"So then I was all like, ''ha, boom, got ya'', and he was like oh nooooooo!"


    Pagoda Ares nodded his head along to the sound of Dominus chatting away inside it. This guy had many stories to tell from the course of his extremely long life and what else was Ares supposed to do? Meditate in silence like some kind of monk for the rest of eternity? Pagoda Ares was going to have be patient beyond measure, seeing as how he was trapped in here until basically the heat death of the universe, so any way of killing time was much appreciated and to be cherished. As for how Dominus was speaking so clearly now, that was mostly because pagoda Ares, during his downtime, could set his cultivation to basically whatever point he wanted so long as he''d already been at that realm before during one of challenges. His matches against the matriarch gifted him a cultivation base that was sufficient to chat with the primordial revenant as much as he liked and, while company was never a bad thing, it turned out Dominus could be quite chatty. Normally he might not have been but, after being dead and silent for however many years, he was definitely relishing the chance to speak openly once more. Real Ares would probably find this out the hard way too at some point. As for his personality... Self absorbed asshole but with every right to be because some of his stories were absolutely bonkers. There was supposedly one time he took on a star sized cloud monster with nothing but his table knife as he''d been in the middle of eating dinner when the planet he was on got raided. Dominus had definitely earned his title of thousand weapon exemplar and there was no doubt that nobody in the universe was more fit to proudly wear that moniker.


    It had been how many days now since the Sheryashka challengers stopped arriving? Pagoda Ares took this as a sign that he was literally moving up in the world and would get to face all kinds of new foes. He was excited to see what kind of new magic awaited him, what levels of cultivation he could raise himself up to and what goodies came attached with them, as well maybe potentially a few friendly faces from his past. Candy and Veteran would almost definitely come around to say hi so that would be a nice reunion. There was also a pretty good chance somebody from the fundamental organisation dropped on in as well... Actually, all the other fundamentals might show up at some point too for a meet and greet as well as to gauge Ares'' strength. As for anyone else showing up? Anything was in the cards now that he was in the wide open world!


    Ares listened to Dominus keep prattling on and on about how amazing he was, and about how everyone else sucked in comparison (that part was apparently very important), until a visitor showed up! Salvation from the talking parasite in Ares'' bloodstream! Or maybe not, Dominus might have some anecdotes or other such stories about the person Ares was encountering and Ares wouldn''t say no to knowing more about his fellow combatants if they were interesting enough!


    "Armageddon..." Dominus muttered the name to Ares who couldn''t help but vigorously nod his head in agreement when spotting the bulky individual. How could Ares not agree? The man looked like he could bring about the end of a world or two just by flexing his muscles! His stature was incredible for a human and he was THICK in just about every way, everywhere. His body was like a steel warship wading through reality with a lumbering weight attached but Ares was not fooled by this as that guy could definitely be quick when he wanted to be. His legs were just as powerful and could put even a horse to shame with the speed at which he could gallop over the earth... Although doing as such would inevitably cause tremors across the entire planet without fail because he was a really massive guy. Contrary to his appearance, though, Armageddon was dressed in a way that was somewhat stylish. He rocked a large, dark green coat bold-shoulder style with a greyish top underneath and he somewhat resembled an infantryman at a dinner party with his getup...


    That is, until you looked at his head were an incredibly flamboyant hat sat, minding its own business as if it was actually supposed to be there. It really wasn''t and looked odd... Not because it clashed with the guy''s clothes, surprisingly it almost somewhat didn''t, but because the gentle vibe of the hat, as it was something that would belong to posh and softly spoken ladies, was a complete mismatch with the gruff man wearing it. Honestly, Ares felt like he was experiencing some kind of trippy mind bending magic because the more he looked at the hat the more it seemed to fit almost perfectly on the man underneath it. Was this guy some kind of gym-bro fashionista!? Ares had to rub his eyes but the hat was very much still there, still looking just dandy, and being held in place by Armageddon''s one hand... Yeah, the guy was missing an arm... How? Just looking at him, it was obvious he was no pushover.... Ares couldn''t help but wonder what had happened there but he was also curious as to why this man refused to budge when it came to holding the hat. His hand was basically glued to thing and he looked like he would literally never let go aside from when he needed to punch something. Ares thought nothing of it, as everyone has their ticks and maybe the guy just really loved the hat, but Dominus quickly spoke up and explained a few things while Armageddon slowly and deliberately sized up every inch of Ares.


    "Armageddon, a man lucky enough to marry one of the ten beauties of our dimension..."


    "Ah." Ares could see where this was going! Pretty women were trouble! If not for themselves then definitely for the person they loved! Enyo''s existence was already attracting flies for Ares to swat, it was just sort of part and parcel with a woman like that. Honestly, it was probably incredibly likely that Enyo would dethrone one, or maybe even all, of those beauties and take a spot when she finally left the primordial barrier. Anyway, Ares was getting side-tracked with his beautiful wife... That he was never going to see again! The more pagoda Ares realised what he was giving up in the real world the more he started to regret his choice but, hopefully, maybe, real Ares could throw him a bone and jailbreak him at some point. Who knows, maybe pagoda Ares could even go and start his own family!


    "Yeah, it''s basically what you think it is. Armageddon was just a weak mortal when the woman fell in love with him and that caused outrage. A mortal, of all people, marrying one of the most beautiful women in the world? Plus, she was strong too so it was like pairing a straight ten with a straight zero. In the cultivation world, people don''t just gossip about that kinda crap, though, they act on it. One person in particular, a decently high ranking angel from heaven, was so corrupted by the sight of Armageddon''s wife that he made the decision on the spot that he would either have her or kill her for good by destroying her soul. One fateful night, while Armageddon and his wife were relaxing in peace, the angel descended and a fight ensued. In order to protect Armageddon, his wife took a fatal blow. As much as the angel wanted to try and keep the woman for himself, she was far too fatally wounded to save in time and so he prepared his soul destroying art while Armageddon could do little other than watch on. He did eventually muster up some courage and try to stop the angel but he was trampled on and made to watch as the angel snuffed out his wife''s soul... Or so the angel thought, at least. The angel left, assuming his job was done after his devastating art obliterated Armageddon''s wife''s body, but he left behind a very big problem for the future. There were two things Armageddon wanted from then on, A; get revenge on the angel and, B, to resurrect his wife.


    Let''s start with the latter of the two goals because it''s easier to explain. Put simply, Armageddon''s wife''s soul... Is the hat he''s wearing on his head... No, seriously, if you try and touch it, or attack it, he''ll murder you before you can blink. Say what you want about him, and try and backstab him all you want, he really won''t care, but go for the hat and you''ll awaken a sleeping beast that was best left undisturbed. As for how his wife ended up like that, Armageddon had started to cultivate after meeting his wife, because he didn''t want to get left behind by age, and he found out he was in possession of a unique aspect. Transmutation. He was just about able to save his wife''s soul from her body as it was in the process of being fully obliterated, by transmuting it, and kept it hidden while the angel left. He''s taken care of it ever since after having fashioned it into a replica of one of his wife''s favourite hats as he was under duress at the time and this was the first thing that came to mind. There is a catch to this, however, as transmuting a soul has consequences, especially for someone who literally just started cultivating not even a week prior to the incident. It''s a hard task that requires constant upkeep so Armageddon''s magic was, has been, and will continue to effectively be sealed until he stops holding onto his wife''s soul. He has no intentions of letting go until she''s resurrected, however, so this man has essentially not had access to his own magic for multiple tens of thousands of years at this point which, as you can imagine, complicated the whole revenge part of the equation..."


    So this guy is basically Veteran 2.0? He wanted revenge and has his magic sealed away? Ares couldn''t help but notice the similarities. Hell, they both possessed incredible physical strength too although veteran''s was as a result of pressure enhancement whereas Armageddon had raw muscle-bound power instead. They even both only had one arm!


    "Yeah, kinda, although he would argue that not using a sword makes him different entirely from Veteran... I agree with you though, their stories are quite similar. Funnily enough, both of them can have their issues solved by fundamental pillars to boot and are giving their backing to one of the ones stuck inside the primordial barrier! Really one for one. Fate is repeating itself!... I''m getting a little side-tracked here but, before I talk about his revenge, I''ll just say this; he probably wants Mako to create a new body for his wife''s soul to reside in. The old one was destroyed beyond the possibility of reconstruction, erased from history even. A treasure that can regenerate bodies wouldn''t even do it and his wife''s soul will not go into any body other than one identical to her own. Had he not transmuted its shape then maybe something else could have been done temporarily but, as is, he needs a perfect copy and, with her only body being removed from existence without a trace, only one person can help him. Mako and his creation magic. He''ll need exact specifications, and some years of trial and error will definitely predate a triumph, but it ought to be possible for the elf to make himself useful here and create the perfect shell for the soul in due time. Armageddon''s likely here to ask you about him, and if he''ll be able to do it, as you''re the only person who really has an answer on that right now... Other than Terros, if he''s returned, but asking a fundamental about a fundamental''s capabilities makes more sense and you should have a better grasp of the feasibility of his request.


    Anyway, that''s enough of a side tangent, back to the feats of heroism that rose this guy''s name to fame in the history books. He took the whole dead wife thing pretty personally... Understandable... Anyway, he regretted his weak cultivation base but had no more magic to play around with so he had to look for a different alternative. He had nobody to teach him about pressure, and the angel was supposedly hella good with it, so he ignored that avenue and instead decided to cultivate his body to absurd heights to make up for everything else he was lacking. At first, it was simple push ups and what not but he very quickly realised there was a problem. As his transmutation was constantly running it put a lot of strain on his body, so much so that he felt a strong wave of discomfort and a little bit of pain every time he did anything too demanding. It was fine for now, because he was motivated to keep on keeping on even in the face of a minor setback, but this would go on to be an issue later when he started refining his body via various cultivation methods and cultivation resources.


    At the start he made pretty great progress and could even match other cultivators at, or around, his cultivation base despite not having any magic. That was already a good sign that he was well on his way to becoming a renowned body refiner but, give or take, around the mental accumulation realm, he came into contact with a body refining herb for the first time. It was nothing special, really, the herb was something that people in the higher domains feed to their babies, even, to make them stronger and more resilient to illnesses and such... But Armageddon couldn''t handle it. He took one bite and was found sprawled across the floor, drenched in sweat and blood, having exhausted himself trying to reign in the herb''s energy while also keeping his transmutation magic afloat. He was forced to divert his attention to two different places while an immense burden was put on his body.


    This was a sign of things to come and Armageddon wavered for a few weeks, unsure if he could carry on. If he failed, his wife''s soul might even disappear for all he knew. Nobody quite knows where he found the courage but he one day went out and was seen gathering hundreds of those same herbs and, though it''s not ever been confirmed, apparently he ran a bath with all of them and threw himself in. There was plenty of screaming coming from his room at the time so it''s generally accepted as truth that he threw caution to the wind because his desire for revenge, and to bring his wife back primarily, were just that profound. He next appeared a week later and he was nearly twice the size of man he was before! Some people have good constitutions for things like body tempering and it became clear he was one of them. Over the course of the next few thousand years, he trained vigorously and consumed all manner of rare resources to further himself, suffering unimaginable pain each and every time but slowly becoming a notable cultivator who''s name was known far and wide. He''d been hiding his full power, though, because he wanted to raid heaven and make that angel pay for what he did, so if he gave away roughly how strong he was getting then the angel might have gotten concerned and come down to deal with him pre-maturely.


    More and more years passed and, eventually, the angel did start getting worried but, by then, it was already too late as Armageddon was secretly one of the top ten strongest in the world. This titbit was unknown to everyone other than himself but he would go on to prove it the day the angel came back to settle the score permanently. Originally, the angel let him live because survivor''s guilt could be a fate worse than death for some people and, plus, the angel didn''t want Armageddon''s soul in heaven to rat out what the angel had done as that would condemn him straight to hell. When the data of Armageddon''s soul was read the angel''s misdeeds would come to light and that would be the end of him. Now, though, the angel was realising Armageddon had to go otherwise things were going to get out of hand regardless so he readied his soul obliteration art, even though the price to pay for using it was a hefty one, and set out to go find the man...


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ...


    One ass-whooping the likes of which our universe had never seen before later, the angel fled back to heaven with his tail between his legs and an enraged Armageddon in tow, hunting him down. Heaven didn''t know what was going on but sent out people to try and stop Armageddon anyway which did not go well at all as he beat them to death without breaking a sweat. This was when the Gods got involved and Armageddon pummelled them into submission, and death in some cases, too. The angel, by this point, had fled deep into heaven''s core so Armageddon looked down at the afterlife from above and prepared his fist to deliver the greatest swing he''d ever done. This punch would become pretty legendary after as it rocked the entirety of heaven, shot straight through the angel and turned him into crushed particles, and even kept on going so far down it hit hell in the process and left a hole there too.


    Nowadays, anyone can take that long pillar of nothingness, where Armageddon punched, up or down to heaven or hell like it''s an elevator. Getting to either of the two afterlives beforehand was a tricky affair but he created a rather efficient mode of transportation.... Though that really wasn''t the point. Anyway, he explained himself after the ordeal and nobody wanted to keep fighting the big scary man so they left him all alone afterwards to continue his search for a means to bring back his wife. As for where his arm went missing, apparently, and this is all according to himself as nobody else can verify this, he wanted to go check out a lead he got about some kind of resurrection item hiding away in hell. He took the nothingness spiral in a bid to go pay it a visit, simple enough so far. During the process, however, he accidentally got lost and wound up in, what he described as, ''some big, red, empty place'' where a giant monster lurked. You would know this place as the void...


    Yes, he got sent there unintentionally and just so happened to come across Xhilihx. Xhilihx must have thought of him as a light snack, ambushing him and stealing away one of his arms that Armageddon used to guard the hat. Xhilihx, however, made a grave mistake in almost devouring the hat as Armageddon got so mad his next punch sent the ''creature'' spiralling through the void, doing more damage to it than it had ever suffered before as the punch had even left a bruise on the creatures forehead. Even the Gods here couldn''t do that if they tried! Still, Xhilihx is Xhilihx and so such a thing was basically not even a light injury to it. Anyway, that punch also conveniently opened up the way back to reality for Armageddon so he left, in order to keep his wife''s soul safe from the ''creature'' that looked like it could go another million rounds with no sweat off its back, and came back to our dimension to keep searching... So yeah, real tough nut to crack this guy is. You got a reason to fight but so does he so keep an eye out as he''s handy in close quarters. Plus his strength is nothing to sneeze at even for someone like you with your annihilation enhancement. I''m gonna bet you''re gonna wanna change into Garmr and fend him off with that but you can stay in your human form and try him on for size first if you''re feeling lucky. Don''t blame me if it goes wrong though, even I wouldn''t wanna fight him head on.... Though your pressure is the real deal so maybe you can manage. Good luck either way..." And with that, Dominus'' voice trailed off, leaving Ares alone with Armageddon. Ares was about to open his mouth and speak but Armageddon beat him to the punch.


    "Now that the philanderer Dominus is done giving you an explanation inside your head, do you mind if I ask you a question?"


    Ares was surprised Armageddon knew that Dominus had been giving him a rundown but responded anyway without being too fussed. "Yeoh sure, ask away... But I''m feeling cocky so if you want an answer you''re going to have to beat it outta me." Ares wasted no more time and and threw a straight hook at Armageddon who was actually able to react to it in time. The old trick that Veteran used to use, wherein he ambushed people at the start of the fight, made a grand return via Ares who vowed to do the same to all comers but Armageddon was no slouch and so he smoothly ducked under it. As Armageddon sunk low, his fist grinded along the floor and rapidly became an uppercut that Ares, out of pure curiosity, decided to take head on with a deflect. The punch collided with Ares'' unguarded stomach and he was lifted off his feet a meter or so into the air before he landed in a hunched position with a sharp grimace and a small groan. The impact made a dull thud, and didn''t seem too bad... But that was only true up until the moon in the sky exploded as it had been in the firing line of Armageddon''s punch... Ares took the brunt of the blow with his deflect, so his internal injuries weren''t too bad, but he''d still had a lot of his organs turned to mush on the spot and he was feeling a little sick. Thankfully, though, As Ares'' cultivation right now was almost equivalent to that of a God''s, his revenant regeneration was working at the speed of light and, one blink later, he was back to being in perfect condition!... Although the pain still lingered for sure. Still, Ares was basically cockroach incarnate and needed to be fully annihilated without a trace in order to actually be killed and that was very likely not going to happen. There was a lot of power flowing through Ares right now and he was keen on using it. "Ok, ok, not bad. That''s still just a warm up but I''ll answer your question as promised regardless. Don''t think you''re leaving this place without me killing you, though." Ares winked at Armageddon who raised a single eyebrow before lowering it again and speaking his mind.


    " Hm, I''m a little surprised you lived through that, basic though the punch was. Your pressure mastery is not inferior to Veteran''s in the slightest if you can deflect such an attack but I feel like you ought to be lacking on the power front. I''m interested to see how you plan on killing me when even Veteran struggled to, and had to politely ask me to leave the pagoda because I was taking up too much of his time, but that can wait for now. My question is thus; can Mako bring back my wife? Does a fundamental pillar have such power? Are these pillars as miraculous as I''ve been preached to about on numerous occasions now? I ask you because rumours have stated you can fix even Veteran..."


    Ares nodded. "Yep. Manged to get Veteran''s magic flowing back when he was in the pagoda so I can do it in the real world too when I escape the barrier. It was a pretty quick process too. As for your issue... Mako might need to get a bit stronger first. He''s capable of it, just not yet. Destruction sort of starts at infinitely powerful and more so expands horizontally, into range and utility, than it does upwards in terms of strength. That''s not to say it can''t but, for miscellaneous things like destroying runes or curses, it can already do that perfectly fine. Comparatively, creation has some upper limits that restrain it until Mako gets stronger. Hell he might even be able to create a soul one day, let a lone a body for it, so it''s really just a matter of time until he can. I''d say relying on him is fine and he won''t give you any trouble over it... Though he is obsessed with being the world''s strongest so if you try and take that position from him he''ll fight you tooth and nail for it... But I guess you don''t care about that, right?"


    "No. I think such a thing is secondary to taking care of loved ones."


    Ares shrugged. "Me too but everyone has their own driving force and he seems committed to his ideals. Anyway... Are the fundamentals as ridiculous as you''ve heard? Well how about this, I''ll go all out now and you can figure that out for yourself!" Ares was smiling but there was a hint of evil in his eyes that Armageddon did not miss nor did he appreciate as he felt a chill run up his spine for the first time since his wife died. It was a chill of weakness that reminded him he was an ant in the face of greatness... He watched on curiously as the revenant before him transformed but something was definitely amiss... Terros had briefly mentioned Garmr to the world but it was one of the few things he seemed to be somewhat secretive about and Armageddon was starting to understand why. This was a major ace up Ares sleeve and the fact that he was still twenty feet tall and growing was making Armageddon feel small and insignificant. He could tell there was catastrophic power welling within the draconic, wolf beast and he was starting to feel a bit nervous that he might actually lose soundly here. He''d fought with Veteran before but it was just sort of a never ending stalemate with neither side finding a clear edge due to various reasons that won''t be discussed here. Long story short, Armageddon was probably the person closest to beating the pagoda before Ares even though his pressure mastery wasn''t fantastic, hell he even punched the crap out of Xhilihx that one time, that was just how strong he was physically...


    And yet his body was recoiling at the sight of this revenant and encouraging him to run away before he, and his hat, were blown away by force. That was bad enough as is, the revenant towering before him left an imposing sight he would never forget, but unfortunately that wasn''t even really the end of it as Ares had yet to activate his annihilation enhancement... Armageddon didn''t believe for a second he could win now as is so, when the beast glowed a brilliant gold and its strength soared to unnatural heights via pressure enhancement, before then doubling again as it dipped into the destruction magic it could burn as fuel and turning some of the veins hidden beneath its fur pure gold too, Armageddon was left speechless. He''d never been outclassed before and yet here was Ares... It felt like he''d been sprinting for hundreds of years and a brick wall just appeared in his face as he crashed headfirst into it. The suddenness of someone so absurdly strong, to a comical degree so unfathomable the world had never seen before, appearing out of thin air was like a slap in the face after sleeping peacefully for a thousand years to Armageddon... He was starting to understand just how ridiculous the fundamentals truly were. This wasn''t simply a matter of them being talented or having advantages, they were unstoppable once they got going and even the Gods / top ten experts in the universe would have to just bend over and be submissive before their uncompromising might.


    Had Armageddon known that Ares was still not at full strength right now, as Garmr could evolve at some point into something even more out there, he might have just given up and asked kindly to be let out of the pagoda gently. He was strong but there was a clear limit to what he could and could not achieve in his life and this would be the first time he ever looked at a challenge and thought to himself that it was actually impossible to beat. Thankfully for him, though, both he and Ares were unaware of Garmr''s potential for evolution right now so that did not come to pass. Armageddon simply stared in awe at the impressive creature before him, with his head finally turned upwards and his dark brown eyes visible beneath the hat, before swallowing nervously as he knew what was coming. Dying in this pagoda meant nothing, his wife''s soul would be safe, but he hadn''t expected to go out like this. Last time, when he fought Veteran, he simply allowed the guy to punch a hole through his chest and the hat was unaffected... If Garmr punched Armageddon right now he would be crushed into paste and the hat would be destroyed too. Again, this was just a simulation so it was fine but he really didn''t like the thought of it so, for the first time since transmuting his wife''s soul, Armageddon took off the hat and placed it gently on the side while taking a heavy sigh.


    "I respect you as a fellow family man." Garmr''s deep and steady voice naturally reverberated through every listener''s body and just further imposed his might onto all who witnessed him. "So I will not touch the hat but that is as far as my lenience goes." Garmr could have easily been planet sized, or even bigger if he wanted to be, at this current cultivation, but he''d kept himself roughly forty to fifty feet tall so as not to appear too daunting to Armageddon. Still, it was impossible not to be both awed and fearful at the sight of him so Armageddon could do little other than nod and accept his fate as the giant fist came sailing down towards him. Armageddon did not raise even a pinkie finger because he knew it was as pointless as trying to inhale a tornado; he simply just stood there and watched the fist enlarge in his view as the jagged furs of the wolfish creature stood on end its golden eyes locked fiercely with his own. Even with an assured victory in the bag the beast did not let up for even a single second in his hunt. it did not throw a ''light punch'' like Armageddon did to test his foe, it was professional through and through in crushing any who opposed it... Armageddon had a rather profound respect for this animal and it appeared to be more of a God in his eyes than the vile things he killed way back when he went on his rampage at heaven''s gates.


    ...


    Outside the pagoda, a lengthy line had appeared as people were finally starting to arrive. The pagoda was still being set up and only Armageddon had been allowed in so far as he was a pretty massive threat that Lingo had to placate. Aside from him, though, all sorts had shown up from wealthy barons looking to sell Ares on their daughters to news-folk and journalists who simply wanted a glimpse of the man in question and / or to interview experts who failed in their challenges. Getting a proper grasp of Ares'' strength here was going to create a massive buzz as this would be the first time a fundamental champions strength could be scaled to the level of near Godhood and it was exciting to see just how bizarre they could get. Sure Ares'' magic was unfortunately off the table, for the most part as he could circumnavigate the runes preventing him from using it if he wanted to, but witnessing other aspects of a fundamental champion at that level was sure to be interesting!


    BANG!


    While some of the more friendly and talkative people in the queue were chatting amongst themselves, a massive hole appeared in the pagoda and a body came flying out of the dust and smoke, plummeting into the ground and creating a small ravine in the planet as it skid across the equator. Everyone was stunned silence as some had managed to catch sight of who that body belonged to... Sure enough, as everyone peered down into the small canyon, there lay Armageddon, barely clinging to his hat and coughing up some blood... Did he just get knocked out of the pagoda?! When you died, you weren''t supposed to sustain actual injuries! Did he get hit so hard that the rules of the pagoda themselves had been shattered? Was he literally punched out of the simulation, breaking the dimensional wall?! Everyone wanted to know! While everybody else was mindlessly gawking, a smug Lingo crept on over to the edge of the ravine and looked down at Armageddon, asking him a simple but demeaning question.


    "So, I take it you found what you were looking for?" Of course Armageddon was looking for assurance that the fundamentals weren''t all bark and no bite, and the answer had been made very readily apparent, so this was just a mockery of his current state and little else... Still, the half-broken man gave a weak smile and took it on the chin because it looked like his wife could be saved after all. He groaned a response that would become the headlines in every major news outlet for the foreseeable future.


    "Yes... It only took me one hit to realise I finally found what I was looking for."


    ''Armageddon, bested in one hit?!'' That was the scoop. The pagoda challenges had barely even started and things were already getting out of hand! This was going to be a good few weeks to be a journalist, that was for sure. All the money would be raked in if they could get their hands on exclusive stories! This was definitely the place to be hanging about as Ares was more than living up to the hype!