Chapter 371 - Company. Part 2
*Booom*
Almost as soon as Hal spoke, a rune was tossed against the carriage and it exploded upon contact.
More runes were tossed to the surrounding areas of the carriage and they exploded on contact as well causing a massive eruption of dust that would obscure vision.
Quite frankly, the Golden carriage being a Semi-saint rank artifact was more than able to take the damage and even push forward but as this was what they had been after, Hal and the ladies felt they might as well get down and face their attackers...
"*Cough* *Cough* Who Dares?!!!" Hal yelled,
... In the most theatrically false manner possible.
He was not the only one 'coughing' from the eruption of dust that had occurred thanks to the blast. The ladies were doing the same.
This was being done for two reasons, the first was that experts of their level could never possibly be affected or even disturbed by the dust. Breathing it in would not affect their sinuses or cause such exaggerated coughing effects, however, they had no real interest in letting the bandits hiding out of sight get an inkling of what their cultivation could be.
The second reason was more centered around the 'who dares?' Which showed that even when 'weak' enough to be affected by dust particles, he still felt he was of enough importance to be attacked.
Of course, this begged the question of how someone this important could have even made it to Dell's gate city, which was the direction they were coming from, in the first place.
However, this was a question the bandits had decided to ask once they were done taking all they could from this traveling bunch.
And so it was that the moment the dust settled, there they were... Standing and glaring at Hal's party, very clearly quite an assorted bunch.
There were males and females which could be only be known on account of their body shape as their faces were covered with masks and the only opening was the one surrounding their eyes.
For whatever reason that was, Hal had no idea. Although it was quite possible that they indeed preferred to keep their identifies secret but he felt that was quite unlikely especially since the bandit band had gained a level of superiority that would make it quite useless even if their faces were known by Dell's city folk.
No, he guessed they were doing it for a sense of camaraderie. After all, their clothes were not uniform. Only their masks were. It had a red streak running diagonally on it.
The ones that were clearly males eyed the ladies with Hal and taken together with him, they concluded that these people could not have been from Dell's gate city but since they came from there, it could only mean they arrived through the Teleportation circle.
An occurrence that remained quite rare.
"Who...?" One of them, a female, began to ask but another interrupted.
"There's no need for that. If they are here, they should be ready to give up all they have." He said.
The female eyed Hal and the Devil was quick to shed his outraged look and wink at her.
It caught her by surprise but Hal had already moved on to look this time at the man who had interrupted her,
"Are you sure who we are is not important? For all you know we could be emissaries from the Duke" he said.
Hal could tell the man was frowning behind his mask,
"The Doxon Duchy does not have a Duke. It has a Duchess and she can't possibly be bothered with a little city like Dell's gate" he told Hal who chuckled,
"Who says we are from Doxon? We came from the Silva Duchy and we have a message for the Duchess" He said but another man in the bandit group burst into laughter,
"Yeah right, because an emissary will decide not to arrive directly in the Duchy capital and instead choose a back-watered city such as this." He said with sarcasm and went on to mock Hal on how stupid he was for him thinking everyone was a pretty-faced Idiot like him.
So wrapped up in his mockery was he that he failed to notice the death stares he received from Rita and the rest of the ladies.
Then an aggressive man spoke out of the group,
"Enough talk. Surrender your spatial rings and spatial pouches!" He said and if his loud voice was not enough, the tone of those words showed he meant business.
Hal did not argue but took off his spatial ring and tossed it to him.
Another walked over to the carriage and began to rub his hand on it,
"We'll take this as well. Looks like a fine piece of... Arrggghhhh" the admiring bandit was unable to complete his sentence before he yelled out in pain because Karmen had summoned her cosmic armament and cut off the very hand that was being used to admire the carriage.
The others were instantly taken aback as they backpedaled. The cause of their shock and instant fear did not stem from the fact that one of them just lost a hand but because from the summoning of her cosmic armament to the actual cutting off, there was no part of that movement they caught.
It had all happened so incredibly fast.
Much faster than they could possibly have hoped to follow which was to be expected since the strongest of all those present was at the peak of the Cosmic Armament Realm.
Impressive cultivation base but nowhere near enough.
"No touching" she said with a very annoyed frown.
"Scatter!" Yelled the aggressive-sounding man and there was an instant combined release of exploding Runes which was to create a cover for them to escape.
After all, they were surrounded by a grassland terrain, and should they try hard enough, they should actually be able to escape this obviously dangerous bunch.
That was not to say they would all escape but the death of some should prove a worthy sacrifice for the escape of...
*Bang!!!*
Before any of their survival-driven thoughts could be completed, they all ran smack dab into a Dome of Royal blue Astral energy.
As soon as they hit the ground, they were up again and trying to break through.
Once it became clear that it would be impossible to break through this barrier of Rank four Astral energy, a couple of them stopped while others refused to give up.
One of those who was still hitting against the Dome was suddenly hit by a purple flaming arrow that combusted her from the inside and passed all of her essence to purple-eyed succubus, Rita.
Hal, Lillian, and Olivia summoned their Cosmic Armaments as well and their eyes along with Karmen's were now Blood red and giving off incredibly fiendish vibes.
Almost as though it had been choreographed, the bandits took off their masks as though it would hinder their movements but whether or not that was the case, the results remained the same.
"I need only three of them alive" Hal said before dashing forward to strike any one of the bunch at random and kill them in a single blow.
Karmen began by killing the one whose hand she had cut off with her broadsword cosmic armament before dashing over to the others along with Lillian and Olivia.
Needless to say, it was a Massacre...
Chapter 372 - Loyalty Brand.
Before long, just as Hal had intended, all of the bandits except a selective three, which included the aggressive-sounding man, were dead.
He had all the bodies sent into the Habitat for the Beasts to feed on while he faced the five that had been set apart.
He took a deep breath before pointing at the aggressive-sounding man who looked positively terrified,
"You! Give it to me" Hal said and beckoned.
The man looked confused,
"Give you what?" He asked.
Hal rolled his eyes at what he saw as a phony act,
"The communication talisman you use to contact your scout" he said in an as-if-you-don't-know tone of voice.
He refused to believe this bunch simply hid in bushes waiting for the next unfortunate sucker.
They must have had a scout to let them know when it was time to mobilize and lay an ambush. The scout was most likely not too far away from the checkpoint and not too close to the city.
It was just far enough to give the bandit squad enough time to lay their ambush.
"What communication Talisman?" The man asked in a shaky voice that had lost all the intimidation factor it used to have.
"Are you really going to act dumb? You are clearly the leader of this squad. The two who first spoke to us are more of the spokespeople. You run the show and if the scout will relay information, I bet it will be to you" Hal said with an impatient tone and glanced at the first two who had spoken to them and were the only other two he had spared.
The man shivered,
"I don't know what you..." He began but could not complete before he was interrupted with a hard blow to his face.
*Bam!*
A blow that had not come from his interrogator, Hal but from Karmen.
"Talk" she yelled at him while Hal took a few steps back until he was beside Rita who looked at him,
"You know you caused this right?" She said obviously referring to Karmen's aggressiveness.
"Caused what? She was always aggressive" Hal said.
Rita shrugged,
"Well, yes but now she's feeling happier than usual and that, in turn, is causing an increase in her aggressiveness"
Hal shrugged,
"So what? Making people happy is not a crime now is it?" He had just said this when Karmen looked over at him,
"Master, could I have some mending pills?" She asked with a bright smile that did not match the image of the man who now had numerous bruise patterns on his face as well as numerous broken bones.
"Why not?" Hal said and retrieved a small jar of mending pills which he always had with him from his days in Salmon city but never actually needed. He tossed it to her and she received it gratefully.
"Thank you master" she said.
Hal looked over at Rita with his eyebrows raised.
The black-haired lady rolled her eyes at him.
"You could just take care of this by branding all three with your mark and let them tell you all they know."
Hal groaned,
"And what fun will that be?" He asked just as a distinct sound of a cosmic armament being summoned could be heard before...
*Slash*
... Karmen cut a long diagonal gash across the man's front.
"Arrrgggghhhhhhh" he yelled out in pain before she stuffed a few mending pills into his mouth which healed his wounds enough for him to remain alive but still feel the pain.
The man fell backward and began to crawl away from her while moaning in pain until he was against the boundary of Hal's Astral Dome which he had now shrunk to only a few meters in diameter.
Karmen walked over to him and slashed back in the opposite diagonal direction of the slash on his front to his back. Then she began making incisions on his calf, shoulder blades, and then arms.
For every part she pierced, the yelling grew louder.
"Arrrghhhhh... Please, stop. I'll give it to you... Just... Stop... Please" he pleaded.
Karmen turned him around and shoved more pills into his mouth to mend his wounds.
Once the wounds were healed, the man retrieved a communication Talisman from within his clothes.
Receiving it, Karmen smiled sweetly at him but it nearly caused the man's heart to stop beating,
"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" She said and went over to Hal to give him the Talisman.
Hal received it but his attention was on the other two who looked from their whimpering comrade to scary Karmen and then back again.
Hal walked over to one of them and pointed the Talisman at her,
"Tell the scout to come here" he said.
She cleared her throat and then spoke into the Talisman as clear as she could to tell the scout to come over.
At first, the one on the other side of the communication was skeptical but eventually, she convinced him.
Once she was done he drew back the talisman and put it inside his spatial ring which he had already retrieved from the aggressive man since after the massacre ended.
"That's good, now be completely honest with me. If I told you to tell me where Red beard's camp is, even after all you have seen dear Karmen do to your comrade and knowing she is capable of more, a lot more actually, Will you tell me?"
The lady looked over at Karmen and then shivered as she shook her head,
"I won't" she said out loud in case the shaking of her head was not enough.
Olivia was a little surprised,
"Seriously? You're that loyal?" She said but Hal turned to her and shook his head,
"Not loyalty... Fear." He clarified with a smile and then to the lady, he said,
"I don't deny that you probably feel like you owe Red beard a lot but that is not the real reason you all so tight-lipped, is it?"
And then his eyes turned completely Dark, Sclera and all as he proceeded to brand her with the Devil Mark.
With it, he seized control of her mind and searched through her memories for all the information he needed and then commanded her,
"Tell me where the bandit camp is"
No matter the reason she was tight-lipped, there was no way she could resist his words,
"Towards the E..." She began but could not even complete her words before her heart stopped beating and she slumped against the ground... dead.
Hal nodded with a sigh as his eyes returned to normal,
"A loyalty brand. Made by Red beard himself I presume. The moment they say a word about his camp's location, they die. As such, torture could never get them to open up. The mere intention to be cooperative will trigger the brand and stop their heart."
*Rippp*
Hal tore the front of the lady's clothes and right there just above her left breast was the brand. Incredibly close to her heart.
Then he covered her up and looked over at the other two, the man moaning in pain and the other spokesman.
The spokesman could immediately tell that Hal no longer saw any value in them,
"Wait. We might not be able to tell you where the camp is, but if you spare me, I'll tell you something important."
Hal chuckled,
"Tell me what? That there is a meeting going on at the camp between merchant representatives from Dell city and Red Beard regarding his sudden decision to increase Tax?"
The spokesman's jaw dropped and the moaning man actually stopped whimpering,
"How did you know?" He asked just as there were quick dashing footsteps to be heard before the arrival of the one who had to be the contacted scout.
Hal extended the Astral Dome to contain the scout as well.
Then he smiled the spokesman and injured man,
"None of your concern"
*Slash*
With a swing of his now summoned cosmic armament, the two dropped dead.
The scout's eyes widened but before he could move away, Hal summoned Essence Stealer and shot a flaming arrow right at him which combusted him from the inside out.
"So where is the camp?" Rita asked.
He smiled at her and walked towards them as he dispersed his Cosmic Armament,
"Not too far from here. Come on. We have a meeting to crash..."
Chapter 373 - Red Beard's Bigger Picture.
Red Beard's Camp...
In the large tent at the very center of the camp was a long table at the head of which was a man with braided shoulder-length Red hair and a long breaded heard as well. He was quite a large man and could maybe be considered handsome in a brutish, violent kind of way.
The man was quite obviously red Beard and behind him stood a group of seven men and women who were clearly his closest confidante's and kept glaring at the disapproving merchants.
Then lined in certain locations of the tent were more men of his bandit hand who stood there as 'Extra security'.
The outside of the tent was also being guarded by two other bandits who acted as though guards to a king.
It was the first thing that had raised the brow of the merchants upon arrival but they had long ignored it for more pressing issues,
"Red beard! Are you really going to throw away years of cooperation to now anger us and in turn anger the mayor of Dell's city?" Yelled the man with three empty seats between him and Red beard but was still the closest to the imposing man.
Red beard looked over to him and then drew a dagger from his waist. The Merchant flinched but Red beard did not act as though he had noticed as he ignored the man's words and proceeded to begin carving the table.
The man was a bit peeved to have been so readily ignored but said nothing apart from swelling in anger.
Eventually, Red beard paused his activity and spoke in a surprisingly clear and mellow youthful voice that did not quite fit his large and brutish appearance,
"I guess we have indeed had many years of cooperation and it was indeed nice. You contributed to all you have seen here today and fur that... I say thank you" he said with a wave of his hand at all they could see, The imposing guards as well as a structured camp that they once again noted really did not have the feel of a bandit camp.
Then he continued,
"However, cooperation is by my definition, finite. It is destined to come to an end and if you will not agree to my demands, you can consider our cooperation at its end.
Look around, I no longer need your resources..."
"But Red Beard, the Mayor. Don't you fear him?" Interrupted a merchant.
Red Beard looked at the interrupting merchant and it was clear he did not particularly care for that interruption but the words of said merchant seemed to be quite amusing,
"Hahahaha. You think I fear that old fool?" He laughed boisterously before he raised his hand in a signal and from his confidants behind him to the guards right outside the large tent, they all released their pressure.
The weakest of them all was at the peak of the Cosmic Armament realm and the strongest was at the mid-stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm.
The eyes of all the merchant representatives widened in shock.
This was a level of strength they had not expected. And yet all these men were only subordinates. How strong would the leader himself be?
And even if he turned out to be weaker than his men, getting to him would not be so easy with them protecting him.
They had all come here with but a few bodyguards all because it was one of Red Beard's rules and a way to show their willingness to be reasonable.
Plus, even the strongest of their bodyguards was barely at the early stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm.
As for the merchants themselves, they were mostly men of commerce with little to no actual interest in combat. The strongest of them was at the Mid-stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm but that was one against about five others of the same level who were much more battle-focused.
They were fucked!
And they could easily see this turning into a trap in which they needed to find a way to escape and a quick way too.
"These are the strongest of my men but the others are not too bad either. Curious how I did it? It was quite easy actually. Once I had created a strong reputation for my Bandit camp, I approached every other bandit band to ask for them to join me.
These fine men and women behind me once headed their bandit bands. Small-time stuff really.
Once I made them see the bigger picture and how stopping merchants on the road for wealth was only the stepping stone to greatness, they were only too happy to join me."
The merchants were understandably confused,
"Bigger picture?... Stepping stone? What the hell are you talking about?" Asked the one among the merchants who could best be described as the most vocal.
This was especially true since, after that display of strength through cultivation base pressure, they were all mostly struck dumb.
Red Beard smiled,
"Oh yes, the bigger picture which is me taking control of this region and putting an end to the flawed mayoral Bloodline of Dell City." He said and so ridiculous did this sound that a couple of merchants actually stopped looking dumbstruck and began to view him as truly insane.
"Are you mad? You can't possibly believe you can achieve that. Kill us if you want but that does not make you suddenly powerful enough to contend with the mayor. I agree that this little setup of yours is impressive but it is far from being enough to threaten the mayor.
You clearly have not thought this through" said the vocal merchant.
Red Beard chuckled,
"Actually I have thought it through. What is the Mayor's cultivation? He's at the peak stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm is he not? I can handle that.
His strongest man is at the mid-stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm, is he not? Well, my men can handle that.
But I will say that it is indeed not yet time for a true confrontation and that is why I will start with Dell's gate which on account of it being a subordinate to Dell's city is governed by a council.
I will take control of the council and steps are already being taken to make sure the councilmen and women, who are no doubt the strongest in the city, will be Loyal.
Combining my power with that of Dell's gate city, I quite fancy my chances of success"
At that time a voice sounded from the outside of the tent,
"I fancy your chances as well"
All eyes turned to see the one who had spoken was none other than a Blue-eyed young man with incredible manly beauty that could surely make any woman swoon.
Case in point, the female merchants were already running their eyes over his form despite the fact that he seemed to agree with the mad man that seemed to have their death in mind.
Even the women with Red Beard were only masking their interest with scowls.
But the young man was not alone. He was with four ladies whose beauty ranged from seductive and mellow (Rita) to wild and dangerous (Karmen, Olivia, and Lillian).
They looked quite like an exotic bunch.
"And who, might I ask, are you?" Red Beard asked this young arrival.
Hal smiled lightly,
"I'm a merchant from Dell city. I heard about this meeting and decided to drop by" He said in a jovial tone.
"No, you're not. I would recognize you if you were" said the vocal merchant.
Hal chuckled,
"You're right, I'm not a merchant."
Red Beard frowned,
"Who let you into the camp?" He asked.
Hal pointed a finger back towards the very entrance of the camp,
"The men at the entrance let me in. I didn't even have to introduce myself." He said with his still-jovial smile.
Once he was past the men at the camp entrance, every other bandit in the camp ignored him and assumed he was a merchant or at least here by invitation.
Red Beard frowned even more as that seemed quite unlikely. It was then he realized the guards closest to Hal and were at the very entrance of this tent had not said a word since.
They had not even made an attempt to stop him from getting closer.
What the fuck was going on?
It was then he noticed the guards at the tent entrance as well as the Camp entrance itself shivering as though they had just seen their worst nightmare and to be honest, they were not far off.
What Hal had done was simply weaponize the nightmarish feeling of his Devil energy and then infiltrate the bodies and minds of the guards with it.
It had only been possible because they were so much weaker than him and were not in a group.
Unlike Fear! Which could be used in an area of effect capability, this use of Devil energy was even more subtle but single person based. He could only use it, one person, at a time and it exhausts him more than Fear! does.
It was also more effective. You see Fear! can still be shaken off. It can be resisted and can be fought against. The victims could still act despite it.
However, with Devil energy, as long as it was able to corrupt the victim's whole system, the effect would be much more lasting.
At the very least, the affected guards would not be recovering for the next few hours.
Once Red Beard noticed this, the men with him noticed it as well and were already sending out what Hal assumed were distress signals to summon the full force of the camp to the large tent.
However, while the ladies with him took on battle stances, Hal continued to act oblivious,
"As I was saying, I also fancy your chances at success but unfortunately, I doubt you will actually succeed" he said.
Red Beard took a deep breath and decided not to dwell on how Hal cause these men to shiver and look close to pissing their pants.
When he spoke, it was with a calm voice,
"I will only ask one more time intruder, Who are you?"
Hal sighed and rolled his eyes at the bandit leader,
"Alright alright, if you're going to be so grumpy about it, I'll tell you the truth.
My name is Hal and I came here to kill you"
Chapter 374 - Aptitude. Part 1
Silence...
The two men stared at one another. Red Beard with a deep frown while Hal stared with a mild smile having pulled back his hand.
Neither said a word after Hal's announcement.
The first to break the tense silence was not from red Beard's party or from Hal's party, it was one of the merchants.
"What?" He said with an incredulous tone and who could blame him. This all seemed like a joke that he found a little hard to believe.
Hal turned to the merchant who had spoken with one of his brows raised,
"Did I speak in a different language? I said I came here to kill him" Hal said with a nod in Red Beard's direction.
He was not an idiot and neither were the ladies with him. They knew Red Beard's party were not so dumbfounded by his words to actually not take action. They were waiting for the full force of the bandit camp to surround the tent.
They could not be blamed for being so cautious as it stood to reason that if Hal and his party were so confident to walk right into the camp and make such a bold declaration, they were at least a little bit sure of their success.
As such, it would do no good to rush into action.
"But that has to be a joke" said another merchant.
Hal sighed and shook his head,
"I don't see the reason for your skepticism. This guy is probably planning to kill you so I see no reason you should doubt me. Even if it does turn out I was joking."
Then to Red Beard, he said,
"I'm not joking.".
Red beard took a deep breath,
"And why do you seek my life? Revenge?'
Hal chuckled and shook his head,
"Revenge? Absolutely not. However, there is a bounty for your and your whole bandit band's heads. Although considering how they miscalculated your actual numbers I doubt they can actually pay me for it all.
However, I am not doing it for the money"
"For what then? Justice?" Red Beard asked and leaned back in his seat still confident despite not knowing his opponent's cultivation. He could make a guess though.
Hal shook his head,
"I don't give a rat's ass about justice. However, I do have my reasons but they are for me to know and for you to ignore since you'll all be head soon anyway."
Finally, the full force of the Bandit camp had surrounded the tent and so great were their numbers which numbered close to a thousand. There was only one thing they had on their mind; the intruders must not escape.
Hal ignored their presence and faced the merchants and their bodyguards instead to smile at them but the smile very clearly showed how unimportant he felt they were.
"You guys are useless and will only be a hindrance" he said and waved his hand in their direction.
Immediately, they were all enveloped with a Dome of Royal Blue Astral energy that would be unbreakable from the outside as well as from the inside.
All those who would witness what he was about to do were to be either part of his party or about to become dead men and women.
He opened the portal to the Harem space, much to the wide-eyed surprise of Red Beard and his party, to welcome the arrival of the rest of his ladies who were quite battle-ready.
Marla was still focused on advancing her physique and did not come out to battle. Hal knew she would have loved to be part of it all.
Seeing this intruder with even more trucks worried Red Beard slightly and the fact that Hal had now shown with his cultivation pressure that he was at the Mid-stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon Realm did not ease that worry.
However, since the portal had now closed, the reinforcement should be over, and as such his force still outnumbered Hal's.
It was then that Hal enveloped the Bandit camp as well as surrounding regions with another Dome of Astral energy before opening the portal to his Beast habitat which saw to the exit of hundreds of Devil Beasts with Sassy leading the march and Borus close behind.
By virtue of their numbers and struggling for more room, they ripped up the tent in seconds so all that would happen next would be happening out in the open.
However, Sassy did not turn to face the Bandit force but instead, she slithered to Hal's side where he could stroke her head and her attention was completely on Red Beard.
In a flash, the serpent recoiled and charged up a powerful toxic arrow which before anyone could think of why she was doing so, she released it at Red Beard.
So fast was the arrow that none of those who were with Red beard could follow its trajectory or even attempt to save their leader. However, their leader needed no saving as he leaped from his seat and did a flip in the air to land after the toxic arrow had hit the bandit behind him.
The bandit had been one of his seven confidants and had been at the early stage of the Cosmic phenomenon realm. He did not stand a chance against a point-blank toxic arrow attack from Sassy.
His skin turned green within the second and he keeled over dead...
... And that was when all hell broke loose.
The Devil Beasts sprung into the midst of the greater part of the Bandit camp forces. Their mere presence as well as the signs of what could only be described as Devilish transformations so evident in their beastly bodies was terrifying.
Then there was the matter of the terrible presence they exuded on account of what they were slowly becoming. It was terrifying. But not terrifying enough to truly hinder their targets in battle.
That was mostly because the Bandits themselves were not so weak and were in quite a large number.
The first to meet their end after the death of one of the confidants was none other than the guards who were still paralyzed thanks to Hal's Devil energy attack.
The other six dashed into attack. An attack which the ladies were all ready to entertain.
Karmen, Olivia, and Lillian's eyes all turned Blood red as they needed Fiendish pressure as well as fiendish fogs while they summoned their Cosmic Armaments.
However, Karmen went a step further...
"Rise for the Blood Of mu foes, Executioner"
... And summoned the Fiendish Bloodline armament.
From the moment it appeared and she gripped it, it was as though the violence Hal had once seen in her and attributed to as side effects of her fiendish Bloodline (the incessant Blood and battle lust was suddenly unleashed to the limit.
She did not dash to the six confidants. No... she needed more targets and so she instead joined in with the Devil Beasts.
The six confidants instinctively decided to steer clear of Hal and his serpent. That seemed more of a battle for Red beard.
*Slash*
Rita dashed forward to one of them at the mid stage of the cosmic Phenomenon realm and slashed with her blue long sword cosmic armament while her eyes were a bright purple as she was now making use of the strengthening effect of her succubus Bloodline.
The confidant crossed blades with her and actually fancied his chances at overpowering her.
Rita knowing what thoughts were running in his mind smirked just as her sword combusted with purple lust flames that crept over her opponent's weapon and then slowly towards his own body to sneak right in through his pores...
Chapter 375 - Aptitude. Part 2
The Confidante's eyes widened and he leaped away from Rita before using Cosmic energy to separate the flames from his body. He succeeded but that had given the purple-eyed lady the opportunity to strike at him unhindered.
*clang*
The confidante got his sword up just in time to parry her blade but that hardly bothered Rita who simply spun around to strike at him again but the confidant simply blocked it continuously. Showcasing his speed as well as proficiency with a sword.
Rita moved back away from him and charged up a Cosmic attack imbued with a cosmic phenomenon which she tossed towards her opponent who retaliated with a cosmic attack of his own.
*Bang!*
The connecting blasts created a loud sound before dissipating.
The confidant wondered what Rita was hoping to achieve with her strikes which only proved that she as a cultivator at the early stage could not possibly contend with him who was at the mid-stage.
Eventually, he decided to forgo all those questions and take care of this. Whatever her reasons, Rita was sure to kill him if she had the chance and it would do well for him not to give her that chance.
Suddenly, he harnessed the full might of his cultivation base and charged his whole body with it before dashing towards Rita to deliver a definite final strike to put an end to this... Duel of theirs.
After all, there was a whole host of enemies to be defeated.
However, the strangest thing happened right at the moment his sword was supposed to be making contact with her neck... Rita vanished.
Right from his sight.
He turned to where he expected her to be appearing next... Behind him.
However, she was not there.
She had leaped up, dispersed of her sword cosmic armament, and summoned Essence stealer to attack him from above...
*whoosh*
The purple arrow shot right downwards towards the confidante's head and even leaping away did not bring him safety as the arrow exploded upon contact with the ground.
"Ahh" he yelled as it propelled him away and hard against the ground.
Rita landed gracefully with the bow pointed at him.
The confidante summoned his sword cosmic armament once again and took on a battle stance but then Rita let the bowstring go and turned away from him towards someone else.
"Where are you going?" The confidante yelled at her before he began to feel his body heating up.
Rita turned her head a fraction in his direction,
"You never stood a chance" she said.
"What...?" He began before...
*Boom*
... His entire body combusted and his essence was drained and sent to the one who still controlled the flames.
Meanwhile...
Red Beard had seen this display and it quite irked him how easily Rita had ended the life of one of his closest.
Ever since the toxic arrow attack which finally caused the ongoing battle to commence, he and Hal had simply looked at each other while things dissolved into chaos.
However, seeing as continuous lack of reaction was only increasing the rate at which he lost those closest to him. Those with whom, he planned to take over the region, he decided it was time to take action.
He stood up and released the pressure of his Late-stage Cosmic Phenomenon realm cultivation to send a charged Cosmic attack at Hal who did not retaliate but dashed away from its trajectory.
And it was not him that counter-attacked, it was Sassy. She slithered with incredible speed to Red Beard's side while still leaving a distance between them before sending another toxic arrow attack at him.
Red Beard frowned as he wondered if Hal had any intentions at all to actually face him or would only keep entrusting things to his serpent.
Whatever the case might be, he might as well focus on the serpent whose toxic arrows were surely potent enough to put an end to him should they make contact.
However, judging from the pressure coming off the body of the serpent, it was at the mid-stage of the Cosmic phenomenon realm just like Hal and Red Beard highly doubted that alert as he was, the serpent could actually nail him with such a targeting based attack.
That said, the battle between him and Sassy shifted from her shooting long-distance toxic arrow attacks at him and his dodging it to one where she engaged him physically.
For any other cultivator in Red Beard shoes, this would have been a conundrum since with their stronger physical bodies, Demon beasts could contend with those a stage above them but Red beard was far from worried.
In fact, he soon began parrying Sassy's attacks which involved her trunk and tail with his fists and occasionally, even outmatching her.
Quite an impressive feat of strength.
*Hissssss*
Sassy let out a long angry hiss and slithered towards her opponent to attempt to coil around him and hit him with her toxic arrow at point-blank range which he would not be able to evade and would have difficulty blocking.
The speed with which she slithered far surpassed what should have been her limit by virtue of cultivation base but it was nothing Red Beard could not avoid.
Strength and speed.
That was Hal's assessment after watching the two battle.
The reason he had Sassy start the battle was simply so he could make this assessment.
From the memories of the female bandit, Hal already knew Red Beard's cultivation as the Bandit leader was never really secretive about it in camp.
Hal even knew that Red Beard was confident of defeating someone at the peak stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm, he just did not why he was confident.
On account of how little the female bandit had actually seen Red heard in action, he had little to in knowledge of his combative prowess.
Through this battle with Sassy, Hal could now ascertain that Red beard had somehow developed a perfect mix of speed and strength that far surpassed what a Late-stage cosmic phenomenon realm expert was truly capable of.
However, as this was not actually enough to contend with a Peak stage Cosmic phenomenon realm expert, Hal still believed there was more to Red Beard. There was something, a trump card the bandit leader had that truly guaranteed him victory over the mayor of Dell city.
'It's an Ordinance' Grimoire said
Hal's eyes widened,
'What? That's impossible' he said to the artifact and it was no wonder why he said so.
The monument of ordinances opened last five hundred years ago and Hal highly doubted Red Beard could have been able to visit the monument back then and that was assuming he had even been born.
Also, if he had enough aptitude to comprehend an ordinance why would he spend the last ten years robbing merchants when an ordinance was sure to open up much more lucrative opportunities for him in the continent at large.
Grimoire did a mental appropriation of a shrug,
'I don't know how he got it. I just know I can sense an Ordinance within him." it said.
Hal furrowed his brows,
"Sassy" he called and after one more toxic arrow attack, the serpent slithered back to his side.
Red Beard frowned at Hal and actually summoned his cosmic armament, a large Red war hammer, and gripped it tightly.
A smile slowly crept onto Hal's face and his sclera turned black while his sapphire blue iris remained the same. His body began releasing black vapor before he vanished.
He was so fast that Red Beard had no idea where he was and only by acting instinctively was he able to block the scythe blade that almost stabbed through his chest,
Hal was now grinning manically,
"I heard you have an Ordinance... Let me see it..."
Chapter 376 - Red Beard's Fired Up!
The scythe was the Shadow Demon Bloodline Armament: Reaper, and its summoning was always meant to be subtle in the sense that it wasn't a sticker for chants.
Red Beard furrowed his brow at the speed Hal had just showcased and that was followed by the widening of his eyes at the feeling Hal was giving off even as he held him back with the handle of his large war hammer.
The feeling that supported the hypothesis he had had for a while that this young man was a demon.
Only a Demon could have been able to perform the feats that he had performed thus far.
He pushed Hal back but only did so to create a small distance between them and then swung his hammer at him.
However, before the hammer, which did not look to weigh anything with the way It was being wielded by the Bandit leader, made contact with Hal who was still within reach,
Hal's form shimmered with a Dark smoky vapor and he vanished altogether. Moving at a speed that boggled the bandit leader's mind.
Suddenly, he was at Red Beard's side and kicked at his face.
Red Beard once again relied solely on his sharp instincts and intercepted the kick.
Hal was still smiling manically and his eyes completed the image that he was a demented Devil,
"Come on R.B... Let me see it..." He said and twisted to slash his scythe at Red Beard's side,
*Slash*
It connected and made a cut that would have been much more serious if the bandit leader had not leaped back just in time to avoid getting skewered.
However, Red Beard was not rolling on the floor or on one knee groaning in pain. He was charging up a cosmic attack which he imbued with a cosmic phenomenon and tossed at Hal who had once again vanished from where he used to be.
He was now behind Red Beard and swinging his weapon at him however, the bandit leader surrounded himself with cosmic energy which helped avoid Hal drawing blood again.
Speaking of blood, the wound at his side was bleeding quite profusely and he was quick to swallow a mending pill that began to stop his bleeding and alleviated the pain once the cosmic energy shield gave him a moment of reprieve.
Hal on the other hand had been launched away quite a far distance after the repulse of his scythe against the shield.
This was the disadvantage of making use of the shadow demon Bloodline. Famed as one of the fastest races of higher beings, the shadow demonic bloodline granted Hal Incredible speed by reducing his density.
The speed he already had on account of his cultivation, as well as his bloodline, became tripled but not without reducing his strength by half. The fact that his density had been reduced made it so that a successful hit from Red Beard would have him launching quite far away and create the perfect opening for an attack from his opponent.
The truth was that this was not exactly perfect for frontal combat.
It was good for reconnaissance.
It was good when Hal was assured of ending his opponent's life with one solid blow but it was not advisable for confrontations such as this.
The bloodline armament tried to make up for this by being large, swift, and very deadly but it was just not enough.
That was why the shadow bloodline's abilities were all perfect for espionage and assassinations rather than this but Hal was not quite ready to kill Red Beard just yet...
Once he had ascertained his bearing and was solidly rooted to the ground, Hal pointed his scythe at the bandit leader,
"Show me... Your ordinance"
Rearing from Hal successfully landing a hit on his side, Red Beard was visibly angry,
"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked and seeing that he was clearly not ready to open up, Hal felt he might as well continue,
He vanished once again, dashing towards Red beard who had not missed how far Hal had gone upon rebounding from the Cosmic energy shield and made his won assessment,
"Speed is all you have..."
However, while that was true it was still enough to make Hal troublesome to deal with.
And that was why even though he took on a defensive stance, Red Beard did not actually make any moves, he simply waited for Hal to connect with his weapon which did not take that long.
Only then... Right at the last minute did he make a move to protect himself with the handle of his hammer.
Hal, being much faster than him saw this and smirked before changing the direction he had been swinging in to catch his opponent off guard but he had been wrong!
Red Beard was never really after the scythe itself but the hand which was being used to swing it which did not really change position all that much. Hal had opted for a more subtle change in trajectory and that was his undoing...
Red Beard grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. Hal was not strong enough to resist the pull and neither was he strong enough to not be knocked back several feet when the bandit leader headbutted him,
*Bam!*
Hal groaned and his forehead was bruised quite badly but that was far from the end.
Being sent backward and lacking any actual control of his body, there was no way Hal could have defended himself when Red Beard covered the distance to sink his knee into his stomach...
*Bam!*
*Crack!"
... And break a few of his ribs.
Hal groaned in pain and was without a weapon since Reaper had fallen from his hand following that headbutt.
Sassy hissed, being the only one who was really paying attention to the battle as everyone else was preoccupied, and she slithered towards Red Beard but Hal reached out to her through their link and told her to remain where she was.
Red Beard hefted his hammer and brought it down towards Hal's head but the Devil blasted at him with a Cosmic attack imbued with a cosmic phenomenon.
Red Beard was easily able to blast it aside but Hal user that moment to summon Reaper to his hand once again and cut the bandit leader's calf as he slid out of attacking range.
Red beard groaned in annoyance before,
*Bam!*
Hal punched him in the face and then hit him in the midsection with the butt of Reaper in a clear retaliation for the knee to his ribs.
"Enough!!!' Red Beard yelled and released a violent blast of bright orange flames from out of nowhere while his eyes looked to be smoldering with flames of the same color.
"Enough. The longer this drags on, the more of my men meet their deaths" he growled.
Hal rolled his eyes,
"You are just figuring that out?" He said with a glance towards Karmen who was whirling through bandits and hacking away at anyone unfortunate enough to be at the end of her Cosmic armament or Executioner.
Then he focused on Red Beard who seemed to be charging himself up,
"So that's an ordinance. Impressive" He said with an approving nod.
Chapter 377 - I Let You...
Hal's sclera went from simple black to nightmarish black of a Mid-World Devil that occasionally released fog of the same color and his sapphire blue iris turned the blood-red hue of the Blood Fiend Bloodline.
"Rise for the Blood of my Foes, Executioner"
With the arrival of the Fiendish armament came the fiendish fogs but that's as far as Hal went with his transformation. Mostly because right after the summoning of the Broadsword and eruption of a Fiendish/Devilish presence, the Bandit leader was already dashing towards him.
The flames that shrouded his whole body and bore testament of potential explosiveness to his nature gave him an adequate boost to enhance his already fast speed even more.
Hal frowned but did not move away from the spot he was at. He met Red Beard's heavy hammer with Executioner,
*BANG!*
And with that contact came the widening of Red bread's eyes as he sees Hal was no longer as easily moved as he was before.
"Just what are you? Shifting density on a whim" he asked with a snarl. His once calm demeanor was nowhere to be found.
Hal smirked but did not reply. Not because he was without response or because he wished to appear cool.
It was because he could finally feel what made an Ordinance an Ordinance.
What set it apart from simply being another technique in the arsenal of a cultivator.
After all, this was not the first time he would see Flame manipulation. Borus had been a Demon beast that was attuned with the fire element and even Hal could manipulate flames to an extent with the use of Runes.
But all that fell short before this ordinance. In fact, he was fairly certain that should he attempt a fire manipulation with a rune or even have Borus face the Bandit leader, all that would simply be adding more to Red Beard's arsenal.
Being shrouded by those flames gave Red Beard a sort of presence with which he seemed to command flames in all forms.
This was his Ordinance. This was his mandate... This was his law and his authority.
Hal could even feel an urge to surrender to that command. It was a small urge which he could easily resist but an urge all the same.
Also, being in mere proximity with the ordinance of fire was heating his body up and seemed to be turning his bones and muscles liquid.
It seemed to be melting him... Literally.
Without thinking of it more than a second, Hal leaped away from Red Beard to give himself a moment to collect himself.
He wanted this and now he got it.
He did not regret wanting to see this. He needed it for research purposes.
"Ahhhh" Red Beard yelled out a battle cry and dashed towards Hal to strike at him with his war hammer.
*BOOM!*
If Hal had any thoughts of attempting to evade the strike from the Bandit leader, the thought was scrapped from his mind after an explosive sound saw to a drastic increase of Red Beard's speed.
This surpassed the boost he had received before and Hal instead brought Executioner up to parry away Red Beard's hammer.
*Bang!*
He successfully parried the attack but could do nothing to avoid a blast of fire into his midsection.
*Boom!*
The blast knocked him back but before he could collect himself, Red Beard was already there and swinging the hammer at him...
*Crack!*
Hal attempted another parry or at least a block with Executioner which he was still gripping but the hammer hit his firearm instead and broke it.
Groaning in pain, Hal borrowed the force of the hammer hitting him to roll away from Red Beard and rise to one knee, and glare at the Bandit leader who was once again on him.
However, smelling victory close at hand, Red Beard no longer seemed to be in a hurry. There was no way Hal could resist his authority. His power.
And for the most part, Hal agreed with such an assessment. With his Ordinance powering him, everything he did was with that authority.
Every strike he landed on Hal caused the Devil to feel his muscles getting liquefied and losing strength rapidly.
However, he had been so successful thus far not because Hal could not resist his power but because...
"What if I told you I only let you beat me?" Hal said suddenly and the bandit leader paused in surprise...
"Hahahahahaha"
... And then he burst into boisterous laughter.
"What?" He asked once he took a break from laughing his ass out, "YOU let me beat you?"
Hal nodded,
"Yes, I did. I was curious about something.
I originally planned to come over here and kill you which would not have been hard for me even though I am one stage lower than you in cultivation.
But then, I heard you had an ordinance and I just had to see that. And then eventually you let it out and even though I can defeat you despite it, I decided I might as well see what all the fuss on Ordinances is about.
And believe me, I am quite impressed."
"You... You joke" Red Beard said. There was no longer any confidence in his voice as he worried Hal was in fact not joking.
Hal stood to his feet as briskly as though he had not been hurt at all. In fact, he was flexing the forearm that had been broken by Red Beard's hammer as though it was healed.
And it was.
His Regeneration factor was well up to the task of healing this. The only thing such an accelerated healing actually cost Hal was that it exhausted him much more than the regular Regeneration pace would have been.
However, he did it just so he could prove his point.
All this was all part of his plan.
Also, the widening of Red Beard's eyes even further was well worth it.
"Ordinances truly are impressive. I would love to comprehend one. Preferably before Four thousand years" he said and then his skin turned crimson as he took on the lesser Devil form.
Complete with wings and sharp claws.
The image caused Red Beard to shiver in fear but no monster or whatever the hell Hal was would stop him from achieving his goals so he backed up and powered up his Fire Ordinance even more.
Or at least he tried to.
"What the hell is going on?" He asked in confusion.
Once it was evident how difficult it would be to comprehend an Ordinance, Hal had long since wondered how he could hold his own against certain levels of Ordinance mastery and the most he could actually hope to battle successfully against was Ordinance Insight.
Against people of his generation, that was the most Hal expected any of them to reach and that was assuming that, through some fortuitous encounter, they managed to comprehend an Ordinance which was the rarest of all occurrences.
Anyway, he had gone through it all with Grimoire and the best measure they could come up with was him making use of the Primeval Devil Authority.
The Primeval Devil authority, while not containing an Ordinance contained something quite powerful in itself: Nihasa's Dao of Supremacy.
As long as the one wielding the Ordinance which has to be an Elemental ordinance (he was powerless against Abstract ordinances even of the lowest mastery level) was human, and not too above of him in terms of cultivation, he could 'command' their body to seize channeling their Ordinance insight.
It was why Red Beard could not channel his Ordinance anymore.
Hal stuck Executioner into the ground, cracked his knuckles, and flew towards his opponent to begin the delivery of a beat down before putting an end to the bandit leader's misery.
After all, plan or no plan, Red Beard's attacks really, really hurt...
Chapter 378 - Take Heart.
*Bam!*
Before Red Beard even had the opportunity to defend himself, Hal landed a solid bruising blow to the side of his face,
"Ack" Red Beard groaned but that was only the beginning.
With incredible agility aided along with the use of his wings, Hal changed direction and landed a kick into Red Beard's side. Sending the bandit leader flying several feet away.
However, even then, Hal was once again on him and kicking him in the stomach.
Another groan but this time, something seemed to click inside Red Beard's mind and he let go of the pipe dream of powering up his ordinance once again. Instead, he twisted in mid-air, resummoning his war hammer cosmic armament, and struck a blow at Hal who was flying towards him at top speed.
Or more accurately, he tried to.
However, without being able to channel his Ordinance of Fire, Red beard was never Hal's match even without a transformation into the leader Devil form.
Hal felt this form was overkill and the only reason he kept it up was that it was the only way he could make use of the Primeval Devil authority which was the only thing stopping Red Beard from Firing up once again.
It was why he stuck Executioner into the ground... His fists were more than enough.
And he proved that to the bandit leader when he punched out at the hammer and actually stopped it in place. Even more, he pushed it right back into Red Beard's chest...
*crack!*
... fracturing his sternum.
-Puchi-
The bandit leader spat out blood but had no moment of reprieve as Hal landed another blow onto the side of his face.
However, even as he was sent into midair with that blow, Red Beard still found the time, energy, and clarity to charge up a comic phenomenon.
Not a cosmic attack...
A Cosmic phenomenon which could be seen forming behind him even as he struggled to regain his bearing.
Charging a Cosmic attack and imbuing it with Cosmic phenomenon strengthened that attack and added a flair to it. However, a pure Cosmic phenomenon-based attack went a step further and was far more destructive to the opponent.
It was never subtle and usually produced more of an area of effect sort of attack, quite unlike a Cosmic Aurora which could be used in a more controlled and effective manner.
Anyway, the Cosmic phenomenon was already having physical implications on the background as Red Beard powered it up. At the late stage of the cosmic phenomenon realm, Red beard's cosmic phenomenon was cracking up the ground.
By the time he landed, he was already tossing it at Hal who had to admit the speed and range of the attack was so impressive, he could not outrun it. He could simply fly over it of course, but what would be the fun in that.
He charged up his phenomenon which was clearly a tad bit weaker than his opponent's but would still stand its own. However, holding its own was far from enough so he added Devil energy which changed the speed, power, and nature of the whole attack.
The two, Red Beard's cosmic phenomenon and Hal's twisted phenomenon, met with a loud *Bang!* sound while Hal's attack pushed their combined might away from himself and towards Red Beard whose eyes widened right before the detonation...
*KABOOOOMMMM!!!!*
When the dust settled, Red Beard was sitting in a crater looking quite worse for wear. Charging up the phenomenon was already a one-hit attack on account of how draining it was but him getting hit by the combined force of his and his opponent's attack had stripped him of whatever little strength he still had.
His clothes were charred, his body was bruised and he had numerous internal and external bleeding,
"-Puh- *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*"
He spat out blood and began to cough violently. With each cough, he expelled even more blood.
Hal stretched his hand in the direction of Executioner and the Fiendish Broadsword wrenched out of the ground to reunite with him. Then he flew towards Red Beard and landed right in front of the bandit leader who looked up at him.
Hal had to say he was quite impressed that after how devastatingly the bandit leader had lost, he still had enough pride look up at him with defiance and contempt. The fact that he was sporting that look despite being even more susceptible to Hal's Primeval Devil authority on account of being at his lowest point was worthy of commendation.
Hal met the look with a bright smile on his handsome crimson Devil face. He raised his left hand to rub one of his horns in an offhand and unconscious habit of contemplation.
Then Red Beard spoke,
"You know... I had so many plans *cough*. I was finally going to achieve something as someone *cough* born into this cruel world and lost his loved ones at a young age. I was finally going to go from the small boy who eventually became a bandit leader to the ruler of a region.
I was going to *cough* beat the odds."
Hal sighed with an uncaring expression,
"But look at you now"
Red Beard nodded and the action clearly caused him pain,
"Yes, look at me now. *Cough* pathetic"
Then he looked Hal right in his dreadful Devil eyes,
"You have saved the mayor from meeting his end by my hands. But you *cough* should know he's a despicable man *cough* Do you even have any idea what he has done?"
"He came up with an agreement with you. An agreement that had you terrorize Dell's gate and enrich his city's coffers? I know what he has done. But like I said before, I am not after justice and frankly, I don't see what the big deal is.
The Mayor was being selfish. What's so wrong with that? In this world, selfishness is quite an important virtue to have. Selfless people very rarely have long lives and I for one have never planned to be selfless or act for the good of anyone other than myself and those closest to me."
Red Beard looked a tad bit confused,
"*Cough* Then why...?" He began but Hal interrupted.
"Why you? *Sigh* well, I'd take that as your dying wish and answer. Look over there." He said and pointed at where his Devil Beasts were still tearing through all bandits they could find while the bandits were practically powerless to stop them or defend themselves.
"I am killing you all to feed my Beasts" Hal said to the wide eyes shock of the bandit leader.
"To feed...*cough*... Beasts?" He asked and Hal nodded with a smile,
"Yes"
That broke whatever resistance and Defiance Red Beard still felt as he came to terms with the fact that he and his bandit band with whom he planned to take over the region, were killed... To feed a bunch of monstrous beasts.
Hal took a deep breath,
"Take heart buddy. It will all be over soon. Now how about telling me how you comprehended your Ordinance?" He said.
"What's an Ordinance?" Red Beard asked and from the look on his face, Hal knew he was not joking and genuinely had no idea.
To think that the Bandit leader got access to incredible power and did not even know what it was.
"You ability with Fire" Hal said and Red Beard's eyes shone with understanding before retrieving an Oval crystal with what looked like a bright orange ball of energy within it from his spatial ring.
"I got that from a merchant *cough" years ago and was told it increased cultivation speed. *Cough* However, after 7 years of continuous cultivation with it, I not only noticed a considerable increase in my cultivation speed, I also gained command over fire"
Hal collected it and examined the crystal with a nod before he swung Executioner to cut off the bandit leader's head and put an end to his life.
Chapter 379 - If He Can, So Can I...
The slash that decapitated the Bandit leader was a tad bit nonchalant and more so when Hal did not even give it a second glance.
Instead, he reverted to normal which saw to the return of his normal skin and eyes back to normal and the loss of his wings, horns, and claws.
He stuck Executioner into the ground once again and focused his attention on the large oval crystal he had gotten from Red Beard and was supposedly the reason the benefit leader comprehended the Ordinance of fire.
"What the hell is this?" Hal mumbled to himself and Grimoire was ready to supply information,
'That Hal, is a fire crystal and I can see how it can help with the comprehension of the Ordinance of fire. It is practically the purest portable form of fire and can help to get attuned with the Ordinance.
Of course, whoever it is, has to have an affinity for the element of fire' it said.
"Does it really increase cultivation speed?' Hal asked.
Grimoire made a dismissive sound,
'No, it doesn't. Whatever 'increase' Red Beard thought it caused was most likely all in his head. The main use of the fire crystal is actually to serve as a possible explosive power source in the creation of an artifact. In fact, right in its raw state by which I mean the state at which it is in your hand right now, it can be appraised as semi saint rank artifact.' It told Hal.
Following this revelation, Hal's eyes widened,
"Really?"
Grimoire did a mental appropriation of a nod,
'Really. In fact, while it is not necessarily fragile, it could be set off if you are not careful and its detonation would be quite catastrophic and you will have no hope, none at all of surviving it.
However, if you reach an Astral sense Rank where you can attempt the creation or upgrade of an artifact, it could be very useful.'
Hal furrowed his brows,
"What if I want to comprehend the Ordinance of fire? This could be what I need to not have to wait four thousand years for an Ordinance. I mean if Red Beard can do it, why can't I?"
Grimoire was silent for a while before saying,
'Well, it all depends on whether or not you are attune with it'
Hal nodded and sent the fire crystal into his inventory before he pulled off Red Beard's spatial ring which he was able to peruse since its owner was dead and was a tad bit disappointed that the bandit leader's wealth was mostly in gold.
And he estimated it was about fifty million gold coins and only about 1000 Blue gems.
He had to admit that it was well within reason. After all, this region was a lot similar to Salmon city's region and would hence mostly trade in gold coins
There were other things inside the spatial ting which ranged most from rune daggers to cultivation techniques and scrolls containing skills. The skills were actually the first things that actually piqued Hal's interest and how could they not when he spotted two Fourth grade skills and one fifth-grade skill; What a score!
Clearly, robbing merchants had been quite lucrative for Red beard and his bandit band.
Once he was done with his inspection and had put the ring into his inventory, he directed his attention to the battle that was ongoing and was still so heated that no one really noticed the end of his and Red Beard's battle, and those who did notice only fought harder.
After all, just because their leader was dead, that did not mean they should surrender to the cruel hand of fate now, did it?
Unfortunately, the hand of fate, in this case, seemed a force they could not escape as the battle had long since turned one-sided.
Rita herself had seen to the death of three of Red Beard's confidantes and the rest had been killed by the rest of the ladies. Now she had Essence stealer out and did not seem to tire of shooting the flaming arrows of lust to burn up as many bandits as she could target.
Hal had no intentions of letting any of the bandits go free. That they are more than he had expected was only too welcome since his beasts actually numbered in the thousands as well.
He pulled out Executioner from the ground and once he made contact with the fiendish armament, his blue irises turned a fiendish blood red and he began to reap the lives of as many bandits as he could.
Soon, most of the bandits were attempting to escape the onslaught which was impossible on account of the Dome of Astral energy that still surrounded the camp.
Not to mention that Karmen chased them all down and made sure she killed every last one of the bandits the beasts did not get to which was actually not that many.
Soon, all the bandits were dead and the ground was littered with their bodies.
Hal appraised it all with a satisfied nod of his head while he dispersed his Blood Fiend Armament before he opened the portal to the habitat and had the beasts go inside. Including Sassy.
Then the portal to the Harem space was opened as well so that all who had not been with him when he first arrived at the camp could return into the Harem space where they would refine all the essence they had siphoned from their victims.
Then he let the Dome of Astral energy surrounding the merchants fade away and reveal to their eyes the absolute devastation that had been wrought on Red Beard's bandit band.
Needless to say, they and all their bodyguards were shocked and awed at the sight.
"This is impossible" they mumbled and looked Hal over once again. Taking in his bloodstained clothes and the hint of wildness in his eyes they made their assessment,
He's a Monster!
They all are!
This assessment was more so because of Karmen who had dispersed Executioner but was still gripping her Cosmic Armament and glaring at the merchants and their bodyguards.
"H-H-H... How did you do this?" Asked the vocal merchant and at that time a commotion arose as the other merchants finally spotted Red Beard body in a crater, with his head beside him.
*Barf*
Collectively, a majority of the merchants threw up as they had never seen this level of bloodshed and absolute massacre of a force.
Who the hell were this young man and the ladies with him?
While they did not yet have an answer for this question, it was clear that they were not a bunch to be messed with.
Hal eyes them but really had no patience to deal with the whole lot of them,
"Get out" he said in a calm voice and deactivated the Dome around the Bandit camp.
However, calm as the words were, they seemed to sound incredibly loud in their ears and soon, they walked past him and his ladies who only eyed them without saying a word to head to the carriage they had come here with which was surprisingly not damaged in the course of the massacre, to get the fuck out of here as swiftly as they could.
However before the vocal Merchant, who was the last to walk past Hal, left, he stammered to Hal and produced a wooden seal for him.
On the seal was written only one word, Dell.
"It does not matter if you meant to or not, the fact of the matter is that you have done us and the mayor a great deed, and should you ever be in Doxon, be sure to visit the mayor's estate. This seal will get you in.
Whether you visit or not, I will tell of yours and the ladies' deeds to the mayor." He said, pressed the seal against Hal's chest, and hurried past.
He boarded his carriage and left behind the other Merchant representatives.
Hal watched them, the vocal merchant, in particular, leave and smiled,
"What a nice gesture" he said...
... But the sarcasm in his voice could not have been any clearer.
Chapter 380 - Loretta...
He then put the seal into his inventory and enveloped the Bandit camp with a Dome of Astral energy so that the Devil Beasts could come out of their habitat and drag the bodies into the habitat and feed on it. Only leaving about one hundred heads which Hal planned to take back to Dell's gate city.
With the bodies they had fed on, the Devil Beasts already had crossed the threshold of the peak stage of the Phenomenon Beast realm which meant individually, the hundred most powerful of them could contend with someone at the early stage of the Cosmic Aurora realm based solely on physical attributes.
Their transformation into Devils took one more step forward and they could now be seen as Demi-Devils.
Sassy was the only one not going into the habitat and only because Hal wanted to feed her the only thing she always seemed interested in having. His Blood.
He gave her multiple drops of his blood. Even more than he usually gave her. Sassy was more than happy to accept it all.
With his cultivation stagnating, Sassy's cultivation was stagnating as well, so Hal felt he might as well put in more effort to the evolution of her Toxic Viper Bloodline into the next stage.
When the Bloodline's energy began to react within her, Sassy became very docile and looked to be falling fast asleep.
Hal opened the portal to the Harem space, lifted her into his arms, and took her inside the mansion before placing her into one of the rooms
Then he exited to Rita sighing.
"What? Bored already?" He asked her with a smile and she gave him a smoky sideways look before saying,
"Maybe"
The sideways smoky look was mirrored by the others and Hal could not help but comment,
"I cannot believe you all.
We are standing on a scene of carnage where hundreds of men and women just lost their lives. You and I are covered with blood that is not necessarily just our own and you are actually feeling Horny?" He said with false exasperation.
The ladies rolled their eyes at him and his words. When were they and HIM in particular not feeling horny?
"Well, what do you expect, Master. We are Fiends and the sight of Blood is the one thing we should not feel uncomfortable about." Karmen said with a nod from Lillian and Olivia.
Rita nodded as well,
"And I'm a succubus. Surely, nothing can ruin the mood for me. It also helps that you look so Hot and would be impossible to resist regardless of the mood."
As she said this, she and the ladies sauntered closer to him, and soon, they were wiping blood off certain parts of him so they could kiss his unblemished skin.
Hal's eyes rolled comically into the back of his head,
"Well, how could I possibly say no when you are so all over me?" He asked with a touch of theatrics before opening up the portal to the Harem space so they could take this, rapidly steaming up session, to the mansion's pool and wash up while he pounded them silly.
Also, the rest of the ladies would be more than happy to join in on the fuck session.
***
It was evening in Dell's gate city and the sun was a red ball in the sky as it was setting when the denizens first noticed a man walking towards the city gate with something in his hand.
Being mostly at the Cosmic Pearl realm and Cosmic Armament realm and even some at the Energy sensing realm, the man had to get very close to the city gate before they could clearly view his features and while he looked familiar to some who had seen him leaving that morning, his face was still breathtaking to the ladies and enviable to the men.
Handsome was not enough to qualify his look which was what they would define as perfect. There was nothing they could pick that was wrong with the young man whether it was his pose, the manner he walked, or even the way he whistled while holding... a severed human head!
Before taking an appropriate look at the head he was holding, they all knew to back away from this handsome sapphire blue-eyed young man...
He was dangerous...
However, that danger did not stop the attraction of the ladies and Hal was more than glad to soak it in. In fact, he put a little more spring into his steps and swung Red Beard's head even more.
It was then that the head caught the red glow of the setting sun and it was finally recognized,
"That's Red Beard," someone said out of the crowd.
It was a young girl, probably twelve years old, and holding hands with a rough-looking man who was most likely her father.
A middle-aged woman stood on the girl's other side and despite how starstruck she was by his looks, Hal knew she was the girl's mother and the man's wife.
He changed his direction and knelt in front of the girl who shrunk a little into her father's side but did not hide her cute young face. Hal smiled at her,
"You have a good eye. Tell me, what's your name?" He asked.
The girl looked up at her father who looked to have frozen in shock and then she looked at her mother who seemed to be muttering 'look at me, look at me, look at me' under her breath before she answered Hal since her parents did not look to be in a position to caution or guide her.
"Loretta" she said.
Hal nodded,
"Beautiful name. How old are you?" He asked.
"E-E-Eleven" Loretta stammered because handsome and warm as Hal was, he was still holding a severed human head.
That she was even still able to talk to him, made it clear that she was courageous at heart.
Hal could sense that young as she was, Loretta was already at the second stage of the energy-sensing realm which considering her parents were at the mid-stage of Cosmic Pearl realm spoke of her latent talent.
The Dell's gate city Denizens watched on as Hal nodded and asked little Loretta a question,
"Do you want to become a strong cultivator like me, So that you can cut off a bastard's head just like I have?" He asked.
Loretta shivered with a little fear but she nodded,
"Yes" she said.
Hal could hear the confidence in her words and smiled lightly. He was sure she could probably not achieve her dream in a city such as this and with the environment she was born in.
He had never been a stickler for Destiny and all that but he could accept that he and little Loretta were fated to meet.
When he would eventually leave Dell's gate city, he would probably never see the little girl again and that was fine with him but he felt he had to give her something to help her achieve her dream.
"Well, Loretta, for being the first to identify Red Beard, you win a present." He said and tapped the girl's forehead to transfer a Blue grade cultivation technique which he had bought from Grimoire, after the Artifact ascertained it as the best technique for her, with part of Red Beard's gold, into her mind.
It took a while for her to regain her bearing, but once she did and perused it, her eyes widened at the gift Hal had given her. She made to bow to him but he stopped her and pressed a Spatial pouch with Two million gold coins into her hand and then whispered into her ear,
"Don't bother. Cultivation resources don't come cheap and this gold should help get all you need to build a strong foundation for yourself. But don't count or look at it here."
Then he stood up, instilled Fear! into the father as he said,
"Everything I gave your daughter is hers and hers alone. Your job from now on, in case you were not already doing it, is to support her journey and dream of becoming a powerful cultivation expert."
He used Fear! to make sure his instructions were not forgotten.
Then to the starstruck mother, he winked before he continued his journey to the law enforcement building but not before he heard little Loretta call out,
"Thank you"
Hal with his back to her raised his hand in response but said nothing else...