*Bang*

Another strike and dismantling of clumps of lightning and Hal absorbed it all once again. His Cosmic pearl was now filled to the brim once again and he summoned his Cosmic Armament which he waved so that Devil energy could form into vicious daggers that struck and destroyed more bolts.

The Tribulation suddenly drew back and when it slammed back into Hal, it was with a force and current that caused all of his hairs to stand on end and his wings were even smoking.

He looked like he was being fried.

But Hal knew his body was more than strong enough to endure and it was while he was harnessing the strength of all those he had under his wing (figuratively) and used it to charge up his muscles.

It was as though he was undergoing refinement right there.

All of the lightning energy he had been feeling was not just feeding him with the violent energies they contained, they were also feeding him with the tightening attribute and refining his body.

His already well-built physique was refined even further.

Hal dispersed his Armaments, both Bloodline and Cosmic and harnessed all of that strength while evading another forceful strike of lightning.

And then, just as he had done once before, he delved in and sought the core and this time he struck to put an end to it once and for all.

*Bang*

*Boooommm!!*

-silence-

The lightning cleared and Hal thought he sensed frustration as it dispersed and then the dark clouds cleared up as well and the setting sun could be seen.

Arya's pained screams halted and she only wheezed occasionally on the ground.

The battle that had started that morning finally came to an end.

Whether with the Plebeians, the Master, or with the Tribulation, all of it was over and the Pentagram in which all of their essences had been trained was still in the air and Hal eventually absorbed it into his inventory where it would remain in stasis until he was ready for it.

And as Hal watched the sun, he exclaimed,

"Damn it!"

He had only made it to the peak of the Cosmic Armament Realm as it took more than absorption of Energy to advance to the Cosmic Phenomenon Realm. He needed to cultivate till he created a phenomenon and it was something he could not possibly do while battling the Tribulation.

However, he had known this already and was only upset because he did not have any leftover energy to attempt it at the moment.

That said, one Essence sharing session was bound to aid him in finally doing so.

After all, it wouldn't truly be a victory without 'Celebrations'.

...

Aftermath...

The civil war had come to an end and it was not only those who had participated that had been affected.

Thanks to Arya letting her Flame demons lose, so many of the ordinary denizens of Salmon city suffered losses. They had lost relatives, friends and colleagues and it saddened them deeply.

However, they were now receiving news that the one responsible for the quick crumbling of those Demons was none other than Hal Payne.

Not only that, but he had also saved them from being offered as Blood sacrifices to aid the strengthening of a terrible villain.

Many of them had seen the Blood Pentagram and while Arya absorbed the essence of the Plebeians, they had felt nothing but pure evil from it and were more than glad to see it go.

More on all of this later.

All those who could battle among the Plebeians had been led to battle and all of them had died.

The Plebeian family heads as well as all of their men had died to the last man and so had the So-called Plebeian leader, San Fidwud whose death, Hal admitted had quite satisfied him personally.

After the war and once Hal had reverted to his human form, he had ordered the Blood Knights to go forth and kill any Plebeian guard and militant that had been left in the home base.

None of them had received resources from Arya and had thus not been capable enough to join in the war but Hal was not feeling particularly merciful towards any of them and as such was not interested in having prisoners of war among them.

Once they had been taken care of, all that were left were the immediate family members of the Plebeian family heads who had tried and failed to run away from the city and Hal personally saw to them the day after the war and they had pleaded for their lives.

Well, some of them...

As it turns out, the immediate children blamed him for the death of their fathers and defied him. Vowing to kill him if it was the last thing they did.

Their threat caused him to chuckle before he branded them with the Devil mark and with it forced them to sign Sign Devil Contracts that sold their souls to him for nothing.

Their threats did not scare him one bit and he could have had them killed just to show them how insignificant they were, but he did not see the point.

In fact, he was pleased with their tenacity and loyalty for their fallen fathers and that deserved a special prize;

Which was that they would be allowed to live and their minds would not be tampered with so that they were still in complete awareness, then he put them under youths of their very same age group,

He put them under Frank Horst and Jack.

You would remember Jack as the commoner Hal had contracted in Tretch forest.

Anyway, Hal gave the two of them strict orders to break those Plebeian scions by putting them through a rigorous regime and manual labor fit for a servant.

Now that having the whole of Salmon city (we really need to rename it) under his thumb was close at hand, he did not need any loose-lipped men or women for that matter and they would all be required to fall in line.

The same went for the Great family scions who fell in line efficiently as half the battle was already won when their fathers were already marked by Hal.

Also, they had heard that they could be gifted Cultivation techniques that would greatly aid their cultivation speed.

The Payne Scions, however, received the same treatment as the Plebeians as they were also victims of Hal's since they had lost their families to the war and Hal's antics.

Hal did not mind contracting them and as for those who resisted, they were killed.

The Payne Family ceased to exist just as Hal had promised and the only thing they had left was to serve Hal.

The Maids and servants that used to work for the Plebeians surrendered to Hal as fast as they could especially since a lot of them heard that the lieutenants, captains and Commander herself of the Blood Knights used to be slaves.

If Hal could make such people powerful experts, then surely he could do the same for them, they thought.

Needless to say, the entire city went through reforms.

Reforms all aimed at pleasing the Malevolent One of Salmon city (Oh yes, we are definitely changing that name).

...

However, all these are things that would be taking place for weeks after the battle. Let's reel it back to things that happened on the night of the battle.

With Hal's now heightened regenerative abilities, his injuries from his battle with the Tribulation had healed and he was in prime condition to celebrate with his ladies in the Time warped chamber.

The whole Mansion was lit with their screams of pleasure and he crowned it all with slow and sweet and then fast and rigorous one-on-one session with Melinda.

After he tired her out like he had the other ladies, Hal stood from the bed and put on a loose robe and left the room.

He arrived in front of the Door which he had locked with Astral energy.

He opened it and stepped inside to sit on top of the bed beside Lillian's slumbering form.