CHAPTER 563: WARS AND THE WEAPON ARTIST

"Where are they now?" asked Yvonne while rushing through the foliage near the top of the trees.

Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the arena, and the sound of laughter reached her ears. Her movements slowed as she arrived near the area with her last two enemies.

One of them, a tall, muscular man wearing a few pieces of golden armor and using a long spear. His face, contorted in a hateful expression, gazed towards the glowing blood-red eyes of his opponent.

The other was also a man, standing in crimson armor carrying an enormous bloody greatsword. He laughed as his opponent attacked, as if the simple idea of fighting filled him with joy.

"Ares and War... The last two... Should I let them fight it out and—" before Yvonne could’ve finished the question, she felt air whistle in her direction.

Ares’s golden spear grazed her armored shoulder, causing her to lose balance and fall towards the ground. While falling, she twisted midair and landed on her feet, ready for the next attack, which never arrived.

She slowly stood up and stepped closer to the embodiments of war. Both Ares and War stood far apart, keeping an eye on both their enemies. Yvonne fell into the third point of the triangle-like formation, then stopped and waited.

"I’ve been looking for you!" said War while pointing his greatsword at Yvonne. She could hear the smile and excitement in his deep, rumbling voice.

"Well, sorry for keeping you waiting," she said, her emotionless face hidden by her helmet. "However, you have to admit... Having me as your last fight is much more dramatic!"

War shrugged and said, "Can’t argue with that... Now that we are all here, let’s begin this final battle!"

Yvonne gulped as tendrils of fear appeared in her heart, while Ares just growled like an animal. He was a man of few words and even fewer thoughts. Sadly, his fighting ability was just as bad as War’s.

All three stayed motionless for a few seconds, then suddenly burst into action. War brandished his greatsword, while Ares ran with his spear, which reappeared in his hands at some point.

For a moment, Yvonne thought about the best weapon to use against these two. Both their weapons had great reach, but bladed weapons sucked against armor... A weird thought appeared in Yvonne’s mind, a weapon that might work...

From her gauntlets, a long gray shaft grew in each direction, then at its tip, a massive and heavy hammer grew. She created an enormous warhammer, which would hopefully do plenty of damage against these two bloodlusted fighters.

They all ran towards the triangle’s center, then attacked with all their might...

Yvonne parried War’s greatsword, its momentum pushing her back an entire meter. Ares’s spear stabbed towards War’s neck, but the cunning fighter used his sword’s pummel to push it off course.

After recovering, Yvonne’s warhammer moved horizontally towards Ares’s chestplate. He had to back away to evade, which War used to his advantage and attempted to cut away the primordial god’s right arm.

His spear blocked the greatsword as he jumped away from the ground and flipped over War. Yvonne’s warhammer was already moving vertically towards War’s head when he released his sword’s handle and punched the massive head of the hammer, essentially parrying it.

Yvonne staggered back as War shook off the heavy blow. Most of the bones broke in his hand and lower arm, but a moment later they regenerated.

Ares’s next attack came, a low sweep aiming to cut off both War and Yvonne’s legs. However, both fighters jumped away in time and kicked the god in the chest, driving themselves further upward.

She swung her warhammer, but War raised his own weapon in time. They were still in the air though, so while War didn’t suffer any damage, he was sent flying through the forest.

Below Yvonne, Ares recovered and stabbed up, trying to impale her. Luckily, she had enough time to grow a shield on her right hand while falling, and instead of getting impaled, she crushed through the spear.

The primordial god jumped away as Yvonne landed in a roll and War burst into the clearing at full speed. However, at that moment all three stopped.

The assessment period of the fight was over. They gained enough understanding of each other’s powers and strengths to make judgements about the best way towards victory.

For example, Yvonne dropped her warhammer and instead summoned a pair of long sabers. The hammer was too slow, and its massive head made it unwieldy while fighting against two opponents.

War, on the other hand, touched his greatsword’s blade, causing a blood-red, dreadful aura to spread across its surface. It sounded as if distant the distant scream of a million souls echoed from the blade.

Ares’s eyes began burning with crimson flames, same as his weapon and entire body. His hateful gaze sent a shiver down Yvonne’s spine, but even though her thoughts screamed at her to flee, she stayed absolutely still.

She took a deep breath, and suddenly all the thoughts disappeared. The entire world came into higher definition. She felt the moments crawl by as the tension in the air reached a new height.

Yvonne wasn’t as fast as War or as physically strong as Ares, but she had something neither did... A clear mind...

They ran towards each other again, this time much faster. Their feet shot up specks of dirt in the air, yet compared to their movements, the specks seemed to float.

The curved blades formed an ’X’ as Yvonne defended against War’s greatsword. Ares’s spear created an arc of crimson flames as he slashed vertically towards War’s arms. The attack sent forward a shockwave, which melted parts of the ground for a few hundred meters.

War halted his offense, to parry the powerful blow. His feet sank into the ground from the sheer weight of Ares’s attack. Yvonne wasted no time with both her, weapons she slashed both man’s necks.

Ares raised her wrist and blocked the blow just as it drew blood. War didn’t even defend himself as the sword sent only sparks through the air. She nicked a wide chunk out of his crimson armor, but she didn’t draw blood.

Her attack pushed both men off balance though, which meant she could pummel them further.

She swung towards Ares’s arms, while also stabbing at War’s neck. Both managed to block her swords, but the strength behind it pushed them further apart.

Yvonne sprinted towards Ares, who stood about twenty meters away. However, she didn’t attack. Instead, a light chuckle echoed from her lips as she went low, crouching under the man’s spear.

Suddenly, the primordial god’s eyes went wide, as another foe appeared before him. While sprinting, Yvonne already heard the heavy footfalls of War. The bloodlusted creature didn’t care what it killed until blood flowed, so it changed targets immediately.

His glowing, blood-red greatsword slammed down on Ares’s spear with so much power, all the dirt went flying as the ground suddenly disappeared.

War’s attack created a ten meter deep crater, yet somehow all three fighters fell on their feet.

Ares still struggled under War’s weapon, which kept pushing down. Yvonne crouched behind the primordial god, with a wide grin stretching across her face.

The lightest of whispers left her mouth as she said, "Now!"

What happened next was completely inexplicable to anyone watching the fight. War took a tiny step forward, his feet slightly sinking into the loose ground, then suddenly... He stumbled...

He lost his footing and began falling towards Ares. Yvonne used the opportunity and cut the back of Ares’s knees, then moved under him as both men fell on top of each other.

Yvonne held out her swords, each aiming at one of her foe’s hearts...

First, Ares landed on her sword heavily, but his armor stayed intact. Next came War, falling onto Ares. His weight pushed the primordial god through Yvonne’s sword, but his own crimson armor didn’t get pierced.

War was about to jump away from the imminent danger, but he couldn’t move his body. Shadows gathered around him and began increasing the pressure behind his back, gradually pushing him through Yvonne’s blade, until his blood flowed and he became limp.

His last words still echoed through the forest as he screamed, "You fucking cheater!"

Sadly, the drones didn’t see his face, so his last words remained a mystery to everyone.

As for Yvonne, she just chuckled at War’s miserable death and took a breather. Blood, mud and dirt covered her entire armored body, but she didn’t care as an exhausted laugh echoed from her lips.

"Thank you for your help..." she whispered, while touching the shadows and the tiny root which made War stumble.

She felt a shadowy finger touch her skin while a tiny tendril of root wrapped itself around her palm.

Yvonne continued lying there for another few seconds, but eventually, it was time to leave the battlefield. Her hands trembled from the last vestiges of adrenaline as she pushed off both corpses with ease.

Her hand lingered on War’s corpse though, as the all too familiar question popped up in her mind.

Above, the Aegis shield stopped filtering sounds, so she could hear the spectators chant her name with joy. She pulled off her helmet and smiled at the closest drone, which finally ventured into the forest to get a better shot of her Evolution.

"And the winner is the Weapon Artist!" shouted the female announcer, but Yvonne didn’t hear it as she answered the question...

’Do you wish to evolve?’

"Obviously!" she whispered with a wide grin, then passed out a moment later.