Give or take an hour had passed and the closing ceremony was about to begin. Nobody other than Calla had gotten to play around with mini Ares so they had to hold in their urges to pick him up and run away while he went back down into the arena with Enyo who was acting as his carer right now. As for the closing ceremony, it was a mostly simple affair in which the C.O lady with the bright red dress would say a few words, introduce the rewards, hand them out, and then give over the stage to the victors to celebrate. After that the MVP, as decided by the C.O would say a few words, followed by the captain of the losing team and then finally the captain of the winning team. Basically all the major players in this tournament would get a say before everything came to a close. The MVP and captains would usually try and sell themselves to onlooking clans, businesses, or sects'' usually but things would be different in this case. Ares and Enyo had their sect, and would own it soon, while Mako was a free spirit roaming the lands as he pleased. He viewed being tied down as a mistake for the most part and actively avoided joining any kind of group., That''s not to say he wouldn''t if the situation called for it, such as the Fundamental Organisation, but he would steer clear until then. He didn''t want to share his resources and treasures or be at the whim of somebody else in any kind of hierarchy. Why should he, the fundamental champion of the creation pillar, be looked down upon by elders and patriarchs?! He thought it bad enough he was born into a clan to begin with but, thankfully, his was pretty lax regarding that stuff and he was born directly to the patriarch anyway so it was tolerable. Mako would have split the scene and abandoned his clan had they been anything remotely like what he knew most clans to be. God forbid he''d been born in the Legion clan, Mako would hurl at the mere thought.


    So what were these three going to say when it was their time in the spotlight? There was no strict limit to how much they could talk but, in this case, it wasn''t likely either Enyo or Mako would take up too much of everyone''s time as they didn''t have particularly much to say. Mako might put a warning out there for people to stay out of his way and that those seeking his treasures were going to meet fatal ends. Enyo was going to once again remind the lusty idiots in the crowd that she was not in the market because it could not be said enough to these people. Even Lex was still eyeing her up despite the fact that he was heavily injured as a result of doing that earlier. Sure it was also because he enabled a team to cheat and tried to smooth along the assassination process of Ares, that was relevant too, but if Ares had to pick one reason above all it was this guy''s rude ogling of Enyo. As far as Ares was concerned, he was more than happy to kill Lex just for how blatantly disrespectful he was being. Being evil was one thing. Being lecherous was another. Being both was asking for trouble around Ares.


    Regardless, neither Mako nor Enyo would take up the podium for too long today as that was mostly going to be Ares'' job. He was going to confirm the rumours about Red Sun and his plans while spreading the information to those who were still unaware. Hans would have already dealt with a large number of visitors but he was only going to get even more after this... Still, he''d taken care of a good chunk already so he wouldn''t be stretched too far and wide by this. Plus he''d weeded out a few bad apples already and put them on a list of which his receptionists could use to easily turn those in question away without needing to argue back and forth with them pointlessly. Hans'' efforts in chatting with the locals had paid off and a majority of them were on board with the suggestion, as Hans had predicted they would be, so he only needed to negotiate further with a small bunch that weren''t excited about going to a higher domain. These lot just wanted a simple life away from cultivators and so going up a domain was begging for trouble in their eyes. They could just go somewhere else but they seemed to hold Red Sun in high regard and have quite the arrogant belief that they were just as entitled to this place as everyone else. They weren''t, and they were a vocal minority to begin with, but Hans was still being patient with them as they weren''t entirely in the wrong. Their home was being up and moved without their permission so he had to at least be calm with them for now. If they kept pushing their luck then Hans wasn''t afraid to remind them who ran this show but things wouldn''t likely get to that point. A few payments here and there and they could be convinced to move. If they dared try stick around after bartering then Hans would take the money back, and kick them out on top of that, so they best make the correct choice off the rip and stick to it!


    Still, those people aside, there were only one or two businesses that wanted to leave for good but they were doing so without a fuss. Numbers, in regards to people remaining, were fantastic across the board primarily because almost everyone stood to gain out of this. Even those who likely wouldn''t see any benefits were fine with the decision, not being opposed to it as it might be good for their family members who were aspiring cultivators, so the plan was a-ok to go through with when the time came. Now it was just a matter of sorting out a new set of legal laws, foreign investors, and interested potential civilians and then Hans could rest. Not go on vacation, though, as he was still sorting out his new mayoral duties that he''d put to the side temporarily to get this more important matter done. The mayoral stuff could wait for now but the tournament visitors would be leaving soon enough and needed to be talked to before they were gone so he was working round the clock to get it all done and dusted.


    Part of whatever Ares talked about up on the makeshift podium would include directing people to Hans if they were interested in hopping aboard the Red Sun train but there was also various other things he wanted to discuss. It wasn''t going to be some ten minute speech or anything but it wouldn''t be less than a minute either. It wasn''t too much of a problem regardless, as many people were curious to hear Ares speak after his performance anyway, but the whole child thing was easily the biggest hurdle... Would anyone take him seriously like this?! What if he wanted to do like Mako and make some threats to keep people off his tail?! They would be encouraged by his tiny pleas if anything! Ares had his speech all planned out before the final match even started but he needed to make some serious last minute amendments to it now because of this wild card change that had been sprung on him out of the blue. For the most part it shouldn''t be an issue. If anyone was incapable of looking beyond his current stature, even in spite of everything he''d shown prior, then they were likely too narrow minded to be beneficial to Red Sun in the long run regardless. Ares didn''t want random people lacking in basic discernment to be rife on his landmass in general but there was also a bit more to it than just that. What if he made enemies and people who didn''t belong started hanging around the town? If the civilians living here were all mindless idiots then these unwanted infiltrators would have no issue fitting right in and never being caught. Ares wasn''t about to rely on random strangers, no, but if they happened to be observant enough to spot oddities by themself then Ares wasn''t going to complain. Thankfully a majority of the people living here would be natives anyway so people who tried to blend in would be sniffed sooner rather than later if Hans worked alongside them to form a kind of neighbourhood watch scheme. That seemed like the sort of measure Hans would take in the early stages and it was a good idea.


    The Red Sun team were brought down to the platform by Enyo''s barriers while Mako''s team came out from the waiting room proper. It seemed as though they either hadn''t hung around in the coliseum after the fight or just chose to take the normal way back in. Honestly, Ares wasn''t even sure why the extras on Mako''s team were even here. At least Li Li, Aejaz, and Esme all participated in the matches here and there but, as far as Ares was aware, Mako''s team hadn''t lifted a single finger this entire time. Their only direct involvement was dying to Ares'' No Fear right at the very end but they''d been swept away and resurrected so fast nobody even paid them any attention. Them having the audacity to stand on this stage and receive applause was really quite impressive, actually. No shame! Sure Mako had probably demanded they step aside for him but they didn''t exactly look a bunch of true warriors who would have made it this far on their own. They really had no business being here but whatever, Ares wasn''t gonna shoo them off or anything because he really didn''t care. Those lot would be forgotten about soon enough as even their own country wouldn''t remember them.


    It could be argued that if his team were stronger, and actively helped, then Mako might have won the match but that ignored a few crucial elements,. First, Ares'' team hadn''t intervened either so it would actually be a fight involving all ten people, not a one vs five, and Enyo''s team would be stronger overall. Second, Mako and Ares agreed to this duel so everyone else''s opinion was mostly irrelevant on the matter and wouldn''t have changed anything anyway no matter how loud the crowd were. And, finally, these people, Mako''s teammates, just weren''t capable of amounting to anything even if they trained. They weren''t prodigies nor were they special in any real way so training until they collapsed wouldn''t even get them a tenth of the way to where they needed to be to fight properly in this tournament. Even if Ares fought a one vs five it genuinely wouldn''t have made an iota of difference because a single well placed Grand Annihilation would be all it took to take them out the running and revert the fight back to a one on one. Long story short, they were useless completely. They wouldn''t blamed for their abysmal ''performance'', the situation was out of their control, but they weren''t going to praised or celebrated in the streets. Then again, neither was Mako as he was likely going to skedaddle from the country he was hanging around in and avoid all the fanfare that should have come with his return. He didn''t want praise for coming in second, that was an slap in the face to his ego and pride. He would take it as an insult and not a compliment. If he''d won then perhaps he would consider indulging in victory a bit but going back a loser wasn''t really his style.


    The C.O lady in the red dress / robe, whatever her name was, descended down and onto the platform and took the highest spot there. Ares had no idea who this woman was, or what her position in the organisation was either, but he had a gut feeling this wouldn''t be the last he saw of her going forward. The C.O would want Ares, even in spite of the fact that he was leaving Sheryashka for definite and taking part of the land with him, and so they would need someone to try and rope him in, someone who''d already had dealings with him. It didn''t need to be said but Lex was not the solution here so this lady would probably be the one they sent to hassle him going forward. Also, she seemed to be pretty smart and capable so sending her to handle Ares was probably wise. He''d already shown how underhanded he could be back during the Lex incident so the C.O sending anyone who wasn''t good at petty little games to deal with him would be a bad idea as he''d twist words until he got his way. It was almost definite the C.O were going to prove that they wouldn''t back down from him, here and now by having the lady try and sneak a small win past Ares, just to let him know that going against the C.O in tricky ways was pointless as they''d fight back however was necessary. In short, amongst other things, it was a given that this lady would mess with Ares in some way to knock him down a peg or two. The C.O needed to at least make it seem like they were still the top dog in some form or another and how the C.O lady was going to do that was something Ares was just going to have to wait and see about. Ares needed to be clever here otherwise he would come away from this having suffered a loss without getting anything back in return. He''d won the physical fight but now was pitted against a second foe in which he''d have a verbal sparring match. Ares kept his wits about him but his focused face only served to disarm those in the crowd and didn''t quite have the effect he wanted on the C.O lady who just chuckled at him instead. It was supposed to be a fierce glance that indicated the war was on but now it had more of ''you interrupted my playtime!'' sort of feel to it... Why couldn''t this shrinking have happened tomorrow!? Ares got even more annoyed but that only made him look pinchable, like a naughty child.


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    Pinch


    ... That wasn''t an invitation for Enyo to pinch him on the cheek... Ares shook his head and focused up, listening to every word that came out this lady''s mouth because he didn''t know how she was going to strike. He needed to spot every trap laid for him and find a few of his own that he could maybe plant based off her mistakes. It wasn''t impossible for her avoid saying anything that could be used against her but, given how long she had to speak for here, Ares'' chances of spotting something beneficial would rise drastically. This wasn''t going to be easy but, actually, Ares'' inner revenant was looking forward to this because toying with people was a specialty of the race as a whole and something he had a preference for, devious in nature though it was! Manipulation could be fun every now and then, morals be damned! Let''s see how we can bully this lovely lady in red.


    The lady, who would go on to commence her speech by finally giving her name, met Ares'' challenging stare head on for a brief second before starting as she was convinced she had a pretty mean hand to play. It wasn''t going to happen until the very end of her speech but she was assured in her victory here and wasn''t particularly worried about Ares as she didn''t see him as a brainiac who could worm his way out of conversation-oriented machinations. She believed him to be a sort of muscle head who solved things with brute force, talented though he was, and that wouldn''t be enough for him to leave here today with his head held high. She wasn''t underestimating him, though, and would be sure to take care and not commit any major slip ups. With all that in mind, she began speaking. "Dear audience, though we''ve had the pleasure of meeting previously, due to some rather unexpected incidents, I''ve yet to give my name or position within the C.O. I shall rectify this lack of formality here and now. My name is Ms Windsor and I''m sure you''re familiar with the ''negotiator of the round''?" A simple introduction, one that presumed the audience were familiar with her but, then again, most of them were. There were three sort of head honchos in the C.O who worked underneath the C.O''s leader. These three were nicknamed the ''venerable of the round'' and each had their own specialties. For the most part, nothing other than said specialties were known to the general public so a big shot like this appearing out of the blue was a pretty huge deal. This lady, Windsor, was almost at the top of the C.O food chain and, to make matters worse, her specialty was negotiating. Ares had seen parts of her talent for it back when he was dealing with the rune cheating scandal but she must have gone easy on him and backed off so as not to cause a stir. Now, though, she was openly throwing her name out there which must have been intentional. It would give whatever came later credence and believability so she already had an upper hand that couldn''t be ignored.


    As for the other two venerable of the round, there was the ''force of the round'' and the ''strategist of the round''. The former was one of the strongest people in Sheryashka and could maybe even take the title of number one if he really went all out His purpose in the organisation was threefold: wet work to take out the competition when they got too big for their britches, an advance unit that ventured into dangerous territory either to scout or recover rare resources, and a tool to dismantle domain-wide issues like giant mecha-dryads. Generally speaking his appearance was not a good thing as it meant either A; he was there to kill you, B; he was there to get something specific and would kill you if you got in the way, or C; he was trying to kill something that was probably trying to kill you. He was a very bad omen no matter how you looked at it and so people were glad he didn''t show up in public often.


    As for the strategist of the round, they directed near enough the entire rest of the organisation. The leader of the C.O had the final say in everything but the strategist was the second in command and was frequently given full control over everyone''s work. Point in case, she''d been interested enough in the fundamental pillar rumours to get ahead of the curve and send Ms Windsor here to try and scout them if possible. That wasn''t going to happen but Windsor''s presence here had helped deal with the Lex issue as well as get a foothold on the landmass Ares was trying to yoink. Had the strategist not bothered sending anyone important here then this ''Ares'' kid would be able to run amok and do as he pleased. It was a good bit of foresight to look at unusual happenings and decide on the spot that such measures were needed. Windsor didn''t believe she was needed here but had been proven wrong incredibly quickly. She was the problem solver but finding the problem was often the result of the strategist''s hard work. She didn''t know prior to arriving that her presence here would matter but, now that it did, she would be sure to live up to her reputation. That was the sort of dynamic these three held and, between their efforts combined, very little stood in the way of the C.O. As such, this grand reveal of one of their most important members was a moment worth remembering. It was no surprise the crowd had begun whispering to each other about this event because one of the three venerable of the round being here raised questions about their intentions. This line of thinking was exactly what Windsor was banking on as it all tied neatly into her coup de grace that would come later. For now, though, she merely kept speaking about the tournament as a whole.


    "I''d like to thank all our attendees for helping to make the atmosphere during this tournament as lively and unforgettable as it was. I''m aware the outer court tournament is typically less interesting from a spectators'' perspective than the inner court and core tournaments so the fact that you were all here and willing to fill seats is something we appreciate. We hope you''ve found it worth your time to spectate the younger combatants as, especially this year, we''ve had a rather talented crop display their skills for all to see. To all those of you in the crowd looking to scout some of the talent we''ve seen compete this year I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours.


    We run this tournament on a yearly basis and, despite the rumours which I shall address shortly, we intend to keep hosting it regardless of whether or not this coliseum persists in this domain. Though the venue might differ, we will be sure to keep the tradition alive and well long into the future. Please keep an ear out for any official announcements regarding where the next tournament will be held once we''ve come to a conclusion. We are aware some of you live in more rural areas but, rest assured, we will find a way to spread a message out far and wide about the location of next year''s event ahead of its start by at least a month or two.


    As for this year''s event, I think it''s safe to say we''ve all born witness to something truly extraordinary here today, and over the course of the international, that will be discussed for many years to come. Various revelations that will go on to change our understanding of the wider world, such as the existence of Gods and the truth behind stardust, but above all of that the power of the fundamental champions was truly a spectacle. As thanks for the entertainment bestowed upon on by these champions, as well as their respective teammates, we, the C.O, have prepared numerous rewards for them all to receive. The prizes shall naturally differ somewhat between winner and runner up but we''ve got a wonderful assortment so I''m sure nobody will walk away unsatisfied." Windsor swept her palm sideways through the air and summoned a clothed table from within her spatial ring. Atop the long table were a bevy of treasures, artifacts, and resources that were about to shared amongst the competitors.


    "For our runner ups, we have chosen to gift you each the following: a scroll, that even we aren''t aware of the exact contents of, that will learn you a random technical, various resources that will increase your cultivation when consumed or used during closed-door cultivation, an artifact handcrafted by our resident forger in the C.O, and either a ticket that will enable you to enter Neo Gear Land via their trains or, should you be otherwise inclined, a few extra, miscellaneous resources. Additionally, you''ll all receive five high grade stardust. Truly a treasure trove of goods that will see you through your journey in Sheryashka and help shape you into the cultivator you wish to become in these early stages." She wasn''t kidding, this was a good haul that could catapult even the most average of cultivators into somebody worth keeping an eye on.


    The resources that were on the table could boost a person''s cultivation speed multiple times over so the people on Mako''s team were going to rocket up the realms and make some serious ground over their comrades back home. The random technical could also be a missive boon or something worthless but it would more than likely be the former as most technicals were just really good. Plus, unless the person who created the scroll was a massive troll who pissed people off for shits and giggles, it was rare to find a dud scroll anyway. A lot of hard work went into creating scrolls so for someone to waste their time like that would be extremely unlikely. Not impossible but definitely not common. As for the artifacts, Mako would inevitably get dibs on whatever he wanted and it looked like he was gravitating towards some odd-looking winged cube. It was impossible to tell what an artifact like this would do but cultivators were better off trusting their natural instincts in situations like this so Mako followed his gut, picked the cube up, and put it in his spatial ring. He could figure out what it did later on. Was it risky going for something like this instead of one of the artifacts that was shaped like a weapon? Maybe, it could be a pointless tool that served him in no meaningful way, but again that feeling in his brain that this cube was worth it drove him to make this choice and so Mako wouldn''t regret it. It''s not like he really cared much for artifacts anyway as he''d already found more than few in his journeys prior to now, they just weren''t that useful to him as whatever they could do, Mako could typically do better anyway. He could create gadgets and runes on the spot so whatever rune was present on an artifact, and no matter what uniqueness the artifact itself brought, Mako could likely replicate it regardless. And yet the cube looked useful to him... Ah well, only time would tell. Ares wouldn''t see Mako again for quite some time after everything was settled so, by then, the cube would either be a part of Mako''s repertoire for certain or never see the light of day.


    That aside, the last thing on offer was a ticket to Neo Gear. Mako wouldn''t accept it because he didn''t want to get distracted from his current goals but this was a fantastic offering for those looking to ascend in this world. The strongest of the strong gathered here and, as Ares had mentioned to Aejaz a few times, it was where all the best resources could be found typically. Was it dangerous? A little but danger typically came with goodies so this was a golden opportunity for those who were free to go there. Neo Gear wasn''t usually open to any random would-be visitor but this ticket would simplify getting their asses in there and so it was highly valuable. Had the Neo Gear team competing in this tournament won they would have been offered something else instead, something like the bundle of extra resources that Mako was going to hoover up all for himself. The ticket was irrelevant to him so furthering his cultivation even more was just the better choice. Plus he could maybe extend the cultivation gap between himself and Ares to gain a big advantage over him by the time they next met. All in all, though there wasn''t anything that truly stood out, for a runner up haul it was honestly way above average. Only the C.O could afford rewards like this and nobody in their right mind would complain as even winners of other events around Sheryashka might not get as much as this. Mako''s teammates hadn''t even really earned any of this so they best shut their mouths! Still, if the runner up rewards were that good... Then what kind of prizes awaited the winners? It was time to find out!