Jon was going to make it the most expensive and demanding time in history. After all, he already knows what to do and how to end this mess.

"Sloth!"

Jon called the name of his latest and final sin artifact as a throne of ice formed from the snow nearby. As Jon stepped on it and sat on the chair, a storm of frost emerged from beneath it and then went off. Jon was no longer there.

Sloth took him far in the sky above Solstheim, and rather than making Miraak look down on the rest of the world from the peak of his temple, Jon was looking down on Miraak from his throne.

"I hope you don't mind the view."

"It is you… at last."

As Jon emerged above the temple of Miraak, the owner of the empty house seemed to have decided to be a generous host. With not even 5% of his real power manifesting in this form he is assuming on Nirn, Miraak still wanted to be talking down to Jon, and thus he started floating up in the sky.

The two were simply arrogant; they always thought that they could always be the ones to look down on the other, and despite their situations, they were simply rising in the sky and competing for supremacy while circling around the summit of their mountain.

"Now what?" Miraak asked.

"One of us will go dizzy." Jon replied.

"How childish!"

"Hey, at least you're losing focus on your troops."

"It won't matter."

"Losing focus against Alina is the first step towards a disast…"

*KABOOM*

"See?"

A siege battle was occurring in Raven Rock, one that was certainly led by Alina against the invading forces of Miraak, who let the Daedra loose on the island.

Seeing how Alina was handling it, Jon became sure that she is the inventor of the tower-defense concept in this world, as he was witnessing it in its fullest glory.

"So, how do you want to do this? You come to me, or I come to you?" Jon asked.

"No matter how many times we fight here, I won't get to my fullest power, even though it is enough to put you to shame." Miraak replied in contempt, "But I'll admit that your Dragon blood has given you the qualifications to face me."

"Hah! Stupid fool." Jon couldn't put up with Miraak anymore and cussed at him, "This stick up your ass will be your undoing."

"Then come, Dragonborn, face me at the Summit of Apocrypha. Come and see what I will do to…"

*ZAP*

With a lightning rune appearing on his fingertip, Jon disintegrated the incarnation of Miraak effortlessly. Miraak is the type of guy who likes to have the last word and would be a pain to keep talking back and forth with since Jon is also the same kind.

That was easy since it wasn't the real Miraak, but Jon has something even the real Miraak won't see coming. The mere thought put a smile on Jon's face as he teleported to the airspace of Raven Rock.

Seeing as hundreds of Daedric creatures from Apocrypha are still swarming towards the city, Jon had to find the source of trouble and cut it off.

Alina seemed to have managed to clear the Bulwark of  Raven Rock from all the ash mounds in order to ensure the safety of the town and not get swarmed right away. She even reinforced the city defenses with her magic and had the situation stabilized and ready for a long siege.

Jon was assured that nothing too dangerous would hit him while he took care of the problem, and he immediately started spamming an army of Storm Atronachs outside Raven Rock. The storm element is Magicka-consuming, but it would eventually destroy any trace left by a spellcaster and expose their location.

An hour later, Jon hunted down more than twenty-five Dremora sorcerers, who were the main characters of the Conjuration ritual that summoned Seekers and Lurkers all around the island. It seemed that Miraak was short on manpower to the point where he used Dremora from different realms, namely Mehrunes Dagon's realm, judging from the red markings on the Dremoras' faces.

Getting rid of these summoners was easy, even though they hid to the best of their ability. It is just hard to cover the stench of Oblivion when you are in Nirn and you're not used to how Nirny your surroundings are.

Once those summoners were dealt with, it was only a matter of a few minutes for Alina's tower defense strategy to bring down the last of the Daedra.

"Solstheim has seen a lot because of us." Jon still lamented how part of the tragedy fell on his shoulders.

"Excuse me, my liege, but you have graced them with your Royal Protection. The ignorant Skaal and the outlander Dunmer should kneel and worship at your feet." On the other hand, Envy was quick to boast about her lord's ego.

"You insinuate like a true devil, Potema. Alas, I am not so easily swayed."

"I was merely speaking my thoughts out, my liege."

Jon smiled.

"If I were to ever rule Tamriel, I would have to be one spiteful bastard."

"Why is that, liege?"

"You're far too self-centered to know why, Envy." Jon said with a smile, "Well, shall we go save Tamriel?"

Jon called out all his Sin Artifacts as well as Nefertiti, who stood in her little girl form, holding the Black Book of Waking Dreams.

Jon knows two words of the Bend Will shout now, and he is ready to learn the last as well as go ahead and finish Miraak off. Nefertiti opened the Black Book for him, and Jon was absorbed into it and transferred whole to Apocrypha with the seven artifacts.

His aim wasn't to kill Miraak; his true goal was to completely overwhelm a Daedric Prince in his domain.