When Hal made that statement, Tiberius took a step back mentally. He realized that as frustrated as he was at Hal's recent actions, he needed to make sure to put his feelings aside for the time being or he could risk alienating him.

And that was not what the Devil queen would want.

"I apologize," Tiberius said as he took a physical step backward.

His Executioner was dispelled as he raised his hands in a form of surrender.

"My first instinct is usually combat. Forgive me" he went on to say and Hal frowned,

The apology was far from enough to soothe his wounded ego but he decided it would do for now.

He had no idea how the two demons were sealed into him or even an inkling as to how to separate himself from them and so for now he needed to be civil.

Reluctant as they were to reveal secrets entrusted to them, it remained a fact that the two could be very useful.

With all this mind, Hal took a deep breath and smiled wildly,

"It's all cool," He said with a sincere tone that was completely false.

The strange thing was that the moment Tiberius saw the smile, he instantly believed the apology to be genuine. It only took him a while for him to doubt what he had seen.

While Hal's actions might not have been considered a Devil norm, his genes were still 100% from the Devil queen and brilliant lying was ingrained in those genes.

Not to even mention the Fiend, the most neutral observing Succubus could perceive nothing from that smile.

"Now can you at least tell me why that psychopathic bitch was trying to kill me?" Hal asked and by Psychopathic bitch, he of course was referring to the Primeval Virtue Will.

At the sound of the question, Tiberius and Myra shook out of their thoughts,

"The Primeval Virtue and the Primeval Devil have been at odds as long as they've lived which is a long time," Tiberius said

"A long time? *snort* what an understatement"

Myra said but Hal could tell she was merely interjecting so he turned back to Tiberius but before he could say a word, the Fiend interrupted,

"Don't ask why. There is no one reason. It's a plethora of reasons to be more exact. They are rivals and opposites. You were attacked because you are her Rival's son. And it doesn't help your case that you were close to her progeny either."

Tiberius said and allowed himself one last disapproving look at Hal which he promptly ignored,

"Is she the one...?" He started to ask but Tiberius interrupted,

"Is she the one that sent the curse Tribulation? No. Sariel had nothing to do with it. Of that I am sure"

"Then who is it?"

"I have no idea," Tiberius said in a level voice.

Hal could tell that he was lying or at least, not telling the whole truth but he shrugged mentally. Tiberius wasn't going anywhere, there was time to find out all he wished to know.

To Myra, he said,

"I think I'm starting to warm up to purple"

"You are?" Myra asked with an overly excited squeal.

"Yes I am, maybe when I wield Essence stealer, I won't throw up," Hal said with a teasing smile.

"I can't wait," Myra said, her eyes glinting with mischief.

Hal nodded with a smile, allowed his eyes to roam her naked and endowed form, and finally with a thought, he retreated from the Soul World.

The two Demons watched him leave and shared a look. Myra opened her mouth as though to speak but ultimately decided against it and kept quiet.

...

Back in his body and regaining consciousness, Hal observed it was already late into the night.

The day had been particularly eventful but he was glad it was over.

After informing Grimoire of certain details of events that had occurred inside his soul world, Hal expected some kind of morale booster but all he got from the ridiculous artifact was...

"My money is on Body possession"

"What?" Hal asked as he stood before the large book in his mind space.

"Well, it seems kind of obvious that the Devil queen wants something from you. I am betting she wants your body" Grimoire said as though he was explaining to a two-year-old that two plus two made four.

Silence pervaded as Hal stared at Grimoire with such an unfathomable expression that the book could no longer keep silent,

"What I'm not allowed to speculate?" It asked in a semi-aggressive tone but Hal just rolled his eyes and snorted,

"For starters, 'your money is on...' ? What money? All you have in you, you siphoned from me and secondly, I was expecting more precision"

"Whoa, do I look like a prophet to you? That I contain immense knowledge does not mean I'm clairvoyant."

Hal shrugged,

"You're the next best thing"

Hal could tell something was bothering Grimoire but he was sure the mood would pass, so he ignored it.

"Oh r-r-really? I am?"

There was something about Grimoire's tone that caused Hal's eyes to narrow but ultimately he ignored it, instead, he moved on to more pressing issues,

"Is there any way I can get rid of the two Demons sealed inside me?"

Hal just could not shake the feeling that he was being watched through those two. Whether they were aware of it or not, he was not sure.

"They were placed there by a Primeval, so no. Not for now. You are going to have to bear with it. Use them to your own advantage" Grimoire told him with a sigh and then paused,

"So do you suspect Body possession?" It asked.

"No, I don't," Hal said with a strange certainty.

"Why not?" Grimoire was taken slightly aback.

"Think about it. Why send me to the Mortal realm which is devoid of Cosmic energy? I would not be able to cultivate and my body will ultimately be of no use." Hal explained slowly and Grimoire hummed in agreement.

"Maybe she's a loving mother who just cares about her son," It said and it was clear it did not believe it.

Hal chuckled but said nothing.

A short while later when he was about to leave his mind space, Grimoire called out to him,

"Just so you know, Not all I have inside of me is from you, I had hosts before you after all"

...

The Competition.

Among the Top Echelons, it was a very useless endeavor. There was no real point to it.

Sure, the winner could bring glory to their family and lay down a statement to show just how powerful that family would be once the Young generation took, however these w, ere all things that hold more traction when there was no civil war on the Horizon.

Even with the city's eventual collapse closing in and all Great families against each other just as they were simultaneously against the Plebeians who remained a collective unit, they all still agreed that the young generation should be spared from the troubles and allowed to mingle and worry about 'Trivial' issues such as who was the most outstanding.

It had been three days since the Confluence had been robbed and the victims of the Malevolent One were mostly conscious with a few still persistently in a coma.

Due to those events, Hector had considered canceling the Competition, However, the Plebeian and other Great family leaders all protested that the competition should proceed.

It was no longer about simply preparing the traditional Salmon Hunt but was now more about soaring the innocents the harsh reality that their city's serenity was about to crumble completely.

This was all Bullcrap and they all knew it. The whole competition was an avenue for a lot of them to carry out their secret plots.

Certain areas were bound to be lax in security during these 'Trivial' events. More on that later.

Hector was not deluding himself that the emotional words all held credence but he was well past caring for the city as a whole.

He would tighten security for all Edgar scions, the others would however have to take care of their youngsters.

If they were all ready to risk their children just for the chance to attack others, then so be it.

-

And so it was that right outside the boundary of Tretch Forest gathered the most talented of the young generation the city had to offer.

While Hector had said all progeny regardless of Background were welcome to this competition as long they had adequate strength to participate, no one expected anyone not from the Great and Plebeian families to dare compete.

All that being said, there remained quite a few commoners in the crowd. Most of them were at the Peak of the Energy sensing realm and others were close to the peak but they still stood to one side and glanced at the Plebeian and Great family scions with apprehension.

"What do you think it's going to be about?" A Plebeian asked an effeminate looking young man who's poise was that of a leader.

The Effeminate young man looked to the one who had asked the question, however when he opened his mouth -to answer or to disparage-, the sound of footsteps drew the attention of all those present...

...and as though guided by an invisible force they all turned to the Young man who had only just arrived, followed closely by a dark-haired girl who gazed at them all with animosity.

Hal was however as jovial as ever as he waved at Alexander Edgar who frowned upon seeing him before chancing a glance at Marla, a glance Hal caught,

"Oh look, Marla. We just arrived and that pervert is already staring at you"