*Boooommmm!!!!!*

The battle was intense but the Edgars knew it was nothing compared to the complete slaughter they were in danger of facing should they lose.

And they had no intention of losing.

However,

It was easier said than done.

The battle was far from being in their favor.

They had been forced on the backfoot constantly and their defense was beginning to show cracks.

The Plebeian forces pushed even harder when they noticed this.

They were like sharks that could smell blood in the water.

But, all this was merely on the surface.

Deep down, the Plebeians also felt a sense of urgency.

Of all the forces they had brought, the strongest was at the Peak of the Cosmic Pearl realm. This was enough in the present climate.

However, there was still someone outside of the forest who could turn the tables upon arrival.

There was still Darryl Edgar.

It was no secret that Darryl was at the mid-stage of the Cosmic Armament Realm and more than strong to take them all on.

If he caught wind of what was happening in the forest at that time, he was bound to be incredibly furious, after all, his son was their main target.

And so, it was that Just as the Plebeians were trying to hurry things along, the Edgars were busy trying to slow things down while making as much noise as possible.

They could not risk sending someone to inform Darryl on the outside, for fear that that someone could be ambushed.

Not to mention that they needed all the help they could get.

The noise should be enough to alert him though.

Or so they thought.

The Plebeians were quite prepared when laying this ambush.

They set up silencing runes at the boundary of the forest to keep the noise heard outside of the forest to the bare minimum.

They were not worried about the noise, because they knew it would not affect their plans, They were however concerned that if Darryl did not hear from his men soon, he would come bursting in.

After all, in a semi-expected attack, no news was bad news.

Hence their haste.

What they did not know however was that Darryl already knew all that was going on in the forest.

His master had relayed it to him directly along with the order that he was not to interfere.

There was something he needed to test through that attack.

"Damn it" Alex groaned and clenched his fist as one of his Cosmic attacks was swatted away by the enemy.

Of all the Edgar scions present, only he was able to participate in the ongoing battle thanks to his cultivation and it ticked him off to no end.

When he had managed to advance to the Cosmic Pearl realm a few days ago, he had been filled with confidence and joy.

He could finally call himself Amelia's peer!

This competition was bound to be a breeze, he had thought.

However, who would have thought things were not going to go his way.

He had just succeeded along with the other Edgar scions in retrieving twenty Rune tiles, Five of which he had acquired through combat with his rival, Leyton Fidwud.

Leyton had been the first to surprise him in this Competition when he revealed that he had also advanced to the Cosmic Pearl realm.

Alex did not win but still got away with Five Rune tiles after which, he and the Edgar scions had ran like their life depended on it.

As they ran, Alex had ingrained it in his mind that it was not cowardly.

After all, even running is a skill.

At the time, he had been surprised by Leyton's progress but he could now see that it was not just him, all Plebeians seemed to be on the rise.

'It must be what Father has been worried about' he thought with a clenched jaw.

He would have loved to call out to his Father who he knew was right outside but something told him that if he did not react to such loud combat sounds that could not possibly have been made by the young generation, then he could not possibly react to his son's cry for help.

It might even seem cowardly.

Alex allowed himself another look around and saw the fear and desperation in the eyes of his peers.

It ached his heart and he turned away towards the combating Edgars, it was then he noticed something that caused his eyes to narrow.

Thanks to some successful attacks, the Plebeian forces outnumbered the Edgar protective forces, Thirty to Twenty two and still the numbers showed a tendency of dropping in favor of the Plebeians.

At first, Alex had thought that the Edgars had held on due to sheer force of will but he noticed the actions of Six of the Edgar protective forces that changed his mind.

While the others seemed to be struggling to keep up with attacks, those Six that stood together seemed perfectly at ease.

They were successfully repelling attacks but they were not doing any more than that.

It was as though they had no interest in attacking.

But that made no sense.

"Haaaaaaa"

A sudden battle cry made Alex turn just in time to see a Plebeian attack him directly.

Somehow, he had made it into the protective formation, from within which Alex had been sending out Cosmic Attacks.

The attacker was at the Mid-stage of the Cosmic Pearl Realm and must have made it in sneakily as opposed to using brute force.

Alex could tell that his protectors would not be able to react in time so he tried to defend himself with Cosmic Energy but the attacker's punch still made contact with his face and slammed him right out of the formation.

From the very start, he had been the target.

Any other death was merely collateral damage

The Formation was broken immediately after and quite a few Edgar scions lost their life before it could be formed again.

Meanwhile,

The attacker did not stop after Alex was out of the Formation, instead, he dashed in to finish what he had started.

Lying there, Alex had to admit he had regrets, he was not ready to die and he did not feel it was fair that he was their main target just because he was an heir.

Then again, was it fair that so many Edgars had died just because they were in the way?

No, he decided, he would not go down like this.

It would not end this way.

He rolled away and dodged a blow to his head, and then stood up to face his assailant.

Reaching deep within himself, Alex sought out an inner strength to defeat his foe, to support his family,

To survive.

Alas,

No matter how much energy he harnessed, how tough his flesh was, it was all for naught...

*Bang!*

*Crack!*

Almost every bone in his arm was shattered and he was thrown back with little strength left.

He groaned, he whimpered, he howled in pain as his assailant moved closer and this time Alex gave up.

From the corner of his eye, he could see there were no protectors to spare as they were all embroiled in combat and could not come to his aid.

He could see their desire to do so.

Well, he could see it in all but the Strange six whose expression remained indifferent.

But wait,

Weren't there Six of them?

He counted One, Two, Three... Five...

Where was the sixth?

Alex sighed,

What does it matter? He thought before...

*Bam*

...there was suddenly someone between him and his assailant.

That person, who he could now recognize as the Sixth strange man, had caught the hand of his attacker and did not give a single inch.

Alex's eyes widened,

He could sense that the Man's cultivation was the same as his.

It was at the early stage of the Cosmic Pearl realm.

So how?

How?

How could he catch the full-powered fist of a Mid-stage cultivator?

Or better still,

How did a Cultivator at the Early stage make it into the group of experts tasked with protecting him and the other Edgar scions?

Alex shook his head.

None of that mattered.

At least not for now.

"I knew you were going to save me," he said with a smile while wincing at his broken bones.

The man however seemed confused,

"Save you, Hahaha. I'm not saving you" he said with a snigger.

At time, the other five who had only been on the defensive suddenly broke out simultaneous Cosmic Attacks that imitated an Area of Effect attack and cleared away all assailants from themselves.

Leaving the area around them free.

The eyes of all those present were widened in surprise but it was only the beginning.

"What do you mean, you're not saving me?" Alex asked in a tone of mild outrage.

"I meant exactly what I said and said exactly what I meant. I am only attacking because Master gave the go-ahead"

The man said before he drew back his fist and punched the midsection of the assailant whose hands he held.

Even though he was awed by the display of strength and glad as the assailant was knocked far back, Alex refused to lose track of his questions.

"Did my Father not task you with our protection? Why did it take you so long to take action?"

The man turned to face him while stretching,

"Your Father? *Snort* I and my comrades are Blood knights and we serve only one Being and I can assure you, he's not an Edgar"

The Man told him with a tone of derision.

One of the others then spoke to the Edgar protectors,

"Now stay out of our way and let us feed"

He said this with a savage smile on his face as his eye turned a Blood red color and the pressure he released became stifling and Bloodcurdling.

The others experienced the same change and with each step they took towards the Plebeian Assailants, the assailants took a step back.