Ares lending Perseus a hand was actually a prepared move; it was to get Perseus into Zeus's sights earlier, preparing for Perseus's future sublimation into the constellation Perseus and his formal entry into the Olympus camp.
With the appreciation of Zeus, the God-King, even if Perseus's true identity was later discovered by Athena, he would still be able to successfully ascend to a constellation and become a divine member of Olympus.
At worst, if Athena exposed him as a "commercial spy," he could just switch bosses and join Zeus.
Of course, this is the worst-case scenario. Currently, the only person Athena explicitly knows to be related to Ares is Heracles. As for Medea and Perseus, they are only suspected, and Medea's suspicion is much greater than Perseus's.
As long as Ares endures Athena's numerous tests and eventually gets close to her, there shouldn't be a major problem.
However, while Ares was explaining to the gods, Heracles, as Artemis had feared, arrived at the coast.
He glanced at the empty coast and the anchor marks of the departing ship, then began to stretch, seemingly intending to swim directly after the Argo.
Seeing this, Zeus quickly ordered:
"Which of you will go down and convey my command? Just tell him to stop; it'll save a lot of trouble."
At Zeus's command, none of the gods moved, so the God-King angrily said, "What do you mean? Are you defying my orders?"
"Zeus, please calm your anger." The gods quickly pleaded, "We have no intention of defying your orders. It's just that this hero is too powerful and audacious. We don't have the divine power of Poseidon, and if we go down, we might get beaten up by him."
"A bunch of good-for-nothings."
Zeus cursed them, then looked at Athena:
"Athena, you go."
"Zeus, please forgive me, but I cannot go."
Athena shook her head with a bitter smile:
"Heracles and I have a bigger grudge than with Poseidon. If he sees me, he definitely won't listen to me. If I truly fight him, this entire area where the Mysians live will likely be destroyed, which would be more trouble than it's worth."
"How did you get into a conflict with him again?"
Zeus asked in surprise.
"Well, there were some minor misunderstandings regarding his wife and children."
Athena chose to avoid discussing it.
Zeus wanted to press further, but at this moment, Heracles plunged into the sea with a splash and swam towards the Argo. Seeing this, Zeus loudly declared:
"Is there no god in all of Olympus who dares to go down and face my son?"
"Of course there is."
Heavenly Queen Hera, sitting next to him, raised her fair arm and ordered:
"Ares, you go down and stop him."
"Yes."
Ares, who had just resisted Zeus's command, now stood up from a corner of the clouds. He pushed past the other gods and came to the edge of the clouds, ready to jump down.
"Ares!"
Zeus looked at his son, somewhat angry:
"Why don't you listen when I tell you to do something, but you listen when Hera tells you?!"
"Of course." Ares replied, "Because I only have half-siblings on my father's side, not on my mother's side."
This sarcastic remark infuriated Zeus, but before he could scold his son, he saw Ares jump directly from the clouds, landing next to Heracles and stirring up huge waves in the ocean.
Seeing this scene, Heracles actually stopped, obediently watching the God of War emerge from the waves, standing on the surging water, awaiting his command.
"Go back, Heracles."
Ares said to him:
"In the name of Ares, the God of War, I convey the command of God King Zeus to you. From now on, do not pursue the Argo. Take another route to fulfill your promise to Eurystheus."
"But God of War." Heracles, knowing that the gods were probably watching, decisively changed his address to Ares. He pleaded, "I want to accompany my friends for the last leg of their journey."
"It's not time yet; there will be opportunities later." Ares hinted.
"I understand."
Heracles then bowed his head:
"I will go back now."
After saying that, he obediently swam back to the shore and dutifully came ashore.
Seeing this, all the gods were stunned. Aphrodite, who was always at odds with Ares, whispered:
"Why? This simpleton Ares actually has so much prestige in front of a hero?"
"Only this one."
Apollo explained for Ares:
"When Heracles was young, he led the common people of Thebes in a War against the Mycenae Kingdom. The weapons for this War were provided to him by Ares."
The gods suddenly understood, then lamented how incredibly lucky Ares was and why they hadn't encountered a rare hero like Heracles for early investment.
But unfortunately, there is only one Heracles in the Greek World. No matter how much they lamented, they could no longer make such a decisive investment in this hero as Ares had.
While the gods were discussing, Heracles had returned to shore, and Ares followed him to the water's edge. Then, the two walked side by side towards the inland. As they walked, Ares guided Heracles on the land route to the Amazon Kingdom. In this process, the two walked past the spring where Heracles had been trapped by Athena's design, and Ares curiously asked:
"What about the water nymphs who pulled you in? You didn't kill them, did you?"
"Of course not. They didn't have much ill will towards me, and I'm not very skilled in magic. If I had killed them directly, I wouldn't have known how to escape that space."
Heracles replied.
"Then how did you get out so quickly?"
Ares continued to ask.
"It's simple; just fulfill their demands."
Heracles replied:
"These water nymphs wanted a passionate romance with a hero, so I told their eldest sister that if I satisfied them, they would let me out."
"And then? How did you satisfy them?"
"Ah, well."
Heracles suddenly showed a look of a master's solitude and said:
"It was quite easy. I performed an 'Aphrodite's Ritual' with them and defeated all these water nymphs."
"..."
The so-called Aphrodite's Ritual, in the Greek World, actually refers to sexual intercourse. In Cyprus, where Aphrodite is widely worshipped, priestesses sometimes perform this so-called "ritual" with travelers to earn money to serve the Goddess of Beauty.
Ares didn't know what to say about Heracles's carefree attitude. It wasn't right to call him a scoundrel; he still remembered his wife, whom he had accidentally killed, and was still atoning for it. Moreover, it seemed that the water nymphs had made the first move in this matter, and Heracles had merely "passively retaliated."
After much thought, Ares could only lament, "Mégara was truly a formidable woman. What a pity, what a pity."