Ares was finally paying the poor shark some attention. Now that he''d seen the rough state of all the combatants, he felt comfortable truly kicking things off. First things first though, he wanted to teach this pred a lesson or two about attacking a man who isn''t even paying attention to you! He''d been excessively rude attacking Ares like this! Of course Ares chose to ignore the fact that he''d been humiliating Hark for at least the last minute by this point, leading him around the arena like he was holding a carrot on a stick...


    "Black Blossom!" Ares coated his sword, causing it to overflow with disintegration magic that drifted off it and into the surroundings. Tiny petals rained from the sky as Ares raised and held his sword above his shoulder with both hands firmly gripping the handle. He was preparing himself to commit to a slow slash that would unleash a torrent of magic at Hark if he was foolish enough to challenge him head on.


    Hark tested the waters by swinging his blade tonfa at one of the nearby petals. This magic was unknown to him and he wanted answers before he did anything rash. He knew his team wasn''t in the greatest of positions so making a colossal mistake here would be damming. His Aqua Slicer shredded the petal and he felt relieved that these things probably weren''t that dangerous. He raised his arm and readied himself to take on Ares but he soon after realised his tonfa was gone. "Huh?" Hark looked down at his arm where his magical weapon had once been but there wasn''t a trace of it left. He stared dumbly at his arm for a little while longer, even wiggling it in the air, but when his tonfa didn''t return, he chuckled nervously. To wipe away the doubt, he resummoned the tonfa and attacked another petal, this time paying attention to the outcome on his end.


    Poof


    The second his tonfa even ever so slightly brushed past the petal, it vanished. Gone forever. "Aw man, the hell is this?" Hark pointed at the petals as he directed his question towards Ares who was still in the same stance, unmoving.


    "Disintegration. If you ever feel like departing from this world, be my guest and come take a step or two closer. Of course..." Ares took a step forward himself. "... If you''re hesitant..." Ares took another step. "I can come to you, free of charge!"


    "Nah, that ain''t a service I''m interested in pal. Water Bullet!" Hark fired off some basic magic as he retreated. He had no interest in using his life to figure out what Ares'' Black Blossom could do, so he forced Ares to show his hand while keeping his distance.


    Ares brought the sword down in a clean arc, obliterating the Bullet he intercepted whilst leaving a black gash in reality that flared to life after a short delay.


    ROAR


    The engorged disintegration tear expanded and burst in a screech that threatened to fully annihilate anything within the reach of its black maw. The disintegration began receding and faded after a few seconds, leaving a bewildered pred wondering how on earth he was supposed to combat that insurmountable attack. The swing was one thing, as overpowering it was nigh impossible, but that didn''t even include the fact that the roar had sent the nearby petals flying, scattering them in a wide range. Even after retreating a fair distance, there were still a couple petals landing near Hark''s webbed feet. The one solace Hark had amidst the despair of having to go up against this nightmare was that Ares seemed to be moving slowly? Maybe? Hark really hoped this was the case, that Ares couldn''t run around as he pleased, as an art as powerful as that should logically have some kind of drawback... What he didn''t realise was that he was fighting against a fundamental pillar, and fundamental pillars didn''t play by the rules. They were above and beyond the other pillars by such a wide margin that they were effectively cheating. To that end, Hark looked back up and saw Ares dashing towards him at full speed like he''d smelled blood in the water. Hark almost had a heart attack when Ares'' sword slash was nearly thrice as fast as his previous one. He believed this would be the end of him as he wouldn''t have time to flee the explosion radius, but he thanked his lucky stars when he realised that specific effect was limited to the slower swings. The current predicament was still awful though as Ares'' light swing had cast more petals in his direction, making it a real herculean task to fight back. Now Hark understood how Li Li must have felt going up against him. Passivity, aggression... All roads led to a loss. Hark retreated back to avoid swing after swing as the petals became more and more numerous. He almost missed a beat when Ares'' next swing came out slower but was quick enough on his feet to realise what was about to happen; so he turned his back and ran full speed away from the current location.


    ROAR


    The noise that would haunt him in his nightmares sounded behind him and he could see a flurry of shadows on the floor as tens of petals were scattered with wild abandon. He ran like his life depended on it but something strange was happening to him... He was slowing down... And he was getting colder, and colder, and colder... He came to a confused halt, shivering and exhaling puffs of condensation as he turned around to figure out what was happening to him. Before him were the two Bandit Brothers wielding two artifacts emitting two frosty auras. Although it wasn''t a combination art, Ares and Aejaz could use the Cold Caller rune on both the Bane and the Acrimony at the same time to rapidly drop the surrounding temperature by a considerable amount. Hark could feel himself dying. Sharks could freeze to death easily when their gills were packed up by the cold and that was happening to him in real time. Hark prayed Oat would come and bail him out of this situation. If Aejaz was here, then Oat had zero reason not also be here! Hark managed to twist his neck and, to his dismay, he spotted Oat standing stock still on his tree and watching this all unfold from a distance... Hark felt betrayed! The bastard couldn''t possibly be this selfish, right?! Hark would only learn later that Aejaz had used his magic in combination with Esme to relocate some of her Wind Mines. Aejaz had dotted Oat''s tree with invisible Mines on most of the branches, trapping Oat atop it and preventing him from ever leaving. The tree was invincible and could take hits from the mines, but Oat couldn''t. One wrong step and pop goes the weasel... Or stoat, in this case. As Hark slowly but surely got ever closer to taking a seat on the side-lines, Ares left his sword in Aejaz'' care and went off to go do his own thing. All Aejaz had to do was stand around Hark and never actually fight him. Aejaz'' speed compared to a nearly frozen Hark was more than enough to do laps around him so it wouldn''t be an issue to leave him here on his own.


    Ares darted past Li Li, but not before circulating his annihilation mana and giving her a high five on the way past to transfer it all. As he ran off, he heard Li Li chant with an excited voice.


    "Blockbuster!" Now this was a fun art to use! Well, according to Li Li anyway. It was a combination art between the annihilation aspect and the bare fist aspect that made her overall lethality skyrocket to unprecedented levels. The effect of the art was simple and Li Li demonstrated this perfectly as she moved forward to punch Ramsey. Her fist, covered in a layer of golden splendour, was launched at Ramsey who raised his limp arm to block once more.


    Thud


    Li Li''s fist made contact and, for a split second, nothing happened. It was just an ordinary punch. Everything was perfectly normal... At least everything was normal until...


    BANG!


    Ramsey''s arm literally exploded from the elbow down, gushing out blood as his bone was exposed to fresh air. He roared as he reeled in pain while Li Li ran him down and swung again. With no arms left to defend himself, Ramsey took the punch straight to the gut. The way Blockbuster worked was that, when a hit landed, annihilation magic would seep into the opponent''s body and search for the nearest physical object it could latch onto; this includes both bones and organs. From there, it would continue this process until the body part in question could no loner hold onto all the mana swarming it and exploded. The victim could mitigate this by circulating the mana elsewhere, but the annihilation magic still had to explode at some point. Once it was inside, all the victim could do was spread it all out to reduce the impact but that required effort and attention, both of which were hard to spare considering the fact that Li Li was still trying to punch you while you were distracted. Ignoring it, however, was not an option otherwise body parts would just start blowing up left, right, and centre. Li Li had immense fun using this art in practice and got a huge kick out of finally being able to use it on a human opponent... Well, half human anyway. Technically even that wasn''t correct as more than half of Ramsey''s body had been replaced by bloody holes.


    BANG


    And now, Ramsey''s body was no longer whole at all! He exploded into bloody confetti as Li Li celebrated her win. Blockbuster was enjoyable for Li Li not just because of the massive advantage it gave her by slowing down the opponents reactions as they dealt with internal problems, but also because turning her opponents into bloody fireworks was immensely satisfying! There was no greater power fantasy for a brawler than literally punching someone and turning them into a red mist. Li Li had seen her father do this once when she was younger and she had watched on at the time with a sparkle in her adolescent eye. Normally, this was not the kind of thing a pre-teen should have ever born witness to, but the Li clan was just full of whackos in general. It wasn''t strange for kids of the clan to be drinking alcohol and getting into scraps at a young age, before puberty even.


    Ramsey was revived on the floating platform and looked around in a panic. Sighing in relief upon seeing Hark already here was somewhat rude but Ramsey was a proud person so he genuinely felt a little better not being the first to arrive on the side-lines. Hark shook his head and decided to keep the fact that he''d bitten his own tongue a secret. When he saw Ramsey about to die, he ended his own life to get here quicker and not upset the big guy. It''s not lie Hark didn''t have a one way ticket to the platform anyway so speeding it up wasn''t really a problem. It didn''t look like the rest of the team would last for another minute anyway so when he died was irrelevant.


    Hawkins was doing his best against Enyo but, to put it lightly, he was being utterly demolished. He was smacked around by barriers and beaten up by Enyo and her shield whenever he dared approach.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Crack


    Enyo''s helmet came crashing down on Hawkins''s head, damaging his skull and bloodying his broken nose. His body was thrown backward as Enyo rammed him with her shield again. Sullenly spitting out the blood welling in his mouth, Hawkins took a stand and lifted himself into the air with his one, broken wing and Aero Authority to support him. He looked over at his remaining two team members and decided his best bet here was to go and rescue Oat from the death-trap he was standing atop and try to fight alongside him. He fluttered his wings but face planted into a barrier Enyo summoned in his path. Another barrier spawned above him and pummelled him, pushing him back down to the ground. His one solace was that Enyo was still pretty far from his current location so he could get up and try again... Or so he thought. When he got up, he saw Ares had arrived and was channelling his mana into Enyo via his hand which was resting atop her armoured shoulder.


    Enyo let the destruction mana flow through her as it warmed the inside of her body, giving rise to a homely feel that raised her spirits. Her defender aspect was the hearth that contained the fire that was Ares'' annihilation aspect magic. She inhaled deeply before begrudgingly letting the mana leave her body to form an art as she chanted in her usual deep voice, "White-Gold Pitying."


    FlapFlapFlapFlapFlapFlapFlapFlapFlapFlapFlap


    Dozens of small barriers appeared in mid-air and moulded themselves into the shape of turtle doves. The gathering of these ''faux'' birds and their flapping wings behind Enyo was a beautiful yet ominous sight. Thanks to Enyo''s barrier magic, the doves were see-through and the little golden bowties inside their hollow necks could be seen clear as day. Enyo released the birds as though it were a wedding''s dove release ceremony and the creatures took flight, spreading their wings as they took to the sky, creating a mass of holy magic tinged with destruction that lingered above everyone''s heads. Dozens of these glassy looking birds circled above Hawkins who was too dumbstruck to move, not that he had anywhere to escape to. With one final lap above their target, the birds all rose in synchronisation with one another like a well-practiced military display. At the apex of their climb, the ornamental birds turned to face the floor and commenced a kamikaze bombing run on their target below.


    "Haste!" Hawkins gathered his wits and used some support magic to try and flee. He couldn''t take to the air as the entire area above him had become no-man''s land filled to the brim with the holy doves so his only other option was to run. A chill ran up Hawkins''s spine so he reflexively ducked as he kept sprinting; this action saved him from the first destructive diving dove which flew past his head and crashed into a wall.


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM


    Unlike Ares'' usual explosions, this one was nearly pure white with only the occasional golden streak mixed in. It almost looked like a thick yoghurt dome with a hint of mango in it. Although the appearance was easy on the eyes, the damage it dealt was not to be sneered at as they were far more dangerous explosions than the regular ones Ares produced. Unlike the normal explosions, these ones would trap you before detonating. The white colouring was actually a barrier that spawned before the explosion went off. In other words, if you were hit by a bird, you could kiss your life goodbye as it would essentially trap you inside a small dome with an explosion equivalent to a Shock Bead going off less than a foot from your head. The doves were pretty, but the mayhem they caused was anything but. Hawkins made an admirable effort in dodging for as long as he could, managing to dodge five or so doves, before he was completely overwhelmed. Enyo had dropped multiple barriers in his path to prevent him from moving forward so he could do nothing but accept his fate. Hawkins turned around to face the music and simply held his arms wide open in resignation as the remaining 20 or so doves all landed on him simultaneously.


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM


    The ensuing explosion rocked the coliseum floor and drowned out the sounds coming from the crowd. Like a giant snow globe, the explosion covered the landscape in a blanket of white as far as the eye could see but, instead of snow, holy flames lingered in the crater that formed where the magic attack landed. Not even a spec of Hawkins was left and all the doves were long gone. In this moment, Enyo felt like she understood Ares'' explosive tendencies somewhat. Orchestrating mass chaos and basking in the afterglow of large scale destruction was bliss unlike anything else she''d ever experienced with her own magic. In this moment, she was even somewhat jealous of Bellona''s magic. Being able to contribute to these explosions on the regular and even increase their size and power would be a seriously joyous position to be in. Oh well, combination arts scratched the itch so Enyo would just use those instead. That wasn''t to say Enyo had fully given up on learning how to occasionally be an explosive menace, though. In fact, due to various circumstances, she felt reassured she might be able to partake in the fun in her own way one day. Until then, Enyo could appreciate and relish the opportunity to share mana with Ares and experience his first hand. For destruction mana, of all things, to be as soothing as it was to control, was pretty unthinkable. Enyo never would have guessed in a million years.


    Now that the bird on bird brutality had been concluded, Enyo jogged on over to Esme''s side and concentrated fully on the task at hand as she activated the same art five times in a row.


    "Segregation. Segregation. Segregation. Segregation. Segregation."


    Doing so tired Enyo out somewhat, but she''d been having an easy enough time up until now so she was still mostly fine. As for what her repeated castings had accomplished, well she''d fully trapped Leopold in a box of barriers. He looked around in confusion and tried using his magic to zap a hole but was stumped by the unyielding resilience of the barriers. Leopold was a tad curious as to what Enyo was trying to accomplish, but he figured it all out when he saw Esme bring out a treasure and start casting an art. Esme was not in the barrier box... Leopold was... And so were all the traps that they''d both set up... If Esme fired a wind magic into the box that jumbled around all the traps with Leopold still stuck in there... "Ah crud." Leopold groaned as Esme unleashed her treasure''s art.


    "Tempest Dance."


    Enyo lowered the furthest wall of the box to let the wind vortex in before closing it back up again and trapping it inside. as the vortex slowly gathered up all the magic in the vicinity, it also trudged towards Leopold who was hugging the opposite wall. Leopold could feel the pull of the magic as he tried to dig his claws into the ground and anchor himself. He skid towards the vortex of doom as his claws scraped along the floor with one or two even coming straight off due to the pressure he was exerting on them. One slip was all it took for Leopold to be dragged off his feet and flung into the air where he lost all control over his body as he yelled in posh agitation, "PHOOEY!" His tie was going to be well and truly shredded this time... Not that it mattered. It would be right as rain as soon as he was revived anyway. Leopold had forgotten about this as he was a rather old fashioned fellow who was unfamiliar with wizardry such as simulations, Training Fields, whatnots, and what-have-you-s. You would think with an attitude and mentality like this he would be the oldest of the group, but that title actually belonged to Hark who was currently going through a mid life crisis...


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM CRACKLEEEEEEEEEE


    BANGGGGGGGGGGGG CRACKLEEEEEEEEEEEE BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM


    The barrier box became a light show as countless streaks of lightning stormed around inside the entrapment. All the Wind Mines were also set off creating gusts of winds that ravaged the space around it. The trap war had ended in a jumbled mess of colours and loud explosions that raged against the barriers, cracking them here and there but never quite managing to break any of them. When the gusts and shocks settled down, a burnt and ragged cattian corpse was all that remained. Leopold had used his remaining vigour to protect the tie by covering it with his now battered body; truly a heroic sacrifice.


    And then there was one. The Red Sun group gathered around Oat''s tree and stared up at him as he sheepishly stared back down at them. "Heh... Don''t suppose we can settle this without the need for bloodshed? I hear pacifism''s real popular nowadays... Not gonna bite? Ok, ok, I just have one last request... No more birds, please? There''s been an overabundance of them this fight and it''s doing my head in... I''m really gonna have nightmares later, you know? It''s already bad enough that Hawkins is gonna have a thing or two to say to me... Damn birds..."


    Ares accepted Oat''s plea and didn''t bring out the Biome Eagle. Instead, he started merrily skipping away as he whistled to himself in a good mood. Considering the amount of explosions that had gone off today, he hadn''t actually been responsible for that many of them... Inexcusable! Why does everyone else get to have fun with boom booms and not me! I am the lean, mean, ''splodey machine! This lack of destruction is disappointing and must be rectified post haste! At the end of the day, Ares was just looking for an excuse to chuck out a Perish Wheel. The other members had already seen this coming from a mile away and taken their distance from the tree.


    Oat tilted his head in confusion. He''d asked these people to kill him and all they''d done after was walk to the opposite end of the coliseum and put their backs up against the wall? It was unusual behaviour that Oat couldn''t comprehend. Were they toying with him? Were they going to rudely await the timer and win that way? Was someone actually going to launch an attack so devastating they had to hide that far away?... Actually, the Bhorashka group had been informed of some manner of monstrous golden pillar in Red Sun during the regionals.... They''d mostly ignored this information as an attack of that scale should be unfeasible. They were especially convinced of this after seeing the low cultivations of the participants and even more so when the only person with golden magic had the lowest cultivation of them all. Plus he was a pest. If a gadfly like Ares could summon a golden pillar like what had been described to them, then the world was just flat out unfair. Oat watched from his branch as Ares activated Voidwalk again and took a step. He searched around for the man who disappeared before noticing him standing on thin air above him...


    This was the first time Ares had displayed his ability to fly and the entirety of the crowd had shut their booing mouths quite quickly. Being able to do this without Aero Authority was an astonishing feat of art creation and it didn''t look like it drained nearly even half as much mana. Plus only a few people had even seen him rise into the air meaning it was a speedy art to boot. unfortunately for those who wanted to see Ares fail, he seemed to be an obnoxious and equally obnoxiously strong cultivator with a horde of weapons in his arsenal. The ability to fly alone put him above most other cultivators in mental accumulation by default. As a general rule of thumb, only one in every couple tens of thousands of cultivators, not including aevysqualls, could fly pre-transition realm. The base requirement was having a strong affinity for the wind pillar and even then you would have to struggle to learn Aero Authority as it was considerably harder to do if you couldn''t already fly. Actually, objectively, Ares'' prowess this fight had been markedly impressive, the only reason most people hadn''t cottoned onto this yet was because they''d been too busy booing him either because of his previous conduct or, and this was certainly an issue that would be longstanding even after the competition, because he was hitting the furries and a select group of people were very unhappy with that. After beating the Bhorashka lot, they would probably go back home. They''d been the favourites to win and go on to the international, which would have kept them around for another three or four weeks, so them leaving early was a devastating blow for their fans. And who was to blame for their premature departure?... The same perv that had been harassing a pretty young lady the other day! The caped weirdo himself! Still, if what came next didn''t deter his haters, then, quite frankly, nothing ever would.


    "PERISH WHEEL!"