Du du du-du du du du-du dududuuuuuu dududuuuuuu dududuuuuuu dudu


    Ares whistled to himself as he prowled through streets of Red Sun. He was hardly being stealthy but, then again, the mission hadn''t started yet, so he was free to be his usual idiotic self as he ducked behind walls and hid behind poles that were way too small to cover his figure. He advanced down alleyways with his finger guns at the ready and even had to fire off a couple blanks here and there to assert dominance over the pesky shadows. When he arrived at the meeting point, he made sure to dome Slick with a well-aimed shot. Hitting the tin can was worth bonus points after all. "Woohoo! New high score!"


    "Shut up, idiot." Slick picked up Ares like he was a stray cat and dangled him over the floor as he walked towards Accelyn''s temporary residence. Li Li and Dirk were also in tow, nervously trying to soften their steps and blend in with the night.


    "Man, but Accelyn was really taken aback when I mentioned your name Dirk." Ares tried to take the newbie duo''s minds off their imminent task by bringing up something that was relevant but not anxiety inducing.


    Dirk let out a hearty sigh. "She probably thought I was some kind of pushover that would just treat it as water under the bridge..."


    "Hehehe, she''s about to learn that water under the bridge from a different perspective could just as easily be a bridge over troubled water!"


    "I can''t tell if you''re an idiot trying to sound smart, or if you''ve just mixed up your metaphors..."


    Ares shrugged, albeit in his limited capacity to do so as he was still being lugged around like carrier luggage by Slick. "Those two things aren''t mutually exclusive."


    "So I see..."


    The trio, now with a plus one in Slick, walked around until they arrived within viewing distance of their target. It looked more like a compound than a residence but that was to be expected as Accelyn''s family were as rich as they were expansive. When considering the need for security for every member of the family, something like this was the best option available. It also meant security would be stretched thinner, though, which made the heart retrieval squad''s chances that much better. Slick dropped Ares and addressed the group.


    "Ok, so, one final time, I''m going to go over all the deets, capiche? Ares will start us off by creating an Ebon Nightmare Zone and shoving you two inside it. He''ll hop in after he ties the Zone to my shadow and hands over the Nyxian Prowler. I''ll use darkness pillar arts to get us all past the gates and into a safe place. From there, we''ll split up and do our own thing. Ares and I will create a disturbance and keep everyone busy while you two borrow the Prowler and go deeper into the house. You sneak in through the back, follow the route we discussed earlier, and make your way to the heart. You get it, you get out, we follow. All''s well that ends well. We fade away into the night by having Ares Shift us out if he has the mana for it, or we run to Hans'' area of influence if he doesn''t. We aren''t here to kill Accelyn, so don''t waste time looking for her. Of course, if she gets in your way, feel free to get some payback. Just don''t take too long otherwise Ares and I will start to have it rough. Their security detail is part of a larger firm; if they get reinforcements, we''ll be swamped eventually and have to retreat. Everyone clear?"


    "Yessir." Ares gave a quick salute "Ah but you gotta let me kick things off. If we''re gonna do this, we gotta do it properly."


    "Your big explosions take a lot of mana though, right? Wasting it all at the start is wrong no matter how you look at it..."


    "Nah, don''t worry ''bout that. I got a trick up my sleeve I can bust out here. Still, I can only do it once, so we need to make the most of it. Leave our grand entrance to me and you can rest assured the security will be very ''distracted''. Why, they''ll practically be dying to meet me after!"


    "... I can tell you''re gonna do something stupid, but whatever. As long as it works, so be it. Then let''s get going. Oh and, if anyone strong shows up, let me handle ''em, don''t go round trying to be a hero for no reason. Yulo would turn me into a scrapheap if I screw up and let you kick the bucket."


    Yeah, I got a trick up my sleeve for that too. A certain someone was back in business and itching for a fight so, if it looked as though things were gonna go south, Ares had a backup plan in his pocket. With a flick of his wrist, Ares created the Zone and guided Li Li and Dirk into it. From there he handed over the Prowler to Slick, only after making him say ''pretty please'', and jumped in himself.


    Slick coated himself in a shadowy veil in a bid to help him avoid detection as he darted up the road leading to the gates. He veered slightly off course to avoid the front entrance and scanned the route to make sure everything was going as planned. Three, two, one... NOW! Perfectly timing his leap over the fencing, Slick landed behind a patrol and knocked all three members out cold with swift elbows to the head. His metallic exoskeleton combined with his high cultivation base meant these three wouldn''t be waking up any time soon so he was free to act as he wished... For the most part. If the patrol didn''t report in eventually the jig would be up. The infiltration was going well so far, but that didn''t mean he could take it leisurely and prance about. Slick raced along the grassy area to the right of the entrance and snuck around to the side, avoiding the nearby patrol by blending into the wall with the Prowler. Having this kind of power was new to Slick who''d never ventured outside his own pillars. He wasn''t accustomed to the various stunts he could pull of now and he felt a thrill every time he hid in plain sight to avoid detection... Well he was still a robo, so he didn''t really ''feel'' anything, but his cogs were certainly turning a little faster. Slick climbed up some plumbing on the wall and parkoured his way on top of a lamp, up to a window ledge, into a nearby tree where he waited for some spotlights to pass by, and finally up onto a balcony leading into the building. A thorough investigation later and Slick had determined there were no traps on the door so he opened it and snuck into a nearby room wherein he pulled out the trio. "K, we''re in. Remember, don''t pick fights. Wait for us to attract everyone''s attention before you move from this spot. If it looks like you''re gonna struggle, just leave. Your heart aint worth your life and neither of you are experts in escaping. Dirk can be tricksy at times, but compared to someone who can dip out of bad situations in a more timely manner, you ain''t diddly squat. Still, if you absolutely have to run, make sure to put Li Li in a containment Zone first. Look, no offense, but she''s not outrunning anyone here. Maybe if you work together and do that thing you did during the selection test, you know, Sanguine Stimulant, you might fare better, but it''s just risky."


    "Yeah yeah, we''ll be fine. Now gimme that dagger! I''ve been eyeing up that bad boy for a while now!" Dirk, like his father before him, was practically salivating. In all fairness, any random person in the Nick clan would definitely act the same way. It was in their blood.


    With one final nod, Ares and Slick left the room and headed back outside. Slick jumped down first and sent another patrol to the land of dreams before Ares also came down.


    "Alright. Show me what you got up your sleeve, then."


    Ares shook his head and pointed to the other side of the building. "If I do it here, I''ll hit Dirk and Li Li. If I put a bit more finesse into it, I could probably avoid them, but its better to be safe than sorry." Man, I really wish I had a way of excluding friendlies from my explosions... Guess I''m gonna have to give it some thought, seems like the kinda thing that would come in handy in the future.


    Slick and Ares managed to narrowly make it to their destination without the Prowler. Given that there were two of them now, neither possessed stealth related magic, and they had to make it all the way around the building, it wouldn''t have been strange if they''d been discovered. They''d caught a lucky break with the patrol schedule but, really, it didn''t make much of a difference. If they''d been detected Ares would have just used his trick a little prematurely is all. Ares wanted to be on the same side as the explosion to draw everyone over. If they''d been standing elsewhere, away from the explosions, the idea that ''they could be in multiple places'' would come more naturally to the security detail. If the culprit was at the scene of the crime, even if that idea did sprout, it would probably only happen later, giving Dirk and Li Li more time. That aside, Ares took a step forward and planted his foot down with a Thud! Slick recognised this motion but was confused as to how this art could possibly be relevant here, but he watched on curiously as Ares chanted the name of an art he knew all too well.


    "Chaos Reigns!"


    Did he plant the Beads as he ran across the building? I mean, its better than nothing... But is this really going ot be the spectacle he was bragging it would be? Realistically, how many could he have buried in such a short time span? Maybe twenty or thirty at most, right? Slick tilted his head in confusion at Ares'' befuddling action. "... What the f..." Slick''s brain almost short-circuited when he saw upwards of two hundred Shock Beads rise out of the ground and light up the darkness. Their ominous glow was like a horde of fireflies that had come to pay a visit to this half of the residence specifically. Overwhelming amounts of mana turned this side of the building into a tidal wave of thick, golden air that was oppressively hard to breathe in. Milliseconds before chaos descended upon Red Sun, Slick managed to run through some thoughts in his head about this situation that led him to a conclusion that shocked him to his core. Ares had the means to kill everyone in Red Sun... ''He was willing to do this on the other side of the house, so he must have had a couple hundred already over there too.'' ''Why would he have buried Shock Beads here in advance?'' ''He couldn''t possibly have known this would happen, so he must have just done it because he was already doing something similar.'' ''This overwhelming discomfort reminds me of that one thing that happened back when the tree appeared in Red Sun.'' ''The discomfort is similar, but on a smaller scale.'' Based on everything Slick knew about Ares'' Shock Beads, he found an answer to all his questions, one that he really couldn''t believe, but unfortunately it made sense... He looked at Ares and just blankly muttered, "Seriously?"


    Ares turned to face Slick with an evil grin just as the surroundings became a glorious light show comparable to only one explosion Ares had ever released before, back when he detonated every Bead at his store to kill Chen Fen.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


    Hell on earth. Fire, wailing, craters, a crumbling house, corpses, and scattered body parts. All the while the devil responsible was resting his knuckle against his canine tooth and his tilted head on his fist. A warped smile, the kind only a twisted individual could wear in such a situation filled with death and disaster, made Slick reconsider the way he understood Ares. Ares may very well be a happy-go-lucky doofus at times, but really, at his core, he was a dangerous man who was capable of bringing ruin wherever he went. A half dead guard, with everything below his waist gone, dragged his body over to the foot of Ares. The guard''s ears were ringing and he was in so much pain he''d gone full circle and been completely numbed to it. With tears in his eyes, he tried to grab onto Ares leg. He was desperate enough to be saved that he would cling to random strangers. Ares just lifted his foot and brought it back down on the guard''s head with an Echo sealing his fate. Ares shook off the blood splatter without a care in the world and went back to watching parts of the house collapse with a joyous glint in his eye. Some psychopaths killed for fun, Ares blew things up for fun. Anyone he happened to kill was collateral. Of course these people were enemies to begin with and sparing them was idiotic, but the absolute disregard Ares had for their lives was a tad off-putting. It wasn''t that he enjoyed it, or hated it, he just didn''t care; as if their lives were made forfeit the second he''d decided to come here and now fate was just playing catch-up to his whims.


    Slowly but surely, the surviving cultivators, and those who had been on the other side of the house, emerged from the woodworks to face their attacker. A couple of these cultivator''s recognised Ares as the explosive participant for Red Sun and they immediately scowled at him because he was a prime suspect for the chaos that had been unleashed here. Everyone else mostly recognised Slick as he was well known enough as the guardian of Heaven''s Path. Although they weren''t privy as to why these two troublesome characters had come looking for a fight, they weren''t paid to ask questions so they prepared themselves. Before the fight broke out, though, an injured cultivator spat out some blood and hobbled to stand before them. Given this man had the highest cultivation of everyone here, coming in at around the peak of sensory enhancement just like Slick, it wasn''t difficult to figure out he was the head of security. As the burly man drew nearer, he yelled to the two intruders. "ARE YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS? AND WHY ARE YOU HERE?"


    Ares snickered at the guy. "I''m here to blow you up, so you tell me; am I responsible or not?"


    "Why? Why wreak such havoc? I don''t recall any of my men wronging either of you!"


    "Pick a better client next time, one that won''t get you embroiled in something like this. Well, that''s only really something you''ll be able to consider if you even live through this, so do your best."


    "Accelyn''s family aside, I will pay you back for what you did to my men. You''re surrounded. Slick is one thing, but I''ve seen what you''re capable of Ares. You can''t launch massive attacks successively and you rarely engage in physical combat. Most of your fights have revolved around you using your magic, so what do you plan on doing here? You won''t have the mana you need to fight the way you want forever."


    "Ah, I''m being underestimated again... Well, it''s a self-inflicted problem so I shouldn''t complain. Still, you''re really gonna judge me based on my performance in the nationals? That''s like judging a person''s ability to communicate as poor because they said ''goo goo ga ga'' to a baby. Surely you don''t think I''ve been going all out against those pitiful teams, right? Whatever, anyone of your men that comes my way is in for a beating, and I can''t guarantee they''ll keep their lives, so keep that in mind when you attack me yeah?" Ares'' dexterity and mobility aside, he still had Grim Cessation to keep his mana up for a prolonged battle. If this man seriously thought Ares would buckle without his magic, he would first have to drive him to that point before he could even begin to realise how wrong he was.


    With a deflated sigh, the head honcho of the security guards just clicked his finger which initiated the brawl proper. Someone who''d been sneakily circling around behind Ares tried to end the fight prematurely but he received a roundhouse kick to the face that broke his jaw and sent him reeling back into the bush he''d just jumped out of. Ares had activated Voidwalk already so that last kick was definitely going to be felt tomorrow morning. Rather than wait for everyone to come to him, Ares started zooming around and picking off the weaker guards that were only a stage or two above him. He''d be able to handle anyone up to the peak of sensory enhancement and anyone else he would have to avoid or guide towards Slick. Thankfully Voidwalk allowed him to be where he wanted to be near enough instantly so steering clear of any actual threats wasn''t a problem. He appeared in front of guard after guard, either kicking out or using an echo-imbued fist to one-hit K.O his opponents. Before long, all the wimpier combatants had been filtered and his drive-bys were taking longer to execute, requiring two, three, or sometimes even a whole string of attacks. Ares had been lenient so far, but it was time to start bringing out the weapons otherwise he would take forever to beat down the opposition. With his Bane held firmly in his grip, he Voidwalked in front of a guard who was surprisingly ready for him. Ares avoided the punch coming his way while throwing his body into a "Gamble." As it was an art Ares hadn''t really displayed much, the guard made the mistake of interacting with it by trying to launch a kick at Ares. He paid the price when Ares flicked himself forward, used the guard''s leg as a platform to push himself up and over the guard''s shoulder, and cut off his head in one fell swoop. Technically the guards were innocent, it was the person that hired them that was the real target. Even still, Ares didn''t have the leisure to be polite with them and he already warned them about this. He wasn''t enough of a bleeding heart to inconvenience himself when his life was on the line. It''s not like if they caught him they''d let him go or anything. What goes around comes around... Expertly weaving around a group of four, Ares guided them all into forming a cluster as they accidentally smacked head-first into each other. "Grand Annihilation."


    BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


    Their dying screams were abruptly cut off by the golden tide and Ares spared them no further attention as he shifted his sight to the next target. Instead of appearing directly in front of the next guard, Ares Voidwalked high into the air, confusing all of the guards who had no idea where Ares vanished off to. Angling himself downward and activating Double Jump to give himself a boost of speed, Ares shot down to earth like a bullet. He lifted his foot, activated Stamp Out and Echo, and crashed down into the poor unsuspecting guard.


    SPLAT


    What was once a guard was now a puddle of blood and some scattered bits of flesh here and there. Before any of the guards could come to terms with what happened, Ares vanished again. A few seconds later, the sounds of splashing liquid indicated another guard had been crushed under heel. A few of the guards standing near the splash zone decided they wanted nothing to do with and started running away in a frenzied panic, but Ares wasn''t letting them go anywhere. If anything, they''d just made themselves the most important targets of everyone here. If they ran and blabbed about the details of what was happening here it would be a pain in the neck for Ares and Slick. If the guards had just ran back into the house or sat on the side-lines, that would have been in their best interest.


    SPLAT


    SPLAT


    SPLAT


    Oh well, tough luck. Hm? Ares ducked on the spot and a spear tip came barrelling through the empty air above him. Ares Voidwalked away from his current position but the spear tip once again came following after him and he had to fight back. With a swing of his weapon, coated in disintegration magic, he managed to fend off his attacker by blocking the determined strike. Getting a good look at the new challenger, the first thing that became apparent to Ares was that this person was talented. His aura reeked of professionalism and his stance was practiced. The second thing Ares realised was that this guy was above sensory enhancement, sitting at the first stage of aspect assimilation. A difference of 17 whole stages, and two realms... Ares was going to have to really push himself here. Still, he believed he could do it, so he psyched himself up and took a deep breath...


    "Black Blossom."


    The petals dissuaded any outside interference as Ares locked eyes with his opponent.


    Meanwhile, Slick''s fight with the head of security was underway and he wasn''t faring so hot. he hadn''t accumulated much damage or anything, but he''d been on the defensive for a good while by now. It was like fighting Lo if Lo had more physical strength to back up his punches. That being said, Lo was a more technical fighter. Their overall level in combat was roughly the same and Slick was only struggling because he was curious. He wanted to suss out what the security guard could really do before he went all in himself. If he was the first to make a move and the guy responded, he would be left high and dry so he was taking a passive approach. Besides, its not like he was here to kill everyone, buying time was equally viable and he wasn''t hurting or anything. If the head of security didn''t do anything other than this, Slick was fine with just keeping him preoccupied until it was time to leave. Such an approach had to be thrown out the window, however, when the head of security started to take the fight seriously.


    "Behemoth!"


    Although Slick was unfamiliar with Bret, if he were, he would be able to tell at a glance that this fellow was way stronger than him. And not just because his cultivation was higher either, but more so because this person had really put his all into refining his body and toughening up his flesh. An almost bronze-like sheen made the head of security look like a well polished, moving statue of sorts as he advanced upon Slick who no longer had a choice in the matter. Slick was going to have to up the ante on his end too.


    "Scrapyard Meltdown."


    While these two fights were happening outside, there was a third standoff taking place inside the house... Or what remained of it anyhow. Dirk and Li Li had snuck into the room holding Dirk''s heart and were able to pick it up without a hitch. That part of the plan had been a clean success but, in an unfortunate twist of fate, Accelyn and her family had decided the treasure room would double down as a bunker in case of emergency, so they''d rushed straight here after the explosions went off. Dirk had his heart but now he and Li Li were standing face to face with Accelyn''s family, a group of four decently strong cultivators. As for why there were only four, it seemed the other members of the family opted to flee and not rely on the security force after having seen the sheer destruction the unknown foe was capable of producing. The four before Dirk weren''t much compared to the aspect assimilation guards outside, but they were respectable in their own right. In short, everyone was gonna brawl tonight, whether they came looking for a fight or not. Still, Dirk was feeling confident. Now that he''d gotten his heart back, he was about to demonstrate his true power; a power even Accelyn wasn''t aware he possessed. Yes his heart was an enabler, but when Dirk himself used it, he became something akin to a rampaging monster. A bloody demon with strength not far behind that of some of the more prodigious cultivators in the sect like Enyo or Ares. Plus with Li Li here, he felt reassured he could manage. He might not have enough mana to deal with them all on his own, but he wasn''t alone in the first place. He had a perfectly good source of blood to drink from if he needed replenishment. Li Li had the stamina, and he had the strength. There was nothing else they needed to fight their way out of here and go live peacefully back in the sect, so that''s precisely what was going to happen and these chumps weren''t gonna stop him! With his heart pumping in his hand, Dirk squeezed it tight as a look of ecstasy crossed over his face.


    "Haemo Scourge!"