Chapter 389: Heed the Qwaker’s Call

RUMBLE

Ares couldn't see the fellahin responsible for the sandstorm but he could sift through the obfuscating magic with his divine sense to see the giant creature stampeding towards the caravan at least. It was an undead elephant with an ominous red glow in its split-open eyes. Its flesh was barely clinging onto the bones that were peeking through in various spots but what really stood out about this elephant was that it was truly massive. This thing was just as big as the wyvern soul which would explain why the ground could be felt shaking all the way over here despite it still being at least two miles away. Ares took this opportunity to flip through the notebook because there was still time until that party on the horizon shuffled closer and the scavengers had all but given up on trying to flee. A monster like that should have caused enough carnage for them to slip away unnoticed but they appeared to be more fearful of what Ares assumed was the Juggernaut. Then again, if the Juggernaut's mastery of sand magic was great enough then fleeing now was pointless because she could likely track them for days in whatever direction they fled. Plus that meant they wouldn't be able to return to their base either which must have been at least part of why she was so feared. The scavengers will have had orders to categorically never retreat to base if they came across her so it was quite literally a death sentence even spotting her out in the desert. They were so scared of her they allowed her to automatically win every fight the second she appeared and just gave up because, at least that way, they would be spared death and could potentially be recued later on. The juggernaut was known to accidentally kill her foes every now and then, even if she really wasn't trying to, so attempting to resist had more downsides than obediently dropping all weapons and surrendering upfront.

Ares was almost certain this really was her because, based on what he was seeing over yonder, this person might have honestly been tied for strongest in Sheryashka if Ares hadn't been in the picture. Hans, the force of the round who belonged to the C.O, Yulo, maybe Torchbearer, Ares, and this person. These were the people Ares knew of that could vie for the title and, though it would belong to him the second he got Garmr out and about, until then it actually wasn't really clear. Ares would beat Yulo, because no amount of foresight would help Yulo dodge an explosion he couldn't avoid, but Ares might not have sufficient firepower to take down Hans' Ifrit currently unless he could hit an Armillary. The Torchbearer's strength was immeasurable currently because Ares knew nothing of him, and the same was true of the C.O fighter, so the only other real candidate was this new fellahin who was battering the undead elephant without breaking a sweat. Make no mistake, this elephant was a real powerhouse and even someone like Fin would get completely demolished by it were he in the Juggernaut's position. If Fin were still alive it would take nearly ten of him to even leave a dent in this thing and he'd been at the peak of transition realm so that ought to be indicative of how much of a threat this elephant was... And yet it was trying to run away from the sandstorm witling it down and forming humongous fists to pummel it.

Teh elephant's feet were wobbly as it ran because every hit to its torso was thunderous and shook the monster to its core. Bits of rotten flesh and chunks of cracked bone were blasted off its body with every strike and even this didn't look much like the Juggernaut was going all out yet. No wonder she received high praise from just about everyone in Xasca, she was a real menacing cultivator. Throw in her thirst for combat and it wasn't surprising nobody wanted anything to do with her. Ares couldn't help but wonder if Yulo knew about this person as he used to be quite the traveller himself back in the day and they were probably from the same generation. Actually, there were probably a bunch of people that Yulo had overshadowed in his youth that went by unnoticed thanks to his presence dwarfing them all. He might not be able to beat them now, or maybe he could as Ares really didn't know much about his combat prowess, but it was mostly because of his magic he held such an advantage over them for so long. When everyone's arts were still weaker, and physical combat was a a necessity to close out fights, it was unsurprising Yulo's magic would give him an edge. It was incredibly powerful against combatants who couldn't overpower him with magic but that must have changed now that those same people were reaching transition realm and unleashing entire sandstorms.

Also, Yulo getting stuck in the sect leader position, and not being able to improve any further, would also have hampered him quite a bit over the years. Though it was also worth mentioning, again, that he might have some tricks up his sleeve that Ares didn't know about. It's not like the fact he was a prodigy disappeared into thin air or anything so maybe he could pull out a win if he unloaded all his secrets. Ares was a little curious to watch Yulo fight somebody but the situation had never arisen. The most Ares got to see was him using Cylindrical Dispersion on his explosive magic way back. What interested Ares about that was did Yulo always know that art or did he learn it after his foresight magic showed him it would be important in the future? If it was the latter then maybe he was actually really incredible? Yulo would have a cheat sheet for how to win every fight coming his way before he even fought it... Ah well, Ares could keep wondering as he likely wouldn't get to see the guy in action for a long while. He was leaving soon Sheryashka soon, after all!

Anyway, Ares had finally found the entry for this big ol' elephant getting his ass whooped in his notebook. It was a 'qwaker', named as such because its footsteps were heavy and loud enough to create quakes and wake the dead. Regarding that last part, literally! It's feet could have grave lord magic imbued into them and then the qwaker would summon any dead creatures that had been buried nearby under the sands with every step. This was an ability that had high highs and low lows because it was impossible to tell if this elephant would summon a single worthless ally or an army at any given time... Although, now that Ares thought about it, wasn't it almost guaranteed to be the latter? Steppers! This was where their sheer abundance actually made a difference! There were probably hundreds of thousands of dead steppers lingering around in Xasca and, though they didn't usually appear in the west where the elephant lived... It wasn't in the west right now! It had been run out of town by Juggernaut and was now kicking up a fuss in the central area.... Ares double checked the floor near the rampaging monster and, sure enough, there were plenty of steppers forming each and every second. The elephant must have fled here as this would work well for it as a secret weapon / last resort in the case it was losing a battle. It would be better of resurrecting another western monster but maybe Juggernaut was bullying it too much and it couldn't afford to run in the direction of whatever it really wanted to bring to life again without sustaining life-threatening injuries. That being said, the steppers weren't a great choice either necessarily as the second they rose out of the ground the sandstorm would target them and run multiple sand spikes through them, demolishing their black bones and re-burying them under a pile of sand when the sand spikes collapsed.

Just because this was going poorly, though, that didn't mean the elephant was out of options or going to give up just yet. The red glow in its eyes started shining brighter and brighter until eventually a laser shot out and started thinning out the sandstorm. Everywhere it passed it thoroughly obliterated anything it touched and it reminded Ares of that one dumb fish he found earlier! The one he reeled in while still aboard the Federation... Was this another Sevorus experiment? Probably, honestly, but this one was clearly superior to the fish. The elephant laser eye kept darting around and it looked as though it was trying to hit the Juggernaut but it couldn't find her real body at all. It was aimlessly spraying the laser everywhere which was causing the nearby area to become ridden with pot holes and scorched lines of burnt sand, some of the grains of which had become glass due to the immense heat baring down on them. The laser lasted for around thirty seconds before the elephant got tired and had to end the fun early. Its goal had not been accomplished, though, and the sandstorm was still ravaging its defenceless body. If it wasn't an undead it would have bled to death already but, luckily for it, the sandstorm was only whittling away at its bones instead. This was still very problematic, and would result in a surefire loss eventually, but, other than sprinting straight through the desert and hoping for a miracle undead to spawn at its feet, there was little it could do now that it exhausted the laser.

The laser alone had allowed the elephant to kill countless other western monsters, and assert Dominance in the personal space it had carved out in that region, but it had never fought an intangible monster before like Juggernaut. Ares was aware that the monster could have actually hit the Juggernaut if it knew where to aim but Ares could only figure that out thanks to Omniscience so what chance did this elephant have exactly? Locating the core of an art was hard and that was doubly true for one as big as this SANDSTORM. Ares could tell it was similar to Aqua Anatomy in that then entire sandstorm was technically the Juggernaut right now and so anyone hoping to find her within the storm, and beat her to get rid of it, was pointless. Blowing away the storm, holding out until it faded away, or attacking the core to injure the Juggernaut were the only real options. Anti-magic arts like Ares' Not Even Light would work wonders, for instance, but this elephant was almost definitely screwed as is as it probably didn't know any such arts. It was a mobile fortress that spawned undead armies to do its work and blasted away with lasers from the side. At most it could also ram opponents but that was its limit in terms of options or adaptability. The laser was not getting used again for quite some time, as it was still cooling off, and what were the odds of it resurrecting a powerful minion from the sands to aid it in the central area? It's not that no strong monsters were buried here, it was just unlikely!

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Oh... Well fuck me I guess. Ares looked down at the ground beneath him as something below the sand stirred awake from its slumber in death. Apparently the unlikely outcome had come true and some giant monster was being brought back to the land of the living, temporarily, directly underneath the caravan! It, whatever it was, was big enough that the scavenges, Ares Arla and Aejaz, as well as all the civilians were all going to be sitting on its huge back with plenty of room to spare by the time this thing finished standing up. Ares didn't know what it was but figured this could only be a bad thing so he used telekinesis to move the caravan at the very least. Keeping the civilians safe was priority numero uno and everyone else ought to be more than capable of fending for themselves. Arla and Aejaz had already killed the scavengers they were hassling earlier so they were free to jump down and the remaining scavengers followed them. They'd given up on running and, at this point, just wanted to be kept safe from the abnormally large monsters that were appearing out of nowhere! Everyone had leapt off the rising monster now... Except Ares! He wanted to go for a joy ride on top of whatever this thing was! It would inevitably head over towards the incoming elephant to do its bidding and if Ares was going to go over there anyway, and join in on the fun, then he might as well take a taxi!

The creature rising caused curtains of sand to fall off its body, obstructing everyone's view of it until it let out a shriek and swung a bony stinger, swatting aside all the sand nearby and clearing its path forward... Giant scorpion! How coincidental! Ares had just read about these things not even thirty minutes earlier, thanks to Arla's run in with the tinier versions, and now he was riding one! Well an undead one anyway but it was still roughly the same size as the elephant and so whether it was alive or not really didn't matter much. It was imposing and fearsome with many legs and many claws at its disposal, more so than a regular scorpion and by quite a few at that. The legs made it move quicker, so the more the merrier, and there were six different claws dangling in front of its face, ready to grip onto a target, lock them in place, and poke them to death with the stinger. This thing would inevitably be packing sand related magic too, although whether it could still use that in death was questionable, as well as a few other tricks up its sleeve. Unlike the elephant, this thing probably hadn't been experimented on and simply lived a carefree life doing as it pleased as one of the many kings of this desert during its heyday. It was impressive that it had the qualifications to be a western calibre monster without any third party intervention but that did raise a question of how such a mighty beast, while it was alive, managed to finally bite the dust here.

Even if the scorpion simply died of old age, which would take hundreds of years, no doubt, was there any specific reason it died on the central path? Unless it died so long ago the paths hadn't yet been normalised and it roamed freely. If that was the case then this scorpion was ancient! This thing could very well be the grand papa for just about every single scorpion in Xasca!... Actually... That wasn't a good thing! Novel, yes, but helpful right now? Not in the slightest! Ares' assumptions were confirmed when a bunch of giant scorpions, each about one tenth the size of the undead one, which was rather big considering their numbers, appeared from under the sand... Were they positioned around this thing's corpse in reverence, giving their respects, and waking up now that their big boss had?! Better yet, how long until an army of smaller but-still-giant scorpions showed up from the east of Xasca? If this giant undead scorpion could call upon its descendants then this place was going to be overrun by these otherwise simple and unthreatening creatures eventually. Ares was tempted to let it happen, because fighting an army sounded fun, but he figured it was for the best if he didn't get everyone else involved in his selfishness. The civilians, Aejaz, Arla, and the scavengers all needed to eb kept safe for ne reason or another so just killing this thing, and the other scorpions, was Ares current goal. If he were here on his own things would be different, though! As for Juggernaut, she looked more than capable of handling the elephant so Ares would deal with this mess she'd indirectly created by herding that qwaker over here. Not that she could be blamed really, the elephant had truly struck gold with this undead ally. Unfortunately for it, Juggernaut had also struck gold with an unexpected ally and happened across Ares. Things would have gotten ugly for this fellahin boss if she hadn't either dealt with the elephant shortly, as that ought to make the giant scorpion disappear, or found Ares and she might have had to add a second retreat to her resume.

Realising its gambit had paid off, the qwaker sounded off and trumpeted a war cry from its undead trunk that rallied the scorpions. He could only control the biggest one but every other scorpion followed it unconditionally anyway so it was like a two for one deal that greatly benefitted the monster. It was calling them over to come and save it from the mad woman bombarding it with sandy winds, and grinding it down into a big pile of bone marrow, so the scorpions picked up the pace and started skittering over, stepping over entire dunes with every stride they took. Ares' own ride had also put its rear in gear and was racing along the desert towards its new master so he figured it was time to start throwing wrenches in this plan. "Perish Wheel!" Though he was tempted to throw an Armillary, Ares couldn't possibly be certain he would be safe afterwards. What if the Juggernaut really wanted him dead for whatever reason? What if he unearthed a sleeping giant under the sands and that killed him? What if he accidentally hit an ally? Would he even still be able to explore the Riddlemyd afterwards? The answer to all of these questions was uncertain and so Ares decided not to risk anything unnecessarily. Each Wheel ought to be able to take out a scorpion or two anyway so he could just throw them until he was out of targets and then deal with the guy underneath his feet to fully resolve this situation. An Armillary was overkill and, truth be told, Ares had only considered it because he found throwing that art to be very enjoyable!

His actions attracted some attention and he could feel the sandstorm ahead shift in his direction slightly. The scavengers from before were thanking their lucky stars Ares hadn't just blasted them right out the gate with magic but the sandstorm fellahin seemed to be interested in the arts for a different reason. A worthy combatant! Ares almost couldn't believe this damnable Juggernaut! She'd caused this mess and seemed more keen on ditching the monsters to fight him right now! Solve the issue at hand first! This all but confirmed he was going to be scrapping with her whether he wanted to or not but that was fine. He was prepared for it from the start as he knew his luck all too well. Everything that was happening around him today couldn't phase him regardless of how unfortunate he was! Hopefully the Juggernaut would at least deal with the monsters and the scavengers first because if Ares had to juggle the elephant, the scorpions, prevent the scavengers from running, and fight this woman all at once he would seriously get a migraine! It wasn't impossible but he would be stretched real thin and it would no doubt be his most difficult battle to date. The plan in that case would be to have the Juggernaut chase him as he dealt with every other issue one by one... Why was he coming up with measures for this already?! Couldn't he just have faith Juggernaut wouldn't make the dumbest decision possible? Ares glanced over and, thankfully, the sandstorm was back to giving the elephant what for so he could chuck his Wheel in peace and not worry about her right now. That was a relief!

The first Wheel flew out and tore through the nearest scorpion, causing its innards to splatter everywhere and paint the sand a weird yellowish green colour. The green was from the poison sacs that enabled the stinger to be a deadly weapon but the yellow was odd. Maybe their fleshy meat under their hard shell had been thoroughly baked due to hiding under the insanely hot sand all this time and they were partially cooked? If those yellow juices merged with their blood then didn't that mean these things were basically walking meals?! Ares was very tempted to go and eat some scorpion right about now but he felt like Juggernaut would actually pick a fight with him on the spot if he started being selfish so that was out of the cards. Anyway, back to the Wheel Ares chucked, it had managed to tear through a second scorpion in its path and was still going! Ares was basically still at full mana prior to throwing the Wheel so he put an extra bit of spice in it and gave it a larger portion of mana to forge itself upon. It was really doing impressive work as killing two scorpions without detonating meant this thing would kill three at minimum before taking its leave! The explosion was still guaranteed to happen so now it was a question of whether more than one scorpion would be caught within its detonation range. Ares had aimed the Wheel well so this wound up being the case and a group of three scorpions charging forth together had the Wheel come crashing down on them from above, resulting in a scene of pure, meaty carnage.

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A shockingly massive pillar of gold pierced the clouds and tinged the desert in a golden hue. It looked like every individual grain of sand was a speck of golden dust and the desert was shining like it was a vault full of treasure waiting to be plundered. Ares' Converter had made this art really pop and so it easily stole the show, causing every living thing within a nearby radius to stare at it in awe. Even the elephant was able to take a second to gander at it as the sandstorm was giving him a quick break so it could do the same. It wasn't impressive because a sensory enhancement kid threw it, although that was certainly something, it was just impressive all by its lonesome. There was a kind of majesty to the spiralling gold waves that drew in the nearby air and purified any and all mana that touched it lie a vortex of ruination. Truly a phenomenon worth burning into memory and, yet, Ares was in the process of casting another one already! This was the real shocker here because apparently he could somehow toss more than one of these at any given point and still have plenty of mana to spare! All the onlookers realised very quickly why Ares was a mini legend already despite only appearing on the main Sheryashkan stage for a few weeks, he was simply preposterous!

Ares was more like a living weapon than anything resembling a human. He was a veritable artillery launcher if he had attacks like this at his disposal for whenever he wanted to blow up anything inconvenient before him. Did he even understand the concept of an 'obstacle' or was is path permanently free of them at all times thanks to his magic? The scavenges, all of whom had lived difficult lives and been given nothing by the universe at large, were seriously envious of this punk! At least the fellahins only had an affiliation to sand magic and a body that, while useful, came with inconveniences! This guy was a revenant, the definition of which had been spread around Sheryashka after Ares' performance at the international was now commonly understood, and he had this magic to boot? Heaven's favourite much?!.. Actually, it was the complete opposite.. Heaven was not currently on good terms with Ares seeing as how he threw an Armillary at them a while back... They were still very much upset about that, and arguably rightly so, and were expecting a serious apology for his actions! So no, his talents and abilities had nothing to do with heaven, they came from a much more spectacular source in the destruction pillar.

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Again and again, pillars tore through the sky, creating a field of golden swirls that persisted and twisted the sand at their base, resulting in small whirlpools that sucked in all steppers lingering about and obliterating them or burying them alongside their long-dead brethren. This field of explosive pillars would persist for a good while yet and this only made it harder for the scorpions to push onwards as they needed to finesse their way through the tiny gaps. Even a slight misstep and whatever part of their body that touched the gold would cease to exist immediately. Rather than throw more Perish Wheels, Ares decided to make good use of the ones he'd already launched by clicking his fingers and firing off Annihilation Echoes at range. He hit bullseye after bullseye, destroying countless scorpion legs and sending them tumbling into the pillars before they could stop themselves. it was like a game at a funfair and so Ares took great joy in sniping the legs of these monsters one by one until they were all tumbling over themselves and getting tossed into pillars. It took Ares about a minute but he'd successfully offed all the scorpions save for the one he was standing on. Now...

How to kill this thing?