As Evian lay crumpled on the floor, his whole knowledge and world of cultivation crumbled. He had cultivated diligently over the last few days to finally overcome the bottleneck that had hindered him for months.

And he had succeeded.

Finally becoming a Mid stage Cosmic Armament Realm Expert and could now raise his head above the masses as the second strongest after the Plebeian heads.

As this thoughts ran in his mind he could not help but yell...

'Bullshit'

What was the point of all those years of cultivation?

What did it all amount to?

What did it matter that he was well past 200 years of age?

What did that all matter as he lay on the ground, covered in dirt and being looked down upon by this 17 year old lad?

"I don't accept this..." He growled and further strengthened his resolve as he tried to get back to his feet despite his two broken arms. His determination was commendable.

Alas...

*Bam!*

... Hal could not care less as he struck his leg into Evian's ribs...

"Arrrrrrgggggghhhhh"

...and plunged the man into a fresh new wave of intense pain.

"You had your chance, now stop moving or I will break every other bone in your body. I have no interest in killing you, but beating you senseless is very much on the table"

Hal told him with a whisper and turned towards the others who watched the display with mixed feelings.

The Great Family Representatives did not really feel any sympathy towards the Plebeian right hand but his fate was a perfect example of what could happen without a thorough understanding of one's opponent.

Burt then stepped forward slowly and confidently...

"Oh, Nice to see you step forth. I was starting to think I would have to choose for myself" Hal chuckled before lowering his voice to a whisper

"Spoiler Alert! I would have gone for you first"

"You are a lot cockier now" was Burt's only statement and Hal's face blanked in a look of mock outrage

"How dare you sir. I happen to be humblest of all men, how dare you call me cocky, I am shocked, I am outraged. I am hurt, But it's fine. You'll take it back soon enough"

Burt summoned his Cosmic Armament and stared Hal down and then at the same time the two dashed towards each other.

"What the hell is going on?" Darryl asked Marlon as son and butler were soon locked in combat.

"Don't interfere" was all Marlon said with a stoic expression.

Darryl blinked and then scowled as he summoned his cosmic Armament and flicked it in Marlon's direction,

"What if I want to interfere?" He asked

"I'll stop you" Marlon said in a level voice

"Hahahaha. Oh really, little brother. Are you sure you can?" Never had Darryl ever thought he would see Marlon stand up to him in terms of combat, his laugh however did not draw a reaction from Marlon who stretched his hand and summoned his Cosmic Armament as well,

"Why don't you find out?" As soon as he said so, the Devil shroud enveloped his body leaving only his head out in the open.

Just standing near it was enough to instill fear in Darryl who managed to shrug it off just in time to deflect a strike from Marlon.

The strike came with such force behind it that it pushed Darryl back.

He looked into Marlon's face but his brother seemed to have no interest in participating in a staring contest as he pressed further...

*Clang!*

...was the sound their Armaments made when crossed but both would hold their ground.

To Darryl's embarrassment.

He should be the strongest.

This made no sense.

Unfortunately for him, Things were about to make less sense.

The two brothers spun as they continued to clash, the longer they fought. the weaker Darryl seemed to become while Marlon only seemed to get stronger.

"Second grade skill: Darts"

"Second grade skill: Darts"

The two attacked each other with the same skill, bit Darryl was shocked to realize he could not have total Energy output...

*Boom!*

The two skills struck in the middle and Darryl's was annihilated while Marlon's went unimpeded and struck into his opponent's chest...

*Bang!*

The strike knocked Darryl backwards and despite his attempt to hold it it...

-Puchi-

...He still spurt blood.

The reason for Darryl's slump was simple; Devil shroud.

It's ability to instill fear is slow acting but it also slowly corrupts the opponents, tampering with their ability to summon energy and strength. Messing with their Equilibrium and ultimately putting them in a disadvantage.

The longer the opponent is exposed to the fog of the Devil shroud, the worse they feel and the weaker they feel as well.

Darryl however refused to give up as he stood and shook himself off while redoubling his grip on his Cosmic Armament.

Ciel Krast and Fidel Horst watched and had no idea what to do, the two battles were above their Level.

Both Burt and Darryl were battling opponents weaker than them and yet could not seize the advantage.

The worst of the two battles was the one between the Payne scion and Payne Butler.

One was not even in the Cosmic Armament Realm and was still able to force the 'Stronger' man into a defensive position...

*Bang!*

...was the sound Executioner made with the ground which cracked slightly as Burt leapt out of the way.

After the short confrontation between Hal and Evian, Burt was quick to realize his only hope of victory was to stay out of range of Hal's peculiar Black and red fogs.

The fogs did not seem to be able to extend very far and also seemed to have a mind of their own.

Long range attacks was the best and he had just the thing...

"Third grade skill: Raptor strike"

Out of a three circled ring emerged the green raptor but Hal simply chuckled at the display.

The moment the Raptor struck...

*Bang*

...he was already protected by a beetle shell shaped skill that weakened the skill enough for him to end things with a slash of Executioner.

"Third grade skill: Shooting stars"

Hal smirked as he summoned his own three circled ring which Burt was able to recognize as the skill Melinda had used in the Estate on that tragic day...

...but there seemed to be something different about it. Were all it's rings bright in color?

They were.

Instead of buying another third grade skill. Hal had opted for upgrading the Shooting star skill to high tier instead.

*BOOOOOM!*

The explosion of the skill threw Burt incredibly far back and while in midair, he was shocked to find Hal right above him.

Hal smiled and stuck the hilt of Executioner into his chest...

*Crack!*

...and fractured it with an audible crack.

"Arrhg" Burt groaned before...

-puchi-

... He spurt blood and fell to the ground.

Hal then stretched his back and turned to the others.

Darryl was already weakened, the rest were no threat at all.

Banding together for support did not help any of them as Hal went after them all with attacks of precision. Painful enough to hurt them terribly but holding back enough that they survived.

At some point they surrendered but it did not stop Hal from hurting them all the same.

After all, when the Dome eventually comes down, the whole scene must be a picture of struggle, on that note, Marlon was thrashed mercilessly as well.

"Master, Why???" He screeched once the beating stopped

Hal simply dusted his hands as his eyes went back to normal and the fogs were reined in.

"How would it look if you're the only one unharmed. No one will believe you succeeded where your brother and countless others failed" he said with nonchalance before he branded the others with the Devil mark.

As for the Gang members on the ground, they had hardly any knowledge of what had just happened, more focused on groaning in pain and clutching at their wounds.

Then Hal collected the pieces of the seals and put them together after which he injected it with Astral Energy and went into the mound that was the entrance of the Confluence, went down the stone stairway, past the Large table they used for meetings,

He went much deeper into the confluence and arrived before the large vault, a vault he was happy to plunder.