461-470

Chapter 461 - A Sneaky Fella.

The lips of the five twitched as they saw the comment as what it truly was; cocky.

Hal did not wait for them to move at a time that was 'convenient' for them as he dashed towards the one closest to him and swung his broadsword Artifact.

The Dystopian then made the mistake of meeting the broadsword with a punch,

*crack!*

Despite the manifestation of his physique around his fist, it still broke the bones in the said fist.

."Ahhhh" he yelled and stepped back quickly as he finally realized the grade the Artifact was.

Because Hal had not been charging it with cosmic energy, the Artifact was not actually giving off the vibe that it should have at the Aurora grade but it was still an Aurora grade Artifact nonetheless.

And while at the peak stage of the Phenomenon beast realm, they could hold their own against phenomenon grade Artifact, making that attempt with an Aurora grade was the height of foolishness.

Anyway, Hal pursued with his Broadsword in one hand and his comic Armament in the other but before he could actually strike his target, something swiped in his direction and he leaned back quickly.

The 'something' was none other than another Dystopian whose arm had now transformed into a brown tentacle. Twice as big as his normal arm had been before and looking every bit more dangerous.

And that was before Hal noticed the ink-like substance that coated said tentacle.

Leaping back however to escape the tentacle moved him right into position to be kicked by another lying in wait.

But how could Hal not have sensed the presence as a repelling force of Cosmic energy formed around him and protected him from getting kicked.

That said, the kick still pushed him forward as the attempt of the five to overwhelm him continued.

Some of those in his group had successfully defeated their opponents and a few had even successfully killed said defeated opponents.

Those few now looked at Hal getting slowly encircled and smiled.

Finally, the show-off psychopath was getting his due.

Maybe that would teach him to not be cocky.

It was not that they would not help him because they would. When all was said and done, they were all still fighting for the same cause but they would still let him suffer a tad bit.

In the meantime, they would assist the others who had not had the success they already had.

However, while cosmic attacks and phenomena refused to do the trick, especially considering how they outnumbered him, Hal smiled before a dome of Astral energy surrounded him and two of his opponents.

One of them being the tentacle Dystopian.

The other three were repelled by the sudden appearance of the dome.

"He's a Runemaster?" One of them asked in indignant surprise and his expression was mirrored by the other two.

Not to even speak of the Dystopians, even the Harons who had come with him had no idea Hal was a Runemaster.

Not once over the course of the past two months had he showed any inkling that he possessed Astral sense.

Amidst their platoon were those who had Astral sense and were never shy to speak of it. Hell, they always found ways to show the usefulness of this ability of theirs.

Now they could not help but think how many times he must have laughed to himself when they bragged to him.

Even worse, he was a Rank 5 runemaster!

When he was still only at the Cosmic Phenomenon realm.

Hal was indeed now a Rank 5 runemaster after having spared enough time to train his Astral sense.

He was spurred on to try even harder at it after it was now more clear than ever that his cultivation and Astral sense Rank did not necessarily have to go hand in hand.

Anyway,

Inside the Dome, the two Dystopians were introduced to a Hal who was not feeling particularly patient.

A tiny green serpent uncoiled from his arm and expanded so fast that before the tentacle Dystopian could react, she had wound her undulating and beautiful green firm around his neck, and after one particularly hard squeeze, he was dead.

Being a Demon beast herself, Sassy was not a victim of the difference in physical strength with the Dystopians and as Hal's familiar, she was at least empowered enough to not be on the same level as these weaklings. (Her words not mine).

While Sassy strangled the Dystopian, Hal had had a successful one-hit-kill himself with just the minimal use of his Blood fiend abilities which saw his eyes turn Blood red.

He didn't even need to summon Executioner.

The other three had been hitting the Dome with their full might and were making progress when it exploded.

They knew the explosion was not due to their efforts especially since the explosion sent them all flying.

When they regained their bearing, they saw their companions on the ground, dead with only one of the bodies actually bloody.

Then a smiling Hal snapped his fingers and three runes appeared and struck the Dystopian trio.

All three Runes were of the same functions, {Bind}.

All three Dystopians froze in place and found it impossible to move.

Hal, knowing that attacking them would undo the bind and they would be ready to counter-attack if he did not kill or injure them in one critical hit, took his time.

There was no reason to rush.

Any other Dystopian present was busy with the rest of those in his group.

He moved up to the first and made a show of where he wanted to strike and then he swung his Broadsword and Decapitated the Dystopian in a single swing.

The body fell to the after the thud of the falling head sounded.

Then Hal moved to the second and this time made a four-fingered camera as he said with the air of a demented perfectionist,

"Perfectly centered"

That was the last thing the Dystopian heard before he shared the same fate as his companion.

The third, however, had had enough time to prepare for his breakaway, and right before Hal's broadsword touched his neck he unleashed the might of his physique while also imbibing his attuned element, which was earth, with Cosmic energy so that it rose as a wall between Hal's sword and himself.

The Broadsword hit the earthen wall and its debris rained over the Dystopian and broke the binding Rune's hold.

Then the Dystopian channeled all of his harnessed physical might to attack Hal who looked caught unawares.

However, when his punch went right through the surprised Hal and he faded as an afterimage, the real one was already behind him,

"Too slow" he said before swinging the sword and putting an end to it all.

After that impressive display, Hal took on a nonchalant casual stance as he watched the battle between his group and their Dystopian opponents.

He had no intentions of lending a hand and as it turned out, he did not need to.

While two of those in his group died, a majority survived which counted as their victory.

The group leader eyed all those Hal had killed singlehandedly and frowned before he said,

"We have to keep moving. They'll send more after us. And we need to keep them away so that the Devices can be placed"

Hal smiled lightly.

"You go ahead, I'll catch up"

'Leave without collecting these prime bodies? Not a chance'

The leader shrugged,

"It's your head" he said and left with the rest of the group.

Once Hal was sure he was gone, he began wrapping the bodies one by one in Cosmic energy to send them into the Beast habitat.

It was while he was doing this that he heard a voice behind him,

"A pocket dimension, Nice"

Without turning around, Hal frowned.

Whoever this was, they were good at concealing themselves and that spelled bad news.

Chapter 462 - Reyna Gord.

Hal turned slowly to come face to face with the one who managed to sneak up behind him.

The first thing he noticed, being the perverted lady-lover that he was, was that she was a beautiful young-looking lady with coal black shoulder length hair.

Then he noticed that she was almost his height which was quite tall for a woman especially since she was wearing flat battle boots that did nothing to accentuate her height.

Most of her height was due to her long legs that seemed to go on forever and quickly caught Hal's attention.

Her breasts were small to match her height and physique quite nicely.

And then her eyes... Her wild Dystopian eyes that while coal-black had a fiery nature to them.

.The lady smirked as Hal looked her over.

She was not some Sheltered Dystopian and had seen her fair share of humans but this young man easily took the cake.

She had always thought her type was the buff muscular men as that was the physique most considered attractive in the Dystopian continent but this human's lean muscular physique that told of mouthwatering well-structured muscles was... Well, it was making her mouth water.

It was making other parts of her body wet as well.

But she needed to remain focused.

This was her enemy.

She would do well to remember that.

Especially considering the circumstances.

"Who are you?" Hal asked with a light smile.

He could not sense her cultivation and neither could Grimoire which meant this lady must have an Artifact of similar concealment functions as Emily's semi-saint mask.

That coupled with a possible light feeder movement technique could explain how she had managed to get behind him without him knowing.

The lady shrugged,

"I guess you should know. You did just kill a considerable number of those in my Platoon. In fact, I'd say you and your group killed them all" she said.

"You're a Lieutenant" Hal said.

It was not a question but a statement of fact considering what she just told him.

"Lieutenant Reyna Gord. Pleasure to meet you" Reyna said and it truly was a pleasure for her to be able to drink his body in.

Hal furrowed his brow.

First off, the fact that Reyna mentioned her last name told that it was a name of status back in Dystopia.

"Hal" he introduced himself.

Reyna chuckled,

"No last name?" She asked as she took on a battle stance.

"I don't have one" Hal shrugged.

"You don't? I would have thought someone as appealing as you would be from a renowned family. In any case, you killed my platoon so I'm supposed to kill you now. Trust me, I'd rather not. Fucking you would be a far more appealing option but, Them's the rules..."

With that Reyna vanished from where she was as she dashed towards Hal whose eyes widened and he turned mostly on instinct to avoid her strike.

'She's fast'

Reyna licked her lips,

"Hmm, you dodged that? Well, I guess it's to be expected from someone who has a pocket dimension." She said as though pocket meant some great talent and mid-motion, even after Hal had moved out of the way and she should be unbalanced, Reyna twisted her lithe form and kicked him.

Hal could not move out of the way fast enough this time and the kick landed squarely on his arms which he had raised to defend himself.

*Bam*

The kick sent him meters away from Reyna but she pursued.

Before he could even think to roll and get on his feet, she was already there kicking at his sternum.

Hal grabbed her feet before it struck into his chest and was instantly winded, even then, he still managed to speak.

"'You'd rather not? Bullshit, you are going for the kill" he said indignantly as he used her feet to toss her away from him but somehow Reyna twisted herself and was balanced in barely a second.

She moved like a gymnast.

He had never not taken her seriously but he had still expected a bit of hesitation from someone who said and who he knew thanks to his heightened Devil senses that she would rather not kill him.

This did not fit the script.

Reyna cackled,

"Well, of course, I'm going for the kill. We are at war. You are the enemy. That said, I have actually been holding back. I think it would be better I don't. Clearly, you are much stronger than the average human" she said and two horns grew out the top of her head.

However, Hal knew they were not Demonic or Devil horns.

He could tell since he couldn't feel any Devil or Demonic energy from them.

The horns were giving off Ancient Beastly vibes.

Anyways, Reyna's hands transformed into that of a Beast's forelimbs with the long, sharp, and dangerous claws included.

Her legs transformed into that of a beast's hind limbs also with the long sharp and dangerous claws as she took on a hybrid form of her bloodline.

Reyna glowed with pride as she took on this form,

"I probably should tell you, We Gords possess..." She began but Hal completed her words for her,

"... Dragon Blood"

The moment the horns were out and he had decided they were not Demonic or Devilish, Grimoire already informed him.

Reyna nodded with a wide smile,

"That's right. Very good"

Then her cultivation became evident. She was at the mid-stage of the Aurora beast realm.

And when you factor in her incomplete Dragon hybrid transformation, she was more than capable enough to hold her own against a peak stage cosmic Aurora realm human cultivator... And win!

Hal summoned his Cosmic Armament and retrieved his broadsword Artifact from his inventory.

He began charging the Broadsword with Cosmic energy but as he was not yet at the Cosmic Aurora realm, there was only so well he could utilize the Artifact's abilities.

Reyna eyed his Cosmic Armament and the broadsword before flames began flickering around her.

The element she was attuned to was fire and she now imbued it with Cosmic energy so that t formed a flaming whip. One Hal did not doubt would be able to hold its own against his Cosmic Armament.

And then Reyna charged at him

Her transformation not limiting her speed but enhancing it instead.

Hal charged a cosmic attack imbued with a phenomenon around his Cosmic Armament and swung it at her.

Reyna swiped the attack with her claws and tore right through it and met his armament in a slam that numbed Hal's hand but he neglected to think of that as he swung the Artifact towards her and despite her attempt to dodge by moving away, he still cut her.

Reyna stiffed a groan of pain and now her eyes looked down at the Artifact as she noted its rank before her flying whip made a swipe at Hal who knocked it aside with the artifact.

Or at least he tried to but instead, the whip coiled around it and pulled towards the dragon lady who performed a move quite similar to a roundhouse kick but way too graceful to be performed by any human, to kick the side of his face.

*Bam!*

Hal was sure the kick would have knocked his head off his shoulder had it not been that he quickly took on the Mid-World Devil form but kept it only at his head and at an angle that Reyna could not really be sure of what she saw.

As he rolled on the ground, his head was now back to normal, and both his Cosmic Armament and Artifact surprisingly still clutched in his hands. Then he decided there was no point in battling it out with Reyna.

When she came in with a hard kick which she probably felt was a decisive strike to end his life, Hal dispensed his cosmic Armament and positioned the flat side of the broadsword to stop her strike from connecting.

"That can't protect you" Reyna cackled and she was right.

However, as Hal grabbed her ankles, he could not help but chuckle to himself as protection had never been the plan.

Chapter 463 - Arrival At Gelread Valley.

With his hand on her ankle, Hal's eyes turned purple as he passed Lust flames into Reyna's body and the effects were instantaneous with the Dragon lady groaning as her body got hotter by the second.

She stumbled backward,

"What the hell... did you do to me?" She asked Hal who smiled as his eyes returned to their normal sapphire blue.

Reyna shook her head in a bid to regain control of herself.

Although how the shaking of the head was supposed to help against pleasurable flames eating away at her and sinking her deeper into the hole that was insatiable lust, was totally lost on Hal.

However, the surprise came when Reyna regained enough control of herself to actually attack him again.

However, she was so woozy and her legs were twitching so much due to pleasure that it was laughably easy for Hal to evade her strike..

Then being true to the perverted being he was, he stretched his hand to one of her breasts and kneaded it, and elicited a moan from her lips right as the flaming whip expanded and exploded on his face.

He evaded that fairly easily as well but Reyna was suddenly punching at his midsection with an expression that told Hal that if it hit, he would never be the same again.

He was not worried though as he snapped his fingers and the flames of lust inside the dragon lady increased in heat and effect by blazing ever hotter.

"Mmnngghhhh" Reyna moaned and fell to her knees while clamping her knees together as though to hide the moistness of her inner thighs.

'Why do I feel so good... And hot?' She thought to herself.

As Hal could smell her arousal, he had no need for physical proof.

He attempted to cut her with the Broadsword Artifact,

"Clang*

But it gave off a metallic sound after connecting to what Hal could now see were scales. Dragon scales.

Strong enough that his weapon had no hope of cutting through.

Then Reyna grinned as her skin turned red hot and Hal instinctively knew what she was doing; she was burning herself up on the inside.

Which was the approximate of fighting the flames with cosmic energy by a human cultivator.

Hal had no intentions of staying until she was done and immediately turned tail and ran off.

Reyna's burning out of the flames was over even faster than Hal could have anticipated and she was up and running in no time.

She followed the path she knew he had hone but soon sensed his disappearance.

There was no way he could have outrun her, she thought and began to search for the anchor of his pocket dimension.

He must be hiding inside it.

However, soon, she was puzzled.

Searching the whole area he had disappeared in did not take her long thanks to her Aurora Beast senses but even then she saw no anchor.

'The hell...' She thought before she was notified by her Communication talisman which she took out of her spatial ring and an authoritative female voice spoke out of it,

"Reyna, what is this I'm hearing about everyone in your platoon being dead"?" The voice asked.

Reyna looked uncomfortable,

"You know about that? Already?"

Hal who was standing a few meters away, with his invisibility hiding him from her sight and senses could almost hear the frown in the voice coming from the Talisman,

"The fact that I monitor you surely can't come as a surprise"

Reyna gulped,

"Well, in my defense, I already said I don't want to be a Lieutenant. I don't want to lead a platoon. I'd rather serve under you, sis" she said.

"Oh spare me. You need to learn to be responsible. You need to learn to lead. I'll assign you to another C-class platoon until you learn to be responsible"

This time, Reyna rolled her eyes,

"You'd think with the death of the third, you would give up on this. You're obsessing over this leading a platoon thing way too much. It's unnatural for a General." She said.

The voice, which Hal now knew to belong to the General of the Dystopian Army and Reyna's sister paused from what he felt must be incredulity, and then spoke in a slow threatening tone of voice,

"Am I to take this as you trying to tell me how to do my job? Trying to change the dynamic of this 'sisterly' conversation of ours?" She ask and Hal could imagine her.

Looking very much like Reyna but a little more mature with a sweet and dangerous smile on her face.

Reyna shook her head vigorously, despite the fact that her sister could not see it,

"No, No, of course not. I'll return to camp and await appointment to another platoon" she said.

"Good" the General replied curtly and cut off the connection.

Reyna sighed, gave the area another look before she walked away.

Hal followed after to where the dead bodies still were and since Reyna was not making a point to hide herself with whatever concealment Artifact she had with her, he knew the moment she was out of range.

Quickly, he became visible again and sent all the bodies into the Beast habitat before he went after the rest of his group.

***

The only positive Melinda could ever point to for being a C-class expert was how often they were called upon to join expeditions and while she would never admit it to anyone, she actually appreciated her father insisting she joins arack under his control.

You might ask why?

Well, Devon Dane was far from being the only General on the Haron Empire Army but among those in the Silva Duchy, he certainly ranked the highest.

And as such, quite a number of imperial barrack in the Duchy was under his command and not the command of the Duke.

A Duke or Duchess can not be a General. In times of war when the Continent needs all hands on Deck and also certain important situations, they get ordered by the Emperor to lead Battalions basically stemming from their Duchys but in a normal sense, they could not be generals like Devon was.

Anyway, this was HIS expedition and as such in terms of asking for the bolstering of forces, he would always call first to the Barracks he commands.

Over the last two months, there had been call-ups as C-class experts died often on the battlefield and there were always openings.

Melinda was never worried about Hal. She knew him well enough to know, her father might die but he wouldn't.

That said, the whole point of her deciding to join the military was to get experience. Better herself as a cultivator and what better place to do that than the high-stakes environment of battle.

Before she was selected, there were call-ups five times which she considered low compared to the rate she had heard C-class experts died.

Those in her barracks, most of which she had taken to beating down at the raising of any doubts to her strength, were already used to her nonchalant take on the death rate.

Finally, in the sixth callup, she was selected and the journey to Gelread valley began.

When they finally arrived at the camp, she learned through the Lieutenant she was assigned to serve under that the General and his commanders were provoking the final battle and that C-class companies would be spearheading this provocation.

"Stay here, Lady Melinda. I have to send news to the General that you are here" the Lieutenant said.

He was aware that Melinda was the General's daughter and did not wish to risk his own neck by having her die before he even delivered the news Of her arrival.

Melinda wanted to wait.

She actually did.

However, she could not stop herself from snooping and found out that among C-class companies, Hal was actually quite popular.

He was known as the Blue-eyed psychopath.

(It was not limited to his Company)

It actually brought an endearing smile to her face but it slipped when she further learned that he was part of a company sent to the Dystopian camp to 'Provoke the Deciding battle'.

Chapter 464 - Intrigued.

Devon was in the grand tent preparing for the detonation of the devices which would signal the start of the deciding battle when a Haron soldier came into the grand tent.

"Lieutenant Cornwall of the newest platoon" the soldier introduced himself.

Devon raised a brow,

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought it best to tell you, your daughter Melinda Dane was selected among the C-class reinforcement and she is now at the Haron camp under my command" he said.

"Is she now?" Devon said as he spared his senses all about the camp but did not sense his daughter.

"Are you sure she's here?" Devon asked even though he knew there was no reason for the Lieutenant to lie to him. Especially due to his reputation.

Cornwall shivered and his forehead was covered in sweats in a matter of seconds as he nodded his head,

"I'm sure.. I spoke to her a few minutes ago" he said and Devon smiled and shook his head.

The Lieutenant need say no more. He knew where that daughter of his was.

It seemed this whole provocation had to be sped up. But that would be a little difficult considering most of the Devices were not yet in place.

...

When Hal joined the rest of his group, they were quite worse for wear. Attracting attention was not going well.

Being at corresponding realms, the Demon beasts outclassed them in physical strength as well as well as Endurance.

They were falling prey to the most basic logic of cultivation in the Nexus world known to all which was that at the early stages of the corresponding cultivation realms, Demon Beast cultivation was stronger.

However, their superiority which was mostly based on physical strength was limited in the late states such as at the peak of the Semi-saint/ Semi-Transcendent realms all the way to Demigod.

More on that later.

The moment the group leader who was embroiled in combat with a Dystopian saw Hal, he called to him and Hal withdrew his Broadsword Artifact to get into the thick of it.

But it was far from easy.

Before his arrival, the Dystopians had taken the upper hand and quickly cut down the numbers of Haron experts which meant they (the Haron experts) were even more outnumbered now than they were before.

A particular Dystopian stabbed his sharp-ended arm at Hal's back but even without turning back, Hal placed the broadsword at his back and used it as protection.

The force behind the Dystopian's strike had been so impressive that when it hit the Artifact that surpassed a grade he could possibly hope to contend against, it repelled him.

But he had not even moved more than a step back that Hal was hacking at that sharp hand of his and after cutting it off, he transitioned to a swing at his neck to decapitate him.

...

The Grand tent is the Dystopian Camp...

There was a kind of nonchalance to the amount of C-class that had been lost in this surprise operation by the Haronians and it was because they could not care less.

Their mindset was easy enough to understand;

If they (the dead C-class Dystopians) could not even defeat C-class experts, then what were they good for.

That was the only level they were required to battle against and if they could not even showcase their usefulness by surviving, what then was the point to their presence.

Everyone in this tent right now and a vast majority of the B and A-class experts started out as C-class experts.

They faced such dangerous situations themselves but they survived. They survived and became stronger.

Because they were not weak.

Because they were worth something.

Speaking of those in the tent...

There were about eleven of them, five men and six women, all with serious expressions as they looked over the map.

Quite similar to how the Haron General and commanders ponder their map in their own grand tent.

The General was easy to spot.

She wore black armor with spikes on her shoulders.

The chest armor had been molded over her well-developed form, showing off her large breasts but sturdy enough that they would not bounce and hinder her in battle.

Although it is worth noting that even if it did bounce during battle, that could never hinder her.

Partly because she was a seasoned expert and partly because back pain due to heaviness or movement of breasts was not a thing that bothered female cultivators in general.

Anyway, the general did not look too much like Reyna who Hal had fought.

Sure, there were signs that they came from the same family and a minute similarity in looks but it was still distinct enough to make the general look different. Like her own person.

For one, she was not smiling like Reyna readily did on her encounter with Hal. In fact, she seemed to be the kind to brood and frown a lot. That added to her charm though.

Her coal-black hair, the same color as her eyes, was back length.

"This is no ordinary operation. They are planning something" the General said and took a deep breath.

None of the commanders argued with her words.

Not only did they suspect something similar, but they also knew not to scoff at the General's instincts.

She had led quite a number of successful campaigns over the years.

She had always been more utilized towards stopping invasion attempts from Haron and this was her first time heading an invasion expedition for the Dystopian continent.

"You mean, like what we are planning?" A female commander said and from the coal-black eyes and hair, she was clearly from the same camp as the General,

"No, Elia. Not the same. But they are surely planning for a decisive battle. All those C-class experts are diversions. They are keeping our attention away from something." The general said.

"What makes you say that?" Another commander asked. This one was a male with fiery red hair and eyes to match.

The General pursed her lips but said nothing in reply. Instead, she asked,

"How long since this surprise operation began?"

Another commander replied and was studying a holographic projection of their camp with dots on it to pinpoint where the C-class experts were on the campgrounds,

The multiple dots were of two colors, Red and Blue. Red represented Dystopians while Blue represented Haronians. The deeper the colors of the dots, the stronger the individual. (Cultivation realm-wise)

"About thirty minutes now" she said.

The general smiled,

"Is that so? I believe you are about to get some additional blue dots on that projection of yours" she said and right on cue, on different areas of the camp, dots began to appear.

Dots belonging to the group of Haron C-class experts charged with placing devices.

"Concealment runes, so crude. Have C-class experts confront those newly appeared dots. They have to face the consequences of coming into a Dystopian camp. Especially one under my command.

Then send B-class experts to the areas the dots appeared, not to confront the C-class experts but to find whatever was placed.

There would be no point hiding from our perception Shield if they didn't take the time to lay down traps." The General said.

"Right away, General" said another commander with characteristics of being part of the Gord clan.

He retrieved a communication talisman and contacted a C-class lieutenant and then a B-class Lieutenant.

Meanwhile, the general looked to the commander with the holographic screen,

"Reyna?" She asked.

The commander pointed to a Red dot moving closer to the area where the deepest red dots were gathered with the one that was sure to represent the General being a deep shade of burgundy,

"She's on her way"

"Good" The general smiled wickedly and cracked her knuckles while the commander smiled like she pitied Reyna.

Then the General looked over at the holographic screen and focused on a blue dot. One she knew had clashed with the dot she knew to be Reyna.

Despite the obvious difference in class, her being a B-class expert and he/she being a C-class expert, they actually survived a confrontation with Reyna.

She had trained Reyna herself and knew she was far more capable than she seemed. Even if this C-class expert somehow had an Aurora grade Artifact, it was impossible that they can utilize it well enough to cause Reyna any issues.

Not to mention that Reyna could now use a Dragon hybrid form.

The only way this C-class expert could have won was either with the comprehension of an Ordinance or the possession of the physical prowess of a Dystopian.

And if it was the second, it opened up a whole new array of questions.

She would never say it out loud but this Haron dot intrigued her. Especially since while she watched he/she had actually defeated even more Dystopians while the other Haron experts with them died one by one.

She shook her head.

The last thing she should ever let occupy her mind was a Haron expert.

...

Anyway,

Just as it had been shown in the projection, many of those in Hal's group had died. In fact, at the moment, only he and the group leader were still alive and the group leader had already been injured in multiple areas of his body.

He was already getting much too weak to continue holding his own and soon, a dystopian put an end to his misery.

Hal did not even bat an eye at his death.

He was now outnumbered ten to twelve but was not actually that worried. He still had a few cards to play. Most of which he had declined to use when he was not yet alone.

And then his senses perked to a presence he could not ever mistake,

"Who would have thought I'd find you so fast?" Said a female voice and the Dystopians who had their backs to the arrival turned to see a beautiful golden-eyed lady with calf-length black hair and a dazzling but threatening smile on her face, walking closer.

There was a slight jiggle to her ample breasts that caught the attention of the Dystopians, only briefly though as there was definitely something ominous about her cosmic Armament with golden veins crisscrossing the blade.

"Worried about me?" Hal asked with a mild chuckle.

Melinda smirked as she dashed towards the Dystopian blocking her path to Hal.

The Dystopian only acted fast enough to not receive a deep cut right across his midsection but even then, Melinda still cut his arm off at the elbow.

"Ahhhhhhh"

While the Dystopian yelled in pain, Melinda was already standing with her back pressed against Hal,

"Against this bunch? Absolutely not"

Chapter 465 - We Don't Give A Fuck.

Hal chuckled at her words,

"Very well then, shall we?" He asked her with their backs pressed against each other as they eyed their opponents who frowned at the new arrival that had so easily cut off the arm of their companion.

"We shall" Melinda said with a smile and she positioned her sword vertically before swinging it and sending an arch of golden flames at her opponents.

She was going serious right from the start with the implementation of her Bloodline flames.

While a number of Dystopians moved out of the way just in time, an unfortunate Dystopian was caught by the flames and blasted back. While the flames burned vindictively, it was nothing compared to how it was sure to burn Hal or any Devil or Demon.

The Dystopian managed to quench the flames with an imbuement of cosmic energy but by then, Melinda was closing in and beheading him.

Hal had made moves himself as he summoned his Cosmic Armament and Dual wield along with his Broadsword Artifact to first cut down the one-armed Dystopian before moving on to the other whole-bodied ones.

Soon, the Dystopians began to rally and divided into two groups to focus their attention on subduing these two..

At that point, there were only ten of them left, and five focused on Hal while the other five focused on Melinda. The ones focussing on Melinda were weary because of the actions of her golden flames that told of being from a being that detested their existence.

Seeing how much attention they placed on her, while Melinda was not surprised, she did chuckle.

Then one Dystopian dashed closer to her. Clearly, she was not like Hal. who liked to get up close and personal, instead, she was just like the average Human who preferred to keep a distance from their Dystopian opponent.

A fact that they felt had been proven by how the first thing she chose to fight with, being her flames. Apart from cutting the arm of one of their companions and then beheading the victim of her flames, that is.

Anyway, the Dystopian felt that if he got closer, he could take advantage of his superior physical prowess.

And he would have been correct had Melinda been an average human... But she was not.

The Dystopian's fingers became tipped with dangerous claws that boasted of a strong impressive mixture of Cosmic energy and Beastly force but Melinda smirked and caught his claw strike with the blade of her sword.

The eyes of the Dystopian widened as he felt her stop his blade in place and not even look like she was straining herself.

But how could Melinda strain herself?

Even against humans, her strikes had always been backed with such forcefulness that close combat was as much her strong suit as long-distance attacks.

She was versatile that way.

The Dystopian's beastly instincts instantly informed him that this was not an opponent to face in close combat and leaped back... Or at least tried to but found he was unable to.

Melinda had grabbed the hand she held in place with her sword and now pulled him closer to stab her sword into his midsection but he moved away and she missed.

After that, the Dystopian attempted to wrench his hand from her grip but his outstretched hand presented a perfect t opportunity for the golden-eyed lady to take revenge for him causing her strike to miss.

She cut off his arm.

Right at the point where it connected to his shoulder.

"Ahhhhhh" The Dystopian yelled as he wondered if this lady had a thing for cutting off arms.

Melinda made to pursue but an earthen spike shot of the ground at her feet and right at her chest.

The earthen spike was imbued with Cosmic energy and it was sure to penetrate her skin.

She swung her sword with ease and shattered the spike in mid-air.

"So this is what your replacement of Cosmic Armament looks like. Interesting" she said as the one who had attacked her created an earthen shield and an Earthen sword.

All imbued with Cosmic energy.

Capable of injuring her but far from sturdy enough that she wouldn't be able to shatter.

Even the shield that probably boasted more sturdiness could never handle two strikes of her sword.

However, the advantage Dystopians have is that while their creations can be destroyed easily, they have a large supply.

All around her, apart from the one whose hand she had cut off, the Dystopians all began creating weapons with their Attuned Element which as it turns out was earth for two and wind for the other two.

Hal was facing a similar situation himself,

The difference was that he was facing it right from the get-go.

Knowing how physical he could get, the Dystopians facing him had armed themselves with their attuned element but as they soon realized when Hal began cutting through them, that did not really make a difference.

Once he dodged any attacks tossed at him, he would close in with physicality and strike them down.

Soon, he had cut their numbers down to two and they began to consider retreating but that turned out not to be an option.

When one attempted Retreat, Hal tossed his Broadsword comic Armament to strike him down while he pursued the second with his Cosmic Armament and made short work of him.

When he was done, he turned to see how Melinda was faring and saw her advancing towards a one-armed Dystopian who was whimpering and pleading for mercy as he attempted to get away from his assailant.

"Asking for Mercy on a battlefield, how weak can you possibly be?" She asked with a shake of her head.

"I just want to survive" the Dystopian spat as he held his bleeding stump.

"And those you killed? Did they want to die? Just shut up and die with a little dignity" Melinda said before slashing his neck and putting an end to his whimpers.

Then her senses tingled and she looked back at Hal who had an expression that showed he had sensed it as well.

In a flash, she was by his side and they both watched In as a fifty-something someone seemed to shimmer out of darkness and did so while clapping,

"Well put human girl. However, I can't help but disagree a tad bit: there is no dignity in death.

Especially for a Dystopian fighting in the Dystopian Army. You lose to a human in your own class then you should die with shame and regrets."

Melinda chuckled,

"What are you? A Lieutenant?" She asked not just because of how he carried himself and how he dressed but also because of the late-stage Aurora beast realm cultivation he possessed.

The arrival nodded with a smile,

"I indeed am a Lieutenant. Not of this pathetic bunch of course. I command a B-class platoon but the commotion drew me here on our way to dealing with another group of mischievous intruders. Or at least deal with whatever they came here for."

"And your name?" Hal asked with a nonchalant expression.

The Lieutenant shook his head,

"That... is only for strong people to know. It's not for weaklings such as yourselves"

Hal raised a brow,

"Really?" He asked and gestured to the bodies of Dystopians he and Melinda had laid waste to.

The Lieutenant nodded,

"This feat is truly impressive but it is not enough to prove you are worthy to know my name. Only fighting me will determine it."

Melinda gripped her sword,

"Okay then. I wanted to beat the hell out of you anyway. Hal and I have been apart for two months and I was planning a steamy reunion once we dealt with these imbeciles.

Now, because of you, I have to push it back. I'd say that deserves the death penalty, don't you, Hal?"

Hal nodded,

"Absolutely" he said and gripped his Cosmic Armament and Broadsword Artifact as he and Melinda dashed forward towards their opponent who was suddenly wearing an armor that was clearly a manifestation of his Physique.

The Lieutenant grinned and the moment Melinda's blade was about to touch him, he vanished and was sinking a knee into Hal's midsection.

"Ack" Hal groaned but that was far from being the end.

Since he had doubled over, he presented his head in a position that the Lieutenant was happy to hit with his elbow and send him facefirst into the ground.

*Bam*

The Lieutenant sought to follow up with a crunching kick to end his life but Hal was suddenly no longer there.

"What?"

He moved at a speed the Dystopian lieutenant could not hope to follow and once his leg hit the ground, Melinda was there to stab at his chest.

Suddenly, Fire blazed and formed into a large hammer imbued with Cosmic energy that struck at Melinda at a speed she could not possibly dodge but a dark figure whisked her away.

The dark figure was of course Hal who spun Melinda and sent her right back to the Dystopian but at a different angle and on a different side.

The Lieutenant's eyes widened and he only barely managed to evade her strike that sought an exposed part of his armor.

However, evading only put him in a position where Hal, whose eyes were now dark as a sign of the Shadow demon bloodline could swing and cut a gash in his side.

The Lieutenant groaned and leaped away from the two. They had managed to injure him.

And they were both C-class experts!

Then he said,

"You two are strong. But I'm stronger. Before I kill you, I'll tell you my name"

Melinda grinned,

"We actually don't give a fuck."

"What?" The lieutenant was a little taken aback.

Hal nodded,

"Yeah. Who cares about some washed-up B-class Lieutenant who gets his jollies proving superiority against 'weak' C-class experts such as us. That's just sad. Talk about going through a crisis" he said with a pitying expression and the shake of his head.

"Crisis? I'll show you CRISIS!" The Lieutenant said and summoned intense blazing fire around himself which he imbued with cosmic energy.

Suddenly, Melinda dashed towards him.

The Lieutenant felt she must have a death wish but his eyes widened when the flames parted as she wrestled control from him.

"This... An ordinance? Impossible" the Lieutenant took a strep back as his flames went from bright orange to white and now turned against him.

*Boom!!!*

The explosive sound was so loud and impactful that it charred off the whole of his armor.

Burning away all the manifestation of his physique and tossing him right into the blade of Hal's cosmic Armament through which Hal paralyzed him with Devil energy before siphoning all his Blood essence.

Chapter 466 - What The Dystopians Have Planned.

Once Hal pulled his sword out of the Lieutenant's back, he sent the body into his heart habitat along with every other Dystopian body on the scene.

Then he looked over at Melinda, eyeing her from up to down and then back again before focusing on her breasts.

He really missed grabbing them.

Melinda folded her arms underneath her breasts and scoffed at him,

"Is that really what you want to spend your time doing right now?" Hal asked and moved closer to her but she said nothing.

Hal then wound an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him so that he could nuzzle her neck,

"Where is that steamy reunion you mentioned?" He asked her and sucked her neck.

Melinda could already feel her body getting hotter and submitting to the pleasurable feel of his lips and hands on her body.

Then Hal leaned back and grabbed her lips in an ardent and passionate kiss that caused her brain to completely shut down as she grabbed hold of him and returned his kiss with fervor to rival his..

Hal created space between them just so he could grab her breasts and knead them to elicit those musical moans that always got him giddy.

Then, he pulled away from her in a way Melinda knew to mean that was as far as he would go.

Melinda chuckled,

"That's it? I have to say I was actually expecting you to go all the way" she said with a smirk.

Hal's eyes widened,

"My goodness, How much of a horny fucker do you think I am?" He asked.

Melinda opened her mouth to answer but Hal quickly raised his hands,

"You know what? Don't answer that. Anyway, there's a time for everything, and right now is the time to kill and collect the dead bodies of Dystopians.

Your arrival finally lets me have a partner to fight alongside in public, so what say you, Melinda Dane?" Hal asked and presented his hand In a classic gentlemanly pose. Even though a gentleman, he was not.

Melinda rolled her eyes and then covered her mouth with her left hand before taking his outstretched hand with her right as she said,

"Yes, a million times yes. Let's go cut Dystopians up. Hell, if a human gets in our way, let's cut them up too"

Hal kissed the back of her hand,

"A more romantic statement has never been made"

...

The Dystopian Camp,

Not all of the Haronian C-class groups tasked with planting the devices had been successful and a number of them had been killed. (Remember, even when they had the cloaking runes working, they were only hidden from perception and can actually still be seen).

Those that had been caught and killed had seen their spatial rings or pouches confiscated and in them, the Devices were found.

The B-class Dystopian experts sent out to search for what the intruders had come here for had found the planted devices but were having difficulties taking it out of the ground in which they seemed to have taken root.

It was at that time that the Haron General and commander decided to tug on their connection with the devices to detonate them all.

The devices were composed of explosive runes ad well as semi-saint energy. However while thanks to Devon Dane's Bloodline energy, they would attack Dystopians viciously, any Human expert caught in the blast would suffer it as well.

*BOOOMMMM!*

*BOOOMMMM!!*

*BOOOMMMM!!!*

The Devices had been placed all around the Dystopian camp and while those that had been caught had allowed some pocket of spaces that were safe, the main purpose was still accomplished.

Not to mention that the devices that had been retrieved from all the caught Haronians had detonated as well.

Many Dystopians died from that attack and it was sure that their fighting power was reduced.

And to accomplish this feat in which even B-class and a few A-class Dystopian experts bit the dust, the Haronians only lost C-class experts.

Clearly, this was their win.

In her Grand tent, as she heard the noise that heralded the start of what was sure to be the deciding battle, and even as she knew the Haronians were now storming towards their camp with the thought that they now had the advantage, the General was not worried.

Sure, her lips twitched occasionally in annoyance at the tactic used to kill off a number of her forces, but that annoyance was never to be confused for fear.

"Are they all ready?" She asked the commander by her side. The woman with features of being a member of the Gord clan.

That was when Reyna entered the tent but the General did not spare her a look.

There were more important matters right now and Reyna could wait.

"Yes they are" the commander said and the General grinned.

"Then relay my orders: Everyone should arm themselves and prepare to meet our enemies" she said and as she did, the war cry sounded, and in the space of a minute, any Dystopian able to move and was not engaged in combat, was already rushing out to meet the Humans.

And just like that, the deciding battle broke out...

-

Meanwhile,

The battle between the C-class Haronian intruders and C-class Dystopians was in full swing but it was clear that the Haronians would not win.

They were outnumbered and were not expecting reinforcements.

It finally sunk into their thick skulls that they were not entrusted with this mission because they were best suited but because they were the most expendable class of experts.

However, being as patriotic as they were, they were still glad and would fight to the end as they saw this as their way of fighting for their continent. For the pride and superiority of the human race.

"Men, we shall fight to the death! We will fight and we will never surrend... Ack" the man was unable to complete his words as he was stabbed in the midsection with an earthen pole.

Even then, he attempted to motivate his companions with his last breath but another spike was stabbed through his mouth and protruded out the back of his head and he was kept silent until the very end.

"He was right. Let's fight!" Said a human expert who took courage in the incomplete motivating words.

"Yes, to the Death!" Yelled another and he did die right after that with the combined, fairly effortless attack of two Dystopians.

Right at the moment he died, a column of white flames descended on the two Dystopians that had killed him and blasted them back. While their chests were barely burned, their whole insides had actually been cooked and they were already dead the moment the flames touched them.

"You see, this is why I wanted to come to war. What better place would I get to know how to use my Ordinance effectively, to either incapacitate an opponent or to kill them outright?" Said the the beautiful and sexy golden-eyed lady who just arrived.

No one knew who she was talking to until a Dark shadow whizzed by and the head of two C-class Dystopian experts flew up having just been separated from their necks.

The Dark shadow stopped beside the beautiful lady to show an incomparable handsome blue-eyed young man with black back-length hair holding a Royal blue cosmic Armament sword with a curious straight and serrated edge blade.

They knew who he was of course; he was the Blue-eyed psychopath.

"There are indeed many test subjects here. Do you want to take your time? try different temperatures?" Hal asked.

"Nah, let's just get this over with." Melinda said and they did get it over with.

Not to bore you with the details, they killed every C-class Dystopian in sight without suffering any injury.

The Haronians approached Hal,

"You... You saved us" one of them said while Melinda eyed them with nonchalant eyes,

Hal on the other hand chuckled,

"Did I? Well, if you don't get the fuck out of my sight in the next ten seconds, I assure you, it will no longer seem that way"

The Haronians had no idea what he meant but could see it as the veiled threat it was and got the hell away. However, before Hal could actually reap the Dystopian bodies into his Beast Habitat, he felt something. Something familiar.

At this point, the Dystopian and Haronians had already clashed in battle and at the back lines of the Dystopian Army, the ones who had yet to get involved in the battle (About one hundred of them) showed why they had still been holding back as their skin began to glow a bright red.

As it did, their forms exploded in size and they were encrusted in hard shells.

"This is..." Hal said as he sensed a similarity in what this bunch were doing and what had happened in Sapphire city to those who ate her Flaming Berserk pill.

He and Melinda shared a look in recognition of what was about to happen but they were not completely correct.

That became evident when one of the transformed Dystopians dashed forward into the midst of the battle and attacked every Haronian in his sight.

Then an A-class Haronian expert made the mistake to blast the transformed Dystopian with a powerful attack which hit... And caused the Dystopian to explode...

*Boooommmmm!!!!

... And destroy more than one hundred battling Haronians while the Dystopians were completely unharmed.

No Haronian said a word, but they were all thinking it.

The Dystopians were insane!

Chapter 467 - A Rematch.

As Devon watched the detonation, he did not bother to hide his scorn as he frowned,

"Sickening. Sacrificing your own people. Absolutely sickening" he said with his voice imbued with cosmic energy so that it boomed out over the noise of battle all the way to the Grand tent of the Dystopian camp. Inside which the General and her commanders still were.

That's right, they were yet to make an appearance.

But now they walked out of the tent with the General smiling in amusement,

"Sickening? Is it really that different from the effects of your traps which saw to the death of your own men. At least our plan does not kill one of our own. I'll do all I can to win.

And in case you have not noticed...." The General said as though she was enjoying an inside joke and she gestured to the transformed Dystopians,

"... They are not Dystopians" she revealed.

Devon's eyes widened,

"What?" He asked in incredulity and the General chuckled,

As she did, the rest of the suicide bombers continued to rampage the battlefield and it was quite troublesome to deal with them.

For one thing, no attack below the A-class could affect them. They simply bounced off their entrusted shells and even A-class experts were no longer ready to strike them as that would detonate them. The whole situation was distracting and the Dystopians were quick to take advantage.

They did not need to be worried.

They could not be affected by the blast and were free to fight indiscriminately.

*Boooommmm!!!*

Another two were detonated but not by Haronians who were now at their wits end on what to do against these troublesome opponents, but instead by Dystopians themselves.

After all, since they had no reason to fear from the resultant blast, why then should they hold themselves back.

The vicious smiles on their face were enough to make any neutral onlooker finally believe the Haronian stereotypes about the Dystopians being more like beasts looking for nothing more than carnage and Distability.

Meanwhile, while all this was going on, the General continued her revelation.

"Every single one of them is a human slave. We have to find some use for them, and after much 'convincing ' they were more than happy to die for the good of Dystopia"

Indeed, when Devon and the Haronian commanders looked at the suicide bombers closely, they did indeed notice that their hard encrusted shells and certain features aside, they indeed were human slaves.

"Bastards" Aulich Silva said and did not wait for Devon's command before he dashed forward towards the grinning Dystopian general and her commanders.

Devon rolled his eyes at the act of insubordination before ordering the other commanders to attack while he and the Dystopian general continued to have a staredown.

Meanwhile, Hal and Melinda had sought every Dystopian C-class expert not involved in the deciding battle because they are battling Haronian C-class experts and proceeded to kill them all before Hal sent their bodies into the Beast habitat.

And now they walked towards the battle that was already in full swing and quickly and fairly easily spotted the area where Haronian C-class experts were rallying together.

The Dystopian C-class experts were doing the same. but both Hal and Melinda were quick to take their eyes off them as they were far from being the highlight of the battle; that was clearly reserved for the commanders now clashing in large-scale battles that were harming everyone in their environs indiscriminately.

"There you are. And oh look, you found a friend" said a voice Hal recognized, and his head turned to come face to face with Reyna who was not more than a few meters away from him.

Clearly, Reyna had utilized the concealment Artifact she had to once again sneak upon him.

Melinda frowned because now that Reyna was no longer attempting to hide her cultivation, it was clear that she was at the mid-stage Of the Aurora Beast realm.

Of course, it isn't that she was worried as she and Hal had together been able to take care of the Lieutenant who was one stage above Reyna in cultivation but even then, Melinda could not shake the disturbing feeling she was having.

"Reyna" Hal acknowledged her presence before she smiled and said,

"How about a rematch? But this time, you don't get to run away"

Reyna transformed into her hybrid form and dashed towards Hal to strike him with her claws.

Melinda scoffed in annoyance.

"What am I, invisible?" She said with a frown and swung her summoned cosmic Armament towards Reyna who twisted effortlessly to avoid it and kick the golden-eyed lady.

*Bam*

Melinda managed to plant her legs firmly in the ground to keep from continuous sliding. She took solace in the fact that while she had not managed to strike this dragon lady (yes, she knew Reyna had dragon blood) she had succeeded in stopping her from striking Hal.

Graceful as Reyna was, she could not strike Hal accurately while kicking Melinda at the same time.

Hal took the time to leap back and summon his cosmic Armament and also withdraw the Broadsword artifact from his inventory.

Reyna created a flaming sword and a flaming spear and then controlled both weapons to fight alongside her.

However, she got a surprise when both flaming weapons became white and turned against her.

Reyna instinctively knew how dangerous the flames were now that control was wrestled from her and her eyes turned towards Melinda who she knew was responsible.

Faster than she could hope to evade, the flames caught up with her and exploded at point-blank range. Although he knew it could not be so easy, Hal actually thought for a minute that that was it.

Then right at the center of the explosion, orange flames that had been the color of Reyna's flames grew brighter and brighter by the second as they fought against the explosive power of Melinda's ordinance-induced flames.

Before Melinda could take control of the flames as Reyna knew she would, the dragon lady had blasted through it with the whole of her body now covered in black dragon scales.

Only her face was visible and not even totally as the scales looked to have crept closer to covering it as well.

Some parts of the scales were charred but they were still holding strong. Clearly well up to the task of defending her from Melinda's flames.

"As expected of an ancient beast bloodline, the defense is nothing to scoff at" Melinda mumbled with a frown.

At the same time which Reyna's claws ripped through Hal or at least it seemed to until her attack went right through.

At first, she thought it was an afterimage and while it was a testament to his speed, it was not to the extent to make her worried.

However, that train of thought left when the 'Afterimage' which she now noticed had Dark eyes as opposed to Hal's normal sapphire blue, smiled at her and waved...

*Swish*

... Right as another Hal suddenly came from behind her, also with Dark eyes to match his smiling twin, and swung his deadly-looking scythe.

Reyna's eyes widened and she meant to escape the strike and then retaliate with a hard punch once Hal's attack had missed but once again as it had been with the twin, her attack went right through him like an Afterimage she knew he was not.

*Bam!*

Reyna felt it all over her body as the force of the punch from the teal Hal radiated outward and not only blasted her away, it seemed to numb her completely.

And even then, she had no idea what was going on.

Chapter 468 - The Deciding Battle. Part 1

Effective as the strike had been, especially considering it hurt her despite her hard scale defense, it was far from enough to put Reyna down and she was back on her feet as the two Hals walked towards her.

Then she suddenly had a thought and looked over to where Melinda had been and her eyes widened to see that the golden-eyed lady was gone but she need not search at all as Melinda was soon attacking her with her cosmic Armament shrouded in the White flames of her flame ordinance.

However, she did not bother getting closer to the dragon lady to strike, instead, she swung her sword and sent the flames to her.

Reyna dodged while still keeping a watch on the two Hals still advancing slowly and then Melinda chuckled just as the flames Reyna had dodged and thought she was safe from stopped in mid-air and returned even faster than it had gone.

*Booom!!!*

An extra layer of protection that Hal and Melinda knew was her limit suddenly crept over Reyna's form as she raised her hand to use her scaled hands to protect her unscaled face.

The flames charred her scales and a lot of it crumbled into ash while Hal finally got closer and began a barrage of attacks along with his Shadow mirage.

A barrage Reyna still managed to defend against.

.Still managing to stop any definite strike that would see her lose her life.

She really was a dragon and had the endurance and stubbornness to match.

Despite being one stage lower than the lieutenant they had fought before, Reyna was on a whole different level to that washed-up old fool.

Melinda prepared to join in the fight when a Force spread all about the battlefield but as the epicenter of the force was close to them, Hal, Melinda, and Reyna get it the most as it blasted them back.

When they stood back up, none of them thought to return to the fight as they looked up at the two figures in the sky.

They were none other than Devon Dane and the General of the Dystopian Army.

Devon had illusionary wings spread out of his back, a mark that he was at the peak of the semi-saint realm and was close to attaining a level of cultivation that would surpass all human limits.

Which was the grander manner of saying, they would be able to fly unsupported at the Cosmic Saint realm.

The General had wings spread out her back as well but they had a more beastly look to them.

The force that had been felt all about the battlefield been caused when the two punched at each other in a test of strength that the General had been confident to win and was more than a little surprised to lose.

Without a single word to each other, they flew towards one another with one flap of each of their wings and met with another simultaneous punch which once again repelled them back while those on the ground combined to suffer getting repelled by their resulting force.

Hal had quickly cast runes to form a protective Dome around Melinda and himself and that was still not enough.

In fact, it usually got destroyed by the force and he would be forced to cast another.

Reyna sunk her claws into the ground and used them as an anchor.

Even then, the battle between Dystopians and Haronians continued with no one feeling it was the time to spectate.

After all, what good would that do?

The ones most eager to continue were the Dystopians. There were still many Suicide bombers yet to detonate and they could not care less about any resultant force as they continued their rampage.

Commander Gaige, who had been the first commander to defeat his opponent, a Dystopian commander, frowned at the right of the Suicide bombers and then pressed his hands together as he said,

"Seventh-grade skill; Sealing rings"

Out of a neon green, seven circled ring emerged multiple circles of the same color, all of which went to the Suicide Bombers and bound them tight to prevent them from moving.

Gaige's hands shivered as he stretched them out to cast the skill.

There was a reason he had not used it from the start. The skill was far too tasking and would weaken him if he should use it.

It would make it impossible for him to fight and he had still needed his strength.

However, now that he had defeated a commander who could very well be called his Dystopian counterpart, he might as well use the last bit of his strength to perform this act.

The bound bombers strained against their bonds for a while before they all looked up simultaneously as their skin burned bright red as a sign of detonation.

Gaige clenched his fists and spheres formed, using the sealing rings as a fixed diameter, around all the bombers, and when they detonated, it kept the explosion contained within before imploding.

Gaige fell unconscious soon after and the Haronian forces, while now reduced in number, were motivated and fought with more zest now that the dark cloud that was the suicide bombers had now cleared.

A Dystopian moved towards Gaige's body which was now so prone, the Pagoda Beast realm Dystopian could kill him easily.

However, before she could actually succeed in her attack, a blast of Semi-saint energy struck her down from above killing her instantly.

After which Gaige's unconscious form became surrounded and protected in an orb of Semi-saint energy.

The Dystopian General sneered,

"How weak do you think I am...?" She asked before vanishing, only to appear next when she was kicking Devon's side.

Not believing he was relaxed enough to protect someone else when fighting with her!

*Bam!*

Her hit connected and sent the Dane monster spinning.

When he stabilized himself, the General was upon him once again but Devon was smiling. Almost as though her hit had not affected him in the slightest and moved quick enough to defend against her strike and retaliate with one of his own.

*Bam*

It hit and the General countered and just like that why went on to exchange many blows before the General seemed to decide to get serious and she became covered with hard dragon sales but it was more than clear that her transformation was a step above her sister's.

She grew a tail with spikes while she also had spikes on her arms. Then once again she began crossing blows with this detestable human who could not possibly contend with her strength.

Or so she thought.

While she was transforming into this advanced hybrid dragon form, Devon had cast a spell but not one to attack but to imbue himself.

This was a spell no Dane ever dared to cast on themselves because of the risks. The spell was used to borrow pure flames that were said to only be harnessed by someone blessed by the Primeval virtue queen.

Anyone else would only get to use it once for a monstrous boost and then burn to ashes.

Everyone except Devon who, just like the rest, had not received the blessings of the Primeval Virtue. At least not in the sense that would have allowed him to use the spell.

But by sheer grit and an extraordinary sense of awareness, he knew how to temper the spell and use it at will but in minimal increases that would not overwhelm him.

Add that to his already impressive strength and Devon was confident in going toe to toe with the Dragon lady.

The General realized the reason for that confidence soon when they began to battle and not only was Devon, now glowing a faint golden color, matching her strength, he was matching the speed with which she delivered her powerful blows.

Chapter 469 - The Deciding Battle. Part 2

"Grrr" the Dystopian general growled and put more strength into her attacks while attempting to stave off the frustration that was beginning to creep into her very being.

Of course, she was not the only one who was frustrated as Devon himself had to admit that this Dragon general was the strongest he had faced so far.

That said, he was not going to strive for a stalemate.

He wanted a win and he was going to get one.

...

Away from Gelread valley, right at the Dystopian border, two figures, one man and one woman floated in mid-air, a sign that they were both Cosmic saints.

"My my, surely this can't possibly be what Addilyn planned" said the male with a smile as he fanned himself with an elaborate fan while the woman kept her face stoic,

."In what way? The Dystopian army she commands still outnumbers the human side. Other these the fact that the human general is matching her in physicality, I'd say she is doing fine." She said with a shrug.

"Ah, but that's just it. Battling with a human, as though they were equals... With her hybrid dragon form no less, it's... Shameful." The man said with an annoying mix of a chuckle and a snort.

The woman said nothing.

Instead, she continued to watch as the two generals battled, a battle which despite being far away from her, she could still see clearly thanks to her impressive eyesight by virtue of her cultivation.

"So... What? Do we interfere now or do you want to keep watching?" The man eventually asked.

"Keep watching" the woman replied curtly.

...

Meanwhile, Devon and the General who we now know to be called Addilyn continued with neither yet able to take the definitive advantage.

*Bam!*

Addilyn had just landed a blow on Devon's crossed arms and the Dane man took it in stride before sinking his knee into her midsection.

Addilyn stifled a groan and retaliated with an impactful headbutt that knocked Devon's head down and she followed up with a mighty swipe of her tail.

It hit Devon away but when she attempted to follow up, the Dane Monster's eyes flashed, and his form shimmered. Not from him turning invisible but from him melting into a beam of light that closed the distance and struck Addilyn in the chest.

"Ack" Addilyn groaned but even then, she grabbed the arm and grinned while a thin line of blood flowed out the side of her lips,

"An ordinance of light? Maybe you really are my nemesis" she said and the area around her seemed to grow darker.

Everyone could see the phenomenon now forming around her but no one could feel it like Devon could as his eyes widened when the Darkness began to erode the light that coated his hand and enhanced his attack.

The Ordinance of Darkness.

And the Phenomenon forming around her showed that it was not at the insight comprehension but at harnessing.

The darkness not only eroded the light, but it also began to erode Devon's strength and he could already feel himself getting weaker with signs of even greater danger the longer this went on.

He suddenly radiated light so that it formed a phenomenon around him as well and used it to wrench himself away from Addilyn's grip.

"Ordinance harnessing... It's almost like you exist just to annoy me" Addilyn said with a huff.

"I could say the same thing about you" Devon said with a frown.

He was angry with himself. He had let her Darkness attack him for far too long and he could still feel the weakening effects.

Even when he used his Light ordinance to rid himself of the effects, the damage, no matter how minimal, had been done.

While the Ordinance of light mends, especially when used to counter the corroding effect of darkness, it did not change the fact that darkness was its natural enemy.

Even then, they were just like two sides of the same coin.

With one existing because of the other.

Kind of like Life and Death,

Chaos and Order.

With the absence of one begetting the other.

Anyway, Devon still had victory in mind and why wouldn't he?

When all was said and done, light had one advantage over darkness; speed.

Light moves and reacts speedily while Darkness creeps.

He could take advantage of that.

Devon then stretched his hands in front of him as he charged a glowing ball of light in the space of a second before releasing it to blast towards Addilyn but she had a thick coat of darkness around herself which absorbed and nullified the attack.

Devon never expected it to hit her but now that he had made Addilyn use her prepared Dark shield he would take advantage of the space of time before she moved it to defend her exposed back, to place an attack that would at least cripple her and leave her open for a defining hit.

When he moved in to implement this plan, which was quite impressive in itself, his attacks were deflected by a speedy swipe of Addilyn's spiked tail. And even then, it took no damage.

"What?" Devon was at first confused at how an Ordinance harnessing strike could have been hit away with a Dragon tail.

That should have been impossible. No matter how sturdy her dragon scales were.

Then he noticed the tail was coated with Darkness.

Now that he looked her over, she saw that her whole body was coated in the Darkness of her Ordinance harnessing.

Addilyn had found a way to overcome the slowness of her ordinance with the implementation of her physical strength and speed.

Devon's brows furrowed,

This level of control over her ordinance was already nearing Ordinance incarnation.

But while her control was impressive and deserved praise, she was still far from that level.

Addilyn roared with laughter,

"Hahahahaha, what sort of cultivator would I be if I did not take note of my disadvantage and think of ways to overcome it or at least temper it to the point that it would not cost me too much.

What about you?" She asked.

"What about me?" Devon asked and Addilyn grinned,

"It seems you were so preoccupied with moving fast and catching me off guard that you failed to notice the darkness creeping ever closer to you". And just as she said it, Devon began to notice his body getting coated with Darkness.

Eroding at the light around him.

"What the...?" He exclaimed and attempted to fight off the darkness with his light while also thinking about how she has accomplished this.

He was always so aware of himself and could not understand how...that was when it hit him.

Piggybacking!

The darkness had piggybacked on his attack.

The light attack he had hit Addilyn with which she had swiped sway with her tail had still been tethered to Devon and he had failed to notice how it used that to transmit darkness back to him.

Being an opposite of the showy Ordinance of light, Darkness was far more subtle and capable of hiding its presence completely while biding its time for large-scale corrosion of the very core of the light radiating around him.

Addilyn was on him in a flash and punched him,

"Bam!"

It hit and sent Devon rocketing away but before he could even attempt to defend himself or heighten his speed with his Light ordinance, Addilyn was already behind him and striking him towards the ground...

*Bam!*

*Bang!*

*Crack!*

... Cracking the barren ground of Gelread valley.

The impact killing off C-class experts in the immediate area.

But Addilyn was not done as she dived downwards to finish what she had started.

When she got close, she noticed something weird: Devon was smiling.

Even as Darkness corroded his strength and practically rendered him defenseless, this man... This monster was smiling in an absolutely deranged manner.

Chapter 470 - The End Of The Expedition And The Revelation Of Trying Times

Right before Addilyn's strike hit him, Devon chuckleed and suddenly released a massive ball of light, that expanded so fast that even when Addilyn thought to move away, it was already too late,

*Booommm!!!*

She found herself rocketing away from him right back into the sky where she then made an arc before landing and creating a crater to rival Devon's on the ground.

Hal and Melinda watched the whole battle with their eyes wide as though to take in every single detail.

It could never be understated on how large scale this battle was. Both generals had long forgone the use of Cosmic energy and now focused on battling with their Ordnances of which the two were now at Harnessing mastery.

The level of physicality and strength was simply too insane for words.

Melinda could see her future in those ordinance strikes as she did not and would never doubt her capabilities and potential.

Reyna watched as well as this was the first time she would ever see her sister go all out against any human.

.She was even making use of Ordinance harnessing she never knew Addilyn had already comprehended and when she (Addilyn) fell and created the crater on the ground, she had to admit, she was worried.

Only for a little bit though as the doubt was soon wiped out of her mind.

There was no way her sister could have been done in by that attack.

There was just no way, she thought.

And sure enough, out of the crater, Addilyn rose. She looked tattered, battle-worn and her scales had fallen off to expose her smooth skin that used to be covered/protected by her Armor which was now torn as well.

Even then, the Dystopian general smiled.

While of the two, Devon looked much better off, he knew not to underestimate the Dystopian general until the very end.

He was right and even as she stood, Addilyn began to use her trump card. She began to cast a spell with her Dragon Bloodline energy and she then planned to use it alongside her Ordinance when someone was suddenly standing between her and Devon but was facing her.

It was the young man with a fan who had been eyeing the battle from afar with the woman.

The man fanned himself as he chuckled,

"My my, Addilyn, I have to say this is a new look for you. But it's definitely a look that I like" he said and looked her over.

Focusing mostly on areas of exposed skin.

Addilyn smirked,

"Nero, I never thought you would think to show your ugly face here but I wonder if you came alone..." She had not even completed her words when another figure, this time the woman, suddenly appeared floating in mid-air.

She had back length coal-black hair and coal-black eyes and while her robes were not exactly form-fitting, they could not completely cover her detectable and mouthwatering curves.

"That's enough" the woman said and her voice boomed around the battlefield on which battles were still going on.

Aulich was still facing the Dystopian commander with red hairs which turned out to be a sign that the commander possessed the bloodline of a Phoenix.

Actually, I say 'still facing' but in truth, Aulich was having his ass handed to him by the commander who kept flapping flaming wings and changing directions so much faster than the Silva man could follow.

Anyway, the woman in the sky eyed Devon before she waved her hand nonchalantly and shut off the light he was beginning to radiate.

Devon went from furrowed brows to widened eyes. The manner in which she had shut off his Ordinance was a sure sign that this woman had an Abstract Ordinance at the insight level.

That was the reality of the disparity between Elemental and Abstract ordinances.

Insight mastery of an Abstract ordinance would always easily trump Harnessing mastery of an Elemental ordinance. It was a power scale that was impossible to override.

At least no one had ever seen a situation where Elemental came out on top except in the case of an incarnation.

"Pesky human, how dare you?" She asked Devon, most likely referring to the injuries Devon had inflicted on Addilyn, and released her immense pressure that actually began to force him to his knees.

However, when going to war with a Dystopian army of unknown strength, how could a general, well aware of his strength actually come to battle with nothing other than his own strength?

Surely he must have a trump card saved up for emergencies such as this.

In an instant, Devon was suddenly holding a seal. The seal was jade green and impressed with the imperial symbol.

The seal began to give off a pressure to rival the woman's oppressing pressure and soon, it was shielding Devon who looked up with a smirk at the woman whose brows were now furrowed.

This was the pressure, or more accurately, it was a hint of the pressure of the Haron Emperor, a Five Star Cosmic saint!

It was a pressure that trumped the woman's easily but Devon did not use it to strike her down.

The seal was finite and it would not do well to be erratic in his use of it.

Besides, he still had no idea what these two newcomers were here for.

Eventually, the woman retracted her pressure with a scoff,

"Borrowed power is at the end of the day... Borrowed" she said and waved her hand to wrap Reyna in transcendent beast energy and bring her by her side in mid-air.

Then she eyed Reyna and then looked over at Hal and Melinda, easily noting that there had been a battle between the two and Reyna and the fact that being they were still alive told her Reyna had not been victorious.

She huffed with disappointment and Reyna flushed with embarrassment,

"N-N-N-Naya..." She began but the lady said,

"Not another word" and then looked over at Addilyn,

"We're leaving" she said.

"Hell no!" Addilyn said, "not until I kill him" she gestured to Devon.

"No, we are leaving now" the lady said but Addilyn scoffed,

"I'll do what I want. I'd die rather than accept defeat" she said.

Nero still fanned himself as he showed Addilyn a Seal. Once Addilyn saw it, she seemed to understand something from it before she gritted her teeth in annoyance,

"Retreat!" She yelled and every Dystopian still alive and able to move began to run away from their opponents towards the Dystopian border.

The woman in the sky called Naya turned and flew away with Reyna still wrapped in her transcendent energy bubble.

Devon and the commanders made no moves to pursue and gave no orders for pursuit.

And since no order was given, the Horonian soldiers began to yell in victory which they saw as an upset as their numbers had been drastically lessened thanks to the detonation of the suicide bombers.

"Should we just... Let them go" Gaige asked as the Dystopians moved farther and farther away.

Devon sighed,

"It's been a long two months. This seems a fitting ending. After all, it's still our victory.

Besides, we learned something that could help the continent in the future" he said.

"And what's that?" Aulich asked with the tiniest bit of a sneer.

Devon thought back to that seal and what he knew it to mean,

"The Dystopian continent is going through trying times. I cannot be sure but the cooperation between the four major clans seems to finally be heading towards a breakdown."

Bab 386: 461-470

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Bab 386: 461-470

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