It truly was a beautiful sight.

Despite the danger the leader was beginning to feel from Hal's Array, he had to admit it was beautiful.

Funny enough, he could not help but look up at the Array that kept them trapped,

"I'm only just realizing it, but this is truly a wonderful sight. I've seen arrays but none of them compare" he said in a mesmerized tone of voice.

Marla blinked and immediately questioned his sanity.

Not that he was wrong of course, she appreciated Hal's Array's beauty but that was her, admiring the work of her lover.

It made no sense that an opponent whose death was quite close at hand was actually taking the time to admire... Art.

Hal on the other hand, disagreed.

He believed the leader, faced with his mortality, (let's face it, he's not going to survive this day) finally came in touch with his sensitive side.

Anyway,

Hal focused on activating the Array he had drawn in the entrapping Array.

Since he could not attack the Array with Astral energy or Cosmic energy for that matter, he drew up an Array of Rank 3 quality and expanded it so that it pressed against the boundary of the Rank 2 Array.

There was resistance for only a short while before the more powerful Array won, broke through the weaker and shattered it from the inside out.

However, the Array was not done.

Instead it drew energy from the one Hal had drawn before to trap the Assailants.

It siphoned the energy until the Array was completely absorbed and faded from the surroundings.

The two that had been pounding against it's walls fell forward when it was gone.

They were so overjoyed and drunk on their success that they spared a second to glance at each other and grin, at which point, the Array that had absorbed the former's energy expanded and covered up the area.

Essentially replacing the one it had absorbed.

The duo's grin became a grimace almost immediately.

They were back where they had begun.

The leader however, did not think so.

Why would Hal replace an Array he had formed with another that was just the same?

It wasn't logical.

Unfortunately, even staring at the Array, he could not make out what the Runes that formed it were for.

Marla smirked as she saw the uncertainty in the eyes of her converging assailants.

"Impressed?" Hal's voice spoke in her ear.

"Always" she said with a smile.

"What's it for?" She asked, obviously referring to the Array.

"I got tired of picking them off one by one. It was taking too long and becoming a bore, so I decided to turn their plans against them"

Hal told her with a sigh in which she could detect heavy false melancholy.

He used the original Rune that had been incorrectly copied into the Array used in trapping him but instead of siphoning mental health or Cosmic energy, it siphoned their blood essence.

The Assailants clenched their fists at the sight of Hal's new Array. They had no plans of giving up.

Since they could not escape, they might as well go down with a fight.

"Gasp"

At that moment, they turned as their leader gave an audible gasp.

His eyes were wide as he pointed at a particular Rune, the only one he had recognized.

"You recognize it? Good"

Hal said with a light smile before he snapped his fingers and the Array glowed an even brighter shade of royal blue.

"Ahhhhhhhh"

"What the...?"

Was some of the exclamations from all of them as they felt their strength begin to shrink at breakneck speed.

It was not about shortage of Cosmic energy, of that, they still had plenty,

It was a loss of strength that was affecting their muscles and any other part of their body which had contact with their blood.

Their essence was evaporating faster than they could possibly comprehend.

Marla looked down at Hal's feet and realized he was standing on a Royal blue hexagon,

The Center of the Array!

And the point where Hal was absorbing their Blood essence.

It was over in a minute.

There was no blood on the bodies of those that had fallen victim to the Array.

Hal's eyes returned to his normal deep blue and he projected Runes on the bodies and burned them up right as the Array began to fade away.

"Where to now?" Marla asked and Hal stretched his Astral perception far away from the scene to witness other point of attacks.

He had never believed that this was the only place that the Plebeians forces attacked, neither did he believe the squad was the only one that had been sent.

And he was right.

With his Astral perception, he could 'see' that others had not been as lucky as the Krasts and Horsts who he had helped to survive their own assault.

The Payne scions that had been sent into the forest (most probably Gregory's way of reestablishing lost prestige) had had their protectors slaughtered.

Only a few of them had survived and were now trying to escape their assailants.

As for the Edgars, they had been successful in resisting their first wave of attacks, but Hal could see they would face more soon.

Despite not being the targets,

The commoners still suffered the most. With no one to protect them, they became collateral damage and were killed by any assailants they came in contact with.

"Well, we're heading for the southside, it just so happens that the attacks are along the way" He said in a falsely offhand voice.

Marla grinned,

"Sweet"

...

Behind the Cover of trees,

"My goodness, did you see that" said one of the young men who was spying on Hal and Marla.

They could not hear their conversation but the visuals were enough.

"Of course I did, what am I? Blind?" Said the second with impatience.

He was not really a man with a short temper but he was wound quite tight as he had just borne witness to Hal's Rune mastering feats.

Even his master could not possibly make an Array so potent.

Wait a minute.

What the hell was he thinking?

His Master was a Rank 2 Rune master and this Array was Rank 3.

Of course he couldn't do it.

"So... What do we do? Confront him?" Even as the young man said it, it was clear that he found it ludicrous and that only became more evident when his partner turned to him and gave him a look of fear.

It was as though he was looking at a dead man.

The young man who had made the suggestion turned pale from the look.

But he could understand the sentiment, they were both barely at Rank 1 Rune mastering, the idea of confronting a Rank 3 Rune master was suicidal at best.

So he backtracked,

"I-i-i was just kidding. Let's just report this" he said and stood from his crouched position.

That was the best they could do for now.

If Hal Payne was this strong as both a Rune Master and a Cultivator, then he could have assisted Master Swanson in attacking the Holgers.

Getting this information to their Masters was the most important thing to do.

His partner nodded and stood along with him, he did not even bother to glance at Hal as the two left the scene. Heading out of the Forest without any attempt to remain sneaky.

Meanwhile,

Marla frowned as she heard the two leave.

Hal had just told her they were being watched.

When she asked since when, he told her, it was around the same time the assailants had arrived.

Hal was after all an expert in getting spied on.

"Is it wise to let them go?" She asked Hal.

Hal shrugged,

"Who knows? It's risky but I think it's better this way"

"How so?" Marla was understandably skeptical.

"If they were to die, I would be a suspect. I might as well let them go"

The two had obviously been tasked with stealth. With the advantage of Astral perception, they could always move with full knowledge of their surroundings. If someone got close, they would know in advance.

If they did not confront someone more powerful than themselves, they would most likely go around unnoticed.

The only person likely to notice was a Rune Master like themselves who could detect their Astral perception by letting out one of his own.

Hal had made sure not to alert them when he found them, which was not that difficult since his was the stronger Astral sense.

If he killed them, the finger of suspicion was going to pointed to him first as he was the one they were tailing and at that time he would have to contend with the fury of not just the Two Rune Masters (who he was not really worried about) but also the Plebeians.

After all, he would have killed their apprentices.

That was practically a blood debt.

However, while letting them deliver their message would give the Suspicion that Swanson had killed the Holgers more credence, it was still not hard proof.

He was sure the Plebeians would not be reckless and risk it all just for this little bit of evidence.

The most they would do was to keep a close eye on him.

After all, it was not a crime to become more powerful.

That said, he was sure he would be facing a formal accusation once he returned to the city but that was not cause for worry.

There was still someone who could take the blame for the Holger decimation.

However, Marla was not completely convinced that it would all happen as he had said but she trusted him enough to hope it did.

Hal turned to face her and saw the worry on her face,

"What's there to worry about? Trust me, it's going to be fine" He reassured while tilting her face up with his right index so they would be eye to eye.

His touch filled Marla with more confidence and she smiled brightly and nodded.

Her eyes widened slightly when Hal's lips touched hers but she let herself melt into it.

Yes, he was right.

It was going to be fine.

She trusted him,

Completely.