The main goal of this match was to show off Red Sun''s teamwork and strength as a group. The plan had been to use all of their new combination arts but, unfortunately, the fight had been smooth sailing and they weren''t all necessary. It seemed as though some of them would be kept in reserve for the next fight, but that wasn''t particularly helpful right now in terms of demonstrating Red Sun''s capabilities. They wanted to reassure the citizens that this would be their year and raise their morale somewhat. What was the best way to do that if their combination art plan fell through? Well, Ares had the right idea... BRUTE FORCE BABY! WOOHOO!


    First came the bladed outer ring, then the red web, and finally the thick annihilation magic to round out the deadliest art in his arsenal. The incessant buzzing had returned and was reverberating through every coliseum floor, numbing everyone''s rumbling feet. Ares leant forward and chucked the Wheel while laughing to himself with great pride and gusto. Launching a Perish Wheel was like dropping a nuclear weapon and, as long as you ignored the horrific loss of life, it was undeniably a fun experience. Oat would have to disagree however. The boundless aura of death spiralling his way was utterly dreadful and he could feel it in his bones that the tree wouldn''t last. This thing was supposed to be invincible and yet Oat knew better than to place his faith in it if it was going to have to go up against the Wheel. If the bird earlier was an inconvenient ruckus, then this art was Armageddon delivered straight to his doorstep. If he was going to die one way or the other, Oat decided he would go out on his own terms by yelling ''Geronimo'' as he plunged headfirst into a Wind Mine that had been teleported onto the branch beneath him. Was his exploding head a gruesome sight for everyone watching? Yes. But it had been incredibly quick and painless for Oat so, compared to the Wheel and everything it entailed it had been kinda pleasant, actually. Like a breath of fresh air. Enough fresh air to kill him, sure, but that wasn''t the point!


    BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT


    The wheel curved through the air and arced towards the now empty tree. There weren''t any combatants left and the match had already been won, but the WMD had already been unleashed and there was no stopping it. Once it was fired, it couldn''t be put back in the cage. The closer the Wheel got to the tree, the bigger it looked in comparison. It was as if the nature magic was trying to shrink away from its oncoming, ungodly demise. Whirling through the air, the razor sharp Wheel effortlessly sliced through the tree like it wasn''t even there. Before the tree could even start tipping over, the Wheel hummed its last hum and erupted into an avalanche of annihilation magic that shot straight up into the sky.


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


    The crowd and participants alike were all blinded by a cylindrical pillar of golden magic that enveloped most of the arena, leaving only a few inches of space around the outer rims where anyone could stand safely. Despite not even directly putting pressure on the Training Field, there were a few cracks forming here and there as the walls shook. It was at this moment the C.O members watching the fight realised they were going to need to put up a more defensively sturdy barrier going forward. Between this unorthodox magic, and some of the things that had been happening across the globe during other national matches, the need for an improved Field was apparent. Luckily the C.O had a few transition realm cultivator''s who were very capable runemancers, and even one who specialised in the pillar, so fixing it up a bit wouldn''t be a problem going forward. A minute passed and the raging magic was finally settling down as the size of the pillar was visibly decreasing. Eventually the pillar became a thin ray of light that vanished entirely, much like the floor of the arena which was now basically a small pit. All that was left was a smug Ares, lying on his side in mid-air as he leant on his hand and gave the crowd ahead of him a loaded stare. Go on, boo me again, I dare you. Of course no one dared and some of the spectators who were in Ares'' direct line of sight stared down at the floor to avoid his gaze, praying that he wouldn''t remember their faces later on. Having booed and ridiculed a dangerous monster was enough reason to hope to God they never came across him in the streets of Red Sun ever again. There were a few people in the crowd who had it worse than everyone else, though. Namely Chen Lo who figured he would come and show support for the Red Sun team only to witness Ares, of all people, unleash a cataclysmic attack. Knowing that Ares packed enough firepower to wipe the Chen clan off the map at a later date was a serious concern that needed to be addressed... But what could he do while Ares was within the sect''s walls? Between the newfound threat in Ares and the individual who froze his clan member in a tree, Lo was not having a good month... The last team. from the Nomad region. were also wearing sour expressions for obvious reasons... How were they supposed to deal with THAT?! There was zero chance they could block it so their only option was to scatter the moment they saw it and run for the hills. It didn''t feel good to be forced into a situation where they had to act cowardly, but what else could they possibly do? That was an attack that shouldn''t have existed amongst lower realm cultivators such as them, being pit against it was the height of injustice! They were tempted to have the C.O check and see if Red Sun were cheating... Speaking of the C.O, the group with a strong interest in roping in one-of-a-kind cultivators, they had their sights set on Ares now too. Nothing untoward could be done to him during the tournament, but after that they would have to have a word with him and convince him by any means necessary. A cultivator like this was one that could shift the overall power balance out of their favour so he had to be absorbed into their ranks before he grew any further. If he were to repudiate their advances, then they would deal with him in their own way.


    Ares Voidwalked down to the floor and headed out of the arena leaving the silent crowd to close their opened jaws on their own time. The urge to stay and mock them was strong, but he was supposed to be raising morale, not lowering it! His job for the day was done and now all that was left for him to do before tomorrow was make some pizzas. As for what ingredients he would need, he could guess what most people were going to want so he had already stocked up. His only concern was what to do if someone asked him for a pineapple pizza... NOT IN MY HOUSE! Ares was only half-joking. He would begrudgingly make a pineapple pizza if need be, but he would not be happy about it! Ares couldn''t envision anyone actually asking for such a cursed item, though, so he wasn''t too worried. Ares had already asked Enyo what she wanted earlier and he almost banged his head against a wall when she jokingly replied ''honeycomb''. She said she''d get back to him but he was already fairly confident he knew exactly what she wanted. Another person Ares could feel confident hazarding a guess for was Leo... Who was clearly going to want sardines, because why wouldn''t he? Ares got around to asking Allie, who had come down from the top floor, and his teammates what they were in the mood for as they walked back to the sect.


    Meanwhile, on the top floor of the coliseum, resting on their thrones, Bellona and Sadie were anxiously staring at a communication talisman. "You think she''ll pick up?" Bellona''s eye twitched as she seriously hoped the answer would be ''no''. Sadie had already made it clear to her that she''d informed Rhea about her as well as Enyo. The state her mother must be in right now... Really, she should have been more worried about the state of everything around Rhea instead of the woman herself but Bellona was more concerned about her own safety. Rhea was not going to let her off lightly when she came down to Sheryashka... "You know what, I think Imma take Appa and dip..." Bellona wanted to sneak away as soon as possible on the off chance Rhea did respond. If Rhea picked up and Bellona happened to open her mouth and say something Rhea didn''t like, she would come barrelling down to Sheryashka just to kick her ass.


    "HELL NO!" Sadie refused to allow Bellona to leave her here alone so she guarded the exit like her life depended on it.


    Appa was confused by all the humdrum but it had heard a couple of things here and there in the conversation so far that interested it. Appa floated over to Bellona and used its rope to poke her. "Bellona, do you also love dad like mum does?"


    Bellona scratched her head and picked up Appa. "Yes. BUT YOU HAVE TO PROMISE NOT TO TELL HIM, OK?"


    "Ok! Keeping a secret from dad sounds like fun! Also Enyo told me to do what you say."


    I am a terrible role model, making Appa keep a secret from its father... Bellona shook her head and pet Appa. "Good!"


    Appa thought about things for a while before tilting its head and asking a question that took Bellona by surprise. "Does that mean you''ll also be my mother too?"


    "Eh? Uh... Yes? I guess so. You''ll have two mothers. Lucky you, huh?"


    "YAY!" Appa fiddled in Bellona''s arms and wriggled into a position to nuzzle her.


    "Haha, Appa that tickles!" Bellona''s warm hug and happy moment was ruined when she heard the infernal ringing of the communication talisman.


    RING RING


    She froze up as she searched for an exit and was tempted to just jump into the arena and scramble for the exit but, deep down, she knew it was a fool''s errand to try and escape Sadie. Losing all hope and accepting her fate, she put down Appa and got down on one knee in front of it. "Appa, if I don''t make it out of this alive, tell Ares I love him... And I guess Enyo too, or whatever... Not that she won''t be next in line to suffer after me."


    RING RING


    Sadie was holding the talisman with one hand as her other was busy crossing its fingers. Don''t pick up, you demon, be busy!


    RING RING


    ---------------------------------


    In TPMZ, on the Umbra Wolves home planet, outside Calla''s house, Rhea was lying with her face in the dirt inside of a small crater. A lone shadow crept over her and blocked the sun as Calla peeked down at her. With a nail, dripping with poison, resting on her lips, a bushy grey tail swinging back and forth, and a gentle smile on her face, Calla lightly kicked Rhea. "Rh~ea. Wakey wakey, Rh~ea. You ruined perfectly good farmland and I want an explanation, Rh~ea." Sure enough, all the surrounding land had been swept clean by the rampage and every single row of corn or head of lettuce had been scattered to the wind. Tomatoes, potatoes, apple trees, all of it. Gone. Still, none of the veggies or fruits had it worse the Rhea who was lying battered on the floor after making the mistake of attacking Calla. Then again, she wasn''t as worse for wear as Aster was. Aster had been impaled to a stake somewhere and the lower half of his body had been dissolved for daring to suggest his wife ''calm down a bit''. He would be fine, it was really only a minor wound for a revenant of his calibre... Of course it still hurt though, that couldn''t be denied.


    Calla had a poisonous bloodline and was a speed trait adept. When she transformed into her revenant form she was a menace that would just touch you once and watch from afar as you died a slow and painful death. Her poison was incredibly potent and her adept trait made her impossible to catch. It wasn''t that she was impossible to beat in a fair fight, it was just impossible to have a fair fight with her to begin with. Outside of her revenant form, Calla was actually quite weak. Not being able to improve her speed was a heavy blow, especially for someone who primarily relied on poisons in battle. Theoretically, if you could catch her off guard, you could win before the game of cat and mouse even started but Rhea had come here guns-a-blazing and declared all out war straight to her face. All of Rhea''s countless hundred thousands of holy swords hadn''t left even a single dent in Calla''s bushy tail as she just weaved through them all. They''d done a number on the land, though, which angered Calla and led to the current situation. It was a good thing Rhea hadn''t unintentionally hit the house otherwise Calla would have whacked her some more. The house was where her babies came home to! It had all of the hot-chocolate stashes too, so destroying it would have been unforgivable.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Rhea let out a tired groan and muttered the word ''bitch'' under her breath as Calla gave her a friendly kick again. "Rh~ea, are you going to get up? I know you like to take care of your beauty, but my planet isn''t your mud mask... Although you could probably find some cucumbers lying around if you looked hard enough."


    Kick


    "Rh~ea. Don''t be la~zy. Oh! Right! You can''t get up because of the poison. Hehe, my bad. Whoopsie!" Calla tittered with her hand coyly dangling in front of her mouth.


    Kick


    "Ok. I''ll give you the antidote." Calla crouched in front of Rhea and ''accidentally'' dropped a cream-coloured liquid onto the floor in front of Rhea. "Oops, sil~ly me, I spilled it. It''s ok though! It will still work if you lap it up off the ground!"


    RING RING


    Calla glanced at Rhea''s pocket and her smile widened. "Oh my! A call? You can''t answer it like that, you should hurry and take the antidote!"


    RING RING


    Calla slowly reached for the talisman in Rhea''s pocket while evilly smiling at her. "Hm. Well I guess I could answer it for you!"


    RING RING


    "Aww. You rea~lly aren''t going to take the antidote? Spoilsport... It would have been fun watching you slurp it up out of the mud like a pathetic little mutt... Oh well! Let''s see who''s calling you!" Calla swiped the talisman and started daintily skipping around Rhea''s twitching body. With a poke, Calla activated the talisman. "Hello hello!"


    "Eh? Sorry, who is this?" Sadie''s confused voice came through the talisman and Rhea''s wriggling on the floor increased tenfold. The one person she needed answers from was just out of reach! Of all the times for Sadie to call, it had ot be right now?!


    "It''s Rhea''s bestest friend, Calla! Rh~ea is enjoying my hospitality right now and can''t come to the phone!"


    "Oh... Uh, I guess I''ll call back later..."


    "Nope!"


    "Huh?"


    "Nope!"


    "W... What do you mean... ''Nope!''?"


    "I want to talk to you. Don''t you want to talk to me? Ah you''re so ru~de, just like Rh~ea! She''s a bad influence on the people around her, I alw~ays knew she was... Please don''t hang up, that would make me sad... When I''m sad, other people around me tend to be sad too. I know Aym would be very sad if you hung up right now!"


    Sadie was seriously wishing she could go crawl into a hole and hide right now. The only thing worse than putting up with Rhea in a bad mood was putting up with Calla when she wanted something from you. Unless Sadie wanted to be sent Aym''s severed body parts in a doggy bag, she didn''t really have much choice but to obediently do as she was told here. This entire situation was utterly disastrous though.


    "I won''t hang up... How can I help you, Calla."


    "You''re not going to ask how I''ve been? How mean..."


    "Uh, how are you doing Calla?"


    "That doesn''t matter! I want to know how you''ve been doing! And what you''ve been up to!"


    "... I''m doing just peachy. As for what I''m up to, I just finished watching a match of the nationals... with Bellona... Do you want to speak to Bellona? I''m sure Bellona would like to speak with you?"


    NONONONONONO. Bellona was furiously waving her arms to try and get Sadie to stop. WHY WOULD YOU IMPLICATE ME AS WELL DAMNIT YOU STUPID CRETIN! YOU TRAITOROUS WRETCH! Off to the side, Appa giggled at the funny display of Bellona jumping around in silence like a frustrated monkey. Ares had always referred to Bellona as a gorilla and it seemed he was really quite spot on.


    "No, that''s ok Sa~die. I can talk to Bellona some other time. It''s you I''m interested in right now! You know me Sadie, I''m such a massive gossip... I really can''t help it, po~or little me. S~o, why don''t you help me out and scratch my itch for rumours and hearsay! What wonderful secrets were you going to share with Rhea?! It''s O.K, you can tell me and I won''t tell her a thing, I promise!"


    Muffled moans and a loud ''THUD'' came through Sadie''s communication token and she had a feeling she understood the situation at hand... "It''s really not a big deal or anything. Gossip and stuff like that is usually better fresh out the kitchen, right? I already talked to Rhea about this stuff, like, three weeks ago now, so its a bit stale. You''re a busy woman, I can''t give you old news."


    "No~ooo, you''ve got it all twisted! I''m an old woman who keeps herself busy with news! I get bored so easy nowadays without my babies around. Even if it''s stale, I''d like to hear it! It would give me something to think about when I have nothing else to do! I insist! Also, I find it very strange, you know? Rhea came round about three weeks ago, which was roughly at the same time you gave her the gossip! There''s been some troubles here at home, and if it has anything to do with the gossip... I would REALLY like to know ev~en more."


    "Uh... Well... It, er, I mean..."


    "S.~.A.~.D.~.I.~.E. Speak to me, S.~.A.~.D.~.I.~.E."


    "WAAAAHHHHHHHHHH..." Sadie had tears streaming down her face as Calla''s aura seeped through the talisman. "... I''M SORRY RHEA, I DON''T WANNA DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BELLONA AND ENYO HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THE SAME MAN AND BOTH WANT TO MARRY HIM. LEAVE ME ALONEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"


    "Shhh, there there Sadie. No one''s going to die, es~pe~ci~al~ly not if you keep telling me everything I want to hear!"


    "I''VE TOLD YOU EVERYTHING. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"


    "Details, Sadie. Details. I want to know literally everything, Sadie. Don''t disappoint me, Sadie. Speak to me, Sadie. Speak to m... ACK."


    Calla''s not so subtle threats were interrupted by the sound of her being choked out by Rhea who had finally powered through the poison... Without the antidote obviously, there was no way in hell a woman like Rhea would ever be caught dead licking mud. "Sadie! I''ll deal with you in a minute!" Rhea put the talisman to the side as she lifted the frail revenant Calla above her head. With all her strength, Rhea slammed Calla''s spine down onto her outstretched knee before tossing the stupid wolf as far as she could outside the planet''s atmosphere. Calla went careening off into space with a broken spine, buying Rhea enough time to deal with the betrayer Sadie. "YOU! How could you give up that easily?! See if I don''t teach you a lesson the next time I see you!"


    Sniffle


    "I''m sorry... But Calla is MEAN! She would have killed Aym just for the fun of it!"


    "Yeah yeah, whatever. Alright, spill it."


    "Well, it''s just that Enyo and Bellona have both agreed with each other to marry him so it''s kinda set in stone now..."


    "Set in stone my ass! Like hell anything is happening without my permission! You said Bellona was there? let me speak to that twerpy witch bitch right this instant!"


    "Yes ma''am..." Sadie tuned to face Bellona who had been glaring at her for the past couple of minutes. Bellona swiped the talisman and used her magic to make Sadie''s chest smaller before she started chatting with her mother.


    "... Hey mum... It''s been a while."


    "Yeah, clearly too long. The hell have you been doing down in Sheryashka?! I know you summoned one of your meteors recently, you come across any trouble? Need a hand?"


    "No, no. It was just for the regionals, didn''t win though..."


    "Really? Guessing Enyo did you in? How is that troublesome girl anyway?..."


    "She''s doing really well, mum. She was on the opposite team, but it wasn''t actually her that won the match really. Actually... It was the guy we like that did..."


    "Tsk. I have a million questions for you and your sister. Where is Enyo anyway? Is she there and hiding from me? I''ll kick her ass if she is!"


    "No, no. It''s just me and Sadie right now. Enyo''s going back to the sect with the guy."


    "... I don''t believe it. Honestly..." A loud sigh and the sound of Rhea slapping her forehead came across the talisman. "... Bellona... Is he any good? I''m not asking what you think about him, I can already guess. I mean without all the bias, without your rose tinted glasses, is he good?"


    Bellona smiled softly. "No. He''s atrocious. He''s the worst person I''ve ever met. He''s an annoying revenant that me and Enyo have to hit regularly in a futile bid to try and correct him. He used to be a bandit and has a vastly different moral compass to someone like Enyo. Even now he''s a cocky fool that can''t help but fling himself into trouble at every turn. Me and Enyo aren''t the only women that are going to be in his life and he probably thinks he''s the greatest thing since sliced bread... So no, he''s not good. Not at all. But he is pretty great. He''s only annoying because he''s playful. His moral compass may be different, but it''s uncompromising when it comes to family and friends. He flings himself into trouble for the sake of everyone around him and other women will want him because he''s an incredible man with a bright future. He can be a narcissist sometimes, but never overtly. He keeps it to himself because he''d much rather prop up everyone else than himself. If he had to choose between complimenting himself or Enyo at any given moment in time, he would choose her in a heartbeat. And Enyo... He fixed her, mum. She''s completely changed. She would throw the Legion clan in the trash if she had to pick between him or her father... And you already know I would too. He really cares about us more than anyone other than you ever has. He made Enyo feel perfect, and he made me realise he''s perfect for me. So yeah, he''s great. I''m sorry mum, but we''ve made our choice and even you can''t stop it anymore. I know I''m not being misled either because I truly believed he was the light in the dark for Enyo long before I had any feelings for him. I did everything I could to help them along because I saw a way out for Enyo through him. My feelings only really came about recently after I witnessed his magic first hand but he''s everything I''ve ever wanted and I''m dead set on him... I know you''re probably worried because we tried to hide it, but I swear it''s only because Enyo wanted to surprise you. She wanted to walk up to you with her helmet off, hug you, and laugh at your silly reaction because that''s just who she is now. So don''t worry about us, we''ve never been happier than we are now that we''re both living in his house. He''s a special person, mum, and I don''t just mean to us."


    …


    …


    …


    "... Aghhh!" Rhea had a solitary tear in her eye as she furiously scratched her head. "... Whatever! Just the amount of times you said ''he'' in that last rant is enough proof to me that you''re already too far gone... I want to come down to Sheryashka... But I can''t ''cos of that stupid bitch Calla, so I''ll wait. But listen here Bellona, if even half the stuff you were gushing about isn''t true, I''m going to have to whack some sense into you two! And don''t even get me started on what I''ll do to him! I trust your judgment, but not more than my own. I hope you haven''t made me happy for no good reason damnit... Is Enyo really not there?"


    "No. She''s probably at home demanding he cook her some food. He''s a really good chef, actually. I''ll be honest, his cooking kinda broke us... Mum, there''s one more thing I haven''t told you yet..." Bellona caught sight of Appa trying to cheer up Sadie out of the corner of her eye. "... But this one is a secret. You have to see it to understand, so it''ll have to wait ''till you come down."


    "Why all the riddles damnit?! Fine, damnit, fine... Well, come on, at least tell me a little more about him. What''s his name at least. If he''s a revenant, I can get that dumb wolf Calla to cough up some dirt on the guy. Ah, speaking of, it seems she''s healed up and is coming back for more... WAIT! STOP YOU STUPID DOG IDIOT MONGREL BITC..."


    BZT BZZZT BZZT


    The sound of the talisman cutting off signalled the end of the conversation. Calla had probably unleashed a wave of poison on Rhea that fizzled out the talisman and destroyed it. Bellona just shrugged as it didn''t matter if that was where the conversation ended, she''d already gotten the hard part over with. At least now Rhea knew everything important there was to know about Ares! In the grand scheme of things, what did something as minor as his name really even matter anyway?