Ares couldn''t help but watch Enyo get changed. Her figure was mesmerising and when she finished pulling up her panties he couldn''t help but instinctively want to pull them back down again. He resisted the urge and instead opted to help her put her bra on before putting his own clothes back on. When he was done, he went to wait outside and found Bellona skulking about. "Well hello there, don''t suppose your still on a shrink-rampage?"


    "Tsk, I was asked not to do it anymore... I thought people on the top floor of the coliseum could whatever they wanted!?"


    "... Within reason... There is a limit. If you were on any other floor you would have been booted out for your mischief and mayhem."


    "Booooorrrring. What you up to anyway? If you''ve got time to shoot the shit, wanna practice some magic instead? We can blow up a house or two and give Rud a real headache."


    Ares'' eyes lit up like Christmas lights and he almost started slobbering, but he maintained what little dignity he had left and declined. "''Fraid not, I''m taking Enyo out on a date. Maybe some other time... No, definitely some other time!"


    "A date, huh? You mean like, she''s gonna wear those casual clothes I picked out for her? Damn, didn''t think she''d put it on anytime soon. Well you''re in for a treat, she looks good in it. Real good."


    "Ah, ah, ah, no. Don''t spoil it. I left the room to maintain the surprise, thank you very much!... Ah but, now that I think about it, would you be willing to help Enyo out again in the future?"


    "What, you mean clothes shopping?"


    "Yeah, kinda. I mean a nice dress for the international party. I''m sure she''d have no idea where to look and what for. Witch clothes aside, and I''m not necessarily saying they don''t work, I do trust your sense of fashion."


    "Ooohhh, playing dress up doll with sis'' sounds fun, actually. Ok, deal. What about you? If you show up in shorts I''m going to personally kick you out of the venue!"


    "Ha, don''t worry, I''ll figure something out. By the way, do you know if Enyo knows how to dance? Not like a full on routine or anything, but I mean the basics."


    "For the reward of the Baja bet?... I don''t think so... I can teach her, but you''ll owe me one!"


    "Much obliged. What do you want in return?"


    "Hmm, not sure yet. I''ll get back to you."


    "That''s... Worrying, but ok."


    "What? You think I''m going to ask for your soul or something? It won''t be anything major, so don''t worry about it. Anyway, enjoy your date. I''m going to go and... Stare out of a window longingly or something... Guess I''ll cultivate. Bah, how dull." Bellona sighed as she wandered into the cultivation room next door.


    Creak


    The door behind him opening meant Enyo was ready and Ares wanted to see! He''d never seen Enyo in anything other her armour because she''d never owned anything else... Seriously, she''d been pretty dedicated to that lifestyle before Ares came along, but surely that was a bit too much?! Anyway, that was in the past and today would be the dawn of a new day for Enyo. She could finally start wearing whatever she wanted. Maybe she would develop an interest in clothes now that they actually mattered, or maybe she would just drag Bellona around and have her do all the work. Either way, she could ditch the armour.


    Ares turned around and his jaw dropped. The thought that Enyo may very well be more hot with clothes on than off ran through his head. It was a simple wardrobe, black jeans and an off-white, roll neck sweater, but she rocked it to a tee. Enyo had also tied her hair up into a ponytail which really brought the look together. Enyo dealt the killer blow to Ares when she put on a pair of stylish sunglasses.


    Ares couldn''t take this woman on a date. It was sacrilege that a shmuck like him would be seen walking next to someone who would be more at home on a catwalk. "Who the hell are you? Can I marry you? I already have a wife, but she won''t mind when she sees how hot you are. Actually, I can''t let my wife see you, she''ll divorce me and run off with you instead!"


    Enyo blushed and shyly looked down at the floor. Ares poor heart couldn''t handle this display and he very nearly fainted. To think he''d fallen in love with a walking pile of armour and this had been underneath the whole damn time! Enyo was nothing short of chic personified and bringing her on a date through Red Sun was criminal behaviour. There wasn''t anything in this town other than Myriad Masks or the Scorched Grounds that wouldn''t be downright ugly in comparison to her and Enyo would stick out like a sore thumb. It was like throwing a shiny diamond into a swamp. Ares had been the one to ask for this, but now he was almost regretting it! How many Grand Annihilations was he going to have to throw out to deter the people in this city from stalking her?! Hell, if he''d seen Enyo looking like this years ago when he was still a bandit he would have committed more crimes to get her attention! Ares was so lost in his head fighting off intrusive thoughts about just blowing up all of Red Sun that he was taken aback when Enyo spoke.


    "... Does it look good?" Enyo''s upturned doe eyes peeking over the tip of her sunglasses, the pink blush on her face, and her embarrassed half-whisper awakened something within Ares; a side to him he didn''t even know he possessed.


    "Enyo... There is not a woman in existence who has ever looked even half as good as you, that question is redundant. Those clothes should be grateful even being on your body and this house should be grateful you even live in it. I had always considered you to be an astonishingly beautiful woman before and, honestly, I don''t even know how to describe you now. God forbid you ever get any sexier otherwise you might actually make my heart stop for good. I''m genuinely worried if we go for a walk you''ll unintentionally form a conga line of starstruck followers. I know it''s pathetic, and I''ll even admit it beforehand, but I''m going to be incredibly petty and jealous of all the people looking at you." Ares stepped toward Enyo and held her hand. "I didn''t want to become some kind of possessive, obsessed man, but this is what you''ve turned me into Enyo. Civilians, street thugs, mayors, kings, Gods, even Xhilihx itself; I will kill every last one of them if they go anywhere near you. I''m going to be overprotective because you''re mine. I don''t care if what I''m about to say is extreme, but..." Ares held Enyo''s chin and looked her straight in the eyes with a fierce, fiery determination present in his. "... Enyo, you''re mine. You''re my wife. You''re my woman and you belong to me now and forever. I won''t accept anything less. You are my unhealthy obsession. I''m warning you Enyo, you''ve turned me into a broken man. If you say ''I''m yours'', I will never let you go."


    Enyo''s heart raced as she stared back at Ares. This was it, the exact moment she''d been waiting for. She wanted Ares to be selfish and to claim her. She wanted him to be madly in love with her and she wanted him to be obsessed with her. This moment was the culmination of all her hard work to grab Ares'' attention and never let it go because, deep down, she felt the same way he did. Although she couldn''t stake the sole claim to Ares, he was still hers. She''d successfully roped him into being her obedient mutt, ''now and forever''. Everything she''d done since they first fell in love led to this conversation that she''d been dreaming of time and time again. Ares'' foolishly thought the words Enyo was about to say would irrevocably tie her to him, but the truth was the opposite; he would be hers. Enyo was not the same woman she was before she met Ares. The discovery of her affiliation to the pleasure pillar had also helped facilitate the changes she''d undergone. She knew for a fact she was gorgeous and she knew how to use her looks to beguile the man she wanted. He had seen her naked and done things to her that ought not be brought up in polite conversation, in what universe would she be shy asking him such a simple question that she already knew the answer to? The blushing was just an application of pleasure pillar mana that could drive most men wild, and Enyo had learnt it specifically for this moment. He was a ''broken'' man? Good, I wanted to break you from the start, Ares. ''I didn''t want to become some kind of possessive, obsessed man''. Maybe not, but it''s what I wanted, Ares.'' You are my unhealthy obsession.'' I don''t want it to just be ''unhealthy'', I want it to be all consuming, Ares. If you aren''t thinking about me every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day, then that means I haven''t driven you far enough to the edge yet, Ares.


    "Ares..." Enyo mustered every ounce of femininity she had in her. She backed herself into the wall and lowered herself to cower beneath him. She bit her lower lip as she subtly hunched over forward to give him a better view of her chest and seduce him even further. She bent her knees slightly to touch his legs while she gulped to act like his cornered prey. She lowered her voice like a timid maiden and looked Ares dead in the eye while maintaining her weak and pitiful fa?ade. "... I''m yours." Her coy performance got her everything she ever wanted as Ares aggressively kissed her and pushed his body up against hers. She lifted her leg and curled it around Ares to rile him up more. She knew he wouldn''t fall for it, but she was trying get him to go all the way and take her here and now. She was partly successful though as Ares couldn''t go out and about in this state of wanton, manic lust, so he picked her up and put her over his shoulder as he carried her back into the room. As the door was shut, Enyo''s face could be seen for a split second; and what a face it was. Even Ares had never managed to be as smug as Enyo was in this very moment. She''d done it. Her current goal in life had been accomplished and could never be undone. Even if she admitted to Ares, which she absolutely would, that she''d been intentionally driving him to this point, he wouldn''t care in the slightest. In fact, Enyo would wait until Ares was done with her in the bedroom and then she would tell him the truth, making him want to punish her more and extending fun time yet again. This was probably the first time Ares had been more excited to tango in the bedroom than Enyo and she was going to relish every second of it. They had plenty of time to go on the date after, but Enyo wasn''t done with Ares in the bedroom just yet. If nothing else, that damnable smell had to be hunted down first. Did Enyo put on all her clothes just to end up taking them all off again a minute later? Yes. Had that been her goal from the start? Also yes. Even a mastermind like Fate would have to bow down in reverence and awe to Enyo''s ability to capture Ares'' heart, body, and mind.


    —--------------------------------------------


    An hour later Ares swaggered out of the room with a jolly smile and a jolly roger. Enyo shakily left the room after him. She was stunned. Her affinity to the pillar of pleasure couldn''t be exposed yet, so she held back, but to think Ares still had this much vigour in him... Ares wasn''t the aggressor often, but when he was Enyo was going to have to be prepared to fight back.


    Off to the side, the door to a cultivation room opened and Bellona came out while kissing her teeth as she kicked the wall. "Damn it all!" She realised she was in the presence of company and she glared at her sister. Both Ares and Enyo knew the Noise Cancellation art but it was typically Enyo who used it immediately. Why did this matter? Well, Ares had simply stopped bothering to check if it had been used or not as he trusted Enyo to do it. She technically had done it this time too, but she ''failed'' to cover every wall. The only one she conveniently forgot to apply the art to was the one leading to the next door cultivation room Bellona was in. How the hell am I supposed to concentrate while those two were orgasming like god damn monkeys?! I was so close to gaining another stage too! Curse you Enyo!... Tsk, now I''m in the mood too. Fuck, leave already so I can have my own damn fun, morons! Bellona stomped away without a word and Ares tilted his head in confusion. Enyo came up behind him and held his hand.


    "Come on, let''s go on our date. Don''t worry about her, she''ll be fine."


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Ares chose not to dig deeper and left the house with Enyo. Ares made it about two minutes before he wanted to start throwing Perish Wheels. He maintained his composure despite every single disciple and sect elder they passed pausing and staring at Enyo. This was the first time most people had seen her without the helmet, let alone the armour. By the time they''d made it to the exit, the cult of people who wanted Ares dead, the one that had formed during the regionals, had gained a horde of new devotees. Ares was actually glad these people existed because every person that glared at him was one less staring at Enyo. It wasn''t even because of the way thy were looking at her, although it was undeniably irksome and made him want to punch some of the more egregious fools, it was mainly because he didn''t want Enyo to feel uncomfortable. These idiots didn''t understand Enyo''s problem. Ares didn''t want her to feel like she needed the armour and that was his primary concern right now. Why couldn''t these damn pervs just be normal?!… Actually, his own response hadn''t been normal either... Still, he was dating her! He was allowed to drool over her! "Mmm?" Enyo placed her hands on Ares cheeks and directed his face towards her, after which she kissed him and broke him out of his daze.


    "Ares, you haven''t said anything since we left the house. I know why, and I''m glad you care, but we''re supposed to be on a date. I''m actually surprisingly ok. It''s not easy, but I''m doing fine. The only thing I have on my mind is you, so if you want to make things even easier for me, then stop thinking about it. I can see it practically written on your face. Let''s just enjoy each other''s company and pretend no one else exists, ok?"


    Ares slapped his forehead. "Right, sorry. I was being an idiot. Let''s try this again, shall we?" Ares didn''t bother to look around and check everyone else''s reaction to the kiss, that would just be making the same mistake as before. If Enyo could ignore it, he had no reason not to as well. As they entered Red Sun proper, Ares chuckled to himself and started a conversation. "Since when does Appa consider Bellona''s words more important than mine? Appa mentioned your name before she froze me! Why have I been pushed down the hierarchy?!"


    Enyo gave Ares a sly smile and a side eye to boot. "Because Bellona is a respectable person. She has her faults, but you have more. Parent or not, our daughter needs good role models. In that regard, I am port of call number one for Appa. Aejaz is a thief and Allie is too soft. Bellona might be a bit like you, but at least she doesn''t go around insulting the size of people''s chests. Bellona is usually far more polite than you and she has never been classified as a bandit before. There''s also other reasons, but you''ll figure them out on your own in time, I''m sure. Also, we haven''t had Appa in the room for a while, it''s been sleeping with Bellona for hugs. I like that Bellona is close with Appa and I want all of my family to be like that. Of course I also want Appa back in the room sometimes too. Today is about us, but tomorrow and the day after at least I want to cuddle with Appa at night."


    "Me too. I swear Appa just keeps getting cuter every time it does anything. Learn a new art? Gotten cuter. Found a new toy to play with? Gotten cuter. Every time it speaks? Gotten cuter. I''m glad to see Appa doing well with its cultivation too, it made a lot of progress lately. I''ll miss having Appa around when I go visit Xasca... I''ll also miss you too. Are you sure you don''t want to tag along? We could bring everyone and make it a family trip."


    "Part of me does, but I should really go to the Grecian lands. They treat me well and never ask for too much in return. The least I can do is pay them a visit yearly for all the help they''ve provided me with. if Bellona and I go, we''ll get to lap it up in luxury for a while, and I want Appa and Allie to experience that too... Ha, I never would have taken Allie there before. To think she went from baby Allie hiding behind Zhang all the time to a grown woman this quickly. She''s been getting bolder by the day. I still remember Zhang''s priceless face when he saw her again. Of course that reunion almost turned sour when he started trying to throttle Aejaz... But it worked out in the end, I guess. Hell, after he saw the cultivation manual Allie was using, I thought he was going to propose to Aejaz himself..."


    "It will do Zhang good, the cultivation manual I mean. If he can live longer by studying it, then that''s for the best. I know Allie''s matured, but losing her parent after everything he''s done would be hard on her. You know, I plan on doing everything I can to raise everyone''s cultivation if they''re even remotely relevant to us. I''ll drag as many people as I can to immortality. I shouldn''t be the only one living forever, that just sounds miserable."


    Enyo tittered with her hand in front of her mouth as she turned onto another street. "Wow, selfish, much? Then again, you''re a revenant. The boredom of not having anyone to pester would probably make you go insane eventually. Guess I''ll have to stay by your side forever to keep you company, woe is me."


    "Haha, you love me really." Ares playfully leant and bumped into Enyo''s arm.


    "God knows I wouldn''t put up with you if I didn''t!" Enyo responded in kind and bumped him back. They walked down a few more streets, chatting away about this and that, when Ares felt something strange.


    "Hey, Enyo, do you mind if we go this way?" Ares pointed towards the centre of the city.


    "Sure. You know Red Sun better than I do so I''m basically following you around anyway. What''s in that direction?"


    "As weird as it might sound, I don''t actually know. You know how when someone tries to use pressure on me it just kinda fizzles out and brushes past me? That''s the kind of feeling I just got. Most of the new stuff being set up for the international is near the centre of the city, so it might be something to do with that. Either way, I''m curious. We can go check what''s happening over there and maybe look around the stalls for some snacks."


    "... Or you could just make some inside the ''you know what''. I''d love some mint honeycomb right now..."


    "Ah, you know I can''t say no to you. Alright, I''ll start making some, gimme a minute or two." Ares went to work in the background but, as he did, he remembered a certain something and decided to throw that into the mix as well. "Some of them are going to be a little experimental because I''m trying something new."


    "Ooh, sounds intriguing. Still, you know I want the original more than anything."


    "Of course. Your wish is my command." Ares kissed the back of Enyo''s hand as they continued walking towards whatever it was Ares had detected. Sure enough, as they neared the unusual existence, they came across temporary shops and a few events here and there that didn''t exist prior. "Despite me living here all my life, I somehow never managed to come around this area at this time of year... Then again, I wouldn''t have had the money for any of this stuff anyway so there were probably better places for me and ''Jaz to be. Oh! Your mint honeycomb is ready, here."


    Ares handed over a piece of the sweet and Enyo scrutinised it carefully. She noticed the colouration of it was off compared to the normal one, but other than that there weren''t any other visual differences. It didn''t smell any different either, but what mattered was the taste so Enyo nibbled the edge and slowly savoured the flavour. Enyo wasn''t some master food critic, but there was no one in the world who knew Ares'' honeycomb better than she did. She knew it like the back of her hand that Ares kissed a while ago. As the honeycomb was steadily devoured, Enyo closed her eyes and ran through all the changes before summarising her assessment. "You used a different kind of honey? It had a richer taste than usual and, to compensate, you cooked it a little longer and added less sugar. You ''burnt'' the honeycomb a tad to curb the new honey''s vivid sweetness resulting in arguably the best version of the honeycomb you''ve ever produced, I''d say."


    "Oh? That''s high praise from an aficionado such as yourself."


    "It is. Now give me the good one!"


    "Ha, sure. By the way, that honey was from bumblesharks in case your curious."


    Ares handed out the honeycomb that Enyo herself had just acknowledged wasn''t quite as good. It didn''t matter how many variants Ares came up with; at the end of the day there was only one Enyo really wanted. She was more attached to it than spiny burr grass was to clothes, so Ares never made any effort to convince her to just eat the better stuff. It always felt weird intentionally making a faulty product, or at least one that didn''t meet his current standards, but it was still probably his favourite recipe of all of them. The reason was obvious.


    Enyo chowed down on the honeycomb and had taken all of ten steps after she finished before she was hit with a wave of pressure. "Hm? Seems whatever''s emanating the pressure must be close if even I can feel it." Most cultivators not at sensory enhancement wouldn''t be able to detect pressure if it wasn''t aimed straight at them or at least in their general direction, so for Enyo to feel it before she could see it meant there was an astronomical amount hiding away somewhere. That would also explain why Ares had felt it from back near the sect as his sensitivity to it, thanks to his bloodline, was notable.


    The two walked further and eventually found the source of the pressure. They weren''t quite directly in front of it yet, but the building was tall enough to jut out of the surrounding cityscape and make itself discernible and distinct from a distance. They walked down a few more alleys and arrived at the entrance to the building. It was currently closed, but there was a sign on the door that read ''Pressure Pagoda.'' Ares wanted to find whoever put up the sign and slap them because both parts of that description were easy enough to figure out by his damn self! The building was blatantly a pagoda, and the pressure was something he''d felt long before he''d even seen the damn thing! Ares was looking for a description, not a name. He found one, when he went searching around the sides of the building, in the form of a stack of identical leaflets shaped like the pagoda itself. Ares read it, as Enyo peeked over his shoulder while doing the same, and the explanation could be boiled down to the following.


    - The pressure pagoda has five floors, each of which are themed around different types of pressure-related interactions.


    - The difficulty of the trials scales accordingly based on the test-ees cultivation, so no one has any advantage of any kind.


    - Anyone who can complete all five floors will be rewarded immensely. There are no rewards for completing any of the other individual floors other than being able to move onto the next floor.


    - If you fail, you may try again as many times as you like as long as you have the stardust to pay for it.


    - Each attempt costs 100 mid-grade stardust.


    - When you fail and re-enter, you will start from the floor you failed on previously and you cannot repeat earlier floors, so pay attention to what you learn on each.


    - We will open at the start of the international and no sooner. We will close at the end of the international and no later.


    - This event is being funded, run, and operated by Transmit. If you have any further questions, please visit the local branch.


    Ares'' eyes narrowed as he read the last note. "Transmit, huh..."


    "That''s the mail place, right?"


    Ares sighed and put the leaflet in the Primordial Blade. He looked around with Omniscience briefly before coating himself and Enyo in a layer of disintegration magic. "Yeah and, if I''m not mistaken, they''re the ones who put the seed up for auction two weeks ago."


    "Seriously?!"


    "Mhm. It makes sense if you think about it. My Omniscience not working on it means the seed is not from our dimension. Based on what I told you before in the void that one time, you already know the rest. For it to get here, within the scope of the Blade''s interference, Transmit is the likely suspect considering they already know about the outside world anyway and have a means of getting in and out. And as for their mysterious boss, ''someone'' who has an incredible ''treasure'' that can teleport all of its employees wherever they need to go, and ''someone'' who can gain access to this seed in the first place... Well, you know."


    Enyo''s eyes darted upwards and Ares nodded. She was asking if Astraeus was watching this particular conversation. If Ares wanted to explain himself further, he would either have to keep up the disintegration layer or  do it in the void and not somewhere he could be overheard by any of the Gods. Even if Astraeus wasn''t listening, that didn''t mean any of the others couldn''t be. Gods and pillars had a perfect connection to their affinity and could spy through it to varying degrees based on how far they were and how much of it there was. For example, if Terros wanted to communicate with the earth pillar or any cultivator with an earth affinity, he could probably do it so long as their was a natural boulder nearby. To that end, you never really knew if a God was paying attention to you as you were always surrounded by conduits they could peek through at any given moment. Luckily, Ares Omniscience could detect the ever-watchful gaze of Gods. He''d learned how to do it after meeting Astraeus for the first time, and getting a feel for their presence, and he''d been using it ever since. Other than Astraeus, there were no Gods around. A layer of disintegration magic was enough to keep Astraeus at bay and prevent him from hearing anything he wasn''t supposed to. Disintegration was unique in this aspect as even Enyo''s barriers couldn''t stop a God from listening in if they needed to. Ares didn''t really have to be cautious and check, as no other Gods had come searching for him as of yet, but it didn''t hurt to be wary with matters as serious as this.


    "So you''re saying the ''boss'' of Transmit got the seed and brought it to you to aid you in your cultivation. And now they''ve brought this tower here for you too? Ha, you really are their favourite, aren''t you?"


    Ares shrugged. "I''m the best option available for what it is they want. Makes sense to me that they''d try and push me along where they can. Still, being able to do all of this is pretty incredible considering the constraints they must be under. Navigating around the Gods like this is tiresome. Then again, I suppose it would be easier for them than me. Still, I do wonder how they managed to found an entire company of this scale without revealing themself, that''s honestly impressive. Considering their history, though, it''s not that surprising as they have a knack for clever stuff like this. Anyway, the point is that, if my guess is correct about who''s running this show, we can trust Transmit with our lives if need be. They''re on our side. It feels nice to have a foothold in the wider world like this. Don''t make a habit of relying on them though, I imagine the Gods are observing them to try and figure out what''s happening behind the scenes. They won''t always be able to help us." Ares looked up at the pagoda next to him. "This will do for now, whatever it is. If the amount of pressure oozing out of this thing is any indication, the aid they''re providing this time will be much more readily apparent than whatever it was the seed did for me... Well, if they''re offering, I won''t say no."