CLAP


    Ahem


    Ya Ye didn''t exactly need to throw his voice around to garner everyone''s attention as he very much already had it. The centre of the arena had been such a massive clusterfuck for the last twenty or so minutes that it was nigh impossible for anyone to have not had their eyes glued to it. The only time anyone stopped spectating the arena happenings was when they had to crane their necks to the sky to catch glimpses of the treetop scuffle. Regardless, Ye cleared his throat mostly to signify that the unplanned events for today were over and relieve anyone who was worried they were going to be stuck here for longer. They could have already left but why risk it? It was safer here were the experts were than leaving the stadium and getting accidentally involved with whatever nonsense was transpiring here today away from the safety of the pack. The throat clear was enough for some people to get up and start running for the hills before Ye had even opened his mouth to speak so the subtle insinuation that everybody was free had gotten across clearly.


    "Dear citizens of Sheryashka, I, Ya Ye, the Summer Colours'' Blade, would like to extend an apology to you all on behalf of the four seasons. We, alongside the assassins from earlier who''ve already been dispatched and faced their punishment, have created quite the ruckus and made a royal mess of this day of the tournament. There are no excuses for our selfish behaviour and all we can really do to make up for it is stick around for the rest of the event and make sure nobody else causes a fuss. We promise not to cause anymore scenes nor will we allow anyone else to. The four seasons tend to be results driven so now that we''ve settled our dispute it will not occur again, that I assure you. For all of those who are worried about today''s events, please understand that you were never at risk and we were in full control of the situation. You are perfectly safe to continue watching the tournament at your leisure, especially now that we will be devoting our all to safeguarding this historic venue. Though it isn''t much, to make up for this transgression, I will be compensating anyone with grievances. I shall be waiting here until midnight and anyone who wants a high grade stardust for the interruption today is free to come and ask for it. I hope this generosity can help us overcome the rift between us that our side has caused.


    Furthermore, I believe we also owe the C.O an apology for our handling of this matter. It was not our intent to overtake this arena and belittle your authority for our own spat it''s just that our clans have a very complex relation and it all happened to kick off today due to various events you''ve already borne witness to. If you would also seek an apology via renumeration, then we can discuss such a matter in private later. I will be sure to be in touch by the end of tomorrow so please consider what it is you want in return for today. Though the other two seasons have already left, we all hope you can just treat what happened here as a sort of side show and not think on it too deeply. Thank you for your time. I''m sure it needn''t be said but, just in case, all the events today are over. I would recommend you all head home and not loiter unless you aim to speak to me for your compensation. That is all."


    Ya Ye''s speech was direct and to the point. Simple and effective. He conveyed everyone''s grievances, explained without excusing his behaviour, offered appropriate compensation, and appeared genuinely apologetic. He''d bailed out the other seasons and saved everyone''s reputation as well as dispelled any doubts the citizens had about their safety. This speech wasn''t textbook only because it had yet to be put in any but it undoubtedly would make its way into at least one at some point in time. ''A guide on how to give the perfect apology''. As for the high grade, it was a metric ton of money to anyone on the lower floors so naturally they were all going to clamber over each other to speak to Ye about it. Those higher up in the floors might not have cared about the stated incentive but the unstated benefit of getting to chat with one of the four seasons was arguably even better so they were equally pacified as they also clambered over one another to get down to the arena. Ya Ye had told everyone they could leave but the people who actively left were few and far between. The overlap of people who weren''t poor, and didn''t need the compensation, and those who weren''t rich enough to make use of the connection that was Ye, were countable on one or two hands. In short, about 99% of everyone present here today was satisfied with things and the other 1% could be ignored because, let''s face it, somebody somewhere was always going to be unhappy about something. That was a universal and unavoidable truth so it was best not to have sleepless nights over it.


    Up on the top floor of the coliseum, Ares was being hoisted onto Bellona''s back. She was going to carry him back but was currently arguing with Enyo over why taking a ''detour'' was necessary to spend more time with Ares and Appa in private. Something something ''improving family bonds''. Thankfully, for Ares'' dry self, Enyo was insistent that if Bellona wanted to take a detour then she would follow her to the ends of the earth. Enyo, for all her faults, at least understood Ares'' current predicament was a rough one and that dumping him in a lake was problematic for various reasons. He could very well become ill because of it and, although healing an illness wasn''t too difficult thanks to Allie''s pills, it was still pointless putting him in that position to begin with. Also, after the assassination attempt today, chucking Ares in the middle of nowhere and abandoning him was recipe for disaster and that was Enyo''s biggest concern. Bellona couldn''t argue against this because Enyo was really driving the point home and seemed to be serious about that specific matter. To that end, it looked like Ares would escape his fate today without needing to bargain with Blo Blo. He sighed in relief but was a little worried when he heard Bellona kiss her teeth and mutter that she''d ''get him next time''. Ares was going to have to sleep with one eye open around this woman!... Which was weird because he already had to sleep with one eye open to prevent Enyo from assailing him at night as well... At this rate, Ares was never going to sleep again unless he learnt to sleep with both eyes open! Why couldn''t they just be sweet and cuddly?! Why was it always horny or mischievous?! And there were two of them! It never ended...


    Over by the matriarchs, Calla was being braggadocios about her big and fluffy baby. The revenant form really was the highlight of today, even in spite of everything that had come after, and was still the number one thing stuck in everyone''s head. A mythological being had literally descended upon this coliseum today so it was no surprise that it would be the main talking point for everyone, including the C.O who had a lot of clean up work to do as a result of it. Arguably, Ares'' revenant form was even rarer than anything ''mythological'' because it required such a ridiculous combination of happenchance that it was almost completely unfeasible. Sometimes myths could be accurate to some degree but if anyone in the wider world heard this story they would treat it as pure fiction. They''d be more inclined to believe whacky stories about Gods from eons past because many things were possible in the cultivation world but Garmr was pretty unfathomable. Then again, the main issue was actually just that people didn''t want to believe it, not that they couldn''t. Who on earth would want a draconic revenant colossus God of destruction running around!? That was disaster waiting to happen no matter how you looked at it! Even the matriarchs were constantly glancing at Ares because he was seriously out of whack.


    It was such a stroke of luck that Ares wasn''t involved in the war. Had he not met Enyo, and gone on to discover the war in his own time, he very well may have gone down a different path. Enyo, and to a lesser extent Bellona, were like the glue holding the Umbras and Legions together so Rhea silently gave her daughters a thumbs up for taking one for the team and marrying an annoying revenant. Also, she was just generally happy that her children were tied at the hip to such a prodigal cultivator. There would be a lot of attention on them, and they wouldn''t live quiet lives, but Ares would make it much easier than it would have been otherwise overall. You either wanted to be middle of the road as a cultivator, so you could defend yourself the rare few times it mattered, or to be so completely untouchable only the most stupid or foolhardy even dared. Being weak meant everyone would gladly trample you at every opportunity because you were easy pickings. A shockingly beautiful woman like Enyo would attract a lot of attention so her being both strong and married to Ares, who could swing his own weight around too, was the best possible outcome because there was no other way of going about it really. Other than never going beyond Vraizon and hiding forever in the Legion clan, Enyo would struggle unless she was constantly top dog as the hounding would just never end. Pagoda Ares, his revenant form, and his connections would all be enough to dissuade a significant chunk of the morons who would try their hand at messing with Enyo so Rhea could not possibly think of a better partner for her than Ares. Plus, obviously the most important detail was that he made her happy.


    As for Margaret and Serene... Well Margaret was just more interested in painting Ares, or Garmr specifically, and was currently trying to haggle with Calla to temporarily take him back to her home planet. Calla refused because if Ares was going to anyone''s planet it would be hers first and, also, Ares couldn''t even bring out Garmr at will yet so it was pointless regardless. Ares could visit of his own volition when he ascended from Sheryashka and Margaret would just have to wait until then like everybody else.


    Then there was Serene who, more than anything, felt pity for her son. Mako was going to have a pretty massive glow up before the next match came around. She''d seen his improvements first had and he wasn''t even done absorbing the lingering remnants of the resource yet. Whether or not it would be enough to beat current Ares... That was impossible to tell and only a direct duel between the two would answer that question... But what Serene was really worried about was what came after. Ares'' revenant form wasn''t available to him currently but it would be more than enough to guarantee his superiority over Mako at a later date. Even if Mako won now, it wouldn''t be by enough to have a comfortable lead over Ares and the acquisition of Garmr would reverse the tides instantly. And that was just if Mako won. If he lost, knowing Ares still had a massive upgrade to his fighting prowess in the near future... Mako wouldn''t take it well.


    Mako really had his work cut out for him. Of all the times he could have been born while seeking the number one position in the world, it just had to be at the same time as Ares... It was honestly unfair to him because at any other point he wouldn''t have any competition... Other than other fundamentals maybe, he had no idea how strong they were, but it was still irksome for him and Serene could tell. Still, it was a good kind of agitation that spurred him on. He would rather struggle to win than effortlessly dominate as then he''d just get bored. He would be immeasurably disappointed if nobody could ever stand up to him and make his position feel earned or worthwhile. Mako unironically wanted to occasionally not be first so that being first could taste that much sweeter. It''s just poor luck that there was a chance Ares'' very existence meant he would never be first. Up until Garmr, Serene didn''t think it would be possible to hold Mako back forever but now?... Well she wasn''t entirely confident Mako, save any major developments, had it in him. The weapon he had in his back pocket, the legendary one he worked tirelessly on, might aid him but it''s not like Ares didn''t already have his too. Calla and Rhea had already told Margaret and Serene about the Primordial Blade as Ares, the pagoda version at least, had given them permission. It wasn''t a big secret to these lot anyway as Mako already had something equivalent and that was also an open secret between them. The only ''secrecy'' was that Serene swore not to tell Mako about it in advance and give him an advantage, that was it. Anyway, the point being that Serene wasn''t convinced that Mako''s weapon was stronger than Ares''. It was impressive, and easily the best treasure Serene had ever personally seen, but a sword with an entire dimension inside it? Mako''s treasure was going to have to be more impressive than Serene gave it credit for to compete. Maybe it could though! Treasures like that were hard to understand immediately and required countless hundreds of thousands of years to explore properly. There was no telling how strong it truly was so comparing it was pointless as both seemed like the type to constantly evolve over time anyway.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Nobody else had any reaction to Garmr of note other than maybe Verv who, for some inexplicable reason, wanted to fight him... But that was just Verv being Verv. He slept through the match, woke up to watch Garmr, and then went right back to sleep as soon as he disappeared without a care in the world for whatever it was the seasons were getting up to. Stardust is made of dead people? Someone tried to assassinate his brother? Nope, didn''t care about any of that. Sleep and fight, that was really all he wanted to do. He was quite stubborn about it too as he was even making his brothers pick him up and carry him for no reason other than because Ares was also being carried. Whether he was misunderstanding the situation or just trying to copy his self-decided rival was anyone''s guess but he was being a nuisance! Both Skyzo and Scar made sure to give the mutt a good kick before heaving and ho-ing as they picked him up. Bellona might not be throwing anybody inside a lake today but these two sure as hell were!... Although it didn''t really matter... Verv would just sleep in the lake quite happily. He would find it cooling and nothing more, plus it was arguably a bigger problem for the other Umbras as he would come back smelling like wet dog... Maybe just taking him directly home was for the best...


    Speaking of going directly home, that was precisely what Ares and co did. Ares had promised good food and that was enough to get everyone moving. He also offered food for everyone else who was here but they were all mostly pre-occupied so that was a resounding no... Other than Calla and Sadie but the latter was basically always available whenever Ares was cooking. Or rather she''d open up her schedule in a heartbeat so there was no point ever even asking. The answer was always yes. On the way back Enyo picked Appa up and prevented the little sneak from drenching Ares. It had been looking forward to creating a pond and dunking him in it so it was trying to at least splash him a bit. Enyo put her foot down, however, and promised to instead buy Appa a water gun at some point in the future and then it could wreak all the wanton havoc it wanted to while Ares could clean up after it. Appa wriggled with joy before snuggling into its mother''s chest and relaxing there for the remainder of the journey. Ares wanted very much to go over and hug his adorably cute daughter but the whole ''still can''t move thing'' was preventing that. Curses!


    After they all made it back, Bellona did an excellent job of fending off Enyo who was now trying to get her own way and drag Ares away like a dragon kidnapping a princess. Bellona might have given up eventually if it wasn''t for Ares giving her permission to practice her direction changing magic on him. It was a bit awkward, as he couldn''t move, but he gave her permission to roll him around on the grass in the back garden as part of the experiment. It was either this or Enyo and Ares wanted bodily control back at some point today. If Enyo knackered him out even further he wouldn''t recover until tomorrow, by which point Enyo would want more of him and the cycle would never end. Enyo had to be avoided at all costs so a face full of grass was absolutely the correct play here... Even if Bellona kept snickering at him the whole time... She was more engrossed in taking the piss out of the stupid sod on the grassy sod. The ribbing was brutal but Ares put up with it and took it on his chin. After all, he had a trick up his sleeve that he''d been saving for this very moment! If both his wives had been planning to take advantage of him, then he was very well going to take advantage of at least one of them! Seeing as how Blo Blo was the major culprit behind all of this he''d targeted her and was about to hit her with an ultimatum now that they''d finished up with their training. His evil smile clued her in that something was very much amiss and that the smug punk was going to fight back! You could take away Ares'' arms, you could take away Ares'' legs, but you couldn''t take away his damnable mouth!


    "Blo?Blo." Ares cooed at his wife as his smile widened with a blatantly fake ''innocence''. His brand of ''unassuming'' was very in your face and it was a little disgusting, actually. The kind of happiness that sent shivers up your spine. Bellona had never felt so off-put by an affectionate call, not that it stopped Ares from continuing before she could even deny his request for an audience. Bellona would have shot him down and run away, leaving him out here by himself if she had been a second faster! Knowing this just made Ares want to punish her even more though! It had been a while since he''d been intimate with her, and was in the mood to play around with her a bit, so he''d concocted a request she couldn''t refuse. "Blo?Blo. I''m dirty from rolling around in the mud and need to be washed!"


    "Hell no!" Bellona spit out her answer and was about to leave when she realised she didn''t really have a choice, actually. She''d been cornered by this rodent from the moment he suggested they train!


    "Blo?Blo, if you don''t clean me then who will? If you put me in Enyo''s ''care'' I''ll never leave the bathroom you know?" This, in and of itself, wasn''t a huge problem. What did Bellona care if Ares was busy getting his Roger Jollied by Enyo? So what if he was having pleasure amassed in his mast without avast? Bellona did not care if Ares bilged on her anchor! They could sail the seven seas to their heart''s content but there was a slight problem with letting those two play pirate unchecked... Ares was the cook! His presence was needed to feed everyone and it was getting close to dinner time... If Bellona didn''t wash him then Ares would disappear at this crucial junction and everyone would be left hungry as there was no leftover food in the fridge. Everyone would have to go back out to eat which was a pain in the neck as everyone was tired after the long day they''d had and was fiending for some home cooked meals. Enyo had no qualms throwing everyone under the bus and so trying to reason with her to let Ares out of the bath was a laughable suggestion. In other words, the fate of everyone''s stomachs in this house rested solely on Bellona acquiescing to her husband''s selfish demand. She was impressed he''d come up with this plan on the fly but also annoyed she''d fallen for it! This bastard deserved to be thrown in the lake and Enyo shouldn''t have stopped her!... Although, technically this was as good a chance as any to throw Ares into a body of water without being reprimanded for it by Enyo... Silver linings? Also, she didn''t hate the thought of messing around with Ares for a bit, she was mostly opposed to the idea because she''d been conned into it. It had been a while since their last escapade in private so why not? What? Was she just supposed to keep watching Enyo have fun on all on her own? Ares was Bellona''s man too!


    "Fine. I''ll wash you, happy now pervert?"


    "Yep. Also I''ve been called a pervert enough times by Enyo to have become fully immune to the word. There is one pervert in this house and it is neither you nor I. Also, I want a little more than just a wash."


    "... Fine, I''ll give you a handjob too but that''s it! No more!"


    "Wouldn''t have asked for anymore, I''m perfectly content with that for now."


    "For now?"


    "Mhm, I''ll be gone for a while after the tournament but after that? When I come back? You can''t hide from me forever, o'' wife of mine. I do want you."


    "Pft, who doesn''t?"


    "Ok, calm down with the arrogance." Ares chuckled. "But I am serious. I was willing to wait but I''m starting to get a little impatient because I want to deepen our connection even further. Expect me to be more aggressive when I return from my trip. I will be looking for every opportunity I can to get you in a dress and you already know what that means after what I told you back at the party. Actually, now that I mention the party, we never did have a proper dance. I''ll admit I ruined that but I want to make amends and do right by you on that front. We can work that out when I come back though, the tournament really is eating up all my time. Sorry. You know I''d pick you over it if I could but it''s just too important for the future to skip."


    "It''s fine, I know." Bellona picked Ares up off the floor and gently carried him on her back. "You don''t have to keep telling me your busy, we''ve already been over that and I''m not the kind of person who needs to hear it twice. Or thrice. Or however many times you''ve mentioned it. Besides, I''ve been thinking about it and I have basically infinite time on my hands to love you, right? Sure the other wives, like Enyo, will need to reach immortality before they can say the same but my revenant blood will awaken soon right? Forever''s a mighty long time to be stuck with you so taking things slowly here and there isn''t necessarily a bad thing. Absence can make the heart grow fonder, I guess."


    "Ha, that''s what I said! Way back when, to Aejaz, I said the exact same thing during the Cultural Appreciation Day. Great minds think alike. That aside, though, as long as you know I want to spend time with you then that''s fine. I didn''t just pick you today over Enyo because I wanted to avoid being turned into a dehydrated bundle of bones and drained skin, I did it because I was just in the mood to play around with you a bit more. I''ve been missing you as of late so I''m actually glad you didn''t get to toss me in a lake somewhere and forget about me because I would not have forgotten about you as I lay there."


    "Tsk, don''t get all soppy... Thank you though, hearing that makes me happy." Bellona''s face was flushed a bit in embarrassment but she was smiling clear as day. Maybe she''d put in a bit of extra effort when handling Ares in the bath. The snake had wooed her with his honeyed words but that was fine, she wanted to hear stuff like this every now and then too. Enyo had gone on a long rant, a long time ago, about the compliments Ares had given her back when they were doing the ''stare-down'' challenge in the snatcher town hotel room and Bellona was a little jealous. Ares really hadn''t complimented her very often. It wasn''t a big deal, and whenever he''d done it it had clearly come from the heart every time, but she wanted to hear more just casually on a day to day basis. If Ares was going to be manipulative and get his way then Bellona could play at that game too! She was willing to put a bit of extra effort in the bath but only if she had the appropriate motivation to do it!


    Ares was a little confused by Bellona''s expression, which was a mix of shy, smug, embarrassed, and happy, but he knew the bath matter was about to become more complicated than he''d planned for...