Black Souls.

—

Running towards the distant structure that has a high vantage point, William intends to snipe all sixty of the Draugr led by the Dragon Priest but stops himself at the last minute. Frowning, given that it is odd to send this heavy power roster just to chase him if they are not here for something, he then thinks at the speed of light in Morokei's shoes and how that great magician's mind operates. Finally coming up with a guess, which is that the guy wants his knowledge on how to create far-reaching projectiles like his Mystic Bullet, William changes the direction of his running.

Deep into a cluster of messy ruins where many structures block the view of his running figure, William then alters his dexterous muscles to mimic those of a stealthy Khajiit, skilled at remaining hidden. Knowing that it is not in his best interest right now to provide too much information to the enemy, especially considering they have already fallen victim to his bullet. Thankfully, after three hours of constant hiding from his large-scale divination being noticed, William is finally able to shake off the pursuit until he thinks that it is safe enough for him to go back to his base.

Thinking that the longer he is in the deeper level of Labyrinthian, the higher the chance that Morokei will find him, William decides that the right course of action is to rendezvous with Rikke's party. Given that she is the one who has enough firepower to shield him if he is being hunted by one of the nine Elder Dragon Priests that surely will have more knowledge and experience than him.

So, packing up his belongings, which are all kinds of mushrooms wrapped in the mummy linen cloth, and a makeshift Ancient Nord Sword that was blow-torched and glued with a Spectral Ancient Nord Sword, William then starts his journey following the sound of occasional clashes, now with a dragon roar added to the mix. Or, more correctly, the clicking of roaring bones of a dragon, considering the one who creates that sound is already dead for good, leaving only a skeleton to be raised as a necromantic being.

Slowly sneaking past the patrol army, which he is certain consists of hundreds of Draugr, William finally arrives at the inclined passage heading upwards. There, he can hear the loud sounds of an ongoing battle. However, as he listens more closely to the explosions, now mixed with various other sounds, he realizes that he severely lacks information, considering that he had drawn conclusions based solely on the big explosion.

Since the sounds that he can clearly hear are not just produced by the telekinetic blast of Rikke or the Thu'um of Morokei alone, but also by mortar projectiles, which he has already experienced receiving the full blast head-on when he shipped out of Skyrim about five months ago. And sure enough, once he is able to see the battlefield that is already involving the Imperial army as a whole, William is able to observe that magic mortar more closely. Although the projectiles being launched are Pyrokinetic projectiles rather than Cryogenic ones, he is able to see the uncanny resemblance from the ones used by the Wild Hunts.

"So, they decided to have an arms deal with those Aen Elle, huh? Or am I the one that just severely underestimated the military engineering advancement of the Septim Empire?"

—

Given the fact that three to four weeks, or even longer depending on when Rikke's party is being surrounded, have already passed, William thinks it is enough time for the Imperial to send their troops into this place. And maybe, after a little bit of normal investigation, even though he already snatched the Focusing Crystal that can divine the arcane similarity between the Eye and the Staff from the White Elves that took it from the Synod, they then discover that those Staff currently in Rikke's hands is the key to that Eye magic reactor.

So, not wanting one of their competitors to have more advantage in the upcoming world conflict stage that surely will drag them all into it, even though they are not in the state to be able to conquer right now, the Imperials then have no choice but to cripple them first if they don't want Nilfgaardian to trample them all over again. And maybe, a temporary alliance with the Dominion that they will betray at the moment notice if the time is right, is the best course of action right now, resulting in having this magic mortar for themselves even though they didn't have a concept of firearms before.

Also, feeling the transparent bubble enchantment in the air that blocked any attempt of scrying divination whatsoever convinces William that it is true they want to one-up the Nilfgaardian, or even the Dominion, given that he doesn't see any Altmer whatsoever among the Imperial ranks. In which, makes the current action they are undertaking right now to be a high-risk, high-return one, so that they will be on the same level of stage between the two factions.

Although he doesn't know why on earth they are not retreating since they already have the Staff of Magnus currently in their hand, William is able to understand the reason after seeing Rikke fighting in the front line with hundreds of Kyne Priestesses right now who are currently sealing one of the Dragon Priests back into their sarcophagus where they belong.

Maybe because Rikke is a Nord through and through, very much loving her land and not wanting to see Skyrim destroyed by unbound free Morokei, the Imperials have no choice but to comply. Resulting in this current scene, where their army is fighting with the Dragon Cult army to seal them back into their tomb, even though it is not in their best interest to concern themselves with the Skyrim local dangers.

One thing that makes him frown, though, is why on earth they are not just using Dimeritium to kill the souls of this Dragon Priest or using any kind of means to destroy them completely, rather than sealing them and knowing later down the line they will need to do that all over again. So, after careful gazing from afar into one of the sellsword Witchers that is fighting this Dragon Priest using silver and Dimeritium bomb, William is able to understand that their souls are considered to be sentient ones.

Or, in more correct terms, all of the hundred Dragon Priest souls right now are counted as a Black one like humans or any other common races that can think for themselves. Different once again from the game where their souls are only a Grand White one, which is very susceptible to Dimeritium, unlike himself or any other sentient beings that only have a small discomfort when exposed to that metal. They are now acknowledged by the Mundus as one of the races amongst many that populate all over the land, and can be said to be the creation of Aedra or Daedra.

'Is this the true reason Alduin created Draugr in the first place? To Trojan horse the Mundus system concerning black souls that become slaves as default to the Dragons? So he can have millions upon millions of people ready to worship him to perform the ascension by the time he escapes from the time prison?'

"..."

Coughing slightly, William then asked in a more polite tone this time, "Brother Scrolls, can you initiate a Dragon Break event, please? Just make Alduin or any other Dragon a bit dumber like in the game. That is enough, I swear."

—