"How many is that now? A thousand? Two thousand? I lost track already!" Ares, the pagoda clone, was dusting himself off after having beaten yet another foe. Well, more like he'd just beaten about eight of them at the same time across different instances of the pagoda. He'd been knocking people out in under a second flat for a good while now and nobody who came after Armageddon had been able to resist it. That or pique Ares' interest enough to let them talk. There were no doubt strong people mixed in with the lot he was sending back outside flat on their asses but it seemed like maybe the strongest challengers were testing the waters by sending in weaker cultivators first to get a lay of the land and make sure their own challenge didn't end abruptly. Armageddon getting blown out of the pagoda was a memory they couldn't shake and they didn't want to get in, die like a dog, and then have to queue up again just to have a longer fight and see what all the fuss was about with the new kid. Still, the fact that Ares could do the same thing Veteran used to, knock everyone senseless immediately, was pretty indicative he was the real deal... Though that couldn't exactly be refuted anyway after the Armageddon mess. Amongst the challengers thus far there had been one particularly weak individual that Ares didn't kill on sight because he was curious as to what the guy was even doing here. The individual in question didn't look like a fighter so Ares let him speak... For three words because Ares killed the guy the second he said 'I'm a journalist'. You get what you deserve! Although, really, Ares should have entertained him for a while and given him a scoop because more attention on him was always a good thing given his goals of spreading his name far and wide. Maybe he'd be politer with the next one to come in... If any were bold enough to dare after what happened to the last guy, that is.

As for Dominus, he'd been regaling Ares with stories about some of the people he'd been offing. A lot of them were either rich individuals, who might have actually been trying to strike a deal with Ares, or bodyguards of the influential who wanted to get a feel for how strong a fundamental champion truly was at, and around, the level of their current bodyguards. Basically just an experiment and one they would be getting a pretty resounding answer to as Ares had been smacking the crap out of all challengers in a fashion that couldn't' be argued against. Plus his cultivation was lowered pretty drastically compared to the people coming in so that ought to be insulting enough to drill the point home that a fight between them wasn't even close. Interestingly, nobody had cheated yet. Ares half expected to try punching a challenger only to hit a barrier from a treasure or something but he'd yet to have such a thing occur. It inevitably would and then he'd just disintegrate the troublesome thing so it was worth keeping an eye out for... Why weren't there any new challengers? Usually there was a steady stream and a constant influx of punching bags but there was currently no one battling it out with Ares and so he wondered what the hold up was. A fight outside, maybe? Or some big shot causing trouble? Ares was willing to bet it was the latter... But that did mean that he could do something funny here!

Meanwhile, outside, as was predicted, a certain somebody had shown up and was making demands. A human shaped gathering of talismans that passively nullified all mana and arts in the nearby vicinity, Ject, had arrived on scene and was refusing to wait in the queue like some kind of commoner. There were a few people in the crowd who could maybe do something about his attitude but it really wasn't worth it because, chances are, everyone involved in any scuffles would be kicked out. It looked like Ject would get his wish, then, as the backup Kaleido requested earlier was still en route. If nobody in the queue was willing to stop him, and Kaleido couldn't on his own, then he was going to just bypass everyone and do as he pleased... Thankfully he was the only one here currently with such a foul and unruly temperament so the other powerful individuals weren't going to follow in his footsteps. They could but angering Transmit generally wasn't worth it. Ject was about to lose out on deliveries for a good chunk of time as that was the usual punishment for actions along these lines. Harming a Transmit deliveryman, interfering in their operations, not abiding by their rules... All of it led to one of two outcomes, death or temporary denial of access to services.

The latter might not have sounded like a worse punishment but in some situations it could very well be when the former was impossible to actually dole out. In Ject's case, that was certainly true as his entire null legion would be paying the price and transportation of goods would slow down to a crawl. Transmit was easily one of the top three biggest businesses in the entire universe and so every single member of the null magic cabal losing access to it for up to a couple tens of millions of years was actually devastating. Wars would become that much trickier to wage without long range communications via letter delivery and various other benefits that were typically associated with the business. For Ject himself, it was mostly irrelevant but he was screwing over his 'followers' big time. Not that he cared about them nor did they care about him. If anything, he was probably hoping this would negatively impact them because it slowed the traitorous bunch down a fair bit and prevented them from so easily eyeing up Ject's Godhood. Anyway, Ject glided over the floor to go speak to Kaleido. Not that he needed to but it was basically just to rub it in and force Kaleido to outwardly acknowledge there was nothing he could do to prevent Ject from running around as he pleased. Ject was an asshole like that.

"Ahem." Though the word he spoke was clear, there was a noise in the background, hiding within his un-human throat, that sounded like the rustling of paper. It accompanied every syllable and so people just sort of had to get used to it. Luckily this 'Ject' was only just an effigy, much like the kind that Terros had sent to go watch over Mako, so it wasn't particularly frightening, loud, or obnoxious... Actually, that last part was wrong, Ject didn't need to go around flaunting his full power to be considered obnoxious, he had a lock on that without question. Still, his presence wasn't as imposing as a regular God and the people in the queue were thanking their lucky stars because most Gods held back for the sake of others... Most... This asshole would just sap the the nearby air of mana and force it to flee, leaving everyone feeling destitute, sluggish, and dry in their insides, like somebody had sucked all the moisture out of their body. Their skin would become flaky and rough and all the various benefits of magic and cultivation would feel as though they were fading. No more pleasant looks, no more free skin care, no more de-aging, everyone's bodies would regress to a normal, mortal-esque state and it was a real eye-opener how ugly some people could look. One person once even outright died due to the sheer amount of weight he gained when reverting as his stomach blew up, murdering him before he could save himself. Ject being Ject, he laughed at this, thought it was funny, and opted to try and do it to other people in the future. Him keeping track of how much food people ate, so he could maybe catch some unsuspecting cultivator by surprise, was a well known trait of his. It passed the time in his mind and sacrificing a cultivator for his amusement every now and then was easily on the less concerning end of the spectrum regarding the various evil acts he'd committed throughout his lifetime. All around a terrible person! "I take it you'll not put up some trifling resistance as I make my way inside the treasure?" Smug condescension was a trademark of Ject's too, naturally, and the people here were familiar enough with his attitude, or the rumours thereof, to not be even remotely surprised at the way he was talking to a Transmit member, most of whom were usually treated politely... Apparently not Kaleido, though, as this was the third time today he'd received a threat... The bandit group, indirectly through Armageddon, and now this? The poor peacock was really going through it...

Kaleido shrugged with a tired look on his face. "Go ahead. In fact, I encourage it." He was so hoping Ares would flatten this twat! Obviously Ares would win but the quicker he did the more vindicated literally every other person here would feel! To that end, Kaleido didn't even sugar coat his response, make any threats about Transmits retribution, or defiantly scold Ject for breaking the rules. He just let him go for it. There was nothing Kaleido could do to Ject that would be worse than what the shit-eating gremlin inside the pagoda could! Kaleido would roll out the red carpet just to draw attention to this foul God's inevitably failed attempt if he could! Honestly, the support from Transmit couldn't arrive soon enough... "You are more than welcome to attempt the pagoda as many times as you like without waiting in the queue... No matter who you are, and how many other privileges I give you, however, you must still pay for access. This is non-negotiable."

Ject's paper talismans all creased as the body turned to stare at the audacious little welp demanding a toll! He was a God for fuck's sake and he was still being made to pay the entrance fee to some dinky little pagoda?! This was not the first time he'd run into this wall and he was still as indignant about it as he was last time! Annoyingly, though, the payment could not be circumvented as it was a necessity to get in. Even Kaleido couldn't change that if he wanted to, it had nothing to do with him. Ject would have to go make demands of the higher ups in Transmit but he wouldn't dare as there were some real spooky people hanging about in this organisation which, from an outsider's perspective, just made it all stranger. Why did a delivery company need such strong cultivators?! Hell if the support Kaleido was expecting was already here then Ject would have been booted back to the very end of the queue and been forced to sit there quietly and wait his turn like everyone else. Ject had a strong advantage over many cultivators, due to the nature of what he was affiliated with, but that didn't mean every cultivator would bow and kowtow before him. Especially not his weaker clone that was currently present at the pagoda. "Fine. But I refuse to wait in the queue, that is beneath me."

"For now it is. I would recommend you enjoy this benefit I'm lending you as it will not persist when my co-workers arrive. That or other individuals who aren't particularly fond of you. I've heard rumours that Coronos, Davey and Kanga, and Veteran may all be showing up and, given who they're backing, it would be wise of you not to keep causing a scene for too long here lest they arrive and give you a piece of their mind."

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"Do you think I'm scared of a stupid deer, two bumbling Neanderthals, and a severely weakened one armed swordsman past his prime!? I'm deeply insulted you think so low of me."

"With all due respect, God, there are more people who think ill of you than you know. It's hardly my fault you've cultivated such a reputation and I would recommend you take strides to fix it should it continue bothering you. But that's a different matter entirely, I'm still waiting for you to hand over the stardust. Overestimate or underestimate, irrespective of my opinion of you, you must pay."

Ject's papers were billowing in the winds generated by his anger but he dared not actually attack Kaleido. Other people would step in at that point regardless of whether or not the pagoda plans went to shit because they would anyway at that point. Kaleido was running this thing and needed to be here so he was essentially the only person with any real guaranteed safety under most circumstances. Plus the pagoda wouldn't function without him so Ject would have wasted his entire trip because he was unable to temper his temper. Though it irked him to no end, and he wished his real body was present so that he could spit on the stardust before handing it over, Ject passed along the chump change and headed over to the entrance while mumbling to himself in a foreign language of some sort. Kaleido understood it to be the language of a long lost civilisation that perished many years ago but he felt no need to comment on the matter as Ject was about to leave and he wouldn't give an answer regardless. Kaleido had to admit he was curious, though, because this insufferable God seemed to have a greater grasp of the language than he did which was a miraculous feat for some ordinary moron like Ject. Chances are, he was actually the sole survivor of his people and knew what happened to that specific civilisation, resulting in its sudden end, but, again, he wasn't going to talk about it come hell or high water. It was a rather sensitive subject even to people who weren't involved just because of the sheer scope of it. This was a civilisation that spanned multiple domains and could be considered one of the first ever empires. And yet it disappeared over night, not leaving a single trace other than a few scriptures that had made it to the outer world before disaster, whatever it was, struck. The knowledge Ject must have possessed on the matter was extraordinary and it was almost tragic that such bountiful history was locked behind this douchebag.

The queuers and Kaleido watched as Ject was sucked into the pagoda. They were about to let out sighs of relief, turn around, and get back on with the regularly scheduled programming but Ject was spat back out of the pagoda before anyone could even blink. In fact, some people who blinked the second he went in were wondering why he hadn't gone anywhere as they didn't even see him disappear. To be honest, he might as well not have as his total time spent inside the pagoda added up to be roughly one micro second. He looked confused, and everybody else was too, but Kaleido couldn't help but snicker as he realised that Ares had gotten bored of waiting for a new challenger and just outright brutalised the next person who paid him a visit. Whoever was holding up the queue would no doubt come in next so Ares hung around the spawn point for challengers and blasted the brains out of whoever appeared. No doubt Ares killed Ject so fast he didn't even get a chance to see the guy, he just launched his fist at Mach ten and fully obliterated the entity that barely even fully appeared before him. Ject had been inside that room for a micro second before losing and was no doubt the new world record holder of the fastest ever pagoda loss. Veteran would usually at least wait until it was clear the fight was going to start but Ares hadn't even given Ject that luxury as he punched him into dust before he could even take in his new environment. It was almost unfair because Ject's vision had hardly even caught up with his body so he basically didn't even get to see the rat bastard who killed him!

The snickering, on a wider scale, begun as people other than Kaleido caught on to what had just happened. It looked like the pagoda had installed a revolving door when no one was looking and this idiot just went in a full circle! This was not the first time Ject had been humiliated at the pagoda and, based on his stubbornness, it wouldn't be the last either... He tried to barge his way into the pagoda but ran into a wall because he forgot to pay up again... Though people were laughing their heads off behind him, Ject's rage was building and he was getting infinitely close to letting loose and disregarding this whole mess. Why should he care if he didn't meet this dumb brat?! Why couldn't he just take Candy away without having to deal with him first?! Luckily for Ject, he calmed himself down and reminded himself that though individually Ares' supporters weren't too problematic, combined they formed a real herculean task force that were very capable of banding together and ending his life. He couldn't afford to be rash and had to do things the proper way...

Back inside the pagoda, Dominus was cackling evilly at the prank Ares pulled not necessarily because of the action he'd taken but because of who he'd done it to. Ares might not have recognised Ject, or his anti-magic presence, but Dominus sure as hell did and seeing that detestable wad of paper get worked so thoroughly was incredibly satisfying. Ject had given the weapons pillar lot, including both the God and the exemplars, a lot of hassle over the years due to his inferiority complex. 'I'm going to prevent you from using magic!' said Ject... To the people that didn't need magic to wield their weapons... It was a mismatch of epic proportions and Ject absolutely despised weapon wielders down to his core. Pressure wielders and body temperers also made it onto that list because he couldn't have an easy win against them and it infuriated him to no end. He believed that magic was the defining factor of cultivation society and that, in a logical world, all cultivators would be overly reliant on it. He truly believed his anti-magic aspect specialisation should have won him the world and put him firmly in pole position to lead this entire universe.

The fact that there were people who broke the boundaries of Ject's expectations, and became strong in their own way without magic, was enough to drive him mad every time he was reminded of such a hard truth to swallow. He frequently referred to the afore-mentioned types of people as brutes and prehistoric luddites that needed to get with the times, presumably so he could lord over them afterwards. He was a bit of an egomaniac in that regard but, given his usual personality, such a trait was not even remotely unexpected. Demanding people give up their strengths and replace it with something that would be a weakness against Ject specifically... This guy was a real lunatic. So yeah, Dominus was happy to see him get his just-desserts. It wasn't often Gods got punched to death, unless Armageddon was feeling feisty, so watching it happen after so many years was a refresher for Dominus' weary soul. He'd been sorely lacking interest and fun in his life for a long time now so the string of challengers that were going to bother Ares was like watching a month long movie after being starved of entertainment for a century straight. He only wished he could get some popcorn up in Ares' bloodstream...

Though Ares' blood itself did taste pretty neat. During aspect assimilation, though real Ares didn't know this, Ares' blood would turn gold and, funnily enough, taste different! It was a really addicting taste and so Ares had to restrict how much Dominus was allowed to slurp on whenever he got bored. Dominus did raise a pretty valid point that he could maybe even sell his blood to haemomancers as this stuff would inevitably have some kind of value for them. Haemomancers experimented with all sorts of types of blood and there was no doubt in Dominus' mind that Ares' blood would be like a gift from the Gods for them. Are was a phenomenal specimen, wholly unique and irrepealable, and his bloodline would be unfathomable to them. Fundamental God, dragon, and revenant all mixed into one... Honestly, if any prominent haemomancers showed up then Ares ought to try and sell them his blood as he could very well add some powerful people to his ranks if they were interested... Which, really, why wouldn't they be?

"You stupid runt. Try that again and see what I do to Candy!"

Hm? Ares had been more pre-occupied with making sure Dominus didn't go to town on his blood supply, as he was almost definitely trying to improve his own bloodline through Ares', than he was concerned with paying attention to new challengers... That was, at least, until he heard a familiar name and took interest in this person who was threatening them. They hadn't made a great impression thus far, just off the back of bringing up Candy's name in such a fashion, but Ares was going to let them speak so he knew who he was dealing with and how best to approach them... Though this person did seem familiar to some degree... Was this the guy he just whacked? The one that Dominus was laughing at? "Who the hell are you supposed to be? Answer me or I'll introduce you to my good friend Mr shredder machine." Ares glared with narrow eyes at the paper person while trying to size him up and figure out what his game was.

"Had you not been born and trapped in some peasant's domain I would be offended you don't even know the name of a God as grand as I. I'll forgive your ignorance but not the problems you've been causing from your hidey hole in the dirty pits of the universe. The name is Ject, brat, remember it well for I am the man who will take everything from you, starting with Candy. I..."

And Ject was outside again. This time it was a bit different though because his head was still missing and he couldn't speak properly anymore until he regenerated his missing body part. That one had been personal because Ares knew precisely who Ject was thanks to his talks with Candy. He would let this vile creature back into his pagoda, and speak to him to clarify a few things about what he was and was not allowed to do now that Ares existed, but this punch was to get the swelling rage out of his system before it exploded into something more significant and talking was off the table. It was rare Ares wasn't able to control his anger but he understood he was trending towards such a scenario with this guy in particular. He wasn't a bigger problem to Candy than her own parents, or someone like Sevorus, but he was a nuisance regardless and one with a terrible personality. His general demeanour and the crap he was spewing hadn't helped and so he deserved every ounce of force behind that last strike. The fact that Ject was hit so hard his main body felt it a little was indicative that Ares was not going to play around with him, tolerate him, or show him even the bare minimum respect. Nonetheless, Ject ignored the hounding from the challengers still in the queue behind him and re-entered the pagoda. It was time to have a serious talk with this brat!