Ares flicked a Shock Bead at Aejaz as he Shifted next to Enyo. "Hello wife!" After respectfully giving his greetings, he proceeded to try and commit domestic abuse by launching a fierce headbutt. As he did so, Enyo's helmet looked more and more daunting the closer he got, but he soldiered on anyway! Was Ares an idiot for headbutting a helmet? Well, he was an idiot in general, but not for that reason specifically. His plan was to launch an Echo inside the helmet and have it bounce around, battering Enyo's skull. He was on the verge of succeeding too as the Shock Bead he threw earlier distracted her. Enyo was one the few people here that could handle Ares' explosions so she was on guard duty against any and all annihilation magic. Ares used that against her to attempt a surprise attack. Furthermore, Enyo was next strongest in line after him, so no one had expected him to shift gears after attacking Jackie and go for the polar opposite candidate. Ares' head came crashing down onto the helmet and an excruciating noise followed, one that made everyone briefly pity the victim.

CRACK

Bellona took care of the Shock Bead, leaving Enyo enough wiggle room to defend herself. Enyo had summoned a barrier just in time to prevent Ares' daring head-on attack, thus resulting in Ares effectively headbutting the equivalent of a steel wall at full force.

"OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Ares, who had been made a fool of in public, ran around while clutching his head and yelping in pain. Although the others pitied him, and it kinda felt like shooting a fish in a barrel, everyone was here to earn their place in the inner court and wasted no time in running him down. The three closest were Enyo, Li Li, and Charity; and they all rushed to get a beating in while the going was good. Charity aimed for a vital, Li Li swung as hard as she could, and Enyo aimed to bring her shield down on Ares cranium and split it open. Maybe this way Enyo could take a peek inside this moron's head and see if there was actually a brain in there or not... But as it would turn out, there was. And it was operating at max efficiency right now as the three women had fallen for his bait. The fingers splayed across Ares' face split, revealing an evil grin and an unharmed face. No broken nose, no bloody face, no dented forehead... It was as if he hadn't suffered any damage at all... One of Ares' hands detached from his face and swung behind him to square off against his three attackers as it lit up with a golden glow. Enyo would live through this, but she would not be able to save the others in time. No one would.

"Grand Annihilation!"

"Segregation."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM BOOOOM

BOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOOM

Ares' finger unleashed a point blank Grand Annihilation that tore through Charity effortlessly and eventually managed to reap Li Li's life after a brief struggle. Enyo's last-second Segregation kept her right as rain as the explosions didn't even dent the barrier, but she was still mad at having being duped into attacking the stupid revenant. If she had been patient and held her ground, she could have thrown up the barrier for someone else and kept them alive. Any other cultivator would have been proud of their achievement in even getting to this point and surviving the blast but Enyo was just the kind of person who valued saving other people above all, so she considered this to be a massive failure... And all because of her damnable husband who was laughing to himself like this was all some kind of game!... Well it wasn't exactly real either, but that didn't make Enyo any less bitter. When it came down to it, what Enyo really wanted was to kick his ass! Still, like Aejaz before her, Enyo had questions. The loud crack... Where on earth did that come from if not Ares skull? She could tell her barrier blocked something but what exactly happened? She didn't even need to ask though as Ares, in traditional revenant fashion, showed zero hesitation in smugly giving explanation.

"It was a packet of crisps!" Not that his 'explanation' could really be considered as such. These words obviously clarified absolutely nothing, so he kept going after he pulled a packet of crisps out of his pocket that looked considerably worse for wear. "I put some nothingness on both my head and the crisps in my pocket. When my head smacked against the barrier, as it was connected to the crisps they were what made the loud noise. I only used the Echo defensively to prevent an injury. In other words, everything was an act to get you to lower your guard and attack me! Hehehehe, I win this one, Enyo!"

Tsk

Enyo kissed her teeth in frustration as Ares joyously skipped away while dusting off his hands as though he were done here. She hated to admit it but Ares had gotten her good here. He threw off her support, namely Bellona, with the bead, convinced her he was attacking full force, left openings for a counterattack, and finally feigned an injury to provoke her into pushing her luck. That was bad enough but what really ate away at her was the fact that he'd beaten her with a packet of crisps! Crisps! This is precisely why revenants were insufferable. You could never tell if they were taking things seriously or not, and even when they did that didn't mean you were out of the woods in regards to them playing around with you just yet. Enyo sighed to herself and let someone else take the wheel, there was no benefit to chasing him down right now when he had nowhere to go. He was fully surrounded anyway. If Enyo ran up to him impatiently, he would just run away and waste her stamina. She needed to be alert and ready to defend if she could. At the very least, her presence here meant Ares was forced to use disintegration magic every time he wanted to kill someone otherwise a barrier would stop him without fail. Hanging back and just stalking him was the best bet for now.

As for the two that were wiped out, they grumbled to themselves and cursed Ares. As it turned out, getting blown up hurt. It also hurt the more you resisted it, so Li Li had it much rougher than Charity who was dead before she even knew what hit her. They were both incredibly peeved at this result but they also had no one to blame for this outcome but themselves. For starters, going after Ares was completely unnecessary and greedy to the max. They very easily could have challenged anyone else and had a better time of things... They just really wanted to join in on the fun and take part in the Ares smackdown session. There wasn't a single person here that didn't have at least one good reason to hit Ares. Charity still somewhat resented Ares being able to steal and use Diagnosis, and Li Li still remembered Ares mentioning that he stole from her clan like they were some kind of bottomless pit of free stardust. Yes Aejaz had done the stealing but it was likely at Ares' discretion so he was to blame just as much as his conniving brother! These reasons clouded their judgement and made them feel inclined to take part. That was just the start of their issues though, as they clearly weren't cut out to be messing with someone like Ares in the first place. They were only ranked 11 and 14, who did they think they were messing with? Maybe if they'd given Enyo more time to lead the charge they could have been safe under her protection and with the holy pillar buffs that she would have produced after casting an art. Maybe if one them had been replaced with someone ranked 18 or above they would have sufficient power to break through. Maybe if either of them had ranged attacks to force Ares to make a move without needing to get close. Maybe if either one of them knew any defensive arts... Maybe maybe maybe. That was just the truth of it, these two, as cultivators, were full of holes and had a long way to go before they should ever think about taking on an existence like Ares. These two combined probably couldn't even beat the Lighter Duo and here they were swinging at Ares? No, just no. The elders watching on the sides thought the same and were all disappointed in their brashness. Although no one said it out loud, it was fairly obvious that these two would be given a failing grade. It was such a waste too, as they could have gotten into the inner court if they had done literally anything else with their efforts. Actually, what they really should have done was fight each other. They both specialised in hand to hand combat and could have displayed their strengths perfectly in a one on one duel. They also could have used this as a learning opportunity as one fighter relied on brute power while the other practised precision above all. In hindsight they'd been childish, extremely so. Even their partners, Dirk and Gladius, although seething with killing intent for Ares, couldn't help but inwardly chide the two for making such a blatant mistake.

Ares picked his next target, or rather targets, and dashed towards them. The remaining outer court disciples ranked 1 thorough 10 were on the chopping block now that Ares had set his sights on them. They weren't really a problem that needed to be dealt with immediately or anything, it's just that they took up valuable space. Space that Ares could utilise infinitely better than they could. Ares was fighting for his life out here! He needed the breathing room way more compared to these nobodies so he brought out his Black Ice Bane and released another Grand Annihilation from the tip of his sword.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

This Grand Annihilation was cut short as Bellona shrunk the explosion and reduced its explosive output. Ares, who'd been using the blast as cover to approach the remaining no-name disciples, changed his course after the setback and charged at the nearest foe, Gladius.

Gladius, although still deeply angered about Ares killing Charity earlier, immediately noticed something that was off about Ares. It was just a small detail, and he chalked it up to some strange kind of art he'd never seen before, but it gave rise to an eery feeling in his chest he didn't like. As for the detail in question, Ares' eyes had changed colour... Gladius shook his head and ignored the change. The colour of Ares' eyes didn't matter in the slightest or change his task at hand, so he steadied himself and prepared for a showdown. A few of the other ranks 11 through 22 were running to his aid so he just had to hold out for long enough and his job would have been done successfully. Even if he died, if he could just stall... Gladius resolved himself as he stared at Ares.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Double Jump."

"What?" Gladius was sweating bullets as Ares disappeared. His first thought was to look up due to the name of the art that he was unfamiliar with, but as soon as he felt a presence behind him, he knew what needed to be done. He bent down and twirled the spear above him while kicking backwards to dissuade his attacker from pushing forward underneath the spear. His foot was grabbed so he twisted his body around and brought the raised spear down with both hands towards Ares' chest. Ares himself pulled out an ordinary sword from a space ring he was wearing and lunged at Gladius. It seemed he was willing to trade blows so Gladius indulged him. Gladius would deal a major injury to Ares who would die shortly after him and that was a trade worth taking in his book... But something was very off about this situation. Why was Ares using a normal sword instead of the Bane? Why was he wearing a space ring when he never usually did? Though rife with discomfort, Gladius bit on his lip to restore some clarity to his mind as he made the plunge. His spear sunk into Ares' heart and pushed through, coming clean out the other side and creating a perfectly round hole. On the flip side, Ares' bared the brunt of the attack and returned the favour. Unfortunately, due to the hit he'd taken, his aim was slightly off and his sword only pierced a part of Gladius' chest that was non-lethal to a cultivator at his strength. As blood trickled down their bodies, the two had a brief stare down. Gladius knew this was his chance. All he had to do was hold onto this position and never let Ares escape. Even if he had to die to a bombardment from his Allies, he would take Ares with him one way or another...

"RUN GLADIUS!"

Two words. Two very simple words that made Gladius curse Ares for reasons he didn't even yet know. He wasn't sure who even shouted it in the heat of the moment, although it sounded like Aejaz, he just knew that someone had figured out what the menace in front of him was plotting and that it would be the death of him. He looked up from the spear wound inside Ares and his life flashed before his eyes. The last thing he saw before dying a brutal death was a massive maw filled with jagged teeth and 'Ares'' strange ruby red eyes.

CHOMP

Gladius' head was reduced to pulp and those in the audience, as well as those on the field who didn't understand what was happening, froze on the spot. Meanwhile, Aejaz who knew all too well, kissed his teeth and yelled, "IT'S A MIMIC!" Ares seriously kept that thing inside his Primordial Blade as a damn pet?! Fuck, why am I not surprised? In what universe would Ares not value highly a body double?... Shit, he must have swapped places during the Grand Annihilation. He probably used Voidwalk and went back to his old strategy... Aejaz glanced back and his assumption was proven correct. All of the ranks 1 through ten were dead aside from one who was near enough dead and slowly losing the light in their eyes. Ares had just repeated his same tactic he used at the start but with an even bigger diversion. While everyone ran down the mimic, Ares crept back over to the no-names and finished them off. No wonder 'Ares'' threw his body at Gladius without a care in the world... It wasn't even him to begin with! This was actually a serious problem. The mimic had solid regenerative abilities and had already healed from its injury. Ares had blown this thing's head off at one point and even that hadn't done it in. Add Ares' combat prowess and the mimic's teleporting into the mix and this thing was way more than just a distraction, it was basically another person to fight. Ares hadn't just given himself the space he wanted, he was now splitting up the remaining combatants as the mimic couldn't be ignored under any circumstance. As the number of their allies decreased, Ares' allies had increased... The decision making on the alliance's next step was done almost instantly by Onno after he received a quick mental rundown from Aejaz. Everyone who could counter Ares' magic would be sent to deal with the real body, while those who couldn't would fight the mimic. The stronger ranks could fend off Ares in a deadlock while waiting for the mimic to die so they could receive help after. This meant Aejaz, Onno, and Esme would fight the mimic while Bellona, Enyo, and Dirk handled Ares. The Lighter Duo were tasked with unleashing a powerful art when they felt the time was right, so they stood to the side and kept an eye on the battlefield. There was also one final participant who had yet to do anything as of yet, and wasn't currently assigned any tasks, but their role would be fulfilled nearer to the end of the fight if everything went according to the grand plan that was currently underway.

As for Ares, now that he got the space he wanted and a nice minute to relax while everyone else fumbled around, he was stretching his arms and legs a little. "Hmmm, not bad, not bad at all." Ares caught sight of the last no-name at his feet giving him a thankful look. If Ares praised them then there was maybe a chance for their overall evaluation to be higher... "No, not you. I was talking about myself, you were awful."

Ack

The disciple died on the spot. Presumably, the shame was what pushed them over the edge.... Either way, now all the no-names were gone. This wasn't really a fight they were cut out for just yet anyway. Even if Ares hadn't been here, none of them would have made any waves during this test. Unfortunately all the high rankers were still alive and kicking though so his progress so far was objectively abysmal. Still, Ares hadn't pulled out all the stops yet, so he was good to keep going. His mana was full to the brim too thanks to Grim Cessation absorbing mana from the dead. As far as Ares was concerned he was in tip top shape, as if the fight had only just started.

Over by the mimic, the fight was already underway as Aejaz had already stolen the mimic's sword. It was unlikely that it had anymore in reserve so it was going to have fight with its hands and teeth from now on. It could still Blink so a range advantage wasn't the end all be all, but it was certainly helpful considering the cultivators he was working alongside. if the mimic had to take even just another single step then that was one more chance for it to step on one of Esme's many Wind Mines. Unlike Ares, the mimic didn't have Omniscience either so it couldn't find them without checking the hard way. Also, without the sword, it would have to physically touch Onno to hurt him. That didn't seem like an issue at first glance, but when you came face to face with a Doppelbänger suddenly the problem became a bit more obvious. If the mimic accidentally sunk its teeth into a poisonous clone it would wind up biting off way more than it could chew. In fact it would almost definitely bite the dust shortly thereafter. It should be noted that all the above puns were formulated inside Ares' peanut brain ever since he captured the mimic way back when. He'd been looking for an opportunity to use them but never quite had the chance, much to his dismay.

"Swipe Right." Esme launched a God hand aspect attack to really put the mimic in a bind. As was common with God hand arts, the name was effectively a command and so it's effect was easily decipherable on first listen. Whereas Pound Down formed a giant fist above the target, Swipe Right created a palm of blustering winds low to the ground that swooped across the floor and batted away the foe. Just like Pound Down, the power of this art was astronomical and being swatted away like a fly was the least of your worries if you were hit by this thing. It was more likely you would just explode on the spot and become a blood stain on the hand of swirling wind. The real problem lay in its delayed start. Because of how powerful it was, it took a while longer to fully form than most other arts. Normally this was a downside but, when working together with other cultivators, that downside could flipped into an upside. Onno was in the middle of firing off a Flamethrower so, if the mimic Blinked away, the God hand would only be formed after the blink was completed, at which point it would chase him down. If instead the mimic tried to block the Flamethrower then God hand would come crashing into it while it was defending itself. In summary, it would catch his escape, or double down on the pressure applied to it if it held its ground. The mimic tried taking the logical approach and using both Double Jump and Echo to launch itself high into the air where the God hand couldn't follow it but that option was sealed when Aejaz capitalised off this moment and sneakily casted No-stalgia; removing the mimic's memories of how to cast Double Jump. In the end, it was forced to Blink away from the Flamethrower. Arguably, holding its ground and fighting back with Echoes would have been the better decision, but it still attempted the impossible by trying to avoid everything. Maybe Ares' tendencies had seeped into it somewhat now that it had been disguised as him for so long? Either way, it Blinked out of Onno's line of fire and immediately transitioned into a Gamble... Sort of. It didn't have time to cast the art, so it just mimicked the movement of it. Almost like Ares did before he turned the move into an art way back when. If the mimic had enough time to cast an art, it would have just Blinked away again instead of Gambling but this was it's best shot. It buried the sword into the ground and flicked itself as high into the air as it could without even looking back. It could feel the powerful gale behind it rushing towards him and, for a split second, it believed it was going to fail and lose its life but, by a hair's breadth, it managed too eek over the top of the attack. This wasn't without consequence however as it did lose something; an arm. It's decision making was rapid and its efforts commendable but, at the end of the day, it couldn't fully replicate Ares' talent no matter how hard it tried. It couldn't be as quick or as strong as him, so situations like this were rough. The mimic knew deep down that Ares would have successfully pulled off the same plan without a hitch. He probably wouldn't have even dodged in the first place... Still, it was alive, and that was what mattered right now. Or so it briefly thought... Until it realised it was surrounded once more and things were really looking perilous this time. Esme had summoned a Pound Down, Aejaz had snuck around and was about to assassinate the mimic from behind if it tried to retreat, there were presumably Wind Mines in front; and it wouldn't be able to blink out as Onno was milli-seconds away from chanting an art of the anti-magic pillar. As if its doom hadn't already been fully spelled out and written in stone, the Lighter Duo were finally pulling out their own trump card too. They placed their hands together and tapped each finger against one another rhythmically, and one by one, as they chanted a unique art under the 'reading rites' pillar; a pillar that specialised in casting extremely powerful arts after a long chant. As it was a combination art too, the power of this magic was going to be absolutely monstrous.

""Summon The Sea, Summon The Thunder, Unleash The Beast That Will Drag You Under. Come: Seashock Atrocity!""

Before the art was formed in its entirety, Ares took his own measures. If everyone wanted all hell to break loose, he would oblige. And thus he let out Dominus... But things would be different this time. Not only was the mimic going to copy Dominus instead, but Ares was going to let Dominus have a taste of true power. He was going to borrow him the destruction pillar.