"Grr, Find them!" Gavin yelled and the Guards immediately dispersed to search the grounds.

Except for a few who were there to protect him.

All the while, he continued to stare at the spot the trio had been up until a second ago and groaned in annoyance while he deactivated the Array since there was no point to it right now.

He stepped off the platform and it was only then that some of those in the crowd decided to ask what was next for them now.

"Surely we can leave now and we will see you at the next Auction" one of them said.

Gavin's eyes narrowed,

"Leave? What makes you even have an idiotic thought like that? No one! No one leaves the city until they are found.

I am not going to ask you to help but I will advise you not to try to disobey me. Otherwise, there will be consequences." He said and turned away when he suddenly had a thought and turned to speak to the few guards still in the room,

"The secret passages below the residence. Knowing Wade, that is where he will lead them. Deliver the news to all those already searching. And I don't need your protection by the way so you should all go!" He ordered and they ran out.

Once they were gone, he left the party hall without a second glance at those in the room who would most likely return to their hotels as well.

*Bam!*

He was in the corridor when he paused and punched the wall while breathing deeply,

"I'll find you Wade and I will kill you. You can count on it"

...

Meanwhile...

As it can be guessed, Hal's stunning rune had been to give them a window to dash out of the encirclement that was beginning to take shape. They were still on the residence grounds and that was mostly due to Wade who said he knew the perfect way out of the residence and it was also the least risky.

Once outside, he understood what Gavin meant by the City being 'boarded up' which was evident by the Dome of swimming Runes that now surrounded the entire city.

According to Wade, it was their way of making up for their low number of men and in case of war, it would be activated to shield them from their attackers. Unfortunately, it had now turned to entrapment.

The array Dome was also connected to the Teleportation circles and would not allow anyone to teleport into the city and by consequence, it would also not allow teleportation out.

The exception was the Teleportation circle that was at the location Wade was leading them to which was only to teleport out and hence was not affected by the Dome as it could not be used in infiltration.

But Hal still felt it was not safe because Gavin was bound to know of it.

"Do you have any other ideas, Hal? We could stay and fight. I'm stronger than Gavin after all." Lucile said and looked at him with her feline amber eyes.

"No, we should go ahead with the underground passage. You shouldn't confront Gavin." Hal said.

Lucile frowned,

"I don't need you to protect me" she said with annoyance.

Hal shook his head,

"Trust me, I am not attempting to protect you. It's just that if there is a chance to leave, we should take it. Yes, you are strong, but once he makes use of the technique you won't have a chance." He said.

"Then why not battle him before he is able to use the technique." Wade asked.

Hal sighed,

"Unless you can guarantee a one-shot hit in which you will be able to kill him instantly then I am afraid you will end up battling him when he has activated the technique."

Then he used Astral perception and could sense the guards getting ever closer to them and told the other two who were very much faster than him on account of their cultivation but he was keeping up well enough.

They were almost at the corridor when Hal sensed the guards were right in front of the passage and waiting to ambush them.

However, neither he nor the other two were worried about them.

When they had been in the hall and Gavin had been present, it was assumed that he would boost their capabilities and make them into monsters to contend with the three in the case that a fight broke out.

However, with Gavin absent, they could go crazy on those sons of bitches.

Especially Hal who felt it was a perfect Blood essence reaping session even though he would not be making use of Executioner.

He had no interest in exposing himself to those present.

"I'll handle the guards" he said.

"Are you sure?" Wade asked as he and Lucile paused but Hal did not reply as summoned his Cosmic armament.

"Stop right there!" Yelled a guard and there were about ten of them.

Hal did not and slashed his sword diagonally, to release a cosmic attack that tossed them into disarray.

Then he moved closer and swung his sword at one guard's neck and lopped it off instantly.

Being at the mid-stage of the Cosmic phenomenon realm, the guard never had a chance.

The others were a tad bit stronger and Hal was not cavalier with taking them on at all.

*Boomm!!*

*Boomm!!*

They tossed Cosmic attacks at him but Hal stretched his hand forward to unleash Cosmic energy of such quantity that it contended fairly well with the opposing attacks.

Well enough to give him the breathing space to move out of the way so that when the attack finally broke free, it missed him.

Then he projected a Rune which formed into a shield while he continued his progress.

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

He clashed with their weapons and showed enough prowess to hold them at bay while he kicked at their midsections.

The ones he kicked staggered backward but Hal did not wait around before stepping closer to seal the deal with a stab to the guard's chest.

Then he moved to the next.

In a few minutes, the guards were down to five.

"Monster" they admitted but did not turn back and instead got ready to push on and put an end to Hal's tyranny of death.

Hal could not help but wonder if the guards who he had met at the gate when he first visited the Sheik would have joined up with Gavin but he highly doubted it considering how they have been talking about him.

In fact, now that he thought about it, Gavin must have been glad to have an excuse to have them out of the residence.

Although, if they truly were a nuisance he cared enough to take care of, Hal felt he would have killed them long ago and not even need an excuse for why they were missing since it was him who really handled those miscellaneous matters.

'You know what I just realized, I might have inadvertently saved the lives of those guards by getting them fired.' He said to Grimoire.

If Grimoire had eyes, it would have rolled them,

'Yea, you're a true hero' it said with sarcasm.

'Oh stop. I did what any normal man on the street would. Does that make me a hero?' he replied with a mild chuckle.

He never actually got complacent with his opponents and continued until he had killed them all to the last man.

It was quite exhilarating for him even though, it had not been challenging at all.

The guards did not even attempt to make use of their numbers wisely to overwhelm him. Ultimately, Hal found them a little foolish.

He drained their bodies of Blood essence while taking care to not be too obvious about it as he drove it to push his Bloodline towards another advancement.

"Impressive, Master Hal" Wade said.

"Impressive indeed" Lucile agreed and Hal took a bow. Particularly, pleased with how his clothes were not stained from the quite bloody battle.

They had just stepped into the entrance of the secret passage which quickly led to a staircase when the guards that had been right behind them arrived.

Once about halfway down the stairs, Lucile and Wade used Cosmic energy to collapse the entrance.

Hence sealing them within it while they continued heading to the location Wade guaranteed would grant them a safe exit.

The sacred temple that held the reason Black lagoon got its name.