Chapter 521 - Let It Not Be Said...
There was a unanimous 'what!' from all those in Hal's area and almost every other person in the entire location which led Hal to believe this was not how it had been during last year's exam.
The broadcast had audio, so everyone in the coliseum heard the exclamation as did Elsa but she just continued speaking,
"While cultivators are selfish by nature as we need to be since the road to greatness is mostly personal, the Haron continent is at war with the Dystopian continent and even more than boosting individual strength is a need to build camaraderie.
Not to abandon your teammates. Squadmates, battle mates, whatever mates on the field of battle. To look out for your fellow human.
If you wish to showcase how good you are on your own, well, you will get your chance in the second stage of the Exams. Until then, work as a team or fail.
Of course, you can try again next year and be tagged a failure but the rules are not sure to have changed by then.
Not at all"
Hal understood the concept.
After all, it was fairly easy to understand.
It was an all or no one situation they were having.
Elsa continued,
"You are allowed to use everything you can to win. Whatever skill you possess, whatever artifact you possess... Anything you have and can give you an advantage, you are permitted to use.
But do remember that you are not allowed to kill or overly maim each other.
Now since camaraderie is much easier with those you know than those you don't, you are allowed to select your group members as you please.
You will be given thirty minutes to form your groups.
For those of you who have those you wish to be grouped with, I advise you to find them now because once the twenty minutes are up, I will be grouping you myself.
And it is almost certain to be random."
The twenty minutes began.
Hal used Astral energy as a beacon to write a not-so-subtle message that read; PIERRE, OVER HERE.
He opted for those since he did not really have any other means of contacting Pierre as he had not exchanged contacts with him.
As for Nicole who he knew would be more than eager to be in his group, Hal merely contacted through their telepathic link which saw Nicole heading over to where he was in seconds.
While Hal rallied his group, many in the VIP box wondered who he was.
Even though the broadcast was not always focused on him, it was still focused enough for those in the Coliseum to keep getting a good look at him constantly.
His incredibly handsome face that had no equal.
His nonchalant pose.
And of course, there was the fact that he was standing next to a goddess-like beauty with long hair and the Golden eyes of a Dane.
Hal's name on the list which was available to all those in the coliseum was without a last name but the same was not the case for Melinda who had been stated as a Dane.
And then, there was the brief bio published about the participants.
For Melinda, she was said to be the daughter of the Dane monster and said to be a formidable examinee and to be looked out for.
For Hal, it simply said he was from Salmon city, now renamed Sapphire city, and was scouted by Imperial Princess Tanya Haron. Prospects: unknown.
Compared to the illustrious bio of the other examinees, Hal's was a tad bit lackluster and it was not entirely the fault of the one publishing the bio.
All those participating in the entrance exams were members of illustrious sects and families all over the Haron continent. They were known to be incredible.
They had a foundation which meant they had places of grandeur the publisher could go to and source for information.
Whereas Hal was simply from a backwater city with the only notable name tied to him being the princess who had no intentions of sharing any more than what was already in the bio.
Lackluster as it might have been.
Anyway, Kirill saw this as an opportunity.
An opportunity to stake his claim on that stubborn grandson of his.
Collecting the broadcasting device in Elsa's hand, he said for all in the coliseum to hear,
"Hmm, Hmm, Hal is not just a nobody from a backwater city, he's a member of my grand Doxon family. He is Hal Doxon, son of the Doxon Duchess and grandson of Kirill Doxon, this old man sitting in the VIP box.
Let it never be said that he is a nobody with unknown prospects"
With that, the broadcast of the exam was hijacked with the image of a letter stamped with the Doxon Duchess' seal that stated Hal was her son and should be awarded the recognition and respect that was deserving of someone next in line for her title.
No one thought to refute this fact and those who did not already know simply stared at the letter in awe.
At least until the broadcast returned to images of the rundown district.
Not many in the VIP box were overly surprised by the news but certainly all of them were intrigued at what this meant for the Exam.
And if Hal could step up and show himself deserving of his Doxon last name.
The Empress was absolutely unbothered by the news.
Merely looking to her daughter to ask once again as she had since she found out Tanya recruited someone for the Royal Academy Exams,
"Are you sure he's worth the spot?"
Tanya shrugged with a smile,
"The exams are already here so why don't we just see how well he performs?' She said to which her mother nodded and returned her attention to the broadcast.
"Wait a minute, are those Silvas?" Someone said in the coliseum and soon many others noticed as well.
Two Silvas were dashing towards the area of the rundown district Hal and Melinda were in.
In the VIP box, many looked to the Silver-haired, pale-eyed young man who looked to be in his late twenties and was leading the Silva party along with his family's patron.
He was Adrien Silva.
Adeline, and Pierre's older brother, and the sight of his siblings heading towards a Dane and a Doxon left a bad taste in his mouth as was evident by his frown.
...
Meanwhile, at the rundown district,
While Hal awaited the arrival of the Silva siblings and Nicole, he witnessed the formation of a group as well and witnessed a beautiful young woman with moderate breasts dressed in a martial attire going towards the group in question,
Hal recognized and sensed her as Valerie.
Looking even better than she had when they met months ago with a silent confidence about her.
"Could I join you?" Valerie asked.
She had not actually come here with anyone and if she did not ask to be part of this group that looked made up of strong individuals, she could be thrust into a group of nobodies later.
"What's your cultivation?" Asked the de facto leader of the group she went to but before she could answer, Hal called out to her,
"Valerie" he said.
The lady turned towards the sound of her name and came face to face with the face that had haunted her dreams for months but instead of smiling at the reunion, Valerie frowned in a clear show of animosity.
Chapter 522 - Screw Them All!
Melinda looked between Hal and Valerie and could hot help but frown.
It was not that the two were sharing a moment and did not seem to notice anything going on around them.
Or for something, in her case, as unnecessary as insecurity or jealousy.
It was that the two (Hal and Valerie)...
"Will you two just say something?"
... had not said a single word since they faced each other.
Melinda's impatient prompt seemed to be enough to jolt Valerie out of the intense staring contest she was having with Hal who met her stare of animosity with a jovial one.
"Oh, miss Dane, it's so nice to meet you" Valerie said with a surprising smile.
Melinda blinked.
The sudden transition of Valerie's hostile glare to Hal to a warm and almost worshipping smile to her was a little off-putting.
And that was before Valerie took her hand and held it tight with bright eyes,
"Do we know each other?" Melinda asked with a confused smile.
She had no recent memory of ever meeting this young woman.
The most she had ever heard of Valerie was what Hal had told her and that was not really much considering Hal did not actually know that much about Valerie himself.
Valerie shook her head,
"Nope, we've never met. But when I read in your Bio about all the things you went through. Getting banished for standing up for yourself against that unnamed bastard in your family, it made me feel completely sure for the first time."
In a bid to better promote Melinda's potential in the exam, the publisher had done enough research to know what had happened to her in the past and how she survived it all to return to her family five years later stronger than ever.
The Bio did not actually mention the attempted rape or the name of the one who attempted the rape, the one who Melinda stood up to.
Most likely because the publisher's research was not as extensive as he or she would have wished.
"Completely sure about what?" Hal asked from behind Valerie and the young lady tolled her eyes and mostly ignored him.
Hal's face had a look about it that had Melinda chuckling when she saw it.
It was as though the treatment was new to the Blue-eyed young Devil.
"Completely sure about what?" Melinda asked in hope that she would succeed where Hal had failed.
She did.
"Completely sure about standing up for myself. Not letting the men in my life or even potential man in my life dictate how it should be. Taking my destiny into my own hands.
Screw my so-called Fiance.
And screw some random nobody who, just because he provided me help in my time of need, suddenly thinks he owns me.
Screw... Them... All!"
The last three words were said forcibly and with Valerie's head tilted towards Hal so that the blue-eyed -confused- young man knew she was referring him especially.
However, when she was done, Hal understood what she was going on about and it had him adopt an expression Melinda was sure she had not seen Hal have many times since they had been together.
He was embarrassed.
Other than after the first time they slept together when Hal had been embarrassed about how little he contributed to her cultivation progress, the golden eyed beauty doubted she had ever seen him this way.
Why was Hal embarrassed?
Well, he remembered how assertive he had been back then.
Not that he would take it back if he could but it still made him a bit bashful to think of how easily be had ignored the obvious disparity in his and Valerie's statuses when he staked his claim on her.
His expression quickly became normal again though.
He would not be who he was if it didn't.
At that point, the rest of his group finally arrived.
The first to arrive was Nicole Antonov, one of the three Antonov sisters who along with Delaney had been subject to Hal's masterful ministrations back in the Doxon Duchy.
It had been so long since she last saw him (almost three months) and there was nothing more she wished for at that moment than for a reunion in the most sensual manner possible.
'But wait' she thought 'Why is there a Dane with him?'
Melinda acknowledged Nicole presence with a light smile that threw the Antonov lady off before she returned her attention to Valerie,
"Such obvious disrespect... It must have annoyed you" she told the lady who nodded,
"Oh, it did. It spurred me on to do something incredibly crazy just to show that I am not in his league... That I have surpassed him..." Valerie paused suddenly just as the Silva Siblings finally arrived.
She had not paused for them but for a sudden realization which she was only just having because she had been so focussed on venting the annoyance she felt for...
"Wait a minute, why the hell are you here?" Valerie suddenly rounded on Hal to ask.
It was a fairly stupid question as Hal's reason for being at the rundown district should have been obvious.
And it was obvious to her, she just did not -could not- accept it as fact.
For two reasons;
First, the whole reason she went through all her ordeals to become as powerful as she now was and to participate in this exam was to surpass her stupid fiance as well as the unknown nobody named Hal who actually dared to covet her.
Even though at the time of their meeting, she was only at the Cosmic pearl realm, she had still been stronger than him,
Second, -tied to the ending of her first reason- Hal had been much too weak back then to be in good shape to participate in the competition mere months after.
Her case was different.
Her strength had been achieved through special circumstances.
Surely, Hal could not have achieved his strength and feat through such circumstances as well, could he?
Hal shrugged in reply,
"I'm participating. Taking an exam I really feel I could do without." He said in a nonchalant tone that caused everyone in the area to pause and look back at him.
"What?" Hal asked when he felt the stares.
He knew what the impact of his words would be. He just didn't care.
"Who do you think you are?" The one who asked was not Valerie who was in shock at his response.
It was the Silver-haired Adeline who from the start had looked uninterested to be in Hal's company.
The outrage in her tone was clear as she stepped up to Hal.
Hal could not help but smile as to how this was reminiscent of his first meeting with her when she had accused him of looking at her.
Even back then, Hal had not been intimidated not to mention now that he had progressed greatly.
He sighed,
"What does who I am have to do with sharing a personal opinion?" He asked at what he felt was an unnecessary question posed by the Silva lady.
"I just want to know what backing you have to say something so disrespectful and think you won't face the repercussions" Adeline said with a sneer which Hal could still notice even though she was wearing a veil.
He took a deep breath before he replied,
"It's not disrespectful. I never said the Royal Academy was weak or does not deserve the prestige it enjoys. Neither did I say the people of this continent don't need it.. All I said was that 'I' on a personal basis FEEL like I can do without it."
Chapter 523 - Oh, Hell No.
VIP box...
"What arrogance" said a Silva man to Hal's words as the broadcast was now focused on him and his words.
Many sneaked looks to the Empress and she was frowning.
A sign many took to mean she was not a fan of Hal's words.
Maybe he was not disrespecting the Academy directly, (even though some would argue that he was) he was still demeaning the fact that he was even allowed to participate.
As though he considered himself bigger than the Academy as a whole.
"This is the kind of dreg the Doxon family is now producing? Could the Doxon family perhaps believe they are greater than the Royal Academy?" continued the Silva man.
The Antonov brothers (the sons of Anton Antonov, Emily's father) looked from the Silva man to Kirill Doxon who the Silva man's words were directed to and frowned.
With Dimitri stroking his beard.
Kirill was silent for a few seconds and even Isabella wondered if he was about to explode in anger but the Doxon man merely smiled,
"Don't misunderstand my grandson. He surely meant no disrespect. Also while the Royal Academy is indeed prestigious, it is not compulsory for anyone to attend.
Anyone other than the Imperial family I mean.
My dear daughter and my idiot sons never attended.
My grandsons, Hal excluded, of course, are never likely to attend.
Even if my idiot sons and immature crybaby grandsons are useless and mediocre, will you actually understate my daughter's accomplishment?"
The Silva man frowned and made to open his mouth to retort. Most likely to call Kirill back to the matter at hand and stop him from digressing too far but the Doxon patron quickly interrupted,
"As for Hal, he has never once been in the tutelage of a Doxon. He has lived his whole life away from the family and he has achieved much.
He is a young man not yet in his thirties and is participating in the Royal Academy entrance exam that is unofficially reserved for members of the young generation who are, at the very least, Cosmic phenomenon experts.
'Arrogant' his words might be, but you cannot discount his talent."
There was a brief pause before Kirill added,
"That said, if he has somehow offended the Empress and the Royal Academy as a whole, I apologize on his behalf" he said with his words oozing with respect and 'genuine' appreciation for his talented grandson.
If only Hal could see this scene of his grandfather's false show of affection.
It is almost certain he would call the old man out.
The Empress shook her head, still unsmiling,
"No need to apologize" she said.
Elsa soon raised the device to her mouth and broadcasted her voice all about the coliseum while it was transmitted to the rundown district,
"Twenty minutes are up!"
...
The Rundown city...
While Adeline still looked at Hal in anger, the tense situation between them had cooled off already before Elsa's words were transmitted to them.
At that point, Valerie had gone over to her group to showcase late-stage Cosmic phenomenon realm cultivation so that she would be allowed to join
"Twenty minutes are up! I trust you have all formed your groups and linked your devices. For those of you who have not, your devices will be linked randomly. You will not be added to already formed groups but will make up your own separate group.
As soon as Elsa said this, the ones who were groupless, either due to no one letting them join it or they thought they were too good for any of the groups quickly realized a problem.
Since the grouping was random, they were likely to be nowhere close to their group mates.
They were on their own and ripe for the picking for already organized groups.
"Oh, hell no" said one ungrouped fellow in Hal's area who quickly noticed after consulting his device which also acted as a tracker of sorts for all those within a group, that none of his group mates was nearby and decided to make a break for it before the exam officially started.
The tracking part of the device was to help them to find each other and help the group leader to rally them.
*Bzzzrrrr*
Almost as soon as the young man made to move, the device on his hand released a pulsing shock that froze him in place.
His eyes were widened in pain and his mouth was open wide even though no sound came out.
He keeled over soon after.
"No one is allowed to move while I am speaking. You will remain exactly where you are as it will be your position upon commencement of the Exams.
Now for the rules, as of now, there are Seventy-seven groups formed.
Thirty groups have ten members, Nineteen have eight members, Twelve groups have seven members while Eighteen groups have five members.
All make up the Six hundred and sixteen participants taking the Royal Academy entrance exams this year.
Only ten groups of the seventy-seven formed will pass the first stage of the Entrance exams.
You are not allowed to kill or maim, I want that to be very clear.
You only have to incapacitate your opponents to be unable to continue.
Once again, every skill, knowledge, ability artifact... Anything you can use to win is all allowed.
Now... Begin!"
If Hal had thought there would be a moment of respite before the battle broke out, he was very wrong.
Almost as soon as Elsa said to begin, someone already sent a blast of cosmic attack at the incapacitated man on the ground, you know, the one who attempted to get away as soon as he could.
*Boom*
With that attack alone, with the target unable to defend himself, the seventy-seven teams were cut down to Seventy-six.
The participants got a chance to see what would happen once their devices go red which was for a portable teleportation circle ingrained within the devices to activate and take the defeated ones out of the rundown district.
Almost as soon as the young man was teleported away, Hal's instincts tingled and he instantly defended himself with Cosmic energy imbued with barely a hint of cosmic aurora but it was more than enough to deflect the attack tossed at him by none other than Valerie.
"I'm going to defeat you. I'm going to prove to you that you don't own me... No one does" Valerie said with a frown as she began to summon a four-circle ring of a four-grade skill.
As she did, she took the time to look at Melinda,
"It's such a shame that you are in the same group as he is" she told the golden-eyed lady while Hal told the rest of his group not to interfere.
Adeline frowned as though she disliked taking orders from him but she understood Hal and Valerie looked to have some unfinished business.
That said, she was ready to interfere if needed.
But she was not needed...
The four-ring circle produced multiple spears composed of cosmic energy that all targeted Hal who condensed a cosmic Aurora in his fist and struck it out just as the spears shot at him...
*Boom*
... Destroying the skill completely with the blowback even hitting Valerie who raised her arms coated with Cosmic energy to defend herself.
When she lowered her arms, Hal was smiling at her,
"It really interests me to know how you got so strong"
Chapter 524 - A Protective Bubble.
Valerie sneered at his words but that did not mean she was neglecting to think about how Hal had so easily destroyed her fourth-grade skill.
Of course, the moment Valerie attacked, when though she was not the leader of her group, the others in the group decided to join in on the attack.
Not the attack against Hal as they left that Valerie, instead they focussed on the rest of Hal's group.
It was a bit smart.
First, their group was much larger than Hal's with seven members compared to Hal's group's five.
There were other groups around them and those quickly began battling it out as well.
The faster they cut down groups and reduce the competition while still making sure to survive till the end, the more likely it was that they would be part of the last ten groups to pass.
Everyone in Hal's group, except Hal and Melinda, let out the pressure of their cultivation to face their opponents.
Melinda's opponent looked confident and faced her with a sneer. As though to say the fact that Melinda was a Dane did not mean she (the opponent) was not going to go all out to achieve victory.
However, from the moment the opponent's cultivation was revealed to be at the peak of the Cosmic phenomenon realm, the golden-eyed beauty no longer saw her as a threat.
Melinda had been in the peak of the Cosmic phenomenon realm before Hal left the Silva duchy and had been working towards the turning of her phenomenon into an Aurora before they reunited in the Imperial city.
Their reunion of course going in the way that pleased them both; raunchy intercourse in the Harem space.
With Hal having now surpassed her cultivation, his seed was all the more beneficial and she spent hours in the Harem space completing her breakthrough into the Early stage of the Cosmic Aurora realm.
So as her opponent summoned a Cosmic armament in the form of a large hammer, she merely cracked her knuckles and began to battle the Armament wielding expert with her fists.
The battle caught the attention of Adeline Silva who was being quite dominant in her battle against her opponent even though they both shared the same cultivation. (Peak stage of the Cosmic phenomenon realm)
"How the hell are you already in the Cosmic Aurora realm?" She could not help but ask in a carrying tone of voice that caused Melinda to spare her a look and smirk.
Adeline's exclamation was understandable.
She had been hailed as a genius for years due to her cultivation talent. Advancing faster than her peers and surpassing the laid down norm.
Even now she was nearing advancement to the Cosmic Aurora realm but was sure an advancement was impossible for another few months.
And that was with the best resources the Silva family had to offer.
What sort of resources was Melinda making use of for such speedy advancement.
Even her father, Devon Dane wondered the same while he watched the broadcast of the battle while Isabella sighed as she could very well take a guess. A guess she knew her son could make as well.
Adeline did not need Melinda's cultivation pressure to be shown to know that such physical dominance against an opponent at the peak of the Cosmic phenomenon realm, who was going all out could no longer be in the same realm.
She could have very well been wrong as there were so many eyebrow-raising things that she was oblivious about but in this case, she was not wrong and Melinda saw no reason to deny it.
"Wouldn't you like to know" Melinda smirked and her opponent's eyes widened at the admittance before she leaped away from her.
Melinda chuckled and chased after her when a sound came from behind.
A sound that called all attention to the simultaneous doubling over of two of those in Valerie's group and they had doubled over from getting hit simultaneously by Nicole's fists.
Pierre who had still been battling it out with his opponent looked over with widened eyes not just because of Nicole's effectiveness against two opponents who she looked to have handled with ease but also because, seemingly from that blow to each, the devices of those two instantly went from green to orange.
All this was happening at the same time Hal's one on one battle with Valerie was hitting climax...
The leader of Valerie's group had hung back with his hands crossed in front of his chest. Of all those in the group, he was the only one not fighting and Hal could easily guess why.
It was the same reason he (Hal) had also not let out the pressure of his cultivation.
There was no need when those around could not match up to his motivation at the Cosmic Aurora realm.
At least that was the leader's thought before Melinda showed off her prowess but even then, he decided it was better to just focus on Hal and Valerie's battle.
Why?
He knew everyone else in the group.
At least he knew enough of their capabilities even though they were not all from the same sects or families.
He was fairly confident they would not be so easily defeated.
Valerie however, was more of a last-minute addition that he allowed believing there was strength in numbers, especially since her strength was not exactly weak.
He needed to keep an eye on her and at least see how she would fare.
Anyway,
The main reason Hal had actually not let out the pressure of his cultivation was... Well, he was taking it easy on Valerie.
He saw nothing to gain from beating her senseless.
Not to mention that should he show himself as a Cosmic aurora realm cultivator, the group leader who had thus far remained uninvolved was sure to stop him.
Or at least try to.
After all, Valerie getting defeated could very well mean the whole team would lose if quick action was not taken.
Valerie frowned at the ease with which Hal had destroyed her skill.
But she did not look interested in backing off at all.
Instead, she summoned her longsword cosmic Armament before casting body skills that showed activation with a large green four circled ring beneath her feet.
Then she dashed towards Hal with her speed incredibly increased, moving haphazardly and without a fixed pattern to catch him off guard and avoid getting her hits blocked.
Hal furrowed his brows and summoned his sword cosmic armament which he began using to deflect Valerie's sword strikes, keeping up with her in speed much to her surprise.
Then Hal actually caught her sword edge in the serrated edge of his sword and used it to pull her closer to himself.
Valerie's eyes widened when she suddenly found herself in his arms with his face inches away from her.
His lips so enchanting close... So close that she almost thought the battle unnecessary and believe it was better to lay down arms and...
*Bam*
That was the sound of her punching Hal's cheek both as a way to jolt herself back into her normal senses while and also as a way of telling Hal he had no right to hold on to her.
Hal sighed,
"Feisty of you. But I just thought we could take a break and talk"
"Talk? Haha, how much of a pussy are you? Let go of me and fight like a man for goodness sake" Valerie said as she strained against his hold and charged a cosmic attack imbued with a comic phenomenon.
"As you wish" Hal said and spun her away from him.
Before she could stop spinning and balance herself, Hal sent a Cosmic attack imbued with a much more visible hint of a Cosmic aurora.
*Boom!*
Valerie had managed to protect herself well enough even though the blast sent her propelling away from Hal and into one of the many buildings in the rundown district.
*Bang!*
When she pulled herself out of the wreckage, the first thing Valerie did was to look at her device and discover that it was still green albeit a lighter shade.
The second thing she did was to be shocked by the revelation that Hal was a Cosmic Aurora realm expert!
Something she would never have thought in all her life as possible.
Was this young man going to keep breaking what she had always felt was the natural order of things?
Was he going to keep telling her with his actions that she was not special?
"Retreat" the leader of her group suddenly called out and in all honesty, he had no other choice.
The ones he had been fairly confident in had failed. Their devices were already on orange.
To make matters worse, seeing Nicole's success seemed to spur Pierre, Melinda and Adeline even further to attack their opponents with even more seriousness with Melinda letting out a Cosmic aurora that would have hit her opponent had it not been for the speedy intervention of the leader.
When the leader called for a retreat, neither one of those in Hal's group, except Hal, had any intentions of letting them go but the leader had not called out with the misguided hope that the opposing group would ceasefire.
He pulled all his group members towards himself with cosmic energy before pulling out an Array scroll that he charged with cosmic energy to activate a protective bubble that enveloped him and his group members and rolled them away to safety.
No attacks tossed at the bubble had any effect other than helping to roll it even faster away.
Once the group was gone, Hal and his group members had no respite because other groups had been successful in their battles and were looking for their next victims.
Things were looking to become a Battle Royale.
Chapter 525 - My First.
The good news was that there were six groups, excluding Hal's group, that were to be involved in the battle royal of sorts, and Hal's group was not exactly a prime target.
But that did not let any of the five relax as they knew quite well how quickly all attention could be focussed on them.
No one in the opposing groups was hiding their cultivation and were will showcasing it for all to sense.
For all to be intimidated.
Especially those at the Cosmic Aurora realm.
And there were quite a number of them.
Every one of the groups in this part of the rundown district had at least one Cosmic aurora expert in their ranks.
Adeline gripped her ax cosmic Armament tighter while Pierre gripped his phenomenon rank sword artifact as he eyed the opposition with a frown.
Melinda and Nicole walked closer to Hal with the latter asking Hal,
"What now?"
Hal sighed,
"We decide. Do we want to wait out the battle or do we want to take an active part?"
Adeline frowned as she said,
"First, you don't lead this group. I'm only here to help my brother so you will not be ordering me around.
Second, standing around will be detrimental.
Even if we do survive this round, we could still get eliminated because everyone taking part in this exam is getting graded by how involved they are. How good they are."
Hal furrowed his brows as he wondered if Elsa had neglected to talk about the grading as a form of oversight or if it had been to pick out those who would not assist their groups and merely hang back to watch from the sidelines.
The second seemed much more likely.
So he shrugged,
"So we fight" he said and suddenly crouched to slam his palms on the ground.
The moment he did this, everyone in their part of the rundown district began to attack each other as though his actions had broken the deadlock.
More than one expert shot cosmic attacks imbued with phenomenon at Hal whose palms were still pressed against the ground but he was not worried.
Why would he be when Melinda and Nicole were watching his back?
Melinda was suddenly in front of him and swiping her white sword cosmic armament with the crisscrossing golden flames against the attacks and quite easily dispersed them while Nicole retaliated with cosmic attacks imbued with a phenomenon of her own.
*Bang!*
*Boom!*
As soon as the deflection and retaliation were complete... All of which had happened in the space of two seconds, the reason Hal had slammed his palms against the ground became evident when multiple rune circles appeared on the ground.
"Look out!" yelled a group leader but he was too late as the rune circles shot beams at one member each from all six groups, not to attack them which Hal had thought would be a waste considering he could not one-shot them with his Astral sense at the fifth rank.
Instead, the beam pulled the members towards himself and his group.
Then the rune circles got larger to form two Royal blue Astral Domes that camped Hal, Melinda, Nicole and four of the opposing group members pulled towards them in one of the Domes.
While Pierre and Adeline were camped in with two others.
Almost immediately those on the outside understood what was going on.
They had been separated.
If the ones taken into the Domes were defeated and their devices went red, every single one of the teams would lose.
Hal straightened up with a satisfied smile on his face.
To create the two domes, he had spent a lot of the Astral energy he had stored in his body but it was well worth it.
Then he joined Melinda and Nicole in staring at the four inside his Dome while he spoke to Pierre and Adeline who also understood what this situation meant,
"You can handle those two, can't you?" His words were mainly directed at Adeline who could tell and was even more disgruntled as she struggled with admitting that not only was this more than a decent plan but Hal was an intimidating fellow who was a capable runemaster as well as a capable Alchemist.
She was not the only one who thought so as among those in the VIP box was her Alchemy Master, Alexis who had come to watch his protegee crush the exams.
He and the other Alchemy masters present at the time Hal had gone to the Alchemist Organization building in the Silva Duchy were more than a little surprised to find out he was a Runemaster as well as an Alchemist.
"Tch, what do you take me for?" Adeline answered him with a sneer while the two she had been camped with furrowed their brows at what they believed was an underestimation of their capabilities.
"Break down the Dome!" Yelled one of the group leaders on the outside as all groups banded together to free their group members.
Showing inter-group solidarity in the face of a common enemy.
Alas, when they struck at the Domes with multiple attacks,
*Boom!*
*Bang!*
... The attacks ricocheted right back at them.
Smacking a lot of them in the faces and sending them crashing away.
Hal had tweaked the mechanics of the ricocheting Dome he had used when he had fought with Gregory.
Making it so that while the effects of all attacks sent at it were reduced upon rebound, the reduction in force was not enough that they were unbothered by it.
In fact, some of them were already noticing their devices green glow getting lighter.
The only one who had remained mostly unbothered by the rebound had been a large young man who had planted his feet solidly on the ground to avoid getting blown back.
And now he straightened up to barrel right at the Dome.
Since long-distance seemed useless, it only stood to reason that close combat was the answer, right?
"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Hal said as he watched the large man get closer through the transparent dome.
Even though the large man heard, he merely sneered and ran faster to hit the Dome with such force, the sound of impact was almost deafening,
*BOOM!!!*
*BANG!!!*
However, the sound of impact was nothing compared to the *Bang* sound the Dome gave off when it rebounded the force of the large man's hit, and since said young man was close and still releasing a fair amount of force in his bid to shatter the Dome, the repulse not only sent him barreling away and into a building...
"ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH"
... It also wracked his whole body, weakening his muscles and causing him agonizing pain even before he smacked into the building.
In fact, hitting the building was a pillowy landing compared to the pain he felt from his contact with the Dome.
As shown by his continuous howls before he eventually fainted.
"Told ya" Hal said but since the young man's group mates were not yet teleported away, then the young man must still be capable of fighting.
A member of his group ran towards him to most likely feed him mending pills.
Then Melinda smiled at the four in the Dome who had summoned their Armaments and were charging Cosmic attacks
"Now, with that foolishness dealt with, we can focus on the matter at hand..." She began but was interrupted by Nicole,
"I can't not ask. Hal, why is there a Dane here?"
Not asking why Melinda was taking the exam itself as the golden-eyed beauty had more than shown herself to be capable but asking why she was in Hal's group.
Melinda had even been the only one with him when Nicole arrived.
Hal raised his brow, not because of the question but because she had not asked the question telepathically.
Nicole wanted Melinda to hear and it was probably meant as a kind of snide.
Antonovs or more accurately, the Sensual palace which was the sect Nicole was here to represent as the most gifted of their young generation, and Danes don't mix well.
At least that was what Nicole thought.
Melinda could actually not care less about the prejudice between both families.
"She's my first" was all Hal said not feeling the need or urge to explain himself.
However, that was more than enough for Nicole to understand the nature of their relationship.
It was more than enough for many watching the broadcast of their part of the rundown district to understand as well.
With members of the Silva family party, Adrien Silva especially, looking over at the Danes and Doxons with narrowed eyes at this unprecedented connection between both families.
-
*Boom!*
A partnership was quickly formed among the four in the Dome and they began working together to overwhelm their opponents without any worry or fear even after Melinda had showcased her Early-stage Cosmic Aurora realm cultivation.
Clearly, they had trump cards which were to be expected of the best in the young generation.
"You're not the only one with arrays," said one of them with a sneer as the other three bought him the precious seconds he needed to activate the Array in his hands which formed into a miniature cage.
Chapter 526 - Han Doe Of The Golden Crow Sect.
There was definitely something ominous about the miniature cage but neither Melinda nor Nicole was going to let that stop them from attacking and together, they charged at the four, especially the one with the cage.
He seemed to be the glue that sort of held the whole impromptu alliance together.
Hal on the other hand was staring at the cage and attempting to decipher what the runes that made it up meant and with that, know what its effects were.
His eyes widened slightly at a sudden realization and he made to tell the two ladies but they had already shot attacks towards the young man who held the cage out in front of him.
Immediately he held it out in front of him, the cage released an eerie suction force that pulled the attacks towards it and actually trapped them inside the cage.
Melinda furrowed her brows while Nicole frowned as the two watched their attacks inside the cage begin to shrink as though they were being neutralized and rendered void.
"What the hell?" Nicole exclaimed right as one of the other three dashed towards her to strike her with her sword cosmic Armament.
The Antonov lady held up her large war hammer cosmic Armament in an attempt to defend herself but the cage erased another suction force that grabbed her Armament right out of her hands.
Locking it in the cate to be neutralized once again.
Since the Armament was a cosmic construct of which she could only create and use one at a time.
Nicole merely summoned it again in time to deflect the strike but as it had been a last-minute defense, she was still sent sliding back by the force of the strike, while her Armament was once again sucked into the cage.
Heading right for the dome wall but Hal stopped her before she could actually make contact.
He did not look down at Nicole's face as his attention was completely on the Cage wielding young man who was grinning,
Hal noted that even with their victory looking close at hand, none of the other three were facing back.
Not even to look at the Array they had to thank for the said victory.
The young man launched into a gloating speech.
"It's a rank five Array called a neutralizing cage. It is meant to neutralize any cosmic energy-based attack, Armaments included, as long as they don't surpass the Cosmic Aurora realm.
With it, you have no hope... What do you think you're doing? That's useless" he paused and then said when he saw Hal summon his cosmic Armament and hold it loosely by his side.
Hal smirked and released Nicole so that his hand could be free to project runes on his sword Cosmic Armament.
The moment he was done projecting the runes on the flat edge of his sword, Hal tossed the sword at the cage-wielding young man who frowned with the knowledge that there was something dangerous about the sword spinning in his direction.
But as Hal had suspected, the young man had no say in which attack the cage absorbed.
The attacks just had to be moving in his general direction. I.e the attacker had to be facing him.
Which was why the other three with him were looking away.
He must have told them what not to do.
The cage absorbed the sword and almost immediately, the detonating runes Hal had placed on it set off, blowing the Array apart and sending the wielder smacking into the Dome wall.
Hal felt the young man should never have been cocky about wielding the cage.
Not only was it not an assurance to win as there were ways to defeat its neutralizing abilities one of them being the use of physical strength to knock out the wielder who was responsible for the Array's activation, but there was also the fact that the cage could not neutralize Astral attacks.
In fact, it was all the more vulnerable to them as proven by Hal's exploding Runes.
So shocked were the other three that they didn't notice Melinda dash past them and towards the young man to deliver the final blow that set his now orange device to red.
Activating the portable teleportation array that sent him out of the rundown district.
His group mares on the outside were teleported away as well.
With nothing to neutralize cosmic-based attacks, things returned to the physical confrontation they should have been with none of the three (Hal, Melinda, and Nicole) having any issues defeating their opponents.
For those watching in the coliseum, Melinda's success was impressive but expected. Even Hal's was a little expected as many were already suspecting he was at the Cosmic Aurora realm.
The one whose easy victory surprised the crowd the most was most likely Nicole who once again displayed impressive strength as she made short work of an opponent with which she shared a cultivation realm.
With the three defeated, they and their group mates were teleported out of the rundown district just like the two Pierre and Adeline had been facing.
When Hal brought down the domes, their group was the only one left in their area of the rundown district.
"That was fun" Hal said.
"Speak for yourself, I found it very boring" Adeline retorted which Hal ignored.
"So... What do we do now? We took down six groups and sent one in retreat, I'd say we've contributed enough to pass, wouldn't you?" Nicole said looking at all of them one at a time to see who agreed with her.
Hal shrugged,
"Only miss Silva knows. Remember she's the one who knew about the grading" he pointed out and all eyes turned back to the Silva siblings who were standing side by side.
Almost as though the two had not been paying attention to the conversation, they asked simultaneously,
"What?!"
...
One hour later...
An area in the Rundown District...
*Boom*
Two groups were locked in combat with both having ten members each.
A balanced battle.
"Ahhhh" yelled a man after he was blasted backward by an explosive cosmic attack and smacked through the walls of a building that promptly collapsed on top of him.
The leader of the group of the buried young man looked a tad panicked and quickly looked down to his device after which he released a sigh of relief when he saw that it was still blue.
That said, he knew that the longer he waited the more likely it was that the buried young man's device would eventually become red so he quickly called to two other members of his group to help dig the young man out.
While the two did that, the rest of the group would try to keep the attention of their opponents away from them.
Alas, that was easier said than done.
After all, the other group had even larger numbers and could therefore still divide and multitask.
Going after the ones attempting to dig out their comrade and also battling the ones attempting to keep attention on them.
"It is us, not you who will pass this stage. This exam is not for the likes of you" said the leader of the group with all its members.
(Let's call him leader one and call the leader of the group with a buried member, Leader two)
Leader one said those confident words with a smile while his dark eyes twinkled.
Then he charged a Cosmic Aurora but did not target the other leader or those with him, instead he turned his attack towards the collapsed building.
"No?" Yelled leader two as he attempted to intercept the attack and stop it from hitting and he succeeded...
*Bang!*
... And got himself blasted instead.
Leader two groaned and rolled over while looking down at his device to see it was now in orange.
He was still relieved.
He could still recover.
At least he had stopped the attack...
*Boom*
... He had not even completed the thought when Leader one attacked the now dug out, formerly buried young man to make his device, as well as the devices of everyone in the group, go red,
"Oh, shit..." Was Leader two's last words before he was teleported away from the scene.
Leader one's group began to rejoice.
Celebrating their win.
"It is done" Leader one said with pride with his eyes closed when the sound of merriment stopper abruptly,
"Those are quite confident words to say" said a soothing voice in his ear.
Leader one leaped away as his eyelid flipped open and he faces the reason for his group's sudden quiet.
The group that had just arrived contained Seven individuals in immaculate dressing. They didn't even seem to have been in combat at all throughout the exam.
The one leading the group was a young man with long brown hair dressed in a white robe that had a golden bird embroidered on the chest.
A golden bird that all those in Leader one's group easily recognized as the symbol of the Golden crow sect.
And the young man wearing it had to be the genius, Han Doe of the Golden Crow sect.
Han Doe walked closer to Leader one and said with what was clearly meant to be a regrettable sigh even if it was a sarcastic one,
"You've worked really hard. Unfortunately, from the moment it was said that only Ten groups would pass the first stage, the spots were already filled"
Chapter 527 - The Mysterious Five.
Leader one's eyes widened at such a proclamation and he eyed every other member of Han Doe's group.
Han Doe was not done, choosing to continue from Leader One's wide-eyed expression,
"Ah, that amazes you doesn't it? That proclamation of strength made you shiver, didn't it? Well, I don't blame you. You should be amazed.
The true leaders of the young generation, me included, on the Haron continent have formed their teams and as it turns out, we're ten and have formed groups with those in whose abilities we trust.
I assure you no one will be eliminating our teams.
Thus, the spots are all filled. No one can..."
"What of the mysterious five?" Leader one suddenly cut in with an interruption that quickly disrupted Han Doe's flow and he looked into the leader's face.
"The what?" Han Doe asked with furrowed brows.
"The mysterious five. They are a group of five individuals who are so fierce, no one really has a description of what they look like. They have been going about hunting groups down.
Appearing out of nowhere to interfere in fights.
As far as I know, none of them has so far identified or been identified as a leader of the young generation"
Their motto is 'We're taking you down before you take us down, you dumbasses!'
You haven't heard of them?" Leader one asked with incredulity.
"Of course not. Because they don't exist" Han Doe said with a frown.
A frown that Leader one quickly mirrored but it was not him who spoke next, but one of those in his group,
"They do. The hunting has been going on for about forty minutes and the news of their prowess has already spread..." Said the group member before he shut up when Han Doe turned in his direction,
"Don't you see, you idiots? If this group actually exists and they are as fierce as you make them out to be, there would be no one to spread the news of said prowess.
All teams they come across would have been defeated." Han Doe said and he made a good point but a voice sounded suddenly to answer his head-scratching question,
"Not if the mysterious five decided to let an entire team go free all for the purpose of spreading the word" said the voice and all eyes turned towards it to see a devilishly handsome calm sapphire-eyed young man leaning against a building.
Seeming as though he had been there all along which was impossible as Han Doe was sure his senses would have caught his arrival.
He was not a mid-stage Cosmic Aurora expert for nothing.
Even those watching the broadcast and had been expecting Hal and his group to arrive out of nowhere and dazzle the screens with impressive strength like they had been doing for the last hour or so had no idea how and when he arrived.
Hal had taken full advantage of the broadcasting blind spots which were anywhere something interesting was not happening to turn visible away from the sight of those watching in the coliseum.
As for Han Doe, what hope did he have in sensing Hal whose invisibility at the moment, as long as he did not make use of energy, would keep him hidden from even the senses of saints?
"Who are you?" Han Doe asked Hal with a frown.
Hal raised a brow in surprise,
"I thought that will be obvious. I'm Hal, a member of the mysterious five. And as I was saying, the reason news of our prowess spread was because we let it spread"
"That's stupid. Why let a group go free if you are all about hunting groups?" Han Doe asked with a hint of mockery before Hal chuckled,
"Who said anything about letting a team go free? We found the most passionate team we could. A team in which all members would do anything to pass the first stage and then we took one of their members hostage.
Promising to only let the member go free when everyone in this rundown district knew the name of our fearsome group."
"Why?" Han Doe was confused at what he considered unnecessary.
Hal shrugged,
"Same reason you came here and instead of just going right at it and defeating this group, you decided to dilly-dally and tell them all ten spots are filled.
Speaking of which, who are you to say all ten spots are filled?" He asked with a mocking smile.
Han Doe thrust his chest out and made to speak but Hal quickly interrupted with a mocking laugh,
"What the hell was that? Am I supposed to be worried because you have a chicken drawn on your chest?" He asked and gestured at the embroidered golden bird on the front of Han Doe's chest.
"How dare you insult the glorious emblem of my Golden Crow sect?" Han Doe said in anger jut that only served to make Hal laugh louder,
"Golden crow? Haha, in case the founders of your sect are blind, allow me to set the record straight... Crows are black, not golden"
Almost as soon as he was done talking, Han Doe's senses picked the sudden arriving presence of four individuals and had only made to mobilize his group when a column of golden flames descended on the scene...
*BOOM!!!*
... Causing a massive explosion that separated everyone.
The only ones not blown away were Hal, who had known the attack was coming, and Han Doe who had reacted fast enough to avoid getting blown away.
The blast had been too much for a member of Leader one's group and as soon as his device went red, that of every other member of the group went red as well.
With Leader one happy to be sent away as this battle was clearly not on a scale he could participate anymore.
Hal rallied with his group members while Han Doe who was brushing dirt off his robe looked over at the five right at the time the other six members of his group stood to their feet still looking fairly healthy especially after quickly taking mending pills of which they had many.
"Bastards" said one.
"Cowards" said another both probably referring to the sneak attack of sorts.
"So you are the mysterious five." Han Doe said but none of the members of Hal's group acknowledged him.
"It wasn't enough" Melinda said having used the flames of her bloodline as opposed to that of her ordinance which she could not yet accurately control and could not be sure would not kill anyone.
"It made for a good entrance. And it gives us a chance to give them a thrashing." Nicole said with a grin.
Adeline eyed Hal,
"I have to say, you found a good group" she said with a light smile.
"You asked for a much more fun battle and I delivered" he said.
He had volunteered to scout ahead for groups worth their attention and when he had happened on the battle between the two already defeated groups, he hardly considered any of them worthy until Han Doe of the golden chicken sect showed himself.
The moment he turned visible, he had used his device to send a signal to call the rest of the group to his location.
"I still really dislike you though" Adeline quickly added.
Hal shrugged,
"And I don't care"
Chapter 528 - Overwhelming The Wearer.
Pierre merely watched them all discuss among themselves.
He would have actually preferred if they did not go about searching for powerful groups to antagonize and fight against but the ladies all wanted a tougher challenge and Hal seemed only too happy to oblige.
"I just want to pass" he said in a low tone of voice.
A tone his sister heard and acknowledged,
"And you will. We all will. But what would be the point of simply passing without passing with flair."
"Couldn't have said it better myself" Nicole said with a smile.
Han Doe frowned at being ignored and then he began to chuckle,
"Very well, very well. It's just another group to eliminate. No biggie" he said.
That caught Hal's attention,
"You've eliminated other groups?" He asked
"Of course" Han Doe answered as he wondered what was so unclear in what he had said.
"And you, you had a personal hand in it?" Melinda asked understanding what Hal was getting at.
"Of course I did. I crushed the dreams of many group leaders with my own hands" Han Doe replied.
"Uh. Have you at some point over the course of the exam changed your clothes" Hal asked and Melinda nodded along.
Han Doe shook his head,
"No. And what the hell is with this many questions?"
Hal and Melinda shared a look and together said,
"Unacceptable!"
"What is unacceptable?" Han Doe asked with a frown and Melinda and Hal gestured at his clothes.
"Your clothes are so clean. How dare you still be clean?" Hal asked in annoyance.
"The better question is, who the hell wears white clothes to a battle?" Melinda asked.
Hal raised his hand,
"I know, I know. A cocky bastard called Han Doe of the Golden chicken Sect" he said to which Melinda sniggered.
"Exactly."
"Enough!" Han Doe said and suddenly blasted the pressure of his cultivation but neither Hal nor Melinda were fazed,
"You have insulted my Golden crow sect for the last time" he said and summoned a blue halberd that was his cosmic Armament.
Hal looked sideways at Melinda,
"He really is proud of that sect of his"
Melinda sneered at Han Doe,
"Stain his robes. I'll be really disappointed if you don't" she said.
Hal grinned,
"Well, I can't very well disappoint you now, can I?" He said as he summoned his Cosmic Armament and veiled it thinly with a comic aurora while Melinda returned to the other three in their group so that together, they could attack the rest of Han Doe's group members.
Even as Han Doe watched Melinda, Adeline, Nicole, and Pierre dash towards his group members, he was not worried.
He knew how capable they were and did not see them losing.
Then he looked back at Hal who was stretching right in front of him,
"What the hell are you doing?" Han Doe asked.
"Getting into tip-top shape. Staining your clothes won't be easy especially with all those runes engraved on it."
Han Doe's eyes widened,
"You know about the runes?" He asked.
Hal chuckled,
"Of course. What, was I supposed to just believe you were that good not to let your clothes be stained? Clearly, the runes on your robes are not only anti-stain, they also serve as a kind of body armor. Increasing your durability in the case that you actually get attacked." He said.
"You're a runemaster, aren't you? You read the runes and determined what they were for" Han Doe said with furrowed brows.
Hal nodded with a smile before he dashed towards his opponent, the pressure of his mid-stage cosmic Aurora realm cultivation radiating out of him but not in an aggressive manner Han Doe's had been.
He struck at Han Doe who held up his halberd in defense with a smile... that slipped from his face when Hal's strike forced him to slide a couple of steps back even though he had been fairly prepared for the attack and defended it well.
In retaliation, Han Doe blast Hal with his pressure that was already been aggressively radiated but Hal met the pressure with his own that not only held up but even looked close to overwhelming the brown-haired Golden crow sect genius.
However, Han Doe was not worried as the pressure had only been to buy time to charge a Cosmic aurora which he blast Hal with, in full confidence that the blue-eyed young man would not be able to avoid.
But why would Hal need to avoid it when he had been charging a Cosmic Aurora as well.
A cosmic aurora he let loose at about the same time as Han Doe only for the two to meet in a collision of fairly equal forces and blast the two young men apart.
*BANG!*
Han Doe did not let the blast keep him down for too long as he made to pursue a prone Hal only for Hal to suddenly appear in front of him.
Having had the same idea but recovering from the blast much faster.
Hal spun and aimed a kick at Han Doe's head which the brown-haired young man quickly raised his hand in defense.
Even then, the kick remained heavy.
Hal looked down at Han Doe's clothes and saw they were still spotless despite him having just rolled on dirt so he projected runes on the robe before Han Doe slid away due to the force of his kick.
When Han Doe was away from Hal, happy to be away from him as he needed some time to regroup and get himself back in the game, his robe exploded.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Not Han Doe himself, just his robe.
They released sparks having reacted to Hal's runes and with it came a speck of dust on the previously immaculate white robe.
Hal smiled with satisfaction.
He had imbued those runes with so much Astral energy to let the robe get stained with a tiny dot and that had told him what he needed to do to that robe that was engraved with powerful runes;
He needed to overwhelm both the wearer and the robe itself.
He needed to hit Han Doe so much that he rendered the anti-stain and armoring runes useless and void.
The thought had Hal grinning as he closed his eyes and made use of his shadow demon bloodline.
His eyes were closed so that no one noticed the use other than the dramatic increase in speed that was the objective of using the bloodline in the first place,
"Bastard..." Han Doe began as he stared at the dirt on his robes and made to glare at Hal only to see Hal was already in front of him.
Having crossed the distance much faster than should have been possible.
Hal's eyes were still closed but he could sense Han Doe's attempt to leap away and he was not having that as he used his speed advantage to rain a barrage of punches on the brown-haired genius.
Ending it by leaping upward, kneeing Han Doe's nose...
*Crack*
... And breaking it.
"Arrghhhhh" Han Doe yelled in pain.
Hal made to follow up but Han Doe had finally put his defense in place by surrounding himself with Cosmic energy that not only defended against Hal's punch, it also blasted Hal away from him.
Han Doe quickly took a mending pill that stopped his bleeding and prevented any swelling but a drop of the blood that was already running down his face stained his robes even further.
The fact that it was only one drop did not stop him from exclaiming,
"Oh come on!"
Chapter 529 - How Ironic.
Despite the exclamation, Han Doe's instincts were not in any way dulled and he was quick to raise his halberd to protect himself when Hal struck down at him with his sword.
*clang*
The weapons gave off a ringing metallic sound when they made contact.
Hal smirked and began to overpower his opponent with strength while he attempted to wrench the halberd out of Han Doe's hands.
He successfully maneuvered the halberd out of Han Doe's hands and sent both his sword and Han Doe's halberd to fall behind them both.
Han Doe's eyes widened as he wondered why Hal had also gotten rid of his own sword,
*Bam*
The answer came in the form of a punch coated with cosmic energy sinking into the side of his face.
"Ugh" Han Doe frowned and quickly put up his hands to protect his face but Hal simply targetted other parts of his body, namely the chest area and specifically the part of the golden bird drawn on it.
*Bam* *Bam* *Bam*
Han Doe took advantage of the force of Hal's punches to slide back as he quickly summoned his Halberd cosmic armament again to thrust it at Hal who was still within the halberd's reach.
The halberd strike had indeed been fast but not to Hal who easily leaned to the side and grabbed the stem of the halberd to use it to pull Han Doe closer.
The Golden crow sect genius' eyes widened at how impossible it was for him to resist Hal's strength.
So he decided not to fight against the pull and to somehow take advantage of it to execute a maneuver where he would get to land a kick on Hal but the blue-eyed devil had other ideas.
With Han Doe taking to the air to execute his kick, it only made it easier for Hal to control him with the halberd which he used to smack the golden crow sect genius into the ground...
*Bam*
*Crack*
... With such force that he cracked a few of the brown-haired young man's ribs.
From the start, Hal had merely been playing to the gallery as there was really none of these so-called leaders that could challenge him. At the very least not when they were in the same realm as him.
He no longer had any intentions of taking it easy though as he bent low and began punching Han Doe... Repeatedly in different parts of his body.
Overwhelming his robe so much that the anti-stain runes stopped being active and the white robe became brown from Han Doe's roll in the dirt.
While also having blood stains from the bleeding of many of his injuries.
But Hal knew there was a limit to how much he could injure the Golden crow sect genius and had only been able to do this much because his intention had not been to 'maim or kill Han Doe' but to 'Dirty his clothes'.
As Han Doe's device got closer to red, now at orange with the Golden crow sect genius already sobbing in his mind at such helplessness (he had been trashed so badly that none of his trump cards came to mind) Hal's senses tingled and he leaned back only for a focused attack of cosmic energy, one that he was sure would have burned a hole through him had it hit, passed right in front of his eyes.
Right past where his head had been just a second before as he punched Han Doe.
Immediately, Hal leaped away from his victim and looked back at the new arrivals and the reason for the blast.
They were a group of eight but it was not the complete group that caught Hal's attention, it was the three leading the group whose presence could not be any more ominous with the uniform of black all three were wearing.
Hal frowned as he faced them.
"Damn it, I can't believe I missed" said the lady with short black hair who had been responsible for the blast of cosmic energy that Hal had only barely escaped.
"You'll get another chance" said the oldest-looking man who looked to be leading the inner circle of three.
He then brought out an Array scroll from within his Spatial ring which he charged with Cosmic energy to create a thick black Dome that surrounded Hal and his group, the wounded Han Doe and his group as well as the latest arriving group and cut off the broadcasting feed.
The feed had been due to devices made to float outside of the dome surrounding the rundown district and deliver feedback to the viewing runic slates at the coliseum.
They were not imbued with anything particularly special other than to monitor ongoings in the rundown district and could definitely not see through the Black Dome. Neither could they pick up any sounds.
They were completely blocked out.
"What do we do, Boss?" Asked a bright-eyed young man who was not wearing black and was clearly not part of the true inner circle.
He was a bit bothered by the black dome as it was the first time he had seen it in use since he had been in a group with this trio of experts.
However, after this trio had so powerfully aided them in defeating multiple groups and giving them a chance at actually passing the first stage of the exam, none of those in the group doubted them.
"Take care of the others. Make sure no one interrupts our private little moment with young master Hal here." Said the oldest-looking leader.
"Got it" said the bright-eyed young man with enthusiasm as he moved to interrupt the battle already going on between Hal's group and Han Doe's group.
A battle Hal's group already looked close to winning and Adeline was not happy about the interruption.
Melinda frowned as she watched the three glare at Hal while he glared right back at them.
"Assasins?" Hal asked with a frown.
The trio shared a look before the only female among them said,
"You're sharp. They said you would be."
Hal smiled lightly and then pointed to the one that had been silent so far to say,
"I'm guessing you were the driver that tried to blow me up?"
The man looked at him unsmiling and unanswering but the Leader answered in his place,
"Tee doesn't talk much. But yes, he was the one who tried to blow you up. We wanted to see if it would be enough and it clearly wasn't"
Hal chuckled lightly,
"You don't seem very good at this" he said.
The leader smiled while the lady licked her lips,
"Why, because you survived our first attempt?
I'm beginning to think you are not as sharp as previously portrayed.
Since we were paid to kill you, we did appropriate research and had long decided that the entrance exam would be the perfect location to attack you.
It wouldn't be expected.
We won't be disturbed... Especially not by brats in the cosmic Armament and Cosmic Aurora realms.
We have known exactly how the first stage exams would be for a month and have also known the preparation that has been taken to protect those within from external influence.
The Dome will not allow anyone to get inside and will also not allow anyone to get outside. The only way in or out is with the use of teleportation circles and other than the portable ones in the device, no other circle can be used within the Dome.
Only when the exam is officially over will this ban on teleportation be lifted and that is only because it is believed that everyone will be taken out of the district with the portable teleportation arrays within the devices and hence there is no need for protection.
Getting into the exam was far from easy.
We had to use our best concealment and camouflage..."
"Don't forget seductive" The lady chimed in.
The leader continued,
"... techniques. Coming up with fake bios and putting on fake faces all so we could have this 'private' moment with you.
How ironic that the very measures taken to protect examinees have trapped you in here with us.
On the outside, you could still call for support but here, you are all alone. It's just you and us.
This is going to be great"
"But you can't kill anyone. Those devices won't let you" Hal said with wide-eyed 'innocence'.
The leader raised his hand,
"Oh, you mean this trinket?"
As he spoke, he and the other three charged the devices on their wrists with cosmic energy that surpassed what those devices had been built to endure, thereby disabling them.
They had no use for it.
And the longer it remained on them, the more likely it was that they would get teleported out of the rundown district.
However, with the disabling of the three devices, the devices of everyone else in the group went red with the bright-eyed young man looking down at his device and saying,
"This can't be right" before he was teleported out of the rundown district.
Almost at the same time, the lady of the trio dashed towards Hal with two long daggers in hand. Both daggers being pagoda rank artifacts.
However, before she could get to Hal, Melinda intercepted and struck out with her Sword cosmic Armament.
Then the lady let out the pressure of her Cosmic Pagoda realm cultivation to release an overwhelming blast of energy and Melinda decided to say,
"Screw it" and retaliate with a blast of the white flames of her flame Ordinance...
*Boom!!!*
.... Resulting in a spectacular explosion.
Chapter 530 - I Told You To Wear Something.
VIP box...
With the feed cut off due to the black dome, no one could see what was happening between the mysterious five and the newly arriving group with the threateningly looking black wearing trio.
However, Elsa soon received word that the remaining members of that newly arriving group were already out of the rundown district while the black-wearing trio was missing.
Elsa frowned at this discovery and instantly suspected foul play but even then without actual evidence as to what was happening inside the black dome, neither she nor anyone could interfere.
Kirill. watched the black dome with a light smile and recognized it as the attempt on his grandson's life that it was,
"You're on your own now, you sharp-tongued brat" he said and chuckled lightly.
A chuckle that both Devon and Isabella heard and were not put at ease.
...
The rundown district.
Within the black Dome...
The lady was thrown back from Melinda with her eyes widened.
Feeling the heat and force of Melinda's flames, she knew it was nothing she could scoff at or let her guard down with.
Melinda had not escaped totally scot-free either as she was thrown back as well but still managed to regain her balance and glared at her opponent.
The older looking man looked over at the lady,
"Dee, are you...?" He started to ask when suddenly, Hal was at his side, bent low and ready to release a blast of Cosmic Aurora.
The leader smirked and with speed befitting of his cultivation at the Cosmic Pagoda realm, he leaned back and avoided Hal's blast and even spun to kick Hal's side and send the blue-eyed young man smacking into a wall nearby.
However, it was not the leader who moved to complete what had been started... It was Tee.
He was wielding a long spike that he had imbued with cosmic energy and was giving off the feel of a pagoda rank artifact just like the two dangers Dee was wielding.
Alas, when he got to the wreckage and stabbed it into the abdomen of a prone Hal who was lying down within the wreckage with his eyes closed, Tee was surprised to see the spike go right through the body like it was not even there.
Tee's eyes widened just as the eyelids of the mirage on the ground flipped open to reveal dark eyes that were nothing like the Doxon blue that they knew and had seen Hal have.
The shadow mirage winked just as the real body suddenly struck out at Tee from behind the wall.
*Bam*
Despite his stronger cultivation, the quick-strike still caught Tee by surprise and had him sliding back and away from Hal whose eyes returned to their normal blue while his mirage on the ground vanished.
Even though Hal was no longer making use of the shadow demon bloodline to boost his speed, he still summoned his cosmic Armament and charged at Tee.
His eyes were narrowed in anger.
However, the anger was not really directed at the assassin trio or even at the ones who had sent them to attack him, his anger was directed at himself.
This was his fault.
He had been way too lenient and he needed to correct that mistake and show those Doxon bastards that he was not the type they should ever dare to mess with.
After this entrance exam was over, he would pay them a visit in Doxon...
As for this trio, they would be the first to face his wrath and suffer like the idiotic pawns they were.
So what if they were at the Cosmic Pagoda realm?
Adeline, Pierre, and Nicole watched the battle and felt the pressure coming off the body of both Tee and Dee and knew they had no place in that fight.
Especially with the case of the leader who was definitely not going to be weaker than the other two and had still not really gotten involved.
They wished to help.
If any of the two died or their devices went red, they would all fail and that was more than enough incentive for Adeline and Pierre to want to interfere but they were not sure how they could help.
Hal had already ordered Nicole telepathically not to interfere in the battle and while the urge to get in the thick of it was still there, she could only remain in place and watch as Melinda and Hal battled Tee and Dee while the leader watched on.
Speaking of Melinda and Dee,
"Why are you even fighting me. This has nothing to do with you" Dee said as she began spinning her daggers in her hands before gripping them tightly with their tip pointed at the ground.
Melinda took on a battle pose while holding her sword horizontally beside her face with the tip pointing at Dee,
"If you're here to kill my man, then it has everything to do with me" she said with a smirk and ignited her sword with the white flames of her flames ordinance.
Her words caused Adeline's eyes to widen slightly.
While she had suspected the relationship between the two was as such, she, unlike her brother, had not known for certain, and to hear Melinda so readily stake her claim made her react as she did.
"How cute. But you really should know you have no hope against us." Dee said and as though it further drive home her point, an illusionary pagoda with a single floor appeared behind her.
Melinda shrugged,
"We'll see" she said before glancing at her device which was either no longer working well or had stopped identifying Dee as a participant in the exam since she disabled her device.
After all, why would it not have already incapacitated her (Melinda) even though she very much wished to rip Dee's head off her shoulders?
Melinda smirked and looked towards Hal who had stopped going after Tee to release a blast of astral energy and use it to form a completely opaque Royal blue Dome to hide all that was happening inside the Dome from the sights of everyone not part of the battling five. (Hal, Melinda, and the trio)
The leader admired the Dome and asked with a sneer,
"A Dome within a Dome? Is there a reason for this other than to show off an impossibly large amount of Astral energy reserves?"
Both Tee and Dee had stopped attacking for now as Dee sniggered in mockery.
Hal was not bothered and instead replied,
"Just thought I would make this a fairer fight. Three on three" he said as he opened the portal to the Harem space.
Out of the portal walked a breathtakingly beautiful young lady who looked no older than nineteen.
Her curves were seductive.
Her skin was wonderfully creamy and her emerald green eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked around.
Her black hair extended to the middle of her back.
Her breasts were perfectly round and plump. They were perky and high on her chest.
Her perfectly shaped ass thrust out behind her, finding a wonderful balance between large and proportionately cute.
Sassy, for the first time in her life, stepped on normal ground on the two feet of her human form... and she did so without wearing any clothes.
Emerald green scales were covering her nipples.
There were also emerald green scales covering up her crotch.
Hal sighed,
"I told you to wear something" Hal said.
Ever since she got her human form, Hal had been trying to get Sassy into clothes but she never lasted seconds in them, before taking them off.
Telling Hal she was uncomfortable, and even though they shared a telepathic connection, Hal could not be sure if she was being completely truthful or not.
However, since she could cover herself up completely with her scales as opposed to this nude look of hers (only covering her nipples and crotch) Hal was more of the mind that she was developing into an exhibitionist.
Even as she looked all around as though she was seeing and breathing in the air in the outside world for the first time, Hal could taste a bit of enjoyment at the looks she was getting through their telepathic connection.
"Master, do you not like to see me like this?" She asked in her voice that she worked hard to make mimic an innocent tone.
Melinda decided to chime in,
"Yes, Hal. Doesn't your perverted mind simply revel in this nice view?" She asked
Hal rolled his eyes and decided not to dignify the annoying question with an answer.
Noting that during their reunion, Melinda had encouraged Sassy to be herself and was clearly supportive about the look and looking for an opportunity for a gang-up.
It was not that he actually cared that she loved showing off her body, it was that a part of him had actually been thinking she would be conservative.
Besides, he felt she could not always walk about naked, especially not if she wanted to spend more time outside the Harem space.
"What the hell is going in here?" the leader finally found the willpower to look away from Sassy's beautiful naked body and ask Hal with indignation.
Hal smiled,
"A fair fight. Besides who are you to stand there unbothered while Melinda and I fight those two. I'll face you from now on while Sassy takes over and puts Tee in his place" Hal said and as he spoke, Sassy walked confidently towards Tee.
Tee blast her with Cosmic energy but in the space of a second, before the blast actually made contact, Sassy reverted to her serpentine form and shrunk to the size that would allow her to evade Tee's senses.
Then barely a second later, she enlarged, still in her serpentine form, and smacked the silent man with her tail,
Sending him smacking into the Dome wall.
*Bam*
Then she returned to her human form and formed a toxic green bow complete with a Toxic Arrow that she let loose on Tee whose back was still against the Dome wall....