Back by the chariot, Ares was a few steps away from crossing the pole and making it to the front of the chariot''s carriage where everyone was. Predicting a problematic future if Ares was allowed to precede unimpeded, Gladius handed the reigns to Charity and took a spear out of his spatial ring. Considering his position in the chariot, he had a height advantage over Ares and a range advantage too. Furthermore, Ares only had the two poles to manoeuvre about on, restricting his movement and limiting his options. Gladius didn''t fall into the trap of thinking his victory was assured, but he did feel good about his odds. He led with a sweeping attack that was essentially impossible for Ares to dodge in such a confined space. Ares also didn''t have the luxury of blocking as his Adept nature meant he didn''t have the strength to resist being swept off the chariot.


    As the sweep came in from Ares'' left, he jumped to the right pole and activated the Black Ice Bane. "Crystalised Void: Wall." Ares raised the wall along the length of the pole he''d just been standing on. This blocked off his options even further as now he couldn''t jump back, but it did solve his immediate issue of dealing with the sweep which clanged harmlessly off the wall. With this temporary reprieve, Ares whipped out a sack full of Shock Beads and tossed them above the carriage. Gladius and Charity had no response to this as they simply couldn''t deal with it. The monk was also a no go as he didn''t know a single art that could defend against the 30 or so Shock Beads threatening to wipe them all out. Once again, the only option was for Bellona to spend a metric ton of mana to send the Beads as far away as possible. Bellona knew this was Ares'' goal to begin with, and that while she was doing this, he could battle Gladius pretty much solo. Bellona just had to hope Gladius wouldn''t lose in the few seconds she spent dealing with the Beads.


    Gladius was in a difficult position, however. He didn''t want to attack because the current situation felt too convenient, what with Ares having nowhere to go like a sitting duck. He knew he had to do something otherwise Ares would come aboard and then all hell would break loose, but he felt a sense of trepidation when he moved to thrust his spear. He regretted his action before he''d even finished taking it, but he still felt obligated to do it. Inwardly, he cursed Ares for being a despicable opponent before wholeheartedly committing to the trust. Logically, Ares wouldn''t be able to avoid this without jumping off the pole and off the chariot... Logically. That being said, Gladius wasn''t too surprised to watch Ares connect the pole he was stood on with the Crystallised Void wall via his Stygian Zephyr. After creating a mini bridge, Ares had enough space to weave out the way of the spear thrust and dodge. Gladius hoped in his heart of heart that would be all he would do, but in what universe was Ares the kind of person to ever let an opportunity go? Ares wasn''t so kind as his arm made a circular motion before he grabbed the tip of the spear. This action gave Gladius pause as he wondered what exactly Ares was up to. If Gladius had been a bit more clever, he would have dropped the spear immediately and simply assumed the worst. His slow reaction, or rather lack of one entirely, cemented the fate of the hand holding the spear as it exploded into a geyser of flesh and blood.


    "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


    Ares'' arm motion was an action taken to create an Echo, one which then travelled through the spear and detonated at the handle. Ares'' actual goal was to flip the spear''s handle into his grip via the Echo, stealing the weapon. He hadn''t expected Gladius to stubbornly hold onto it and lose his hand. That''s not say Ares was complaining, mind you, if his life was going to be made easier why should he care? Ares got his wish as the mini air burst caused the spear to spin clockwise. Ares grabbed the handle as it came toward him and now he had the range advantage... Against no one. Gladius was being healed by Charity and the monk, who was about to launch another art, had to give up on that and take the reigns. The horses could run on their own, but there was no telling where they would go. Bellona had only just finished dealing with the Beads so there was no one left to stop Ares as he made a dash for the chariot, finally making it across the full length of the pole.


    Bellona was the only one without her hands tied so she moved to the front of the chariot''s platform to try and go toe to toe with Ares. She''d ''beaten'' him in all their mini wrestling sessions, so she believed she stood a chance. Of course, that was just Ares'' ''big stick'' philosophy working its charms. Letting Bellona win had inflated her ego and now it was sufficiently ready to burst. Bellona prepared to attack Ares as he vaulted over the front of the carriage but, to her shock, he simply vanished. Bellona was baffled for a second until she realised Ares was still on the pole, he''d just ducked out of view as the front of the chariot''s carriage was blocking her line of sight. But why bother doing that? That just gives us more time to recuperate, and I''m not going to fall for it and go check to make sure he''s there... Bellona eventually psyched herself out as, before Ares ducked, he had a wolfish, devious smile on his face; one that signified a revenant was about to start playing with you and you weren''t going to like it. She inched forward and moved past the monk, cautiously checking the poles only for the worst possible outcome to have reared its ugly head; Ares was gone. If Bellona truly believed Ares had jumped off the chariot after having had a golden chance to finally make a move, she would have no choice but to classify herself as an idiot. That raised a brand new problem though, one which Bellona didn''t have the answer too; Where the hell is he?! He wasn''t near the horses, he wasn''t near the Crystallised wall, he wasn''t on the poles, and he wasn''t on the platform... He has to be on the side of the chassis? Bellona freaked out and turned around before realising Ares hadn''t yet climbed around and behind her... But why not? His plan to sneak around the side of the chariot had worked, but he hadn''t taken advantage of it? None of it made any sense to Bellona who decided to go check the sides of the chariot.


    BUMP


    Something shook the carriage and Bellona threw away all her trepidation as whatever Ares was doing needed to be stopped post haste. Bellona leant over the left side of the chariot and her vision immediately faded to black. As stars began dotting her blanked out vision, she felt something pierce into and tug on her stomach. When she finally managed to regain her vision, she caught sight of Ares, mid air, crashing down toward her in perfect form to land a diving kick directly on her face as he grinned wildly.


    The memories of the split second after she leant over the side of the chariot came funnelling back to her and she understood what had happened... Not that she could actually believe she''d been outsmarted to that degree. When Ares ducked in front of the chariot''s carriage, he actually had jumped off the chariot just as Bellona went to check on him. He jumped off the left side of the chariot before using the stolen spear to pierce into the spoked wheel, causing the bump she''d felt earlier. The spear, which Ares was holding onto, was dragged counter-clockwise by the spinning wheel, bringing Ares along for the ride. Ares used the upward momentum to launch himself skyward while also kicking Bellona in the face as she peered over the edge at him. He then turned in mid air and used the Stygian Zephyr to anchor himself to Bellona before tugging hard and pulling himself toward her, thus putting her in her current predicament. Her mind raced as Ares shoe drew ever closer but she began to panic as no option seemed viable to her. She couldn''t block in time, she couldn''t affect Ares with her magic, she couldn''t affect anything around her that would stop Ares, she couldn''t distance herself from the current location without pushing herself off the chariot... The kick drew closer and closer as Bellona''s mind raced through every conceivable option with each being more desperate than the last. In the end, her mind kept racing and, eventually she did manage to come up with a solution. She could always jump off the carriage then put herself back on it by halving the distance repeatedly... That way she could,,,


    THWACK


    Bellona''s brainstorming was to no avail, however, as the savage kick landed directly on her forehead, instantly kicking her onto the floor and knocking her out for a few seconds. Her magic could be cast very quickly, yes, but she still had to have the necessary reaction time herself. Even though she figured out an escape plan right at the end, there was no way to feasibly execute it when the kick had already landed unless she could go back in time and redo it all. As she lay there in darkness, she could faintly hear the scuffling of Charity, the monk, and Gladius fighting with Ares. When her vision came back once more, she honestly wished it hadn''t. She wished she could just go to sleep and let this nightmare end. Ares was winning, and not by a small margin either. Put simply, he was thoroughly embarrassing the others. Even though the chariot''s carriage wasn''t roomy in the slightest, he was still weaving in and out of narrow gaps while taking advantage of the chaos to avoid haphazard and uncoordinated attacks.


    The monk was not exactly an expert in doling out violence, but he still made a feeble attempt to throw a punch. Ares ducked under it and launched his own at the monk''s jaw, dislocating it when it connected as the Echo contained within went on a rampage. Gladius and Charity managed to put Ares between them as they both moved to attack him, but Ares took off his Stygian Zephyr and chucked it onto Gladius'' head, blinding him. Utilising the extra second he bought himself while Gladius was fumbling with the Zephyr, Ares brought out the Black Ice Acrimony and activated one of the runes.


    "Hazy Phantom." A strange white mist coated the carriage and nobody on it could see even a centimetre in front of them... Except for Ares who''s Omniscience treated the mist as though it didn''t exist. Ares'' reign of terror commenced as he launched himself from within the mist at everyone around him. Lunging into view, attacking, and ducking back out before anyone could react was the approach he took and he was winning thanks to it. Charity, as the most talented melee fighter still standing at this point, barely held her own against the onslaught. As for Gladius and the monk, however, they were taking a beating as Ares'' knees and fists came charging towards them out of nowhere. Countless times the Legion members and monk smacked into each other, even occasionally attacking one another thanks to the confusing affect of the mist. Ares ramped up the beatdown to a degree that was simply uncalled for as he dumped a load of weapons on the carriage''s platform and used an art that was, without question, overkill.


    "Asura Rondo!"


    Ares ascended to menace God-hood as the combination of the thick mist, the blackouts, and the random arsenal of weaponry that assaulted the Red Soil group from every direction was impossible to defend against. Charity''s vision came back and she thought she was going to be struck again but, when she saw Gladius in front of her, she sighed in relief. She was thankful as she thought the art had ended because Ares wasn''t anywhere to be seen, but she was sorely mistaken. Gladius'' head was suddenly pushed down as it was stepped on by Ares, as he came barrelling out of the mist, who then used his other foot to kick Charity''s head like it was a ball of some sort. She blacked out again and limply fell to the floor with a small dent in her head. Meanwhile, the monk''s vision had just returned and he found himself bound by a chain. Ares held onto the other end and yanked the monk towards him. The monk tripped over Charity, who was stuck in the Rondo blackout and rolling along the floor, putting his face on a collision course with Ares'' thrusting knee.


    THUD


    The monk went reeling back as his face was savaged and his vision was taken from him again by the Rondo. Gladius'' sight was restored just in time to watch the monk recoil backward into him, accidentally headbutting him and cracking his nose. He looked up through the tears in his eyes and saw Ares pointing a musket at his head.


    BANG


    Gladius felt something catch on his teeth and get stuck in his mouth as Ares forcefully tackled him with a shield. Gladius was pushed over the side of the chariot, flipping head first onto the floor.


    Crack


    Gladius, thanks to the immeasurable pain in his mouth, assumed that noise just now was the sound of his jaw cracking as he fell of the chariot. While that was certainly half of it, he realised as he was rolling on the ground that the thing that Ares shot into his mouth earlier wasn''t a bullet, it was a Shock Bead. Unfortunately, Gladius couldn''t control his body that had been flung off a moving vehicle, so he was at the behest of the cruel whims of momentum as his head crashed into the floor one more time, this time fully cracking the Shock Bead in his mouth and...


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM


    … Taking him out of the fight for good.


    Bellona finally recovered from her trip to la la land and stood up holding the side of the carriage. Her first order of business was to remove the obnoxious mist by doubling its distance from the carriage, sending it off into the sky somewhere. As she did, she revealed the absolutely pitiful state of her team members who were beaten black and blue, groaning, and struggling to stand. Bellona turned around and saw Ares dropkicking her. This attack was different from the dive kick earlier though as she could tell Ares wasn''t using disintegration to block her magic for some reason. Bellona decided not to think about it and put up her distance doubling barrier which repelled Ares into the air. Ares should have been safely removed from the chariot with this action but, for good measure, Bellona doubled his distance from her again. When he was far enough away in the air, Ares remade the Zephyr on his back and spread his wings, hovering on the spot which confused Bellona who couldn''t understand why he essentially willing chose to disembark. She turned around and looked to the front, an action which caused her eyes to widen when she saw the sheer amount of wind mines Esme had set up while everyone was falling over themselves trying to deal with Ares. If Bellona didn''t do anything, the horses would eventually just go charging straight into the clusters and then things would seriously get messy. She went to the front of the carriage and was ready to sort out the mines until she realised the problem. ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?! HE THOUGHT THIS FAR AHEAD?! Not directly in front of Bellona, but in front of her nonetheless, was that damn Crystalised Wall Ares had put on top of the pole! She growled in frustration as she turned around to watch Ares detonate the wall as he hovered behind them.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "Crystalised Void: Detonate."


    This action served two purposes, one; Bellona wouldn''t be able to use her magic as the explosion of disintegration magic would act as a sort of barrier against it. Two, the tentacles of disintegration began lashing out at both the horses and the poles, sending the entire chariot haywire as it skid directly into the mines it had been trying to avoid.


    Boooooooooooom Boooooooom Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooom Boooooooom Boooooooom Boooooooom Boooooooom Boooom Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmm


    Boooooooooooom Boooooooom


    A series of green explosions created dome shaped gusts of wind that rocked the carriage before eventually decoupling it from the horses and launching it sky high. Bellona, the monk, and Charity were tumbling through the air beside the carriage which had long since flipped upside down. Their primary concern was sticking the landing, after which they would have the fight of their lives as they did everything in their power to hold onto said lives until the full five minutes ended. Bellona was ready to use her magic and lower everyone''s gravity when she noticed Esme below her, dancing as she rhythmically waved her fans. Even from up high Bellona heard Esme cast the art imbued into her folding fan treasures.


    "Tempest Dance!"


    Although Bellona felt sympathetic towards her team members, she had no choice but to abandon them here. She was going to try and win via a strategy she had been hesitant to use prior, but felt she no longer had any other choice but to execute. It was going to completely empty her mana, and there was no guarantee it would work, but it was still a better option than saving everyone and then losing anyway. If she saved the monk and Charity, then what? They were strong, but Bellona without magic wasn''t going to be helpful and they weren''t going to win a 3 vs 5 regardless. Trew would come back soon enough, but pretending that would help overcome the current situation was nonsensical. In short, Bellona distanced herself from the group and ended up near the furthest edges of the Field as she slowed her descent down to the floor. She didn''t execute her strategy immediately as every second she spent idling here was one less second she had to spend on mana later. After the rest of her team were dead and Red Sun came after her, she would take off and try to win via underhanded means. Simply put, she was going to double her distance from the planet repeatedly until she ended up in the clouds. She would then use all of her remaining mana to float there by reducing her gravity. She didn''t do this earlier because it would be catastrophic if the other team had an answer to it, plus she wouldn''t have had the mana to last for five whole minutes anyway. Not to mention how much weaker the team would be without her. For now though, she recovered mana as she watched her last two teammates go through hell.


    Esme''s Tempest Dance was an art which created a vortex of wind that gathered everything in the vicinity and locked down the space within it, preventing escape. Charity and the monk were previously falling but that all changed as they were sucked right back up into the air. They banged against each other and even hit the carriage a few times as they were thrown about amidst the swirling vortex of wind. They managed to somewhat steady themself, giving them a view of Ares who was about 50 metres ahead of them; still hovering in the air. They watched on as he shut his wings and took a nose dive toward the earth at an angle. When he neared the floor, he took out his sword, flipped forward and cast his signature art.


    "Grand Annihilation!"


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM


    Charity and the monk were far enough away that the explosion would never have even tickled them, but they quickly realised that wasn''t Ares'' intention. The explosion had propelled him back into the air, straight towards them with incredible speed. Inwardly, Charity couldn''t help but wonder what he was aiming for. Is he coming to fight us in the vortex? It would be annoying, but not impossible... No, he''s probably going to cast an art. Surely the monk can just block it though? Bah, who cares. If he kills us, he kills us! I want to go check if Gladius is ok anyway... Man this fight sucked! I was on healing duty the entire time and my one chance to scrap ended up with me getting beaten up! Why couldn''t I have fought someone like Li Li?! That would have been better... Whatever, after this I''m going to Ares house and demanding food, he owes us for this garbage he''s put us through!


    Ares'' swift, explosive propelled approach was slowed down as he brought out the wings again. As he glided through the air, he raised both his palms above his head as though he were holding an invisible boulder.


    Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzztttt


    A quiet, yet strangely omnipresent buzzing noise kissed everyone''s ear lobes as a sharp object began to form above Ares'' palms. What started as a single, curved black spike, became two, then four, eight, and finally sixteen in the shape of a hollow saw blade.


    BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTT


    The buzzing became louder as the blade began turning and red, viscous magic poured out of Ares'' hands. The red nothingness magic swam up and over the spinning blade and formed an intricate web in the middle of it, the shape of which formed a Metatron''s cube.


    BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT


    The buzzing had ramped up and was now assailing the ears of anyone within range. The spinning blade kicked up dust whirlwinds down on the floor around it and the art already reeked of mass destruction despite not having been cast yet. For the final touch, Ares drowned the nothingness web in liquid gold annihilation magic that wormed its way into each of the empty sections and hung there, defying gravity thanks to the nothingness magic merging it with the outer rim of the saw blade. This absolutely terrifying art took the form of a large black saw blade filled with dripping, golden magic, held together by strings of red nothingness, and it was hands down the most awe inspiring art everyone present had ever seen. It quite literally oozed danger as the tiny droplets of annihilation magic that seeped through the nothingness web landed on the floor and instantaneously created craters wherever they landed. This art went beyond being simply ''dangerous'', it was apocalyptic.


    BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT


    Ares laughed maniacally to himself as he threw the art towards the vortex.


    "Perish Wheel!"


    Charity''s jaw dropped as she floated motionlessly, staring at the art to end all arts that was about thoroughly destroy her existence down to the very last cell.


    "Shit."


    Charity was not the one who said that... She looked sideways at the monk who had broken his vow of silence... Not that she blamed him. She looked back at the Perish Wheel which was now just a few seconds away from ripping her in half. In the face of unavoidable tragedy, her mind blanked and refused to comprehend the situation. It was so bad that her mind tried to distract itself by guessing whether the saw blade would kill her outright, or the explosion that followed would so the job. When she couldn''t even figure out the answer to that, her mind broke a little and she just started laughing madly at the art that had buzzed itself so deep in her brain, she could no longer function properly in the face of it. The monk had begun screaming and banging his head against the carriage to try and dispel the illusion he convinced himself he was under. Off to the side, Bellona''s brain was working on autopilot. Her body and mind were petrified, but, before she even noticed what she was doing, she attempted to... Stop... The art... Never. Never. Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Her magic couldn''t even make it out of her own body before disappearing. It was as though the mana was scared and refused to interact with the Perish Wheel. This also meant her own plan to escape was utterly pointless. Actually, everything was utterly pointless, wasn''t it? Why bother in the face of an art like that? Bellona couldn''t make her body move or make her mind think, she unwillingly chose to just there and watch death take her. Charity had gone crazy, the monk was in a living nightmare, and Bellona was... Nothing. She felt nothing, could say nothing do nothing. She just sat there with a blank look and stared at the art.


    BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT


    …


    …


    …


    There was a brief moment of silence in the split second after the Perish Wheel made first contact. It was as though the entire world had slowed to a crawl as the art sliced effortlessly through Charity and the monk, who weren''t even sure if they were dead yet despite having been severed in half at their waists. It even went straight through the carriage before swerving down and buzzing past Bellona''s unmoving head. As it passed by her ear, mere centimetres away from cutting her head in half, it tore off strands of her hair which revealed both of her wide amber eyes, wonderstruck with pure reverence, to the world. The art kept travelling and eventually came into contact with the boundaries of the Training Field... Or it would have if it didn''t just carve right through even that. Even the Training Field, which could withstand explosions and meteors, simply folded in the presence of the Perish wheel. The Wheel seemed like it would keep going forever as it was unphased by literally everything, but it eventually crashed down into the floor. This didn''t mean it was the end though, no, quite the opposite. Now that the disintegration half of the art was over and done with, the annihilation magic was going to take its turn.


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


    This explosion was downright phenomenal. It would be etched into the minds of everyone present with or without their consent as it was heaven defying the way it pierced up into the clouds and even passed by the boundaries of the planet, touching outer space. Everyone who wasn''t on the other side of the planet could see this and people would come to the sect for days after in search of answers. Right now though, the golden spiral with twin black helixes wrapped around was expanding. The explosion wasn''t dying down, it was doing the reverse and growing larger. The initial explosion was just the trigger as the spiral''s expansion began consuming the entirety of the field, not just the cordoned off area. Bellona turned her head and watched on as the spiral kept growing, eventually coming right before her. As she stared at the explosion on the verge of engulfing her, she let out a quiet mutter, "Amazing..." When the spiral finally touched her, she could feel herself dissolving away in the golden ray of light. The deafening roar of the explosion was no longer anywhere to be found, like she''d entered the eye of the storm. Golden waves swirled all around her as she was painlessly being absorbed and fully annihilated. In her last moment, a thought entered her head. A simple thought that excited her and made her actively want to use her magic to support someone other than herself for the first time in her life. What if I made it bigger? She almost didn''t bother. She''d seen what had happened the last time she tried to use her magic on this monstrosity, but something within her nagged her to try. She made an attempt just as her life was finally snuffed out, but she died with a gleeful smile as the disintegration magic made no effort to stop her final action. She couldn''t wait to revive and see they mayhem she had wrought together with Ares as doubling an explosion this unfathomable would have catastrophic implications. She revived and was greeted with a wall of gold as she was almost immediately killed again. The doubled explosion had reached the side-lines and was about to fully reap her life, ending it for good outside the Training Field. If she were in her right mind, she would have used her magic to escape, but she was too enamoured by the brilliance of the golden hue that stretched off into the horizon. She couldn''t see beyond the wall or above it, it was just a golden wall, stretching on unto infinity. She stood in rapture as the golden tidal wave came thundering towards her.


    The elders of the various sects all had to step in and do something otherwise countless people would die here, not just Bellona. Before anyone could make a move, though, Yulo appeared and waved his arm. The movement was graceful and his swaying sleeve had an almost hypnotic effect on those who saw it.


    "Cylindrical Dispersion."


    A translucent cylinder spawned in front of everyone, caging the raging calamity within it. The explosion pushed up against the wall of the cylinder, but the wall had grooves that ran along it upwards to the very top of the cylinder. The explosion raced along these grooves and went through the open top of the cylinder, careening off into the sky and creating a regal sunset that was absolutely breath-taking. Bellona simply stood in silence and watched the sky turn gold. A single thought kept popping up in her head, but she kept vehemently denying it. Denying it was utterly pointless because she knew the thought was correct, she just didn''t want it to be. It was too complicated, even if she wanted to go along with the thought it just couldn''t happen. In a way, staring at the sunset was as brilliant as it was painful for Bellona. Her conversation with Enyo was playing on repeat in her head, but she just couldn''t accept the thought. That thought would keep pestering her though, and she could do nothing but resign herself to accepting the fact that it would probably never go away for as long as she lived. A tear rolled down her face as she knew she would be stuck with this heart-wrenching thought for hundreds of years to come until the day she died. She had no choice but to take it to her grave as her unwavering will wouldn''t let her dismiss it. The thought was just too precious to her.


    Meanwhile, back on the field that had been destroyed in its entirety, a certain someone was rolling around on the floor, completely unharmed, and laughing uncontrollably at the sky. Ares had wanted to just die to the explosion, but if everyone on the Field died simultaneously, it would maybe cause problems when deciding who won the match... So he hid in the void like a coward! He saw almost all of the explosions'' glory, however, and had come back out in time to watch his greatest masterpiece yet go sailing off into the sky. He''d kept an eye on Bellona as she was swallowed by the art and when he sensed her trying to use her magic, he controlled the disintegration to let her. Ares had truly believed from the beginning that the art would get the better of her curiosity during her final moments, and how right he was! Ares lay sprawled on the floor, with his arms stretched wide on both sides, as he stared at the sky. From his perspective, there wasn''t a cloud in sight.