*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

*Slash* *Slash* *Slash*

San Fidwud's eyes were wide as he attacked the dome with consecutive Cosmic attacks before going after it with his Cosmic Armament.

"Damn it!" He yelled as he gave the Dome another strike.

The other two could understand his frustration.

The whole reason they had not joined and watched from afar was to have a clear overview and be ready when someone came to interfere.

Their perception had not missed anyone, including Hector Edgar who had only gotten the jump on them by being stronger.

Such a confrontation was what they planned to have with this 'Malevolent one'. A confrontation in which, even if he happened to be above the Armament Realm, they would still keep him busy until the arrival of Hector Edgar and the other Great family heads.

Full disclosure, Bale and Tod never truly believed San was visited by this representative, who he had called 'The Bogeyman', but they had also agreed that San would never give someone else credit for such a great find, so at the very least, he must have been visited.

But not by the representative of the Malevolent one who identified as the Bogeyman.

However, the situation was now slightly different and there was no way the Duo could explain how someone could sneak past their senses into the Battleground.

They would have to be invisible to all senses.

"What are you doing?" Hector asked as he watched San continue his attack on the Dome

"Is it not obvious?" San said with a snide...

*Bang*

...without stopping his attacks.

"It is. I meant why are you doing it? You should know you can't break into it and it'll take even me at least an hour to break into it" Hector said

San sighed "Why don't you start then?" He retorted.

San knew Hector was right. This Dome was not made from an array but formed completely of Astral Energy with no involvement of Runes.

At some point in their youth, they had both (At different times) gone after the Salmon and this Dome gave off the same energy the Salmon gave off. They had summed it up as one of it's peculiarities.

There wasn't much they knew about the Salmon after all.

According to all Rune Masters -Master Swanson included-, no one but the Salmon could possibly perform such a feat because it would require the storing of Astral Energy inside the body, which as they called it, was akin to suicide.

(On a side note:- this is also the reason that the thought of Absorbing pure Astral Energy that the Salmon was composed off to refine Astral sense is commonly seen as suicidal and impossible).

When he had first felt the Energy the Dome was giving off, Hector's first thought had been the Salmon who might have returned stronger than ever with an even larger craving for Gold but then he noticed the Color of the Dome was Royal blue and not Ghostly green and he dismissed the thought.

"I can't believe he snuck past me" San said with a heavy sigh as he sat on the ground to take a breather.

"Who are you talking about?" Gregory finally voiced out

"If you really want to know, then break down that Dome" San said and pointed in it's direction.

"Don't bother, Gregory. Cosmic Energy of your level is much too weak to bring down this Dome" Hector said

Gregory snorted "I wasn't going to"

The look he gave Hector was beyond unfriendly, it was murderous.

"So what do we do?" Ford asked

Hector shrugged "We hope those inside can take care of themselves and we wait. What's the point of Expending all of our strength when we will need it once the Dome is down"

Hector was of course right. It did not matter how long it would take, at some point the person or persons inside will need to leave. The Dome offered protection but it was also isolation, it would not allow exit or entry until it was down.

The only thing that truly worried him was the state his sons would be in once the Array was down. After all, they were dealing with an enemy with potentially his level of cultivation or at the very least, a large amount of resources that made them capable of pulling off this stunt.

"Well, we'll leave it to you then" Bale said and Tod nodded while they tried to drag San along with them to leave before things became chaotic.

Hector turned his head slightly in their direction,

"You started this, You're not going anywhere. If something happens to my sons, you can be assured that I will kill you"

Hector's eyes flashed and all three were held in place by the might of his pressure while clutching their chest at the suffocation he gave off as the Mayor of Salmon city displayed his dominance as a Cosmic Phenomenon Realm Expert.

It was intimidating, However...

... How could he have known that if he threatened their lives, the trio were well prepared.

...

Inside the Dome...

From the moment Hal had learned of the Confluence and a rough estimate of the wealth it contained, he had began to plan numerous scenarios on how to get it.

Gaining access into the Confluence Vault was not in itself difficult, however he saw an opportunity in it.

Why only steal Gold?

Why not steal personnel as well?

So he decided to share the information with the Plebeians, fully aware they would seek it out once the information was verified to be true.

And they did.

But then. Hal began to suspect that they would not send their very best, not even to head this expedition.

After all, the Great Families had no idea what was going on, or that their confluence had been discovered and so, Hal did the only thing that made sense.

He had the Marked Brethren spread the rumor to increase alertness. It was just serious enough to urge the Great Family heads to send the best aside from themselves, and it was vague enough to keep the Heads themselves away, or at most keep them observing the situation a distance away.

The Rumor also made the Plebeians tweak their preparations slightly and send their best to lead the expedition.

Giving Hal exactly what he wanted.

A way into the very core of their families.

After that, Hal took Extra precautions so as not to invoke suspicion on himself (Even though it was quite unlikely), He turned Invisible once the Carriage was no longer near Edgar castle before he left it.

Once he arrived at the Confluence and saw the Plebeian trio far away from the Battle, he let said battle go on long enough before he formed his Pheromone domain which he influenced with Fear!.

It disoriented those present enough for him to cast an Exploding Rune before covering the whole area in a dome of pure Astral Energy.

—

"Oh, I'm the Malevolent one, it's nice to finally meet you in person"

"No you're not. You're Hal Payne" Evian said.

He had seen Hal once inside the Slave House. At the time, Corban had been very eager to introduce him. Parading him like a prized bull despite his inability to cultivate.

He was supposed to be an example of how useless Great family scions could be.

"Why can't I be both?" Hal chuckled lightly.

"Did you say, the Benevolent one?" Darryl asked as he looked from one to the other.

"No, my good fellow. It's -Malevolent one-. Your idiot brother 'Conferred' me the Title"

Hal nodded in direction of Marlon who had already regained his composure once he realized the arrival was Hal.

"What are you talking about?" Darryl asked, confused as he and the others were already recovering from the shock of the blast.

"Well Darryl, Marlon is my stooge. Just like you all are about to be."

"In your Dreams" Evian snarled and once again summoned his Cosmic Armament which had dispersed in the shock of the blast.

He might not entirely understand what was going on or believe this youth was the one who had forced him to his knees just few days ago but one thing was clear, and it was that Hal was not here with good intentions.

Burt on the other hand was a little more cool headed. While his Master hated Hal to the bones, he (Burt) had also witnessed the death of Rad Payne and knew the dangers of underestimating the youth.

After all, he had managed to sneak up on them, that did not seem like an easy feat.

Hal smiled "No problem. It just so happens, I have to beat you all into submission anyway. I can't mark you unless"

Evian's face twisted with silent rage and he gripped his Armament tighter and stared Hal down.

Hal stretched his hand and summoned Executioner as his iris turned Red and his Sclera turned black.

His cultivation was revealed to be past the mid stage of the Cosmic Pearl Realm but still not yet at the late stage.

By cultivation alone, he was lacking significantly, however, two fogs spread out from him, one of them was an Erratic Black fog that seemed the stuff of nightmares.

The other was a Red fog that induced bloodcurdling fear in the Ten of them. Malon was excluded from it's pressure.

Not because he was on Hal's side but because Hal was more interested in focusing the energy on the ones who were truly a threat. And so...

-Puchi-

...They all spurt blood.

Evian wiped the bloodstain and instantly dashed towards Hal who felt the Lesser Devil form would be overkill. For now.

*Slash*

Evian made a swipe at Hal who sidestepped and struck out with Executioner.

Evian sneered at the Broadsword and made to sidestep, but he found that he could not. The Red fog had wound around his legs and prevented movement.

So he quickly armed himself with Cosmic Energy.

*Bang!*

*Crack*

Hal had struck the flat side of Executioner into his one good arm (his right) and cracked it as well.

The strike threw him backwards and smacked him into the inside of the Dome before he fell to the ground where he struggled to stand.

"Who's next?"