Chapter 204: In A Bid For Total Transparency.

Edvard's words were directed to the other two Great family heads as he realized that not only had Hal gotten to them, he had taken away Hector's weakened body and should the Mayor regain his good health, then of all the Great families, only the Krasts would be free of Hal's clutches.

He looked once at the young man with a face that should not exist and the woman he had set his heart on in his arms and could not help but wonder;

What moment was it exactly that the Boy toy surpassed him so much?

Ford sighed as he could understand the despairing look on Edvard's face and would have loved to put in an input when he thought better of it once he remembered that he was now at the Deadline Hal had given him to make a decision.

As such he had his own issues and could not truly be bothered with Edvard's despairing discovery.

Gregory was the one who could not care less what Edvard was realizing or discovering. He had no means of escape and he seemed to be counting the minutes before Hal finally put an end to his life.

And even if his life was spared, he had been promised that his family would be destroyed. Years of Payne History ruined in his lifetime.

Surely that was a matter that far exceeded whatever Edvard was discovering in importance.

Seeing as he could not count on support from any of his Great family head colleagues, Edvard summoned his Cosmic Armament; a black glaive and pointed it at Hal, 

"Fine, I'll take care of you myself" He said.

Edvard's whole thought process was that, no matter how formidable the Red-eyes men were, they had just been involved in a battle and could not be functioning at one hundred percent.

While the guards he came to Edgar castle with were outnumbered by those Red-eyed men, they were still relatively fresh, having only been attacking the encasing Dome around the castle.

Also, there was Karmen who he had seen on more than one occasion grew stronger the longer she fought and hardly ever looked tired.

If only Edvard had known that this was only an effect of the Battle-type cultivation technique Hal had given to his Blood Knights which ensured they get stronger in battle. Of course, this did not mean they could go on indefinitely because there was only so much their body could take.

However, in the recent battle, they only joined quite a while later and at the moment, were nowhere near their limit.

Edward was obviously planning to wage a mini-war on Hal.

So to speak.

Probably taking a risk in the hope that only the Edgar brothers were in cohort with Hal.

His risky bet paid off as Karon was fuming at the moment because he could see now that Hal had played him and his Lord.

Now everything made sense. When Blood Knights were suddenly part of the Edgar force, he had been angry that Hal had infiltrated the Mayor's Army with his men yet again,

Except now he knew Hal did not need to infiltrate anything or anywhere. Darryl was obviously in charge of placing them there.

He turned to Darryl who shrugged. 

He did not regret being branded one bit because this was the second time the Blood Knights' appearance would aid them. It was clear now that allying with Hal was in no way detrimental to the Edgar family.

On the contrary, it was the complete opposite of that.

Karon suddenly summoned his Cosmic Armament; a green Axe which he clenched tightly and glared at the brothers.

His eyes looked about the Edgar main family and Alex staring open-mouthed at the revelation that Hal was the one who had robbed the Great Families. Events of which he had only caught bits and pieces during his eavesdropping sessions.

What the hell?

How could this monster still count as being in his generation?

If Hal was the standard of what to be at their age, then he, Alex might as well just kill himself.

The whole situation was totally insane.

Karon looked to Olivia who was looking at Hal with an almost imperceptible change as she stood with one of the Female Blood Knights that had fought by her side.

"You two betrayed your Family" Karon said as his Axe glowed with a charged-up Cosmic attack.

Darryl and Marlin took on poses to defend themselves when Karon slashed in a different direction and sent his Cosmic attack towards Hal.

Hal lightly pulled Melinda and Rita back as he summoned his Cosmic armament and slashed nonchalantly at the Cosmic attack.

Easily negating it.

The Blood Knights quickly made to surround Karon but Hal shook his head while telling them telepathically, 

"No need"

The Blood Knights stepped back and Karon made to run in Hal's direction when Darryl called out to him, 

"You do realize that he just saved us right?"

Karon looked back in Darryl's direction, noting that neither Darryl nor Marlon or the Blood Knights were making a move to stop him. Most likely due to overconfidence that Hal could defeat him.

Overconfidence he was sure would cost them...

"So what? Infiltrating the Edgar family with his Men is an act of gross disrespect. My lord is the Mayor, for goodness sake!

Then again, he robbed the Great families. So how can he have any respect for our authority?"

Hal could hear Karon's words where he stood and they made him chuckle.

Clearly, Karon was only looking for an excuse to fight and get rid of some of the frustration he was feeling.

No-one stopped Karon as he went to stand by Edvard's side and faced Hal while blasting out his Late Stage Cosmic Armament Realm cultivation.

Much to the surprise of many.

'So this is why he's confident' Hal thought.

'That and the fact that once your Blood Knights get involved, those who respect him in the Edgar Family force would get involved as well. And their numbers far exceed your Knights' Grimoire told him.

It was probably what Edvard was thinking as well because he seemed even calmer once Karon was by his side.

"Are you really sure you want to do this?" Hal asked with a sigh.

"What? Afraid that I'll make you spit out every coin you stole?" Edward said.

Everyone not directly involved in the soon to begin combat took a step back. Even Hal's ladies.

Arnold gaped and his thought process was just like Alex's.

Selina looked torn between who to root for; Her beloved uncle or this strapping young man who made her feel giddy.

Hal sighed again, 

"Okay then. In a bid for total transparency, I feel it is only fair I tell you... Karmen is my Blood knight.

Edward paused and he could begin to see a pattern, if the Plebeians and the  Mayor's family could be infiltrated then why not...

"You're lying!" He practically yelled and let out the might of his cultivation base.

Hal was not fazed, 

"See for yourself" he said and once Edvard turned his head, in great trepidation, to look, he saw Karmen smiling fiendishly in his direction, her usually wild eyes were even more so as they were a Blood-Red and fog of the same color emanated from her form.

Edvard seemed to choke and become incapable of speech, but what he wished and could not say were shown in the Cosmic Attack that he sent towards Hal...

*Boommmm*