151-160

Chapter 151 - No Chances Whatsoever!

Edvard frowned as this question ran through his mind and he clenched his fists at the knowledge that the answer was most likely not something he would like or find soothing.

He was still trying to come to terms with the fact that Hal had saved his designated heirs, Selina and Arnold. When they had told him of all that had happened in the forest, he had felt indecisive with his emotions.

Should he be happy that they were saved by the boy toy?

Or

Should he be upset that the boy seemed to be getting stronger, faster than he (Edvard) could follow?

Gregory sat forward,

"You plan to visit him? Something you never thought to do when it concerned us? Do we really amount to so little to you?"

The outrage in Gregory's words rang loud and was synonyms with how the other family heads felt.

Arya chuckled,

"Why do I have to act the way you want? As I have said already, you need my help, not the other way around so will you stop your indignation and let us get this meeting started so I can get back to matters of some importance."

Gregory breathed in and out before he sat back down with a snort and looked away from her direction.

It was clear that Edvard, Gregory and Ford believed Arya was ensnared by Hal's good looks.

They might be right but they could also very well be wrong.

Hector closed his eyes and actually considered the possibility that it was not just about the teenage boy's looks, as only the Edgars knew of the powerful, albeit meager force Hal was controlling.

He decided not to say anything because he felt the other Great family heads were letting things that were of no consequence presently, take precedence over more important matters.

"Since you have stopped your childishness. I will explain the situation you are all in right now and I hope there will be no interruptions.

From the very start of this conflict heading ever closer to war, which I investigated sufficiently, you, the Great families have been on the back foot and it's all because you lost the initiative. The Plebeians knew what they were after and so they took the steps needed before they started going all out.

That you are only just noticing their sudden increase in Cultivation only makes this even more true. They have been strengthening their forces in the shadows and at a time when it was convenient for them. But what were you all doing? You were lost in your overconfidence that you were still the greatest.

As I understand it, some of you had relationships, friendships with them. Visiting their home for drinks and also patronizing them. Before the Holgers were killed, they could count on some of you for the Greatest part of their profit.

You funded them and you had no idea. You drank with them and knew nothing. The way I see it, if you lose this Coming war, it would have completely been your fault."

Gregory narrowed his eyes,

"I hope there's a point to these words cause it would really piss me off if you only called us here to insult us"

The words had probably hit him harder than it did the others as the dead Holgers had been his friends. He had even patronized them as well, so it was a double slap.

However, despite his angry visage, what hurt Gregory the most was that it was true. He hated that he had visited the Holgers so much and never realized a change. Had he really been that complacent?

"Of course there is a point. I'm saying all this to be realistic about your chances in the Coming war" Arya said with a smile.

"Oh, what are they?" Ford asked.

Arya grinned,

"None whatsoever. You are bound to lose this war and you are bound to lose completely"

Ford's face went red from anger,

"What did you just say?" He said and clenched his fists.

Arya saw it but ignored him as she continued,

"I'm only telling it as I see it. You are all far behind on preparations, the Plebeians have occasionally put you on the back foot. The assault on your homes that you neutralized had been successful whether you like it or not.

As you must know by now, all those who attacked were gangs and killing them did nothing to diminish the fighting power of the Plebeians. As such, I can confidently say, you are all screwed."

Arya said and burst into laughter.

Hector who was trying his best to be mature and not reprimand the rude alchemist. He was about to mention that the Plebeian forces that had been sent to the forest were killed and it was a loss the Plebeians must have felt.

However, as soon as he thought to say it, he realized that if he had to use that attack which had been neutralized by a different party that as of now, had no ties to the Great families, then he might as well admit that Arya was right.

Arya's laughter stopped and she dabbed away the moisture at the edges of her eyes before she cleared her throat,

"I'm sorry I laughed, but the situation was hilarious to me. That said, I was serious, your chances to win are so slim that you might as well give up to the Plebeians so as not to risk any more lives. Of course, there is no guarantee that your family members will not be used to rebirth the Holger slave business.

However, with this..." Arya waved her hand and the ring on her finger flashed as a case suddenly appeared on the table. It made it clear that the ring was a spatial one.

"...you need not be worried" She completed and opened up the case to allow sudden saturation of Pill aroma.

Ford nodded secretly at the tactic she had used,

First, she made a long speech that was only to annoy and infuriate them, then she supported those hurtful words with hard facts that brought in dismay and despite them not showing it, all the Great family heads were really starting to doubt being victorious against the Plebeians.

It was then that she proposed Salvation in the form of these pills.

They were stunned. Any disrespect she had shown was quickly forgiven in the face of this treasure trove.

"Are... Are those for speeding up cultivation?" Hector asked.

Arya shook her head,

"Of course not. Forget about cultivation. You are attempting to catch up to the progress of the Plebeians who have cultivated in preparation for this war, for at least a year. How could you possibly make up for that time in a few months, if you even have that long?

Huh? How? With diligence?" Arya sniggered as though to insult them even more but as though they had developed a tolerance for her words, they said nothing and were not even offended.

It was most likely because they could see the truth in her words.

"Okay then, what are they?" Edvard asked.

"Well, they are if two types. There are Recovery pills that are to quickly restore Cosmic energy and help the user stay in the fight for even longer.

But these pills are not just Recovery pills, I have added a little something of my own that not only helps the recovery of Cosmic energy, it also strengthens the body for a limited amount of time. So that until the effects wear off, the user can practically do anything.

That said, they are quite addictive and should be taken liberally.

"Telling us to use it liberally, doesn't that affect your profits?" Ford asked with his eyebrow raised.

"I have factored it all in and it will be felt in the price of one so that I don't make losses. I'm not a monster so I will tell you the truth of my pills, but I am also not an idiot so you will pay for my honesty"

"Interesting principles" Hector said in a calm voice that said it was anything but.

Even then, Arya smiled,

"Why thank you, Old Man"

"And how much do you want for the Pills?" Edvard asked.

"Why don't we discuss that once I'm done with introductions. Good as this Pill is, it is only a better version of a Recovery pill and can not be compared to the second I will introduce to you.

Are you familiar with the Flame Maniac pill?" She asked them but was facing Gregory when she said it.

Gregory's eyes became wild with pain and anger.

How could he not remember?

That was the Pill he had given Rad so that he could enhance his fighting prowess and defeat Hal. The pill that had ensured that even if Rad had been victorious. He would still face the consequences later on.

Arya stopped waiting for a reply and continued,

"Well, that was merely a Rank 2 pill. Once again I tweaked the effects and made it into a Flame Berserk pill and I will place its Rank at Rank 2 intermediate"

The Family heads were confused, the way she had said Rank 2 intermediate was as though it was better than Rank 2 but so far they could see no evidence of this.

Arya nodded with a smirk,

"Since you don't know what it means, Rank 2 intermediate is just to tell you that this pill is no different from a Rank 2 or a Rank 3 and as such can be used by both those at the Cosmic Pearl realm and those at the Cosmic Armament Realm with no side effects to either of the two power levels.

Of course, their strength when they both use it will be different with the Armament being stronger."

At first, there was silence and then Edvard cleared his throat,

"How are we to know if they are truly effective"

Arya shrugged,

"You are allowed to test one pill and it will be the recovery pill as it's the mildest of the two. The Flame berserk pill should only be used during combat when the energy can be let out"

Arya passed one recovery pill to them and Hector received it to pass it to Karon. His eyes were completely on Arya, as though a promise to rip her head off should something happen to his right-hand man.

The other Family heads were okay with him taking the risk and testing the waters.

So to speak.

Karon took the pill without hesitation and swallowed it. Within seconds, he seemed to be illuminated slightly and when he opened his eyes, they were completely refreshed and the pressure his body released convinced them all.

This was Legit.

They turned to Arya and nodded.

Arya smiled sweetly like she had when they had first arrived and clapped her hands,

"Oh goody! Unfortunately, there is a limited supply so you can't all have what you want so why don't we do it this way?

Why don't you start bidding?"

Chapter 152 - We Are Your Legion.

Two Days Later...

Horst Manor...

A maid walked towards Ford's study to inquire if there was anything the Horst lord required. For the last two days, the lord of Horst Manor seemed incredibly preoccupied with his thoughts and hardly had the presence of mind for a meal.

Even the lady, Emily had been sighing occasionally in boredom throughout the first day as she missed her daughter that had not returned. Eventually, she went into her room to cultivate and had not exited since.

Everyone could tell that Ford could not occupy himself with cultivation as there were quite a few things that require his attention and the lack of the solace rendering activity was causing him to get crankier by the hour.

As this maid walked closer to the Study door, she was fearful that she not be the one on who he would vent his frustrations.

During this kind of mood, Ford was known to say some pretty hurtful things and sometimes his yells worked just well.

The Maid was about to pull open the door when her colleague with slightly grey eyes arrived and her eyes widened when she saw Maid no.1 attempting to pull the door.

Maid no.2 quickly reached out and grabbed the other maid's hand.

"What do you think you're doing?' Maid no.2 asked Maid no.1 in a quiet whisper.

Maid no.1 looked confused,

"I was going to open the door and ask the Lord what he wanted for the afternoon" she said with confused eyes. What she was doing should have been obvious.

"The Lord is in a mood. If you go in, you might not come out with your head" Maid no.2 said in an urgent whisper.

Maid no.1's hands flew to the sides of her head,

"Really?" She asked with fear. Was the lord really that upset?

Also, why did this maid seem familiar?

Why was her skin so well cared for?

She was a maid, it shouldn't have been so.

This Maid's body exuded sexual charm which was something Maid no.1 had not seen a maid have since she had been working at Horst Manor.

Then again, she was quite new, had only been working here for a few weeks and was not very adjusted to the ways of the Manor.

Even then, if it had not been for the Maid outfit, she would have thought this Grey-eyed Maid was the Lady of the Manor or something.

"I'd leave if I were you" said the Sexy maid.

Maid no.1 nodded and took her advice to flee from the study door.

Emily watched her leave and chuckled to herself. Out of boredom, she had decided to walk around the Manor in a Maid's outfit. That was the only thing she changed about her appearance but yet none of the Maids she had met so far had recognized her.

Even when they had met her before.

It was amazing how a drastic and unexpected change in attire could alter how people saw someone.

Emily walked up to the door and rapped it sharply.

"Having fun moping around? You do know she's quite capable of taking care of herself right?" She said and walked away to continue testing her anonymity.

Inside the Study,

Ford sighed as he heard Emily's words. Just two days ago, he and the other Great family heads had bid on the hundreds of pills in the Alchemist's case.

At the time, when it had been said that Hal was busy and could not receive the Alchemist's message, he had thought, 'That's good. Amelia must be heading home now' but to his dismay when he returned home and had the Gold he had spent sent to the Alchemist in exchange for the pills, Amelia was still at the pervert's home.

And then, he imagined the worst which was that his daughter was getting pounded. The image in his head had sickened him and it was only made worse when Emily confirmed it with her not-so-subtle innuendos.

Two days...

She had been there for two days.

What the fuck was up with that? He asked himself when...

*BOOOOMMMM!!*

... The sound had come from not that far away and Ford could tell where it had sounded from.

It was from...

A shout interrupted his thoughts and confirmed his guess...

"Arrrgggghhhhhh. HAL PAYNE, YOU BASTARD!"

...It was from the Pervert's mansion.

...

30 minutes earlier...

Hal was in the Time warped chamber alone, attempting to complete the formation of his Cosmic Armament.

The ladies had left the chamber the moment they could walk after the Marathon Orgy. On the outside, it had been two days, but in the chamber, it had been twenty days.

Twenty days in which they and Hal fucked constantly and stored up essence for a breakthrough.

And they had refined theirs already and left to prepare for the coming assault while Hal worked earnestly to form his Armament and finally advance to the Cosmic Armament Realm.

The truth was that he still needed more Essence to guarantee the success of the formation process but he was now out of time and would just have to make do.

His eyes were closed as he prepared himself completely, refined the Essence he had gotten from the ladies and drove it all towards his cultivation.

He could no longer advance his Bloodline until he made an advancement to the next realm and so, in all ways at the moment, his cultivation was most important.

...

Meanwhile...

In the Fidwud Family home and the homes of other main Plebeian families, they were already amassing their forces to proceed and condemn the culprit.

The way they prepared and the intensity in their actions, had they not being justified or had they been wrong, it would have all resembled a witch hunt.

Those that saw them begin to gather forces and had no idea what was happening wondered if the war was finally about to begin.

As the forces moved ahead and the heads stayed a few steps behind on comfortable palanquins, San felt good. He felt accomplished.

Today was going to be a good day. He thought.

The other heads that noticed his smile wondered what was making him happy even though they could already infer that it was his confidence in victory.

They on the other hand were not completely convinced of that victory.

Quite a few of them felt that as simple as it should have been, any plan in which San planned never went without a hitch and against a teenager if they were to suffer massive losses,

Where would they put their face?

That said, the likes of Bale and Tod smiled in their mind. At least if this plan failed, they would have an avenue to finally overturn that leadership that San (much to their chagrin) held.

Baret and Ian were however preparing themselves to sense the trap the enemy might put in place.

This was merely a precaution of course. The only way Hal could prepare a trap was if he knew what was about to happen beforehand and he did not.

They could not help but feel complacent.

Those who watched them move soon realized their destination and there was a surprise all around.

What could the inhabitants of that Mansion, who practically had nothing to do with the Great families, have done to offend the Plebeians and warrant such large-scale invasion?

...

At the Mansion...

Hal exited the Chamber and entered into the lounge. He smiled as he saw the resolution to battle in the eyes of the ladies.

Amelia who, to his knowledge, had never been involved in such a situation before, closed her eyes as though in an attempt to calm herself.

Melinda moved towards him the moment she saw him and grabbed his arm.

"Are you not going to call for Swanson?" She asked.

She had simply assumed that when it was the day of the assault, Hal would then send for him to be informed but up until that moment Hal had not called for his 'Master'.

Hal sighed,

"That would make it obvious that we planned ahead" he said.

"It could be a coincidence." Rita said.

"And by the time we start to attack, we might not be able to keep it a secret that we knew and prepared beforehand" Melinda said.

Hal nodded,

"Even so, I think it's better this way." He wound his arms around both their waists and faces all the ladies fully,

"I have you. I have all of you. That is enough" he said.

The faces of all the ladies spit into a wide grin. That sentence alone had motivated them and improved their morale.

"And we will fight with you and for you" Camilla said.

Melinda smiled and nodded at those words as she turned to Hal and touched the arm around her waist,

"Yes, we will. We are your Legion"

Hal chuckled,

"Alright Legionaries. Let's welcome the visitors"

And with his arm around their waists and Marla and Amelia right at their sides, Hal steered Melinda and Rita out of the lounge and the Mansion to the stairs leading to the courtyard where they saw the Plebeian forces get ever closer to the front gate.

The moment they were in front of the Gate, the guards abandoned their posts as though from fear to dash into the Mansion.

San who saw this, sneered,

"Cowards"

Hal walked closer to the gate until he could see Evian who was mainly the one leading the Men as the Family heads were behind the forces still atop their palanquin.

"What is the meaning of this?" Hal asked in a calm voice as the eyes of some of the men eyed the four beauties with him.

One of them was the Genius of Salmon city, Amelia Horst!

"We are here to..." Evian began but...

"Shut up!" Hal interrupted in a loud voice and Evian looked as though he had been struck dumb.

Hal then said,

"I was talking to your idiotic Heads sitting on the Palanquins. Get the Fuck down and address me. As an equal!"

San's eyes widened and he chuckled,

"Are you serious, you Brat? Do those ladies really give you that much confidence?" He asked.

Hal released Rita and raised his hand,

"I'll give you to the count of five. 1... 2..." With each number he called, he folded a finger but San simply shorted at the display,

"... 3... 4... 5"

The moment the last number was called, a Rank 2 Rune (Slap) appeared and with terrifying speed, it slammed into the side of San's effeminate face. Leaving a five-fingered hand imprint that was bright red.

San had toppled off the palanquin due to the slap and so great was his anger that he unconsciously infused his voice with Cosmic Energy and yelled,

"Arrrgggghhhhhh. HAL PAYNE, YOU BASTARD!"

Chapter 153 - Death Of The Bravado Squad.

San's yell, infused with Cosmic Energy was so loud that it could be heard miles away from the Mansion and Horst Manor just happened to be in the range.

So were other locations.

San glared at Hal and hastened to stand from the ground that had now made his robes dusty. He turned to face the other Plebeian heads and found that Bale and Tod were trying their best not to laugh.

If there was one thing that could make the situation feel even more annoying to the Fidwud Family head, it was the fact that it was an avenue for his rivals to rejoice.

Even some of the Plebeian men were laughing. The only ones who showcased true indignation were those of the Fidwud family home. Evian was glaring at Hal so hard, it could burn a hole through him.

San in his anger that seemed to be boiling stronger by the minute turned towards the bastard that had caused him to face this embarrassing situation and found that while his expression was the same, the ladies with him did not hide their sniggers and laughter.

"You son of a bitch!" He snarled in anger and the pressure of his Cultivation blasted out at full force.

Hal just blinked at his display,

"Oh? You can talk to me now, can't you? Isn't this nice?" He said as though he and San were just having a nice conversation.

"I'll kill you!" San yelled and took a step in direction of the gate. The guards in front of him parted as soon as he did this and let his path to the Mansion be free.

Even as underlings, they could tell that it could be dangerous for San to engage Hal at the moment, but none of them was ready to risk getting on his bad side to tell him.

The other Plebeian heads knew Bale and Tod were enjoying the situation too much to interfere so they turned to the Runemasters, Baret and Ian but soon realized they were staring at the Mansion with a perplexed expression and occasionally released Runes that swirled the Mansion before fading.

Hal smiled at San's threat,

"That's good. I like that you have zeal but I still find it confusing, so can you tell me why are you here with so many men?"

With those words, San suddenly blinked and it seemed as though he returned to his senses because he reined in his pressure and stepped back towards the Palanquin which he ascended again.

"Yes. That is right. I am so ashamed. How could I have let my personal feelings hinder me from meting out justice for our fallen comrades?" He said.

Bale and Tod snorted,

"Bastard" They said in unison.

San continued, this time his voice was consciously infused with Cosmic Energy and boomed loud,

"Hal Payne, you have been found guilty of killing the Holgers and today, we the Plebeian alliance will mete out swift justice. Which is for you to suffer the Complete decimation of you and those close to you."

Hal took a deep breath and infused his own voice with Cosmic Energy as well and when it boomed, to the surprise of all those present, San included, the voice produced was just as loud as the Fidwud Family head,

"I did no such thing" He said.

San shook his head and regained his composure,

"Well, I- no, WE Say you did" he said with a gesture to the Plebeians with him.

Hal sighed,

"Do you have any proof?" He asked in the same booming voice that let many in the City have a live feed of the events.

Bale infused his voice and it boomed as well,

"We don't need proof. As long as we know it's you, we will have justice" He said with a smirk.

'These guys are Parrots. They are just repeating what someone has already said' Hal thought with a shake of his head, referring to their Master who had said something similar,

"Well then. The way I see it, you prefer to go on a hunch and suspicion not because you really want justice for your fellow comrades but because you are threatened by me.

This is the perfect situation in which you can be rid of me" Hal said.

Bale narrowed his eyes,

"Why would we feel threatened by you?" He said with a dark chuckle and Hal shrugged,

"Who knows? But seeing as no one brings this Many men to a possible negotiation, I can confidently say that none of you can be reasoned with.

So enough with the chitchat. Since you don't need proof to justify your attacks then I also don't need a justification to defend myself, my home and those closest to me" He said.

He and the ladies smiled at the Plebeian Men and took just one step further back into the Mansion compound.

Melinda grinned and spoke with her voice loud and booming as it was infused with Cosmic Energy,

"Feel free to attack. We will entertain you"

San looked at her standing by Hal's side and had to admit that he had not paid her a lot of attention as he had been focused on Hal since.

What was with those Golden eyes?!

She did not always have them, did she?

Marla sneered,

"Step forward and die" as her voice was not infused with Cosmic energy, it was not loud enough to boom like the others but that was just as well,

She was only addressing those Plebeians anyway.

"Hahahaha. That's bold. You've even got the Genius of Salmon City by your side. Good, now I can end the future of the Horsts as well" San said with his voice in its normal volume.

If Ford had no idea that his daughter was here, it was best to keep it that way.

The moment San mentioned Amelia and threatened her pointedly, Hal's eyes flashed and he chuckled with Dark humor.

But said nothing.

Amelia narrowed her eyes but was silent as well.

In fact, all of them were now silent and unresponsive to the intruders.

It was clear at that moment to the Plebeians that their targets had no interest in conversing anymore so San turned to Bale and Ian who still seemed to be observing the Mansion.

"So, should we be worried" He asked.

At that time, Hal and the ladies had stepped even further back and wait out their assailants.

Baret turned to San,

"The whole place lacks any signature of Astral energy. It is completely clean of it"

San narrowed his eyes,

"Could it be that its rank is so high that you can't sense it?" He asked.

Ian continued to gaze at the Mansion with his Eagle-eyed stare but he answered with a shake of his head,

"The higher its rank, the easier it would be to sense it. This is perplexing, it is as though Rune Mastering has never been practiced in this home at all"

'That's not perplexing. That's a fucking flag. Something is fishy here' San thought and looked at Hal and the ladies as they all stood in place.

Waiting...

Patiently...

With those smug looks...

"Evian, select capable and have them head inside" San ordered.

The other Family heads frowned as the men he was ordering to be sent were not all in the Fidwud family force but as San was the designated Family head, they let it be.

Even after being ordered, there was a lot of caution in the steps of the Men as they took careful almost shuffling steps towards the Mansion compound.

As they stepped closer, Hal's grin became wider and it intimidated them.

And then one of them had the thought that this must all be a bluff. Their targets were only attempting to intimidate them.

There could not be anything about the Mansion that could possibly be hidden from such experienced Rune Masters like Baret and Ian.

The moment this thought came to the Mind of Mr. Bravado (as we will now call him), he strode confidently into the Compound and grinned as he had done so safely.

The others took courage in Mr. Bravado's actions and followed after him.

They were ecstatic as it had been done so successfully. There were about a hundred men sent ahead of the thousand Man force and the Majority of them were at the peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm.

Even though there were Cultivators at the Cosmic Armament Realm prepared for this assault, the Heads were still a little hopeful that they would not have to do anything.

Back to Mr. Bravado and his squad of brave men. The moment they were inside the Mansion compound in full and surveyed Hal and the hot babes by his sides, an Array Dome surrounded the Mansion in the entirety.

The Array (while see-through) was composed of swimming Runes of such complexity that Baret and Ian were stunned.

They had expected this to happen but the fact that they had been unable to sense it and even now it seemed as though this Dome was the only source of Astral energy, was very worrying.

Meanwhile,

Hal and the Ladies grinned as he snapped his fingers and...

*Boommmm*

Rune circles appeared at the feet of all the Men, blasting them away in different directions. Only a few of them had been able to attempt protection with Cosmic Energy.

Those that had survived the blast looked upon their dead comrades and their visage became filled with anger until Hal, Melinda and Rita attacked.

At that point, they were only interested in survival as they attempted to block the strikes and life-ending punches to their body but there was nothing they could do.

Against three cultivators at the Cosmic Armament Realm, whether or not they unleashed their Cosmic Armament, there was nothing they could do.

Some of them tried to escape the courtyard but the Dome blocked both entry and exit.

It was over in a few minutes.

Marla looked sideways at Amelia and was surprised to see her smiling.

Once all those in the Bravado squad were dead, Hal and the ladies returned to where they had been before while cleaning their bloodied hands.

As the Array had been see-through, the massacre had been on the display for those on the outside and they clenched their fists in anger but also a little bit of fear.

Then the Array faded and Hal smiled,

Looking very much like a very Handsome Devil,

"Who's next?"

Chapter 154 - The Sieving Veils.

It was a Dare!

And one that was as clear as day.

Angry and insulted as San was, he could not help but praise Hal in his mind.

First Hal had done something that made the whole Mansion seem devoid of Astral energy which normally should have made the Plebeians overconfident that all was well but because Hal was already a known Runemaster, the Effect was not the same and it was only glaringly suspicious and made the Plebeians even more cautious.

To an avid observer, Hal's plan of surprise was ruined because of this but San could tell that this was the effect Hal had wanted.

Because of how suspicious it was, San had decided to send in those he considered expendable due to the abundance of Cosmic Pearl realm cultivators as opposed to Cosmic Armament realm cultivators who were far more scarce and valuable.

And it was the perfect avenue for Hal and his ladies to display dominance and intimidate even the Cosmic Armament Realm cultivators on the outside.

And as Hal and the ladies had not let out the pressure of their cultivation base, how strong they were was still mostly unknown. At most, the Plebeians had only come up with a guess, which was that they were at least at the Cosmic Armament realm.

The eyes of the Plebeian leaders widened at this conclusion, they needed to make sure Hal died now or else at the rate this monster was growing they would be incapable of threatening him soon enough.

Now that they had seen his prowess as not only a Rune master but also a cultivator, they could not help but lament that they had ignored him and let him have room to grow this much.

San on the other hand could not help but chuckle,

"If that is all you have then you're screwed" he said and ordered all those available to storm in.

Strong as Hal and the ladies might be, they could not possibly hold off all of these men. Even if Hal could make use of more Arrays, he could not possibly keep all of them away.

Or so he thought.

What San was unaware of was that Hal had an immense supply of Astral energy and was more than capable of erecting even more arrays.

The Rune Array Protective Dome was the only Array that had been prepared beforehand. The only reason Hal had cleared all residual signatures of Astral energy from the Mansion was that he wanted the Plebeians to be cautious.

Every Array he planned to use now was spontaneous and created on the spot because it allowed him versatility and made him able to tailor-make the arrays.

He allowed himself a few seconds to breathe deeply before he released a torrent of Astral energy, so strong that the attacking men paused as they felt the pressure of an energy they could not sense as they lacked Astral sense.

This was their salvation and made it bearable for them, but for the two Runemasters who had Astral sense but it was too weak to endure such high-powered Astral energy, the strain on their mental health was massive.

The eyes of Baret and Ian widened as they felt and sensed it,

"Impossible..." Was all they were able to say before they grabbed at their heads, fell to the ground and began to convulse.

San's eyes were filled with fear as he saw his comrades (For among the Plebeian heads, only these two qualified to be called his comrades and friends) fall victim to the torrent of the pressure that emanated from the Energy he could not sense.

Despite being a layman with no in-depth knowledge of Astral Sense, he knew it was because he lacked it that he had survived.

The fall of the Plebeian Runemasters caused quite a commotion and it even caused the men rushing into the Mansion to look back.

Hal on the other hand did not give an inclination that he noticed the Commotion. The other ladies that had been inside the Mansion and Castor and the guards that had stepped back 'Out of fear' took the pressure as a sign to converge in the compound.

When the men who were planning to storm in and now looked at Hal with a mixture of anger and dread, turned away from the commotion at the back and saw the compound suddenly filling up with at least Fifty people with twenty of them being females, they began to step closer again.

They still had numbers on their side.

Just then, Hal was done amassing all the Astral energy in his body and used them all to begin casting Runes.

The Runes formed together and created what looked like elastic veils that stood before the Men.

One of them did not bother to wait and let out the pressure of his Peak Cosmic Pearl realm cultivation slam against the veil in front of him. He passed through it successfully and then the next after that but when he was in front of the last veil and made to push through like he had done the other two...

*Bang*

...he was repelled and slammed right back through the other veils and unto the bodies of his comrades.

Hal smiled as he saw the veil work successfully.

"I call this, 'The Sieving Veils'. It's perfect for this situation. So what if you have numbers, it's next to useless if you can't attack together." He said with a smug smile.

In a more quiet tone of voice, he told those that were with him all about the veils as he could understand that they were just as confused with what he had created the commotion causing a torrent of Astral energy for,

So Hal explained to them that the Veil that was right in front of them would only allow those weaker than the Peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm to pass through, the one after that would only allow those at the Peak stage or weaker to pass and the one right in front of the Plebeians would only allow those who had not yet reached the Cosmic Armament realm to pass.

Hal had devised this method as the perfect way to completely decimate the numbers of the Plebeian forces. While he had Cultivators training to get stronger in his newly bought estate, he only called a few of them. Mostly because there was something else the Marked Brethren were supposed to do.

He was that confident that the ones he had with him were more than enough to trump the Plebeian forces, at least until the second part of his plan began.

The cultivator that had been repelled because he was at the peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm stood up and tried to push through the Veil in front of him but failed.

"Oh yeah, if you're repelled, it becomes harder for you to pass through even those veils you went through successfully."

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Even when Hal said this, the Cultivator still slammed against the veil in front of him repeatedly.

San looked up and quickly got the gist of it, whether it was accurate or not though was still unknown but even so,

"Go, go, go." He ordered and those that were weaker than the peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl Realm went through the veils without any hindrances and right at the end, the first they met were the grinning Marla and the weirdly smiling Amelia.

Marla found it surprising that Amelia would smile in face of an eventual conflict. The impression she had of the Horst maiden was that she was shy and that impression was true so she could not help but raise an eyebrow to this peculiar action.

Amelia looked sideways and saw Marla staring,

"What?" She asked.

"You're smiling. I find it queer" Marla shrugged in reply.

Amelia chuckled as she blushed,

"I'm kind of a freak when it comes to conflict. Unlike how I am seen in this city -Dainty genius-, in my sect, I am known to be quite aggressive. There's no challenge among my peers in this city. It's one of the things that bore me" her cheeks were getting more red the longer she spoke.

Marla stretched out her fist and punched Amelia lightly in the arm,

"Well, I'm sure you've said goodbye to boredom now" she said and winked for good measure.

Amelia blushed even further as the topic was getting ever closer to what had replaced the thrill of combat for her which was that as long as Hal pounded her constantly, she could never be bored.

Marla chuckled,

"How cute"

It was then that those Plebeians broke through the last veil and stormed towards them.

Marla was at the Early stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm and was getting closer to the mid-stage. As for Amelia, she was at a Late-stage.

When she had come to stay with Hal two days ago, she had been at the Early stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm. Thanks to Hal's ungraded Dual cultivating technique, she had advanced two stages.

As expected of a genius! Marla thought.

Amelia let out the Pressure of her Cultivation base as a few of the Ladies from Pleasure inn stood to serve as the backup. The coming threat was mainly to be faced by the young duo.

Something the duo not only had no problem with but had also suggested.

The first assailant to run out of the veil went straight for Amelia as it was no secret that she was a target San Fidwud and the other family heads would love to kill first.

Amelia smirked and met the assailant's fist with one of her own. As they were both in the Late-stage, the connecting punches only resulted in a stalemate but Amelia was not done as she slammed her left palm into her opponent's unprotected stomach...

*Bam*

*Bang!*

...and blasted him point-blank with a Cosmic Attack that ruptured the poor guy's insides.

"Arrr...." He started to yell but Amelia disconnected their fists and slammed hers into his mouth.

*Bam!*

The force of it slammed his head back so hard that his neck snapped.

All this happened within the space of a few seconds and by the time the lifeless body was falling to the floor, she was already pointing at the others that were getting closer...

"Second Grade Skill: Cataclysm"

...to summon a two circled ring, out of which rolled out boulders composed completely of Cosmic Energy.

*Bam* *Bang* *Slam*

The impact sounds continued to ring out.

Marla grinned,

"Nice. But leave some for me"

Amelia smiled at her as the assailants who had survived paused to reexamine the situation,

"No promises"

Chapter 155 - Rune Dagger.

Horst Manor...

*Bang*

The door of the study blasted open and Ford walked out in a haste. His body was shaking slightly with worry.

The scream he had just heard was definitely to that perverted bastard and while Ford did not care if he was in danger, he did care about the life of his daughter who was at that Mansion as well.

As he walked, he called out and ordered Fidel to gather the men. He would storm Hal Payne's Mansion and take his daughter away. If anyone tried to stop him, they would pay the price.

It was then he ran into Emily who stood in place with her hands on her waist,

"You can't go" She said.

"Why not? Do you really expect me to endanger my daughter?" Ford said with the tone of a father who believed his daughter was incapable of combat.

He had refused to believe that she would be combative even in the Flame Lotus Sect.

Emily sighed,

"It was naive of you to think everyone was going to be like you and treat her like a princess"

"But they should" He insisted.

Emily shook his head,

"She attends a sect filled with those from powerful families. Those who can put her down and she would be unable to say a thing. Do you know why?

It's because she doesn't have a powerful background of her own"

Ford looked stunned. It was as though he had just been hit with a reality he never thought to consider.

Emily continued,

"Unlike how you see her here and how she gets all she wants by asking, she has to strive to accomplish anything in that sect. She is nobody's little princess and she has already realized how the strong make the rules and are always right.

For others, that would have been a cause for despair but she took it in stride and rose while fighting for herself"

Ford sighed,

"All that's good and dandy but she is still at the early stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm. That is far from enough to stand against the Plebeians"

Emily nodded,

"Very well, we will go there together but you are not to interfere until it is absolutely evident that she can not take care of herself. She decided to stay with Hal and it is high-time she follows through with her choices."

Emily's words might have sounded dispassionate but she was actually quite worried. Amelia had filled her in on tales from her sect and how much adversity she had faced. There was only so much her Master could protect her from.

So Emily knew even more that while Amelia truly was a cultivating genius that was getting even more interested in Combat with each victory, a threat such as this, She had never faced.

If she could, she would have used the influence of her background to help but that would be traversing Duchy jurisdiction and cause more problems than it fixed.

'If anything happens to my daughter, you are dead, Hal Payne' She swore in her mind as she and Ford left the Manor.

It did not take long before they arrived at the Mansion and from atop the roof of a tall building, beheld the mighty thousand Man force the Plebeians had brought to enclose Hal in his home.

Thanks to the Booming volumes San had spoken in, Ford knew what Hal was been accused of and was not quite sure the Plebeian heads knew what they were talking about.

Accusing a teenage boy of perpetrating the death of one of the strongest Plebeian families in the City.

However, he could not help but see that the accusation had credit when he felt the pressure of the invisible energy Hal released and used to form the elastic-looking Veils composed of Astral Runes.

Ford was impressed. From the moment he had arrived, he had not noticed any Panic on the young man's face. Also, he could tell through the creation of those veils that Hal's Runemastering skills were most likely unmatched in the City. Surely the boy was second only to Eugene Swanson.

Both he and Emily had not heard the explanation Hal had given those close to him on how the veils work but he could infer it as soon as those weaker than the Peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl Realm (which he could sense from where he stood) were able to pass through easily.

"Impressive..." He began to say when he saw the ones that stepped forward to face those that passed through.

Unconsciously, Ford took a step forward but Emily thrust her hand to stop his approach,

"For now, just watch" she said as an assailant dashed towards Amelia and she put him down in a few seconds.

In the process of which she revealed, much to the surprise of her father, that she was now at the Late stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm.

Also, was it just his imagination, or was Amelia smiling?

...

Meanwhile,

Marla chuckled at what Amelia just said and an illusionary Dark lady enveloped her form but remained just like an outer shell on her body so that she still retained her size.

And then she attacked.

She was actually a little annoyed that none of the assailants that made their way past the last veil came to face her so, she went after them instead.

The first unlucky fellow made to run past her and go after Amelia who was already facing more than Five opponents on her own.

The moment the assailant was in front of her, Marla stretched her first and punched his forearm...

*Crack*

...it broke his bones and the force of it propelled him towards the veil but knowing that once he went through he would not be able to return, Marla went ahead of him at a speed that rendered her as a swift Dark figure and materialized in his path...

*Bam!*

...to kick him into the ground.

The assailant began to roll on the ground as he struggled to stand when Marla stood over him...

"Please...don't..." He pleaded.

For a split second, Marla paused and it seemed as though she might let him go or at the very least, not end his life when,

"Ahhhhh" another one stabbed at her back with a small dagger on which, green runes glowed.

The dagger's blade was about to make contact with her back when Marla suddenly twisted her body, grabbed his arm and pulled it down to plunge it into the midsection of the one who lay on the ground and rejoiced at being let go.

"Ack" he groaned and died seconds later.

"As expected. It can kill a Cultivator" Marla said with a dispassionate voice and wrenched the dagger from the assailant's chest to stab it into his heart.

The only reason she had paused was not that the first one had pleaded for his life but because she felt an energy moving towards her. She spared the dagger a glance before she thrust it into her Spatial pouch.

She was actually a little disgusted. Here she was trying to kill these bastards with just her fists and physique and they pull out weapons for sneak attacks.

They really deserved to die.

And they would too.

She defeated even more of them and chanced a glimpse at Amelia who was doing quite fine, except that she had also seized a Rune Dagger as well.

Those Bastards! Marla groaned and let out her Dark mist which enveloped all those close to her.

*Bam* *Crack* *Bang*

Multiple sounds rang out and when the mist dispersed, all that was left of them were bodies.

Hal watched their impressive forms and could not help but frown because he knew such a load was taxing on them.

Meanwhile, San watched more Men fall to the tyranny of the two ladies whose very presence dominated the scene. All others in Hal's party had not made a single move. It was almost as though they were saying ' two teenage girls are more than enough'.

It was quite upsetting and the stronger Cultivators tried their best to force their way through the Sieving Veils which could not be circumvented or scaled unless they could fly.

Those at Cosmic Armament Realm had taken to unleashing their Armament to strike at the Veil but it remained strong and continued to glow with thick Royal Blue Astral Energy.

"Damn it" San snarled.

"What do we do now, San?" Bale asked but it was clear that it was only to antagonize the Fidwud Family head.

San took a deep breath,

"They can't hold out forever. It won't take long before they are overwhelmed" He promised and sure enough,

The number Marla and Amelia each had to fend off began to increase and did not decrease. The overwhelming did not look far off.

*Clap*

The sound attracted the attention of those not battling as Hal said,

"That's enough exercise. I think you've gotten enough hands-on experience now"

Marla's Dark lady Avatar swelled to 15 feet in height as she faced Hal with a disapproving expression,

"No, I can still go on"

"Me too"

Amelia piped and unleashed a Cosmic Attack that pushed her surrounders back and to the ground, even though they began to get up and move closer having properly defended themselves.

"Sure you can" Hal smiled but the two of them knew he was not going to bulge.

And Hal wasn't.

The last thing he wanted was for them to get hurt. These idiots were not worth it.

He stretched his hands and multiple runes of the same function (pierce) appeared in front of him in the shape of arrows and struck all of those who had made it through the veil i.e all those who were weaker than the Peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm.

They attempted to defend themselves but it was of no consequence and in a matter of seconds, they were dead!

Silence...

All those behind the second veil i.e those at the Peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm were now thinking the same thoughts which were;

Did this mean that from the start, Hal could have killed all of them on his own?

Did this mean they had no chance?

None at all?

And...

From what monstrous realm did this monster emerge from exactly?

Chapter 156 - Enough Talking, Let's Kill 'em!

As the arrows struck the men and sent them to their deaths, San's eyes widened from Shock.

"What the hell was that" he asked and turned towards the other Family heads who at the moment were much too preoccupied with handling their own shock and could not even bring themselves to mock San whose plan was already blowing up in his face.

While those that had died could be considered disposable pawns, they were still part of the Plebeian manpower and their death was definitely felt.

Also, the fact that they were the weakest of the bunch was why San and the other heads had authorized some of them to wield Run daggers so that they could make use of possible underestimation and get in some stabs.

Alas, the ones that had gotten to wielding the dagger had it seized and their lives reaped by the very dagger.

San's fists were clenched and his eyes were turning red from anger as he refused to admit to himself and anyone that might ask, that he had underestimated the danger this youth posed.

Hal could see the shock and anger on San's face and it satisfied him immensely. It was the main reason he had used such an attack.

After all, angry people were bound to make mistakes.

That said, it was still quite tasking for him to unleash such a large-scale attack with Astral sense. The only reason he could even bear it was because of {Equipoise} and even then there were consequences which he could only avoid by taking down one of the veils.

To make the Veils next to impenetrable and even sentient enough to recognize those that had been repelled and deny them passage the next time they attempted it, Hal could not simply infuse them with Astral energy.

He needed to supply them with energy continuously. In other words, he needed to keep the connection tethered.

Doing that and unleashing his large-scale attack was too much and one veil needed to go.

Now that all those weaker than the Peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm, had been killed, there was no need to keep the last veil active and so Hal let it fade.

Even as the veil came down and those at the Peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm could finally pass into the compound unhindered, they stood in place and... Watched.

They were stunned and they were scared.

Just how many more attacks like that did this monster have?

Hal smirked at their stunned expression and turned to the ladies of Pleasure Inn,

"Ladies?"

Camilla smiled,

"With pleasure..."

With that, not just her, all the ladies of Pleasure Inn, stepped forward and...

*Boom!*

...their body became coated with Purple sensual flames and their eyes became purple as well.

Semi-Succubi!

Watching the sensual combustion, the morale of the men went even lower than it already was.

Those at the Cosmic Armament Realm who made up the smallest percentage of the thousand man force were the only ones still confident in their victory.

After all, they were past the Cosmic Pearl Realm and believed there was hope that Hal could not kill them in the same manner he used to kill those at the Cosmic Pearl Realm.

Hal surveyed them all from where he stood. None of them was at the Late stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm. The strongest was Evian who was at the Mid-stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm.

The strength was what granted him the respect he needed to command the rest of those at Cosmic Armament Realm who were at the early stage.

That said, those at the Cosmic Armament realm only numbered about a hundred as not all of them had been brought out to enact 'Justice'. Those that were brought along were those the Family heads deemed capable to handle Hal and his meager force.

Hal turned to gaze at Marla and Amelia who were pouting at being made to stop. He shook his head secretly, they had done well and that was mostly what he had been after.

Also, there was no guarantee that they would not eventually fall to the swarm of Plebeian assailants that had begun to surround them.

"I'll make it up to you" He smiled at them and then to Rita and Melinda he said,

"Shall we?"

Melinda shrugged,

"Why not"

And all three stepped forward to walk past the ladies of Pleasure inn, Just as Camilla and Irina let out a blast of lust flames that wracked the insides of their victims.

All round, the Plebeian forces grew flushed and their actions became irrational and easy to defeat.

The ladies worked hand in hand with Castor and the guards who could finally showcase the rewards of their diligence.

Most of them were at the late stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm, which was impressive considering the fact that when they had attacked the Holger Estate with Hal a few weeks ago, they had mostly been at the Energy sensing realm.

There was rage in their actions. They were using this battle as a catharsis to deal with the frustrations they felt for all the times Hal had been attacked and they could only stand by and watch.

These last two days, just like Hal and his ladies, they had spent a lot of time at the new Estate where they cultivated to attain their level of strength.

The Plebeian forces fought against their sudden burst of libido so as to not be forced onto the backfoot by a force so much weaker than them in both number and strength.

Alas,

With the Ladies' impressive grasp on the use of Pleasure flames, there was only so much they could do.

Kyla stabbed a flaming hand into the chest of an assailant and passed it right into his body, point blank and burned him up with the flames of passion.

The Assailant's eyes rolled over from the sudden burst of pleasure he felt and while his lips were stretched in a wide grin, Kyla used the flames to drain his body of all the Sexual essence it had.

The look In the Assailant's face was still joyful as he looked upon Kyla's beautiful face and purple orbs as though he were looking at the Goddess of love or more accurately, Goddess of lust as he drew his final breath after his Essence was drained in the entirety.

The process only took a few seconds and by the time the lifeless shriveled body of the assailant was falling to the ground, Kyla was restraining more assailants and drawing their essence.

All around, it soon became clear what the Ladies did. They absorbed the essence of the Plebeian forces continuously and it reminded them of their days at Pleasure inn where they needed to use intercourse to reap essence.

This was so much better and cleaner!

Also,

They could drain until their prey had nothing left to give.

The flames burned even brighter as they came to this conclusion and as the Plebeian forces faced those 'Hungry' stares, the little morale they had before evaporated in minutes and the only thing they wished was to get as far away from those Purple eyed ladies as fast as they could.

The problem was that if they went through the veil behind them to join the Cosmic Armament Realm Cultivators, they would fall victim to the massacre that was happening on that side.

And as terrifying as the demonic ladies were, the three massacring the Cosmic Armament realm Experts, were even worse.

Let's Back up a few minutes...

San watched the Ladies suddenly get surrounded with Purple flames and even as far away as he was from them, he could feel a little of its effects.

What the hell was up with those that surrounded Hal?

So far, the only one not to showcase peculiarity was Amelia and even then, she had handled herself well.

She and Marla stood a few distances away from the scene and watched the events with a glum expression.

None of the Plebeians even entertained the thought of going after them as they were incredibly preoccupied with fending off the Burning ladies.

Any attempt to run past them was rewarded with a point-blank blast of lust flames that threatened to combust them from the inside out.

"I think we should retreat" Bale said.

"This is really not going our way" Ian added.

Even though they still outnumbered Hal's party, none of the two or any of the Plebeian heads for that matter expected their side to win.

"No, those that have died are mostly here to intimidate with numbers, the real fight is with the Cosmic Armament Realm Experts. It's why that bastard kept them away. He is afraid of them.

Once they break through that Veil, which he can't keep up forever by the way, it will be game over. This is still in our control. The moment we lose confidence, he wins"

The way San said it, was with such confidence that the Plebeian heads almost believed him except that when they looked up, Hal was past the protection of the Veil and facing the Plebeians Cosmic Armament Experts.

The Experts were at first taken aback that he left his safe zone but they collected themselves and all summoned their Armaments.

It was just three against a hundred.

Surely they did not expect to win, did they?

Melinda smiled and summoned her Cosmic Armament, the White-with-golden-veins Sword.

Hal took a deep breath and infused his voice with Cosmic Energy and said in a booming voice,

"You know, I told you I had nothing to do with the death of the Holgers. You could have turned back there and then but you didn't. Whatever happens now is your fault"

San replied,

"Only fools will believe you. I will kill you... You bastard..."

San was probably going to render more insults but at that time, a flaming purple arrow flashed and struck a Cosmic Armament Realm expert...

*Boommmm*

...and set him ablaze!

All eyes turned to Rita who was holding a large demonic Bow from which she had fired the arrow,

"That's enough talking.

Let's kill 'em"

Chapter 157 - One-Second Stare Off.

"Mnnghh" Groaned the one she had set ablaze.

He could not be blamed, combustible as it was, Rita had not been after torture but instead was interested in a direct hit that would aflame the target from the inside out and drained him of his essence to feed it to her.

As such, the victim had no choice but to groan from the pleasure he felt from the hit... before the flames went out a second later and he was left a mere husk.

Hal put a hand over his face as though he were embarrassed,

"Why are you so impatient? The least we could do was hear him out" he said with a sigh.

Melinda turned a fraction in his direction,

"Pfft, what's the point? I agree with Rita, Let's just get this over with"

Rita smiled and nodded with satisfaction before she turned and nailed the Plebeian forces with her now, purple eyes,

"Thank you Melinda" she said and drew the purple string of Essence Stealer to form another flaming arrow which she released on another assailant.

This one was not caught off guard and was quick to surround himself with Cosmic Energy.

The Cosmic Energy succeeded in negating a majority of the arrow's energy.

"Tsk, that's a shame." She said but it did not look like it at all.

The one who had succeeded in negating the flame's energy looked confused at her natural expression, at least he was until he noticed a small, almost tiny tongue of flame on his Cosmic Armament.

His eyes widened and he hurried to disperse of his armament in hope that it would get rid of the flame but before he could, the little tongue of flame became larger and enveloped him in a second.

And just like the one before him, it siphoned all his essence and left him as a mere husk.

Yet, Rita did not spare him a glance.

That's right, as soon as she said what a shame it was (sarcastically of course), she had turned to someone else and in the second it took for the whole event of Combustion to take place, she was already aiming another arrow at someone else.

This time, when her eyes nailed them, no one took it for granted and despite that, she was only one woman outnumbered by many men, There was fear in their eyes, until...

*Slash*

... a sword severed the head of one of them.

As blood spewed from the stump that was his neck, attention was directed at the woman who had done the deed.

Melinda stood with her sword held almost loosely at her side. The white Armament was stained with blood and looked especially deadly.

"I'm still here you idiots" Melinda said and it seemed a welcome break as a lot of them now focussed on Melinda who, judging by the fact that she was using a sword, was a melee fighter.

If so, then it was clear what they had to do.

As one, they condensed powerful Cosmic Energy and sent it towards her. Evian was the only one not yet involved in the battle, merely attempting to coordinate from behind.

Melinda smirked. From the get-go, individually, they were all outmatched by her being at the Early stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm when she was at the Mid-stage.

The only way they had a chance was by attacking together and even then, there was only a little hope for them.

Melinda condensed a Cosmic attack of her own and slashed with her sword, adding just a little quantity of her Bloodline's light gold flames.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

So great was the explosion from the collision of the Cosmic attacks that it let out consecutive sounds and caused an eruption of dust.

When it cleared off, Melinda was no longer where she had been...

"Ack" groaned one of the Assailants as Melinda suddenly appeared in front of him and stabbed his chest.

She did not stop there and within minutes she was crossing weapons with multiple opponents. Each strike of her sword bending their hand due to its heavy force.

Hal watched it all happen with a smile and set his eye on the only Mid-stager on the scene; Evian.

Evian noticed his look and just as Hal had ordered him, he put on his game face.

Even so, he could not completely keep quiet,

'Master, I'm not comfortable with this' he told Hal telepathically.

'Think of this as a sparring session. One in which, if you are not careful, I'll kill you' Hal told him

'Um, Master...you'll take it easy on me right?' Evan said in a nervous voice.

He had no notion that he could defeat Hal. After all, when Hal had been in the Cosmic Pearl realm, he had beat him senseless.

He was hoping for leniency though.

Alas...

'Hahahaha, Take it easy? No, that would be suspicious. I'm coming at you with everything I have. Without making use of my Bloodline of course'

... Hal had no intention of doing so.

That said, the fact that Hal would not be making use of his Armament gave him solace.

'Don't worry too much. San won't just stand by and watch me kill you'

With that, Hal cut off the Telepathic communication and stretched his hand to summon his Cosmic Armament.

A Royal blue longsword with crisscrossing Black veins and two types of edges. On one side was a traditional straight edge and on the other was a Serrated edge that seemed particularly sinister.

It made the sword look more for sawing than for slashing or cutting.

Perfect for sawing through bone.

As soon as he gripped his Cosmic Armament, Hal stomped his leg against the ground and dashed towards Evian.

San who had noticed their one-second stare off (The telepathic communication had been very swift) was a little startled to see Hal dash towards Evian while releasing the pressure of the Early stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm.

*Clang*

In the space of a blink, Hal was bringing his sword down on Evian who raised his sword to block the strike.

The side that had been directed at Evian was the serrated side and the teeth caught the straight edge of Evian's saber. Hal pulled his sword and in turn pulled Evian closer to himself as the other nan had not let his armament go.

Hal then sunk his left fist into Evian's mid-section, or at least he would have if Evian had not let go of his saber and leaped back.

Evian looked up and stretched his hand to summon his Saber Cosmic Armament which had dispersed the minute he dropped it.

He hardly had a minute to breathe because Hal was on him again before long.

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

If at first Evian still felt Hal was only joking and would take it easy on him once they began to battle, he no longer thought so.

Every strike Hal dished, was serious and were after parts that could kill him if the strike was successful.

Already, Hal had rapped him multiple times in the ribs with the flat side of his blade but there was no serious hit yet, all because Evian was giving it his all.

'Screw it' Evian thought and leaped back to slash towards Hal and send a Cosmic Attack towards him.

Hal negated the attack easily and followed up with one of his own that forced Evian to topple backward in a shaky manner. By the time he regained his balance and stance, Hal was stabbing at him.

He only moved away at the last moment and even then, the sword went right through his shoulder.

"Arrrgghhhh" he yelled.

Hal's expression was non-committal and he raised his sword as though to execute a final strike and end it all, when...

*Swoosh*

...San's figure was suddenly casting a shadow over Evian.

His eyes were red and he looked ready to spitfire.

Hal chuckled to himself and said in a quiet voice,

"I almost thought you'd let me kill him"

San said nothing. Instead, he looked at the other side of the veil where those at the Cosmic Pearl realm were getting decimated by the wonderful collaboration of the Purple-eyed ladies and the guards.

Even as he watched, San saw multiple Plebeians fall victim. Then he looked at the attacks that were closer to him. Melinda was tearing through the ranks of Cosmic Armament Realm experts and Rita had her back by shooting down anyone who attempted a sneak attack.

Despite not being an expert archer, her senses as a Cosmic Armament realm expert made her capable enough.

Since the first two victims, there had been successful warding off of the flaming arrows, however, it was quite hard to ward it off without paying close attention to her which was hard to do with Melinda cutting off body parts with her sword.

In fact, it was more accurate that they were watching each other's backs with Melinda making sure no one engaged Rita in close combat as just as Rita took care of sneak attacks.

San sighed,

"This is a failure"

He faced Hal full-on,

"It would seem that even after preparing so much and bringing such manpower, I still underestimated you. From the start, it should have been me against you..."

San stretched his hand and summoned his Cosmic Armament as he continued,

"I want to see how you survive me" he snarled.

Hal smiled and retrieved an Array scroll seemingly from within his clothing but it was really from his inventory.

He injected Cosmic energy into it and released the small Rune Dome that only encamped him and San Fidwud. Even Evian was on the outside.

It seemed like an arena.

Hal flicked his Armament,

"Since you are so curious, I might as well show you"

And just like that, for the second time in his life, Hal faced someone at the Peak of the Cosmic Armament Realm.

...

Meanwhile,

While San faced off with Hal at the mansion, the notable Plebeian homes were getting visits from individuals shrouded in Dark fogs.

They all announced themselves as the Emissaries of the Malevolent One!

Chapter 158 - The Emissaries.

Fidwud Family Home...

The whole place was tossed into chaos. For some reason, they all felt fear, Fear that made them run helter-skelter.

And even as they ran, they would suddenly hear a scream as another Plebeian met his or her death.

The guards were trying their best to curb the unrest but that was made even harder by the fact that they could not pinpoint the location of the perpetrators.

"Secure the main gate!"

"They're are no longer there"

"What? Then where the hell are they?"

*Slash*

*Thud*

The guard turned back and saw the head of his fellow guard rolling away from his body. The one standing above the body was someone shrouded in a dark fog that gathered where his hand was supposed to be to form what looked like a scythe, or more accurately, a large curved blade.

The guard was frozen from the fear this being radiated and before he could make a move...

*Slash*

*Thud*

...his lifeless body joined the corpses and another Dark fog-shrouded person was standing behind him as well.

The rest of the guards saw this and tried to drive feeling into their legs but found it impossible to do so. Just like that, as they stood paralyzed from fear, the Emissaries struck and cut them all down.

They hardly had a chance, the strongest of them all was at the Late Cosmic Pearl realm or even weaker. The lieutenants who were at the Cosmic Armament Realm were all at Hal's mansion.

That said, the troops that filled the Fidwud Family home, apart from the guards, numbered in the thousands and as sneaky and terrifying as the Emissaries' presence were they could not possibly win against such a mighty force and were bound to be overwhelmed soon enough.

And this was why they were not here mainly for a frontal assault. From the start, they (The Emissaries) radiated immense fear and scared all the inhabitants, the chaos was perfect for them to make use of the Devil shroud's abilities.

Occasionally, they would turn it off and mingle with the crowd, who even with the absence if the fear-inducing fog still followed the craze of panic, providing the Emissaries (Formerly referred to as the Marked Brethren) avenue to sneak up on the guards or any other targets.

Once they got close enough they would reactivate the Devil shroud, creating the illusion that they appeared out of nowhere.

They had been doing this a lot and all the guards had now fallen to the Devil shroud attack ability; Shroud-Blade.

There were only Five Emissaries at the Fidwud Family home. As there were at least twenty notable Plebeian homes and there was only one hundred of the Emissaries, they had split up so that they could attack them all simultaneously.

This was good too because Hal only wanted them to deliver a message and they were to deliver it by killing as many as they could.

However, for the Fidwud Family, they were also to deliver a Rune letter.

Once they had taken care of the guards, they once again deactivated the shroud and mixed in with the panicking crowd to look for where a small number of Plebeian forces stood.

Large numbered gatherings were dangerous and opened up routes for sneak attacks. After all, a frightened animal can be the most dangerous.

Once one of the Emissaries found one such gathering, she reactivated the Devil shroud while blasting out her radiating fear to the extreme.

The sudden appearance of the Dark fog quickly caused those around to dash away and only leave a wide berth, but once it was graduated to the extreme, even those who had begun to dash away froze from the fear.

And then she stepped forward, stretched her arm and formed the shroud-blade which did not heighten her battle power but could cut through cultivators as can be inferred since it has done so multiple times.

"What the hell are you?" Asked the Plebeian at the forefront of the group.

The Emissary cocked her head and said in a feminine voice (As she did not bother to disguise her voice),

"Were you deaf when we introduced ourselves? We're the Emissaries of the Malevolent one."

Despite the fear he was feeling, the Plebeian narrowed his eyes,

"You talk as though that should mean something to me"

As soon as he said that, another guard poked him in the ribs,

"Have you already forgotten the one that came here a few weeks ago? Called himself the representative of the Malevolent One?" He asked.

The one who he poked in the ribs turned to him,

"Of course I remember, you dope. I meant that it doesn't mean anything to me as I'm going to die soon"

The other one blinked,

"Oh, that makes sense. You've already given up, Eric"

Eric looked shocked,

"You haven't?"

The Emissary shook her head from within the fog and attacked suddenly.

Cosmic Attacks rained down on her from all sides because other than Eric, none of them had given up.

That said, the Emissary tore through their ranks despite the attacks and slaughtered them all. She was bringing the shroud-blade down on Eric who had fallen backward without attempting to fight back, when...

*Boommmm!*

...Cosmic Attacks blasted towards her and she leaped back to avoid them. The force of them when they hit the ground tossed Eric far back, where he lay with aching body parts and mulled over being a survivor.

When the Emissary looked to where the attack had come from, she found a great number of Plebeian forces glaring at her. Of course, those at the front line, who felt the effect of the fear she radiated the most, shivered slightly, but even then they glared.

Soon, her fellow Emissaries stood by her side as well and they had a face-off with the Plebeian forces which considering the disparity in their numbers, looked quite silly.

"It seems they finally realized there's strength in numbers" said a male voice by her side.

She chuckled,

"It was fun while it lasted, Dev. I think Master will be pleased"

"He sure will, Dana" Dev said.

And then, from somewhere in the middle of the Plebeian forces, a voice spoke up and it did so clearly,

"You've only been able to run amok because our Armament Realm cultivators are absent. Well, I have some bad news for you and it's that they are on their way back. We've sent a message ahead."

Those at the front line nodded for good measure. While it was true that a message had been sent ahead, it would still take a while before the reinforcements arrived.

And while they did outnumber these Five by thousands, there was a certainty that they would not be able to take them down without sacrifices and at the moment...

...No one wanted to be those sacrifices.

The Emissaries of course no longer had any intention to continue. It would be suicide if they did.

"Oh is that so? Good. Once they get back, give your family head this letter" Dev said and tossed it at the forces.

The letter shot forward like a dart having being accompanied with Cosmic energy and one of those in the front line caught it by reflex.

"Okay then. This has been fun. Let's do it again some time" Dana said and the other Emissaries nodded with a chuckle before they turned towards the gate and ran off.

The moment the Plebeians lost visual of them, the Devil shroud did its job and concealed their presence such that none of those at the Fidwud Family home could detect them with their senses.

And just like that, on that day, the Fidwud Family home and all other notable Plebeian homes lost hundreds of men. They considered it a great loss but little did they know that compared to what they would lose in the future, this was nothing.

....

The Mansion...

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

Hal and San were crossing blades and attempting to get the upper hand on each other through pure weaponry. It was not that they had decided on doing this, it was just how things were playing out and,

The longer it went on, the more San's Pride was wounded.

He was at the Peak stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm and while he had not made use of the entirety of his prowess, his reflexes and heightened senses should have guaranteed him the upper hand already.

If only he knew Hal was frustrated as well. He also felt HIS reflexes should have been more than enough to trump San's thanks to his Bloodline.

If he was barely holding on now, what would happen once San began to make use of his Cultivation base. It was while he was having these thoughts that San did just that...

*Bang!*

...with the might of his Cultivation base he struck down on Hal's sword and it forced the younger man to one knee.

Seeing himself falling to a disadvantage, Hal let out his Cultivation base as well, Alas while it was capable enough against someone at the Mid Stage and someone at the Late-stage, against San who was at the Peak...

...it was inadequate.

Hal groaned in his mind. Greedy as he was, he failed to take into consideration that he was merely at the Early stage and attempting to cross Four stages (If you count the Early stage).

San smiled and raised his Saber and struck down again swiftly but Hal rolled away just in time, only for the Fidwud Family head to send a Cosmic Attack in his direction.

Hal sent one of his own to counter it,

*Boommmm!*

While they did cancel each other out, the force of the Collision still knocked into him and would have broken his bones had he not being particularly sturdy.

It was still painful though.

San could not help but relax at the sight. Experienced as he was, he knew how dangerous the resultant explosion was and since it had not affected him that much, Hal must have felt its full force.

And then Hal dashed out of the dust cloud the explosion had erupted and brought the serrated edge of his second down In San's shoulder.

The teeth dug in and Hal pulled the sword out and in the process, he sawed through San's shoulder blades.

Chapter 159 - We've Been Attacked!

The sound of Hal's serrated sword edge sawing through San's shoulder blades attracted the attention of so many on the scene.

It was not that the sawing was loud, just that for some reason, the battle became something they all wanted to watch.

Hal's faction, while prepared to continue still paused to watch it all happen, for even after the deep cut in his shoulder and his dominant arm no less, San merely groaned, transferred his saber to his left hand and tried to slash at Hal.

Hal stepped back to avoid the strike and could not help but feel a little resentful for having being denied the opportunity to follow up on the attack.

However, his moving back provided San the breathing room to quickly retrieve a pill from his spatial pouch and swallow it down.

Hal recognized the pill as a Mending pill. Just like the type that he had gotten from the Holger Estate.

Another one of the Master's generosities.

As soon as San swallowed the pill, his face that had begun to grow pale from the blood loss, regained color and Hal could see the wound already stitching back together.

The healing was sure to not be completed with that one pill but it had stopped the bleeding and also numbed the pain. Giving San the much-needed clarity to attack.

However, before he did, he took a deep breath with his eyes closed. When he opened them, a terrifying pressure burst out of him and the wind it caused went past the barrier of the dome that surrounded he and Hal and tose outside the felt it as well.

The wind blew back Hal's hair but he refused to be fazed by it. Not because of pride but because he knew just how effective this wind could be in causing a distraction and in turn an opening for the Fidwud family head.

And sure enough, once the wind was no longer hindering his eyesight, he noticed San was no longer in front of him.

Quickly, Hal relied on his instinct and raised his sword just in time to intercept San's strike as the Peak stager struck down on him.

*Clang*

*Bang!*

Even so, the force of the strike still knocked Hal back and into the Dome array boundary which smacked him back into the ground.

*Bam!*

The other family Heads watched on the outside could not help but applaud San's successful attacks.

It never came to the mind of any of them to mock him for being embroiled in combat with a teenager at the Early sarge of the Cosmic Aramament realm.

If there was one thing they all agreed on at that moment, it was that Hal and his faction were not normal.

From the start, they had lost all those weaker than the Peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm and even now, the numbers of those at the peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm were reducing the longer this battle went on.

So were the numbers of those at the Cosmic Armament Realm (Early stage).

And even then, Hal's side had not recorded any casualties despite being outnumbered from the get-go.

They needed to retreat!

This whole operation was a burst and it was time they left before they suffered even more losses.

"Bastard, I'll kill you!" San yelled as Hal escaped another jab of his saber and nicked at his calf.

"You will try" Hal said with a shrug.

Even though he had escaped a lot of strikes, it was not unscathed. There were cuts on his arm and midsection. They were not too deep of course but they were a testament to how tasking it was for him to attempt going toe to for with someone three stages ahead of him without his Bloodline.

It was only thanks to his quick wits that he had avoided more severe injuries thys far but he knew it would not remain that way for too long.

San was no idiot. The longer they fought, the more he was able to map out Hal's tactics and moves and as such was able to fairly accurately predict Hal's moves.

Hal was studying him as well but San had so many different styles that mapping out his moves and predicting the next was very difficult and would take time.

Which was something Hal did not have.

His emissaries had already informed him that their mission was a success so he knew this whole battle and incident was close to an end but he did not want to end it with himself on the back foot.

Sam made a sudden feint and when Hal avoided it, he struck in the direction he knew Hal was going to move to.

His saber moved unimpeded and was about to make contact with Hal's ribs when a Red fog that suddenly came out of that same side grabbed the saber and used it to pull San closer.

"What the..." San's eyes widened as Hal smiled and slammed his palm into the older man's chest while blasting with the Cosmic Attack he had condensed.

The slam to the chest had been so strong that the Fidwud Family head failed to notice some feather-light touches to the arm that had been grabbed by the Red fog.

*Bang!*

The sound of the Cosmic Attack was explosive as it tossed San backward and into the Dome barrier.

The curious thing was that Hal was also tossed backward and made contact with the Dome barrier for the second time in the day.

The reason was that the moment San felt Hal's palm on his chest, he had let loose a Cosmic attack of his own.

When both of them sat up on the ground, the front of both their clothes was shredded and there were deep lacerations on their chests.

Hal's lacerations were deeper as San's Cosmic attack had been stronger and when San noticed this, he smirked to himself.

His could barely qualify as a flesh wound but Hal's was very severe. It was even still bleeding profusely.

If only San knew that Hal was mostly using this battle as research material for another opponent. But all that for later.

"Hal"

Melinda yelled from the outside of the Dome and a Plebeian attempted to make use of her obvious distraction to get in a hit.

*Whoosh*

*Boom*

A flaming arrow making contact with his head and setting his whole body ablaze in seconds chased those thoughts away.

Being dead can do that to you.

Melinda placed her hand on the Dome which despite its swimming runes was see-through.

Hal smiled at her with a thin trail of blood on the corner of his lips and gave her a thumbs up.

At that time San stepped forward and raised his saber as he had done a lot of times that day to finally end Hal's life.

Melinda's eyes flashed outside of the Dome but when she saw Hal wink at her, she blanked.

Hal turned and grinned at San who had only just noticed that Hal was no longer bleeding.

Did he take a recovery pill when I wasn't watching? he asked himself before shaking off those thoughts and stab down at Hal when the younger man chuckled,

"Oh no, you don't"

*Snap*

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Hal snapped his fingers and the runes he had placed on San's clothes at the moment he pulled him closer exploded with three consecutive Explosive Bangs.

And just like that, the Fidwud Family head's back was slamming into the Domed barrier for the second time that day, marking them in Hal's book, even.

The Rune attack did not keep him down for long and he was back to his feet just as soon as Hal was. His frustration and anger were so great that he wanted to keep going.

Reaching into his spatial pouch to retrieve Drawn runes of his own which he prepared to activated when he heard the walk of multiple men.

"There's been an attack!" They all announced.

San noticed one of them from the Fidwud family home and was about to ask what the commotion was, even as he felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he remembered that he was not done with Hal and was still in the Domed Array that kept him away from the messenger.

Hal cocked his head to the side with a mystified expression as he let the Dome fade away.

San did not bother to ask what Hal was up to and went straight to the messenger even as all the other Family heads were already speaking to Messengers from their own home.

The look Bale and Tod gave him was one of disgust as they ordered their palanquins to return while also calling for the retreat of their forces.

All the other family heads were soon also calling for retreat as the Sieving veils faded. At that point, none of them cared what family they belonged to, as soon as they heard that they should retreat, they immediately turned around.

As they did so, they worried that Hal's party would follow after them but no such thing happened.

They simply allowed them passage.

Even Rita did not shoot anyone down and dispersed Essence stealer.

Evian was already talking to the messenger from the Fidwud family home whose clothes and appearance was in disarray when San joined them,

"What happened?" San asked gruffly.

The messenger bowed,

"We were attacked" he said.

"You've already said that. I'm asking who it was" San said impatiently.

The messenger's eyes widened and he bowed multiple times while apologizing much to San's annoyance, as he felt the young man was simply wasting time,

"It's the Malevolent one, Sir,

He sent his Emissaries and many are already dead"

Chapter 160 - I Want To Beat Him Up.

At that moment, San froze and nothing seemed to have meaning. He did not tell the Messenger to repeat his words because thanks to his sharp hearing due to his cultivation base, he could hear it all clearly.

San could hear a ringing in his ear and even though he should have been directing troops to his home to kill the emissaries, he could not say a word.

He could see the irony in the situation. Just like how he and the Plebeians had preoccupied the Great families with the protection of their young generation so they could launch an attack on their home base, the Malevolent one had taken advantage of him coming to Hal's mansion to launch an attack on his home.

But How? Thought San.

How could so many have died?

"How many of these 'Emissaries' attacked the Fidwud Family home?" He asked in a hollow voice.

The messenger looked surprised that this was what San was asking when there were more important matters, matters such as going back home and protecting those that were still alive, but even then he answered,

"Five of them attacked"

"And how many died?" San asked referring to a rough estimate of the actual number.

"H-H-Hundreds"

San gripped his heart while Evian exclaimed,

"Impossible, since when are Plebeians so weak. How can just Five men be responsible for the death of hundreds"

'Wow, such righteous indignation. That kid is going places' Hal commented to Grimoire,

'Oh he might not be faking, it does seem a little far-fetched' Grimoire said.

Hal mind-shrugged,

'He's definitely faking. Even San should be able to figure out how it might be possible' he said to Grimoire and sure enough, San asked,

"Describe them"

The messenger nodded,

"They were all shrouded in Dark fog and radiated immense fear. Enough to send everyone running for their lives..."

"...and make them easy targets" San completed.

Evian's face glowed with the understanding that San sympathized with.

Hal on the other hand was laughing boisterously in his mind. The whole thing seemed to him, an interesting TV show.

'You know, I can kind of understand why the Master is playing with people. It can be quite interesting' He said.

'You don't really mean that, do you?' Grimoire said with a gasp.

Once again Hal mind-shrugged,

'Who knows? Don't worry though, my Booky friend, I'm still going to kick the Master's ass'

Those of the other Plebeian families had retreated with their men. Not only had they suffered a loss in their quest for justice, but they also suffered a loss at home.

As San watched them get further away, leaving only he and the Fidwuds behind, he frowned because he knew that now more than ever, he was in danger of losing his role of designated leader.

He sighed and turned towards Hal who was smirking at him. The sight of it made the Fidwud Family head clench his fists but at that time, Melinda and Rita were suddenly at Hal's sides.

They made no move to attack but their posture made their intentions clear.

San sneered and made to climb up on his palanquin while those of the Cosmic Armament Realm that Melinda had not gotten around to killing when the messenger interrupted, ran ahead to neutralize the threat at home.

Evian remained by San's side while San looked to where Baret and Ian had been lying on their palanquins, they were no longer there as their men who had survived to the end had taken them away.

However, the sight of that spot brought it back to San's mind that it was when those two fell to the pressure of Hal's harnessing of Astral energy that things really took a turn for the worse.

"So that's it? You're just going to leave. You are not even going to say goodbye?" Hal said with a tone of hurt that San knew was for mocking him.

"Enjoy your peace while it lasts, you smart mouth" San growled which did not complement his effeminate face.

"I should be saying that to you" Hal said and this time his tone of voice was serious.

Today he and his faction had killed multiple Plebeians in this altercation, not only surviving the assault but also showing them that they should not be underestimated.

But Hal knew this powerful display of theirs would still cause them to be underestimated. The Plebeian leaders were bound to start planning a counterattack with the knowledge of this meager force in mind.

At most, they would prepare for several hundreds of Cultivators from Hal's side and not only plan to overwhelm with numbers but also with cultivation bases.

And even then, they (The Plebeians) were in for a surprise.

It was not their fault of course. It was just that Hal was quite good at not showing his hand.

...

Emily smiled from her vantage point with Ford by her side,

"Interesting" She said.

Ford on the other hand did not see it as interesting in the slightest.

This boy was a monster!

And as he looked at his smitten daughter, he wondered if he even knew her.

The manner in which Amelia had taken care of the assailants had surprised him. All this while, he had kept both Frank and Amelia out of the matters of him becoming mayor and even now he still wished to keep her out of it.

He wanted her to remain his little girl for a while longer.

Alas,

Hal was ruining that on all front.

First, he made her a woman and now he let her participate in this Civil war.

"I want to beat him up" he said in a quiet voice.

Emily glanced at him and smiled because she could see that unlike how confident he used to be of beating Hal up, there was now uncertainty.

And she could not blame him,

The boy was a Monster!

With her exceptional hearing, she heard the message that had been delivered to San and news that the Emissaries of the Malevolent One who she knew was Hal, was what she found interesting.

Clearly, Hal had planned ahead and never truly planned to fight to the death with San and the Plebeian heads. The end of the whole event hinged on him creating a distraction with his Alter ego.

"Let's go" Emily said and turned away.

Ford turned to face her perfect back,

"You are really okay with this?" He asked.

Emily sighed,

"You have to face reality, Ford. She's grown up, she will make her own choices and I do hope she follows through with them. My daughter is no Coward"

Ford's eyes widened,

"She could have been coerced"

"Do you really believe that?" Emily asked.

Ford looked down and sighed.

He did not believe it.

Emily left him there alone with his thoughts and for the pampering father to accept that from the moment his daughter joined a sect outside of this city, she grew up.

...

Anyway,

As San and his party moved away from the Mansion, surly, defeated and (especially in San's case) tired of losing, Melinda tugged Hal's arm,

"Why don't we go after them?" She said in a quiet voice.

Rita clenched her hand as though ready to summon Essence stealer again,

"Yes, I can still get some shots in" she said.

Hal sighed,

"No, this is fine. I'm sure everyone is tired. This has been a good day. Let's not ruin it with impatience and overconfidence"

The ladies were about to argue that they were not tired and neither were the guards but eventually they sighed with a nod.

Hal turned back from where he was and walked towards the Mansion, he was close to where Marla and Amelia stood when he turned and smiled at the person walking through the gate,

"Eugene, I wondered when you would get here" He said with a smile.

Eugene's face was a mask of discomfort as he looked at Hal's bloody chest that must have been caused by a deep cut,

"My goodness. Hal, you could have sent for me"

When he heard the booming voices and the accusations rendered against Hal, he decided to come to the Mansion. It was at the time he arrived that Hal harnessed immense Astral energy that sent the two Plebeian Runemasters into Convulsive fits.

A situation that he had to admit had pleased him.

That said, it had been terrifying when he himself had felt the pressure and he had only escaped the same fate due to his Rank 3 Astral sense that was heading closer to Rank 4 thanks to the Astral sense refining Art Hal had given him.

Hal chuckled,

"There was no need. Also, I did not really have the time. The assault was quite sudden" he lied through his teeth.

He stretched his hand and projected Runes that burnt the dead bodies to ashes in seconds and different kinds of Runes to take away the Bloodstain.

The look in Eugene's eyes told Hal that he had something to discuss so Hal told him to wait for him in the lounge while he went to freshen up.

The ladies shared his thoughts and all dispersed as well, the Ladies from Pleasure inn and Rita went into the Time warped chamber to refine the Essence they had gotten in the battle and advance their cultivation.

Marla, Amelia and Melinda accompanied Hal to a large indoor pool in the Mansion where he was to soak and get rid of all the grimes, blood and dirt on his body.

The ladies from Pleasure Inn and Rita were quite disappointed as they would have loved to join him in the bath but for now, refining the essence was most important.

Besides, thanks to Eugene, Hal was bound to not spend too much time in the bath.

This provided them with the solace that they were not missing out on too much.