Ares quickly reached the cube stuck to the greater cube. He creates a spear in his right hand then throws it which pierces the shell of the cube and blows it up, allowing Ares to briefly make his way through. He lands down inside the cube, the first thing he sees is a hallway and a building attached at the end of it. He couldn’t tell what that building looked like but it was similar to a military prison. Just like the panopticon, the building also had veins which disgusted Ares the same way it did for stefan3B.

“I expected them to have a more beautiful HeadQuarters, this is a bit disappointing.” said Ares to himself as he went towards the hallway. He opens the door of the hallway and slams it, keeping his usual frown. The hallway was identical to the panopticon’s hallway and it had the same amount of 20 shadow elementalists. The first fighter rushes Ares, he simply grips onto his face and slams him into the ground then bursts flames onto his flames, mercilessly. The next fighter dashes towards Ares and goes for a high kick, Ares summons his spear in his right hand then hits his face with the tail of the spear then spins and hits him in the head with a roundhouse kick, knocking the fighter back and stunning him. The first elementalist was shaking as he tried to move from the ground, Ares takes quick notice of this, he enhances his spear and throws it at him, blowing him up in the process and throwing his gore everywhere before slowly fading away.

“H-he… He’s a monster! Prepare the shots already!” shouted one of the fighters.

The rangers start to sweat as they see Ares’ extremely cold and merciless way of being. They launch all 5 blasts at once. Ares activates his elementalist coat, summons a bigger spear in his hand and parries all the blasts at once, then spins and throws his spear at the closest elementalist standing, piercing him fully then blowing up into the next one, damaging the infrastructure in the process.

“He’s no joke! Charge! All at once!” shouted one fighter.

All of the remaining 11 fighters charge towards Ares at once. Ares is not even briefly phased by their stupid crowd, he extends his palms towards them and starts to charge up a burst of flames, but the elementalists also charge up their own shadow attack. Ares shoots his burst, but the shadow elementalists manage to break through it. Ares was totally not expecting this, his eyes widened as all of them were almost next to him. They suddenly split up and surrounded him quickly, half of them sliding swiftly behind him and the other half stopping in front of him. The first fighter dashes quickly midair towards him, Ares throws a kick right in his gut and pushes him back, the next fighter goes for a clean hook, Ares ducks and punches his liver then summons his spear, flourishes it and slits his throat before kicking him back. He turned around just when 2 fighters were rushing towards him. He throws his spear, which gets stuck halfway throughout the head of the first one. The other one attempts to use shadow strike, vanishing before quickly appearing in front of him. Ares braces himself, then the elementalist vanishes once more, this time behind him. Ares raises his leg and blocks. The elementalist vanishes once more and appears above him, Ares was left defenseless as the elementalist kicks him in the head, barely doing any damage whatsoever. Ares grows angrier and grabs his leg then slams him into the ground. He looks at the one with the spear in his head, who literally went insane from the sheer insufferable pain. Ares scoffed off before making the spear explode, spreading the fighter’s gore everywhere. The remaining elementalists look at each other with fear, realizing that Ares can't be ambushed just like that. Ares got bored of them, he made a fire spear chained to his arm then threw it to one of their necks, easily hitting them. Ares fiercely pulled the fire chain, tearing off the fighter's throat instantly. Both of the elementalists he injured but did not finish off use shadow strike at once on Ares, both of them vanishing and then reappearing each on one of his sides and throwing a punch. Ares did not have time to react properly and he took the hits from both directions at once, easily staggering him. Both of them coordinate each other and launch simultaneous hooks, both punches nailing his face at the same time, pushing him back. Ares pants and falls on his back but quickly gets up.

"Those 2 weren't that speedy before, could it be a passive ability? Shadow elementalists are more agile once they're damaged? I don't need to underestimate them any longer, who knows what ace they have up their sleeve…" said Ares in his mind.

One of the two elementalists dash the moment Ares gets up and lands a clean blow in his stomach with his left hand, stunning Ares further. In a blitz, the fighter launches an uppercut in his chin, then the other elementalist quickly rushes over with a leap, puts his right hand on Ares' right shoulder and launches a burst of energy, damaging his shoulder entirely. Ares dashes backwards to recover his tempo, he realizes that he can't move his shoulder anymore, he still can lift his forearm a bit, but his shoulder is fully paralyzed. Before he would think of anything else, the fighter quickly rushes him and does the same thing for his left shoulder. Ares lets out a battle cry out of rage then headbutts him in the face, making his nose bleed as well as stunning him fully. Ares then kicks his knee into the side, making him fall, then he casts a burst of flames which are enough to finish him off. The other one tries to use shadow strike once more, going for a liver punch with his right arm.

"Not a second time!" said Ares in his mind, barely dodging his punch.

Ares counterattacks the punch with a close up kick, sending the fighter flying into the wall. He then launches bursts of flames backwards, propelling him forward, performing a dash kick right into the fighter's head, crushing it with ease. Ares kicks off the wall, seeing the other shadow elementalists terrified as they have been observing his mindless slaughter until now.

"Come on, there's only 6 of you left, come on, my shoulders are injured, come on, scaredy cats!" said Ares with sheer anger before deactivating his elementalist coat.

His shoulders were covered in shadow energy, showing that he was still affected by the blasts. Ares pants lightly as he stares deeply into their eyes.

"He no longer has the coat… Maybe he's out of energy…" whispered one fighter.

"Yeah, that's what he wants you to believe, you dummy." whispered another fighter.

Ares then quickly leaps off the ground, his feet bursting with flames, straight towards the closest elementalist. The fighter quickly uses shadow strike to vanish and dash away, not even thinking about attacking him. Ares slides with his feet onto the ground for a few meters then looks around him at everyone.

"So, you don't want to fight?" asked Ares.

They all nod affirmatively in silence.

Ares grows disgusted by them.

"Pf, worthless guards…" said Ares, walking away down the hall.

"Should we let him go?..." whispered one of them.

"Either way, we'll still die, so it doesn't matter." said a different guy.

They all watch as Ares makes it to the end of the hallway. Once at the end of it, an iron door with an extremely sturdy lock was blocking the way from entering the facility. Ares tries to raise his arms to melt the lock, but he can’t reach it.

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"Tsk, this isn't going to stop me." said Ares.

He leaped on top of the lock and crouched then put his palms onto it and started heating it up. He then flips backwards and boosts himself back into the lock, kicking it down in one shot, then he spins and kicks down the iron door.

"Ugh, I'm getting dizzy…" said Ares to himself as he entered the facility.

It was yet another hallway of the same width, but this one was made out of pure concrete, or at least it looked like it. It also had prison cells on the left and right sides of it. Simple ones, iron bars and concrete walls in between the rooms. As usual, it also had a lack of light source, making everything shadowy. Ares, fearlessly, walks down the hallway, going past the prison cells, since he couldn't even see anything in them.

"I wonder if they will succeed this time, it would be the last thing I'd want to go in 2 other cubes if they're this weird… " said Ares in his mind as he was walking.

But, suddenly, he has a quick realization. The end of the hallway did not get closer, as if he was walking on spot. He looks back and sees the door he entered. He tries to walk back to it, but the same thing happens. It just never gets closer to him.

"Shadow elementalists… Damn them… " said Ares.

All sorts of weird sounds start to appear out of nowhere from each cell. Ares tries to keep his calm, but at this point the stress is so big that he starts sweating a bit. He frowns and clenches his teeth, awaiting for an attack. Suddenly, a shady voice can be heard.

"We know you better than anyone, son of Dob-"

"Don't you ever call me that!" shouted Ares, his words echoing through the entire building.

All the sounds of the prison cells stopped for a few seconds before starting to appear again.

"But what a boy we have here~" said a masculine voice, echoing voice.

"Mhm, quite a hot one too~" said a feminine voice, just as echoing as the male one.

"Shut up, I'm a minor."

"Aww, he's no fun."

"You're boring me up, I'm fed up with your shit, fight me already."

"Hm? How impatient for a guest."

A shadow figure appears behind Ares, he quickly turns around and forces himself to raise his arm and throws a fire spear at it, his shoulder glows purple and he screams in pain afterwards. The figure vanishes in an instant once it's touched by his spear.

"What?... Did I get him? What happened?" said Ares in his mind, afraid but not showing it.

"No need to be hasty, we have all day~."

"Oh, fuck me, I beat 20 of you i can beat another 200."

"Don't mind if I do-"

"SHUT UP!" screamed Ares before wielding another spear but throwing it as a random cell, blowing up the bars.

Shrapnel from the explosion scratches his body and as a response Ares lets out a groan.

"What is it that you want?"

"Your head on my shelf… " said Ares before throwing another spear at a cell, but casting a burst of flames which melted the shrapnel.

"We know you better than anyone, Rares."

Ares is surprised, he hasn't heard that name in a while.

"Y'know, I actually forgot I used to wear that name, heh."

"What a shame… Such a beautiful name your father gave you."

Ares clenches his fist and starts to visibly shake from anger, but he knows that he can't defeat whatever this is right now, he must have patience and wait.

"You don't know anything about me…" continued Ares.

"Neither does anyone else about you, dear~."

Ares is right on the brink of snapping with fury.

"And why exactly should anyone know anything about me? I'm doing good on my own!" said Ares, with a cheeky smirk.

"Mhm~, is that why you don't know your brother's name?"

Ares gasps and suddenly realizes that he really does not know his own brother's name, only the nickname the grand wizard gave him.

“You act without thinking, think for once, try to remember your own, precious bigger brother’s name~.”

“Remember…?” said Ares, in a shocked tone, slowly.

“Yes indeed, perhaps try to remember why you don’t want to remember.”

“Ooo, yeah, just like that one time where you couldn’t save him-”

Ares suddenly turns around and shouts, sweating bullets of desperation on his forehead.

“I WANTED HIM TO DIE! I SWEAR! I HATED HIM! STOP IT! STOP IT! SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING, YOU DON’T KNOW ME YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU SO MUCH!”

“Why didn’t you tell that to their faces then? Both of them, not just the living one, but also the dead one.”

Ares falls onto his knees and closes his eyes, he supports himself with his hands against the ground, panting.

“I would’ve died before him…”

“Then why do you try to avenge him?”

“Yeah, you said you hated him~”

“Yes… But he was my father… My blood is still his blood… I can’t just…”

Suddenly, a shadow figure of stefan3B appears before Ares.

“But that’s the entire reason why you want power. You want to make a difference, we all know that deep inside, you never wanted him to die.”

“Shut up… I was… Small… I barely awoke my element from slumber… When the military police arrived… I… Just…” said Ares, as he slowly started to shake harder.

“YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED THAT DAY! YOU DON’T DESERVE TO EXIST! YOU’RE A SELFLESS FUCK! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF SOMEONE’S LIFE? THE LIFE OF A PARENT?!”

“He didn’t care about me…”

“BUT YOU’D STILL DIE FOR HIM! YOU WOULD STILL DIE FOR HIM! YOU WORTHLESS MOLE! YOU GULLIBLE PIECE OF SHIT!”

Ares slowly stands up, shaking less, he wields his usual fire spear once more with both of his hands.

“I will fight…”

The shadow clone of stefan3B frowns then dashes towards Ares. Ares, still looking down, his hair covering his eyes, flourishes his spear like usual then swipes it, but the moment he tries to move it at great speeds, the curse inside his shoulders activates once more, slowing him down and causing him insufferable pain, allowing the fake stefan3B to nail a punch in his face before he’d get to swing his spear fully, canceling the swing. Just then, Ares had a flashback, the bullet of the military cop’s rifle, piercing his dad’s head the same way this clone punches him. He snaps back to reality, he does not allow himself to be knocked back and he pushes against it, letting out a powerful and angry groan. stefan3B pushes his fist against the side of his head, but it’s useless. Ares then swings his leg, performing a calf kick right into the clone’s leg, hitting it easily. The clone staggers instantly, releasing the fist from his face. Ares then headbutts it wildly, shattering its face, then he spins roundhouse kicks it in the face, shattering its entire structure into nothingness.

“I will be the strongest!”

“You will fall like everyone else…”

“You won’t get to see that day.”

“Your dream is worthless, you’re fighting over a lost cause, you-”

“I will be the one to bring evil to my feet, I will be the one to destroy each and every one of you rats who try to get into my way, I will destroy your dreams so that others can fulfill their own, their way more precious and way more interesting desires!”

“Oh my… He’s gaslighting himself… It’s worse than we thought…”.

“Yeah… No thoughts on this… I’m out…” said the masculine voice before disappearing fully.

Ares’s sight suddenly lights up, the corridor losing the shadow aura, allowing Ares to move both forward and backwards on the hallway. Now Ares can fully see the end of it, he sees a middle rank elementalist stuck in black sludge at the end of it, its core pulsing and glowing through its body. Ares smiles and takes no time to summon another spear, throw it in the air, then jump, spin 360 degrees then kick it full force, straight into the core of the elementalist.

“No! That dumbass! Ugh…”

“What’s wrong, honey~? Your husband left ya’? I can tell this is a test for both of us now, you can cheat on it if you’re up to it~.” said Ares, in a cheeky tone with a shit-eating grin.

“WHAT?! WEREN’T YOU THE ONE TO-UGH! MEN! . . . But that does not take away from the fact that you are just doing to follow your father’s footsteps…”

“We’ll see about that…”

The entire building starts to shake violently, Ares remains just as calm.

“Tsk… Listen to me… I know I’m going to die now, but I really was able to read through your mind, your hatred will bring you nowhere, please forgive your brother and most importantly, please forgive yourself… This entire thing was supposed to… Give us a new home… For my children, for my family, for everyone I knew… But, can you forgive me? At least now, in my final moments of existence? Could you even blame me for it?”

Ares loses his smile, he looks up and remains silent for a few seconds.

“Yeah… I forgive you… It’s the least I can do to ease your pain for now…” said Ares, a bit hurt to hear her words, even after everything that’s happened.

The curse from his shoulders suddenly vanishes as the building shakes wilder and harder.

“Yeah… Thank you… Take care… Love you, sweetie~”

Ares’ eyes widen and he blushes instantly, but immediately afterwards, the floor collapses and he falls through it.

“NO!” shouted Ares, as he was falling, extending his arm desperately at the cube, who started falling and detaching off the bigger cube.

He regains his tempo and eases his fall with bursts of flames. He looks up and sees an elementalist detach himself from the cube, as if he was within it before.

“Good… Lord…” said Ares, as he witnessed the rebirth of the unknown elementalist.