Chapter 90 - Violent Awakening
Edgar Castle
The summit continues...
Gregory finally broke the silence with a mild chuckle,
"So we are suspects and you are not"
"Yes You're one to talk Ford. You're probably the most suspicious of us all"
Edvard said with a glare at the Horst family head who looked at him as though the younger man might be insane. Why else would he make such a ridiculous claim? After all, of all four, he was the one with the least obvious Ambition.
"What does that mean" Ford asked, responding to the glare in kind.
"Well, you're the one with the suspicious wife, are you not?" Edvard said
"What does Emily have to do with this?" Ford asked with a frown
"Is it not obvious, she's the only one who could possibly have done this. Her true strength after all still remains as she as always strived to make it; Private"
Gregory said with a look in Ford's direction as though he dared him to deny it.
The look however only cause Ford to chuckle,
"Don't try to intimidate me with your pointless stare, if you had the strength to make me feel threatened, we wouldn't be having this conversation"
Gregory clenched his fist tightly before he sighed and loosened it.
Ford continued,
"I don't stop you from suspecting me as I suspect each of you as well, but i don't think it's a crime for someone to keep their Private life Private"
While the duo had no retort, it did not change the fact that rather than searching or inquiring about a new unknown individual, the most effective means of finding the culprit was to investigate those who knew the location of the Confluence.
Ford himself had sowed doubt with his accusation and now...
...They were all suspect.
However as Hector looked at them all argue, he could almost see the rift beginning to form and in it he saw the game where it lay.
He saw what this Malevolent one was truly after and the thought almost made him forgo the loss he felt from the stolen gold. Almost.
*Bam*
"Enough!" He yelled, cutting off any further argument from any of the three,
"Don't you see? This is what he wants. This is what he is truly after" Hector said
"What he? For all we know, our culprit is female" said Gregory with a pointed look at Ford who knew the latter was referring to Emily but declined to comment further.
"Based on the scene of the incident, I believe the culprit to be male and if not, it would have to be a particularly violent and inelegant female"
"In the cultivation world, violence does not discern between genders" Edvard retorted with a shrug
"Be that as it may, we will consider the culprit a male for now. And you idiots are playing right into his hands"
"Playing into his hands? We just lost millions and you still want to claim the conspiracy runs deeper?" Gregory was in complete disbelief.
How much more proof was needed to show that this Old man had gone senile?
"Yes it does. The vault represents much more than Co joined wealth, it also represents our promise of cooperation. To always be there when our hegemony is threatened.
To always make sure that even after a Mayor is declared, all other Great families remain mostly intact.
We have lost that and we need to ensure we don't lose the promises in the process."
An ominous silence followed Hector Edgar's enlightening words
The silence was the type the Mayor hoped would herald in a new declaration of continuous support. Alas...
...he had gravely underestimated the greed of men.
As they all looked into each other's eyes, Hector knew it was over.
When they next would fight, it would be brutal. There would be no consideration and each Great family would strive for the complete eradication of the others.
There would no longer be Cooperation.
They would no longer care for joint Hegomony.
And most of all...
The victor will not keep the defeated Families intact.
There would be Total decimation.
And to become the victor, someone was needed;
The illusive Alchemist.
This was no longer just about becoming the Mayor but about making their individual families the strongest force in Salmon city.
As for the Plebeians? Naturally they would go down as well.
....
The Mansion
There always existed cracks in the vase that was the relationship of the Great Families, it had just remained mostly civil.
Hal could not have that.
The best way to pick them off separately was to remove any possibility of cooperation which had existed among the Four families, and despite their obvious hostility, the cooperation remained. Albeit little.
To discover that it was represented by a vault of Gold had been too much for Hal to resist.
After all he would become wealthier rather than lose money at the Auction, he would rob the Great families and as an added bonus, he would divide them.
That was a three for one special he just had to have.
He sat cross-legged on the bed as he refined the essence he had gotten from the ladies during their orgy session.
He finally made the push and his cultivation was at long last at the Late stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm!.
The pearl in his abdomen had also increased in size and purity but Hal was far from satisfied as he withdrew into his mind space to appear before Grimiore to vent...
"This is too slow"
"No it's not. You're just impatient. You've only being cultivating less than a month, your advancement is already insane" Grimiore told him calmly
Hal knew it was right but he just could not imagine cultivating for years when he needed the strength right now.
"The only way you can cultivate faster is to feed the peculiarity of your Cultivation technique" Grimoire continued
"Meaning?"
"Well, for Battle techniques, you fight battles and for Dual cultivation techniques.. " Grimoire started
"You Fuck" Hal completed with an agreeing nod before he sighed
"I would love to keep doing that but at the rate my body gets use to their essence it would still take me years. To others, it would be considered 'quick' but not to me" He said with frustration
"Well, then it's simple. You just need more partners, and I mean those with strong cultivation bases" Grimoire said in a level tone
Hal chuckled "What? Do you mean hundreds of beauties?"
That couldn't be right. Right?
"Hundreds? no no no. If you want to maintain this insane cultivation speed, you need to start thinking in thousands"
Grimiore said as though it was explaining something very rational.
Hal's shock was so palpable in the mind space such that he quickly ejected himself and returned to the outside.
'Thousands?!'
He yelled in his mind before he stood up and put on his clothes took one last look at the happy ladies and left the Time warped chamber, feeling the change in time flow.
His legs took him to the only place his numb brain could process.
Melinda's room.
It was when he finally looked upon her face that he felt something strange and it was not the fact that her cultivation was now at the Mid stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm.
It was the glowing radiance that shone from her face.
He stepped closer immediately and checked her condition with Astral sense and could sense nothing wrong.
He sighed as he made to brush her hair from her face and found that he couldn't.
His hand was trapped and unable to touch her.
It was then that she opened her eyes and it glowed golden, Sclera and all as she sat up and regarded him with the most disdainful expression.
"That can't be good" Hal could not help but comment
Melinda smiled, but it had no warmth,
"You're right. It's not good for you"
A blast of light was suddenly released from her body and struck Hal in the chest...
*Bam*
*Bang!*
...sending him breaking through the room and mansion walls to hurtle across the sky into the courtyard.
As He flew away, a snide voice that seemed to be Melinda's and yet sounded 'Alien' boomed throughout the Mansion.
"I am going to love gutting you, Hahahaha"
Chapter 91 - Attack On The Devil's Spawn
Hal stood from the ground where he had fallen and looked in direction of the laughing figure that now strut confidently out of the hole he had just broken through.
In her right hand was the white cosmic Armament that had been spinning above her when she was unconscious. The lethality of her approach screamed danger but as Hal watched her approach and {Regeneration} began to mend the wounds her blast of light had inflicted on him, he could only think of one thing;
'Why'
Why was she doing this?.
If it was ever told to him that such a day would come he would have laughed at such a ridiculous statement but by all evidence, it had come.
It did not take long before the laughing Melinda stood before him. Hal had not bother to run knowing full well he could not outrun her.
Instead he Activated an array to protect the mansion from prying eyes through squirming runes. This was after all a private affair.
"I expected instant flight. I have to admit, I'm disappointed" Melinda said in that same Alien voice while she observed the array with a slightly interested look.
"Who are you?"
Hal asked and though the question should have seemed strange and absurd (it should after all have been clear who she was) 'Melinda' gave another disdainful smile,
"What? You don't believe I'm her?"
"No i don't and now I'm just curious who you are and what you are doing in my Woman's body"
Hal said while he summoned Executioner and his eyes became blood red.
The display only made 'Melinda' chuckle while she continued to stare him down while she twirled the Armament in her hand slowly.
'I knew there was something about her Bloodline that was remiss' Grimoire suddenly piped
'Oh so you're finally going to talk?' Hal said in a snide tone while 'Melinda' began to move closer
'Don't be so touchy, i needed to completely analyze the situation and provide you with the feedback I'm providing right now'
Grimoire said in a soothing voice
'And the analysis?' Hal said in a bid to keep his calm
'You're right, it's not Melinda at least she's not the one controlling her body'
Grimiore reported
'Then what is?' He asked
'A will. A primeval inheritance will' Grimoire said and Hal paused,
'Wait, that's...'
'Yes, it's a little similar to the singing lullaby in your soul world as well as how you instinctively know things about your bloodline'
Grimoire said in a slow and gentle voice
At that time 'Melinda' had finally made it to Hal and swung her Armament at him, Hal raised Executioner to intercept the strike...
*Clang*
...The force of it sent him sliding backwards and once he stopped he looked up into the calm face of his opponent who's Golden eyes locked unto him with that ever present disdain.
Hal stayed in the same place and made no move or showed any intention to make the first attack, he was not sizing her up. It was clear she was not merely a Mid stage Cosmic Armament cultivator anymore.
The Primeval will that had taken control of her body was obviously also making use of Bloodline strength and while it seemed quite far from being divine there still remained something that made it all clear that all was not as it seemed.
This 'Will' was obviously the reason Grimoire had warned against trying to make contact with Melinda's bloodline with his in hope of releasing the suppression.
He could see now that it was not really a backlash with the bloodline that would have killed him, it was a backlash with this 'Primeval will-. One that was composed of Holy light as opposed to the Devil bloodline's nefarious Darkness.
However, A lot of things still did not add up, one of which was what a Primeval inheritance will was doing in a Unique bloodline.
One thing he was sure about though, even if he had no idea how he would survive someone who hated him so much and superseded the strength of anyone he had ever faced, he would not harm her.
Primeval Will or not, the body belonged to Melinda and he could not bring himself to attack it with intent to destroy.
The one in control of Melinda's body had obviously picked up on this as she smirked,
"Oh? You don't want to attack her. Could it be that the Spawn of the Devil actually...cares for someone other than himself"
Hal said nothing but at that time Myra's voice sounded from his Soul space,
'It's her. I can't believe it'
Hal wanted to ask who Myra was referring to as she obviously knew the true identity of his opponent but he wasn't able to concentrate as 'Melinda' was back on the attack.
*CLANG*
Their blades connected as Hal released the red fogs to aid in keeping her attacks at bay. Black fogs also came out and joined the first.
When 'Melinda' saw the Black fog and the change of Hal's Sclera to black, the expression she gave was one of such genuine hatred that Hal almost smacked himself in the face for not having thought of this already...
"It's not really me you hate is it?" He asked while he successfully pushed her back
'Melinda' sneered,
"Never thought that bitch would have a son"
She said while she spun and made to attack his ribcage, the Red fogs made to block the attack but the Golden veins on the Armament shone and it's blade passed through it easily. Hal twisted his body just in time to be hit by the flat of it instead of it's sharp edge...
*Bam*
*Crack*
... Some of his ribs were broken but he knew it would have been worse had it been the edge.
"Hahahaha. I don't believe it. She finally has a devil spawn and he is actually taking punishment rather than killing someone else. This is incredible. I'm still going to gut you though"
-puh-
Hal spat out blood and wiped the trail on the side of his lips,
"Anyone ever tell you? You talk too much"
Her face blanked at the nonchalant comment, she gritted her teeth and went after him again.
Their battle continued with spins, feints and pointed jabs. Hal continued to defend while she continued to make lacerations and cuts on his body some of which healed almost immediately while others took their sweet time and wracked his body with pain.
-Puchi-
He spurt out blood of much larger volume this time.
'You can't keep defending. At this rate, you'll die. You need to attack' Grimoire berated
'Shut up. Attacking her will only hurt Melinda. That 'Primeval will' will be unaffected. It's not even truly animate.
'From what I can gather it's reacting to it's originator's deep hatred for my Bloodline. Injuring Melinda would most likely stop the battle but the only one who will suffer is her.
So what I need from you now is how else this can end without me attacking'
Grimoire was silent for a while before,
'There's only one way. Melinda herself must stop it and that's only assuming she's not in support of this attack. This will is but a sliver of a Primeval's true power. It's mild but more than enough to end you should this continue.'
'She will stop it' was all Hal said as he ignored everything else Grimoire had brought to consideration.
Melinda was his most trusted. Their meeting had not been planned but it had happened. He had not actively sought her out but they had met all the same...
...and when she bought him, she did it to save him despite her hatred of men.
He could not explain it but he would rather kill himself than hurt her. And so...
While he did not know for sure what was going on in her head, he could only hold on to the hope that he was not the only one who felt this way.
Chapter 92 - For My Agenda, I Shall Never Hurt Them
Hal leaped out of the way in an attempt to escape the swing of holy light that chased after him. Further confirmation (to his dismay) of how out of his league this opponent was.
*BEAMMMM!!!*
*BOOOOOOM!!!*
A beam of said holy light hit the spot he had just leaped away from. Annihilating the Rosebushes that beautified the courtyard.
Hal had to admit that the sight brought a frown to his face.
Melinda loved those bushes.
Further confirmation that she was not in control of her body, he was sure she would never destroy (according to her) what makes the mansion feel homely.
But of course, this was of no consequence, he knew all this already, any further confirmation did not help or worsen the situation.
The situation would simply remain the same.
And in this case, the same was a fancy word for trouble.
A barrel roll to escape debris brought him face to face with those dreadful Golden eyes that now seemed mildly amused.
"I know you are just stalling. But it does not matter. The fact that I've played along should be proof enough of my confidence to defeat any reinforcement you might have"
She said with a smirk and right on cue, Castor and the other guards in the Mansion finally rounded themselves up and made their way to the scene.
As soon as Hal sensed them, he communicates with them telepathically to stay away.
They were not a match for her anyway.
"Good Decision" 'Melinda' sneered, obviously able to sense their retreat, while she swung the sword at him, Hal was able to stop it's movement while the two patches of fog coiled around him in preparation of another assault.
'Myra, you seem to have recognized something, mind telling me what it is'
Hal called to Myra in his soul world.
'The energy signature seems similar to that of the Primeval Virtue Queen. The Devil queen's nemesis. But it can't be here'
Myra shook her head in denial while she turned to Tiberius with wide eyes in hope that he would buttress this hope of hers and help her cling to her sanity.
After all, there was no one else who could be more dangerous to a Devil than the Holy maiden.
Tiberius however looked back at her with a grave expression before he screamed at Hal,
"What is glorious Hell do you think You are DOING!"
The voice boomed in Hal's soul world and Hal winced at the intensity but Tiberius was not done,
"You are playing with your life. She's still 'playing' with you, and you're playing along like a fool. Attack her if you want to survive. Whether or not it's just a sliver of her will, it does not change the fact that she is dangerous enough to kill you.
"Strike her down right now. Without a body, the Will will disperse" Tiberius informed him but as he had heard almost the same thing from Grimoire Hal was about to ignore it but he made one Inquiry before he did so,
"What about Melinda?" He asked while trying to stop the Armament's blade from making contact by reinforcing his defense with shields of Astral Energy.
Tiberius snorted "Oh come off it, there are so many other women in the Cosmic realm. You are not seriously planning to die for the one you just met merely two weeks ago?"
"So you will have me kill her?"
Hal asked and froze. The lapse was enough for his opponent to connect a kick to his chest and slam him into the mansion fence...
*Crack!*
-Puchi-
...cracking it. He tried to hold back a blood spurt but ultimately the injuries were getting too grave.
But of course, Hal had a plan. It was just taking a little long for implementation.
"YES! Kill her! Don't you see, you're a Devil. Using anyone for the pursuit of ultimate power is a trait you must have. This bitch who's attacking you in your lover's body is incredibly vindictive. If she could put her will inside your lover's body then they have a connection.
" This is just you being suicidal. Kill her!"
Hal went silent while he extricated himself from the wall and fell to his knees as he bled from every opening on his head. Eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth.
The Holy light she kept attacking him with was doing more than just blasting him. It snuck into his very being to rip him from the inside.
*Cough* *Cough*
"Is this what you think as well?" He asked Myra
Myra sighed "You should always do all you can to succeed. Everyone around you should be a stepping stone when necessary. Having a good time is fine but allowing these ladies who most likely have no chance at Godhood to become your weakness is... Insane"
Another silence...
The truth was that Hal knew that if he should assume his lesser Devil form, he could have a chance to injure and incapacitate Melinda's body enough to claim victory, However...
"Get up! Get up!" 'Melinda' Yelled "It's no fun when you're not even defending"
"Haha"
The laughter caught Grimoire, Myra, Tiberius, and even the Primeval will that had possessed Melinda off guard, but it did not stop,
Instead, it boomed louder.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA"
To Grimoire and the two demons he said,
"Good, very good. Now all of you listen to me. When it comes to my women, they are no body's stepping stone. To achieve my agendas I shall never hurt them!"
Tiberius frowned but said nothing.
Myra bowed her head and stayed quiet as well.
Hal took a deep breath and stood shakily to his feet and this time directed his words at his opponent,
"As for you. I'm sure you put My Baby girl in a trance. How dare you!"
"What if I did? If she knew what you truly were and what you truly represent, she'll naturally agree"
She began her slow confident pace towards Hal with a casual hold on her weapon. She had this won, there was no need to rush it.
There was nothing she detested more than Devils and Demons, She never thought to meet one here and not just anyone, the Devil's spawn himself.
She had heard the rumors but believed them to be just that. Rumors.
"I've done my fair share of possessions," Hal said with a smile
'Melinda' raised her eyebrows and Hal sighed deeply with false melancholy,
"Fine, you caught me, I've only done it once" He admitted but soon continued,
"But it was more than enough to know that it's next to impossible to take possession of all sensory nerves. And as such there are always touches that escape your senses. Certain light touches"
Hal said with a wide smile that despite his bloodied face remained captivating as he hobbled over to his opponent who seemed to have finally caught on...
"You... What did you do?" She asked with a slight stammer.
"Oh, I just projected some Runes on Melinda's body," He said and...
*Snap!*
...snapped his fingers as about Twenty Runes all at the 3rd rank lit up on her body. All runes were the same (Bind) and trapped her in place.
"Impossible!" She screeched
"And why is that?" Hal asked with his wide smile ever-present.
"I could not have missed this Astral Energy clinging to me, whether it's glowing or not. The rank is much too high for me to MISS!"
At the end of her speech, she was slightly hysterical.
"Well, I'm sorry but you missed it. Now stay still so I can wake my baby girl" Hal said as he finally arrived in front of her.
The truth was that it was not her fault that she missed it. Hal had only projected Rank one runes on her but he kept the connection between himself and the runes perfectly active so that he could keep feeding the runes Astral Energy to bring them to the 3rd rank.
A perfect stealth operation.
'See Grimoire? Not every Event requires brawn'
'That was risky' was Grimoire's comment
'I would rather take the risk than satisfy those vultures in my soul world and kill her'
'It won't hold her for long, she might free herself before you can jolt Melinda's consciousness' Grimoire continued
'You just can't help but ruin a good gloating moment can you, you Realist fuck. Be optimistic for once, it's good for you'
'Well done, you did good" Grimoire could not help but comment after a brief silence
'Of course, I did well. I"m the best remember' Hal said with a smirk while Gromoire ignored the narcissistic comment.
On the outside, Hal placed his hands lightly on Melinda's temples as he drove his Astral sense into her mind and did the one thing he had not dared to do when she was unconscious for fear of her safety.
He woke her from her dreamlike trance.
Chapter 93 - Tete-a-Tete With Queen Sariel's Will Part 1
A beautiful Meadow lit brightly by the sun overhead. Flowers of different kinds, lilies, Lilacs, sunflowers, and even roses spread over its terrain. The flowers and grasses swayed to the effect of the wind that blew gently.
A figure lay within the bushes, Her eyes were closed and while she seemed peaceful, the slight purse of her lips suggested otherwise. As though she was offended by the situation she was in.
As the breeze blew over the beautiful lady (For she was beautiful) it seemed to whisper,
"Wake up Baby girl..."
The moment the sleeping beauty heard the voice, her pursed lips curved into an enchanting smile that lit up her face with joy. A joy that sprung from a fulfilled expectation.
Her eyelids opened to reveal warm browns behind as she sat up in the field and stretched her muscles.
Of course, Melinda did not feel any strain, the stretching was more due to habit rather than ache.
She looked around and was at first slightly disappointed he was not next to her until she reminded herself that this was a mere representation of her mental state and health.
A meadow signifying the grudging peace she had felt from her slumber. Grudging because she would rather not have to be unconscious.
She shifted her position to a cross-legged one and assessed her Mental health, it was during her assessment that she felt another intrusion from another will.
"Why am I always dealing with wills. Show yourself, gods damn it" She grumbled and rose to her feet to look around.
There seemed to be no one else around other than her at least until...
"Didn't mean to offend you"
... a voice sounded behind her and caused her to turn and come face to face with the most glorious looking woman she had ever seen.
All of the woman's features were perfect and impeccable. Including her Golden eyes, in which there were no whites.
Her smiling lips were lenient but also cautious, her white gold colored back length hair seemed to catch the light and move animatedly on its own.
No matter how you look at her, she seemed angelic. One could even say the only thing missing was large wings to complete the look.
Melinda did not see her as an angel or any other pure being, she saw as an intruder, one to be careful around.
"You're not my Father," She said with a slight smile
The lady chuckled "No I'm not. My name is Sariel but you can just call me virtue" Sariel said with a smile.
Melinda's eyes narrowed and she took a deep breath. A short silence followed before,
"Do you mean Sariel as in the Primeval Virtue?" She asked slowly and Sariel's eyes widened at the full mention of her title.
"You know me? I never thought someone in a neglected world could know who I am"
Sarie said with wonder, the second part after the question had been said quietly and mostly to herself. Melinda had heard it but decided to ignore it. For now.
"My Grandmother told me our Progenitor was Sariel the Primeval Virtue, Also known as the Holy Maiden but any power higher than a Cosmic Lord is regarded as a myth in this world. Not an unbelievable myth, of course, just one of such magnitude that it's much too great for us Mortals to speak of"
Melinda Explained as she took her seat in the Meadow again. Talking about her Grandmother brought to mind how much she missed that looney old woman.
"*Sigh* Do you believe I am your Progenitor?" Sariel asked looking down at Melinda from her standing vantage point.
"Are you?" Melinda replied with a question.
"I am," Sariel said
"Okay" was Melinda's only response.
Sariel narrowed her eyes,
"You believe me? Just like that?" She was stunned. She expected a refute.
"You say you produced the Danes and I say 'Okay, no problem' cause it does not matter to me. They are all still dicks. The way I see it, the fact that you are a Holy Maiden did not change that..." Melinda sighed and lied in the grass before she continued,
"Nothing matters. Nothing changes that fact so why should I care, That's why I think we should skip that and move on to why exactly you're here or better still; How you are here?"
Sariel frowned and the Gold in her eyes was dangerous as she looked down at Melinda but her voice remained perfectly controlled when she spoke again,
"Your Bloodline is a variation of one of the Bloodlines I have dominion over. How your ancestor arrived on this world is not important, what's important is that he bore my will with him and passed it down through procreation"
"What if the carrier of this Will died without passing it on?" Melinda asked
"In that case, My 'Will' will disperse," Sariel said with a shrug
"You mean you will disperse," Melinda said with a pointed look
"Yes, I will disperse, but I serve the purpose of my originator, that's all that matters"
"What exactly is that purpose?" Melinda asked
"To support your ancestor during his Holy mission but he was able to put me into hibernation. I only woke up now because I was jolted by your lifting of the suppression of your Bloodline"
Sariel went silent and Melinda broke it with a question born of genuine curiosity,
"What Mission?"
"None of your business!" Sariel cut off sharply
Melinda did not even flinch, on the contrary, she smiled widely,
"Nice, finally we are getting past the Creepy Grandmother smile. How does it feel to show genuine emotion and not deceitful ones?" She chuckled
Sariel clenched her fists and turned to look at Melinda who returned the look with confidence,
"I am not the enemy, Your Ancestor should have also understood that"
"If the first thing you do after 'waking up' is to possess my body then I'm afraid I disagree. And you are most likely the enemy."
How could someone possess her body and she would not know about it once her consciousness was awake. Even at that moment, everything that happened was being fed back to her through what could only be explained as muscle memory.
Sariel turned away.
"I don't want the whole truth but the least you can give me is bits of it," Melinda said
Instead of replying, Sariel turned slightly aggressive,
"I possessed you because I sensed the presence of a Devil near you. Not just any Devil, the Bloodline I felt, although weak was very similar to that of The Primeval Devil Queen"
Melinda sat up from her lying position and looked up at Sariel,
"A Devil?" She asked.
Maybe she heard wrong and Sariel had said something else.
"Yes, a Devil" Sariel repeated and showed her imagery of the events that occurred including Hal's eye color change.
While Melinda had seen him use his Bloodline abilities, she had never known what it was exactly. Accepting that it was merely of a much higher status than unique but to find out he was a Devil was...
"You see that? Do you see it? He almost touched you. Now tell me what is your relationship with this Devil"
Having no access to Melinda's memories because she was a Bloodline imprint and not a mind Imprint like Melinda's father's, Sariel did not know for sure how deep the relationship between the two was but she was certain Melinda could not have known his true identity and she had been right. So of course, now that Melinda knew, she should understand the Magnitude of such a revelation. After all, even in this part of the Cosmic Realm, the general notion was;
Devil... Bad!
So Melinda should be easy to convince.
Alas...
"It's None of your Business"
... She had gravely underestimated their bond.
Chapter 94 - Tete-a-Tete With Queen Sariel's Will Part 2
Melinda was long past judging anyone based on superficial traits such as Bloodline or how much they smile or even how kind the smile appears.
Life was never just Black and white sometimes. Her uncle used to smile at her a lot, he was always a kind Elder but that did not come into play once she crushed his Son's family jewels.
Her way of thinking was much clearer now. She was not after a goody-two-shoes with a strong sense of justice, she was after someone she could feel that connection with.
Hal just happens to be that person.
The fact that he is a Devil (which she was not truly buying though. After all, the information had come from an intruder with a terrible way of earning trust) did not change a lot. She was a little upset he was not upfront about it though. But then again, she had kept her Bloodline details secret from him as well.
She was more than Mature enough to know that the General label of the Public did not always depict the truth of that figure.
But, once again she did not yet truly believe it. Devil-like Bloodline abilities were one thing but that he was a Devil himself was a little far fetched, right?
"None of my business?" Sariel asked with evident shock.
Melinda simply shrugged at the look on her face while trying to stifle a chuckle,
"That's right. The relationship between Hal and myself should remain private" She said with a nod
Sariel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, when she opened her eyes again, they were slightly impatient but not enraged... For now.
"Okay then. It doesn't matter. I can make a pretty accurate guess without your input. Of which you have already given me plenty. The only reason you would want to keep your relationship with him secret is that it's of the Forbidden nature"
Sariel surmised with satisfaction.
Melinda tilted her head to the side slightly and smiled lightly,
"Forbidden?" She asked
"Yes Forbidden. You know, the sexual kind" Sariel explained and Melinda blanked.
Not because Sariel had guessed correctly, Of that, she could not care less. She did not want to say but that did not mean she was naive enough to not expect an accurate guess from the 'Holy maiden'.
No, what made her blank out was the term used.
What sort of prude would call Sexual relations a forbidden relationship?
Except if she had meant something else. Alas...
"Sexual conduct should be shunned by all. All women should remain pure, they should keep their virtue"
... Sariel's next words would prove that she had meant exactly that.
She turned to face Melinda more directly,
"I don't force the Virtuous path on them of course, I just educate that it's preferable. Those who serve in my inner court keep themselves holy"
She said with a sort of Jittery pride.
"Holy shit!" Melinda could not help but exclaim.
She would have loved to simply think it but as this WAS her mind, it would only resonate loudly like an echo.
"Ah-ha. You HAVE lost your Virtue. That's the reaction I always get from those who have lost their virtue. Male and Female alike"
Sariel said with a Triumphant yet slightly melancholic expression, while Melinda looked at her as though she was insane,
"No you idiot, that's the expression you get when people realize you're a gigantic Prude trying to force your virginity fanaticism on everyone else"
Melinda said with a sigh.
Sariel just smiled, even after being called an idiot and a Prude. It was not the first time she had been called such. It was, however, the first time it had been from an insignificant mortal.
Only her fellow Primevals had the guts to say such things to her.
She blamed Melinda's disrespect on the fact that she was merely a will and Melinda had never met the real deal.
"Child. I don't force it on others, but I advise it. And as my Creation. You must obey my will. You must stay away from that Devil. You must not let him taint you" Sariel said with her hands on Melinda's shoulders.
"You should realize I have been 'tainted' already," Melinda said with a chuckle but Sariel took her words as a serious plea for help.
"I know child and I shall purify you. But You must stay away from him from now on"
Sariel said before the whole Meadow was illuminated by a Golden light so thick that despite this 'Body' is a mere construct of her Mental will, Melinda still closed her eyes to avoid being blinded.
When the light faded away. Melinda felt a liberating feeling deep within her. She felt free and lightheaded. It was not the type of relief that comes from losing a huge burden, instead, it was more like the kind you feel when you lose something you care about.
It's a kind of feeling that is always quickly followed by a deep sadness but Melinda kept it hidden well. Instead, she frowned at Sariel whose hands had dropped from her shoulders.
"What did you do?" She asked with a clench of her fist
"I cleansed you," Sariel said with a smile as she took a step back and twirled around as though enjoying the Meadow for the first time.
"I need you to be clearer than that" Melinda said with a sense of foreboding.
"From the moment I arrived here, I could sense something in your mind space. Something Devilish that tied your will to that of that Devil and I've cleansed you of it, I am surprised you let him penetrate your mind"
Sariel said with a calm expression and the look of a disappointed Elder.
However,
Melinda did not notice as she had already frozen in shock. She knew Sariel was referring to the Pheromone attack by Hal when they had first met.
"Who asked you to do that?" She asked with a deep frown
"It was important. You should be glad it wasn't a contract. No one other than the Devil in control of the contract can break or render it void.
"It won't have mattered if my Originator was here and how powerful she is. It is completely impossible to destroy a Devil contract."
That caught Melinda's attention and successfully forced her out of her shocked state,
"It's that binding?" Melinda asked
Sariel sighed "I'm afraid so. No one no matter how powerful can break a Devil contract. Of course, it has limitations. One of which is the consent of the Contractee. But they have managed to skirt around that requirement slightly"
Sariel ended her speech with a grit of her teeth. She hated Devils and Demons to the core. They were always happy to spread their depravity to all creations and successfully corrupted her virtuous beings.
The worst part was that she never truly succeeded in bringing them back the lost ones into the light.
"How do they skirt around the requirement?" Melinda asked.
"They beat the other party into submission and brand them with the Devil mark. After that, getting consent to sign the contract is as easy as simply asking"
At this point, Melinda's eyes widened. She remembered Hal branding the servants at the Holger Estate.
"How binding is the Mark?" Melinda asked
"Not as binding as the contract but that's of no consequence, the important ones are contracted as soon as the Branding is completed. Those that are not contracted are not important so no one cares about freeing them" Sariel explained
"You seem to know a lot about Devils" Melinda observed
"Of course I do, The Devil Queen is my nemesis. I need to know everything about her."
Melinda nodded. That made sense.
From all she had been told. It was quite obvious that Hal was indeed a Devil except if Sariel was lying which was possible but not likely.
"Now that I've cleansed you of the Devil's influence. You should able to see how dangerous he is now..." Sariel trailed off as though she expected Melinda to denounce the Devil immediately.
Melinda noticed her look and lifted her shoulders in inquiry as though it asks 'What now?'
"Give it a second. It might take a while for you to overcome the shock" Sariel said with a forced smile.
Melinda sighed and said,
"It changes nothing"
"No, it changes everything. You should see the light now. The Danes are children of the light. Once you 'see' that you will finally be able to receive my Will. Something your Ancestor refused by putting me into hibernation"
Melinda closed her eyes as she took a deep breath...
"As I said, It changes nothing. I still feel as I felt the first time I met him. I feel jittery. I feel the camaraderie. I feel companionship. I feel like I regained what my Family took from me forcefully..." She stepped closer to Sariel
"I feel peace. And I FEEL the confidence that right on the outside, he feels the same"
Sariel frowned, this was not following the Norm. She had underestimated this 'perverse' relationship more than she thought but of course, there was still one play left...
"Oh? Will you choose him over the chance to become a god?" Sariel asked with an grin stretching over her Timeless angelic face while she folded her arms beneath her breasts and added,
"Are you that warped?"
Chapter 95 - Ring Of Neglected Worlds
The moment Sariel mentioned a chance at godhood she knew she had Melinda's attention and she was not wrong.
To be fair, Melinda had never seen personal evidence that mortals could become gods aside from the old legends that were dedicated to such.
It was those very same legends that reiterated that while it was possible, the process was long and tedious, and not many succeed.
Of course, this did not stop every cultivator (outside of Bottom feeding cities such as this) from trying to become this Divine being.
The most information they knew from communications with gods (Via Altars) made them surmise that said gods existed in a different plane some had taken to call Paradise.
Melinda had all but given up on this general dream of godhood when she was banished to Salmon city to cultivate without valuable cultivation resources.
Her hope and dream had been reignited when Hal -The self-proclaimed and quite aptly named, 'Rogue'- took her first time and showed her there were other means.
Sariel seemed to be suggesting she had even more efficient means.
"Are you that warped?"
That question made her think, was she really that Warped? That she could not even consider the possibility of staying away from Hal.
"What chance are you talking about?"
Melinda asked in a bid to stall for time and think carefully.
Sariel knew what she was doing but essentially ignored it to answer the girl's inquiry,
"Did I say chance? No, I meant to say, your only hope at godhood"
Sariel said while her whole insides squirmed with the joy of accomplishment. She had successfully sown doubt.
Melinda waved her hand to prompt her to continue and Sariel nodded with a slight smile that could easily melt the heart of any man,
"The world you live in happens to be a part of the ring of worlds in the Cosmic realm with absolutely no hope of seeing the rise of a god. A ring known as the 'Ring of..." She began
"Neglected worlds" Melinda interrupted
Sariel turned to her with a look of astonishment,
"Don't be so surprised. You mentioned it earlier" Melinda waved off the look.
Sariel's look of astonishment became a look of amusement instead as she cocked her head to the side slightly,
"I won't interrupt again," Melinda said
Sariel took a deep breath, "As I was saying. In this world, there is no Spark of divinity and it will not matter how hard you cultivate, you will only make Demi-god at best. Divine Transcendence will never be yours"
"Why is that?" Melinda could not help but ask.
"No one knows. Once upon a time, Mortal realms of Cultivation was mainly for the Mortal realm, hence the name, while the Cosmic Realm was mostly populated by gods but something happened..."
Sariel took a step back and turned away from Melinda. She looked over the horizon blankly and Melinda could tell she was reminiscing,
"The mortal realm lost the ability to hold Cosmic energy and as though it were a disease, it spread to the outer ring of the Cosmic realm. The ring is just a figure of speech, the true shape of the Cosmic Realm is impossible to know.
" Anyway, the inner Ring was unaffected but High-level gods could not come into any worlds in the outer ring without risking a Catastrophe. But an indigenous god, one that attained godhood in a Neglected world can stay without consequences "
Melinda's brows were furrowed as her mind was working furiously,
"So in essence I'm assuming this Spark you mentioned is inside you and by 'You' I mean the Primeval Virtue will"
"Yes, it is. With your talent, You can accomplish the steps important for godhood in a relatively easy fashion but without this spark, you cannot become a god. I have searched the Devil outside and he doesn't have a spark of divinity inside him either.
Bloodline does not count as a spark of divinity but it is also a requirement for godhood. So... What do you say, Melinda Dane?"
Melinda looked into those golden eyes,
"Why exactly are you doing this? It's not for Hal, who you did not expect to meet and just happens to be a Devil I'm involved with. What is your agenda?" She asked
"Seriously Melinda, you are still searching for conspiracies even with such an opportunity before you?" Sariel was irate but Melinda could tell it was mostly for the show to stop any further inquiry,
"You are interested in the neglected worlds aren't you?" She asked with a smirk.
"Don't be absurd..." Sariel started but Melinda cut her off...
"That was the Holy mission, wasn't it? You can't come here personally, so you sent a proxy. Equipped him with your will so that he could claim this world for you.
He arrived here with superior talent and cultivation, -not surprising since he was from Paradise- and became the first Dane"
"You are wrong. Shut up!" Sariel snarled
"Whoa, that's rude. Anyhow, it is obvious what happened next, he arrives and falls in love with the culture and people, puts you into hibernation so he can freely deviate from the Virtuous path that I am sure you were strict with him about"
"Stop it..."
"You don't always shun procreation but you wanted him to take control of this world as a spitting image of yourself. A spitting Virtuous image."
Sariel shook her head "I was supposed to help him. I could have made him a god..."
"No!" Melinda interrupted and for the first time since their conversation began, she looked upset "You wanted to make him a puppet"
Melinda turned and paced in the meadow for a short while before she turned back to Sariel...
"One thing I don't still know is what you want in a Neglected world populated with mortals"
"What? You think I'll tell you?" Sariel snorted
"No, I don't need you to tell me. I don't even want to know. I have years to find out on my own"
The two stood barely any taller than each other and stared into each other's eyes. Brown meeting Gold.
"Nice eyes," Sariel said suddenly
Melinda blinked "umm, Thanks?"
How was she to react to that abrupt compliment?
"You don't like them" It was not a question.
"I don't like them cause they are not mine. They are a result of decolorization after my Bloodline was suppressed. A lot of my features were altered because of that suppression" Melinda confided
Sariel nodded but it was obvious she was not really listening,
"So it's a No?" She asked quietly
"It's a no" Melinda said with a nod.
"Because you don't trust me?"
"I would love to say that's why but it's more than that. This spark that you can give me will bind my Will to yours, how is that different from what Hal did to me?" Melinda said
"I'm no Devil" Sariel insisted
"So? Is that supposed to make it better? Hal did not do it intentionally. It was instinctive. And... I loved the bind.
A lot of Ladies flock around him and they are more bonded to him than I. The binding of our Will and purpose was all I had. Pending a Contract of course..." Melinda took a deep breath
"I did not like you severing that bond. But I appreciate it. It helped me think clearly and to know for sure that this is what I want and it had nothing to do with an instinctive pheromone attack.
" Even If you were not manipulating me for your Plans, I would still not leave him for you"
Sariel frowned,
"So you will give up on godhood?"
"Who said anything about giving up? I will become a god. I will become a god by his side. That is how much faith I have in him and even if after trying my best, I still fail, Then I will take solace in knowing he would be right by my side failing as well." Melinda said with a smile,
"It sounds cheesy doesn't it?" She chuckled while Sariel looked at her with a little respect in her eyes,
"You are a weird woman, Melinda, But I do respect your determination." She said with a sigh
Melinda smiled "The suppression on my Bloodline has been lifted. Once I have full control over it again I will put you into hibernation. I won't have you ruining my fun time with your innuendos"
She was not going to let a pseudo bonding moment become a reason she let her guard down. She doubted Sariel would be able to put her hatred of Devils aside.
"Not necessary. I am already much too weak. I have been passed on for years and will voluntarily return to my originator. I failed my duty when your ancestor put me into hibernation. It's long overdue"
As soon as she was done with the speech, she faded and Melinda could feel her rapid dissipation, very soon, her energy signatures were impossible to locate.
She was gone.
Melinda's lips were pursed as she stared at the spot Sariel's will had been but moments ago, knowing with uncanny certainty that they would meet again and at that time she might be meeting the real deal. The originator.
The Primeval Virtue had given her a lot to think about but that was a job to do on the outside and not inside of her mind.
Chapter 96 - All Is Well.
The first thing Melinda saw when she opened her eyes was Hal in a defensive stance that almost caused her to chuckle but the state he was in was anything but Comical.
His clothes were tattered and he was bleeding from several parts of his body. His head was covered in scrapes and bruises that had long stopped bleeding and the look in his sapphire blue eyes were wild.
She had never seen him look like that. Not even when he had fought Rad who had been stronger than him thanks to the Flame maniac pill.
Not even when they had stormed the Holger estate.
This look was new and she did not like it.
Or more accurately, she did not like how it had come to be.
"So... Are you going to punch me now?" She asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Depends" he shrugged as best he could so as not to break his stance
"On what?"
"On who is in control" Hal said with his brow raised in inquiry
"I am" was her only reply but it was enough for him.
"And the crazy one?"
"All gone"
"Good" Hal said and relaxed his stance to hunch over and place his hands on his knees before he asked,
"Who was she?"
"Apparently, She's my progenitor" Melinda said with a slight smile and guilty eyes.
"Really? Well, she was a little overprotective so it makes sense" Hal said.
He had guessed as much. There was only one way such a Will could be in her Bloodline and that was through a Connection with said Bloodline.
"Any other overprotective Family members I should know about?" Hal asked with a smirk of his own.
"Why? Are you scared?" She chuckled
"No. Of course not. I just want to be prepared. You know, so I don't get caught unawares" He said smoothly.
Hal's concerns were quite genuine, after all they hardly ever spoke about her family and most of their conversations about them did not put them in a good light.
But Hal knew it couldn't be all of them she disliked to the core, there were some she must miss and among them was sure to be one worthy of 'suspicion', and sure enough,
"Well, you should watch out for my Grandmother. She's a tad bit..." Melinda started but was unable to complete as at that moment, the effect of her lifting the suppression and taking control of her Bloodline finally became physical.
Her whole form seemed doused in golden light. Not as bright as the Holy light Hal had just been attacked with. It was mild and Hal was able to look at it directly.
So he got a perfect front row seat to the the return of Melinda's true glory.
The transformation began with her face but quickly spread to her whole form.
Melinda had always been beautiful but what she looked like now went beyond beautiful. Every already wonderful part of her face was perfected.
Her hair rapidly lengthened past her back, past her hips, past her shapely ass to stop at the start of her calf. The shiny glow alone was inviting to the eyes.
Her breast hardly had any increase in size and said increase was barely perceptible, but being the pervert he was, his particularly sharp eyes zeroed in and he did not miss the subtle increase.
The true difference in her Ass was not so noticeable under her clothes but Hal was sure he would get to feel it soon.
When she opened her eyes, which she had closed once the Transformation began, it revealed that her Brown eyes had regained their coloration as her iris turned a light gold.
As soon as her eyes opened, The golden light became Light gold flames that burned hot and her Cosmic Armament which had faded once Hal had trapped her body with binding runes, was summoned in a manner that could only be described as instinctive as she gripped it tightly.
As she stood in that seemingly casual stance, she looked like a Goddess and Hal's lips could not help but curve into smile,
"Nice."
"...strict. I was going to say strict" Melinda completed her sentence as she dispersed of her Cosmic Armament and the Golden flame about her.
"What's with the changes. Minutia but taken all together. Absolutely Amazing." Hal said as he appraised her form
"You like?" Melinda smiled while she twirled around for his benefit.
"Very much so. Just when I thought you were already perfect, you come up with this dazzling form that arouses me all the more." He said with a nod and a wolfish smile.
"Keep it in your pants. For now" She winked
"It's what I used to look like before my bloodline was suppressed" She told him with a satisfied smile
"A bloodline you told me nothing about" Hal said with a light frown that Melinda saw through as false instantly.
"Just like you didn't tell me you were a Devil?" She smirked.
'She has a point' Grimoire chimed in.
'Of course, she has a point' Hal mind-chuckled.
Hal had not seen any reason to tell her what he was, he really just went with the flow.
"You should have told me." She sighed with lust shining in her eyes "Can you imagine how amazing the sex would have become. Sex with the Devil. Now that is HOT."
"YOU should keep it in your pants" Hal said with an emphasis on 'you' as she coiled around him and nipped at his neck.
Breathing in his scent.
The very feel of him.
"That's exactly where I want it" Melinda said in barely a whisper that sent a pleasurable tingle down Hal's spine,
However as much as he would have loved to indulge, the venue was inappropriate and so he decided to make it known,
"*clears throat* Not a matter to discuss outside..." Sounds of footsteps interrupted him and soon there arrived Castor and the other guards.
As soon as they were before the duo, after a quick surprise at Melinda's changes, they all knelt and kowtowed before the two.
"Forgive us. We are useless" They chorused.
It did not matter whether or not Melinda was the attacker. What was clear was that Hal had been in danger and they had been unable to offer any assistance.
To them, it was a crime.
Hal looked at them all with a slight frown before he sighed,
"Yes you were useless. But it was not totally your fault. Whether you were strong enough or not, I would not have allowed you to attack her.
"Be that as it may. There needs to be some changes. I have been neglectful in your cultivation and it has affected you all. I shall nip this in the bud today"
****
In a faraway, magnificent palace of pristine white marble and Golden decor of various unfathomable shapes and a floor covered with white gold mists that gave It an ethereal feel, sat a woman upon a throne of immaculate Gold.
It was instantly noticeable that the Primeval Will that had dispersed from Melinda's bloodline bore a 98 percent likeness with this Woman whose form brimmed with power.
The similarity was not complete because while 'Sariel' had been garbed in unflattering clothing that failed to conceal her beauty, the one who sat on the Golden immaculate throne was dressed the complete opposite.
Her gown was of a royal nature, It's white color was perfect to show off the golden designs on it.
Looking into those designs, they seemed to shift and give visions of what could only be described as the Formation of Light. Atop her head rested an ornate Golden Diadem and her eyes unlike her Will's retained the white sclera but with bright golden irises.
The Woman was the Supreme Originator, The Holy Maiden, The Primeval Virtue, Queen Sariel. And... she was not in a good mood.
"Your Majesty, Anything the matter?" Asked one of the attending ladies by her side with a low bow when she noticed her Queen's frown.
Sariel sighed,
"Nothing really. I got the result of another Messenger"
The attendant did not need to be told to understand that it was another failure. However, Sariel was not done.
" This will is hundreds of thousands of years old at the very least and was passed down for generations, Evidence that my edict was ignored. That is an insult..."
While her words were calm, the attendant could feel an underlying tirade.
"I apologize" The attendant bowed and Sariel turned to her,
"For what?" She asked before she dismissed the apology with a wave of her hands,
" It's unfortunate that this was another failure and the lengthy span of existence without merging with the Messenger weakened the integrity of my Will and I was unable to retrieve it's full accounts of the events, however, I still have Messengers in other worlds, i have a much larger possibility of getting what i want.
"This is not my first failure. I doubt it would be my last so the least I can do is show restraint."
"Will you send another messenger?" The attendant asked
"To that world? No. I can't risk alerting the other Primevals to my plans and two expeditions to the same world would cause too much suspicion, However, I now have a successful connection to that world through that talented progeny. If she ever come close to what i want, I'll know"
"Of course, Your Majesty"
"Don't worry Celia" Sariel said with a smile "All is well"
Chapter 97 - I Couldn't Fail In My Duties
Castor and the other guards went to work immediately and restored the damaged orts of the mansion in minutes. In a world of cultivation, simple restoration of damaged parts of a construction is quite easy to deal with.
Strength and speed being heightened.
The tough parts were the Roses that had been destroyed and would need to be replanted.
The replanting was not the difficult part. Instead, it was Melinda's reaction to the destruction that slowed things down until she eventually sent them to deal with other matters and would replant the garden herself.
"This is so annoying!" Melinda grumbled as the destroyed flowers were pulled into a pile.
"I know it is" Hal sighed with an arm around her waist as he led her back to the mansion and into the lounge while the hole in her room wall was being fixed.
Hal changed his clothes right in there and cleaned up the blood on him. While he still had wounds and bruises, they were no longer as distinctive.
Melinda just watched him change with a smile on her face. A smile with a 'but' owing to his injuries,
"When next I meet her, it's not going to be pretty" She growled, obviously the day's events were still very much on her mind.
Hal simply chuckled as he fastened his clothing,
"I'm leaving for a little while", He told her.
"In your condition?"
"I'm better than I look. Besides, this is something I need to take care of right now" He said with a smile
"Can I come along?" She asked
"I don't see why not. It's to our estate after all" He said and Melinda's lips curled into a smile,
"So you bought it then?"
"Yep"
"Care to share some details?" She asked as she stood to grab his arm. Gently so as not to cause him any more pain.
"I'll tell you on the way"
...
A few minutes later, they were in a carriage driven by Castor and escorted by a few other guards, as they moved away from the Mansion, the Array faded to reveal it in pristine shape and no trace of conflict.
"Where's Rita?" Melinda asked
"She's busy," Hal said with a smile.
"With what?" Melinda asked lightly as she looked out the carriage window into the streets they trudged through.
Living in one of the best parts of the city, her view of poorer regions was blocked but she could still catch glimpses.
"She's 'preoccupied'" Hal said with a chuckle.
Melinda was about to point out that that was not an answer when she paused and noticed the tone and smiled lightly as she turned to face him,
"Oh. I see. YOU'VE has been busy"
"Well, I couldn't fail in my duties, now could I" Hal turned to her and smiled back.
"I guess you couldn't." She sighed " But, We'll be making up for lost time later, I presume" She smirked and rested her head gently on his chest.
"That goes without saying," Hal said as he stroked her silky hairs.
"Okay then. Now details... What did I miss?"
And so Hal launched into a tale of all that happened since she had been unconscious. Ordinarily, the tale would not have taken long but Hal, being an aspiring master of theatrics sprung for the lengthy version which painted him in a wonderful light.
Of course, he was careful not to embellish too heavily.
....
Edgar Castle
Hector stood in Darryl's room where he was been nursed back to health.
As a Father, all he could see at that moment was that his children were hurt. That it would not take them long to be healed was not taken into consideration.
He was certain his children had nothing to do with it and all he wanted to know was who did. Who had orchestrated those plans?
Who had made fools of them and mocked his reign?
Had he been too lenient all these years?
That was very likely.
His first aim had always been to protect his family and as long as he still lived, protect the title that had been in his family for centuries.
His sons were surely not up to the task. The way he saw it. The Edgar Mayoral line was going to end with him. At the very least, for a little while until his children or his very talented Grandson was strong enough.
He could feel his organs begin to fail. Old age was gripping him already. He was very close to the End.
-Sigh-
He drew up a chair and sat to look at the Darryl, his eyes shining with deep melancholy.
"Father, are you worrying again?" came a voice beside him, being quite aware that there was only one other occupant in the room at that moment, Hector turned and was incredibly pleased to see Darryl's eyes opened and smiling at him.
Instead of replying, Hector first made sure he was alright for sure and he had confirmed that Darryl's recovery was still ongoing but it would not be detrimental to him if they indulged in conversation,
"Good. You're awake. Alexander has been worried. I am surprised you woke up this early but it's good" Hector said
"How long have I been unconscious?" Darryl asked
"Just a few hours," Hector said and Darryl's eyes widened at how still recent the day's events had been.
When he opened his eyes and saw his father's expression, he had believed himself to have been unconscious much longer.
"Since you're awake. Why don't you tell me what happened in the Array? Who attacked you and your brother?"
If Hector was being completely honest with himself, he was not hopeful of getting any new information from Darryl but he had to ask and clear up any form of discrepancy.
"Well, there was first an explosion and everyone at the scene that was not at the Cosmic Armament realm was affected. The explosion had been for them and that was why we did not face the impact..." Darryl paused to lick his slightly dry lips before he continued,
"When the dust settled, HE was standing before us..."
"Someone you recognized?" Hector could not help but interrupt.
Darryl shook his head,
"No, it's no one I have ever seen before, his very form instilled fear in us all. But we stomached that fear and soldiered on, summoned our Armaments, and went after him.
" Father, I do not say this to be brave. This was a terrible experience for me"
Hector frowned,
"What was his cultivation?" He asked
"That's the most peculiar part. He did not reveal the strength of his cultivation and our battle had nothing to do with Cosmic energy. His flesh was strong and the pressure he released was menacing. His cultivation base is unclear but I can infer that it was at the very least at the Late stage of the Cosmic Armament realm" Darryl said with wide eyes as though he was reliving the experience.
"Really?" Hector inquired to be certain
Darryl nodded and Hector went into deep thoughts.
The whole explanation was sounding a lot like the testimony of the slaves that had been freed from Holger Estate after the death of the Holgers.
It was at that moment that Hector began to form another theory in mind. He had never believed one of the Great families had gone after the Confluence and that was why while the others had been quick to suspect one another he had seen the whole thing as the work of a third party.
And it was most likely the very same one who had attacked the Holger Estate and emptied their vaults. In which case there were two possibilities which he had already concluded after the Holgers had been killed;
One was that whoever it was had a vendetta against the Holgers which would mean the culprit had been connected in one way or the other to the Holger Slave business.
The other possibility was that the culprit was simply picking off those he deemed wealthy one by one.
Which would correlate with the recent robbery as he went after the Holgers who at that time were first among the Plebeians and then went after the Joint vault that belonged to the Great families.
A significant step up.
The attack on the Holger Estate could have been a part of the Grand plan to rob the confluence.
The attack opened the Estate for Auction after all and it was the auction that caused the Confluence to be visited if not it might have been years before the culprit would get a chance to rob it.
'If this is all true then this was such a devious plan Hector thought.
Unfortunately, all this made this figure all the more mysterious, after all, it was still completely unknown how the 'Malevolent one' or as he had been termed by the escaped slaves; 'The Devil' found out the location of the confluence.
There was only one reasonable explanation and it was that there was a spy in one of the Great Families or maybe all four of them.
Immediately, Hector became alert and turned to his son,
"Darryl, once you and Marlon are well, I need you to do something very important"
"What is It, Father?" Darryl asked
"I need you to weed out all the spies in this family. I believe we are under surveillance. We need to find the traitors and replace them with those we can trust"
Hector said with a slight smile. With Darryl on the job. He could rest easy.
Unfortunately, he had no idea this was exactly what the Malevolent one needed to flood Edgar castle with his Blood Knights.
Chapter 98 - Silver, Gold And Gems
"So you did all that during the few short days I was unconscious?" Melinda asked when Hal was done with his 'Thrilling' tale.
"Of course. Don't tell me you were expecting me to sleep around all through" Hal said in a tone of mock outrage.
Melinda simply shrugged and Hal snorted,
"I'm guessing you did not even expect me to cultivate at all" He smiled while he reached down and squeezed her breast lightly.
"Mmh. Of course, I expected you to cultivate. You might be a horndog but you're no slacker. All the same, for you Sex and cultivation are practically the same things so I wasn't entirely wrong" Melinda said while she moaned at the pleasure his touch was providing.
Hal was teasing her with little doses of {Erogenous Touch} so it was understandable... Or at least it was until the doses began to heighten.
"Keep that up and I just might jump you right here, right now" Melinda moaned and snuggled her head into his chest.
"Well, we wouldn't want that" Hal chuckled and retracted {Erogenous touch} but his hands continued to rub her breast.
Melinda purred and encouraged him to continue while she stretched her hand to his lower half and started rubbing his hefty tool through his pants.
And so it was that as the Carriage trudged on to a newly acquired Estate and territory, a lecherous couple who could not keep their hands of each other continued to feel each other up while Castor and the other guards dutifully ignored them.
To them, there was absolutely nothing of note going on inside the Carriage.
Hal was very much aware that he had spies tailing him and so did his guards but there was no need to be sneaky after all, there was nothing suspicious about visiting a new purchase.
Especially one that was purchased in such a public Auction.
"That reminds me, I never really asked how rich you are," Hal said.
It was true, he knew Melinda was financially sufficient but he has no interest in knowing just how rich before just like how he had not spent any of it and opted for an apprenticeship first and foremost for the Goal of earning Gold.
He of course did not eventually follow down that route but he did earn money through his Astral sense as It had been very instrumental in all his banditry.
The Salmon, The Holgers, and now the Confluence of the Great Families.
Melinda sat up and looked him in the eye before she chuckled.
"What's funny?" Hal asked.
"What's funny is your instinct to compare wealth with me. Some will call that insecurity" She said as she covered her mouth and giggled.
"What? Come off it. It was a genuine inquiry. I just want to know how rich my Baby girl is. That's not too much to ask" Hal said in a tone filled with outrage.
"Oh really? Then why haven't you asked me before now?" She smirked, knowing full well she had caught him and wondering how he would squirm out of it.
"Come on! It just did not come to mind" He said exasperatedly.
"Are you sure you were not just waiting to have enough so you would not feel inadequate when you did ask?" Melinda said with her eyebrow raised.
"Positive. You've SEEN me. I am anything but inadequate"
"Okay fine" she shrugged and went back to resting her head on his chest.
"So... How much?" He asked while he pecked the top of her head.
Melinda took a deep breath,
"I was not serious with Dane textiles in the last few years, so my net worth took a hit and I'm barely keeping it at 200 million"
Hal froze "Gold coins?"
Melinda rolled her eyes "of course"
'Oh damn'
Frankly, Hal did not care that without robbing the confluence, she would have been richer than him. He simply did not want to be a parasitic leach who just guzzled up all she had and did not add to the coffers.
His view of things had been that he would garner more wealth and would aim to enrich and not impoverish her. It had nothing to do with the pride of a man or him as a provider.
It was all because of his ambition to be individually Rich.
All that being said, he had never thought she would be that wealthy. Most likely at the level or even wealthier than the Great families. Even if by a little.
Which begs the question...
"Why then did you gasp when the Holger Vault was opened?" He asked
"If you remember correctly, Rita was the one who gasped not me. I was merely surprised a Plebeian family could have gotten their hands on such expensive -by this city's standards- pills" Melinda said with a smile.
"Oh yeah," Hal said as the memory came back to mind and he grinned at her,
"You know what this makes us right?"
"What? The Salmon city Power couple?" Melinda said with a smirk.
"You said it not me." Hal smiled.
"I don't know what the big deal is. Outside of Bottom feeding cities such as this, that amount is not worth much" Melinda said and knew what would come next.
"Explain" was all Hal said.
"Well, The currency of the Nexus world..." Melinda began before Hal cut in...
"Wait what?"
Melinda sighed "It's understandable that you don't know. This world is called the Nexus world and through the segregation between Man and Beast is divided into Two continents and its currency is Silver, Gold, and Blue gem"
Hal raised his eyebrow in mild surprise but Melinda was not done,
"The exchange rate of 1 Gold coin is 1000 silver Coins, guess how much 1 Blue gem equals in Gold coins" Melinda smiled and Hal shrugged,
"I would say 1000 Gold coins but judging by your smile, that seems to be incorrect" Hal inferred and Melinda chuckled,
"1 Blue gem is worth 10000 Gold coins"
Hal's eyes widened,
"10000 Gold coins? What sort of bogus exchange rate is that. The Gem has to have more value than simple currency or it would make no sense." He said with a slight shake of his head.
He was already aware that Gold coins were more expensive than Gold ores mined no matter how pure or beautiful the Gold was. This was because they were infused with little bits of Cosmic energy when they are minted and passed out for circulation, not to mention complex rules that were etched on them.
It was the same for silver coins as well.
This was why owning gold mines did not automatically grant the Payne family power over currency or give them the right to mint their own.
These were all things Hal had already understood and the standard exchange rate for this Blue gem should have been 1000 as well, even if it was infused with Cosmic energy like the coins. As such the only way that its value could skyrocket that high was if it had other uses and he was not wrong...
"It does have more value than simple Currency" Melinda confirmed,
"All Blue Gems hold violent Cosmic Energy. And by violent, I don't mean because it's in large quantity, No. It is just too violent and impossible to use for cultivation.
" But it can be used successfully in places where a constant stream of Cosmic energy is needed but the burden can not be borne by any mortal. Such as the powering of Arrays.
Where I come from, true wealth is measured in Blue gems and the most wealthy and powerful families such as mine use them in powering large scale defensive and at times, attacking arrays and formations."
"Wow. And with such an insane exchange rate just how much can some families hold?. The Dane Family for Example" Hal asked with a smile.
"Best not to say. You might go into shock" Melinda chuckled.
"Fair enough. I'm close to going into shock already" He chuckled as well.
Melinda sighed,
"When I was 'Sent' here, I was given 10000 Blue gems that after taking where I was going into consideration, I exchanged for gold coins. That was all they could spare. Just 10000. That was nothing to them and it was nothing to me too. The injustice alone made my hatred burn hotter"
She paused at which time Hal continued to stroke her hair, trying and succeeding quite well in keeping the fact that she had called 100 million Gold coins in Blue gems, nothing.
"When I first arrived, I poured all my energy into Dane Textiles. I did it out of spite and also in a bid to forgot old and lost glory. With what I had, I could live in this city lavishly -by its standards- and then die just like everyone else in this city does eventually.
" I had no thought that I would be called back and even if I was, I was quite sure I would not want to return."
Towards the end, even though her voice remained strong, there was an undertone that revealed just how deep her pain was.
"But you will return," Hal said and stroked her cheek.
"I definitely will"
"And we might kill some fools"
Hal continued and Melinda sat up to wrap her arms around his neck.
She smiled wildly before she nipped at his neck and said between nips,
"Oh yes! It's gonna be great"
Chapter 99 - For Now, Just Enjoy It
Once the carriage was in the same district as the Holger Estate, a District that was part of the territory that came along with the property, The carriage stopped and Hal alighted from it.
"We're not there yet" Melinda protested and Hal smiled,
"Castor and the others will go ahead of us, there is something I need to prepare before then. I thought It would be nice for you to join me"
Melinda sighed and alighted as well with a smile,
"We will be making the rest of the trip on foot, won't we?" She told him as she grabbed his arm and they both watched the carriage leave,
"Yes?" Hal said with slight confusion.
It should have been obvious that this was what would happen so it stood to reason that her question went further than a simple inquiry into their mode of transportation and sure enough...
"Why exactly didn't you just ask Castor and the others to wait and take as long once you were done with whatever you're doing?" She asked
"Think of it as him going ahead to prepare the Estate for our arrival and consider this a romantic Evening walk"
He smiled as he continued to lead her to certain spots that were surrounded by buildings, buildings that would be perfect for someone to hide behind...
"Or at least it would be romantic if we did not have Gregory's creepy spies stalking us," Hal said and raised his voice just enough for it to carry in the barely inhabited district.
Melinda smiled lightly when he had made his proclamation. With her cultivation at the Mid-stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm, her senses were enough for her to know they had been followed since they left the mansion.
Of course, even before she reached the Cosmic Armament Realm, she was already aware of the spies Gregory had watching Hal. It was the main reason she had called him a stalker after their last encounter.
Hal's eyes turned a Blood red and two thick patches of the fog of the same color extended from his sides and stretched into the back of one of the buildings and soon pulled out Four men at the Peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm.
The three were struggling against the restraint of the fog and attempted to free themselves. But the attempt was fruitless and it wasn't long before they were deposited before the duo and held down.
"What do you want to do?" Melinda asked
"I'm going to kill them," Hal said without hesitation and Melinda turned away from the four to face him,
"You won't 'recruit' them?"
"What's the point? Their strength does not interest me and I already have Burt infiltrating Payne Estate.
Their death would however scream for a personnel change. A wonderful opportunity to fill certain ranks with my Blood knights.
Plus... Once they don't report to Gregory by the end of the day, It would serve as a simple message to him"
"What message?"
"'Send anymore and I will kill them too', let's see if he'll dare spy on me again"
Melinda nodded and shrugged "Want me to do it?"
"No need," Hal said and stretched his hand to summon Executioner...
The instant the Demonic Broadsword appeared, a strong sense of fear gripped the four and they opened their mouths to beg for mercy but before they could say a single word or have a Blood spurt due to the weapon's bloodcurdling energy...
*Slash!!*
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
... Hal swung and beheaded them all at once and their heads fell with dull thuds. He did not bother to drain their blood essence for two reasons.
One was because it would be of no use to him and the second was because it would make it similar to the deaths of the Raiders at Holger Estate, something he was sure Gregory would realize and petition Hector to realize as well.
Hal had made sure with Astral perception that there were no witnesses. Most of the inhabitants of the buildings in that district were those who worked for the Holgers but did not reside in the Estate. They were required to live close by so that they could report at a moment's notice.
Hal had acquired those buildings as well as a part of the Estate.
"Mercy" Melinda's voice came from behind him and Hal turned to smile at her,
"Hmm?" He raised his brow.
"You showed them mercy. Killed them in a single slash, not only was death instantaneous, but they also did not suffer from watching their colleagues die. So...
"You showed mercy," Melinda said with a shrug.
Hal stroked his chin as he pondered on what she had said,
"What if the single slash had been meant to impress you?" He asked with a smile that identified the words as bullshit instantly.
"I would like to believe you know better than that" She rolled her eyes and Hal smiled before he took a deep breath,
"Perhaps it was merciful, but I don't see it as such. They were just not strong enough to spend so much time and attention on, neither did I have a personal vendetta against them"
He shrugged and Melinda nodded with an expression that meant 'Keep telling yourself that'.
This time it was Hal who rolled his eyes and ignored the expression.
"I'm guessing watching you behead four men is not the Romantic walk you were referring to," Melinda said.
"No, I just needed to get them out of the way first," Hal said as he projected runes on all Four men and they simultaneously combusted, their bodies reduced to ashes in mere seconds.
He turned away from their ashes and spread his perception throughout the territory that was now his. Taking mental measurements and adjustments as he prepared to perform his greatest Rune mastering feat till date.
"I told you of the Contracted Gang members right?" He said to Melinda once he was done with his analysis.
"Right" Melinda nodded.
"Well, I plan to keep them here. They'll cultivate and train. It's going to be the same for the Marked brethren, and once my Blood Knights are appropriately integrated into the Great families, they will take occasional breaks to do the same in that Estate as well.
All of our men will be in this Estate, how long do you think it will take before it's noticed?" Hal asked with a slight smile and Melinda's eyes widened when she understood what Hal was doing.
When Hal joined the Auction, he knew he put himself in the spotlight. Granted they were all more likely to believe Melinda was the one behind it all and not him but that did not change anything.
After all, Attacking Melinda was the same as attacking him.
Anyway, he had gone against the Great families. While it was Gregory he had bid against, winning against Gregory who had displayed dominance by outbidding them all, put Hal in a position worthy of attention.
And this was even more so now that there seems to be a new participant in the race to rule Salmon city.
All Great Families had forgone all thoughts of cooperation and would fight to win individually and in such a situation, they cannot afford to be blindsided by anyone so they would keep their eye on the one who had now put himself on the 'Map'.
So to speak.
Gregory was the only one spying on him at the moment but Hal was sure the other Great families would begin to watch the Estate and seeing a 'small force' training inside was bound to raise suspicion.
This brings us to why Hal stopped the carriage where the Holger territory began...
"Second-grade skill: Updraft"
Hal's eyes were closed and he took a deep calming breath before a two circled ring appeared below his feet right as he leaped, blindly, into the air.
The lift from updraft would only keep Hal in the air for a few seconds at best, but after amassing enough Astral Energy and successfully replenished the amount he had used at the Confluence, those few seconds were more than enough.
His eyes opened suddenly and he realized a torrent of astral energy while he simultaneously projected massive and multiple runes that flew around the Estate to imprint themselves in a beautiful order and pattern.
The runes were numerous and all radiated Rank 3 astral energy.
Projecting one rune was already dangerous enough to a normal Runemaster, even though Hal had the advantage of {Equipoise} and could hold Astral energy in his body, his mind was still susceptible to mental strain.
The whole thing only took a few seconds but for Hal, it very well could have been hours and the strain it placed on his mind was immense.
He finished just in time as the Skill's effect wore off and he fell towards the ground...
*whump*
... Where he was caught successfully by Melinda.
"What were you thinking?"
She said in an outraged voice while Hal winced slightly at his still aching bones.
"I was drawing up an array," Hal said in a bid to justify himself.
"You didn't have to do the jumping stunt especially not in your condition"
"Like I already told you, I'm feeling better than I look," He said with a chuckle.
"Why not walk around the Estate slowly and Draw it the normal way. With a scroll" She insisted but Hal waved it off,
"This way was faster," He said before he turned her face towards the Estate just in time for her to see the Runes come alive with Astral energy.
They were inside the array as it came alive and effectively isolated the whole region. The isolation made it seem like it's own little world.
The Runes swam about the Estate in Rich Royal blue, they Wove around, twisted, and turned as though they were all alive.
Melinda was lost in the beautiful sights,
"What is..." She began with her sights still set on it but Hal interrupted,
"Shhhh. It will fade away once the Array is completely activated. For now..."
He waved his hand and retrieved from his inventory what could only be described as a picnic blanket and pulled her to sit beside him.
"For now. Just Enjoy it"
Chapter 100 - Within The Month!
This was of course not Melinda's first time seeing an Array or the activation of one but this array was so thick with Astral Energy that none of the others she had seen could compare. Even if they had been of higher Ranks.
The reason was simple, thanks to Equipoise, the sheer quantity of Astral Energy imbued in this Array, should he choose to do so was not something ordinary Rune Masters could even attempt.
The two sat in silence as the Runes went about the Estate and also the steady activation of the Array. Once the Runes began to fade Melinda was the first to speak,
"What is this Array suppose to do Exactly?" She asked.
She could already infer that it was to provide the Estate with privacy to keep the activities within secret from the view of the public, however, as the runes faded, she could also see that it was leaving no traces behind and becoming completely transparent.
"Well, I realized that surrounding this Estate with an impregnable Astral Dome would instantly raise the red flag. We might as well March up to them and inform them that we are building a force in the Estate we just purchased.
"But when I heard of the Confluence from Marlon as well as the Mirage and warding off Array, I had an idea. It took me a short while..."
'And quite a bit of Gold' he thought
"...to get the necessary runes needed for my version of the Mirage Array. The runes I was able to acquire easily, the issue came with finding the perfect combination that would not simply render the Array useless"
He had not been able to draw such large scale times because wrong combinations could also be destructive as they can be disappointing. As such he had tried many combinations in his mind, relying on his knowledge of the runes to come up with the best scenarios and the one he had just drawn was the best he could come up with.
In a normal situation, he would only need to get a formula that would give him a mirage Array, formulas of which Grimoire was packed with but they were all much too high in grandiose for his liking, especially when he was aiming to keep a low profile.
So instead of a ready-made formula which he would simply follow, Hal purchased the full set of Runes required for a mirage Array so he could tailor-make a formula for his purposes.
He would only be required to supply Astral Energy every once in a while to keep it operational.
"This Array is designed to be invisible. From the outside, it looks completely normal. It does not matter how much this Estate fills up, no one on the outside will be able to notice anything.
To any observer, this Estate remains the same" He explained to Melinda who furrowed her brows lightly.
"What if an observer decided to visit. Once inside the Array, it would no longer affect them" She voiced out and Hal chuckled and patted her cheek reassuringly,
"There's a subtle warding off Array, imbued with a little something called Fear! that successfully keeps people below the Cosmic Armament Realm away. A category of which a vast majority of their forces fall under.
"As for those that do not fall under this category, other than the family heads, I have most of them under my control as well so it's of no consequence"
Melinda smiled,
"You thought of everything," she said.
"That is almost impossible. At least for now I can not pride myself on thinking of every scenario, I have other things to think about after all..." His arms wound around her waist and the 'other things' could not have been any clearer.
He continued,
"I did think of the main issues though. As soon as anyone not in my service and immune to the warding off Array comes close, the inhabitants will be alerted and they'll know what to do. Call it a little something extra"
This whole Array business was of course born more from paranoia rather than genuine concern.
It was very unlikely that the Family Heads would visit the Estate personally and whoever they sent, Hal would most likely be able to keep under control thanks to the Men who were most closest to the family heads and branded with the Devil mark. But...
... you can never be too careful.
...
Once the runes had faded and the array activated, the two began their slow and steady walk to the Estate. Arm in Arm.
When they had stormed the Estate, they had not stopped to admire the environment. This time they did and both found it quite beautiful.
Within minutes they were walking through the front doors and it would not take long before the 1000 gang members Hal had contracted arrived as well. Along with the Marked Brethren. Who had now totally vacated their mansion hideout.
Hal walked past them into the Estate and then went into the largest Halls the Mansion had.
He exchanged Gold coins for Time warping Arrays and installed them inside the Halls. The time flow change was the same as the one he had installed in the mansion for his use.
He could have very well installed one large-sized Array in the Estate itself. In which case, time would be warped in every area of the establishment but in the off chance someone successfully made their way in here, that would not bode well.
It did not take him all that long to complete the installations and he activated it. Since he had gotten the ready-made Array from Grimoire, it bore the full brunt of the energy requirements and would keep it active as long as possible.
Then Hal called for them all to congregate including Castor and the other guards.
"From now onwards, this is your base. Those who work in the mansion will come here regularly to cultivate and, should you wish, spar. Castor should take charge and create a situation where it will not hinder the duties you are needed for in the mansion.
"The 1000 men will be here permanently. All those at the Energy sensing realm should aim to advance to the peak stage of the Comic Pearl Realm within a month. Those at the Cosmic Pearl realm should aim for advancement to the mid-stage of the Cosmic Armament realm at the very least."
Hal had reduced the requirement because he was well aware of how much harder it was to advance to and in the Cosmic Armament realm.
"The time flow in these Halls have been altered such that, one month cultivating outside of them will equal Ten inside. Those who work in The mansion will not have the luxury of staying inside for the whole of this month due to their responsibilities in said mansion but that does not change what I want from you.
The Marked Brethren will be placed in charge of allocations and keeping everyone in line. Not like I expect any of you to act out of line..."
At this point, Hal paused to look them all and there was a little dissatisfaction in Scarface's scarred face, most likely due to the pressure Hal was now mounting on them, but he kept his mouth shut.
Of course, Hal had his reasons for urgency which was mainly that he estimated things would get out of hand among the top echelons in the city within the month and he needed to be ready.
The part that interested most of them was the fact that one-month Cultivation could become almost a whole year thanks to the Time warping Array.
What a wonderful sponsor!
They had all thought until Hal told them what he expected them to achieve during those stretched out Ten months.
Even if they were given 5 years, they were not still convinced of success. Their experience in cultivation made them well aware that it would take them so much more than that to achieve what he wanted.
The thought pulled a frown from them all but they sobered up quickly. This was a challenge, the least they could do was face it head-on.
The fair lady was the only exception. The things he had said did not cause her to frown or panic. Hal could tell she was quite confident in succeeding. Her attention was on something else or more accurately, someone else.
The day before, when she had met her Master for the first time, he had been with someone else and while the lady was young and beautiful, before this golden-eyed woman who stood a few steps behind Hal with her arms crossed, the lady from the day before fell short.
As she watched a golden-eyed lady watch them all with a calm imperious gaze, the fair lady could not help but wonder how many more beauties were with her master and...
...just how many more he would be ready to accept!
Hal had not been paying attention to her thoughts but the shift in the look in her eyes painted a clear enough picture.