Chapter 525: Rounds Three and Four

Thud 

Tap tap tap tap

The sound of the whale hitting the deck, and smashing into the floor right in front of Finnian, or at least the head of the whale anyway, was followed by the rain of intestines and the downpour of blood clapping clapping against the mud. Finnian was speechless. He simply had no words to describe his current inner emotional turmoil. He wanted to throw this entire tryout away and just accept the obvious new recruit before anything went wrong. He was nervous something would disturb this event and rob the Brotherhood of a talented disciple. Of course this was all paranoia but even thinking in such a way was highly unusual for him and just went to show how crazy this new guy was. Finnian had heard of the fundamental champions but thought little of it. There were talented people in every generation, so what if these new lot possess a unique brand of magic? People with unique aspects had existed for tons of years at this point anyway so the fundamental champions surely wouldn't be much different. If anything, they were just cultivators with around three, typically, unique aspects all ravelled into one new pillar. Sure a person with three unique aspects would be a force to be reckoned with but it wouldn't be so far removed from an ordinary cultivator that a true expert couldn't bridge the gap...

That was what Finnian had wholeheartedly believed and so he didn't bother looking into the champions at all... Oh how wrong he was, and confidently wrong at that. Whatever this thing in front of him was, this humanoid manifestation of destruction, death, and chaos, it was certainly not 'ordinary'. It was certainly not something a genius cultivator could just 'beat'. It was certainly beyond the scope of anything this world had ever seen before. It was clear to Finnian that the weapon of devastation Ares clutched, that starry sword, belonged exclusively to him and that added to the list of nonsensical things he'd witnessed today. Wasn't the magic enough? Wasn't the reaper mark enough? Wasn't the supposed revenant transformation enough? Wasn't the unrivalled pressure mastery enough? Wasn't the war aura enough? Did this kid seriously have to take every single opportunity the universe could possibly give him and leave it like a dry husk with no goodies left to share for the rest of the world? Ares was like a demanding incubus siphoning poor Ms universe of all her vigour. Instead of aftercare he just asked for another round of her delicate flesh as though it was completely natural for him to take endlessly that which he desired. 'Give me more' except, after being given more, he still wasn't done yet and wanted to draw out blood from a stone until there was absolutely nothing left to give other than maybe the stone itself.

That giant whale should not have been so... Destructible... It just shouldn't. Finnian didn't much care that Arse appeared to be suffering some kind of blowback from swinging that sword, that wasn't a good enough excuse for why he was able to do any of this! There was, and never would be, any justification for the sight he witnessed with his own two eyeballs and couldn't refute the reality of. Even Marlar's fishy-goo eyes had widened to a comical degree because he'd never seen such a thing either and he was an old guy who'd yet to croak in spite of all the harsh trials he'd stood in the face of, never backed down and shied away from, or buckled before. He'd been through thick and thin with that whale, probably more 'thick' than anything given the sheer amount of blubber on that thing's hide, and so this spectacular dismemberment scene of that same friendly whale being bisected like a piece of sashimi must have been a real eye opener. Ares didn't have any defensive measures? Who the hell needed defensive measures when you had a better option at your disposal; simply annihilating the damn problem until it doesn't exist anymore! He let himself get pulled into the belly of the beast all so he could position himself better to tear said beast apart into millions of bloody pieces... Even now, whale chunks were still falling from the sky like fresh meat at a butcher God's parade.

Sigh

Finnian looked up at the scorecard scoreboard with a shake of his head. Gram, four points. Marlar, fifteen points. For a competitive group like this one it wasn't all too surprising the scores were on the lower end. Nobody had even scored ten points yet in any single attempt which went to show how fiercely everyone was fighting for the chance to join the Brotherhood on offer here. Of course a lot of the contenders gave up against the whale but that was to be expected because sometimes the art summoned by a bowler was just too unpredictable to come up with a counter method in the short amount of time allotted... Not that it ended up mattering, though, thanks to a certain smiling buffoon who'd taken matters into his own hands and sliced said art apart like it was a pinata at a samurai's birthday party...

Anyhow, next up was the cloaked woman, it was her turn to bowl, and this was where things would start to get interesting. Marlar's arts were worth writing home about, definitely, but this was where the offensive powerhouses were going to make their names known and start appearing. The cloaked woman had an inherent talent for magic, both defensive and offensive, so the showing that was incoming ought to be quite spicy compared to before. The stars were going to align for the mystery woman as she had both time and space to create whatever took her fancy, a stark contrast to her role as a pin. Plus Mimi and golden freak Ares were yet to have a go too so the imminent future was going to be looking rather bleak for the pins from here on out...

The cloaked woman's first art was similar to Knights, Assemble, in that it summoned multiple entities that would progressively barge through the pins with the force of numbers at her side. She'd summoned myriad intricate phoenixes, all of which contained different elemental energies. She was a variety-oriented cultivator with seemingly no limit to the amount of pillars she could toy with freely, allowing her to explore the depths of just about anything that interested her. Some phoenixes even contained multiple harmonious mana types that co-existed and raised the level of the summoned creature by a profound margin. One that particularly stood out was a combination of fire and wood magic that lit up the gradually darkening sky. It wasn't too late yet but the sun was starting to retreat over the edges of the sky and yet this one phoenix had single handedly changed the light levels in the courtyard. Encroaching darkness was subdued and repelled temporarily in its presence. Of course this wasn't the only merger of elements that stood out but it certainly seemed to be the most powerful, as if it could erupt at any given moment and take multiple people with it. The fire half would consume the wooden bundle of stick on the other half and a blaze of glory would burst forth.

This was but one of multiple hundreds of phoenixes circling in the sky above but whichever pin was struck by that eagle was going to be going home today with some third degree burns for sure... As for who that unlucky soul was... Well it happened to be Gram. Ares didn't know this but Gram had tried to court the mystery woman when he first arrived outside the courtyard because he'd seen glimpses under the hood and runic magic she used to block out others' vision. She denied him thoroughly and repeatedly but he was obnoxious and persistent so maybe this was revenge in the making? Either way, Gram was the type of person who probably deserved whatever retaliation he got from annoyed parties involved with him so nobody, other than his fans obviously, felt any pity as the blazing phoenix crashed into him and created a mini supernovae. Gram did everything in his power to slice through the inferno devouring him but it was a hopeless endeavour and he was wiped off the face of the courtyard in a matter of moments. He'd been bullied a bit but he was actually just paying the price of his actions earlier.

As for the rest of the pins, Mimi was second in line and she did a fantastic job of setting up hidden razor wires around her body in a quick flash of skilled web weaving. Whenever a phoenix attempted to dive bomb her, and explode in an array of pretty elemental colours, they were effectively committing suicide as they rushed headlong into the hidden death traps. Many phoenixes were cut in half, their once-internal mana spraying all over the wires, painting them and revealing their soft glint as they hovered ominously in the air. It took a while but eventually the phoenixes adapted, avoiding the locations tested by their already fallen comrades, and managed to descend upon Mimi's borrowed form of Alice, the friendly mother. Mimi wasn't entirely out of options yet, though, as she went out with a bang by retracting all the deployed wires simultaneously, creating a dome of sharp death that entangled every living creature within. She stood at the centre of this dome and perished last after having taken out a batch of at least a hundred phoenixes with this one move, leaving behind only a mere handful to tackle Marlar. This was not a good matchup for the phenixes, however, as a majority of them were born of fire mana. Sure the cloaked woman could summon other elemental phoenixes but it was always going to be a hassle because the creatures had a stronger affiliation to fire. In the end, most phoenixes wound up being basic so Marlar was going to have a field day and actually survive an attack as a pin for once. He summoned a sea to surround himself, forcing the phoenixes to enter his personal domain and territory if they even wanted a chance to peck the dust on his clothes. They bombarded the watery abyss but could barely make it ten feet deep before they were swallowed, pierced, and crushed by various sea animals that lurked within Marlar's personal home away from home.

Three points! Not a terrible start but also not any different from Marlar's first attempt. Still, this art was blatantly stronger than Marlar's water ball, it just had to contend with Mimi who was in her element dealing with multiple incoming threats at once. Mimi's strings and wires were not capable of severing mountains, at least not at the moment anyway, but if she wanted to tear own multiple smaller hills? That was definitely within her capabilities. The giant water ball was too much but the individual phoenixes made for great targets for her skillset. The cloaked woman took note of this as Mimi, for her second attempt, was now stationed at the very front. Though the cloaked woman had other means up her sleeves, she decided to go with an art that splintered and fragmented after the initial blow to counter this annoying Brotherhood disciple. Her art took the form of an earthen drill but it was apparent the tip was hollow. Within the drill, other magic must have been contained and ready to burst out at a moments notice but, as for what was inside it, nobody could tell. There were some runes on the drill to prevent any investigative measures from taking a sneak peek so the pins were going to have to find out the hard way what this two pronged assault entailed.

The drill spun like a top and blitzed towards Mimi who was completely out of her element. The rotating drill could snap all her defences with minimal effort so it was clear she was being targeted as she posed the biggest threat to the cloaked woman's performance overall. Mimi resisted by slashing away at the drill's exterior but in the end she was pierced unceremoniously and knocked down. Next up was Gram who had just enough time to cast Sharp and enhance his sword's deadliness before clashing with the earthen magic. Using his enhanced weapon he managed to slice cleanly through the rocky drill and split in in half, much like what Ares did to the whale earlier albeit on a smaller scale. What awaited Gram inside the drill, however, was pain that came in the form of a vivid array of elemental sparks that tore into his body like rampant firecrackers and caused him to spasm to death. Lightning, fire, poison, sharp metals, etc... All of the above and more were being spewed out form the drill like it was somebody's surprise birthday party and a maniac filled every party cracker with deadly tricks but the danger it posed was not a joke in the slightest.

This art was great for piercing defences before unleashing its true power at the unguarded person hiding behind it, and would undoubtedly be perfect as a tool for piercing bunkers or protective walls, but the problem in its design was that it had trouble moving beyond its activation point. The drill was impeccable, and the continual emergence of sparks was fierce, but the sparks were incapable of really moving forward aside from the initial momentum they packed from being inside the drill. After Gram was felled, Marlar came next but the sparks were already drifting towards the floor and many weren't making it to his position. Furthermore, the sparks didn't excel at busting through defences like the drill did, the drill was expected to take care of that problem ahead of time, so the sparks were nowhere near as deadly as they should have been under normal conditions. Even still, Marlar was struggling to contend comfortably against the ones that remained as they were truly brutal if one didn't have the right preparations to stop them. Marlar had been put on the spot somewhat so his only real course of action was to create a water cloak that hugged his body and protected him from harm. This was fine and all, acceptable enough as an impromptu defense measure as it was definitely working, but the lightning sparks, boosted by their contact with water, were constantly zapping him and trying to shock him to death. It very nearly happened too but ultimately Marlar held strong and outlasted the assault. He was mere inches away from death but he willfully refused to give up the points to this woman who really didn't need them. He, on the other hand, had to show some defensive prowess before Finnian at some point as that was probably what his chances of joining the brotherhood hinged upon. In fact, this single interaction might have sealed the deal for him so it had been very worth the pain as his persistence in the face of adversity was commendable.

Then came the mystery woman's third art. It seemed she was no longer content with the lack of points, although six wasn't terrible given the competitors she was up against, so she went all out on this one. It was clear to everyone watching she pulled out the big guns and used a unique art that was her ultimate trump card. There was no intention of hiding anything as she merged upwards of twenty different mana types into a simple ball of light that swirled with colours all vying for supremacy like a storm of paint buckets. This thing was dangerous and even Ares, placed at the very back of the pins as per usual, was sweating because he knew this thing was coming his way and nobody was stopping it. His assumption was proven correct as the ball of light obliterated anything it touched. All the pins in front of Ares were evaporated on contact and so too were their feeble defensive measures that couldn't hold up to the scrutiny of this slowly floating ball of mixed mana. The one benefit here was the ball's immensely slow manner of travel, as Ares had sufficient time to fling an art at it before it reached him, but it was still a force to be reckoned with and Ares wasn't sure he could stop it.

Ares summoned his war aura flag, imbued it with golden magic, and had the flag pierce the ball before unleashing a Grand Annihilation. The suspense was eating away at him but he soon saw the ball of light, now wobbling slightly and disfigured from the annihilation detonation, eking its way towards him. His magic had left its mark, and now the ball would basically have no chance of defeating Finnian behind him, but Ares... This was going to be his first death here today and there was zilch he could do about it. The competition was not one that favoured him when he was a pin so he knew deep down this would happen eventually. Alas, there was nothing to be done so he was swallowed up by the ball of light that meandered through him as if he didn't exist. At least, for what it was worth, the ball harmlessly fizzled out upon touching Finnian's barrier thanks to Ares' efforts so he'd done good despite his failure.

Ten points!

A first in this competition and an accomplishment that had clearly left the mystery woman in a good mood. She seemed convinced she was making it into the Brotherhood now and Ares didn't much doubt it either. She had the talent... Although whether she was any good in a fist fight, or anything up close and personal, was another matter. Silt, that was something she could work on and she was a once-in-a-generation mage so she deserved recognition for her hard work as developing magic could be quite tedious usually. Her final score was sixteen and, currently, set the bar... By one point. Though her showing was exemplary of what Finnian was looking for, she only ramped it up towards the end and left her mark with the ball of light. She accomplished something nobody else had by knocking over every pin but she was slow to understand Mimi's traits despite seeing them before, which cost her points early, and then proceeded in an overly cautious fashion in the second attempt, thus ruining her chances of getting a more notable score. The drill had pierced Mimi but at what cost? It might been better if she didn't hold back and went with her more practiced arts even if it meant having to get around Mimi properly. Her round was the best so far, everyone unanimously agreed, but there was an underlying understanding she could have done even better if she didn't let the pressure get to her and turn her into a bit of a coward early on. She found her stride afterwards, though, as that ball of light was a beautiful art and would likely see many articles in the news despite Ares' existence cannibalising the popularity of other stories about this tryout. It just went to show how good it was and, honestly, even Ares wouldn't mind having an art like that. It felt like an art close to what he would create as it's raw capacity for destruction was considerable.

...

...

...

Mimi was next up... And something unusual had happened... Ares was placed at the front again! Ares smiled wryly at this development, as it was obviously happening for the exact same reason as before, and he couldn't help but question what this fake Alice wanted from him. Gram's anger was understandable, he was an idiot obsessed with trivial things that Ares swept under the rug and didn't care about in the slightest leaving him grasping at straws trying to drag Ares into caring. He felt anger over something Ares couldn't give a crap about so the lackadaisical attitude bothered him immensely.

Mimi?

Ares really didn't get it.

As far as he understood about her, she was just a brat who was upset because she wasn't better than him. She must have considered herself a true prodigy, the only person of her generation to make it into the Brotherhood and one of their youngest disciples ever... So Ares at least understood he was an affront to those accomplishments as he'd overheard some of it with his divine sense by eavesdropping on the spectator stands... But her attitude was just so unapologetically bratty... No matter how many times he displayed his talents she would recuperate her waning mentality and become just as cocky and arrogant as she was seconds prior to the humbling. She was impossible 'defeat' in her own eyes and and stubborn to a fault so any result that didn't align with her vision was discarded. She was still a fun person to be around, Ares didn't doubt it, she had energy to spare, but her competitiveness was off the charts and its seemed like he was the one entangled in that fiery spirit... And yet he still didn't even know her name or what she looked like under the Alice facade! She might not have even been human for all he knew! Ares kissed his teeth as he watched 'Alice' take a seat on invisible strings, crossing one leg over the other as she leaned back slightly with a cocky smirk directed right at him with the intent of mischief evident in her eyes. Though Ares hated to admit, it seemed like she'd figured something out about him and was about to exploit it. Her want for 'vengeance' was unsubstantiated but Ares wasn't convinced she wasn't going to get it after spending however long analysing his weaknesses from what she'd seen here today.

This speculation became true mere moments after he thought it, almost as if Mimi waited for the realisation to sink in before she made her move, as myriad tools were summoned in the sky. It was a repeat of Knights, Assemble again but there was a slight difference this time that really mattered. Not just in the sense that these weapons were operating by themselves, not wielded by anyone or anything, but in that they weren't made of magic.. The Not Even Light Ares used earlier took time to cast, which he was not going to be given thanks to the speed of these smaller and nimbler tools, but more importantly it didn't affect non-magic. At least not to the same degree it affected magic and mana anyway. The Not Even Light could suck up thousands of knights but didn't affect the ground directly under it? Better yet, after killing the knights it flew over towards Gram but he hadn't shown any signs of gravitational fluctuations causing him distress or reeling him in. The Black Blossom petals were more dangerous to him than anything else and Mimi understood this was the key to trumping that black hole art, physical entities. She had plenty, this was her forte as she was the modern day equivalent of a ninja more so than a cultivator, and now Ares was facing down a steel storm with no real method to deal with it. Mimi understood that Ares was a beast when it came to access to instantaneous raw power but his magic lacked continuity. It would appear, ravage the world, and then disappear. Only Not Even Light hung around but that wasn't going to work here, for the reasons stated above, so she was fully exploiting Ares' gaps with her hawkish investigation having finally found the result she was looking for.

The weapons all fell towards Ares and the poor guy did everything in his power to deflect them with pressure. There wasn't any time to cast an art and which one would he pick anyway? Pelagic Prison was his best bet but he decided to seal that art because it felt like cheating to him. Also, snuffing this brat's magic with the Prison was pointless because she had nothing to gain no matter how may points she achieved! She was already a member of the Brotherhood and Ares was not supposed to be competing with her as it didn't even matter! Ares would just be wasting an art that was valuable, and took a while to reuse, all so he could wipe that smug grin of her face... Though it was tempting... Seriously, that cold light in her eyes as she sat on her throne of invisible strings like an overbearing queen, that small cackle forming under her lips that she was trying and failing to withhold... Insufferable!

Unfortunately, however, Ares' talent was still within the realm of mere mortals for now and, despite his best efforts, he was finally run through by many weapons that reaped his life. It took a while, and his performance in repelling them drew much admiration as if he was a lone monk fighting against an invading army, he even suffered many wounds that would be fatal for non-revenants and carried on with ferocity in his every movement, but it wasn't enough to stop Mimi's barrage and he ultimately succumbed to the inevitable fate... Though it ended immediately after... Mimi had no reason to attack the other pins, again points meant nothing to her, so she was basically bullying Ares for the fun of it! As he died, stumbling towards the floor with knives buried in practically every inch of his flesh, he shot a playful glare at his attacker and mumbled the word 'bitch' at her. This only seemed to ignite a spark in Mimi, though, who found great joy in torturing a resilient Ares. She wanted to bully him again but Finnian intervened and forcefully made Ares stand at the back of the pin line up, far away from this intentionally crafted plan of torment Mimi was putting into practice... Although it wasn't good enough to stop her...

Mimi's second attempt was her last...

She was supposed to have three attempts like everyone else but she was disqualified immediately after she ignored the other pins and attacked Ares directly again. She wrapped countless wires and strings around the pins before pulling them all at once and recreating the dome of death from before. She indiscriminately bombarded every pin at once which was a clear violation of the rules, all so she could keep messing with Ares who wasn't allowed to block until the others in front of him were dead... But he died first! 

"DAMN BRATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!" Ares' final pained yell, before death took him to the other side, echoed though the courtyard and he was now determined to correct this damnable ninja's attitude! He was next up to bowl and he was not going to forgive or forget this humiliation! If she wanted to play evil games then he would play them too! This childishness was something he could emulate as a revenant, it was practically his default state, so this fake was gonna get it!