Thud
Thud
Thud
Thud
The two Anubis had given up on the lasers, and now-wiped-out rockets, so they rhythmically stamped their canes against the desert with an alternating flow and were taking a new approach to this battle. When one Anubis lifted their cane high into the sky, the other brought theirs down and caused Xasca, in its entirety, to tremble. A riveting, soul stirring tempo took hold of all native Xascans and tied the beat of their heart to the stamping canes. Most notably, the sky above began turning dark despite the time of day still being relatively early. This shouldn't have happened, at the very least, for another several hours and yet the sun's rays did nothing to prevent the forcibly summoned night. The stars overhead seemed so much cleared and the sun had simply been blotted out entirely in this region of this domain, forced to relinquish any and all control after the merciless takeover of night. It was a pseudo fake sky but the sense of dread that came with it was very real. The aura of the Anubis had gorged on the fear of the Xascans and their presence was like that of a God's. Ares had come face to face with Gods before and so he knew well enough that this was infinitely close to being similar which also meant these Anubis were probably candidates to apotheosise. Had they ever increased their cultivation they could have treaded down the path to Godhood and only their insistence on remaining within Xasca had prevented it.
Two monsters like this were hardly normal so it wasn't exactly surprising they were of this calibre but Ares was impressed none the less. He was going to kill them, and whatever his display of force was meant nothing to him, but there was still a tinge of respect in his voice as he chanted "Perish Armillary" under his breath. He knew instinctively that a big art was coming from the Anubis so he was counteracting it by charging up his own ahead of time. He'd also sent Aejaz a mental message to get his lazy rear in gear and do the same. Aejaz didn't have the same level of expertise as Ares, and so could only safely generate a weaker version of the art, but if the Anubis brothers could work together to launch an attack then so too could the bandit brothers! Besides, Ares was confident in his own magic and believed it would contend with whatever was thrown at him... But the scale of this clash was going to be borderline continental if it kept getting worse than it was currently.
Whatever the Anubis were doing, they were doing it using the entire country around them as a foundation for their art. Pillars o of gravity-defying sand hung in the air as grains from all across the country funnelled towards them in a majestic nebula. From every corner of Xasca the sand obeyed their call and clumped up into a strange, hypnotic spiral above their heads. The converging sand and magic let off a sharp and threatening aura of domination but Ares' resistance to such things left him feeling neutral on the matter. He wasn't derisive, because these two Anubis clearly meant business, but he wasn't going to fold like a lawn chair in reverence as many spectators had already shamefully done. Even Sandy hadn't kneeled and she was a direct descendent. As a fellahin this level of sand mastery could have very well shaken her to her core and yet she looked more interested in fighting the monstrous art than running away from it. Granted that level of 'tossing self preservation out the window' was extremely rare, and she might not even be entirely all there in the head if this was her reaction to such a situation, but it was a respectable level of pride and determination she firmly clutched in her heart.
Actually, though Sandy was wearing a bundle of clothes, Ares could tell she was somewhat mesmerised by the art and maybe experiencing a rash and rushed enlightenment based on her upwards tilted and unmoveable gaze. This was good for her so Ares made no effort to intervene in whatever was happening over there. He knew roughly what was transpiring and had been through similar enough events before so it was in her best interest to be put on the spot and challenged. If she felt the pressure to act in the face of a horrifyingly powerful art then it would speed up her own acquisition of new ideas and a potential new path forward in her cultivation journey. Of course Ares was taking this art head on personally, whatever it was, and so she didn't have to worry but it was for the best if there was a sense of urgency rummaging around in her brain and ruffling her feathers at least. Ares had come up with the likes of Absolute Reversal and Voidwalk during enlightenments in the past so whatever came of Sandy's moment of brilliance would be considerable for sure given her innate talent and recent digestion of the impressive fine grind.
Back over by the Anubis, they'd basically created a mini star of sand at this point. The star above their heads was grainy and dull but still fit in relatively seamlessly with those that exited in the fake night sky above. If one didn't pay much attention they might even think it was just a particularly low hanging star in orbit but the truth of the matter was that it very much existed in this realm and would come crashing down soon enough. The effect of such an art was clear as day and this entire region of Xasca would be buried underneath a sandy makeshift landslide tomb. Each grain was grinding up against millions of other grains and sharpening them all into nail sized blades so it's not even like trying to survive it would be feasible. This wasn't just a smothering attack, it was a flurry of infinite blades that would ravage anything they touched upon collision. If there were hundreds of millions of sand grains in that star then the second it splashed onto this desert the tide of sword sand would roll over everything and turn cities into sliced rubble that then would lie underneath the art for all eternity.
If Ares were to hazard a guess, the entirety of Xasca city would be fully exterminated in a matter of seconds and the carnage would spread long beyond that. If it weren't for the abysmal amount of mana down here in Sheryashka, compared to higher domains like even Vraizon, this art would be capable of wholly wiping out the country and forcing a fresh restart regarding its inhabitants and civilisation. Truly a Gods' merciless smiting if ever there was one. Though, then again, Ares could technically do the same. If mana was a non-issue, his cultivation were in the transition realm, and he learnt how to better control his armillary, it was very much doable and the extent of damage would be far greater if anything. The number of existences in Sheryashka that could do something of this scale were countable on one hand if not even lower than that.
Ares had readied his Armillary, Aejaz had too, and it seemed like the sand star had reached its max ampacity and couldn't be filled up any longer without it bursting in the sky above and spreading its magical might randomly. Such a scatter could be useful in some situations but Ares and co were just handful of people all located in one area so directing the full extent of the attack solely against them was for the best. Ares lightly lifted the Armillary into the air and it softly raised up a few inches while Ares threw a punch behind it. "Annihilation Echo." This was bold move but it managed to work as he imbued his Armillary art with another while launching both like a spring boarded rocket. Nothingness had worked overtime to prevent the Annihilation Echo from ravaging and detonating the Armillary but Ares' control over nothingness had been getting considerably better as he neared aspect affiliation and so this was thankfully doable without bowling up in his face, literally. Ares' Armillary sailed upwards and Aejaz' own imitation trailed behind it, ready to deal a follow up blow that cleaned up any and all debris that slipped through the net. Up above, the sand star flashed in the night sky before the Anubis stomped their canes simultaneously which was the cue for the sand star to begin its descent onto mortal territory. A blazing shield formed underneath the crashing star that burned away the air and raised the temperature of Xasca by about ten degrees on average across the board, dragging everyone's attention to the falling miracle crafted by their Gods.
As this was happening, Sandy had floated down towards the floor and was currently on her knees but not in reverence. She was focused not on the Anubis, but on the sand itself as she'd gleamed interesting knowledge on the nature of sand manipulation. Having seen it first hand, she now truly understand what it meant to be one with the sand and to be the arbiter that commanded it to do her bidding. When she became an elemental, she wasn't really becoming one with the sand, it was actually the reverse. The sand she became was the core and any other nearby grains were inferior and became an extension of her body and will. She wasn't a bucket of sand amongst a predominant environment, borrowing its natural abundance and power, she was the orchestrator and maestro that commanded the desert to bend to her every whim. She was something akin to a golemnic core, the root of everything it touched. She felt like she could instantly transport herself to any location the sand touched. If she so felt like it, she could relocate back to the fellahin base, miles away, instantly because the sand acted as a direct connection for her. Much like Ares' nothingness connected all regions it touched, any and all sand before Sandy very much did the same. It was one big tunnel system that she could filter through freely or weaponize at her disposal and she was experiencing something akin to an initialisation process for apotheosis. Her affiliation for the sand command aspect had shot up several degrees and she'd somehow gotten ever stronger than she was previously which was some kind of sick joke. She wasn't exactly far behind someone like Enyo before now so this newfound power was going to be off the charts.
Sandy sunk her two arms into the desert and, mere milliseconds after, hundreds of giant arms shot out of the desert all around her. These weren't merely recreations of her own arms, they were technically her real arms and each 'copy' possessed the exact same strength. Sandy was no longer simply the human visibly kneeling down in the desert, she'd become the entire desert itself. She wasn't a sand elemental, right now she was a desert elemental who could control every single inch of this country. With a mere thought she could exist on the opposite end of the desert from where her physical body currently resided but she had no need to as this was where she wanted to be. Sandy allowed the rest of her body to topple into the sand, merging with Xasca in its entirety, and soon her form rose up once more but this time it was gigantic in stature. A bust of Sandy's juggernaut form rose up like a small mountain of sand as more and more arms were created around her endlessly. This was still basic level mastery of this new power and she might honestly have even been able to become a giant titan much like the Anubis if she had more experience with this trick.
This was plenty good enough for now, though, as it became apparent to anyone watching that the child had become the master and very rapidly at that. The Anubis may have been the ancestors of old but their talent paled in comparison to the generational talent fo the future, Sandy, whose speed and aggression with her control over the desert was swift and brutal in comparison. The giant Anubis that once appeared solemn, elegant, and regal now appeared slow, clunky, and aged like creaky and dull statues with a loose grip over their power, fumbling about and trying to perform tricks beyond their capabilities. Sandy's burst of speed, that shot upwards of thousands of full-powered fists into the sky, had happened in mere seconds compared to the painfully meandering generation of the sand star and even seemed to dwarf it in scale. This was upwards of thousands of house-sized fists, each with the power of an eighteen month fine grind, looking to barrel through their target. Even without Ares' armillary the sand star didn't look to stand a chance. The sand star may have been pretty big but the hands clasping at it were numerous enough to wrap around it a couple times over, trap it within a sand hand tomb, and crush it into smithereens.
Sandy's current form was enough to take on the two Anubis by herself. Ares figured there was a time limit attached to this, and that she couldn't do it where there was no sand, but it's not like those issues couldn't be rectified with due time. The former issue was dealt with by training and the latter maybe with apotheosis as she could generate copious amounts of sand freely wherever and whenever she went. Ares was already convinced Enyo would become the Goddess of the holy pillar, and Bellona the Goddess of the support pillar when she developed her powers more, but it seemed like Sandy had a shot at becoming a Goddess too... Was Ares just going to be surrounded by ridiculously powerful women!? He already acknowledged how horrifying the Redhome harem was but this was starting to spiral out of control! Not to mention Candy, who's prowess was still relatively unknown, and supposedly Havannah who was a fundamental champion... Ares was nervously sweating off to the side and justifiably so! He was still stronger than Sandy, and Garmr alone would make this entire powerup for her meaningless if they were to clash... But that didn't mean this wasn't a drastic upgrade! He wouldn't be able to so freely be disrespectful during a friendly spar like he was last time anymore!
Up in the night sky, Ares' Armillary was the first to make contact with the sand star and chaos ensued in indescribable fashion. So much more than the eye could see happened in the next few minutes but Ares watched on regardless with his Omniscience to witness as much of the glorious madness as was humanly possible. The world turned black and white as the two arts were so shockingly strong they'd blotted out all colour from visible reality. Ares' once golden magic flashed now as pure white energy instead in this domain void of colour while the dull black sand star was split at the seams and cracked. The Armillary ravaged the star and obliterated it grain by insignificant grain while also taking the time to wipe out the fake sky and return 'light' to Xasca but still not colour. Beams of white descended from outer space as the sun was permitted to show its face once more, evening out the disparity between black and white in the sky above and creating a strange yin yang-esque swirl of magical scenery. The issue was only exacerbated when Aejaz' rising Armillary was struck by a chunk of falling sand star as it was blown up too and the energy of chaos weas renewed and redoubled.
The explosions up above were now spreading all over the country's skyscape like a layer of ancient mana, filtering reality through it. Small droplets of glistening star powder tinkled as they trickled down from the sky, fading the second they landed within the palms of curious Xascans. The net of magical aftermath had turned the sand star into shiny grains of fading mana sandflakes. There were still some larger star chunks flying off into the distance but that was where Sandy's hands came in as they were merely cleanup for this particular leg of the collision of arts. They each chased down the fleeing sand star chunks and grasped them within their humongous palms, crushing the remnants ff the Anubis' failed endeavour and protecting the desert from multiple devastating crash landings. While Sandy protected her homeland, colour slowly filtered back in bit by bit as though a higher being had taken to filling in the blank canvas with a bucket of tidal paint. It took a few seconds but colour had washed away the inky black and white stains, revealing a fantastic golden hue painting the sky above. The sun above was dyed in this golden magic and so its rays were practically turning everything it touched into solid gold. All of Xasca had become a land of inexhaustible wealth for the few minutes the lingering Armillarias hung in the sky above. and some menial objects were permanently encrusted in golden burn marks due to this world warping event.
One of the Anubis had disappeared. as the combined might of multiple Armillarias presumably came too close to wiping it out so Tom Tom took action like before, during the other trials, to protect it. He initially said he couldn't control the Anubis in this state, and that was likely true, but the Anubis had probably given in after realising it was on death's door and given Tom Tom permission to 'tame' it. Put simply, Tom Tom could save the Anubis with spatial magic so long as it was willing to be saved though this likely came with a whole bunch of restrictions that the Anubis was going to have to suffer through from now on. Ares would inquire as to what was going to happen to them, as he wished to kill them but was at least curious where they were ending up, but that could happen later as there was still one Anubis left that needed to be beaten.
This was the smart one of the two mega-sized dogs and it had used its giant hologram to take a large chunk of the Armillary blows to save itself. The other Anubis used its hologram rashly on offense and paid dearly for it by nearly losing its life so hindsight had proven the smart Anubis correct once more. Still, maybe it was too passive and needed to get better at creating opportunities rather waiting endlessly for them while hiding under a turtle shell, that was the advice both Ares and Dominus would give to it. It was definitely better to be slow and alive than fast an dead, however, so it had that going for it over its forcibly retreated and bloodied comrade. Not that any of that mattered. The remaining Anubis couldn't do that last attack again by itself, its large hologram had just been used up, it had no more rockets, lasers weren't going to work, Sandy had become a monster in human skin, Armillarys were still on the table, the war aura flags were thirsty for blood, and the ninja frog... Was still hopping around and ribbeting in its ear annoyingly. Put simply, it could resist but it could not win. All hope for the Anubis was long gone.
Valiantly, for the next few hours, despite the outcome being clear as day, the last Anubis did put up a respectable fight and never quit even with the odds stacked impossible against it. Up until it was about to greet death personally it clung to the off chance it might at least wound severely even a single foe but it never manged to up until the bitter end. It was grinded down piece by piece while Ares and co were free to take things cautiously and slow without fear. The Anubis was beaten to a bloody pulp and forced to let Tom Tom rescue it when Ares' scythe came bearing down on its brain and Sandy's large torso was looing to crush its heart with an overhead strike. Both her hands were clasped together into a ball and came thundering down onto the desert after the Anubis disappeared. This blow caused Xasca to quake and every single inhabitant to shake in fear even if they knew not what caused it. There was a new overlord of the region, that much had become apparent... Though she was leaving Xasca soon enough so they could deflate their tensions and relax in peace.
Sandy sunk underneath the desert and re-emerged in her human form while Ares landed back on the ground and wiped away some sweat. He'd been fighting non-stop for hours now under the hot sun and been the most active combatant bar none. Sandy was part of the desert, and clothed for the occasion, and Aejaz was lazily chucking arts from under a palm tree he found about two hours ago. Ares was the one really putting his back into it! It was unsurprising he was partially exhausted as this was the longest fight he'd ever been in. Fights between experts could get quite drawn out but he'd never experienced it personally up until now and would have to get used to this sort of challenge. His adept trait didn't help, as his poor muscles were feeling rather tired and burnt out, but it wasn't as though he was going to collapse or anything and he was still good to go for what was left to come. Speaking of which, Ares and co were teleported back into the Riddlemyd room with Tom Tom. They all gathered around to discuss what was going to happen now that the Riddlemyd had been officially conquered! This was a landmark occasion and, undoubtedly, the best way to celebrate it was with a reward!