Frank looked up at the Contract Hal held out to him and could not help but tremble at the nefarious energy it oozed.

"W-What the hell is that?" He asked.

Hal smiled,

"It's a contract that you will sign with your blood and relinquish control of your soul to me."

'You like saying that don't you?' Grimoire said with a sigh.

'Saying what?' Hal asked.

'You like telling people that the contract will give you control over their soul, don't you?' Grimoire clarified.

'I don't know what you're talking about' Hal denied.

Frank gulped and signed the Contract.

He could feel the effects but Hal simply smiled as the Contract rolled up and vanished into the inside of his palm.

"So what now?" Frank asked.

Hal knew he was talking about his future from here on out so he sighed and turned away as the Dome faded and the disoriented assailants regained their senses.

Before they could straighten up completely, Hal dashed into their midst as his eyes turned a Blood red and a fog of the same color surrounded his form.

He struck all of them efficiently, killed them, and absorbed their Blood essence.

Frank watched them all fall and felt the stifling pressure Hal gave off, he couldn't help but draw a parallel of their situation to what his would have been had Hal not been lenient.

He did not believe one bit that he had managed to convince this demon.

Surely he only received mercy.

Once Hal drained the Essence, he sat cross-legged on the grassy floor and got into the position for advancement.

He was heading to the southside after this and was mentally prepared to be involved in a battle.

He had been saving all the Essence he absorbed till now for future advancement but now seemed good enough.

At first, he drove it to further strengthen his Bloodline but he could only go so far until he advanced to the Cosmic Armament realm or at the very least, the Peak stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm.

So he spent most of it on advancing his cultivation while also absorbing Cosmic energy to further the process.

These last three days, he had dual cultivated hard, even with the use of the Time Warped chamber, so his advancement was quite certain.

And sure enough,

*Boom*

Peak Stage of the Cosmic Pearl Realm!

Not just that, he could feel, it would not be long before he could form his Cosmic Armament and advanced to the Cosmic Armament Realm.

At that time, he doubted any of the Family Heads (Aside from Hector) could match up to him.

That said, this remained a personal advancement, he needed his forces to get stronger as well.

Hal sighed as he opened his eyes and stood up,

'All in due time'

Then he faced Frank again,

"You cultivate. Hard! I spared you and guaranteed your loyalty, however, my contracts and Marks are not so cheap that you can just be useless.

"Your future is no longer tied to this City. In the future, when I leave, you will leave with me. You will be my weapon against my foes"

Frank bowed and opened his mouth to speak, to pledge but Hal interrupted.

"I don't want to hear it. Leave now, I have things to take care off. Know this though, slack off and I will kill you!"

Despite knowing Hal was serious and despite the fear he was feeling, Frank clenched his fist and steeled his resolve.

He won't slack off!

Maybe he could not change all at once, but he would never stop trying.

His future was heading to a change.

It was high-time he changed as well.

*Dash*

Hal watched Frank run out of the forest with the quiet confidence that he would not face any danger on his way out. After all, the prophecy was fulfilled.

Hal however snorted at such shallow thinking, he was not yet convinced Frank's prophecy was not a string of coincidences and bad choices.

It didn't take long before he caught up with Marla and Jack. He directed Jack to join the Blood Knights and return to the Estate with them.

It was not going to take long for him to meet up with them.

Thanks to their going after the Plebeian assailants and draining them of their essence, quite a number of Commoners had survived as well as a majority of the Payne Family scions.

Once he was gone, Hal and Marla began their journey to the southside of Tretch forest, where Hal would finally sate his curiosity and also get some answers.

...

Meanwhile,

Back in the City, despite the Great families succeeding in repelling the enemy and even succeeding in killing quite a number of them.

The damage that had been caused to their establishment spoke volumes to the denizens.

It had been so long since the Great families had ever been dealt such a blow.

So many were sure they would not take this lying down.

Surely they would band together and get their revenge.

Alas,

The Great families were silent.

Had it been the time they were still cooperating, that would have been the case, however, now that they were divided, the need to act smart was even more paramount.

The insult was truly stinging but they knew what they needed to do now was get back on the feet and plan their counter-attack.

Even the Plebeians did not celebrate their success, instead, they planned the next step. One that was close at hand while they strengthened their defenses.

It would after all be quite embarrassing to be caught up in revelry and struck down.

As the Great Family scions began to leave Tretch forest, they could see that their plans to kill the Great family young generation had ultimately failed.

While they had succeeded in killing a few, their main target (The heirs) had survived.

Their survival along with the absence of their forces running out in retreat did not sit well with them.

Something terrible must have happened.

The reason they had sent their forces after the Young generation as opposed to the gangs they had sent to the Great family Homebases was that they were convinced of victory of at the very least, the casualty would be kept to the minimum.

According to their calculations, the Great family protectors could not eradicate the Plebeian forces completely.

So who did?

Who interfered and slipped through their preparations?

"Could it be HIM?" Baret asked.

He had asked already when he remembered this was a touchy subject for San Fidwud.

He turned to look at him but it seemed although San had not heard him for all the attention he showed.

He simply said,

"Who knows?"

It was clear to Baret and Ian that he was worried, they couldn't blame him though.

They were all worried about the Plebeian scions.

What if the one who had interfered decided to give them a taste of their own medicine?

They needed to act quickly and rescue them.

In hope that it was not too late.

...

Tretch Forest.

SouthSide...

Hal had scouted ahead with Astral sense and knew it was the picture of decadence but he was not ready for the smell of the place.

The place reeked of death and Blood.

The two should have gone hand in hand but Hal recognized the distinctive Blood stench.

It was the type he had perceived the day he killed Rad. He had perceived it when visited his soul world before killing him.

It was the Smell of a Fiend.

Of a Blood Fiend.

It was only a hundred times worse.

Hal projected a Rune to Marla's nose and it prevented her from perceiving the Concentrated smell.

He could still bear it and he knew he would have to.

That the smell was so strong could only mean that his target had picked this place as his domain.

As his kingdom.

Not to mention that there were signs that it intends to spread even wider.

"How strong do you think it is?" Marla asked and it was clear that the scene was intimidating to her.

Hal smiled reassuringly,

"At least at the Early stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm"

Marla looked down.

She knew he could handle such an opponent but it remained a guess, the beast could be even stronger. Not to mention that its physical capabilities would most likely be off the charts.

"This place looks awful" she commented the obvious in an attempt to clear her mind...

"It's a sign of chronic killing. This beast is not killing to eat. It's killing simply for the thrill of it"

...alas, it failed.

Hal continued,

"It's no longer just a demon Beast. It's coming closer to being a demon. It's why I was curious and needed to see it.

The arrival of Sassy and the change of this beast most likely happened around the same time and one person might be responsible so I need to check it out"

Hal suddenly stopped and thrust his hand to stop her from moving forward any further.

"It's here," he said.

*Dumm* *Dumm* *Dumm*

The footsteps of the Beast sounded as it moved towards the two that intruded into its territory.

How dare they come?

Have they no respect for a king?

Oh well, they would face the consequences.

They would face the wrath of the Tretch King!