Now that the searing tornado vs whirlpool tornado match had concluded, and the dust had settled somewhat, it was clear the guardian was getting agitated. Each flap of its wings had become more animated, more forceful, as if it were throwing a temper tantrum at the wind around it. Strong gusts were generated but the real threat were the bricks changing position to create a fifty-fifty split between brown and yellow across Kelo-Koloko's body. This change preceded a short cry, one only Ares could understand thanks to his draconic bloodline translating the monster's vocal yells. Up until now it had mostly been shouting the bird equivalent of 'die humans' in different shades of squawk but this last one was different and Ares didn't have to clarify it to anyone fighting the guardian either as they all knew within seconds. The flow of mana was disturbed and seemed to flow along the lingering echoes of Kelo-Koloko's shout, it bore the resemblance of an art chant and sure enough that was precisely what it was... But not one anyone would be familiar with. Even Ares, who was relatively familiar and well-versed in most of the standard arts across pillars thanks to diving nose-first into countless library books when he was younger, and could understand Kelo-koloko, wouldn't be able to predict what came next because it was a unique art. It had been a little while since Ares, or in this case those around him, had been on the receiving end of one so it was going to be an unpredictable wild ride for sure.
For the sake of fairness Ares chose not to inform the party scrapping with the guardian that the art's name was 'Thundraga Shrine'. It wasn't their fault they didn't speak bird-brain but battling babbling monsters, and having to react on the fly to their sudden art casts, was part of the practice. Against humans you could decipher what was coming your way but that was what made fighting a human's magic easier than a monster's for the most part. Of course humans, and humanoid races, had a better innate talent for magic usually but the language gap between humans and monsters gave the latter their own edge and Ares wasn't about to take that away. This was a good learning experience especially for someone like Enyo who frequently locked up evil doers and less frequently smacked around monsters. Thankfully she wasn't looking to try and cuff Kelo-Koloko and jail it but she had her own work cut out for as she was the main defensive wall separating the group from safety and irreparable harm. When the chips were down it would ultimately be up to her whether everyone lived or died, if such a dangerous situation arose, so she needed to be on the ball with analysing the incoming magic and deciding how much she needed to exert herself and in what way. It was obviously a combination magic incoming, the bricks on Kelo-Koloko signified as such, but what form would it take exactly? Only Ares had an inkling, and he could have done something by now, but Enyo was learning the hard way that fighting a magic-proficient monster was a chore and labour of patience. If she acted too soon, she might misunderstand the magic and fail to block it accordingly. If she acted too late she wouldn't block it at all. Again, Ares was thankful to the guardian for being such a perfect punching bag! It had all the traits Ares wanted the others to experience first hand and there really weren't many monsters out there across Sheryashka that could do it.
As for 'Thundraga's Shrine', rather than the functionality, Ares was more interested in the fact that even the guardians seemed reverent towards Thundraga. They probably hadn't been around that long, they hadn't seen her in the flesh most likely, and yet one such guardian had even created a unique art in her honor. Ares had underestimated the sway Thundraga had on this continent for sure so perhaps carrying around that bow would make his life considerably easier? If a monster recognised it they would be hesitant to go anywhere near it so he could stop getting ambushed by guardians whenever he travelled if he so desired. He still had to procure it first, fighting guardians was good for the locals to some extent, and Ares was appreciative of the experience his family was getting right now, so whether or not he'd ward them away with the bow remained to be seen but it was an option if Kelo-Koloko's reverence was any indication. That aside, the art itself was beginning to take shape and Ares' hunch about how it worked was proven correct. A large totemic shard of earth emerged from the ground, splintering the sand and flinging it aside to create a small area untouched by Sandy's domain. The ground was cracked and crooked, twisted and ravaged by time. Sharp, zigzagging lines had been torn into the earth and they all met up in the centre of the area where the totem was leaning diagonally out of a seemingly endless pit beneath it. From the pit, small sparks could be seen rising to the top, dashing up and eventually out of the earth. They lung themselves high into the sky and hovered, numbering in the hundreds and slowly swelling in size as they gathered more and more magical energy from the glowing totem below. Each of these sparks were going to spawn crashing thunder that targeted everything on the ground level, carpet bombing with explosive thunder aspect magic. As for why this was a combination magic, it hadn't been proven as of yet but Ares theorised that hiding under the earth would not be a safe option. Teh sparks originated form the depths of that pit and earth magic had been used to funnel it so, in likelihood, those sparks and their thunderous releases could be funneled through the ground instead of simply being absorbed and dissipated as they normally would. Contrary to usual methodology, the best way to avoid this attack would actually be to get above it rather than hiding underneath an alcove or an overhang. All members of the group could fly in their own way so that was probably preferable but whether they'd all make it in time before the hundreds of sparks turned this place to dust was another matter. If, like Ares, they understood thunder was going to rain down from above when they heard the art name, they could have come up with a counter measure much faster. Now, though, it would be a scramble to flee... Provided Enyo didn't do anything. Again, it was her time to shine now and how quickly she could conjure a safety zone was the test awaiting her.
Being a prodigy meant many things but, above all, she was already in the middle of casting her rebuttal. Layer upon layer of thin barriers were appearing directly above the group one by one. She wasn't trying to prevent carnage on a large scale, so she ignored anywhere irrelevant to protecting the group, and quickly wove a defensive net that was nigh unbreakable. She didn't have time to cast an art, the thunder was already raining down and battering her barriers already, but her normal magic was now sufficient to handle tasks like this so long as she was quick on the uptake. Flashes of thunder decorated the sandy plains and the whole world turned a brilliant white almost as if the guardian was trying to outdo Ares' Flashbang earlier. Enyo couldn't see two feet ahead of her but her connection to her own magic informed her of the state of her barriers and that was all that mattered. Constantly replenishing her supply of mana towards the ones on the verge of shattering, and creating new ones whenever there was time to spare, enabled her to create an impenetrable safe haven. She couldn't see the others but had enough faith in her own power to know they were all still unharmed so long as her barriers were up and running. It was extreme confidence but it wasn't unwarranted as, a minute later, after the onslaught, when the thunder finally settled down and only the occasional crash could be heard off in the distance, the group hadn't lost a single hair on their head. Enyo had exerted some effort and mana but she was still good to go and so the fight returned to a neutral state of sorts with no progress being made on either side. So far it had mostly been the guardian attacking one-sidedly but it was looking a little spent after that last barrage and that moment of weakness meant someone was going to fill in the gap and take the opportunity to dish out some hurt in response. That 'someone' was Bellona who had pulled her cane treasure out of her spatial ring, tapped into its mana reserves, and was in the middle of summoning a Meteor.
Meteor was an art that hadn't seen the life of day in a good while but there were two main reasons for that. One; Bellona hadn't needed it. Throwing a meteor at someone was generally overkill and it was rare she came across a cockroach who warranted that level of squashing. Two, and this was the real kicker, her meteor supply had been tampered with! Ever since Rhea returned to the Legion home planet, and things got messy between her and Major, Bellona's Meteor supply had been 'mysteriously' locked away. It's not like she summoned her own, that's not how her magic worked, so when Major cut her off she was left without the ability to warp them into the atmosphere from outer space. She couldn't repeatedly half their distance from herself because that failure of a father had put up a giant wall of some kind and blocked any outside magic. Really it wasn't that surprising, he never much liked Bellona anyway due to the fact she wasn't his child, but it was still incredibly petty! Thankfully Rhea must have gone and harvested a few more Meteors for Bellona and was now storing them closer to the Revenants' home planet instead which did somewhat change the angle the Meteors descended from funnily enough. A Meteor was a Meteor, so aiming it wasn't high on the list of priorities so long as it didn't go flying off in the complete wrong direction, but it was still a strange change for Bellona nonetheless. Like if all of a sudden her right arm shrunk by an inch. Not the most noticeable difference ever but uncomfortable and highly odd. Anyway, point being, Meteors were back on the menu! After a long hiatus, they were ready to rumble once more and rumble they did... Or, rather, it was more like the earth was rumbling and rattling under the immense pressure of the rapidly approaching rock bomb. Even though the guardian was high in the sky its world was spinning as a large shadow buried it in darkness. It took a short moment for Kelo-Koloko to fully understand the gravity of the situation, and come to terms with the massive projectile, but it shook its head and refused to be done in like this.
Kelo-Koloko rotated its bricks until they were all green as the lush grass that was once visible in this region. The nearby wind heeded the guardian's call and ruffled its wings, granting it the power of enhanced flight so as to allow it to zoom off and avoid the meteor entirely. Kelo-Koloko took off like a comet and its speed had become considerable compared to previously. Usually it was a lumbering, large, hovering jet loaded with an elemental arsenal. Now, though, that jet had packed away all its weapons and was darting away to safety to reposition. Not a bad idea but also not one that was going to work well against the group it had picked this fight with as they weren't going to just stand around and ignore this. First, Bellona manipulated the guardian's speed directly, shaving multiple halves off until it looked less like a speeding jet and more like a touring helicopter. Then Enyo summoned a maze of see-through barriers that was impossibly hard to navigate with the threat of a giant Meteor lurking ever present in the background. Next, Aejaz stole the guardian's sense of sight for a short while, not long enough to leave it helpless but long enough to disorient it amidst the maze and reset its progress, and finally Sandy flooded the maze with sand to bog down the guardian and encase it in a soon-to-be crushed tomb. Allie and Trixie didn't get to contribute much to this team effort but Ares hadn't expected them too anyway and it was the thought that counted. It's not like they were doing nothing this whole time as Allie was preparing her Mini-Pillies for battle and handing out recovery pills in case of an emergency. Trixie was borrowing spare Mini-Pillies and loading them with bombs, treating them as suicide bombers effectively, and preparing to toss them at the guardian should it try to ram the group again. Neither of them ended up getting to take the spotlight but it was good they treated this fight seriously and got something out of it even if they weren't dealing with the danger front and center.
Back over by the guardian... Well things weren't looking pretty. It's wings were stuck in the sand and crushed by the barriers closing in all around it but, worse still, its bricks were jammed. The need to rotate them to change its affinities was showing its weakness right about now as the guardian's body was clogged completely from head to toe. Sand was even getting in Kelo-Koloko's mouth at this point so there was no way it wasn't getting its joint-heavy body gummed up too. The bricks fought hard to twist and turn ever inch they could feasibly manage, and some were able to twist ever so slightly, but it wound up being a jumbled mess that didn't look particularly helpful. Its body was split into about five different colours and it looked like a pretty rainbow bird more than it did an actual threat... But maybe that was counting the guardian down and out for the count far too soon. Though it was strictly a coincidence things ended up this way, this precise colours scheme, in which all the bricks were divided somewhat evenly across the board, was the requirement for an art the guardian would rather not use. Kelo-Koloko was a highly aggressive monster and part of what that entailed was the desire to make sure it always won... Even if it cost it its life. If it were going to die, it had always vowed to take its attackers with it. Though it was tragic the guardian had only lost, or was about to, after suffering a single attack from its foes, it wasn't unprepared for this eventuality. It wasn't sure it would be able to manage using this art but the stars had aligned and its desperation in fiddling with the bricks had netted it results. It's not like they were all perfectly aligned, just as the guardian envisioned, but the allotment of bricks was good enough to suicide bomb the area even if it came at the cost of a somewhat reduced output. Even it didn't know how much damage it could do by supercharging all its energy and mana but it was a lot, that was for sure. At least half of this grassy plain, or sandy now anyway, was going to be blown to kingdom come one way or the other! Kelo-Koloko deeply regretted picking this fight but it had no regrets about being the one to end it on his terms! Maybe one day it could return from the land of the dead too, it was technically a being primarily made of mana and brick, both of which were easily replaceable. A few generations of clueless tribesmen donating bricks to an alter to honor ancient traditions and there was a non-zero chance Kelo-Koloko could be reborn like an earthen phoenix of sorts. Perhaps that chance at being rebirth was why it had no hesitation in turning itself into a eery firework. The small light inside it began radiating outwards and a swathe of elemental colours danced around its stuck form. Though there was no physical space, the mana freely circled the guardian and swam through barriers and sand like they weren't even there.
Ares recognised a suicide bomb when he saw one because he himself had done something similar back at the international. For a rainy day, he had No Fear tucked away and ready to wreak mayhem so he didn't need to hear the guardian's cry to know what kind of art it was using right about now. He was tempted to inform the others, because this was actually rather dangerous as the collision between a mana-packed Meteor and an exploding guardian's pent up energy was not a trifling matter, but he chose not too because he had faith. Faith that Enyo was more than familiar enough with explosions, thanks mostly to Ares himself, to see what was on the horizon and act accordingly. If Enyo, of all people, couldn't see an explosion coming then nobody could. Well, Bellona was also a good candidate but she was probably less suited to stopping the carnage than her sister was. "Shrine Of The Goddess!" Another rare art sighting but a pleasant one nonetheless. The group let loose all their stiff nerves and any built up tension faded once this art formed as it was basically game over at this point. Enyo had accurately pinpointed the guardian's final gambit, recognised the output was considerable, and summoned an appropriate level of defense in turn. This art was enough to keep Ares' explosions at bay for the most part so what chance did Kelo-Koloko stand against it? Ares had willingly practiced with Enyo the art of resisting powerful magic with her barriers, of course he did! He would rather Enyo be able to defend against such magic than be able to break through it himself. Of course he still could but it was much harder now as there was no way Enyo would experience his magic that many times and not figure out the keys to the kingdom, so to speak. If Ares got strong enough there would be nothing Enyo could do about it but the gap between them wasn't so large she couldn't come up with a few counter measures here and there for now. Not that it really mattered, the real point wasn't enabling Enyos to beat Ares, or come close to it, it was to set a standard other foes she faced couldn't possibly live up to. Doing even decently against Ares meant beating basically everyone else in existence other than the rest of the fundamental champions and that was plenty good enough. Kelo-Koloko's suicide bomb was far-reaching but it didn't live up to even a direct hit from a Perish Wheel because the nature of the explosions was just different. Enyo held no fear and no respect for the explosion because she knew it wouldn't even dent her shrine. Maybe it was pride in her husband but she couldn't help but scoff at the dying bird, there was no contest and everyone seemed to agree.
Nonetheless, even though Kelo-Koloko could see the belittlement in the group's eyes, it followed through without caring. It knew it was going to make this land uninhabitable irrespective of how many people it did or not kill and that was good enough!... It was tough deciding whether or not Kelo or Major won the petty-off this fight but it was extremely close either way... Also, Kelo-Koloko was drastically underestimating Enyo. It wouldn't live to see the result of this three-way fight for dominance, between the Meteor, Enyo's Shrine, and its own self-destruction, and maybe that was for the best... Enyo's Shrine didn't just create a fortified position from which she could rest on her throne and laugh at the feeble attempts to breach it. Its dampening effect was not something that could be ignored and it had levelled up compared to the last time it was used. Back then, she blocked a combination magic from Water and Lightning Guy without so much as breaking a sweat thanks to it and her cultivation was considerably lower than it was right now. A measly explosion, one that was already hamstringed due to a lack of uniformity across the bricks, stood no chance whatsoever. It wasn't going to crack the barrier, it wasn't going to sunder the earth, it wasn't going to leave a mark pretty much at all. If anything, Bellona's Meteor would do a bigger number on the environment due to the sheer speed at which it was impacting the earth and, even then, it would leave a centimetre-or-two deep mark at most. Enyo was THE defensive cultivator to keep an eye on this generation. She was incomparable to even the greatest throughout history that came before her and it really showed. Those who witnessed what came next could only nod their heads and sigh in amazement, Enyo was definitely fitting of the titles she would go on to earn. Namely, she was even considered an honorary fundamental champion by some which was both hilarious and not necessarily an exaggeration. There weren't many who could wind up going head to head with a fundamental champion so she was a rare exception in many ways. It wasn't hard to hold deep respect for her. How unflinching she was even as the Meteor crashed into the exploding guardian, as if he was watching a theatre play from the safety of the back row, was deeply impressive. Still, like pretty much everyone else here, nobody was really at their peak yet. There was a lot more to come in the future for this group and slaying this guardian was merely the beginning. A very flashy beginning, the entire country could probably see the collision between the Meteor and the dying guardian, but still a beginning nonetheless.