"Yes Father" Rad said with his fist clenched.

Inwardly, Hal shook his head as he was well aware of Rad's true motives and while he could appreciate the sentiment he could not help but feel a little...pity for his misguided feelings.

"I will give you Ten minutes to prepare" Hal said with a wave of his hand

Rad paused "what?"

"I came here relatively prepared, you were not and besides this is not a spar but a battle to the death you need to be as confident as you can be"

Ten minutes later the two would face off with Burt in their middle

"As this is to the death everything is allowed and the battle will only end after one of you has bitten the dust" after which he said to Rad "Good luck young master"

Rad gritted his teeth "I don't need it. I am going to kill him"

Burt stepped back as Hal smiled

"Okay then, I will allow you to hit me. Give it your best shot"

Looks of shock appeared on the faces of everyone present, was this not as good as suicide? Melinda opened her mouth to caution but then decide against it 'He must know what he's doing' she thought

Rad on the other hand couldn't care less about Hal's motives and instantly launched an attack. True to his words Hal crossed his hands behind his back and the punch landed squarely on his chest

Bam!

...and Hal slid backwards but remained on his feet. Rad didn't stop and instead follow up with a kick that while painful had no visible effect on Hal's skin

'Impressive, I'm sure I can simply stand around and let him hit me and still not bleed' he thought

'Congratulations' Grimiore yawned

'Why thank you, Grimiore'

Hal then faced Rad "my turn"

He said before going after his opponent and landing a barrage of punches that began to make Rad wheeze, then he stopped and moved back

"I need you to breathe, this can't end now" he said

Many cringed at his shamelessness, others laughed at his overconfidence. Rad withdrew pills and gulped them down to begin mending his wounds but the pills won't be able to take effect before Hal would be in front of him with his fist raised...

The pills however gave Rad the clarity to dodge the arrack and react with one of his own and at the same time raise his leg for a kick causing Hal to leap backwards to avoid the two attacks.

The servants saw the battle as very impressive but those well past the Energy sensing realm saw it for what it really was and what Hal saw it as. Child's play.

This child's play however would determine whether Rad would get his 'vengeance' or lose his life so he took it quite seriously.

The two exchanged a few more blows before Rad withdrew a flaming red colored pill and swallowed it

He then smiled in a gloating manner "Everything is allowed right?, Let's see how you handle this"

His skin began to glow bright red and his cultivation base began to rise with obvious strain to his physique...

Energy sensing realm peak of the ninth stage

Cosmic pearl realm early stage

...to stop at the edge of the Cosmic pearl realm mid stage

"Why would you give him that pill" Lillian would berate her husband knowing full well that the side effects of the flame maniac pill.

It could boost his fighting ability for a while but when it wore off the consequences would be quite grave if death could be avoided a long time on the mend was for certain. It was a rank two pill and Rad's body could barely make use of it's full effects which meant that for him the consequences would be worse.

When Hal faced the energy Rad gave off, he became cautious as this qualified as 'monstrous' strength burnt the surprises were far from over...

Rad snarled "How do you like that, you bastard?

1st grade skill: Dag Arrowhead"

The atmosphere became occupied with spinning sounds as a long thin blue arrowhead that actually resembled a skewer formed in mid-air and approach Hal at blinding speed.

This was the second time Hal would be facing a skill but unlike the last time, his opponent was not in a daze and while Rad was making use of borrowed energy, his energy and control over the skill was quite stable.

The arrowhead advanced at a speed that Hal could not dodge and as he could not yet harness cosmic energy he could not block or make use of a defensive skill. The moment the skill got close to him it detonatad destroying everything around and causing dust to rise

-puchi-

Rad finally caved to the effects of using the skill and fall to one knee as he spat out blood but his smile was ever present.

He had done it

He had killed his brother!

The bastard who dared to lay his hands on his woman!

Melinda face was blank and without emotion but it was betrayed by her shaking hand.

Gregory felt ecstatic. Finally he would no longer have a reminder of that face that always plagued...

"What is that?" A spectating servant asked as the dust cleared up and a dome of Blue astral energy revealed itself with Hal seated at the center with barely any wounds

'Damn it. Why did it have to be a detonating spell?' Hal groaned

He had been focused on blocking a centered attack and had used the little astral energy he had stored in his body to block the arrow. There had not been enough time to use a rune and he had not expected the explosion but he was nothing if not thorough and at least left enough around him for his protection.

"Hooow?" Rad howled in anger as he rose to his feet to muster enough strength for another skill after all he could survive one but could he possibly survive two but by then Hal had vanished and soon appeared before him, grabbing the back of his head and smashing his face into the ground

*Bam!!!*

"Arrrhhg" Rad yelled with a smashed face and then Hal dug his knee into his ribs breaking a couple and stuffed a piece of torn cloth to stifle the screams as he went to punishing him.

Hal faced Gregory directly and his eyes went red as a voice screamed in his ear

–Blood–Blood–BLOOOOOD!!!–

A stifling killing intent spread out from him as he was once again submerged in his soul world which remained as black as ever but there was now a strong scent of blood knocked him back to the outside.

Back on the outside, he methodically went after the places he could hurt Rad the most, and then as suddenly as it began it stopped, his eyes returned to their normal blue and the chilling killing intent vanished like it had never been there.

Rad's body dropped lifelessly to the floor and Hal wiped his hands on a clean strip of cloth, look up at Gregory and smile fiendishly.

Gregory's eyes went bloodshot and he summoned a large purple broadsword with a blade half a foot wide that seemed semi transparent

His Cosmic Armament!