Chapter 55: Flipping the Switch: Sadie’s Awakening, Part 2

All forty or so weapons began floating at waist height as they swivelled to face Sadie while hovering around her in a circle. Sadie blinked, but not because she wanted to. She was entranced and wanted to witness everything that was about to happen to her but the sea of pressure shut her eyes forcefully before reopening them. When her eyes could see once more, Ares was in the midst of swinging a pole axe. Sadie made a feeble attempt to raise her arms but her body was sluggish and immovable. Ares' attack seemed to defy time as it's speed was otherworldly up until the point it was about to connect, at which point Sadie's world slowed down.

Shut

Sadie's eyes were forcibly closed again as she felt the pole axe tear into her stomach. 

Open

Sadie could see again and the first thing she noticed was her blood splatter frozen in mid-air, unmoving. Ares was now leaping sideways and aiming a cocked crossbow right at her chest. He released the bolt.

Shut

Winded by the pain she felt as the bolt pierced her lung, Sadie desperately tried to gasp for breath but her body still refused to obey her commands.

Open

It certainly obeyed whatever commands Ares was giving it, however, as she was forced to open her eyes to the sight of a bloody hole in her chest and Ares twirling twin daggers before dashing towards her.

Shut

Sadie collapsed, landing on her knees as she felt two sharp blades shred her tendons and ligaments in her legs, eviscerating her flesh. The sound of cracking knuckles echoed through Sadie's head.

Open

Sure enough, Ares sauntered slowly over to Sadie with brass knuckles adorning his fists. The punch came with such blinding speed that Sadie barely even caught sight of it connecting with her cheek.

Shut

A handful of teeth and chunks of blood spewed out from Sadie's mouth as her face swung sideways.

Open

Ares had taken up a posture low to the ground with his back to Sadie, putting him a position to donkey kick her head.

Shut

As Ares' foot connected, breaking her jaw, Sadie could feel the weightlessness of her body floating through the air. The numbing of all sensation in her body, being trapped within the confines of her bruised flesh and mind, and having to watch her own execution scene by scene was changing something in Sadie. The beautiful forms Ares displayed every time her eyes opened were being engraved deep into her soul. The intricacy of Asura Rondo, a combination art that incorporated magic of every single aspect under the weapons pillar. The flow and rhythm of combat. The ways to dance with your opponent and take the lead while demanding they follow your pace. All of it was coalescing into a single point within Sadie and was nearly ready to explode.

Open

Ares loaded a single shot into a musket and took aim, charging the weapon with annihilation magic and giving it a golden hue.

Shut

The sound of the musket firing was drowned out by the explosion that followed soon after. Sadie had lost all feeling and was unfazed by her shattering body as it was flung into a wall. All Sadie needed, all she wanted, was to open her eyes one final time and comprehend everything that had eluded her up until now. On the cusp of greatness, death wasn't a concern, self-improvement and taking the next step in her journey of weapon mastery came first. Sadie could feel it, one more display of mastery would push her over an edge she she couldn't see the bottom of. Not knowing what came next was both worrying and exciting; that a whole new world lay within reach was daunting beyond words but that did not matter. Fascination at said new world overruled any fear as Sadie had a gut feeling a chance like this was incredibly rare and she would regret it for the rest of her life if she didn't pay attention here. Sadie could feel death approaching and she knew that this was the end. Regardless of whether or not she took the next step here, Ares was going to put the final nail in the coffin.

Open

Sadie instantly shed tears as she was able to witness a sword swing that defied all reason. Dying to an attack of this calibre was an honour. An unflinching, steady hand that refused to deviate from its trajectory. A faintly glistening blade that tore through the wind in a stunning curve that even a protractor couldn't replicate. Perfect speed, perfect form, perfect handling, and a perfect death. Sadie wavered and was tempted to give up. There wasn't a chance in hell she would ever replicate that. Clearly, this new world was beyond her... No. NO... Don't be stupid. This is everything you've ever wanted. Watch until the end damnit! Sadie resolved herself to watch every micro second up until her life was reaped and her head was cleaved from her shoulder. No, it was more than that. Even if her head came off she would keep watching, even death wasn't going to stop her. If there was one thing Sadie had going for her, it was her ability to turn dejection into rage. Feeling returned to her limbs as hot blood trickled out of her wounds. Sadie strained her eyes to remain open, resisting the pressure trying to shut them one final time as the sword was moments away from touching her neck. Sadie caught a glimpse of herself within the swords reflection and her entire life flashed before her eyes right as everything clicked into place. Something had awoken with Sadie. 

…

…

…

"Wow?!…" Dominus blurted out befuddled praise as he felt his wrist snap. Dominus hadn't even seen Sadie's hand shoot out and break his bones. He was too preoccupied with swinging the sword to have noticed anything and now he was dumbly staring at Sadie who had a blank look on her face as she stared back down at him. It was a stare as blank as the slate Sadie had just become and Dominus could tell he was about to witness the evolution of a phenomenal person in real time.

BLEUGH

Neither Sadie nor Dominus had been aware that Sadie's knee was buried deep in Dominus' stomach until his body caved under the blow. Dominus' eyes widened as he was shocked to his core that his attack was not only stopped, but that he couldn't even see, let alone stop, Sadie's retaliation.

Sadie wasn't in control of her own movements, she was just along for the ride as she ascended into a new plane of mastery. Her body was acting quicker than her brain so its debatable who, between her and Dominus, was more confused when her mouth opened and she uttered...

"Asura Rondo."

Dominus managed to crane his neck upward, as he was still hunched over Sadie's knee, and look up at Sadie who's gaze was akin to that of someone staring at an ant. "...You're incredible?!"

Shut

It was Dominus' turn to undergo a Rondo but he was truly ecstatic! He'd always wondered what it was like to be on the receiving end of Asura Rondo but no one other than him seemed to be able to use it. Although describing this situation as fun was questionable from a bystanders perspective, Dominus was having the time of his life as his ribcage cracked in multiple places.

Open

 Sadie towered above Ares as she wielded a steel maul with both her hands. With a hop in her step she readied an overhead swing to decimate the hunched over Ares.

Shut

Every bone in Dominus' back fragmented into tiny pieces as his spine was mercilessly crushed.

Open

With determination and confidence practically oozing out of Sadie, she brandished a bat before she took a stance and swung for the fences, aka Ares' face, with enraptured abandon.

Shut

Dominus' nose bust immediately and his left eye exploded in its socket, rendering half his face an indecipherable mess of vitreous and aqueous humor merged with blood and sclera. The force of the swing had sent him staggering backward until the back of his head banged against a wall.

Open

Dominus was greeted back into reality by the sight of Sadie racking a handgun. Normally, anyone in Dominus' state would be concerned with the fact that they were dying, but the gun brought back ancient memories as Dominus had been around during the time of their creation. Guns in the cultivation world were an interesting paradox in that, although they were functionally more deadly than a bow and arrow, they were actually less useful against cultivators. Sure, mortals were killed left and right by guns but cultivators could typically shrug off bullets. The velocity of a bullet was essentially predetermined by the gun itself and, once a cultivator became strong enough, guns just wouldn't be able to produce enough fire-power to harm them. The same was also true of bows, though, but there was a key difference. Arrows were bigger than bullets and, thus, could be imbued with more mana. The strength of projectile weapons in the cultivation world were effectively determined by two things, the material used to create the weapon and the amount of mana that can be imbued into it. For that reason, guns weren't actually that powerful. Yes, they were revolutionary at the time and a lot of people experimented with them, but not many cultivators stuck with them as there were simply better options. Why shoot someone with 30 bullets that just bounce of the target when one bow art would just kill the person? Of course guns had evolved over time and so too had the cultivators that used them. Different types of guns, gun arts, and even the existence of gun treasures brought them somewhat back into the fray as they were now relatively usable compared to their previous state. Automatic weapons paired well with status arts that inflicted ailments like poison. Sniper rifles were a decent alternative to bows at extreme ranges plus the sheer speed of a bullet was enough to interest some sharpshooters. Handguns, like the one Sadie was pointing at Dominus, sat somewhere in the middle as an effective supplement to any combatants arsenal. They were relatively easy to use, the quality of guns had gone up noticeably over the years, and they wouldn't necessarily always kill the other person but they could certainly distract or injure them. Of course, similarly to magic, it all depended on the wielders inclinations on how to wield them and their talents with them; Dominus had seen a fair few incredibly lethal gunmen in his time. Overall, guns were a mixed bag. They weren't stronger than any other option, but they weren't exactly weaker either. They had their own niche and it was one Dominus had never really explored. His first wife really loved them though; And boy did she have plenty of reasons to shoot Dominus. If anything, what was about to happen to Dominus was quite nostalgic.

Shut

Dominus counted seven shots that left him riddled with holes. They weren't too deep as Sadie didn't seem to be too familiar with the weapon and struggled to optimise her mana imbuement but, still, it was undeniably painful. The fact that Dominus was still even feeling pain was a pretty massive indicator that his own Asura Rondo was blatantly superior. His technique culled, or was supposed to, any chance of resistance, turning his opponent into a numbed fish in a barrel. The only real reason Sadie was able to get to this point was because he made no effort to inflict any major wounds during his own Asura Rondo, he could have even just outright killed her immediately as the gap was just that big. Still though, that wasn't the point, and this outcome was far superior as he now had his own little passion project. He wouldn't be able to take over like this very often, but if he could have fun with Sadie whenever he did, then this training was worth it. Dominus never had any children, at least not that he aware of anyway, but he'd always been interested in passing on his teachings. Sadie's resemblance to his wife made him subconsciously treat her like his kin so his attitude towards her was lenient. The usual revenant snark was still present, but he was being far kinder to her than he would be to literally anyone else. If Ares, the real one, thought he was going to get the same treatment when Dominus was able to speak freely, he was sorely mistaken. If Ares was friendly annoying, then Dominus was down-right rude annoying. He was the face of all revenants, after all, of course he was going to act the part! Or rather, he was the part that everyone else copied.

Open

It seemed Sadie's Rondo was coming to an end, which was understandable. It was a difficult art to maintain as combining every single aspect under the weapon pillar and keeping it running drained mana like no one's business. Sadie would be able to make the art more lethal and keep the Rondo going for longer with practice, time, and a higher cultivation. The fact that Dominus was able to go for longer despite being stuck in someone else's body was just further evidence that he was a supernatural freak when it came to weapons. As for Sadie's final attack, she'd picked up a very familiar looking axe. Whether she'd intentionally picked the weapon that lead her down this path or it was simply a mere coincidence, Dominus had no idea. Sadie's axe strike could hardly be considered masterful in this same way Dominus' sword swing was, but it had a certain charm to it as Sadie's form was unusually graceful and elegant; almost as though a ballerina had picked up an axe for whatever reason. It wasn't something Dominus had ever seen before and he was interested so, although the strike was going to chop into his skull and smoosh his brain, he decided to let her do it, besides... You're forgetting something important, Sadie. There's more to me than just my talent with weapons. Tsk Tsk, not remembering who I am? That's a deduction in points!

Sadie wrist twisted, moving in the shape of an 'S' as her hand brought the axe down onto Ares' head, splitting his forehead and causing some grey matter to come leaking out. Control of her body was finally returned to her as she stared dazedly at her dead opponent, unsure of which emotion should take precedence right now. Smugness at having beaten down an annoying foe? Joy at having become stronger and having more doors opened up to her? Sadness at the fact that it was over? Well, actually, that decision was made for her without her approval as her face twisted into one of horror as she came to a sudden realisation. Why did she think the fight was over? So what if her opponent had an axe in his brain... He was a damn revenant! FUCK! Sadie looked at Ares' face and her heart sank when her old friend, Mr Smug Smile, was confirmed to be back in town. In a panic, she desperately tried to remove the axe from Ares' brain but, although that was objectively the correct decision, when had the objectively correct decision ever worked out for her in this fight so far? As Sadie's decision making was rushed, she had regressed back to making boring choices. This was fair though, it's not like she was well versed in this strange, new fighting style, so lapses in judgement were to be expected; it's just that now, she was going to die because of it. Dominus was lenient with her, yes, but it's not like he'd ever let himself lose unintentionally to another person; he still had his pride, after all. Just because Dominus had let Sadie get this far, it didn't mean he was going to let her go any further.

As Sadie attempted to dislodge the axe, Dominus twisted his head diagonally and to the side, causing the axe to twist and get wedged deeper into his head. As Sadie pulled the axe back, she also unintentionally pulled Dominus along for the ride, bringing him closer and putting him a position to roundhouse kick her in the face.

THWACK

Dominus chuckled inwardly as this was the second time this poor woman had been kicked in the face today. After the kick sent Sadie reeling backward, Dominus took the axe out of his head properly this time. Sadie must have had a lot of fun pushing him around with the Rondo, but all that meant was now Dominus had an axe to grind! Dominus leant back before tossing the axe with both power and precision, launching it straight towards Sadie's head.

Sadie recovered and picked up the nearest available weapon which just so happened to be the sword Ares had used earlier. Sadie prepared herself to block the incoming axe by holding the sword horizontally in front of her but was taken aback when she noticed Ares get down on all fours and start dashing after the axe he'd thrown. What truly surprised her was that it was typically impossible to discern whether or not someone was a revenant until bloodline awakening but, if anyone saw the Ares in front of her, they would be able to tell at a glance regardless of his lack of revenant features. Ares' wild sprint, his focused, sharp eyes, his dangerous aura, and his zealous dedication to hunting down his prey all screamed 'WOLF'. Sadie had never seen a revenant be this in touch with their wolf side pre-bloodline awakening, it was unsettling and she felt scared he was actually going to maul her. She tried to focus on the axe but, every time she did, she caught sight of Ares trailing slightly behind it, glaring intensely at her. Shit. The axe, or Ares? Which is the bigger problem? Sadie wrestled with her tumult, constantly going back and forth between decisions and options, none of which felt even remotely correct to her. Fuck it, I've already got what I needed out of this fight. If I die, I die! Sadie threw away all her doubts and just picked an option, do nothing and stay on course. Block the axe and see where things go from there. Her plan became awkward though when Ares' speed suddenly doubled, allowing him to race ahead of the axe and skid to a halt right in front of Sadie. Still, she ignored him as he didn't seem to be attacking her. Quite frankly, she had no idea what he was about to do. She glanced down at him as he started to move again, but focused primarily on blocking the incoming axe. Ares leapt straight up while putting his back parallel to the floor and lifting his foot, almost as if he were about to bicycle kick the axe for some strange reason. As the axe closed the distance to Sadie and was inches away from her block, much to Sadie's surprise, Ares' foot connected with the axe. He really is kicking it?! What on earth for? Sadie very quickly realised why when the kick didn't change the axe's trajectory, but rather it's axis. The axe transitioned from a vertical spin to a horizontal one as Ares' 'kick' had been more of a love tap. The precision required to do this was absolutely monstrous. Timing, firmness and precision of the tap, and even the angle of Ares' jump towards the axe all needed to be impeccably executed and yet he'd done just that and even made it look easy. Sadie was seriously impressed. Yes, the shift in axis meant the axe had flown right over her horizontal block and was about to kill her by slashing her head in two, but it was absolutely an incredible feat of skill. Even if it was blatantly showing off his superiority, Sadie couldn't help but respect it. The new Sadie, anyway, the old her from about 5 minutes ago would have just been annoyed like with what happened with the real Ares in the first duel.

As the axe drew closer and closer, Sadie smiled and closed her eyes, accepting her imminent death as the fight was over. It had overstayed its welcome in the best way possible for her. What she had just assumed was pointless and petty bullying turned out ot be a major changing point for her. No longer was she standing before a brick wall, but rather she was now at a starting line with the brick wall's rubble clumped up behind her. Still though, she was curious. Something was very clearly wrong with Ares, Sadie wasn't so blind she'd miss all the obvious cues. He was talented, but to this extent? Nope. The Ares she'd seen during the disciple selection for the tournament was like a mini Ares compared to whatever this beast was. Not to mention his almost complete silence during the entire fight which was very un-Ares like in addition to his petty provocateur act. Its not to say he would never do these things, but that his was more innocent and playful than this which felt specifically designed to elicit a certain type of response. All of the current Ares' actions felt pre-planned as if he'd had a goal for this fight that could only be accomplished by dragging Sadie through the mud first. He wasn't being annoying to mess with her, he was doing it to spur her on and that was the main contributor to her feeling something wasn't right. Anyhow, Sadie patiently awaited her death as she could just beat the answer out of Ares after; she was still way stronger than him when she was at her normal cultivation after all!

"You're interesting so I'll let you have this one. I'll be back in due time so don't slack off on your training or I'll be disappointed."

Hm? Sadie opened her eyes and was stunned when she saw Ares' corpse lying on the floor. The axe wasn't in her head, it was in his... Again, but this time it was actually lethal. Why he rambled to her at the end before committing suicide was anyone's guess at this point, and who knows what on earth he meant by 'I'll be back'. There truly was no understanding this incomprehensible version of Ares.

Speaking of everyone's favourite mouthy and explosive punching bag, Ares, the real one, had respawned outside the Field, sitting on the floor with his legs outstretched and his arms lazily draped over his thigs, tilting his head in confusion like a lost child. He blinked rapidly as Sadie appeared in front of him, cracking her knuckles and 'smiling' from ear to ear with not-so subtle malicious undertones. "Uhm... It's my first time... Be gentle?"

Naturally, Sadie was anything but. Even the peanut gallery of onlookers who had finished their training and been intently watching the fight didn't disagree with the treatment Ares was currently receiving. Also, Sadie couldn't control her temper very well around Ares to begin with so 'gentle' was just inherently out of the cards. It also didn't help that hitting Ares was just so inexplicably satisfying. So satisfying, in fact, that, for some strange reason, Enyo joined in as well.