Ares was popping popcorn into his mouth without a care in the world but something rather strange happened. He felt an ominous shiver run up his spine and something was very definitely wrong. There was a disturbance in the peace and he was the target without a shadow of a doubt. He tilted his head and glanced back, over his throne, to spy what manner of trouble was heading his way... And then it all clicked. What he was seeing was the other three matriarchs all menacingly marching straight at him with devious intentions. Ares was all too familiar with ''that look'' in a woman''s eyes that meant he was about to get beaten senseless for his stupidity! But why?! Ares had been good as of late and not bothered anyone!... NOT. Ares knew better. He knew that while HE hadn''t done anything... His clone almost definitely had... And now he was about to reap the punishments his other self had sown. The matriarchs congregated around Ares'' seat as he sunk into it with a wry smile. what was he supposed say to get out of this situation exactly? He could flee into the void but that would only be a temporary solution that didn''t get him off the hook in the long run... In other words, he took his fate head on and didn''t back down! Well he did curl up into a ball slightly and cover his head with his hands in preparation but surely that much was allowed? Might as well enable himself to weather the storm! And a storm he did face. One so brutal it was as though the hail was a torrent of punches... Maybe because that''s actually what they really truly were... kicks, palms, and knuckles came crashing into Ares who groaned under the weight of the matriarch''s attacks. His fate was in their hands as their overwhelming cultivation advantage meant they could be as lenient or as rough with him as they chose to be. Serene seemed to have the lightest and most forgiving hand whereas Rhea was just beating Ares for the fun of it without holding back! Margaret was somewhere in the middle probably because her artistic sense of balance dictated an even spread of violence. That or maybe she was too preoccupied with how to finish her ''Minibeast'' that she couldn''t be bothered to hit Ares properly. It was a toss up with this woman and there was no telling what the answer actually was. Especially not for Ares who was none the wiser about all of this anyway. He had a rough idea of why he was going to end up with a swollen cheek and a black eye but the specifics eluded him. He also had more pressing matters right now as he was currently being mobbed...


    Of course no one else present batted an eye at this treatment. The assumption that ''Ares deserved it'' was permanently engraved into everyone''s skull and nobody ever cared enough to question why something of this nature was happening. This was technically a good thing for Ares because if they did ask, and found out about the extent of his stupidity, they may even very well join in and hammer it home themselves not to be a dork in the future. Their familiarity with such events led to them being lackadaisical in punishing the clown and that was a relief for the battered bozo who, now that the matriarchs were finally satisfied, had been left dangling over the side of his seat with countless lumps all over him. He''d been bruised in places he didn''t even know existed, parts of his hair had been torn out, his feet had been twisted, and a few of his teeth knocked out. All of these injuries would heal themselves thanks to Ares'' regeneration but it certainly wouldn''t be an instant process... In other words, Ares was going to look like he''d just been mugged in a back alley for a good while, maybe even up until his next match... Karma was at work here so Ares had to pity himself because no one else would! His hand clutched the top of the throne as he shakily pulled his limp body back up. He swung back into his seat with his head drooped low and took a deep sigh... Hm? What''s that strange chill I feel?...


    Crackle


    ... And Appa had frozen him again! Ares was reminded, yet again, he needed to have a word with this little tyke! It was becoming a vigilante! Granted it had actually been right to freeze him this time, as he had, even if indirectly, been a ''bad man'' BUT THERE WERE LIMITS DAMNIT! Meanwhile, while Ares was frozen in his seat like a popsicle, emphasis on ''pops'' because his fatherly woes were on full display, Appa was being cuddled by the matriarchs who were praising it for its valiant punishment of evil doers... Rhea in particular told Appa it ''embodied the spirit of the Legion clan perfectly!'' Where was the justice in this?! Go and punish the clone Ares!... Well they couldn''t which was why they were here but that was extremely unfair! It''s not even like Ares himself could punish the clone as he wasn''t allowed in there... That clone was going to develop a massive ego due to its unstoppable pranking of others wasn''t it? Ares could envision it but decided it wasn''t his problem... Yet... It would be one day when it pissed off someone Ares had no intention of offending but whatever. Life was meant to be lived in the moment and worrying about such a future, especially when there was nothing he could do to prevent it from coming to fruition, was an exercise in futility.


    Eagerton and Mako both eventually arrived as well with the former whipping out his pen to record, in vivid detail, Ares'' frozen form. Not before writing the word ''loser'' on his palm and throwing it in Mako''s face though. "I don''t need to write that one in the notebook for it to come true!" This sentence kickstarted the usual back and forth between these two and their bickering would no doubt run long into the match.


    Back over by Ares, Bellona had just thawed him out and warmed him up with her magic to get rid of his shivers. Such a caring wife! Ares gave her a hug and kiss as thanks and she seemed satisfied with the reward which, honestly, was probably why she''d gotten him out in the first place. If she wasn''t convinced there would even be a reward she very well may have just left him to his own devices. Caring but conniving! She''d even beaten Enyo to the punch because she caught the opportunity quicker than her sister which led to a small spat as they also started bickering with one another. Apparently all it took for everyone to start arguing with one another was Ares'' presence as he''d become a sort of spark that set everyone off for various reasons. Things did settle down when the time for the match to start came about though as everyone was at least partially invested in it. A full on clan five vs five had never really happened before and would neatly cement one family over the other... Provided the existence of Bellona and Enyo were ignored anyway... But then again it also pre-supposed Ares'' lack of involvement so that evened things out yet again.


    As for the Umbra vs Legion fight, the common prediction was that the wolves would come out on top. Having to fight a war on three separate fronts simultaneously, four if you included having to defend their homeland, wasn''t something any old bunch of immortals could pull off. If they just relied on that immortality they wouldn''t get very far and, thus, they needed to have solid combat potential so they could throw themselves at their opponent and actually do something other than kamikaze. War and violence moulded revenants of the Umbra Wolf clan and so they were generally stronger on an individual basis than a member of any one of the other four clans. Their instructors had seen all sorts of combat scenarios and had many talents developed over long periods of time so the knowledge and general teachings they could impart were top notch. Sadie was good, undeniably, but compared to Aym she was still lacking. Dominus was changing that but he was an outlier and, for the sake of this discussion at least, was irrelevant. If it weren''t for their expertise, the Umbra Wolves would have been scattered to the wind and / or caged like animals a long time ago. Calla''s dominance over the other matriarchs was a good example of how much power the revenants wielded. Still, as for this fight, it was up in the air. It could go either way as it was a team fight and not a series of one vs one bouts. The Umbras could work together well... COULD work together well. If they got distracted and found something, or someone, that interested them they were liable to throw that teamwork away and pursue their interest. Who cares about winning the fight when fun and personal gain was right around the corner? So what if they happened to lose as a result? They were immortal and could try again some other time! Revenants were generally more prone to turning a sure win into a unexpected loss because of this mentality. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, as it were. As for the Legions, they were just an all around cohesive unit without any glaring weaknesses to exploit. That was the Legion way and of course the most talented of the lot were the embodiment of such an ideal. It did mean they were susceptible to things not going their way, however, and if the fight devolved beyond the reach of their formidable plans then things would get messy. It''s not like they were individually weak but, going back to the revenants, as mentioned earlier the wolves shone in mano a mano situations.


    So all in all, the Umbras were favoured. They''d been dominant in their matches and what everyone had seen so far indicated they had an edge. Even the betting odds were tipped in their favour but not by as much as others would have assumed. As people generally trusted the betting brothers it meant everyone was aware this would be a close and interesting match, one worth showing up for. It might even be considered the first ''important'' match of the tournament wherein two titans would finally clash so the excitement in the coliseum was palpable on the lower floors. It''s not that there wasn''t any engrossment on the top floor, it''s just that now the two families were tied at the hip and the prospect of actually fighting one another to the death had decreased drastically as a result. Plus amongst the main families, specifically, there had never been all too much hatred of one another to begin with, that was mostly just Major. Other than one matriarch rubbing it in the other''s face, not much would come as a result of this match now. If it had been before the whole Ares revelation then it would be different as the shift in morale for the elders of their clans would be a big deal. Ares had dampened a lot of that enthusiasm. That''s not to say it disappeared entirely but it was muted in comparison to now for sure. Taking this match as evidence of war potential was pretty pointless now, not that that stopped a few of the more gung-ho and war hawk type elders in the crowd.


    Down in the arena, the Legions were the first to make their appearance by stepping out of the hallway to the sound of roaring applause. They may not have been favoured to win but that didn''t mean they weren''t the preferred group overall. Justice oriented Legions or nuisance bringer Umbras? The choice wasn''t a hard one for most people and the respect held for the Legions was significant. Plus they were all main branch kin so this group of five was a radiant beacon of upright and prodigious cultivators worth keeping an eye on. Tyr came equipped in full garb with his staff and sword ready to smite the evil revenants, Pele with her trusty balau spear, Deimos walked his bike in whilst holding the handles, Phobos was cowering near the back with a bow but there was a hint of confidence buried beneath his sheepish demeanour, and Palioxis was behind Phobos and pushing him along whenever he stopped moving.


    Palioxis'' frilly white dress was actually armoured and could protect her from oncoming danger so, technically, she also possessed the tell tale legion armour, it''s just that it came in a very different form than usual. Of course Tyr had his blazer and Deimos also had his helmet so it became apparent that the main family typically altered their armour to suit their needs. Phobos'' overalls, that he wore specifically when expecting combat, were that pristine and clean white that signified Legion while Pele''s arm braces clearly functioned as armour pieces. There wasn''t necessarily much armour on some of the members but it was always there! Unless you were Bellona who had ditched the armour entirely to distance herself from the clan, all the while wearing her witch get up... And then there was also Enyo who just wore the full set. It was drastically improved and more sleek compared to standard issue Legion armour but it was identifiable at a glance without the need for deeper observation. As for who it was exactly that tailored these custom designs, the Legion''s main branch family had an exclusive blacksmith who worked for them and them alone. He was as rigorous and pinpoint in his work as the Legions were in upholding justice so his work ethic was greatly respected. It was to the point where Deimos even allowed the guy to work on his bike occasionally and that was unheard of under normal circumstances. Trustworthy and talented, that was the Legions'' number one blacksmith.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Shortly after they took to their side of the field, with Tyr even taking a bow for the audience, it was the Umbra Wolves'' turn to enter to the sound of roaring... Jeers... This was partially to be expected as any clan going to war with the Legions would just sort of implicitly have a bad rep, there was no real way around that. Funnily enough, the booing was a lot more tame than compared to previous matches which may or may not have had something to do with the fact that one half of the coliseum could see Ares evilly glaring at everyone. The idiots underneath him weren''t privy to the fact that Ares was an Umbra himself so it was especially awkward that the loudest boos where originating from directly underneath him... There were still some zealous Legion fanatics that didn''t care about Ares and still berated the Wolves regardless but none of Calla''s offspring in the arena cared.


    The Umbra lot weren''t exactly timid, more so either stoic or uncaring. Scar and Skyzo had probably learnt to filter out the noise coming from the crowd and Venus and Fate viewed themselves as superior beings to the riff raff regardless so the opinions of such people meant absolutely nothing. Then there was Verv who, as far as some spectators could tell, was waving at the crowd! They thought he was mocking their boos by politely gesturing back to them but what they didn''t realise was that all Verv was really trying to do was catch the firefly floating around him. He was so preoccupied with it he likely wasn''t even aware of the atmosphere surrounding their entrance. Not that he''d care regardless, hell he might even have the ability to fall asleep to a chorus of ridicule and scorn should he be so inclined. The crowd were a living lullaby at worst.


    The Umbras took up their spots on their side of the field and stood opposite the Legions... Except for Venus who was busy trying to swap places with Skyzo so that she could stand opposite Phobos... In the end, Skyzo relented but he was unhappy about it because this now put him directly across from Pele and he didn''t exactly want to fight her... Yes he had a winning matchup, and quite an unfair one at that, but it''s not like he wanted to kill her. If push came to shove then, sure, it was a competition and he wasn''t going to be a detriment to his family but being pit against her right off the bat?... His stupid sister had selfishly put him in a real bind here. Or rather, why wasn''t it that Venus felt the same way about Phobos?! Surely she didn''t want to enjoy hitting him right? No... She likely just wanted to overwhelm and taunt him, play with him until he was putty in her hand. Skyzo wasn''t sure rubbing it in like that was the best way to win him over but whatever, it wasn''t any of his concern. Actually, Skyzo no longer really had any concerns whatsoever, this matchup was a walk in the park and he could seriously bully Pele so he was home free already provided nothing unexpected cropped up.


    As for the other matchups, Palioxis was giving Venus the stink eye but was actually standing opposite Fate who was stamping her feet as she didn''t like being ignored like this. Phobos was inching slowly backwards to get as much distance as humanly possible between him and the crazy woman licking her lips in his direction. Tyr and Scar, the two resolute leaders of the two teams stood stock still and had a stare down for the ages despite their otherwise calm demeanour, Pele was happily waving at Skyzo who tiredly waved back in a half hearted fashion while sighing to himself, and finally Deimos was hopping aboard his bike and getting ready to run circles around Verv... Who at some point had conked out on the floor after having caught the firefly... Still, Deimos knew better than to expect a free win as one of the brothers would no doubt kick the mutt awake when the match started and then he''d have a real problem on his hands. Was Verv the strongest? No... But he was easily the most annoying, that was very well known as Verv''s reputation amongst those who had squared off against him in the past was unanimous. He. Just. Never. Stopped. He would run up to you, strike at you with no regard for his own safety, take whatever pain you could dish out whilst dishing out his own heavy hits, and then chase you down again if you ever ran away. He was just constantly in your face and he NEVER stopped. He was a mobile tank that just soaked up all the damage you threw at him while hunting you to the ends of the earth. He was like a machine which unironically led some of his opponents to believe he was a robot, programmed to chase and kill without pause. He had one task and one task alone, attack. Still, Deimos figured it could be a lot worse. Venus was a pretty atrocious match up for him and Fate was just a bundle of surprises. Maybe he was capable of beating Fate, maybe he wasn''t. It entirely depended on how many new treasures she''d come across and added to her repertoire as of late. The day she found an EMP that could disable his bike was the day he stayed well away from her!


    On the topic of Fate, her matchup with Palioxis would be one of the more unusual ones. Yes she had a horde of treasures with which to chuck at people but her personal treasure, the one she relied on the most, was very nearly identical to a personal treasure that Palioxis owned. There were slight differences in the ''puppets'' these two controlled but the fact that they were both puppeteers at their core was ironic considering they were pretty identical in many ways. Pouty, cute, tiny, secretly liked their brothers (although to varying degrees as Palioxis went further than ''like''), and went to great lengths for their family behind the scenes. Add onto that their similar fighting style and it was no wonder they ''got along'' well as friends. As for the major difference between them, Palioxis was dedicated to puppetry and could control two at once. Her Scytheguards were split into two different entities, a front guard and a rear guar, each with their own specialties and abilities. Fate, on the other hand, only had one puppet that was more of a trickster type that she supplemented with her treasures and stealthy techniques. If it was just a matter of the puppets going head to head, Pali would win no contest but things weren''t that simple. Of all the fights taking place this would wind up being the most even of them all and there wouldn''t be a clear winner emerging for quite some time.


    Pele vs Skyzo was just a brutal match conceptually. Pele specialised in lava magic and could fling it here, there, and everywhere with her spear mastery but where her magical talent really lay was in summoning lava soldiers to fight alongside her as she commanded them to do her bidding. The lava soldiers also wielded spears and had good reach but the real kicker was that they exploded in a lava burst in death. To make fighting them even harder the bursts could chain detonate provided more than one soldier was in any given area. Pele was very capable of summoning up to about a 100 soldiers currently if she was given enough space to do as she pleased which meant the grandest explosion she could muster wasn''t trivial. That number would also only keep going up and up as she grew stronger and she was a fearful foe who could turn the tide all by her lonesome if given a chance to... But that was sort of the problem here. Yes she could summon a swarm of lava soldiers but they all counted towards Skyzo''s magic that made him stronger based on the amount of people looking at him... As this fight took place inside a Training Field, luckily, the spectator''s gaze on him wouldn''t count... But so what? Pele couldn''t beat Skyzo in a fair fight and if she tried to swing things in her favour by summoning her trusty lava aids they would only be a detriment! Her ''powerup'' was actually just an even bigger powerup for Skyzo. Her magic might as well have been support magic that buffed him because it barely helped her in comparison to what it did for him. Each individual soldier had a limit to their strength too so creating multiple meant the increase in strength for her was more linear than it was for Skyzo on top of all the other issues. If they had been allies then it would be one hell of a combination but all Pele was doing here was making her own life harder by fighting Skyzo. Then again if she wasn''t, and someone else took her place, the lava soldiers would indirectly benefit Skyzo anyway every time he ended up in their sight even if only accidentally. Pele just being here would make Skyzo infinitely stronger whether that was her goal or not.


    Next up was Venus vs Phobos and really the biggest ace up Venus'' sleeve was the fact that she creeped Phobos out, unnerving him and potentially throwing off his aim with his bow. A win''s a win after all. There really wasn''t much to say about this matchup outside of Venus'' presumed advantage provided there was no outside interference. Phobos could shoot hails of arrows but Venus only needed to fire a few bullets in retaliation to make enough room to stand around safely underneath them. It''s not like she''d miss either as her bullets could be controlled mid-flight and thus there was no risk involved for her in standing completely still. Phobos used more mana to summon more arrows than Venus used controlling her bullets so it was entirely possible Phobos would just run out of mana and be left helpless in the long run. Even if he conserved his mana and fired single shots Venus could respond in kind. Maybe some clever art usage would tip the scales in Phobos'' favour but this duel wasn''t looking good for the little guy who''s attack would be easily thwarted time and time again.


    Last but not least was the Scar and Tyr fight... It was anyone''s guess how this would end really. Tyr''s sword and staff both had different effects depending on the distance between him and his target. At closer ranges the sword buffed him while the staff de-buffed opponents. At longer ranges the sword could unleash a devastating attack if the opponent didn''t close the gap while the staff could give Tyr''s various buffs. Long story short, Tyr was always in an advantageous state thanks to both his weapons providing buffs at different times, giving him a 100% uptime overall. His staff could unleash various magic attacks at long and short ranges and his sword proficiency was decent. No range was really safe and you kind of just had to bite the bullet against Tyr, picking your poison and fighting a fair fight. You were never going to catch him out or find him in a vulnerable position as he was an all-rounder with the necessary tools to enable him to adapt to situations on the fly. As for Scar, he took after his father and relied on the space-time pillar to teleport into people''s faces and brawl. He was slightly better at Blinking to dodge attacks than his father was but he was less talented combat-wise which left for gaps the opponent could utilise if he wasn''t careful. Still, the ability to teleport a burly man in front of an opponent was something worth fearing, especially seeing as how Scar hit like a truck when he did wind up hitting a person. This match came down to whether Scar could fully utilise his specialties or if he would be snuffed out at every turn by a cautious and clever Tyr. It would be a slower match than the others as mind games and timing mattered here. If Tyr committed to a long range attack, and Scar Blinked past it, he was screwed. If Tyr baited Scar into a doomed offensive then he would win resoundingly. These two would take many pot shots at one another before the deciding moment, that was for sure.


    All in all, everyone was raring to go!... Apart from Verv who was snoring to himself...