As Melinda saw Hal's back make contact with the Mansion wall, she summoned her Cosmic Armament.

In her anger, the white and gold Armament was summoned in a manner that immediately attracted the attention of the grinning Lillian.

Lillyan looked at the Armament and her eyes narrowed because she could infer that the golden veins on the weapon were peculiar.

From Melinda's body, she could feel the pressure of a Mid-stage Cosmic Armament realm cultivator just like herself so she was not convinced she could be victorious, as such, she became somewhat cautious.

Melinda on the other hand did not put Lillian's mid-stage cultivation to mind and prepared to attack when Hal groaned and stood steadily from where he had fallen.

"Can you let me handle this, Baby girl?" His voice came from behind her and she turned to find him grinning.

His hair had formed a partial curtain in front of his face, casting a dark shadow in it. Such that, even in the absence of transformation, he looked like a Devil.

"Oh? You're standing. Good. It would have been a shame if that was all it took to end you"

Melinda looked at him for a while before she went over to the side with a sigh. Her Armament was still out, a warning to Lillian that she would be ready to intervene at any time.

Lillian sneered at the display. She planned to kill Hal as soon as she could. Faster than Melinda could possibly interfere.

Hal on the other hand was performing some minor stretches to loosen his body. He even executed a few squats.

The slam against the mansion wall had done a number on him.

Lillian did not bother to wait and as she had done before, she closed the distance between them in a flash but this time, she stabbed at his midsection instead.

The fact that even after he had received a hit that strong, Hal still told Melinda to step aside, notified Lillian that he must have a few tricks up his sleeve and so she would not let him use those tricks.

This time around, despite his stretches, Hal was prepared and very aware that Lillian was much too close for him to dodge completely, so he settled for twisting his body away, just enough to let her jab go astray.

As her broadsword hit nothing, Lillian was not the least bit disappointed or flustered. Instead, she smiled in a feral manner and twisted to slash at his side...

*Bam*

...however, before the slash could connect, Hal had not been idle and punched her in the arm.

The force of it caused Lillian to slide away from him. She looked up at him and frowned in a self-deprecating manner as though berating herself for letting Hal's fist connect with her arm.

Hal chuckled as he relaxed from the stance he had taken,

"You're strong. Rad crumpled up when I punched him"

The moment he mentioned Rad, Lillian's crimson tinged eyes became even deeper in color and her face twisted in anger. Despite that,

"Damn, you're beautiful" Hal commented.

He was not totally attempting to distract her, the more angry Lillian became, the more beautiful her feral looking face became.

Lillian did not let his words distract her as she dashed forward with a cackle,

"If that's so, then die with it being the last you ever see."

This time she transferred her Broadsword to her left hand so as to leave her right free

It was that right gist that she directed at Hal while packing behind it, the might of her cultivation base.

Hal was ready to reciprocate with a fist of his own.

Ambitious, but very well within his capabilities.

As she took on a punching stance, Lillian smiled and opened up her palm while stopping in place,

"Third-grade skill: Pike of Vengeance"

Hal was taken aback as she summoned a three circle ring, out of which came a giant green fist holding a Pike of the same color. Both composed of Cosmic Energy.

With the Pike in hand, the giant fist advanced toward Hal with incredible speed.

Hal immediately became stationary as the Skill's energy trapped him in place. Judging from what he could note from Lillian's face and the Skills name, Hal was sure the Skill did not only rely on the user's Cosmic Energy but also the depth of their hatred for their opponent.

There were such skills that depended on not only Cosmic Energy but also peculiar conditions such as emotions.

The joy on Lillian's face was deep and malignant. Hal was comfortable in assessing that this Skill was fully powered.

That said, she was delusional if she thought this was enough to put him down.

"Third Grade skill: Beetle Shell"

The shell-shaped shield was summoned and blocked the skill just enough to reduce its lethality, but it was eventually overpowered and the washed-down attack continued uninterrupted to connect with Hal's skin.

*Bang*

*Shatter*

The Pike shattered against his skin but not before piercing it.

Hal's hand reflexively went to the wound which was superficial at best as he could already feel it healing.

Lillian frowned as he survived it but quickly decided to return to aiming to run him through with her sword.

Before long, she and Hal were embroiled in close combat where Hal cleverly avoided direct cuts from her sword and reciprocated with punches to her arm and mid-section but never her face.

Lillian soon understood that Hal had no interest in killing her. All his punches were to defend himself.

Also,

why were the connecting strikes feeling good?

Since when did she become a masochist?

She shook her head to rid it of unnecessary thoughts as she decided to take advantage of his leniency.

She had been focusing her attacks with her Broadsword just enough to make it the one part of her attack he was truly looking out for.

She easily performed trickery by making it seem as though she would attack with the broadsword. Once Hal made to hit it away again by making contact with the flat side, Lillian dispersed of the broad sword.

In the short second in which Hal stumbled as he failed to make contact, she packed as much energy as she could into her left fist and sunk it into his ribs.

*Crack*

Hal groaned at the pain but still grinned.

Lillian was confused by this reaction before Hal hugged her tight.

Her eyes widened and she made to extricate herself from him when...

"Mmmhh"

...she moaned from the Contact.

The moment the sound leaked out, Lillian caught herself and growled in anger but by then, Hal had pushed her away and put distance between them.

...

"What the hell?" Emily asked with a light smile.

She and Amelia were watching the battle and the bizarre turn from a few distances away having just arrived at the Mansion. Emily really had no intention of speaking to Hal, but that did not mean she did not want to see him.

To her surprise, Hal was battling with Lillian Payne who was not pulling any punches, causing the strikes to be loud and attention-grabbing.

She was sure that news was already circulating the city by now. She was also curious as to whether this broke the one-year immunity that Hector Edgar had ordered.

As soon as she thought so, she had to admit that the order seemed only towards Gregory, most likely because Hector overlooked the pain of a grieving mother as Lillian had never been truly outspoken outside of her home.

From what she had observed so far, while Lillian had been smiling and cackling, the pain behind her actions was real which was to be expected.

What surprised her however was how Hal was contending with her with them not even being in the same realm.

It wasn't that Lillian was weak, Hal was just that strong.

That said, it was more than a little bizarre for Lillian to moan while Hal held her but Emily could understand why and knew just how frustrated Lillian was at the moment.

She looked away from the battle at her daughter whose eyes were shining despite her clenched fists. It was obvious that she was rooting for Hal and quite convinced of his victory.

...

Meanwhile,

Embarrassed as she was that different parts of her body were tingling with pleasure at that moment, Lillian endeavored to shake those feelings and end Hal's life once and for all.

Melinda struggled to keep from smiling at how dirty Hal could play. The worst of it was how serious Hal was now, almost as though to convince all those present that he was not a pervert and his focus was completely on defeating Lillian.

"You shameless bastard" Lillian groaned in exasperation when the realization set in that the parts that were tingling were all parts Hal had touched.

"What did I do?" Hal asked innocently.

"What did you hug me for?" She sneered.

"A parting remark. I plan to get serious now and kill you, it is only fitting I say goodbye first, stepmother" Hal said with a shrug.

"Y-you..." Lillian struggled to compose herself.

"Are you going to fight or what? I don't have all day" Hal said with impatience.

"You don't have time? You perverted Bastard, I want to kill you so much!"

Hal sighed with impatience,

"Of course you do, I doubt you broke down my wall and cracked my ribs to say hello. Now come on, don't be lazy... Mommy"

Lillian blanked and the next moment she was reaching within herself and summoning a turbulent mass of cosmic energy.

There was something about how destructive it was that reminded Hal of something.

It reminded him of the assassin who had attacked him and attempted to use a First-grade skill even though he could not control it.

'It would seem, you've really upset her' Grimoire said as though Hal could not see that for himself.

'Tsk, Damn it'

Hal was more worried about her than himself. He could very well escape the effects of an unstable skill and should he take on the lesser Devil form, he was bound to escape without a scratch.

Lillian on the other hand could suffer its ricocheted effects on her.

"Fourth-grade skill: Retribution!"

She snarled with considerable effort and made to direct the skill which had yet to take a definite form at him, when...

*Pah*

There was a smack to her back and an Array scroll appeared and activated. It sucked away the skill's energy and imploded while Lillian slumped and fell into the arms of a figure covered head to toe in a Black cloak.

The figure held Lillian and Hal could see an activated rune (Sleep) on her back.

Melinda was by Hal's side in an instant and together they surveyed the new arrival whose only discernable feature was Crimson eyes full of Malice.

Hal was ready to bet all the Gold in his inventory that this was the Master the Plebeians serve.