Before long, just as Hal had intended, all of the bandits except a selective three, which included the aggressive-sounding man, were dead.

He had all the bodies sent into the Habitat for the Beasts to feed on while he faced the five that had been set apart.

​​

He took a deep breath before pointing at the aggressive-sounding man who looked positively terrified,

"You! Give it to me" Hal said and beckoned.

The man looked confused,

"Give you what?" He asked.

Hal rolled his eyes at what he saw as a phony act,

"The communication talisman you use to contact your scout" he said in an as-if-you-don't-know tone of voice.

He refused to believe this bunch simply hid in bushes waiting for the next unfortunate sucker.

They must have had a scout to let them know when it was time to mobilize and lay an ambush. The scout was most likely not too far away from the checkpoint and not too close to the city.

It was just far enough to give the bandit squad enough time to lay their ambush.

"What communication Talisman?" The man asked in a shaky voice that had lost all the intimidation factor it used to have.

"Are you really going to act dumb? You are clearly the leader of this squad. The two who first spoke to us are more of the spokespeople. You run the show and if the scout will relay information, I bet it will be to you" Hal said with an impatient tone and glanced at the first two who had spoken to them and were the only other two he had spared.

The man shivered,

"I don't know what you..." He began but could not complete before he was interrupted with a hard blow to his face.

*Bam!*

A blow that had not come from his interrogator, Hal but from Karmen.

"Talk" she yelled at him while Hal took a few steps back until he was beside Rita who looked at him,

"You know you caused this right?" She said obviously referring to Karmen's aggressiveness.

"Caused what? She was always aggressive" Hal said.

Rita shrugged,

"Well, yes but now she's feeling happier than usual and that, in turn, is causing an increase in her aggressiveness"

Hal shrugged,

"So what? Making people happy is not a crime now is it?" He had just said this when Karmen looked over at him,

"Master, could I have some mending pills?" She asked with a bright smile that did not match the image of the man who now had numerous bruise patterns on his face as well as numerous broken bones.

"Why not?" Hal said and retrieved a small jar of mending pills which he always had with him from his days in Salmon city but never actually needed. He tossed it to her and she received it gratefully.

"Thank you master" she said.

Hal looked over at Rita with his eyebrows raised.

The black-haired lady rolled her eyes at him.

"You could just take care of this by branding all three with your mark and let them tell you all they know."

Hal groaned,

"And what fun will that be?" He asked just as a distinct sound of a cosmic armament being summoned could be heard before...

*Slash*

... Karmen cut a long diagonal gash across the man's front.

"Arrrgggghhhhhhh" he yelled out in pain before she stuffed a few mending pills into his mouth which healed his wounds enough for him to remain alive but still feel the pain.

The man fell backward and began to crawl away from her while moaning in pain until he was against the boundary of Hal's Astral Dome which he had now shrunk to only a few meters in diameter.

Karmen walked over to him and slashed back in the opposite diagonal direction of the slash on his front to his back. Then she began making incisions on his calf, shoulder blades, and then arms.

For every part she pierced, the yelling grew louder.

"Arrrghhhhh... Please, stop. I'll give it to you... Just... Stop... Please" he pleaded.

Karmen turned him around and shoved more pills into his mouth to mend his wounds.

Once the wounds were healed, the man retrieved a communication Talisman from within his clothes.

Receiving it, Karmen smiled sweetly at him but it nearly caused the man's heart to stop beating,

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" She said and went over to Hal to give him the Talisman.

Hal received it but his attention was on the other two who looked from their whimpering comrade to scary Karmen and then back again.

Hal walked over to one of them and pointed the Talisman at her,

"Tell the scout to come here" he said.

She cleared her throat and then spoke into the Talisman as clear as she could to tell the scout to come over.

At first, the one on the other side of the communication was skeptical but eventually, she convinced him.

Once she was done he drew back the talisman and put it inside his spatial ring which he had already retrieved from the aggressive man since after the massacre ended.

"That's good, now be completely honest with me. If I told you to tell me where Red beard's camp is, even after all you have seen dear Karmen do to your comrade and knowing she is capable of more, a lot more actually, Will you tell me?"

The lady looked over at Karmen and then shivered as she shook her head,

"I won't" she said out loud in case the shaking of her head was not enough.

Olivia was a little surprised,

"Seriously? You're that loyal?" She said but Hal turned to her and shook his head,

"Not loyalty... Fear." He clarified with a smile and then to the lady, he said,

"I don't deny that you probably feel like you owe Red beard a lot but that is not the real reason you all so tight-lipped, is it?"

And then his eyes turned completely Dark, Sclera and all as he proceeded to brand her with the Devil Mark.

With it, he seized control of her mind and searched through her memories for all the information he needed and then commanded her,

"Tell me where the bandit camp is"

No matter the reason she was tight-lipped, there was no way she could resist his words,

"Towards the E..." She began but could not even complete her words before her heart stopped beating and she slumped against the ground... dead.

Hal nodded with a sigh as his eyes returned to normal,

"A loyalty brand. Made by Red beard himself I presume. The moment they say a word about his camp's location, they die. As such, torture could never get them to open up. The mere intention to be cooperative will trigger the brand and stop their heart."

*Rippp*

Hal tore the front of the lady's clothes and right there just above her left breast was the brand. Incredibly close to her heart.

Then he covered her up and looked over at the other two, the man moaning in pain and the other spokesman.

The spokesman could immediately tell that Hal no longer saw any value in them,

"Wait. We might not be able to tell you where the camp is, but if you spare me, I'll tell you something important."

Hal chuckled,

"Tell me what? That there is a meeting going on at the camp between merchant representatives from Dell city and Red Beard regarding his sudden decision to increase Tax?"

The spokesman's jaw dropped and the moaning man actually stopped whimpering,

"How did you know?" He asked just as there were quick dashing footsteps to be heard before the arrival of the one who had to be the contacted scout.

Hal extended the Astral Dome to contain the scout as well.

Then he smiled the spokesman and injured man,

"None of your concern"

*Slash*

With a swing of his now summoned cosmic armament, the two dropped dead.

The scout's eyes widened but before he could move away, Hal summoned Essence Stealer and shot a flaming arrow right at him which combusted him from the inside out.

"So where is the camp?" Rita asked.

He smiled at her and walked towards them as he dispersed his Cosmic Armament,

"Not too far from here. Come on. We have a meeting to crash..."