With a resounding THUD the Mud Maiden shut, trapping Ares within in it but his fate was unknown currently. The tear in reality leading to the void had grown large enough for a single finger to reach out just before the Mud Maiden was able to run Ares through and it was likely that finger alone could guard him from danger while the rest of Astraeus'' body emerged through the tear. There was a weird silence in the air now that the crowd''s general chitter chatter and background noise had been muffled inside the Maiden. Mako wasn''t quite alone outside of it, there were still some spectators who hadn''t been caught up in the art sitting behind him, but they had all fallen quiet when the art came crashing down on the other half of the arena. They were thanking their lucky stars they just so happened to grab a seat on this northern side of the arena today otherwise they would have been in that spiky cage too. Though everyone was going to be safe, the fright of the thought of it all was not worth the cost of doing business. Little did they know that the spectators inside the Maiden were having a fantastic time, actually, as Terros had created a small cave system within the walls of the Maiden, fully equipped with natural hot springs and playful animals like deer and rabbits that roamed around looking to be petted. Of course this wasn''t for Ares but it was considerate of Terros to think about the people who were going to be trapped in there alongside him.
If Ares tried to enter the caves it would shut and he would be rejected, booted out by a swarm of poisonous bats. Plus it was too dark for him to find it and blow open a hole anyway unless his Omniscience was aiding him but, even then, it was far too late of him to do it. It was well enough hidden that he wouldn''t have realised until he was already being skewered anyway. While Ares was turned into Kebab, people on the other side of the wall would be in fluffy, comfortable heaven. it spoke volumes that Terros could throw in a small paradise as an afterthought to this deadly art even despite being weakened in this form but that was just a God''s habit of showing off. A lot of the Gods knew some neat party tricks like this that they would unveil whenever the mood suited them. This was especially true if they were trying to make an impression on cultivators they''d never met before from backwards tribes with low access to information. Point in case, the Sheryashkans were having a ball right now and, after this, there was no doubt many of them would become followers of the earth God just for this small trick alone and no other reason. It''s not like they knew any other Gods anyway... Well, they''d get to know Astraeus soon enough but he wasn''t interested in having more followers so he wouldn''t do anything special with them. He was here to answer Ares'' call and that was it as far as he was concerned... Although stretching his limbs a little and flinging off an art or two after all this time was pleasurable in its own right. He''d been getting a bit rusty as of late and almost wished Xhilihx would come back for another beating. Every time Xhilihx hounded Astraeus that was time it spent not devouring worlds so he was perfectly fine with entertaining the maw of the void for a couple hundred years at a time every now and then.
Crack
A small jagged line ran up and along the entirety of one of the Maiden walls and was shortly followed by another crack on the opposite wall too. Terros knew better than to hope things would work out his way here as it was evident Astraeus had been summoned and wanted out of the paltry, muddy prison he found himself partially submerged in. It wasn''t nearly sturdy enough to withhold him from the world at large despite the walls being basically impenetrable to anyone not at least two whole realms higher than transition. Ares was also undoubtedly safe so all hope on that matter was eviscerated ruthlessly, not that any other outcome was to be expected really. Now, as soon as Astraeus broke free and begun his reign of terror, came the struggle to survive. Mako enjoyed chucking a God at Ares while he was weakened but now he was about get a taste of his own medicine as the cracks on the Mud Maiden were now numerous enough to make it look breakable with a mere poke of the finger. The solid walls now looked ancient, borderline just about to turn to dust if a strong enough gust came sweeping by. Even Ares himself could obliterate this half-dead art now if he threw a Grand Annihilation or two at it and, yet, all that had really happened here was Astraeus existing. His body did not fit inside this small container and he was passively bursting out of it as he emerged from the void. Terros would not be able to replicate this feat and block Astraeus'' attacks with his raw body, that was suicidal, but evidently Astraeus didn''t care much about such a trivial attack. Xhilihx''s tongue arguably did more damage than this feeble strike, and that had yet to so much as leave more than a few small dents in his frame, so what chance did Terros have exactly? None.
Crack
...
Though the last crack was relatively low in terms of volume, it did signify a breaking a point as there would no longer be any small breakthroughs like this. The next time there was noise, it would be a festival of computational audio, warped space and time echoing throughout reality, and the shattering of two giant mud walls all intertwined to give way to Astraeus'' transcendency. Terros would have gulped here if he could but, instead, he kept winding up his defensive art and charging it as best he could. Ares had really done him dirty here by delaying the Astraeus summon for as long as he possibly could because it had thrown off Terros to a big degree. He wouldn''t be able to charge the art fully in time so things were presumptively gonna get a little dicey for Mako. Plus there was still whatever second art Astraeus threw out after the first and that one was going to be a bonafide nightmare all around. Terros would have no more time left in this plane to block it with an art, as he would just get booted back to his real form in the realm of Gods if he tried, so he was just going to have heroically dive in front of Astraeus'' attack and doom him to death.
Thankfully, dying during a summon, and inside a Training Field on top of that, was a mostly inconvenient affair. His main body would be weakened a tad, and his little floaty rock body that hung around Mako wouldn''t be able to cast magic for a while either, but it was a small problem not really worth mentioning that changed effectively nothing in the grand scheme of things. Just because Terros'' real body would be ''hurt'' for a period of time that didn''t mean anyone could just stroll up to him and beat him senseless, he was a God not a pushover. If anyone so much as tried to bully him he would crush them under thousands of mountains for their insolence and that would just be the start of their woes. Furthermore, he still had his followers hanging around on his body and they were no slouches either. Arguably, Terros had both the most loyal followers and some of the hardest working of them all. They understood that the planets and wildlife they were gifted had limits. Terros was the God of earth, not nature, and so they had to maintain their paradise by hand and hard labour in order to reap the full rewards of it all. None of that was particularly relevant right now but, knowing that death was coming, Terros'' mind wandered away to happier and simpler times... He couldn''t escape reality forever...
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B..E...E...P
B...E.E.....P
B.E.E.P.B.E.E.P.B.........E........E......P
A rapid crescendo of intermittent beeping broke through the Mud wall, as it scattered into the sky above and away from Terros'' earthly domain, with a silver sheen peeking out through the dust cloud of the broken art.
Whoosh
Astraeus'' liquid metal wings flourished, spreading wide and blowing away the dust to reveal his form to the Sheryashkan sun. He was the same as Ares remembered him with his ''Y'' shaped head and red diamond eyes, svelte and slim body, astral and ethereal clock floating above and slightly behind him, and highly detailed wings. His see-through wires filled to the brim with multi-coloured wires were also present but, unlike before when they were mostly hidden within his frame, they were all hovering behind him like snakes jostling one another so that they could be the first to lash out at Terros. Some were still attached to various cloudy dimensions but they were likely empty ones, ready to be used as projectiles by Astraeus who was also more than happy to swing around dimensions like they were clubs if need be. Not that he would resort to such brutish methods, he was primarily an art-reliant cultivator, sort of like Mako, and rarely if ever got his hands dirty. Objectively Astraeus'' arts were unquestionably the most powerful in all of existence, however, so it''s not like him not utilising his boundless physical strength was really an issue.
As far as being an art-oriented cultivator went, there was no one superior to Astraeus so, although he could only fire off two here before his time limit was up, the arts he was going to use were phenomenally powerful. He was planning on launching a wide range barrage first followed by a more precise death blow to end this fight in the blink of an eye, well metaphorically speaking anyway. He didn''t take to casting an art immediately, even in spite of Ares'' efforts to help him get the drop on Terrros, because such a meaningless advantage was pointless in his eyes. It was a cleverly manufactured situation he found himself in but Ares was underestimating him if he thought any form of resistance Terros could muster mattered here. Terros would be allowed all the time he wished to raise his paper thin defences. Astraeus wasn''t doing this to show off or anything, he just wanted to meet one of his juniors for once. He''d had indirect conversations with some of the various Gods throughout history but a head on meeting like this was new to him and so he took things slow to try and understand the vastness of the gulf between them. That being said, it didn''t take very long... He understood the difference between them, Terros and himself, immediately and it wasn''t because of Terros'' weakened state. Astraeus could envision the manner of presence real Terros would possess and, while it was certainly greater than that of an ordinary immortal cultivator, it was still trifling compared to himself. He wanted to experience another God''s aura first hand but, now that he had, it was deemed... Lacking... Not worth his time which somewhat soured this experience for him. Astraeus could hold back Xhilihx on his own but, if Terros were an average God all around, it would take roughly thirty Gods to fill his shoes and that was a generous estimate. And of course this wasn''t additive strength he was referring to either, it was in reference to Gods working in tandem with one another to raise themselves and their respective powers up higher, which just made his objective assessment all the more insulting. There was a reason he wasn''t saying any of this out loud, he didn''t want to be rude to his fellow Gods and so it was better to say nothing at all. It was hardly their fault that they were still so young, and had a ways to go in terms of growth, so rubbing that in would be childish. Had they been actively slacking off then Astraeus would have dropped a comment, and been actively slagging them off, but, from the void where he watched on like a creepy uncle, he could tell most of the Gods were practicing in their own way... Although mostly as defensive measures to kill any fledgling followers with great ambitions or other hostile Gods... Still, they were improving so that counted for something, even if the intent was a little warped, right? That was also partly why he didn''t kill Terros immediately; if the youngster wanted to ask him any cultivation questions he would be willing to answer them first. Unfortunately it seemed the pebble construct was too awe-stricken to gather its thoughts properly and thus conversation wasn''t looking likely even in spite of Astraeus'' willingness.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
What was happening here was that Astraeus'' presence was far more overwhelming than he gave himself due credit for. Ares had been ok with it because his introduction way back when was gradual as he floated through the void towards Astraeus. Additionally he was a fundamental champion who was literally in his natural element at the time. Even if Astraeus wished him harm it was simply impossible to kill Ares within the void if he had sufficient room to run away. A God being unable to kill, at the time, a mental accumulation kid was embarrassing but also entirely expected given the circumstances. Astraeus'' spatial magic was at its weakest and completely restrained in the void whereas Ares was basically turbo fuelled and had jet boosters up his ass that could rocket him around the place like an annoying mosquito. It didn''t mean Astraeus couldn''t swat Ares eventually if he being was lazy or got caught unaware, it''s just that it would require a surprising amount of effort considering the nearly unquantifiable difference in their overall strength.
Point being that that safety net, of the void, encouraged Ares to remain brave in the face of something superior to even him. As for the mortals, weak cultivators, and the pebble construct, they''d all been barraged by a sudden onset of technological marvels and brain numbing, awe inspiring might. The spectators couldn''t tell night from day anymore and felt as though they had a chip inside their brain that was displaying all sorts of unusual data through their retinas. Distances, calculations and telemetry, unceasing day and night cycles. All such things were being shown to these people on repeat without pause and it was an information overload that boggled them on every conceivable level. Sparking jolts kicked their nerves into overdrive and the world around them seemed to slow down, or potentially speed up, at their whim. They could reach out and touch distant objects in the sky like clouds or the pigeons that had fled from Terros'' body. Space and time became nothing more than a sort of program downloaded into their brain with which they could freely fiddle around with as even the position of the stars in the sky above rotated at the tips of their fingers. Even if it wasn''t real, and only they could see these expertly crafted simulations of realities with controllable variables, it felt real to the touch and the electrical hum of a reliable machine in the back of their mind fed them confidence in their belief. They could wind up eternally trapped in this sweet machine dream if Astraeus so willed it but it was currently nothing more than a means with which to calm down the rabble and have them pre-occupied as he went on a rampage that their minds would have a hard time comprehending.
Mako wasn''t quite so lucky, however, as he was receiving the very same ''this is what you get for opposing a God'' treatment that Ares was still experiencing from Terros even now. The non-existent chip in his brain was malfunctioning, shocking his grey matter and causing an uncomfortable overheat that left him boiling in his own skin. HIs blood was electrified and his body was aging at incredible speeds. He felt sluggish and lazy, plus his body was nearly uncontrollable as every part of it was in different places at once. His hand was at the top of the coliseum, his foot was deep underground, his ears were in the clouds Etc. Though he appeared functionally whole, and technically was, his body was an amalgamation of oddities and even taking a single step was a herculean task that required considerable effort that Mako just couldn''t spare. The effects on him were much more draining and drastic than what Ares was suffering through as containing Astraeus'' majesty wasn''t something this world, and its laws regarding summons, could accomplish. Astraeus wasn''t at full force but his presence was still akin to being stalked by a sentient supercomputer that could mess with the space time algorithm around you to trap you in a technological cage of ramping lunacy. Was Mako even in the right dimension anymore? Was he the founder of an ancient civilisation millions of years in the past? Was he a new-born floating through endless space? Only the clicking of machinery reminded him that none of this was real but, in spite of that, there was little he could do other than bank on Terros saving his skin. Fortunately, it seemed Terros'' art was ready so, although he hadn''t taken this opportunity to converse with Astraeus, he fired it off with a resolute chant.
"Commandment: Arise Bulwark."
A commandment art was a little different from a usual one in that it was half-unique and half-normal. Simply put, only Gods, or those who''d apotheosised, could use Commandments. They were all top tier arts that afforded the wielder complete command over their respective element which, in turn, could lead to various implementations of the art. They functioned in one way at a base level, that was usually good enough on its own, but could be adapted on the fly to suit the user''s needs and wants of it. Though Commandment series arts were rather basic at a first glance, the real threat of them lay in their raw power and adaptability. For instance, the Bulwark Terros was about to summon could take literally any shape, bend in any which way he wanted it to, cover as much ground as he wanted as well, and was one of Terros'' strongest defensive arts overall. It was a plain wall of earth, yes, but Commandments were concentrated divinity combined with mana so this wall was essentially a miniature God spawn, almost as tough as Terros'' body was. Terros did have some stronger arts in his real form but those were all inaccessible to him now. Besides, most of them were also Commandment arts anyway so the point sort of comes full circle. Commandment arts are the pinnacle of art creation for cultivators and something that only a select few people even get to ever interact with due to the harsh requirement of being talented enough to apotheosise.
As for Commandments arts themselves, it''s not uncommon to see someone use a Commandment that another individual has used before but, most of the time, these arts are wholly unique. Everyone''s take on Godhood tends to be a little different so it''s not surprising that cultivators take their divinity, and the arts that come with it, in different directions from one another. Still, if somebody wants to just copy an easier art to start off with, to get a feel for their newfound divinity, that''s also not uncommon. Sort of like how beginner cultivators use Water Bullet to familiarise themselves with magic. Actually, Terros'' Bulwark was one such art but it should also be noted that Terros was the original inventor of it and his was still the greatest of them all. Other cultivators had tried to improve upon his greatness but failed each and every time no matter what gimmick they tacked onto the original art. It wasn''t necessarily because Terros was the God of the earth pillar, though that certainly played a very large part in it, it was because of the way his form could interact with it after it was summoned to do its job.
Not only could Terros summon way more earth for this art by spawning it out of thin air, and thus increase its effectiveness, his own body could merge with the art in colourful ways that were great but wouldn''t be relevant here. He could shift his core through the unbreakable Bulwark to temporarily make himself effectively immune to all forms of damage, he could combine his tendril limbs with the bulwark to launch attacks that can''t be blocked or destroyed, and he can also transform the Bulwark into a a massive, controllable giant to go on the offensive and start a massacre. The Bulwark was still just regular earth at the end of the day, even if imbued with divinity, so he could freely toy with it much like he did regular earth and that was something no other cultivator could replicate unless they too were a golem. Golems making it this far in the cultivation world was pretty rare for the most part and Terros was a one of a kind being in that regard who''d gotten quite lucky during his ascent to Godhood. There were more golems cropping up nowadays, thanks in part to Terros sheltering his kind from hunters of rare goods whenever possible, but for now they were still few and far between. Golems could have an affinity for rarer minerals and people would hunt these unique individuals down to the ends of the earths if nobody intervened but, now that Terros was on the look out for them, they were living longer lives on average and reproducing at higher rates. Maybe there would be a whole host of then by the time Ares climbed to the higher realms as, actually, they repopulated at blistering speeds.
Honestly, who knows?!
The upper realms can be rather unpredictable sometimes. One day you''re generating a small intergalactic army of golems, raising them from the dirt like a factory, and the next some asshole cultivator decided to test out a new art on them like they were a bunch of training dummies and obliterated them all without leaving a trace for fun. Random crap like this was abundant in the higher realms and so you just kind of had to keep your head on a swivel to make sure some asshat wasn''t about to blow you to kingdom come with a planet nuking art because they were bored, annoyed that their significant other broke up with them to go marry the rich young master, or whatever other manner of irrelevant nonsense ailed them.
In short, being a golem was Terros'' greatest strength as his affinity for earth was insurmountable by anybody else meaning that overcoming him would be hard. In fact, it was highly likely there would never be a need to find a replacement God for Terros as he was considered the most indestructible God of them all. Where he fell short on aggressive options, he more than made up for it by just being flat out unkillable to almost everyone in existence. To date, no other God had ever pierced his Bulwark art and nobody had even come close. This was an absolute rule for an absolute wall that could never be overcome... Until now anyway. Terros could feel it in his gravel that Astraeus was not going to be bothered in the slightest by his ''amazing'' defences... Well... Astraeus was a different beast entirely so there was nothing much Terros could really do about this other than take comfort in the fact that only the one God who never spent any time in this dimension could penetrate his wall. That was something! Shattering his Mud Maiden and Bulwark was one thing but Terros'' confidence in himself would still stand tall after this whooping and that was imperative so that he could maintain his public image afterwards. Losing to Astraeus was not a disgrace but rather an inevitability if he set his sights on you for whatever reason. Nobody could judge Terros for getting pushed around like a child here! If they wanted to, they could come and fight this damn robo themselves! This was what Terros was repeating like a mantra in his head to heal his bruised ego. He was still a God at the end of the day, one that had a track record of essentially never losing, so it was only natural this would sting somewhat even if he was a more laid back God compared to others. It''s not that he couldn''t be egotistical, it''s just that he was one of the least overtly proud Gods of them all as he understood it was not a good thing to be excessive about it. He had restraint, and was polite, that was all. He still valued himself higher than anyone not at a God''s level, there was no changing that. For what it was worth, however, the art Astraeus was going to chant would hurt physically a lot more than emotionally so, if that was Terros'' concern, then he really didn''t need to be worried... He would be far too concerned with picking up the pieces of himself rather than worrying about the public''s perception of him by the time all was said and done. The first art might not really break Terros down completely but the second one... Well... Let''s just say that Astraeus was the original inventor of Commandments and the things he could do with them... Were not pretty for the victim.