Chapter 195: Blót

"Jesus Christ..."

"What the fuck happened?"

Dominus and Ares, respectively, reacted to the mayhem below them as soon as it came into vision. Their brains hadn't even fully comprehended everything they were seeing but the words had left their mouths regardless. Battered jail cells with doors barely hanging off their hinges. Blood stains lavishly decorating every wall without fail. Blood leaked from chains dangling off the platform that wasn't even visible anymore under the tide of blood flowing out of the revenant lord's cell. Even the walls of the prison were destroyed in some places, granting a sneak peek at the endless, pitch black void that lay beyond this place... No longer was it simply a matter of a single scratch mark... There were multiple... Again, whatever was responsible was still using the bare minimum effort, it's just that now it had to do it repeatedly. It could have expended even an iota more effort and killed the lord without causing a scene but it toyed with the lord, flinging it from wall to wall and blasting it around with the same attack on repeat until it died... Dents in this building were acceptable to a degree but holes in the walls?! Puncturing the structure itself?! Dominus followed Ares' example from earlier and just mindlessly laughed. His reason for doing it was vastly different from Ares' though, as he'd actually descended not through the prison, but rather into crazed disbelief. A revenant lord had 'managed to put up a pathetic fight and been run ragged like a kid playing with a doll'. The result for the revenant lord was technically 'better' than what the alpha had done... But it was made entirely pointless by the fact that the revenant lord was the peak of revenants! The humiliation was unbearable for Dominus... Or it would have been if his hypothesis, that he'd been keeping in his back pocket this whole time, hadn't turned out to be true. He knew what manner of 'monster' this was now. He'd never seen it before, because it had never existed until now, but he knew what it was... The monster... Was standing right next to him... It was Ares. It wasn't some invasive species, it wasn't some kind of mental parasite that had invaded Ares body... It was literally just Ares.

As Dominus had mentioned to Ares earlier during some of their idle conversation, the prison would end after coming across the last tier of revenant... But right now, they weren't at the prophesised end. There was more. Whatever Ares truly was, beneath that human façade, was a revenant unlike anything known to have ever existed. He'd transcended being a 'mere' revenant lord and was treading ground that even the progenitor revenant, Dominus himself, could only dream of. There was something above lord and, whatever it was, had gotten bored of being chained up and tied down. It left its prison of its own accord and slaughtered the others for sport, toying with them as it did so. It was so unbelievably powerful that 'child's play' was the only way to accurately describe what the match between it and the lord must have looked like from an outside perspective. This wasn't an 'alphas and lords are actually somewhat close' situation, not even remotely close. This was like the difference between a mortal and a God, clearly. Ares' countless bloodline benefits had officially broken the revenant race as a whole and reforged it in the image of perfection. A new revenant peak was going to exist today and it would forever be unachievable to anyone other than the monster standing beside Dominus right now, tilting his head in confusion at Dominus' outburst of laughter. Dominus had egotistically 'bestowed' Ares the right to govern his people... PFFTT... What a comical statement he'd unknowingly made. It was like a peasant bestowing a king the right to own his house. He didn't have a choice! He wasn't the 'lord' of anything anymore, that position was a foot note now. Ares would have claimed his right to be undisputed regardless of what nonsense Dominus had been spewing, he was a complete non factor in the management of his own race from now on... The more Dominus thought about it the harder he laughed until it resulted in him having to sit down and take deep breaths, occasionally still shaking his head and chuckling in despair. He was out of a job! His legacy was about to mean nothing! There was a new revenant tier in town and he was an ant in comparison! What was a revenant lord, exactly? A puppy? No? It was supposed to be a ten foot tall, regal, unrivalled warrior of legend... Not anymore, apparently! Now whatever Ares was would put a leash on a lord and take it out for walkies and maybe even give it a treat or two for being a good boy!

Ares bent over and waved his hand in front of Dominus to check and see if anyone was home or if he was just completely checked out mentally. It took a few waves but Ares did eventually get through to the guy who just stared up at Ares and sighed. He'd come to terms with the fact that Ares was just a better version of him. Dominus only had his weapon mastery but even that wasn't something he would be able to beat Ares in forever... Maybe if he could escape from Ares' body he could maintain the one lead he had but it wasn't looking so hot for him right now. Ares was slowly becoming Dominus 2.0. Realistically he had no reason to care but Dominus' pride was wounded much the same way Veteran's was and now he felt a sort of sympathetic connection with the one armed fellow. Both of them had been both outclassed and scared witless by Ares despite being top of their respective niches. Dominus kissed his teeth and stood up before slapping Ares! Thwap. He deserved it for what he'd put Dominus and Veteran through! Dream crusher! Ares looked somewhat offended but it also seemed like he was, on some level, aware he probably did in fact deserve it so he didn't complain. "... Ok Ares, I'll be straight with you... Not that you wouldn't be able to figure it out given the circumstances, but you aren't a lord. You're something beyond that and I have no idea what. I've accepted my destiny as an inferior species of revenant, annoyed by it though I may still be, so let's just get this over and done with? I've been on edge this whole time and now I want to be done with this all. I had hoped that things wouldn't reach this point but they have and I have nothing more to say."

Ares shrugged. he didn't really have anything to say about this either. He'd discussed this all with Astraeus that one time so he had a hunch the further down he'd gone that this might be the case. Seeing the prison extending even further confirmed the suspicions that arose and aligned nicely with what Dominus had been expecting so it was case closed... Kinda, anyway. Now all that remained to be seen... Was the revenant itself! Where was this thing? Did it live in a cage or a cell like the others? Would getting eaten by it even help Ares at all? Did it eating the others matter? The answer to last one was probably 'no' because Ares couldn't sense anything being off with his bloodline but until he knew for sure he wasn't going to make any judgement calls.

Ares moved onward as Dominus trailed behind him, still shaking his head from time to time, unwilling to fully distance himself from the agitation he felt. Upon reaching the platform of gushing blood Ares had to figure out a way past because even the railings weren't safe. As this was still inside the pagoda he couldn't use any non pressure related arts. He couldn't use telekinesis here either as everything was firmly locked in place... So he was seemingly going to have to blast himself across the gap with an Echo... But how was Dominus going to cross the gap? Ares looked over and asked. "What's your plan? I've got one but what have you got up your sleeve for this crossing?"

"Bah..." Dominus spat at the floor. "Look kid. You're special, I'll give you that, but I'm still the thousand weapons exemplar! I have thousands of ways across so don't you worry your pretty little head off about me. Besides, of the two of us, you're the only one that has to injure himself to overcome this dilemma."

Ares rolled his eyes and angled his body. Thankfully this time it wouldn't be nearly as bad the previous instance of self-harm because he could actually hold back. The distance wasn't exactly short but it wasn't exceedingly long either. A nice mid range blast would work wonders and so, throwing away the last few remaining shreds of reluctance, Ares dropped his palm on his stomach and vanished from the spot he was just standing on. As Ares crossed the gap at Mach 10 he realised a certain asshole was standing on him and treating him like a damn surfboard! Ares didn't know if Dominus actually had as many ways across as he proclaimed but, if he did, then this was highly unnecessary! Just because he was feeling down in the dumps about this mess that didn't give him permission to bully Ares like this! And worse still Ares couldn't stop it because he'd just injured himself so, unless he flipped on annihilation enhancement and launched an actual attack, Dominus was here to stay.

Thud Rattle

Ares crashed onto the start of the new staircase and, one by one, rolled face first down a couple of the metal steps. Dominus leapt off after Ares came to halt and dusted himself off even though he hadn't gotten a spot of blood on him. Ares mumbled curses at him under his breath but brought himself to his feet and checked his self-inflicted wound. It wasn't anything major and he would recover shortly. It also wasn't anything that would prevent him from moving while it healed so they could start wandering down again. Would Ares be able to fight in this state should anything happen? Hell no but that didn't matter because his only goal right now was to die and get eaten, fighting was irrelevant. Plus the staircase segments were long enough that he very well might regenerate back to normal regardless. Taking that into account, Ares actually dusted himself off, unlike a certain poser who'd only done it to rub Ares face in it, and followed behind Dominus who'd taken the lead for some unknown reason. He could flee whenever but he needed the time to do it so if he got ambushed he would die like a moron. He really should have let Ares go first to use him as bait but apparently he was such a proud individual he couldn't tolerate that after the previous revelation. He was just being petty but Ares didn't much care to quibble with him over it and let him have his win. Right now, there was something Ares cared way more about than some meaningless squabble. He was on track to discovering his true self and the path was going to come to an end shortly. What manner of inmate would he find at the end of this asylum? It was getting ever closer to the point in time when he'd find out...

Five minutes. Five minutes was how long it took to finally reach the bottom of the prison but, contrary to what Dominus had foretold, the 'ending' of the prison was a little different. Rather than just an abrupt end, looking like the building had been torn in half with a black void directly underneath, there appeared to be some kind of well. The staircase led to a floor that surrounded a giant hole in the ground. Dominus had never seen anything like this but it wasn't the first time he'd been stumped today so he just added it to the ever-expanding list and stopped caring. He was long past the point of being shocked by everything. There could have been a UFO in here and he wouldn't have batted an eye. Speaking of eyes, Ares' were immediately glued to a certain object hovering over the pit in mid air, surrounded by a golden barrier. He could recognise that object anywhere because he'd swallowed the damn thing not even a month ago! 

"That's the golden seed that made you go freak mode in the auction, right?" Dominus said it out loud, looking for confirmation, and Ares nodded his head in response.

"Mhm. I was wondering what this thing was doing inside of me and where it was doing it. Turns out it's just been hanging around here in my bloodline, killing time. Makes sense, I guess. it has draconic ties and I have a draconic bloodline in me so put two and two together and here we are. Doesn't seem like it's doing anything or making itself useful at the moment though... But I can feel a connection to it. I feel like if I touch it I can remove the barrier... And then both it and I would fall into the pit... Ha, real fucking subtle. I wonder where the monster revenant is. M.a.y.b.e it's inside the pit? Tsk. Really gonna make me jump in there, huh? Might as well leap into a lion's maw for all the difference it would make."

Dominus walked to the edge of the pit and peered inside but it was too dark to see anything. He had no idea how deep it ran and what was lurking down below... He did not pity Ares in the slightest... Dominus was going to have nightmares about this stupid pit and he wasn't even the one jumping... On that note. "Look, kid, I'm not going in there. I know I said you can trust me, but not on this! I am drawing a line!"

"... Whatever. I get it. It's not like you're needed here anyway. Well, go on then, get lost. Go shoo off and hide somewhere else... Where are you even gonna hang around anyway?"

"As long as you give me permission, wherever takes my fancy. I'm thinking your heart will do nicely as I can study your pressure in the mean time and maybe get something out of it. You have your uses even if being stuck inside you sucks. Well, anyway, it's time for me to bid you adieu and wish you luck. I'll be heading off now..."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A fierce howl came bellowing out from within the pit and even created an updraft above the hole that blew back Ares and Dominus, pushing them both onto their rears. The howl rang in their ears and temporarily deafened and dazed them as their worlds spun in all kinds of directions. Not just cardinal either but the daze was so powerful it's like their vision was moving forwards and backwards too despite their relative stillness. Dominus felt like he was being dragged down a long, spiralling corridor that never ended which, when contrasted with his sitting position, made him motion sick.

The fun didn't end there, though, as shortly after came a few invisible ripples shaped like slashes. Dominus immediately recognised the shape and scurried backwards despite hurling in his mouth as a result thanks to his dizziness. It was worth doing however because those slashes were the same ones that had felled the other revenants. Vomiting in his mouth was not less important than not getting torn to shreds by those slashes. Dominus wasn't the target though and the slashes all shot up towards the barrier, bouncing off it and sailing off into the depths of the prison above everyone... The revenant monster was making a point. If it actually wanted to attempt to break the barrier it almost definitely had way more powerful attacks at its disposal, it's just that they didn't matter. It clearly couldn't remove the barrier and was demanding Ares remove it for him... The monster could have come up here but it was forcing Ares onto its own turf down in the pit where it had a massive advantage... Not that it needed it. That thing was unrivalled in here and even Dominus would get smacked around effortlessly. It was essentially mocking the two revenants up above it. One thing was definitely clear and that was that the monster wanted the seed badly. It seemed like it would maybe enable the monster to reach its ultimate peak. That was somewhat backed up by the unusual shape of this floor compared to what any other revenant would see. This was THE end of the revenant bloodline. There was nothing beyond this pit. There never would be. This was the end of all ends and Ares was the one standing at it. All he had to do was drop the seed and himself in, let the monster feast, and he would accomplish something no one else ever could or would.

Dominus recovered first, despite being in a worse position than Ares initially due to his lowly status as lord, and went back to peering into the pit. He figured he would have enough time to see the beast come bursting out of the darkness if he needed to escape and so a bit more confidence returned to his pale face underneath the mask. With a deep breath calming him down somewhat, he leant over and squinted to see what he could spot in the pit. Ares also came over and mimicked Dominus to a tee to see what he could see. Ares wished he had access to Omniscience right about now as that would effectively solve any and all issues relating to a lack of light and visibility.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Two golden orbs appeared in the darkness below and, had Dominus not been petrified on the spot, he would have already fled this horrible place. The eyes of the monster were trained on the two revenants staring down back at it and each were the size of two hands clasped together... If the eyes were that huge... Just what was the size of this monstrosity exactly?! Dominus' eyes in his lord form were roughly the size of three fingers bundled together... Going off a rough estimate... Was this thing over 30ft tall?! Was this a monster or a walking two storey house?! No, that wasn't a fair comparison as it would almost definitely dwarf such a tiny building... Was it a giant? Dominus had assumed the scratch marks were made by a large swing but was this un-Godly creature just flicking its nails this wholetime?!

Dominus fell on his rear and started laughing uncontrollably again. His laughing was cut off when he suddenly disappeared from this place, abandoning Ares to this atrocious fate. Dominus didn't want to be here anymore because he didn't want answers, he wanted to be as far away from the monster as he possible could. This damn thing hadn't even swallowed the seed and awakened its draconic bloodline fully and it was already this fearful?! Dominus had mistakenly believed Ares' annihilation enhancement would be his all time high but clearly that was a dumb and baseless assumption. This monster would beat the crap out of Ares with annihilation enhancement in no time flat!... But that wasn't the full picture... This thing had a bloodline awakening in store when it took the seed, it had annihilation enhancement available to it, it had destruction magic fuelling it, and it had an adept trait to continue strengthening it unto eternity... This monster wasn't even at a fraction of its potential currently and Dominus felt like an ant in front of it... The destruction pillar had broken the mould with Ares... It had created a living disaster by shoving limitless potential into one single body. Dominus now understood why exactly it was Astraeus had been deeply concerned by Ares. He was an amalgamation of unlimited bullshit that just never ended. Ares would keep growing and eventually reach a breaking point that was literally unstoppable in any and every conceivable way and the monster in the pit was evidence enough for Dominus to believe it. Well, Dominus wasn't here anymore but Ares could also believe it.

Ares was, admittedly, quaking in his boots a bit. The eyes were still staring into his soul and he was struggling to maintain eye contact and swallow his saliva at the same time. Breathing was a challenge too but he was lucky. The monster was taking it easy on him because they were technically one and the same. The monster had killed the other revenant forms to enable Ares to get here quicker and not waste time dying to them. That was mostly because it wanted the seed but it may have also been for Ares' sake. Maybe luring Ares into the dark pit was also for his benefit so as not to mentally scar him with the raw visage of the creature? Or maybe it was the reverse, maybe all of this was just a cruel set up to torment him even more. It was impossible to tell. The monster was undeniably intelligent but it didn't posses Ares' brand of intelligence or decision making. This was something more instinctual and feral for the sake of getting what it wanted without a hassle. Maybe it thought if it spooked Ares it wouldn't get the seed. Maybe Ares was just useful to it. There were any number of possibilities but what remained true was that this was the final hurdle. Once Ares crossed it, that monster would become him... No that wasn't accurate, Ares would become that monster? No, again, that wasn't right... Ares already was this monster, he just couldn't see it yet... The Ares above the pit was the personality and the morality while the Ares in the pit was the physique and the aesthetic. Who was 'real' between them? In the end it didn't matter as, when the beast devoured his flesh, they would become one. In some ways, the Ares above the pit had it better as it was his conscience that would remain once all was said and done. Perhaps the beast was just satisfied to be unleashed and free from this place. Perhaps it just wanted to breathe the fresh air outside and interact with the world at large...

Ares leant back and shook his head to refocus. He was getting needlessly distracted over irrelevant philosophies about the nature of the self and who was relative to the monster. Something something there exists within you two wolves etc... But literally this time, to be fair. Ares took a few steps back, not in retreat, but in preparation to take a running jump towards the barrier. He would grab onto it, it would disappear, and he and the seed would plummet to their deaths... It was a long fall, Ares knew that after seeing just how far away the eyes were from him in the pit. It would break his bones and render him immobile. He would not be able to heal in time to move around and explore the pit. He would lie there helpless as the monster devoured the seed and ascended to a new state altogether. Ares would then become the next target and... Well, he didn't rightly know. Would he be tortured like a mouse at the hands of a house cat? Would it end quickly? Would he be slowly eaten alive? Nothing seemed pleasant but one of those answers would have to come true for anything to progress so he readied himself for the worst case scenario and took a deep breath. He craned his neck in a few different directions, clicked a few bones, and laughed depreciatingly at himself for delaying like a coward again. He'd done this back when he'd learned annihilation enhancement and he was doing it again now... Ares, for all his good points, seemed to have a really strong aversion to pain and death when it was self-inflicted. Someone else could kidnap and torture him and he wouldn't be fussed but when he had to pull the trigger himself it dealt a kind of psychological damage... It didn't really matter though because Ares did have it in him to pull that trigger, he just needed a moment or two. He'd pulled the trigger before and, now that his legs were already moving, he was doing it again. Ares reached the rim of the pit and jumped, closing the distance between himself and the seed.

Thud

Ares stomach collided with the barrier and his arms were draped over it to prevent himself from falling... This was in vain because he knew in his heart of hearts what was about to come next... As if to answer his grim expectations the barrier dissolved in his grasp and, shortly after the seed disappeared into the depths of the darkness below, Ares succumbed to gravity and sunk into the murky pit as well...