"Good morrow, my most magnificent-magicked muse!"


    Ares rolled his eyes as he knew exactly who was talking to him without having to even turn around. "Good day, you disagreeable, deluded, and deranged dingbat."


    "Deluded? Ah, what I wouldn''t give for a deluge of delusion to distance myself from the confusion and doubt of the creative drought I am acutely aware I am awash in."


    "Yeah, ok, whatever you say pal. So, are you just here to wax poetic at me?"


    "Not at all! I actually have a rather serious matter to discuss with you regarding the war... And it has to do with that silly girl impatiently staring holes into the back of my head."


    Ares and Enyo looked past Eagerton and saw someone they were vaguely familiar with. "Fate?"


    "Yes, that is her name, one of many anyhow. Were you aware that she is a revenant?"


    "What?!" Enyo was deeply concerned by this information as this put her in a difficult spot. Now that she was with Ares, she had no idea what to do whenever she came across a revenant... Would they try to kill her? Should she just kill them? Would Ares even care?... Ok, probably not... But should she kill them? Is it even helpful? Enyo had just been hoping she wouldn''t need to worry about this exact scenario, but to learn there was a revenant skulking around her all this time was unsettling, to say the least. "Are you certain?!"


    "I tend not to speak in absolutes unless I am certain without a shadow of a doubt of the veracity of what I am saying. In fact, as a show of good faith I''ll give you some extra information on the house; you may ''know'' this particular revenant as Calla''s mystery child."


    "That''s her? What a conniving little pest, Tsk." Enyo was remembering the innocent fa?ade fate had worn back in the forest as she scampered away after telling Ares she was going to see her parents who were in ''another country''. Technically, she wasn''t lying, but she also failed to mention they were in another planet! In another domain, even! Actually, in hindsight, she probably didn''t even need aid dealing with the men that were assaulting her... All of Calla''s children were above average cultivators, Fate would likely not be an exception... So why did she scream for help... Wasn''t it a little too convenient? Enyo slowly pieced together everything she knew about Ares'' two encounters with this scamp and came to a conclusion. "That damnable rodent set it all up! She wants Ares to produce Beads for the Umbra Wolves!"


    Ares was lost. "Huh?"


    "Tsk. She''s undoubtedly strong enough to be a fifth tier herself but has been lying low to maintain her cover. She tested out the capabilities of your Shock Beads using the fifth tier disciple as an excuse as he was ''something she couldn''t deal with on her own''. When she realised how absurdly powerful your destruction pillar was, and how beneficial it could be in a war, she tracked everything you were doing, following us out of the sect on our mission. She acted the damsel in distress when we were nearby to make you pity her and give her the Shock Beads, not so she could get around safely, but so she could show them off to the clan! Her plan worked so well you even gave her the experimental Block Rocks too! When the clan found out about the Beads, they were probably ecstatic and told her to try and convince you into joining them or at least producing the Beads for them. That''s why she wants to talk to you now! She probably took this long because she was put off by my, Sadie''s, and Eagerton''s presence. Snake!"


    Eagerton chuckled. "That sounds about correct, yes. She is rather good at setting up ''coincidences'', that one. In fact, it goes a bit deeper than even that. Fate has kept an eye on Ares since the very beginning, you see. She always watches the sect entrance exams and she figured out that Ares was a revenant rather easily. She used that information to blackmail Yulo, threatening to leak the fact that Ares was a revenant with insane potential to the Legion clan; at which point chaos would descend upon the sect. In doing so, she told Yulo that all she wanted was for him to give me the authority token so I could go see my brother without a hassle. It seems she knew I had a pretty massive secret on my hands and she wanted to hear it. She figured I would let my guard down when speaking to my brother but, alas, I was already vaguely familiar with her existence, so it didn''t come to pass. She probably no longer feels the need to hide as she quickly realised that no-one here seems to give a toss about revenants. I was simply going to watch the upcoming match from the side-lines, but I figured I would warn you about that little tyke, she''s a devilish one for sure. Do try not to fall into her silly schemes, hard though it may be at times."


    "It''s rude to talk about people behind their back!" Fate had snuck up behind Eagerton''s... Well, back. Ironic, much?


    "Yes, well it''s also rather rude to stalk people and eavesdrop."


    "BLEHHH!" Fate stuck her tongue out and pulled the skin under her eye down, to which Eagerton simply sighed and walked away. "Hello again, Ares. It''s been a while."


    Enyo took a step forward and poked Fate. "I see you aren''t greeting me. Am I mud to you? Our standings aren''t any different, I won''t permit this disrespect! Especially not after all the manipulation you''ve been doing!"


    Fate raised an eyebrow as she looked from Enyo to Ares. "Why on earth are you going to marry this thing?"


    Enyo''s blood was boiling. Don''t take the revenant seriously. Don''t take the revenant seriously. Don''t take the revenant seriously. Don''t take the revenant seriously. Enyo calmed down when Ares grabbed her hand reassuringly and winked.


    Ares flicked a weak echo at Fate which made him snicker when her head pinged back. "What do you want, runt?"


    Fate pouted. "Hmph, Eagerton literally just told you, are you deaf? Have all those explosions given you tinnitus? Idiot." Fate''s innocent little girl persona had gone off to play somewhere, leaving behind the real gremlin of a revenant personality on full display.


    "Nah, just figured I would double check and make sure you were really trying to ask something of me this stupid. You really want me to sell you explosives so you can use them to kill my future wife''s clansmen? Yeah, ok. You should change your name from ''Fate'' to ''Not Gonna Happen''."


    Grrrrrrr


    Fate''s inner wolf came out a little bit as she growled at Ares. Inwardly, she was shocked that a revenant could be this mouthy. Ares even rivalled her own father in this regard, which was saying a lot as he was considered the most unbearable revenant of them all! "Listen stupid, I''m not giving you a choice! You''re a revenant, you betraying us like this isn''t going to end well for you. Besides, we you knew you''d be reluctant ''cos of Enyo, so we agree to only use the Beads defensively; as in if someone invades our territory. You have no reason to complain if that''s how it is, right?!"


    "Says you. Who says I have time to spare becoming your personal ammunition depot? I have more important things to do."


    "Yeah sure, whatever you say bucko. Like I said, you don''t have a choice. If you don''t, we''ll let the Legion clan know about you and little miss Legion ace over here! See how well that goes down!"


    Enyo curled her fists, ready to punch this tiny creature squealing in front of her. "And what do you think will come of that? They''ll kick me out of the clan? So what?! Let them! I value Ares higher than all of them put together. You''re threat means nothing to me."


    Fate grinned evilly as she finally felt she had the upper hand in the conversation for once. "You? Maybe, but who cares about you? You know what your father is like, he detests revenants as though they were the plague. If he finds out his favourite daughter betrayed him for a revenant, what do you think he''ll try and do to your little mutt over there? And that''s not including the chance he may try to kill you as well! Real piece of shit he is, ain''t he? Look me in the eyes, sugar tits, and tell me with confidence your father isn''t going to make your life a living hell if he finds out!"


    This time Enyo was hesitant to respond. If anyone knew what kind of person Major was, it was Enyo. Even Rhea hadn''t spent as much time around him lately as Enyo had before she left the clan and was stuck in her old ways. It wasn''t unreasonable to think he would be a serious issue going forward... But Enyo really didn''t want to concede Ares'' freedom here either. Luckily for her, she heard Ares chuckle softly beside her.


    Of course, for Fate, that chuckle meant her little shindig was up and she wasn''t going to get away with her attempt to blackmail. The laugh grinded her gears, but the truth was she had nothing to stop Ares mocking her, her blackmail had actually been rather hollow because...


    "Ignore her, Enyo. She''s riling you up other something she can''t even do anyway. Or, to be more accurate, it makes no difference if she does it or not. Pop quiz, why didn''t you know about Mako, but Eagerton did?"


    Enyo wasn''t sure where Ares was going with this, but she played along as Fate''s reaction to all of this was to throw a mini tantrum and turn her face away with her arms crossed; which was undoubtedly a good sign things weren''t going her way. "... Because he was there recently?"


    "Go on... You''re already nearly there!" Ares excitedly encouraged Enyo to work it out.


    Enyo looked at Fate again. "Oh! You also went back recently! To go and ''see you parents'', you little shit! You also know about Mako because your parents would have told you about him when you visited them! You''ve seen Ares'' pillar so you know he''s a fundamental like Mako! Thanks to the information Mako told everyone, you know that the fundamentals have to save the world! Telling the Legion clan means nothing because Ares is duty bound to solve a problem that''s bigger than them. The Legion clan stooping so low as to kill a cultivator who''s going to save the world is impossible, even for my stupid father. Just as Mako gets a free pass and doesn''t have to take part in the war, you know Ares is in the same boat. None of the four clans are going to stop him from moving forward as his task was given to him by the Gods themselves, so your threat is hollow!"


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Fate was angrily chewing on her nail. "Hmph! You win this time! You just wait, I''m going to dig up more dirt on you, then you''ll be sorry! Leaving our clan to get killed over and over again in the middle of nowhere while you go have fun with that special pillar of yours... Must be nice, bastard!" Fate cutely punched Ares'' chest. Ares didn''t even flinch because, although he was an Adept and his strength was average, Fate''s strength was really quite pitiful. She was strong in a fight, but that had nothing to do with physical strength and everything to with the overabundance of treasures she held onto as well as her magic.


    Ares looked down at Fate and petted her. "Haha, you''re funny. Come back again some time so I can laugh at you more."


    "HMPH!" Fate turned around and stormed away in defeat. Between Eagerton sniffing her out, preventing her from getting the info she wanted, and Ares one-upping her, she was in a bad mood! She was sooooo going to complain to her mother about this! Let''s see if that stupid dog can laugh in the face of Calla! Dumb dog Ares!


    As the match was starting soon, Ares, Enyo, and Bellona met up with everyone else. Ares shiftily slid over to Li Li and delivered the news. "Hey, you were wondering if Dirk likes you, right?"


    Li Li grunted and rolled her eyes. "UGHHH, not you too?! Why do you all care so much? I''ll see how things go over time."


    Ares couldn''t contain his cheeky smile as he dangled irresistible bait in front of Li Li. "Are you sureeee? Because I just went over and asked him how he fe~els about you. But hey, if you want me to stay out of it, by all means! There really is no reason to care so much, I guess!"


    "... Enyo?" Li Li turned to Enyo for help as she had a degree of control over this rambling dunderhead.


    Sigh


    Thwack


    "Don''t play with a maiden''s heart!"


    "Yes ma''am... But come on, it''s not my fault you didn''t just go and ask him yourself, right? I mean he''s RIGHT there... Be direct, damn it!"


    Enyo glared fiercely at him. "First of all, where''s the romance in that?! No build up? No tease? No ''will they won''t they''? That''s boring! Also, who are you to talk about being indirect?! Have you forgotten the nonsense we went through because of your roundabout approach?! Why weren''t you direct then?!"


    Scratching his head with an unconvincing smile, Ares tried to worm his way out of his current predicament. "Uh... Because you''re a special woman?" Ares patted Enyo on the head reassuringly and... Success! Enyo had been placated! Of course, Ares immediately ruined it all so what was really the point anyway? "Difficult, but special!"


    Thwack


    Li Li coughed loudly. "Excuse me. Could you not leave me on edge here? You can''t drop a bomb on me like that and not tell me everything!"


    Even Esme was salivating at the thought of gossip. "Yeah, come on, I want to know!"


    Li Li looked at Esme with a sideways, disapproving glance. "You are not relevant! All of your wily methods when I could have just gone and asked... You pretend you know your stuff but you''re an amateur! Your only good for gossip!" Li Li hit Esme with the one two before facing Ares again with hope in her eyes. "Well?"


    Ares coughed into his fist. "Ahem. He said he hates you... Hahaha, just kidding, he''s interested. He came here just for you and everything, so that''s good news, right?!" Ares stopped snickering to himself and took stock of everyone''s response. When he realised he was receiving death stares from every women in the group for the stupid prank he played, he tried to look for help from the men. Unfortunately, they knew better and had fled the scene already. It was so bad that even Allie was here, ready to kick his ass. "Uh, the match is about to start... You wouldn''t beat me up before the match starts right? That would be cheating, surely?..." Ares tried to reason with the rabid cat pack, but found himself being encroached upon by the vicious group. "... Can we talk about this?"


    ""NO!""


    Throughout history, there have been many historical events of significance. Of particular note are the wars in which untold levels of violence were committed. To this day, many scholars have heatedly debated one another over details such as which war took the most lives, which war had the most impact on the rest of the world at large, and which war was the most brutal of them all. Regarding that last point, if they could see what was happening to Ares down in Sheryashka, their decision would have been unanimous.


    The man with the clipboard of notes walked up to the mic and began speaking now that he was finished with the documents. "The match is about to begin so please... Stop beating up the disciple with the cape and take your positions." The man wasn''t sure what to make of this situation. Normally, this would qualify as match interference... But his own team was also beating him up... So maybe he just deserved it? Well if no one was complaining, then he wasn''t needed to arbitrate, thank God. This looked like a mess he didn''t want to wade into, he had enough paperwork on his plate already.


    When the women were finally satisfied, they began leaving to enter the Training Field. Enyo stayed behind so she could drag a thoroughly battered and broken Ares along with her... By the feet, of course... Over all the rocky bumps she could find, of course.


    Ares groaned as he regained consciousness inside the Field. He stumbled to his feet and looked around groggily. "Where am I? Who am I?" He turned to Enyo. "Who are you?!"


    "Did I not hit you hard enough?! The fight''s starting, make yourself useful and go and fetch the talisman."


    "Okey doke. That, I can do!" Ares activated his Omniscience and was staring in disbelief at Trew, who was readying himself to teleport! Did this man learn nothing from our last exchange in Baja?! What does he think is going to happen? Ares looked around before poking the underneath of his jaw, seemingly in contemplation.


    The horn made its third appearance as it heralded the start of the most interesting match of the day. Precisely as Ares expected, Trew really did try to teleport again. Well, to be more precise, the art was called ''Blink'' but the two terms were almost interchangeable. The only real difference was that Teleports typically had longer ranges and were used for travel more so than combat. Anyhow, Blink or Teleport, Trew was making a big mistake, so Ares punished him hard with the click of a finger.


    Click


    CRACK


    Ares shifted in front of the talisman as Trew collapsed to his knees, heavily injured and gritting his teeth in pain as he leaked blood from every orifice. Unlike Trew, Ares'' cultivation had gone up, so it was always going to hurt more than it did the first time. If Trew were any weaker, that attack might have even outright killed him on the spot.


    Ares reached out for the talisman and his movements dulled as he was trapped in time. To make matters worse, Gladius appeared directly in front of him, thrusting his spear. The Legion''s plan was simple, bait Ares into using his magic. Trew had intentionally taken one for the team as a distraction of sorts. Ares needed, at minimum, to break Trew''s Blink and Shift at the start of the match toward the talisman. If Bellona slowed his movements before using her Measurement Manipulation to push Gladius to the talisman, Ares would now also have to run disintegration magic through himself and then block the attack with basically no time remaining. In short, he was being multitasked and overworked. This was the correct decision as Charity was more than capable of fixing up Trew... With Ares'' very own revenant blood he''d given her too, no less! Not to mention the Legion clan''s gameplan revolved around getting the talisman first and keeping it for the rest of the fight, so they had to go pretty hard in the beginning, even throwing Trew under the bus. Mind you, Trew volunteered himself for the sake of the team. It was a pretty excellent strategy that punished Red Sun for putting the onus on Ares to do everything at the start. The problem with this plan, though, was that Ares was given this responsibility because they knew he could do it, no matter how out of hand the situation looked they knew he would persevere and prevail. This was no different as, contrary to the Legion clan''s expectations, Ares paid Bellona''s magic no heed whatsoever.


    Ares was undoubtedly a fool. Even he probably wouldn''t disagree with that statement, perhaps he would even endorse it because, truthfully, that was what he wanted others to believe. Playing the fool wasn''t just fun for him, it had benefits. Speak softly and carry a big stick. Ares had spent the better part of his youth reading books in a nearby library so, for what it was worth, Ares was actually rather erudite and learned. He was hardly even half as stupid as he pretended to be, but that was the point. Anyone who fell for the front he put up was going to have a bad time when they inevitably underestimated him. Ares'' smarts, however, no matter how much he read or how much he knew, were mostly combat oriented. It seemed like all of his scholarly intelligence had, instead, been converted and funnelled into combat trickery and smarts. That was being showcased here and now as he opened his mouth, at a snail''s pace thanks to the time slow, and pushed a Shock Bead out of his mouth with his tongue. Back before the fight started, he hadn''t poked the underside of his jaw in ''contemplation'', he was secretly forming a Shock Bead in his mouth for this exact situation that he read like a... Well, you get the point.


    The Bead hovered between Gladius'' spear, which had halted in place before making contact with the Bead, before glowing brightly. Gladius cursed inwardly as he thought the Bead was just a deterrent to block the attack. He didn''t think Ares would actually have the balls to blast both of them... But he was a revenant! Of course he would! Why would he care about whatever injury he face as a result of this move? It would heal anyway. On top of that, Trew and Charity weren''t available and Bellona would seriously be wasting magic if she did all of this and got nothing out of it; especially if she had to save Gladius too. Luckily, there was one more member of the team on standby just in case.


    The monk in yellow robes put his hands together in prayer and silently cast an art, Om Mani Padme Hum. A blue and purple lotus sprouted around Gladius before closing shut into a bulbous shape, protecting him from harm. This art was a technical, just as most arts dedicated to specific religions were. The holy aspect was more of an all-encompassing, generalist pillar in comparison. This was why holy had its own pillar as religion was a strange topic in a world with Gods that everybody knew about. Well, not the people sealed away by the primordial blade, but everyone else anyway. Still, the matter was complicated and would take a long while to explain, it would be better to cover it when and where it was relevant as each religion has its own story of sorts regarding its origin. As for the here and now...


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOM


    As it was just a single Shock Bead, the explosion wasn''t all too terrifying or mighty, but it still packed a punch. Unfortunately, that punch was aimless and didn''t really accomplish anything. Ares had escaped in time by running disintegration through himself and Shifting away while the monk''s lotus absorbed the blast headed in Gladius'' direction. That wasn''t to say Gladius was in the clear though. The lotus'' petals had changed colour to the same brilliant gold of the Shock Bead and were lightly humming, signifying they were about to blow from having absorbed too much mana. The lotus opened and Gladius promptly fled as the lotus burst in a flowery spectacle. Shredded, golden petals rained down from the sky creating a beautiful landscape in which the monk stood perplexed. Usually, his magic would be able to absorb multiple attacks without breaking a sweat! Whatever that attack was, it was no joke! The monk realised he was going to have work extra hard against Ares and that his role in this fight was unenviable, to say the least. On the bright side, it was going to be made somewhat easier by the fact that his team already had the talisman! As the monk took up the mantle of protecting Gladius, it gave Bellona the opportunity to throw a pebble at the talisman while enhancing its speed. The pebble just barely made it in time before the Shock Bead went off, bringing the talisman over to her.


    On the other side of the field, Esme had made an effort to try and use wind magic to hit the talisman in the same fashion, but she didn''t make it in time. This exchange made a pretty big flaw in the Red Sun team rather apparent... They had no range! Li Li, Enyo, and Aejaz were all CQC! Even Esme was more of a trap setter than anything. Any projectiles in this team were either like Aletheia, slow, or like Esme''s wind magic, quick but weak. Other than maybe throwing weapons at their opponents, they were really lacking in this regard. This problem was about to be amplified quite massively too as Gladius finally got his chance to shine.


    The Red Soil team gathered behind Gladius who raised his spear sunward and yelled in a profoundly captivating voice; one filled with determination.


    "Essedarius!"