In the instant of his thought, Sohka was upon him. Ares keeled over as Sohka kicked him in the stomach, dragging the ground with him as the dirt kicked out under him. ‘Da-’ Before he could even curse, Sohka kicked him across his head. He was flung back, tears began to swell up due to the pain.

He tried to gasp for air, but when he did, Sohka would be upon him like a flurry of death. Sohka punched his liver, causing his legs to quiver and then he dropped down. Sohka slammed his hoof down towards his head, but Ares managed to roll to one side, seeing the ground that had broken apart, dirt kicking up all over the place.

The moment he looked over to the ground, a mere glance that was barely a moment, Sohka had already struck his head with their hoof again.

Only seconds had passed and Ares was already brutalised. His entire body was screaming at him, telling at him to run. The two black vipers would have been so much easier, especially considering he wasn’t able to use the rest of his powers.

Ares managed to gasp for breath, and as it filled his lungs, he was still being toyed around with by the older man. A fist to his jaw, a hoof to side, his body being slammed from side to side.

Ares continued to try and gather himself, trying to spin his body around as Sohka chased him. His heart was pounding wildly, his body filled with the heat of effort and his blood. He could feel the taste of iron in his mouth.

His body still screamed, his bones had felt like glass being shattered. He clenched his fists together and then threw out a punch, though Sohka swayed and then punched Ares upward off of his feet, and then Sohka grabbed his legs, spinning and then tossing him onto the ground. Even now, Sohka gave Ares no rest.

Ares bounced off the ground and then flipped onto his feet, and as he got into a ready stance, he looked up to see Sohka charge into him. Those large, pointed horns pierced into his stomach. He gasped for air, gritting his teeth as he was forced back. He managed to grab onto Sohka’s horns now that they were stuck into him, and though the sharp pain caused him to wince, his blood pouring down his front. He then hoisted Sohka up and tossed them over, pulling those horns out of him as he then dropped down to one knee.

He clutched at the holes in his front, trying to force his body to heal. Then he heard Sohka move from behind him, so he leapt into the air, though Sohka was right behind him, drop kicking his back as he yelled out in pain, dropping down onto the ground, tumbling down.

He grunted out in pain as he then tried to get back onto his feet, when Sohka appeared ahead of him. He couldn’t even think about how ridiculous it was that Sohka could get to him so quickly.

Sohka threw a punch towards Ares, and due to his injuries, Ares couldn’t react in time. His jaw was struck, and his neck snapped back towards his tripe. He barely managed to stay on his feet, he spat out blood with some of his teeth flying out. He really needed to shift into his phoenix form. As he was about to, he saw his tribe looking at him. Since he was already brought to his point of shame, he couldn’t shame his tribe anymore than he already had. Then he saw the three tiny sets of eyes that were tearing up.

He inhaled deeply as he then flung his upper body up and forward, managing to stand on his feet properly. Sohka struck his jaw, then his stomach, but this time he braced his feet into the ground, like the roots of a heavy oak.

Then he stared up into Sohka’s eyes which had turned completely black like the void.

“You fucker.” Ares grunted out. Then as Sohka punched his jaw again, he pushed his head against their fist. He glared into the old man’s eyes. “You’re making my kids cry.” Then he punched the old man’s gut with what little strength he had. He pulled back his fist, but stepped forward towards Sohka, who was still trying to attack him. He took the blow, but then punched Sohka in the gut with all his might, causing them to stumble back.

Yet Sohka caught himself quickly and then tried to swipe his leg over Ares’ neck. Ares took the blow again, then grabbed at their leg. Sohka looked up at them in surprise. Ares gripped their leg harshly, making sure they couldn’t escape from him.

With the quiet sobbing in the distance of his children, Ares clenched his fist, and then began to wail on Sohka’s head. One strike, and Sohka pulled away, but Ares kept them locked in, and he kept striking. Again and again, with each strike he could feel their form start to give, and then finally Sohka was back to his original form, coughing and snorting out blood. Sohka stared up at him in shock still, though there was no fear in their eyes. Then Ares tossed Sohka into the air, leaping up after them. He grabbed onto their throat, and then aimed to choke slam them down.

The moment they landed, Ares kept a hold onto Sohka’s neck, not letting their head slam into the ground. He held onto it, seeing that Sohka had fallen unconscious. Ares could still feel his chest throbbing, and he inhaled in deeply. He let go of Sohka’s neck and then he lifted up his arms.

“URAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Ares roared out and then marched away. “That’s right! I’m the strongest! That didn’t even hurt at all!” Then he stomped his way over to his tribe, and he could see they looked at him in both awe and horror. Ares then reached out and placed his hands onto the boy’s heads, rubbing atop them and then he leaned in to kiss Runar’s forehead. “You really did make sure to see, you are such good kids.” He chuckled. “See? I’m the strongest, so you don’t have to cry.” He kept laughing, though his children continued to cry.

Deep down though, he could feel the guilt of letting them see him get so badly hurt. He should have let go of his pride, and he shouldn’t have let down his guard. No, he should have kept a higher guard, especially for someone like Sohka.

‘Honestly, what a useless father I am.’

He looked over to Rori, who was staring at him with a blank expression as always. Ares nodded his head, and they returned the head nod, before Ares then walked back to see Grita had carried Sohka away to be healed by the shamans.

Lana was glaring daggers at him, and he quickly looked away. Was she mad because of how he had beaten Sohka? ‘The guy was merciless, what did she expect?’ Then he waited for Grita to return.

She whispered something to him at first. “So I didn’t get to see you go feral.” She shook her head, but then continued.

“Ares has surpassed the gauntlet. I have seen you, Ares.” Grita paused after, waiting for him.

Ares nodded his head, though was a little confused.

“Make your request.” Grita bowed her head, stepping away to leave Ares the centre of attention. That’s when he remembered, there were thousands upon thousands of people looking at him. He didn’t really focus on their faces, but he could see they were all staring at him.

His heart began to pound in his chest, sweat dripped down his body. Even though he slowly healed, he no longer felt the pain about his body. He could still hear the sobbing of his children. He inhaled deeply, and then calmed down.

“That’s right! I’ve come to make a request! I won’t be forcing any of you to join me, but I’m asking you to listen! I have beaten seven of your great warriors, and I didn’t even need to go feral! So if you guys want to see me go feral one day, you should join me! Also! If you’ve ever thought any of these these things, you should consider joining me!”

Ares inhaled again. “Wow! That guy, he’s so handsome, isn’t he?” He coughed a little. “Wow! That guy, he’s so strong, isn’t he?” He cleared his throat again. “Wow! That guy’s kids, aren’t they the cutest?”

Then Ares let out a long sigh and laughed. “Seriously though! I have beaten seven of your great warriors, but that isn’t where I’m stopping. I have come to conquer the Dragon’s Spine, and from there, I will conquer more and more until I am the King! I will build a country where all, regardless of where you were born, regardless of the race you were born as, you will be welcome! You won’t be discriminated by any such things!”

Ares nodded his head, but then he stopped. Then he looked over to Grita and walked over to her. “Hey Grita, can I add on to that? I want to also add in that I am going to adopt all the children that have been born with weak bodies, every single one of them from now on.”

Grita bowed her head. “I will acknowledge this.”

Ares nodded and then he walked back. “As you can see, my children are the cutest! So from now on, I will adopt all the babies that have been born weak of body, so you can no longer allowed to murder them! If you have a problem with that, you can come and fight me. Though, if you want to fight me because of that, I won’t show you any mercy. No mercy at all."