Chapter 278: Absolutely

Now what? Ares had managed to poke a hole through the clone's stomach but he'd already fired off his spear into the stratosphere and he wasn't getting it back any time soon. He could punch the clone, and boy did it have a punch-able face, but why do that when it was mostly pointless? Incredibly satisfying perhaps but it would leave no lasting damage. The clone had Ares' regenerative properties too so a simple punch would be forgotten about in under a minute, almost as if it never happened. Ares' best bet here was to take this opportunity to pick out a weapon from his Primordial Blade and now he had to choose something that would be good against a spear... There were some practical applications of dual wielding swords that were generally considered to be effective against spears but Ares just sort of said screw it and pulled out his gun. The Biome Eagle didn't really hit hard but it was good at opening an opponent up because it would damn well hurt if ignored. Plus he could always fire off an Adaptive Shot if an opportunity presented itself so it was a weapon that couldn't be ignored.

A gun in one hand plus and empty fist with which to threaten an Annihilation Echo meant he was pretty effective at all ranges and could play around the spear without much hassle. Plus it also meant he could take a shot at the currently impaled clone and get an attack in off the rip as any slower weapons would have given the clone time to escape. In terms of wielding various weapons, this was one of the ones Ares had spent the last time with overall if Adaptive Shot was excluded from the equation. The gun's lacking firepower meant it didn't serve many purposes and, although there was a place for it in interrupting chants and so on so forth, Ares had enough defensive measures in Not Even Light and Shift to not care too much about an opponent's magic. Furthermore if he wanted to interrupt an opponent he had Spike now anyway and that was far more dangerous at the cost of only being slightly slower and consuming a tiny bit of mana. Save for the Nyxian Prowler and his bare fists, this was still the quickest weapon he had, however, and it had way more range than those two as well, so it's not like there was no way to ever make this thing shine, it's just that Ares had yet to find an opponent who required such specific measures. This was a weapon that wouldn't ever be relevant against someone more or less powerful than him and their skill level with weapons had to about the same as Ares' in order for the constant pestering of it to be annoying and not either deadweight or pointless overkill.

Bang

Ares wasted no time in pulling the trigger as soon as he brought the weapon out of storage. He could have fired multiple but he wanted to try and force the clone to block with the spear so he could run in and fire off an Annihilation Echo safely, by using the shot as a distraction for his empty fist to shine, but the shot was blocked with a pressure deflect instead of the spear which complicated matters. Ares, in response to this for some unknowable reason, did a combat roll off to the side, confusing everybody in the spectator's area because he was under no immediate threat. If anything, he was giving up his perfect position to do some seemingly random manoeuvre that didn't benefit him at all! Things all fell into place soon after though and they had to give Ares some applause for the sheer audacity of what he and his clone were doing right now. Ares hadn't rolled randomly, he'd aimed it such that he could follow and catch up to the deflected bullet. He actively threw himself in its path so that he could deflect it again right back at the clone like this was some kind of game of bullet badminton. This kept the clone occupied and forced it into a highly uncomfortable position so it was actually rather smart.

The clone hadn't managed to escape the spike yet as it didn't have the hands free to do so because of Ares' uncompromising stubbornness. It couldn't use the spear otherwise Ares would get free reign to pummel him with the Annihilation Echo without hindrance so the clone was completely stuck deflecting the bullet on repeat and trying to get rid of the damn thing. Not to mention Ares could just fire more after anyway even if he dropped the bullet so this was going to be a drawn out affair wherein a single mistake would be ruinous for the clone. As if to prove his dedication to this off-the-wall plan, Ares activated Voidwalk and used his Omniscience to pinpoint the angle at which the clone was going to deflect the bullet before he'd even done it. The good thing for Ares here was that he could keep progressively hitting the bullet back at more and more awkward angles until he eventually ended up behind the stuck clone. Something was going to have to give eventually on the clone's end and whether it chose to take the bullet to earn its freedom or keep doing this until Ares found a massive opening due to one of its small slip ups was unknowable right now. Maybe the clone would keep searching for an out and find it or maybe Ares would get what he was after, either way the game of bullet deflect kept going on and on with Ares having the harder job of the two. He had to keep flipping through the air and utilising Voidwalk to shift around through space to catch the errant bullet. The clone wasn't making Ares life easy by throwing the projectile in all sorts of dodgy places. It even tried to throw it straight up into the air but Ares had no problem reaching that one with a Double Jump and keeping the game afloat. This match didn't end until Ares said so!

Much like how heads turned frequently at a tennis match, the same was also true of this sporty back and forth. it was almost identical save for the fact that one competitor hadn't moved since this all began because he was impaled to the floor. Unless you were referring to cultivator tennis then this was very much not a common sight. Ares went to deflect the bullet once more and...

Bang

Another shot was fired! But not by Ares! The clone was choosing to amp things up instead of toning it down! It knew that Ares wanted to keep this up, as it was to his benefit, so instead of stopping it himself the clone decided to make Ares life even harder so that he would want to end it. Ares was injured and so mounting on the pressure to perform well would strain his body and drive him to make errors here and there. The clone was basically trying to overwork Ares as it felt comfortable keeping this up a little longer whereas it knew the real Ares wouldn't want to keep doing this for too long if he couldn't find results. If anything, just adding one more bullet to the mix wasn't enough and the clone was clearly planning on adding more with its faux Biome Eagle. Just because the clone didn't have the real treasure that didn't mean it didn't possess a bunch of makeshift copies with their own uniqueness! Point in case, the clone's biome eagle had a spatial storage function that basically allowed it to have infinite ammo. It was almost like the gun was being belt fed from another dimension.

Ares could join in on this gunshot free for all and increase the load he was upholding with his deflects but the juggle act he was already performing was tough enough as is so that wasn't wise as, unlike the clone, he was actively moving around so he had the harder job. Ares didn't want to complicate his juggling act any further so he would have to let some of the bullets go but, annoyingly, doing that did mean he was the only one having to deal with more than one bullet at a time. The ones the clone fired off weren't deflected but Ares still had to dodge them while the singular one he kept deflecting was dealt with by both of them; in other words, the clone had far less hassle to deal with right now and had slithered into a position whereby it had the upper hand despite being glued in place due to the spike. Ares was now no longer fully in control of this situation, as it had been ramped up to an uncomfortable degree instead of being toned down to something more manageable, and he was being subtly encouraged to drop this whole charade. It was a clever measure the clone had come up with, making Ares end this attack pattern himself due to it being hard to maintain, but Ares wasn't a quitter! If the clone could find a way out of the ditch Ares had dug and left him in then Ares could find a way to throw him back into the ditch and make it even deeper as he did so! Think brain think! I know I don't ask you to do this often but think damn it! And, luckily, think Ares' brain did! It was actually capable of devising some thoughts every now and then if Ares actually ever bothered to listen to it! If anything, the brain felt somewhat bitter that the oaf that so frequently ignored it was daring to claim it had been idle all this time when it blatantly hadn't!

Anyway, minor headache aside, Ares did now have a plan that would start off slow but escalate into a problem that the clone would have no assuredly safe way out of. Instead of flicking the extra bullets away, Ares... did not deflect them at the clone either! He had an entirely different plan for these bullets and wanted to keep them nearby, but not in a way that meant he would have to keep taking care of them, so he deflected them straight down, half burying them in the floor on either side of him as he took steps forward. He was essentially making a lead carpet for him to stroll down, straight towards the clone who was trying to figure out what Ares' game was here. The bullets were useless on the floor and getting closer was the exact antithesis of what Ares should have wanted here. Ares' goal was the get behind the clone via repeated deflects, and go for a deadly attack, so why did he give up on that and start meandering towards him just like before?! The clone had seen this once and wouldn't stand idly by a second time! Not that it had much choice in regards to its own actions right now thanks to this stupid deflect game that was still going on with the original bullet keeping it pre-occupied and locked down on the Spike. The bullet should have lost all of its velocity by now but Ares was imbuing his deflects with a little extra annihilation magic to keep it blasting back and forth without its speed suffering as a result.

Ares advanced forward until he felt comfortable enough to enact his plan. He wanted to be quick about this and give the clone as little time to react as possible so, after deflecting the bullet once more and buying himself a few seconds to do as he pleased, Ares put on the Scaled Insulator in one swift motion and chanted 'Furnace Bomb' to get the ball rolling. This was the second time he'd cast this art this match and that was somewhat relevant because now the clone knew of its existence thanks to Mako seeing it beforehand. That meant the clone was aware it had a second to escape from the blast, or ty to block it, but, in turn, Ares was also aware of the clone's thoughts and could pre-empt them. The clone would naturally try to block, as escaping was a problem for it right now, and the only real means it had was a Not Even Light so Ares had already taken counter measures against this via the bullets. He'd kept them close for this very moment as he used telekinesis to raise them all into the air and form a clump of sharp lead. He had control over every single bullet the clone had fired at him during the deflect fiasco, and the amount was considerable, so it posed a very real threat if ignored.

The clone was starting to realise the issue here because Not Even Light was primarily a magic destruction tool and not a physical one. The bullets, protected by Ares' annihilation imbued pressure, would sail right through the Not Even Light and turn him in to Swiss cheese. Either the clone blocked the Furnace Bomb or it blocked the bullets with some pressure but there was no way it could do both at the same time. The Furnace Bomb was mean because it had a delayed activation and didn't require any additional input from Ares after the initial cast. Ares had turned the Insulator's downside into a positive here by syncing up the delayed art's activation with his telekinesis to form a double assault from two different angles with two different threats. Suddenly, blocking was off the table but, in order to escape and dodge, there was only one possible option... An option the clone had avoided because it knew it was a terrible idea... Shift... The issue here wasn't being un-acclimated to the void, that was tolerable once or twice, the problem was that the clone did not possess a nothingness affiliation. Ares could wield nothingness fluidly and even snatch direct control of it from anyone else who, for whatever reason, happened to be wielding it. The fundamental champions had excellent control over their respective attributes which is why the clone had been reluctant to try and use magic aggressively because it just wouldn't do much. Still, a weak attack was better than what could potentially go wrong with Shift. If Ares saw the Shift coming, thanks to Omniscience, and hijacked it then he could manipulate the end destination like it was child's play. All he had to do was cancel the intended destination and then set up a new zone of nothingness wherever he wanted the clone to land. This was incredibly easy for him to do and, now that he'd forced the clone into making this choice, it was guaranteed he would be ready and waiting for this moment. The bullets the clone had fired backfired and were now putting him in a situation that could no longer be reversed or avoided. The worst possible outcome had come to fruition for the clone and there was no backing out now so it just had to prepare itself for whatever Ares was going to do it after the Shift.

The heat of the Furnace Bomb was ramping up and so the clone begrudgingly chanted Shift to dodge everything coming his way, as was predicted, and, before it could even arrive at its destination, it felt the current of nothingness it was riding be yanked away from his control and handed over to Ares without a hitch. The clone couldn't fight this and it was now inside a whirlpool and Ares was Poseidon. Wherever this sea of nothingness spat the clone out was no longer a predictable outcome and so it was better to give up on resisting and start cooking up a Not Even Light. It wouldn't solve any physical attacks coming his way but by activating pressure enhancement and guarding he could come away from this with just a few small injuries... Hopefully. It still didn't know what Ares was going to do so there was a non-zero chance Ares took it by surprise once more and pulled out another dirty trick.

"Voidwalk. Double Jump. Stamp Out. ANNIHILATION ECHO!"

As the clone was swung around inside the nothingness tunnel, it couldn't help but wonder if the series of arts it had just heard Ares chant was a good or bad thing. On the one hand, Ares wasn't trying to trick the clone and deal a sneaky fatal blow. On the other hand, this upfront attack was brutal and would hurt like a bitch because the clone could never muster enough defence to be unaffected by such a strong attack. Ares had thrown himself into the air, activated all of his physical enhancing arts, as well as his annihilation pressure at max output, and was going to dive kick the clone head on. Was there realistically any way to guard against this? Whatever the clone thought of crumbled before the might and raw power it was expecting from Ares' attack. But what could it realistically do? There was no time to Gamble out the way. The Not Even Light would just get blown through as if it were made of paper... What would the real Ares do in this situation?... Annoyingly, the answer was rather simple. It was the same thing Ares had done all throughout this tournament. All throughout his life even. Invent a way out on the spot... But the real Ares had a knack for this and this was the clone's first ever rodeo in this sort of body. It knew it had the adaptability hidden deep within it but accessing it felt so impossible...

Was this how Ares felt in the moment?

Completely lost and scrambling for inspiration?

Was this clone even half as good as the real Ares if it couldn't even manage something like this?

Ares was good but this clone was supposed to be Ares so why couldn't it be just as great?

Such thoughts were running through its head, agitating it as it wallowed in what was appearing to be a massive failure. Little did it know this sort of deviation of train of thought, that was a result of Ares feeling a desire to overcome his current situation, was precisely the impetus that Ares relied on regularly to go above and beyond. It enabled him to dissect his current situation, the tools at his disposal, and rebuke himself until he got it al right. Until he found the key to the puzzle that befuddled him within the tools he had that he'd just been missing up until now. His body, his pressure, his weapons, his treasures, his arts. Everything he had was varied enough to get him out of most situations which was why he rarely if ever felt truly daunted by whatever mess he found himself in. The clone was embodying that very nature right now and transcending its current limits. Most other clones wouldn't do this but Mako's were obviously a cut above every other clone art in existence. That... And copying Ares was an entirely different beast to copying literally anybody else. If Mako truly wanted a perfect clone then Ares was the prefect specimen to base it off as its growth was about to be remarkable, much like how Rox had jumped up in terms of prowess by leaps and bounds simply from copying Ares once.

The clone closed its eyes and took a breath, waiting for the void to spit him out. He no longer needed to fight against the flow because it would be guiding him to the destination he wanted nothing more than to arrive at. HIs line of thinking was now solidly in the realm of 'I have weapon mastery unmatched by anyone throughout all of history, there is no move nor attack that I cannot beat'. Granted most of Ares' mastery came from Dominus but it wasn't inaccurate to say he could live up to this belief in due time and the art the clone was about to create was solid proof of that given how ridiculous it was. Hell it was such an incredible art that even Dominus wouldn't be able to believe his eyes when he saw it. It was absolutely the kind of thing he would invent and call his pride and joy so the fact that the Ares' clone, and not even the real deal, came up with it would make him see the kid in a whole new light. That clone was Ares at his core so the fact he had the ability to create such an art meant he was well and truly at a calibre that Dominus had no choice but to respect. Dominus had long since believed Ares was a result of his surroundings. His pillar? Not his. Garmr? His bloodline from other people mixed with the pillar which was still not his. His weapon mastery? Dominus'. This kid had little to show for himself other than that one scythe art, which Dominus had to admit was astounding based on what his trapped eyes were able to see of it, and his smarts. After seeing this art, however, Dominus would have to review his assessment and bring it up a good few notches. This kid had it in him underneath all the extra crap. Without all these benefits it might have taken him a while, but there was a cultivator inside Ares that was to be feared. And the crazy part about all of this was that the clone's art was just the beginning. If Dominus thought that was mind blowing, he should wait and see what happened afterwards...

Still, there was no way Dominus could predict what was about to happen so he just had to sit back and watch as the clone was chucked out of the nothingness tunnel and thrown headfirst at Ares' oncoming attack. Ares felt confident this blast would put him firmly in the lead here so he resolutely committed to this attack but that turned out to be a mistake when the clone used an art that Ares had never heard of before!

"Absolute Reversal!"

The clone took a low stance to the floor and dropped the spear because it was useless right now. The clone slightly raised its right shoulder and lowered its left to alter its centre of gravity as it prepared itself to face Ares' confused kick head on. Ares had faltered somewhat the second he heard this mysterious art because it was most definitely not something he knew of! The clone casting an art the original didn't know?! Why was this even possible? Was the clone a master craft or was Ares just that damn good!? Probably both, honestly, but right now Ares was more concerned with the fact that something felt off. He didn't rely want to do this kick anymore but he'd committed to it hard not even a second ago! What awful timing... Instead of giving up, as it was impossible to do so, Ares doubled down and tried to speed himself up to guarantee success but that was never going to happen.

Absolute Reversal was a combination art of the technical pillar and one other aspect from the weapons pillar. What was unique about this art was that the weapon pillar aspect being used was dependent on the weapon Ares was wielding and he wasn't strictly tied to any specific aspect or weapon. It was a malleable art that changed every single time it was used to suit the caster's need. As for what it did, provided the caster was 100% certain of the incoming attack's functionality, form, speed, angle of approach, and lethality, the attack could be countered without fail. The art would either do nothing and leave the user at risk, if they didn't get every detail down perfectly, or they would win the interaction every single time because the art was truly unbeatable when it worked. It was extremely high risk, as this art flopping would leave you defenceless against the attack that you were relying on this art to solve in the first place, or you would reverse the tide against your opponent so handily you would probably win the fight off the back of this one success alone. Point in case, Ares dive kick was grabbed in mid air and, before he knew what hit him, he was being slammed into the ground by an over-the-shoulder throw that kept all his momentum perfectly intact.

The clone had timed the Reversal perfectly and grabbed Ares' ankle while pulling on it to slam him down, face first, on the floor behind the clone. The clone had reached up, swiped Ares out of mid-air flawlessly, and was reaping the rewards of its unfathomable precision. Ares had been in a dominant position, crashing down on the clone's head, but now his own head was about to crack on the rapidly approaching floor and he could do nothing but watch. All of his physical enhancements had given him all the speed he needed to effectively kill himself off this fall as all of his power had be diverted via the Reversal. Typically the Reversal wouldn't be able to muster up a situation this deadly, as it was just supposed to be a counter that was impossible to beat, but the sheer momentum Ares possessed made this whole situation lethal rather than just painful. Had this been an ordinary dive kick he would have just eaten dirt and that would be the end of it. As things were going, he was going to have his explode on the destroyed arena floor and the lingering Annihilation Echo bubbling away inside him would cause havoc on the rest of his body as it wasn't released properly.

It would be a truly gruesome end at this rate but what could he possibly do? There was little time to cast an art and none seemed particularly helpful right now. Mobility was impossible because the clone was still holding and swinging his ankle, offense would hit the clone but not save him, and he didn't know defensive art that could overcome this tide. Time slowed as his brain wracked itself time after time for a solution but it seemed his end was drawing near. What a pathetic way to go... Bested by his own clone that had outsmarted him by engineering an art on the fly...

Why was the clone able to create an art to escape its predicament but Ares couldn't?!

Who was the original here and who was the clone?!

Ares was the superior existence and he was being thrown around like some kind of rag doll?!

He was going to be a laughing stock at this rate!

Why not just let the clone live the rest of his life for him?!

Let the clone go and save the world, marry the nine wives, and live happily ever after with his own damn family?!

HELL NO!

The clone caught sight of the real Ares glare at him on the way down the floor and its heart stopped dead in its tracks because it instinctively knew what was coming without having to be told. Ares hadn't opened his mouth yet but that look in his eye could only possibly mean one thing. Dominus, inside Ares, could feel the ambition of the kid he was attached to soar and, before he could recover from being floored at the existence of Absolute Reversal, Ares stunned him even further and to a degree that Dominus had never been before in all his life. Ares thrust out his palm and shoved it down onto the oncoming ground as he opened his mouth and yelled with all his might the name of an art that he had absolutely zero business chanting whatsoever.

"ABSOLUTE REVERSAL!"