It didn't take Ares long to arrive at his destination as he'd travelled past this place four times in the last day alone! Twice on the way to hunter's shop and twice on the way back over the course of his two trips. There was probably no part of the Federation that he knew better and he could even mimic Onno's ability to predict deliveries and trade routes to a certain degree. Ares had taken to the clouds before arriving so as not to alert any of the troublemakers. He wanted to get a visual on them with Omniscience and watch them go about their work for a while as he was curious what they were going to do exactly. This was a relatively crowded place so Ares had a few questions. Were they going to try and be subtle or just brute force it? Were they going to try and avoid implicating innocent civilians? Were they just setting fire to the building and running away or doing more than that and actually attacking people? All questions Ares wanted an answer to because he would be able to reduce his perception of their threat level to some extent if they weren't being too aggressive here and now. Their end goal was burning the entire Federation but if up until then they were hesitant to leave any real destruction in their wake, then Ares wouldn't feel too pressed with every passing day he didn't curb their influence. If they were murdering people in broad daylight and had no reservations then the longer Ares took, the more there would be consequences for his tardiness.

Now, it wasn't exactly Ares' fault this was happening, and he wasn't expected to save everyone, but he definitely had a higher chance of stopping these people compared to the officials who had no clue where to even start. Ares had the firepower and the tools to discover info on them which he'd already used extensively. Though he wouldn't be blamed for each death that occurred, he might have some pay deducted form the overall total he would receive when this was over and done with and that was no good! As for the people that did die.... Honestly, not Ares' problem. He wasn't responsible for them in any capacity. It was unfortunate, and he felt some pity, but he did not feel guilt. The people that were most likely to die were mortals living in a cultivators world so they had nobody to blame but themselves for not trying hard enough to work towards some kind of safety net. Maybe saving up and buying a barrier treasure or even an artifact? Maybe cultivating and training until they were capable of avoiding basic deaths such as burning buildings or random muggings? Maybe being more aware of their surroundings in general? All valid options. It was a bit elitist of Ares to think this way about mortals but he would see a lot of death and destruction in the future so thinking about it any differently would only give him a hard time down the line. It was better to get used to being stone faced now than to get emotionally invested ever in random strangers and their problems.

As for the scenes down below, Ares first spotted Rox who was blending in very well by disguising himself as one of the four horsemen of the axe-pocalypse that travelled with Barb. There were one of two possibilities with this disguise. Either A, they didn't recognise him and he was treated as a harmless bystander in this mess or, B; they recognised him as one of the potential recruits for the Firestarters and assumed he was here to help or oversee this attack. Barb and her axe groupies were technically supposed to be a part of all this and, though they weren't very well known, there was bound to be one or two people with ties to her involved in this mess. If Rox was lucky, someone might even come up to him and causally relay information of their own accord! Clever mimic! He'd really outdone himself on that one. He wouldn't be able to respond but nodding and grunting subtly would be fitting given the circumstances, of trying to lay low and not get overheard, and he could actually get away with it. Even if he couldn't, and his cover was busted, he would have already alerted Ares by that point and could just fight them all to by time. Of course such a situation was hypothetical, and it didn't necessarily look like it was going to play out that way, but, as far as Ares' summons went, Rox: 1, Dumb eagle: 0!

After finding Rox, the rest was history as he was occasionally peeking in a specific direction towards a location that was decently hidden from his point of view but clear as day to Ares up above. The Firestarters weren't exactly subtle with their outfits... Pure white hazmat-esque suits with white masks that had frowning face patterns carved into them. If it weren't for the fact that their group of roughly twenty were out of sight, behind the restaurant, and underneath a nearby ramp then even the blindest resident on this street would have bloody well seen them! Was this some kind of highly inept squad they were sending out to test the waters or was this actually the extent of their potential? At this rate, Ares wasn't entirely convinced guards wouldn't find and apprehend them first! Perhaps they were confident in their strength and that they could make it work no matter how blatantly they went about this? They better not be so assured! Ares could hazard a guess at their cultivations and the highest amongst them was near the middle of bloodline awakening for crying out loud! If Rox went all out, and had borrowed some of Ares' treasures before leaving, he might even have been able to singlehandedly take down the entire group!

What nonsense were these idiots planning and who gave them the go ahead?!

Something felt very off about this but Ares was here now and didn't exactly have any other ideas as to what they could be planning... Though he did keep getting the sinking feeling that this was all just a massive bait and the real showdown was happening elsewhere... But what was he supposed to do? Leave this place and search pointlessly for people he probably wouldn't find in time? If he'd been bested here in terms of strategy, and they caught onto what he was trying to lure them into, then so be it. Ares had made his bed and he would lie in it. It's not like this was his fault to begin with as they were going to launch an attack today irrespective of Ares; the one thing he did was prevent anything from happening here specifically. He couldn't be blamed for this as he was the only one even trying to stop these freaks in the first place! Or, well, others were trying it's just that they were failing over and over again and not finding any leads to get themselves even remotely on track. Besides, even if things went south here today, Ares still had that meeting to attend and ruin in the future and there was no way that was compromised regardless of whether this ploy had been figured out. Ares was not involved in the setting up of the meeting and they didn't know he'd tracked them so that avenue for success was still in the bag as of right now. Honestly, at this point, Ares just wanted to save the fish restaurant because he wanted to eat there again! Anything else that came out of this was an added, unforeseen bonus; that was show he was treating it from now on!

Under the ramp, the Firestarters seemed to be fiddling with what looked to be Molotov cocktails. A rather inelegant way of going about their business, and not exactly stealthy either, but it did scream 'we are the rebels, viva la anarchy' so Ares gave them bonus points for style. That being said, were they just going to grab one each, walk in front of the shop, and become some kid of arsonist firing squad? Where was the mystique? Where was the innocent civilian stumbling upon a burning pile of bodies with no traces left of the culprits other than a solitary white mask, a calling card, melting atop the pile? These guys had not even a shred of romanticism in a single bone of their body! Amateurs! Ares was tempted to go down there right this instance and show them how it was really done!.. But he was the good guy here so that option was off the table... Unless he did something similar to them, burning everything down at the meeting! Ares kept that in mind for now but paid attention to the group as they were on the move and heading towards their destination. One individual leading the others seemed to have an affiliation for the fire pillar, and was launching a Flamethrower directly into the air as they walked, so it was apparent they were looking to have everyone be aware of their presence one way or another. They were either flamboyant and showy or Ares was right and this was all just a distraction from their groups' real goal elsewhere. Ares was now convinced it was the latter but he was here already so he would deal with these schmucks after he got a feel for what they were planning on doing.

The Firestarters formed an orderly line in front of the restaurant and stood in two rows of ten with impressive co-ordination. Ares had to give it to them that they'd trained well enough to be able to pull that off without any slack anywhere in their ranks. Did this mean they were well regimented or was it just a one-off show of force kinda deal? Whatever the truth behind that matter was, a crowd had gathered due to their antics and were waiting on the side-lines, chatting to one another to try and figure out what this was all about. The name Firestarters was known across the entire Federation but this was the first time they'd actually ever shown up in uniform. One guy being caught out in the open without a disguise meant nobody really knew what to keep an eye out for so people were assuming these lot might be some sort of flash mob... They would learn soon enough that this was not the case as the leading Firestarter took a single step forward and swivelled around to face those working under him for this mission.

"Squad A, go inside and evacuate the premise. Squad B, locate and tie up the employees. Squad C, maintain a quarantine around the restaurant and prevent anyone from getting too close. Squad D, go to your designated positions and keep an eye out for guards and Ares to alert us if they show. Move."

After the orders were given, each squad, consisting of five members each, took off in sync with practiced movements and didn't get in each other's way at all. Ares still wasn't sure if everyone in the Firestarters was this militant and had run countless drills or if this group specifically just felt like it was the best way to go about things. The guy in charge seemed to have some kind of expertise in the field but that didn't mean anybody else did. It could very well just be a quirk of the individual who was chosen to lead these lot precisely because he had experience. Most Firestarters were disgruntled businessman so how well versed in military drills and efficiency could they realistically be after only training for such a short time frame? A smaller patrol would be manageable, and could get the basics down pat, but groups of upwards of two to three hundred learning all at once? In a few days? Ares didn't buy it. Ares also decided to make the militant leader his first target to incapacitate as, without their chain of command functioning properly, the rest would surely crumble under the weight of having to make snap decisions on their own. Furthermore, that guy specifically was their strongest cultivator in the bunch so it would be foolish to get the drop on literally anybody else and waste his ambush. Though they were weak, they operated like a well oiled machine... Actually, they really probably shouldn't operate like that as their entire shtick revolved around wielding fire so oiling up was a terrible idea! Unless it was fire retardant? Ok, now Ares was just getting distracted! Things were happening down below and he couldn't be getting stuck in his own head like this! It was empty up there anyway!

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Place them over there." The leader in charge of everyone else directed squad B to place the employees, who were all bound together in rope and gagged, directly in front of the store while everyone else not currently busy completed the circle containment area around the restaurant. What was once a patchy five man blockade had become some kind of devilish, ritualistic circle in which everyone was looking towards the centre with a Molotov in hand. Ares figured he'd seen enough to have a gist of how things were going to go so he began descending to prevent the restaurant workers from being murdered and having their lives go up in very literal smoke. This was all useful information though as the Firestarters weren't attacking non-targets as of right now. The employees of this restaurant were innocent, yes, but they were the main goal here so that didn't count and could be seen as a form of consistency with what the group was trying to do.

The building in question, anyone who worked there, and anybody who tried stopping them.

That was the details of their targets and likely wouldn't change for now in the early stages. It was still an effective plan, though, even if they weren't truly going all out just yet and killing everything with a pulse. Business owners and their employees would be reluctant to open up shop after an incident like this and the entire country was reliant on these shops staying open for it to stay afloat. If even half the shops collectively decided to shut until further notice then the Firestarters would already be 'winning' and getting exactly what they wanted. It would incite fear and even regular people would stay at home because there was no longer a reason to head outside with everything closed. With the streets on the boats all empty, the Firestarters could wander around freely and unobstructed, even in broad daylight if they wanted to, and then they'd be in charge of the local area like some kind of roaming gang. They could even commandeer larger sections of the Federation all to themselves and then a war would begin if no one stopped them. Given that the Firestarters had an advantage, in terms of not caring about the foundation of the country they were standing on, they'd be able to burn down ships freely and corner the main forces of the Federation in due time. This was also where the Federation's poor design, in regards to fending off an assault, came into play and whoever was manipulating this behind the scenes was a real clever clogs... In fact, they were also probably responsible for seeing through Ares' small restaurant ruse and sending this distraction squad here. In short, the Firestarters had a decently talented strategist up their sleeves and they'd come up with a plan that worked out for them even if it was predicted accurately. All they needed to do was disincentivise people from opening their shops and, by targeting them one by one, that would be successful eventually. From there, the rest fell into place on its own as human's were easy to manipulate via fear.

"Let this be a lesson..." The leader was about to give some kind of long winded spiel about trampling on the downtrodden and betraying everyone around you, aimed at the people that screwed them over in the first place and led the Firestarters down this road, but he was interrupted when a kick landed on the back of his neck. The leader crumpled down onto the floor and drooled over the boat as he'd been knocked unconscious with a single blow from Ares who'd converted some of the momentum from his fall into a kick that shook his world. With Voidwalk and his Zephyr working overtime to reign in his descent, he was able to slow himself down enough such that he didn't accidentally blast that fool's head into smithereens. Ares was tempted but then the person under the mask wouldn't be recognisable anymore because there wouldn't even be a face left to identify. On that note, Ares really couldn't kill anyone here, annoyingly, and he would just have to round them all up and keep them here until the guards arrived... But that was where his new gadget, the Puny Prison came in! Great timing on the purchase meant Ares only had to knock these lot out once and then shove as many of them into the cage as possible. He might even be able to fit all of them inside if he really crammed them all into spot and formed some kind of monstrous body pile. It would be very unpleasant for the captives but that was their own problem! Don't like the treatment, don't do the crime!.. Or try to, anyway, as Ares had made sure this farce went no further! There was a talented chef amongst those who were tied up and Ares wanted to eat his food! In fact, part of the reason Ares waited wasn't just to gain intel... It was also because he wanted that guy to owe him a free meal after he heroically swooped in and saved him... Even though this was all Ares' fault to begin with... Just because Ares could be considered a 'good guy', that didn't mean he would always act like one! Especially not when it conflicted with his personal interests, he was only human after all! Or, well, revenant actually but that probably made it even worse.

Now Ares was encircled by twenty or so people who were all staring at him, presumably dumbfounded under their masks because he'd appeared basically out of nowhere... He'd dropped in and beaten their leader senseless in under a second flat, almost like a thuggish ghost. Unfortunately for this lot, Ares was not an incorporeal being but he was most definitely searching for a fight here and he wasn't going to go easy on these people! He created a blob of golden physical pressure, that looked almost like a piece of squidgy dark matter contorting in his hands, and tossed it lightly up to head level while he himself ducked. The Firestarters clearly didn't get the hint so, when the blob detonated, sending a golden shockwave outwards and knocking them all onto their rears, they were left partly incapacitated and reeling in shock. Ares, and Rox who'd been hanging around nearby, jumped into action and began kicking all the sitting ducks in their faces and knocking them out one by one while teeth were sent flying.

A few of the stronger cultivators did manage to stand back up but there were only about five of them in total and there was no way they could handle either combatant going to town on their group. It was one-sided to the extent that Ares didn't even bother taking out his scythe because using it here wouldn't even classify as training in his eyes. These people weren't just weak cultivation-wise, they were completely incapable of winning in an actual fair fight because their technique was abysmal. This just lent further credence to Ares' belief that this was all a massive ruse but he went through with it regardless and approached the last five cultivators. He ducked under a punch and swiftly returned fire with his own, gut punching the poor Firestarter who slumped over and fainted on the spot. Ares didn't let this person fall, though, as he held their head and upper body up so he could kick their unconscious self into the person standing behind them, flooring both victims. Rox followed up by stamping on the head of the person who was still awake so that promptly dealt with two of the last few foes in the blink of an eye. The last three cultivators grouped up and waved their Molotovs forward as if they were warding off a wild beast with fire... Ares did not give a single crap about this, however, and pushed on as they chucked the incendiaries straight at his face.

Crash

All three Molotovs struck true and drowned Ares' form in a sea of fire for all of about two seconds before he stepped out of the inferno unharmed, brushing aside the lingering flames as his annihilation enhancement had effectively made any and all fire slip off him harmlessly. Ares was far too strong to be affected by childish toys like this at his current level and those Molotovs would have needed to be concocted using fire pillar magic instead of everyday ingredients in order to even scratch the surface of damaging Ares in any capacity. Just like how throwing a sponge at a mortal was ineffective, small weapons without any magic engineering, mana, or force behind them were going to be utterly worthless in the face of a cultivator who wasn't already on death's door. Even then their skin would be tough enough to make most things bounce off it and there were plenty of stories of mortals who died to cultivators on their death bed after failing to pierce their body with a normal knife.

Things might have been different for the Firestarters if every single one of the twenty Molotovs had been chucked simultaneously, as then Ares might have suffered incredibly minor burns, but seeing as how everyone else's lights had been turned off already that wasn't going to be possible. These lot would have had a better chance if they just all tried punching Ares at the same time but, really, everything they could do was pointless. Even begging not to be beaten wouldn't help them because whether they surrendered obediently or were knocked out didn't matter, the end result was the same either way and Ares was not going to forgive that last attempt at murdering him, completely ineffectual though it was! Payback was swift as Ares repeatedly poked outwards with his enhanced fingers to damage pressure points on his targets' bodies, eventually rendering them unconscious but not before administering pain and long term complications to their once-regular bowel movements! These three would spend the rest of their lives living in anxiety and fear, never knowing when they were going to have to run to a toilet! Evil Ares had stuck again and struck true!

Ares was also incredibly tempted to go around poking the other Firestarters as well but decided not to for no reason other than that it would take a while and Ares couldn't be bothered because he already had to cram them into the Puny Prisoner as is. He was satisfied turning these three into diaper wearing adults for the rest of their life and the others could thank their lucky stars for his laziness!... Or not, as Rox was seemingly interested in Ares' random technique and had begun practicing it on the other unconscious guards while Ares was dragging them all to the cage... Rox wasn't even trying to be mean or anything, he was just genuinely curious to learn more about pressure points and was using these poor fools as experimental material for his own twisted gain... Though Rox wasn't able to apply the technique consistently, so some Firestarters were safe, another group of six had the same fate as the earlier three befall them... Ares almost shed a tear as it felt like he was watching Rox grow up and become a true revenant!

While Rox was fiddling about with the bodies, a letter fell out of the leader's pocket and grabbed Ares' attention. Perhaps the leader was going to be asked to leave this behind after their little showing like some kind of calling card or taunt to the Federation? It would inevitably be found by the guards after they got failed, got caught, and were frisked though so that was likely what the original author of it had actually intended. Selling these lot the lie that they would make it out while knowing full well such a thing was never going to happen... Sounded like this lot had been thrown to the wolves! Literally! Ares was a wolf, technically, so tthe idiom was accurate enough! Anyway, Ares was curious so he picked the thing up and readied himself because he had a gut feeling he knew exactly the kind of tone this person was going to take with the recipient. Leaving a calling card in the form of a letter like this was arrogant so Ares prepared himself to be talked down to at great length, that was his gut feeling on the matter... Oh well, arrogance usually led to accidents so if there was anything at all to be gained from this then suffering through the irrelevant trite would be worth it! Hopefully... If Ares wanted to listen to a narcissist speak, he could damn well let Dominus take control over his body and give a monologue instead!