Marlon blinked. Things were not going according to the script. She was supposed to say yes. Why would a wife say no to marrying her husband again?.

"Why not?" He asked

"Are you seriously asking me that? We have issues and I doubt a second marriage is going to help us" Olivia said with a steeled resolve

"I promise to do better" Marlon said

"And you promised to love me when we got married but Adler Holger was enough to change that wasn't she?" Alice said and Marlon's eyes widened in surprise

"What? You think I don't know? You are a crappy husband Marlon but you are even worse as a man" Despite the strong words, there was a slight trembling in Olivia's hands that told Marlon that the conversation was having an impact on her as well.

Marlon sighed and closed his eyes before he stood up and pulled Olivia towards himselfp. She did not resist. Instead she snuggled her face into his chest to hide the wetness that was starting to appear in her eyes.

Marlon could see now how much of a cowardly bastard he had been. It would take a long time for him to no longer remember Adler who had stolen his heart, but he would do better by Olivia.

He would show her the affection she deserved and despite all that she had said, he would still plan for their remarriage because he needed to renew his vows to her.

It was far from being simply ceremonial. The remarriage would be his way of waving his hands to the past and letting it all float away, so he could see a clear path into the future with Olivia.

He would finally stop pining after what he could not have and focus on what he did have and what he did not want to lose.

He said all this to Olivia and the tearful woman finally decided to give him a second chance.

A second chance he would not squander.

Unfortunately, as wonderful as Marlon's resolution was, it in no way prepared him for the craziness that would go down on that wedding day.

....

Meanwhile in Hal's Soul world

Myra and Tiberius looked to Hal as he stared at Essence Stealer with mild disgust.

Essence stealer was a large bow that was half Hal's height with a Riser of ornate purple and black veins crisscrossing it like they did Executioner's blade. It also had sharp spikes sticking out it's front with the ends the strings were connected to looking like the tip of horns. Which meant that in a horizontal plane, the bow resembled wide and demonic looking horns.

The string was also of a purple color.

To be truly honest, the bow looked mighty Deadly and thanks to it's description Hal knew the way it reaped lives was far more painful than Executioner.

You see, Executioner kills instantaneously as can be inferred from it's name, Essence stealer is far more agonizing.

However for some reason as Hal held it, he felt silly.

"Why would anyone wield a purple weapon?" He asked

Myra narrowed her eyes and cocked her head slightly

"So, your issue with Essence Stealer is that it's...purple?" This came as a surprise, was Hal really going to be so petty over a color...

"Exactly"

...but, apparently he was.

"Purple is a color for douche bags like Gregory Payne" Hal sneered as he thrust Essence stealer so it wasn't too close to his body.

"So it's more about your Daddy issues" Tiberius said

"If 'Daddy issues' refers to my incessant dislike of Father figures then sure, it's about my Daddy issues"

Of course in terms of blood, Hal had nothing to do with Gregory, but there were certain feelings that would not go away, especially after inheriting certain memories.

"What about Mother issues?" Myra asked with a smirk from behind him and Hal chuckled

"Well, 'Aunt' Myra, what do you think?" He said and turned towards her in a grand fashion

"I love mothers. Especially the hot ones. I definitely have the Oedipus complex which I always felt was weird considering I never met my mother" Hal smiled to himself in reminisce

The thought of his many sexcapades and the many Milf hearts he had broken because of his fear of commitment made his heart teem with perverted joy.

But all that was then, it's time to move into the future, there are many Milfs in this world that are ready to receive his perverse blessings.

"So 'Aunt' Myra, is there any way for this Bow to not look so icky?"

"Unfortunately no. As purple is the most sensuous color that's gender neutral, it's the signature of all lust demons" Myra said with a shake of her head

"You'll have to deal with it" Tiberius guffawed while he continued to spin Executioner in his hand.

"Fuck!" Hal swore before he retreated from the soul world

Once he was gone, Myra sighed

"He's a lot like the queen. Her majesty hated the color purple too"

"She did?" Tiberius was surprised, this was the first he was hearing of this.

"Of course she did. Why do you think I have pink stripes on my body instead?"

...

Hal stood up and left his room to walk into the lounge where he was a little not surprised to see Master Swanson sitting and apparently waiting for his arrival.

"Sorry, Master, I was just about to inform you of his arrival" Castor said with a deep bow but Hal simply waved him off

"Eugene. To what do I owe this visit. I hope it's a pleasant one" He said with a smile and made himself comfortable on the sofa

"That depends" Said Eugene Swanson said with a deep sigh

"On what?"

"On whether or not you plan to join the Competition" Swanson had no intention of beating around the bush and instead got straight to the point of why he was really there.

"So are you?" he asked when Hal remained silent.

The question made Hal think. Despite what he had told Amelia. he had not really being interested in the competition. It seemed to him a waste of time to go against the useless bunch that made up the young generation most especially the ones from the Great and Plebeian families who he now saw as having more ego than ability.

But...

...Things were different now. By his estimate, Marla should be out by the time the competition would begin and that Environment would be perfect for some mid-action tutoring and those that were there would be perfect for practice dummies. No pun intended.

"Yes, I will" He finally answered

"Well, you shouldn't" Eugene said with a light shake of his head

"Why not?" Hal asked with a crease of his brow

"You are going to be targeted. The plebeians believe I have something to do with the Holger Decimation so they plan to use you against me. This competition is tailor made for ambush" Swanson said in a grave voice that had Hal confused

"But Eugene, you know I have nothing to fear among the young generation" Hal said and Eugene nodded

"I do but I have a feeling they might not want to take any chances and will send professionals instead. The forest is fairly large, there are spots they can hide even in case the forest is inspected"

Eugene had taught of this a lot and while at first he had been confident in Hal's victory, he felt he might have been a tad bit negligent and hence underestimated the duo of Baret and Ian.

Hal chuckled "You're giving them too much credit. While they might send insurance in form of stronger men, they will still ultimately underestimate me. They went to you about the Holgers but yet they never once thought of the possibility that I might be involved. That shows their vision is a tad bit shallow.

"Don't fret Swanson. All will be well. And if it's not, I have ways to survive."

It was not easy to completely convince Swanson that all was well and he had nothing to worry about but by the time it was evening Swanson finally retreated to his store.

'Phew. Thought he would never leave, that man is so paranoid. I thought I'd have to postpone my plans' Hal groaned to Grimiore

'Why? What do you have planned?' Grimiore asked

'I'm going to sacrifice myself for the pleasure of someone else' Hal said in a serious voice that caused Grimiore to pause

'Wait, what?'

'I'm going to provide a young lady with pleasure. It's an incredibly selfless act. One I take very seriously' Hal replied in a forthright manner

'Oh, good for you' Grimiore said with sarcasm

'It IS good for me' Hal chuckled.

He'd gained the lesser Devil form and was quite eager to take it out for a spin.