Doyle went to the Viper where it lay and picked the Rune tile off its scales.

The Viper's green eyes widened slightly when it saw that the reason they had disturbed its sleep was for something so small that had stuck to its body unknowingly.

It angered it all the more!

It began to stain against the Rune that bound it down with all its might.

When the Horst scions saw this, they knew it was time to leave.

While there were experts in hiding to protect them from life-threatening attacks, they would only interfere at the last moment which was plenty of time for the angry viper to bite off their heads.

They picked up the weak Eldo and made to leave when...

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

...they discovered they had company.

Company in the form of the Krast scions, led by Edvard Krast's favorite nephew, Arnold Krast.

Arnold stood a lean young man of the same age as Frank Horst. He had Black hair and pitch-black eyes that (despite the differing hair color) bore a striking resemblance to Edvard himself.

Even as Arnold surveyed the Horst scions, he continued to clap, a look of genuine respect on his face.

"Incredible. You managed to pin down the Toxic Viper and with a Rank 2 Rune for that matter. Simply marvelous"

He said and increased the tempo of his claps.

"Brother, you are doing it again," said the beautiful lady beside him.

The lady shared his brown hair but her eyes were brown instead. Her chest was quite large. Way more than an average young lady should have.

Even though she was a part of the enemy, several Horst scions could not help but gap when they saw her. Even if her large chest was not taken into account, her face was incredibly seductive.

She was Arnold's Elder sister, Selina Krast.

Selina had always been known to act like the younger of the two siblings but you would be remiss to overlook her because of this little fact.

Both her and Arnold are at the peak of the Energy sensing realm but Selina is very close to breaking through to the Cosmic Pearl realm. The two are known as the geniuses of Krast Estate and their glory is only outshined by a select few.

Rumor has it that Edvard Krast is trying to facilitate things so that the two could have a chance to try out for one of the Great sects so they would not lag even further behind Amelia Horst. The unrivaled Genius of Salmon City.

"What am I doing?" Arnold asked, confused.

"You're ignoring my wishes. I told you I don't want to go after these. I want to find the Hot one" Selina said and folded her hands beneath her breasts.

"The Hot one? You don't mean...?" Arnold reeled back,

"Yes, I do. Why are we wasting time on these ones? With Eldo down, Doyle is the only one left that can put up a fight"

At Selina's words, the Horst scions gritted their teeth and clenched their fists.

Aren't you looking down on us too much?.

Selina saw their reactions and ignored them.

She happened to be one of the few females who participated in this competition and her reason for doing so was simple.

She was tired of simply training and cultivating, she wanted to try out her strength.

Unfortunately, all those she and the other Krast scions had gone against had all but surrendered their tiles due to their incapabilities.

She was sick of such incompetence and was quite ready to go back home when she remembered one opponent she had not seen since she ran into the forest with the other Krast scions.

She remembered Hal Payne.

It was not like she could forget him. Whether it was his unmatched looks or presence or even scent, there was none she could actually forget.

What she had forgotten was his declaration.

Hal had told Alexander that the lady with him would be doing a lot of Ass-kicking and that sounded quite nice to Selina now that she thought about it.

She was boiling to see just how much competition she could get from the Dark-haired beauty and it didn't hurt that she would get to see Hal Payne again.

"Fine, we'll look for him once we get this tile, okay?"

"Fine. But do it yourself. I'm not interested" Selina said and dutifully turned away.

Doyle clenched his fist around the tile,

"You're insane if you think we're just going to give you the Tile"

Arnold smiled,

"You're the first Great family scion we'll go against. I hope you don't disappoint"

"They will," Selina said in a sing-song voice with her back still turned.

Almost as though her words were a trigger, the Horst scions sprung into action immediately.

Doyle soon found himself facing off against Arnold.

While they were both in the 9th stage and cultivate good Techniques there was still something missing. Arnold and Selina received training from their family head while the Horst family head had focused more on training his children.

The quality of their training was far from the same and yet the one who had received the same quality of training was sitting it out due to some stupid prophecy!.

As the two went on to exchange a couple of blows, it soon became clear to Doyle that Arnold was mostly toying with him and if he could make use of that underestimation, he could defeat the Krast genius.

But then what?

He and Eldo could maybe hold off the Krast siblings but with Eldo out of commission, he would have to fight off Selina as well if he was able to defeat Arnold and he had to admit to himself that the chances were quite slim.

A successful feint from Arnold and Doyle found himself on the receiving end of a knee strike to the ribs that knocked him back.

Before he could fully control himself and continue standing, Arnold ended it all with a kick to his face that knocked him out.

"Doyle!" Eldo yelled as he saw his friend fall.

Arnold looked to him and smirked,

"Be quiet" he said and kicked him in the ribs as well.

It was at that moment when all seemed bleak for the Horsts that a distraction appeared in the form of a pinned Viper's rage,

*Growwwwwl*

The Serpent produced a rare sound as it imbued itself once again and enlarged even more, it was obvious that this enlargement was its limit but it was enough for it to break free of the rune that held it down.

*HISSSSS!*

And then it sprung and began its attack.

Anyone it came in contact with was smacked away with a swing of its tail.

With Doyle unconscious, it turned its attention to Arnold who leaped backward to escape its range but the Viper kept on it.

Those that were unfortunate to be caught by its tail swings found themselves smacking into trees and other structures that rendered them unconscious immediately.

The serpent seemed more interested in keeping them all down. Almost as though it was preparing them to be eaten. The smacking was to make them tender and if they bled, that only made them more 'juicy'.

How it flicked its tongue gave this possibility even more credence.

The Horst and Krast at that moment forgot to be at each other's throats as they worked to keep the serpent at Bay. At least long enough to flee the scene.

Unfortunately, the Serpent was incredibly swift for a beast of its size.

Selina smiled,

"Now this is more like it"

She clenched her just and struck the tail as it swung towards her.

*Bam!*

The Viper pulled its tail back but it was even angrier than ever before as it focused its attention on Selina.

As those Green eyes stared her down, Selina almost lost all confidence but she held her ground and drew back her fist once again as her breast bounced to the motion, However, before she could strike,

*Swooooshh*

Something incredibly swift and Dark blew past her and before she could blink...

*BAM!*

...the figure struck the viper.

That single strike caused the serpent to raise its head and Hiss in despair before it flopped to the ground.

Just as it touched the ground, so did the figure responsible for the strike.

Dark hair and dark eyes. A beautiful face that did not lose out to Selina's and actually surpassed it.

All those present recognized her as the lady that had been with Hal Payne.

Selina's eyes widened.

If she was here, then surely he must be...

"Aww come on Marla, did you have to strike that hard?" Said a smooth voice that drew attention to the rapidly shrinking Viper.

Someone was there already and stroking the Viper's scales.

"Where the hell did you come from?"

Arnold yelled for the one by the Viper's body was none than Hal Payne.

No one had noticed his arrival. He was just suddenly... there. Like a ghost.

Hal turned a fraction in Arnold's direction, glared at him with his intense blue eyes before he turned back to the Viper and continued to stroke its scales.

"You told me to restrain it and I did. Was I too harsh?" Marla asked in a sad tone.

Hal sighed.

"It was fine."

Then to the Viper, he said,

"You didn't need to do that, I was going to save you eventually. You just had to be patient."

Not to mention Everyone else, Even Marla did not understand what Hal was talking about.

However, the Toxic Viper did.