Chapter 712 A Taste To Seal A Plan.
Sassy opened a portal to the habitat and out came a hundred of the devil beasts within with them having already attained human form.
At the lead was Borus the previous trench king now with a buff humanoid form.
Every one of the beasts who exited the Habitat was stark naked.
Their bodies exuded terrifying energy and aura of the Devil nature they had gained by evolving through Hal's blood and feeding on multiple bodies.
The transformation from demon beasts into Devil beasts was complete and they could now be introduced into normal, or at least more conventional means of cultivation that did not involve them feasting on the bodies of their victims.
That said, as the male and female Devil beasts laid their eyes on the small army of Crimson foxes experts, their mouths formed savage smiles with clear indications of their planned enjoyment of the delicacy that was Dystopian flesh.
When the Devil beasts exited the Habitat and showed off their nude bodies all ranging from large and muscular to lanky and agile for the males and lithe and dangerously graceful to seductively attractive and filled with allure for the females, the Crimson foxes barely had time to gawk.
They had already been about to commence battle with the singular Sassy and seeing her bring out reinforcements from out of nowhere, especially such attention-grabbing reinforcement was definitely a sight to see but the show (battle) must go on.
Even with the reinforcement, the army of Crimson foxes was still the majority and they at least took refuge in their numbers advantage... And once the Devil beasts all covered themselves with encrusting armors that enhanced the terrifying and intimidating feeling that they were already giving off, the numbers advantage became all the more necessary.
The eyes of the Devil beasts unanimously going red signaled the start of the battle and it was more than clear from the very start that the Devil beasts were the more capable.
Every single one of the one hundred Devil beasts that Sassy had let out of the habitat, at that point in their evolutions, was at the peak of the Semi-Transcendent beast realms.
Their battle prowess was well past what those in the Crimson fox Army could contend with and that became clear as the battle began.
The intent to kill was clear on every one of the Devil beasts and with every blow that they delivered, they wanted their opponents put down.
Sassy had her two daggers in hand and with seamless shifting between her human form and her hybrid form, he led the war effort.
Making responsible use of her new abilities because he mist could very well affect her allies if she were not careful. That did not pose too much of a handicap though... Plus, she knew the battle was only going to go on for as long as it would take for Hal to put down the Ten Elders.
Speaking of which...
The battle between Hal and the Elder in the sky remained as heated as before but the Elder was already beginning to feel the negative effects of battling with Hal.
The sluggishness was setting in, his senses were failing him and the longer they fought, Hal only seemed to new getting stronger.
Hal let both the Devil Trident and Sovereign Scepter go to free his hands for the delivery of a more mano-a-mano exchange. Both weapons floated by his sides, patiently waiting to be picked back up or summoned to his hand.
*Bam!*
"Ack" groaned the elder as Hal's blue fist slammed into his face he flew back and away from Hal but better he got too far, Devil energy stretched out toward him and turned into a large hand that grabbed him and pulled him back towards Hal kneed him in the jaw...
*Bam!*
*Crunch!*
The sound was the unmistakable one of a shattering jawline and while the Elder groaned in pain, he was unable to let out a scream which would have better expressed his pain.
That said, the Elder had only been biding his time... He smiled inwardly at the thought that his opponent had walked right onto his trap...
The Elder felt that Hal had grown complacent on account of his many connecting hits and he was delighted as that helped him do what he wished to do.
The jaw strike caused the Elder to rise higher in the sky up to the point where he was close to the very crest of the dome that was surrounding the center area of the Crimson Foxes Territory.
Hal stretched out Devil energy to once again pull the Elder closer but the Elder burst out in laughter while he suddenly got illuminated by crimson flames.
The Ordinance try Elder had gained insight into was the Ordinance of fire and that had so far not been useful in his fight against Hal.
Because Hal had been touching him from the start of this battle, the Elder had found it difficult to make use of his Flame ordinance and had not been able to use it to turn the battle in his favor.
But the Crimson fox Elder had a technique that, at the risk of shaving a bit of his lifeforce, could push the strength of his Ordinance up to the threshold of Harnessing mastery.
"Eat this!" he yelled at Hal before charging crimson flames at the Devil energy that had been streaking towards him.
Hal's eyes widened slightly as the flame burned up his stream of Devil energy and continued towards him.
He grabbed both his weapons that were still floating by his sides but the flames hit before he could even move them for defense...
*BOOOMMMM!*
The best Hal had been unable to do was surround himself with Devil energy but the flames just burned it all up and slammed into nonetheless.
*BANG!*
Hal hit the ground and formed a crater...
He groaned and got back to his feet but the Elder, still illuminated by his crimson flames arrived with a kick to his head.
Hal dodged the kick and tried to counter with his trident but the elder caught the weapon with one hand... He ignored the thorns that were stabbing into his hand to say to Hal with a grin,
"You're done"
The Elder pulled the trident to the side and slammed Hal's chest to blast him directly with the flames in his Ordinance.
*Bam!*
*Bang!*
*Bam!*
*Bang!*
*Bam!*
*Bang!*
*Bam!*
*Bang!*
For everything that Hal tried, the Elder always had a counter and he gained the upper hand in the altercation.
He finally got the space he needed to retrieve an attacking artifact from his spatial ring and it was that weapon, which he blazed with the crimson flames of his Ordinance, that he thrust into Hal's midsection in a final killing blow.
The Elder, still illuminated with the crimson flames of his Ordinance, grinned with satisfaction at the sweet taste of victory as the glow in Hal's gold eyes dimmed.
"In your next life, think twice before coming after my Crimson fox clan," said the Elder but just then, while he was reveling in the victory of his- a victory that felt a bit unreal, he heard Hal's voice behind him,
"That's it? That is the best you can come up with. You succeed in killing a menace, one whose motives you don't know and don't understand and that is the best you can think to say? Pathetic! So unimpressive"
The Elder shook fell head to toe as he turned his eyes toward the voice.
Right there, in the courtyard was Hal sitting on an incredible throne that did not fit with the scenery.
"What the- What is this?" the Elder yelled just as the Hal he had just stabbed and killed dissolved into dust that was blown away never to be seen again.
"Hahahahahaha, You really thought you won? What, I go through all the trouble of transforming and you just do away with me... So easily? Ah well, everyone wants to defeat the impossible, I can see how you were completely lost in the moment" Hal said.
"What are you talking about?" the Elder yelled,
"Is it not yet obvious...? None of it was real. Pfft- Like there was any way I would lose to you" Hal said and the courtyard morphed into the Sovereign Space... An illusionary mental realm that he had absolute control over.
The battle was always Hal's to win... Regardless of the trump cards the Elder ever thought to use but the battle would have taken way long and Hal did not wish to drag it out... Especially with the Elders almost done with the activation of their formation.
At the early stages of the battle, he pulled the Elder's mind into his Sovereign Space where he created a seamless transition of perception.
In this illusion, the Elder was allowed to use his cards and allowed to get a taste of the joy he would never actually get to feel in real life
The Elder, if asked, could never be able to accurately express when the battle moved from physical to mental which had been the point.
For every feeling of excitement born of 'victory' that the Elder ever had, Hal's manipulation had gained even deeper roots and the ecstasy of being able to drive a weapon through the menace was the final straw that sealed up the manipulation.
"You... Arse..." was the most the Elder could get out before his mind was tied with Infinity and Hal returned to reality.
In reality, the battle between Hal and the Elder only lasted a few minutes before they both were still in the air for about a second.
Then, the Elder dropped from the sky which caused incredible impact all over the courtyard.
The other Nine Elders did not spare the fall any attention and rather rose into the air in unanimous rejoice of their success in activating their formation.
It was Time... Time to bring the Infidel to justice!