Hal smiled as he noticed their reactions, but he liked Marla's suggestion.

Whether they stuck to defense or attack, it was of no difference in the long run, however, the moment they attacked, even if they were vindicated, they would still be marked for killing Plebeian men.

That said, if they simply stuck to defense, it would be taken as a weakness. Which in this world was a crime punishable by death.

Rita cleared her throat,

"While I do see that as the best option, I have to ask as you know the situations with the Plebeians best Hal. Do we have the manpower to launch a successful attack with no losses"

Camilla looked down at her hands,

"That's a little ambitious, don't you think?"

"What is?" Rita asked.

There was no animosity in the question, she merely wanted to know what the other lady was referring to.

Camilla looked up,

"Well, every participating party in a war sacrifices something for victory. I just felt it was a little ambitious to think we would not lose anything"

Rita's eyes narrowed but it was clear that she was mulling over those words and could see the truth in them.

Hal placed his elbows on the table and the tip of his fingers touched just above his lips.

"It's ambitious but possible. Compared to other wars we are likely to fight in the future, this City's civil war is more like a skirmish. If we can't even be victorious while keeping our forces intact, then it is almost a guarantee that we'll be slaughtered in all those bigger and larger scale wars"

At the mention of even more wars in the future, the ladies turned to him and Irina spoke up,

"More wars?"

Hal nodded solemnly, It would seem the Masked Lady had not given them a glimpse of life outside of this city,

"Yes Irina, More wars. This very continent is at war with the Dystopian continent and in view of that conflict, this city's Civil war does not even qualify as a skirmish.

But that's in the future and not of our concern for now. We need to deal with the issues in this city and we need to do it soon"

One of the ladies from pleasure inn raised her hand and Hal smiled,

"You don't have to raise your hand Layla, speak your mind"

"Well, I was just wondering what the urgency was?" She said.

Hal took a deep breath

"Well, within this month, things are bound to escalate and the war is bound to begin, however, we have no guarantee that left to their devices, the warring families would not overextend its duration..."

Hal paused and turned to Melinda,

"Also... You want to tell them?"

Melinda sat up straight,

"In one month, we will receive an Envoy from my family. By that time, everything in this city must be settled or they'll settle it for us" she said.

Amelia piped,

"Your family?" She asked.

Her tone was one of wonder. Even though Emily had already informed her that Melinda was not from this city, where exactly she was from and who she was, wasn't something she knew or could share.

Melinda smiled but it had a bitter edge to it,

"My family is from this Duchy but the trip from the capital is quite long and because of the absence of certain factors, we have a month to put it all to bed while strengthening ourselves in the process.

If the Envoy arrives during the war and finds the city in disarray, they will most likely be tempted to interfere. The trip might be long but calling for reinforcement to subdue will take a very short time"

Only a few people on the scene understood what Melinda was talking about and the true urgency behind her words, Amelia and Rita were one of them.

Even so, if Hal considered the situation urgent, then they were quite convinced it was.

And it truly was.

"I don't care about the wishes of the warring families and we need to make it all end on our terms. It can be argued that the war and the state of this city is none of the Envoy's business but I doubt they will miss this chance to showcase superiority.

Luckily you have all made progress"

He smiled at the ladies and they all sat straight with the pride of accomplishment.

Camilla and Irina had formed their Cosmic Armament and advanced to the Cosmic Armament realm while the other ladies had advanced to the peak of the Cosmic Pearl realm and moved ever closer to the Cosmic Armament realm.

"Um, what about this Master that we've only just heard of?" Hazel asked.

Once they were awake, Melinda had relayed to them all that had happened during the competition and the quick-witted ones could already tell just how big a threat a mysterious enemy could be.

After all, Hal had also wielded the same mysteriousness to perpetrate acts against the Great and Plebeian families.

Melinda also told them that Hal had a pretty good idea what the Master was after in the City.

"Well, that is another issue..." Hal began.

"Is he going to interfere?" Irina asked.

"What makes you think it's a he?" Rita asked.

"Nothing. I was just saying" Irina said in a quiet voice and looked to Hal.

"Don't look at me, I'm just as clueless as you. I know nothing about this master. But I do know that he or she will not interfere,"

Not to talk of everyone else, even Melinda looked confused,

"Are they just going to sit around and watch us kill their subordinates? I find that hard to believe" she said.

"Me too," Rita said.

Hal chuckled darkly,

"Well, I see it as pretty straightforward. Not only will the Master not interfere, but I am also very convinced they will wish we kill as many as we can"

Marla's eyes widened,

"You don't mean..."

"Yes, I do Marla. The Plebeians are all pigs being fattened for slaughter"

Silence...

Everyone became quiet as they let Hal's words hang in the air. Even Marla who had guessed correctly looked... Stunned.

Hal let the silence remain for a while to allow them to process what they had heard as best they could before he said,

"When the attack was happening in the Homes of the Great families and many were killed. I had the blood knights present at the scene attempt to detect Blood essence but they could only sense it evaporating faster than they could possi.

And I have it on good authority that this Master was siphoning it"

Hal rested his back on his chair and sat up straight before he continued,

"When I faced Borus and learned of his experiences, I discovered and told him that his technique was merely a long process of turning him into a cauldron.

It was then that I began to wonder why a Master who was able to instigate the Plebeians to rise up and fight against the Great Families and all the while providing them with expensive resources would have no interest in ruling them.

At first, I truly considered that it was an act of generosity to help them break free of the status quo"

Hal chuckled as though to mock his own naive thoughts before he continued,

"Well, it did not take long for me to put the pieces together and so I can confidently say, the Master will not interfere in the Killing of the Plebeian forces but will not sit idly by if their essence is stolen.

They have spent a lot in turning the Plebeians into prime material for harvesting"

Melinda's eyes narrowed,

"But where is the assurance that the Plebeians will lose. After all, they need to lose for this Master to reap their essence. Not just that, they need to lose woefully"

As she said this, a lot of the ladies gathered nodded in agreement. This part of the issue was a little perplexing but Hal's certainty remained unchanged.

"Well, like I already said, this is merely a guess, a conjecture that I have come to through studies of the situation. But if I am correct, the Master's plan is not complete and I am confident of this because I can now infer that he or she is a control freak or at least controlling enough to want everything to go the way they have planned."

Hal stretched his hand and a portal opened. Out of it slithered Sassy who was quick to coil upon his seat so that Hal could stroke her head.

"This is Sassy" Hal introduced and told them all about Sassy, including a failsafe imprint, etched within her mind that once activated would guarantee total subservience.

He only left the imprint because removing it would most probably alert the Master.

"If a failsafe was put inside Sassy, then I believe there is fail-safe in the Plebeians as well. One that once activated could allow spontaneous essence absorption."

"If that is so, why does there need to be a war. Why not simply feed them and once they are ripe and juicy, kill them with this failsafe" Amelia said.

Hal smiled at her while stroking Sassy's head,

"'Juicy'. One of my most favorite words. Well done Amelia. You see, as efficient as spontaneous absorption is bound to be, it is also bound to be boring."

"Boring?" Camilla asked in an incredulous tone.

Hal smiled and turned a fraction in Melinda's direction,

"What do you think?"

Melinda nodded,

"I agree that it's plausible" She said and reminded the Ladies of what the Master had said;

'Things are getting interesting because of you'

Hal then smiled at Camilla,

"Yes Camilla, Boring. Because as it turns out, the plotting Plebeian Master is a fan of Theatrics"