Now... What the hell was Ares supposed to do with this thing exactly? He''d brought the scythe out, as was asked of him by the Primordial Blade... But nothing was happening! Whatever the Blade was after needed some kind of pre-requisite measure but the thing couldn''t really give him a step by step guide here! It whispering to him in the first place was weird, and lucky enough as is, but if he was patiently waiting for anything else out of the Blade then he might well be here a millennium or two. Ares was just going to have to do things the hard way and experiment until something clicked and, as much as he enjoyed messing about with the scythe, he was hoping it would happen soon because he wasn''t fighting an easy foe here. Still, Ares readied himself for the confrontation by activating Black Blossom on the scythe and really focussing on the fight. This wasn''t going to be pleasant as he''d effectively gotten rid of the one thing he could actually use as an equaliser against the mecha. The scythe would never be able to stop a punch from Genesis even if there were a thousand of them at his disposal because, no matter how much Ares imbued it with mana or pressurised it, it was still originally just a farmer''s implement at the end of the day. It would snap like a twig when barraged by the metal storm that was Genesis'' onslaught. Ares needed to rely even more heavily on dodges and deflects now than he did before but, on the bright side, Mako was still being held back by the golden froggy and couldn''t make the situation deteriorate even further.
The Genesis wasn''t entirely sure how to comprehend the current situation, not that anyone other than Ares could understand his choice either, but it was aware that the Primordial Blade wasn''t being wielded currently. This put Genesis at a hefty advantage so it wasted no time in thundering towards Ares, stamping on the ground with every step as it wasn''t forced to take into account a deadly weapon and slow things down. It could safely miss a hit or two and let Ares retaliate freely because he wouldn''t ever be able to pierce its frame with such a dinky weapon. Not in terms of size, the scythe was pretty large for a weapon, but its output in terms of potential damage was lacking in many ways. Ares would have a better chance if he ditched the scythe and used his bare hands with some pressure at this point although, to be fair, his pressure was highly abnormal and the root of cause of any success he would have with such an approach so that wasn''t entirely a fair comparison. Still, the point was that the scythe, both metaphorically and literally speaking, wasn''t cutting it.
Genesis ran up to Ares and started with a sweep. it was an effective attack that either forced Ares to retreat back or jump over it and expose himself to a follow-up punch in the air. The mecha was aware he had multiple aerial options now, and wouldn''t be fooled as easily as last time, and felt confident it could strike Ares down if he got jumpy. If Ares retreated here instead then he would lose space which was pretty important for the scythe. If Ares was pushed up against a wall the range of motions he would have available to him would plummet and spell his doom if he persisted in wielding the unwieldy weapon. Choosing the latter option did put Ares at a suitable range to attack back, if he dodged backwards, but Genesis didn''t need to fear being struck by the scythe, and could just take the hit without guarding against it, so there was no downside to committing to this simple attack hard and progressing towards pushing Ares up against a wall over time.
Sure enough, Ares played this scenario by the book and to the letter by taking two steps back to shuffle out of range of the low kick and slashing horizontally with the disintegration coated scythe. Under normal circumstances he would have torn into his opponent, left a massive gash across their chest, and watched the Blossom detonate in an abyssal explosion that reaped the life of his victim. In this case, his scythe nearly bounced off the frame on contact, there was no deep wound inflicted, and the Blossom explosion that roared ferociously ended up sounding like nothing more than the purr of a dissatisfied kitten. The sound was muffled as it was directed straight into the bulky chest of the indominable Genesis and the blossoms were unable to do more than scratch Genesis'' hull lightly in a few inconsequential spots. Ares had even done a slower, but heavier, swing to really lay on the hurt but nothing noteworthy had come of it. This was one of his deadliest arts in Mano A Mano combat and it had proven useless... Why on earth did the Primordial Blade want him to do this again!? Was it paying him back for dropping it onto the floor earlier?! Ares sighed and shook his head as he retracted the scythe, spun it around in his hand to reposition it, and lowered his body. He wanted to be able to spring into action as dodging was going to be very important here, more so than literally anything else. He didn''t pack enough offensive power to properly dent Genesis right now so he was going to have be more of a slippery foe to the mecha, one it struggled to land a clean hit on.
Genesis pushed forward again and performed a simple jab that made Ares kiss his teeth. He could move to avoid it but that would waste his stance on something he couldn''t capitalise off of. He would need to move and crouch again, wasting a lot of time that could be spent doing more important things, or try and push forward to punish a jab, both of which were terrible options that netted him essentially nothing at the cost of his readied stance. Mako was terrible at fighting up close but the mecha seemed to be a cut above most cultivators as it was making a lot of smart choices. Ares was going to have to really make an effort here to come out on top but he was still at a loss on how to do that... He knew that dodging away was the correct decision but it was also the boring one that would slowly lead him to the arena wall and corral him like cattle waiting to be slaughtered. The mecha was also likely expecting Ares to not make a ballsy and strange decision to move forward so, although he had no idea what to do after, Ares ran forward and snuck under the fist.
One way to expedite the learning process of most things was to jump into the deep end and learn from there so that was the route Ares took as he figured he might as well gain something out of this rash decision. It wasn''t always applicable, that learning in situations like this was optimal, but, typically, when it was, it was highly worth it. If Ares put himself into these extremely uncomfortable positions with the scythe from time to time, forcing him to adapt on with minimal room for error, his improvements would be worth their weight in gold. Ares saw Genesis pause for a split moment as it comprehended his actions before raising its knee to try and gut check Ares'' insistence on remaining close. When Ares slunk off to the side without making any distance, so that he could remain in the thick of it and tango up close with the mecha, Genesis'' computing capabilities nearly had a malfunction as it had never seen anything like this before. It was all new data from here on out, thanks to Ares unnatural movements and choices, that it would need to learn from for future reference. It wasn''t even really sure what to do as, without precedence, it had to generate new inputs and attack patterns on the fly. This process slowed it down which was a pleasant surprise for Ares who found enough spare time to jab the bottom end of his scythe into the mecha''s chin from down below. He couldn''t damage the thing but raising its view would disorient it further and give room for Ares to navigate around it briefly while being undetectable. Genesis was tall to begin with and, so, now that its head was tilted to the sky there was no way it could track Ares as he slid between its legs. Had it seen him attempt this, Genesis could have just shut its legs and crushed Ares into blood and bone marrow but he snuck through without a hitch in the end.
Ares wasn''t sure what to do here now that he''d actually arrived behind Genesis, as he still couldn''t damage the thing anyway, but he made whatever move he could and went for a joint near the back of Genesis'' knee. He used Echo as he poked the thing with the butt of his scythe again and brought the mecha to its knees for the second time today in a rather cheap fashion. The mecha would be pissed off right now if it wasn''t so dismayed at the humiliation it had just received. It was safe, though, as whether it was standing or kneeling really didn''t matter, Ares couldn''t pierce its frame no matter how hard he tried or how many times he knocked it down. Not that that information stopped Ares from swinging the sharp end of the scythe overhead and trying to bury it in Genesis'' skull.
PING.
Failure. The scythe might as well have been a stuffed toy for all the difference it would have made and now Ares was getting miffed! What was the point of all of this?! He was about to start lecturing the Primordial Blade in a minute if things didn''t change soon enough! If it weren''t for the fact that he felt his competence with the scythe rise a decent amount after that last interaction he would be hella angry right now as the Blade would have beaten Genesis if he had it equipped on his person right now! Then again, Genesis would have played the duel safer if the Blade was still out and about so this chance wouldn''t have maybe existed... Also Ares wouldn''t have been able to knock Genesis'' head upwards like he''d done earlier... Using different weapons led to different results every now and then but Ares already knew that! If that was what the Blade was trying to teach him then he was already ahead of the damn curve on that lesson. What on earth did the blade want from him?...
Ares decided to give the scythe another go before he just quit this nonsense as everyone else was starting to get mad too, not that it had anything to do with them! The spectators could kick rocks! if they were so disappointed in Ares'' stellar performance thus far they were more than welcome to fight a bullshit fundamental champion in their spare time and see how hard it was to even get this far! Anyone at Ares'' cultivation level or below would have been turned into mince meat by the mecha by now and even those above it would end up that way in due time too! Ares was putting on a performance that at least 98% of the audience couldn''t ever match and they had zero right to criticise him for his actions right now... Although Enyo''s deadpan stare was pretty worrying... She clearly wanted to walk over and snatch the scythe away from him and she would absolutely be chewing him out for this later. It''s not that he was using it, per se, she wouldn''t have cared about that under normal circumstances... It was that he was supposed to be taking this seriously and not being selfish right now and having fun when so much was on the line... Especially after talking away Esme and Li Li''s fun... But it really wasn''t him! This damn sword had sold Ares down the river here and was using him as some kind of scapegoat for whatever silly plan it was concocting! If it was going to do that then the least it could also do was do it quickly! The longer this went on the worse Ares'' reputation was going to get. He really needed this to pay off in a big way so as to stifle the complaints in everyone''s throats... It''s not like they''d buy the excuse that ''my sword told me to''. That was ''my dog ate my homework'' level of bullshitttery and even Ares himself almost didn''t believe it! Ares wasn''t entirely convinced Mako hadn''t hit him with a mental attack, one that was making him go gaga and hallucinate the sword whispers, but he figured persevering a little longer wouldn''t hurt...
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Ares waited patiently for Genesis to launch another attack. Now that the Blade was out of the question the big fella had gotten a lot more pep in his step and was actively chasing Ares down which, although there were various issues with this situation, Ares greatly appreciated. He didn''t mind that slow and cautious step by step approach to a fight but a wild, unrestrained duel just suited him better. Unlike last time, Genesis went a little further than a plain jab and threw a straight with all its might. Ares wasn''t ever going to get hit by this but he was more interested right now in figuring out how he could exploit an attack of this nature with his weapon. If he was using almost anything else right now he''d have a couple ideas raring to go but this was hard damn it! Ares shook his head and went with the first thing that came into his mind, jumping towards the fist, landing on it sideways with his feet, and using its momentum to kick off it and push himself away to safety. This looked like a pretty ordinary dodge that a nimble ninja would go for in this situation but Ares had hooked the curved end of the scythe around the mecha''s wrist, allowing him to reel himself back towards Genesis, land on top of the arm, and run along it as he climbed the mecha. It was basically an extension of a different, already established, idea that used the scythe in whatever way Ares possibly could near the tail end of it. The scythe was capable of hooking onto things from a distance so actively separating himself from his opponent was, ironically, functional as a gap closer in a roundabout way if he was clever.
Another minor invention that could be added to his repertoire but what the hell was he supposed to do now that he''d successfully gotten this far!? This was still a question he didn''t have the answer to so he just climbed around the mecha like a monkey menace as Genesis kept trying to swat him off. Ares was too quick on his feet, and Genesis'' body was too large for Ares to slip off accidentally, so this was going to go on for a while... Ares, precarious position though he was in, used this time to try and figure out an attack that could damage the mecha. If he didn''t have one, he would just have to invent it! It wouldn''t be the first time Ares invented something in the heat of the moment and maybe that was what the Blade wanted of him, to really strive for something new? But why was is it so confident Ares could even do it anyway? Nothingness technically encompassed negative time as well as negative space so maybe the Blade was hinting at a future only it could see right now? This line of thinking helped Ares ignore his current lack of progress and keep trying as it was motivating to find a potential meaning for his actions. It seemed like a reasonable enough logical conclusion too and he wasn''t just gaslighting himself into sticking with an awful idea so he felt a bit better about the whole situation.
Of course, this couldn''t last forever and so Ares was eventually forced off the mecha. He landed on his feet a few metres away from Genesis and hit an incoming punch on the side with the tip of his scythe to deflect it away from him. Ares was starting to get the hang of wielding this thing and his ability to stay safe against Genesis was proof of that. He wasn''t exclusively trying to dodge attacks and strike in cheap ways after, he could at least stand tall before the mecha and not need to run around like a rat anymore. It was an important step in his scythe wielding journey but right now what he actually needed was some kind of attack... Think Ares, think! A normal attack won''t do, it needs to be something that can pierce even the mecha... No, is that really enough? Isn''t that train of thought juxtaposed to everything I stand for? Why should this art only be able to defeat the mecha and nothing else? What about anything stronger than the mecha? Should I come up with another art for that too? Why not create an art with the scythe that can just kill everything? Better yet, why stop there? Why not make it kill everything in one hit? Why not make it nearly impossible to avoid? Why am I imposing limitations on myself that I break everyday with my pillar anyway?! The hell is wrong with me?! Ares lightly smacked the side of his head like he was trying to drain the impure cowardice out. Who was he exactly? A fundamental champion who could do whatever he damn well pleased or just some run of the mill cultivator who allowed himself to be constrained by such a paltry thing as ''logic''?
Unbeknownst to Ares, the Blade on his hip just glowed a little as if subtly encouraging him to keep thinking. Not that Ares saw the glow but, when he got like this, he wouldn''t stop delving into his psyche and correcting himself until he found an appropriate answer anyway so the Blade''s first step was about to be completed and, really, there was only one Ares had to worry about. As soon as he was finished, the Blade would do its own thing and cast an art it knew that could turn the tide here. Ares was its master now and forever and it finally felt like permitting him to see some of the power he was afforded via ownership of the Blade. Why now? Well, that stupid mecha was taking his attention away! Trade? TRADE?! HELL NO! The Blade was infinitely superior to that stupid heap of junk! Just this one trick it was about to showcase would blow Ares socks off and then he would come crying back like a cheating husband who realised he was better off with what he had all along! Stupid homewrecker mecha!
Ares felt the Blade get somewhat heavier again on his hip but he was pre-occupied with the thoughts in his head and didn''t pay it much attention. How can I make a scythe attack more deadly? Is that even possible? Unless I have better materials to craft a better scythe, there''s a hard limit what can and cannot be done if I just concern myself with sheer power... Or rather, is there only really one type of power in this world? Is raw strength all there is to toy around with? What about finesse? The scythe is not a weapon to overpower but one to dominate through technique and skill. Measure twice, cut once right?... Destruction is the embodiment of pure power but maybe I can squeeze in some room for grace and find power through that avenue as well? It''s not about hitting hard, it''s about hitting properly and that is an imperative thing to keep in mind with the scythe, right? Ares wasn''t asking anyone in particular as he knew Dominus had zero experience with this weapon beyond a certain point. It was a question that nobody could answer but that was fine because, really, there was no correct answer anyway. Sure, if a giant entity wielded a ten thousand foot scythe it could just brute force whatever it wanted to and cut everything in half but it wasn''t impossible for someone on a smaller scale to achieve the same result in a different but equally viable way. Everything was possible in the cultivation world through some means or another and, so, if raw might wasn''t going to solve the issue, which it never would unless Ares was in Garmr form thanks to his adept trait, then he would have to go for an approach that valued skill higher than anything else...
But other than a more precise swing, how can I generate more force? Wait, no, what if instead of generating more force, I create a method force multiplication? How would that even work... No, wait again! Why am I reinventing the wheel? It''s entirely possible to generate multiple instances of the same level of force! Rather than hit for 100, hit for fifty twice! Wielding more than one weapon at a time is a display of skill in and of itself as the learning period is significantly longer due to the intricacies of a different stance. It''s an increase in power without an increase in strength so that does align with my current goal... Ah but where the hell am I supposed to get another scythe? If I had a second one on me I could maybe imbue them both with disintegration and strike the exact same spot on the Genesis at the exact same time. It would be challenging but there ought to be some progress made if I could actually pull it off... This is a pipe dream, huh? Worth keeping in mind but not what the Blade expected of me, I guess, because it''s not possible now is it?
FLASH
The Blade blinded everyone in the coliseum, Ares included, and when the flash faded it was hovering in the air, directly in front of Ares, and unsheathed... How this had come to be Ares had no idea as it had nothing to do with him whatsoever! This thing had a mind of its own and was acting of its own accord as the blade changed colour to a murky white and reflected within it a scene that was hard for Ares to comprehend. The vision he was being shown was blurry, scrambled, and muffled but he could have sworn he could make out two versions of himself; one completely normal with his usual overwhelming kingly aura leaking from every pore, and the other a barren husk. The second version of himself had no Zephyr, no Bane, no Blade, no mana, no Garmr, nothing. It was like he''d been stripped of everything he owned save for one very strange looking scythe that was vastly different from anything he''d ever owned up until this point, something that looked to be almost as strong as the Primordial Blade in its own way. Ares didn''t know the exact details but something about this scene resonated with his mind and gave to understand that this was something he had in store for him in the future. He didn''t know which of the two individuals in this scene he was, or why it ever came to pass, but he was certain that he was involved one way or another. Something was happening within the vision as the scythe wielding Ares became a bigger and bigger blur. More objects were appearing around him but they were hard to distinguish within the foggy display but that didn''t matter right now. For some inexplicable reason, the vision was drilling itself into Ares'' head and the Blade was whispering to him again. Two words that Ares had never uttered before, but was about to whether he liked it or not, had been firmly implanted in his head as the Blade was forcing him to use a new art that belonged to it. Ares was about to get a real taste of power and his mouth moved in sync with the Primordial Blade''s wishes to chant an art, the inner workings of which were extremely complex but resulted in a fantastical series of events that would be highly beneficial to Ares.
"Timeline Splice."