The Battlefield...

*Boom*

*Boom*

*Boom*

Explosive sounds went off in different portions of the clearing that was now the site of battle as a section of the Plebeian force fought against a combination of the Krast, Horst and Edgar forces.

And yes, you read right, it was only a section of the Plebeian force.

From the very start, if there was one thing the Plebeians always beat the Great families at, it was population.

However, having the largest population meant nothing if they were mostly mortals who either could not cultivate or were stuck at the Energy sensing realm which would do no good against the mighty Great families.

You see, while the Great families indeed had the smallest population, they had the resources to cultivate that population such that their capable fighting force always exceeded that of the Plebeians.

This was how their complacency began.

For centuries, this had been the order of things and they always outnumbered the Plebeians. Not just that, on an individual basis, the Great families still proved more capable as their family heads were always stronger than the Plebeian family heads.

Also, of the notable men on both sides, the Great families were always the better.

So, a wise observer would be able to tell that the Plebeians always had the potential to be better than the Great families.

They just needed to cultivate a large percentage of their population and that was exactly what they did.

With the help of the Master, of course.

While all the notable Plebeian families (about twenty of them) had sent men that came together and formed the alliance army that attacked the Edgar castle, it was far from being the height of their capabilities.

And when the battle began, the Great family forces were shocked to realize that despite the number that had been killed at the Castle on the day of the assault as well as those that had been killed during the many ambushes, the Plebeian alliance force still outnumbered them.

Although to be fair, they had lost many as well in the retaliation of the Plebeians.

Needless to say, the ones with the least amount of men was the Edgar family while the ones with the most amount so far were the Horsts who had suffered little to no casualties thus far.

The two parties, Plebeian and Great, had devised sides for themselves while taking precautions to stave off ambush. They also created miniature hills for the family heads and other notable men who were not foot soldiers to stand on and oversee the war and give orders to their sides.

Even tents had been set up and in those tents, maps of the terrain were laid down and marks were made on the maps as Edvard, Ford and the Edgar brothers came up with formations with which they would attack the enemy.

Frank was present in the tent as well but was way more focused on observing and not acting.

This was the big leagues and his measly strength was of no consequence.

Unlike when Hal's mansion had been assaulted and the attack had been in stages with the ladies fighting against those they could handle, the full-blown war was nothing like that.

It was total chaos and the only way a semblance of structure was gotten was by having at least one Cosmic Armament Expert run together with a group of Cosmic Pearl realm experts.

This way, if a Cosmic Armament Realm expert of the other party tried to strike at the Cosmic Pearl realm experts, which they would powerless against, there would be a Cosmic Armament Realm Expert from their side who would hold them off.

And if the Cosmic Pearl Realm experts were killed, which was usually the case due to the advantage of Armaments over fists and a disparity between realms, the Cosmic Armament Realm Experts would kill the other Party's cosmic Pearl realm experts in consolation.

However, while in theory, it might have sounded quite smooth, in actuality, it was not quite as simple.

First, even if it were successful, they remained outnumbered and they would remain so unless the Payne forced finally make an appearance.

Second, the Plebeians seemed far more capable individually as compared to the Great family's individual strength.

Despite their strategies, the Great family heads were only barely keeping themselves in it. Not to mention that the morale of the men was getting lower the longer this went on.

If there was one thing they wished for, it was the Sieving veils that Hal had used at his Mansion when he was assaulted. Maybe with it, they could reduce the stress each man faced.

Alas, even if Hal could somehow do so with how wide the battlefield was, He was nowhere to be found this far.

*Boommmm*

That was the sound of a particularly powerful Cosmic attack by an Edgar man who in his anger against the Plebeians neglected to pace himself and unleashed his full might, killing the Plebeian Cosmic Pearl realm Expert that was in front of him.

However, he had depleted his pearl so much that he crumbled soon after and a swift kick charged with a Cosmic attack broke his neck and killed him.

His death highlighted another issue which was stamina.

Both sides could not possibly go on forever and if it was not resolved today, then they would retreat and the battle would resume the next day, however, the Plebeians looked like they outlasted them in stamina as well.

It was like a slap to the faces of the Great family heads who wondered what they had done with their lives all this while.

Maybe they truly did not deserve hegemony and with the way things were going they were bound to lose it and their lives as well.

Even from the distance between the Great family camp and the Plebeian family camp that was on the other side, the faces of the Plebeian family heads and the Plebeian leader, San Fidwud, were clear enough.

So the Greats could see them smiling in a gloating manner and simply watching the battle with confidence.

The only one whose face remained serious and completely focused was San Fidwud who felt that as long as Hal was not yet here, then this battle might as well have not started.

Ever since he finally accepted that Hal was the Malevolent One, he had been restless and not at all relaxed as he should have been now that Hector Edgar was dead.

On the Great family side, they heard footsteps heading in their direction and the Great family heads dashed out of their camp towards the sound just as a scout arrived to announce the identity of the arrival.

It was Gregory Payne and Burt who were followed by the Payne family Forces.

Not just the Elites but all of them in total and the looks on the men's faces were varying but many of them looked like they were going to their execution instead of looking like they were about to fight for their survival and their family.

It was a look that hinted at the lowest of morales.

While the other Great family heads were perplexed, more footsteps could be heard and with them came the arrival of a young man with incredible looks and sapphire Blue eyes followed by a mass of ladies whose dressing showcased a readiness to battle.

The most eyebrow-raising of the ladies with Hal was definitely the most casually Dressed of them all, the Gray eyed sexy lady who many recognized as Emily Horst, Ford's wife.

Saying Ford looked uncomfortable would be a massive understatement.

However, it was as though Hal was completely oblivious to the looks as he ordered with a smile,

"Have your men pull back.

It's the Payne Family's time to shine"