"Uno, zwei, tre, four, cinco..." Ares was pointing at each incoming cultivator and counting them one by one but there were unfortunately too many for him to process in languages he only knew the basics of so he gave up after coming to a simple conclusion. "That's a lot of idiots..." If Ares wasn't aware that lemmings committing mass suicide was a myth he would have serious doubts about the real race of these people trying to attack him right now. In their defence, they had no idea what manner of demon they were going up against; the guards had merely told them the young master's murderer was here for a cordial visit, but even still... Ares felt a little insulted! You were supposed to roll out the red carpet for VIPs, not the dusty doormat! Ah well, in the end it didn't actually matter, Ares was going to walk all over them all the same.
The large group all arrived in tandem, probably in a bid to impose their well organised ranks upon Ares, and grinded to a halt be it atop their mounts, landing from the air and skidding through the ice, or sliding atop it with calm and expert handling. These were all people who were in their own natural habitat and it showed. Comparatively Ares was basically operating on two left feet, and clumsily at that, but other matters decided the outcome of a fight too so he wasn't impressed. These people were probably mid-rank level individuals within the clan and so their egos were pretty substantial given how influential their clan was in the wider scheme of things. They viewed themselves underneath the top brass but above basically everyone else in existence in Sheryashka and it showed. They barely even displayed any manner of sympathy towards their own guards and the general reaction towards the tied up bunch was disdain, teeth kissing, sneers, and various other vulgar gestures like middle fingers and throat slitting. Even the various mounts that came along flared their nostrils or bared their teeth which meant they were probably trained to do as such by their superiority-complex owners. It just went to show how deep the level of snobbery ran in this particular clan. It's not like their young master had been any different either, he was even worse than this. Speaking of the young master incident, Ares figured he would try to reason with these people once and once only. If they were too stubborn to cease their actions then Ares would would give up and get to throwing punches.
"Aright, now that the gang's all here let's get down to business..." Ares tried to round up the attention of the newcomers but one of the old guys riding a white tiger with black stripes refused to even pretend to listen to him and interrupted immediately.
"By order of the patriarch of the Frozen Throne, we hereby declare you deceased. Whether it be now, at your own hands, or later, at ours, is up to you. Commit suicide painlessly or we will drag you back to the clan and do things our own way. Given the uniqueness of the region I will warn you we have plenty of torture methods others could only dream of. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be fed your own frozen fingers and then excrete them as frozen spikes? Many have begged for forgiveness but once you've taken the road of defiance there is only one fate left for you and it will be miserable." The guy gave what could essentially be considered a pre-recorded speech.
"Aw shucks, I bet you say that to all the cute boys." Ares fluttered his lashes and coyly swiped his hand before chuckling to himself at the enraged expression of the tiger rider. He'd hit the nail on the head too because this 'greetings' the tiger rider gave was typically effective on people so the man seemingly relied on it a lot. It usually saved him the hassle of having to personally put down annoying targets and drag them back to the clan. He was the torturer for the Frozen Throne and, if it could be avoided, would much rather spend his time cultivating so he came up with this speech to dissuade would-be dissenters and rebellious individuals. Of course there were those who were infinitely stubborn, like this kid standing before him, but even then the threats usually caused some phycological doubt to take root which made the subsequent fight easier. That lingering dread and fear of what was coming after the loss usually gave the Frozen Throne cronies a distinct edge in combat against anyone whose mind was prone to pessimistic wandering. Anyone who wasn't afraid of influence would bow their head before power and brutality and vice versa. The Frozen Throne could threaten anyone in just about anyway... On most occasions... This oddball kid was the most obnoxious type of wanted individual on the Frozen Throne lists, the type who just. Didn't. Care. Whether they were idiotic, crazy, bold, or arrogant this type were unbothered by anything thrown at them and almost always retorted with snarky just as this kid had. These types grinded the tiger rider's gears to the maximum and the veins in his head were close to popping.
"Do you not understand who you're messing with or are you too moronic to care?" The tiger rider's white robes fluttered and the features of his relatively old face flapped as he spat venomously at Ares.
"Could say the same to you. Name's Ares, I won't ask if you've heard of me because it would be weirder if you hadn't." Slightly egotistic in his framing but Ares' arrogance was prove correct as he could see the faces of those surrounding him contort and screw up somewhat. They'd all seemingly swallowed a rather bitter pill as his name graced their ears and they were now being far more cautious. There was no guarantee every single person in Sheryashka knew Ares but, considering what he'd been told about this highly influential clan, there was no way his name hadn't come up at least a couple timers. Maybe they wanted connections to him, maybe they wanted to avoid making an enemy of him; what was true either way was that they were painfully aware of his recorded achievements to date. Interestingly, despite having stepped on a massive landmine here, the Frozen Throne individuals didn't back off. They were either extremely loyal or really underestimating Ares here so it seemed like a fight was truly inevitable after all.
"... Even still, you have crossed the line with your actions and you must..."
"Quietus Edict." A wave of disintegration swept through the frigid air and silenced the speaking man dead in his tracks. "I must? Since when did some random cockroach like you get to make decisions for me about what I 'must' do? There isn't anyone in Sheryashka who can tell me what to do or boss me around and your Frozen Throne is no difference. You can either get lost or I'll beat you all to death with my bare hands. You have about five seconds to start leaving before I start attacking. If you haven't left by the time I go on the offensive you will not be able to escape because I will hunt you down no matter how far you try and flee." Ares, not leaving any room for discussion, not that there could even be any after he'd silenced everyone thoroughly with magic, raised his hand so that everyone could see it. His five fingers began curling one by one, indicating the seconds that were passing until those that were looking to fight were officially locked in and could no longer bow out. Once Ares' hand formed a fist he would then use that very same weapon to bludgeon everyone here until they were pulp and blood pools on the floor, wiping his ass all over their precious 'Throne'.
Though Ares' fingers were all folding towards his palm one by one it seemed nobody was going to take the hint and run away... At least it looked that way initially up until Ares reached his last finger and two smarter individuals backed off. Due to Ares' quietus there was no way to fight back verbally against Ares' declarations and that left a lot of the people here feeling threatened. The man on the tiger couldn't quell any fear, take control of his morale-routed comrades, or reprimand anyone who disobeyed the implicitly understood order to stand their ground. This led to two people backing off before the fight even began, indicating they weren't going to take part at all. Truthfully, only one of these did this out of fear. The other individual was wise and knew that his own involvement in what came next was irrelevant. If the Frozen Throne crew could beat Ares his own presence meant nothing. Conversely, if Ares could win with nothing but his knuckles then someone had to live to tell the ridiculous tale back at the clan and inform them of what kind of monster they'd picked a fight with. He was simply gauging his opponent's strength and reporting it like a scout. Ares didn't seem like he was going to bother with him either, staying true to his words, so he was actually being quite clever. Problem being, however, he couldn't explain this to his own companions. There were plenty of looks of betrayal and anger spreading amongst the Frozen Throne ranks but nothing could be cleared up like this, with the ever-persistent Quietus preventing communication, so the mood on the opposing side of where Area stood was plummeting rapidly. He'd been a bit devious here! Plus the Quietus would prevent arts so everyone was going to be forced to play Ares' game as he declared it, it was going to have to be an artless brawl. Nobody was packing the power or necessary treasures to undo this art so Ares had set the pace in every way imaginable and completely dominated the encounter before the fight had even started.
Ares final finger, his thumb, slotted neatly into position and his fist was fully formed and ready to rock somebody's world. He wasted no time in pleasantries and leapt at the person nearest to him with a simple swing. The person he attacked raised their arm to block but they failed to acknowledge the fact they were dealing with a revenant and that was going to matter. Ares, after boldly and openly declaring he would beat everyone with his fists, opened his fist and grabbed the arm in front of him, leapfrogging over it and kicking the cultivator square in the face! Even if he hadn't used Quietus an unnatural silence would have fallen over everyone at this point regardless... Ares was a bit of a scumbag.... Worse still, he was clearly laughing to himself and enjoying every minute of the dumb prank he'd just pulled. Of course nobody expected him to hold back with his legs and feet, that wasn't what was implied when he said 'fist fight', but for the very first attack to be a kick... Even after flaunting his daunting fist... Irrespective of anything else, his power, fame, or influence... It was pretty clear this guy had a terrible personality!
Not to be put down one by one, three men all assaulted Ares at the same time to exploit their number's advantage. They formed a triangular containment around him and pounced all at once... Or so they tried. There was a limit to human co-operation and even with the mental messages they shared amongst themselves their teamwork was off by a few milliseconds here and there. Normally this would be impossible to exploit but Ares was barely even human at this point! And not just in the sense that he was a revenant but, rather, he could activate that combative flow state near enough on demand and his combat prowess was inestimable at that point. He was basically a martial monster and so these small gaps and delays he was spotting between his three attackers was a devastating fault that would cost the trio dearly.
First up was the man to Ares' south who initiated with a dive kick. Ares spun around and caught the foot before continuing the spin and chucking the caught cultivator into his own comrade. Ares effectively neutralised two attackers in one all because somebody had been a bit too eager and jumped the gun ahead of his comrades. This turned the three vs one into a one vs. one situation while the other two were rolling across the ground and stumbling over each other to get back up. As for the person now stuck with Ares, he tried to take advantage of Ares facing the other direction after his throw but it was completely pointless. Ares' divine sense was like a third person spectator in a poker match, it was borderline cheating, and so he saw clear as day the sneak attack punch aimed for his head coming from behind. Ares stomped his foot into the ground and cast "Echo" without even bothering to turn around. The man attacking him briefly thought his punch might land, and it would be heavy enough a strike to effectively end the fight on the spot, but his vision became unstable and he tripped forward at the key moment, landing atop Ares' shoulder for some unknown reason.
What had really happened here was that Ares' Echo burrowed through the floor like a drill and rose up underneath this assailant's foot mid-step, causing him to trip forward and unintentionally adjust his punch trajectory on the fly without his consent. The man stumbled forward and his arm was now resting right beside Ares' face having missed him by only a mere inch or so. It was a close call but this was now a terrible place to be as Ares' simply lifted his own hand up and grabbed the outstretched arm to perform an on-the-fly judo flip over his shoulder. The cultivator behind Ares was rapidly toppled in front of him and left seeing stars due to his discombobulation and dizziness. The cultivator had landed against the ice silently, as the Quietus was still running and in full effect, but his spine had very clearly cracked and suffered. The cultivator was left immobilised like an upturned turtle so Ares took this perfect opportunity to stomp his face into mush and crush the skull underfoot, officially murdering his first foe of the fight. Ares said he would be killing these people and he was being completely serious when he did so, no fooling around here!
The two cultivators Ares knocked to the floor like pins in a bowling alley had scrambled to their feet and were now charging at him again because misery loves company so why get hurt once when you can get hurt twice? Ares was handing out free ass-whoopings at an all-you-can-beat buffet! Ares ducked under the first punch coming his way and used pressure to deflect the second right back where it came from. One of his aggressors punched the other and sent him skidding along the floor but, despite feeling guilty as can be, he wasn't in any better condition as Ares cradled his fists together and hammered the cultivator's head from above like it was a loose nail. The struck cultivator died on the spot as his head caved in grotesquely. Ares' hands were now covered in blood and grey matter but he simply dangled and shook them both below his waste to let whatever wasn't stubbornly clinging to him fall to the floor. He'd wipe his hands down properly with water form the Deep Blue later but right now he couldn't afford to be a neat freak. Ares couldn't help but remember the Legion rune they put on all their gear, the one that wiped away blood and dirt as soon as it was activated, and Ares was admittedly feeling a tad envious right now...
Still, this line of thought about cleanliness was a distraction on a soon-to-be chaotic battlefield so Ares put it aside and readied himself for the next round of cultivators who came charging at him. First up, and first to get knocked down, were the weakest bunch, those who weren't even transition realm yet and didn't have mounts, and next up appeared to be the people who originally flew to this location. Transition realm cultivators were looking to tango now, basically. The mounted individuals were still hanging back and watching the fight develop, hoping Ares would maybe tire out by the time he got around to fighting them. Either way, the transition realm cultivators all jumped at Ares at once and there were about seven of them in total so it was a considerable ambushing force he needed to contend with. There was no room to form a proper circle and enclose Ares so some of these cultivators even took to the sky to make sure Ares was completely locked in and had no way out. Put simply, if Ares wanted to live, he had to fight and go a bit crazy with wild swings, fast reactions, and swift dispatches of each individual foe with no breaks between each battle, sometimes having to even fight more than one at once from multiple directions. Though this was a heavy ask he was surprisingly calm as, really, he'd been through worse! The Anubis holograms, back when they were at their smallest and could be summoned near endlessly, were more troublesome than this! Sure Ares didn't have his weapon of choice, and the holograms only ever came at him from the front so the scope of this situation was undeniably different, but Ares was more than capable of transferring what he'd gained from that fight to this one! his strategy and confidence were both applicable so all he needed was a shift in mindset. He was the epicentre of chaos, a being capable of repelling all foes and fully becoming an immovable king of the hill!
Ares spun like a top, his fists a blur and his legs a hurricane. Two rapid jabs to the chest left one opponent short of breath and clutching away at their heart on the floor while Ares was already kicking the head of another aggressor. Over the shoulder throws and low sweeps, high kicks and full body tackles. Ares fought hard to keep his space and repel anyone who dared enter it looking for trouble. The fight got dirty and unscrupulous as Ares pulled hair, bit down on necks, scratched flesh, and spat at eyes to blind people. He suffered one or two small blows to the stomach and back during this ordeal but his Scaled Insulator could negate some damage to an extent and Ares never let any harsher blows hit him cleanly so he was doing fine. He kicked out at one cultivator's knee and then slugged the crouching cultivator in the face. decking them and launching them onto their back, before hopping onto their prone body and crushing all internal organs with a series of stamps. Someone tried to tackle Ares off their teammate but he hopped high in the air and tucked in his legs to sail right over the attacker before extending his feet and kicking them in the back to send them flying.
Ares was gradually beating down all the transition realm cultivators and it was a sight to behold! One peak, or close to it anyway, sensory enhancement cultivator, still in his teens, was massacring a group of multiple transition realm cultivators without even using a weapon or magic! There was no humiliation to be found here, though, as it wasn't the fault of the transition realm cultivators they were losing. It actually really wasn't! They were all at least as strong as the average cultivator who shared the same cultivation base as them and, as far as early transition realm cultivators went, they were powerful! It's just that Ares was an anomaly, a nightmare in human skin and his almost berserk body was being piloted by a madman and combat connoisseur which was a dangerous combination. Broken noses, bloodied ears, twisted wrists. Every single attacker going up against Ares would run towards him and be sent reeling away with some manner of painful looking injury. The injuries were getting more and more severe as time passed, in fact, so it was evident Ares was ramping up to a murder spree while his foes were powering down and running out of energy to keep flinging themselves masochistically at Ares.
Seeing and understanding this, the mounted individuals, of which there were roughly five, all nodded towards one another and decided now was the optimal time to strike... Or, rather, the only time to strike. They had to do something while their allies were still breathing otherwise they'd be throwing away a considerable numbers advantage. Ares didn't appear to be exhausting himself any time soon, he was like a barbarian king fuelled by the blood of his enemies, so they needed to interfere now while they still had a chance to. They were the strongest of their ranks and so carefully navigated the battlefield filled with bodies blasted away at random angles and displayed their expertise relative to those who were charging in blindly. They themselves were 'rushing' because they had to, thanks to Ares being far more deadly than they initially gave him credit for, but they weren't so weak they'd make the mistake of actively joining in at a moment that wasn't crucial and / or beneficial to them. Their time was limited but there was still enough time left on the clock before lives were lost en masse.
Ares, however, wasn't exactly blind. He could see what they were aiming for even while his attention was being occupied elsewhere. Underneath the armpits of those striking at him, between their legs, over their shoulders, in the gaps between their free flowing hair in the wind... Ares could spy the circling tigers, polar bears, and cultivators riding them. From their position they must have felt like predators stalking prey but the truth was precisely the inverse, Ares was bait and luring in his next hunt... No, that was incorrect, it was the same hunt already taking place. Ares wasn't trying to deal with the groups separately. Actually, he hadn't killed any more attackers as of late because he wanted to end it all with one big finale. By the time his Asura Rondo was over he wanted nothing but corpses remaining, piled high and spread wide, so he was actively softening up those who were willingly coming at him while planning out his assassination of those prowling in the back lines. Ares poked the throat of one of his attackers and snuck behind them, strangling them and taking a threatening posture to everyone else that insinuated he was more than happy to break a neck if anyone pushed towards his position carelessly. Though it looked like he was eyeing up those around him he was still secretly glancing at the mounted group in the back as that was where his real goal lay. Annoyingly they were taking their sweet time but Ares wasn't going to let them set the pace. Sure he could refuse to give them an edge and opportunity until he slaughtered all those immediately around him, leaving them with no choice but to hop into the fray... But what if...
The man Ares was choking sensed an opportunity to slip free when Ares' grip weakened so he ducked and elbowed Ares in the stomach with a light blow that hit cleanly. Ares stumbled backwards across the ice and landed on his rear in a seated position and there was truly no better chance than this! Every single person capable of still moving all lunged towards Ares. Upwards of at least fifteen individuals all looked to deal a death blow even if it meant accidentally crushing one another. It was like a group of carnivores all fighting in no man's land for the last peace of meat. There was something oddly artistic about the way they all desperately clamoured over one another with arms stretched towards the seated devil, like something out of a renaissance painting. Unfortunately there had been a slight misunderstanding here. Ares, who'd successfully used himself as bait, lifted his gloomy and sunken head up high and with a wicked grin and spoke two damning words to all those approaching in a wave of malicious intent. His voice permeated their skin and shook them to their cores as he unleashed his war aura and pressure to terrify the opposition into nearly flatlining on the spot.
"Asura Rondo."