Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

The scythe was the Shadow Demon Bloodline Armament: Reaper, and its summoning was always meant to be subtle in the sense that it wasn't a sticker for chants.

Red Beard furrowed his brow at the speed Hal had just showcased and that was followed by the widening of his eyes at the feeling Hal was giving off even as he held him back with the handle of his large war hammer.

The feeling that supported the hypothesis he had had for a while that this young man was a demon.

Only a Demon could have been able to perform the feats that he had performed thus far.

He pushed Hal back but only did so to create a small distance between them and then swung his hammer at him.

However, before the hammer, which did not look to weigh anything with the way It was being wielded by the Bandit leader, made contact with Hal who was still within reach,

Hal's form shimmered with a Dark smoky vapor and he vanished altogether. Moving at a speed that boggled the bandit leader's mind.

Suddenly, he was at Red Beard's side and kicked at his face.

Red Beard once again relied solely on his sharp instincts and intercepted the kick.

Hal was still smiling manically and his eyes completed the image that he was a demented Devil,

"Come on R.B... Let me see it..." He said and twisted to slash his scythe at Red Beard's side,

*Slash*

It connected and made a cut that would have been much more serious if the bandit leader had not leaped back just in time to avoid getting skewered.

However, Red Beard was not rolling on the floor or on one knee groaning in pain. He was charging up a cosmic attack which he imbued with a cosmic phenomenon and tossed at Hal who had once again vanished from where he used to be.

He was now behind Red Beard and swinging his weapon at him however, the bandit leader surrounded himself with cosmic energy which helped avoid Hal drawing blood again.

Speaking of blood, the wound at his side was bleeding quite profusely and he was quick to swallow a mending pill that began to stop his bleeding and alleviated the pain once the cosmic energy shield gave him a moment of reprieve.

Hal on the other hand had been launched away quite a far distance after the repulse of his scythe against the shield.

This was the disadvantage of making use of the shadow demon Bloodline. Famed as one of the fastest races of higher beings, the shadow demonic bloodline granted Hal Incredible speed by reducing his density.

The speed he already had on account of his cultivation, as well as his bloodline, became tripled but not without reducing his strength by half. The fact that his density had been reduced made it so that a successful hit from Red Beard would have him launching quite far away and create the perfect opening for an attack from his opponent.

The truth was that this was not exactly perfect for frontal combat.

It was good for reconnaissance.

It was good when Hal was assured of ending his opponent's life with one solid blow but it was not advisable for confrontations such as this.

The bloodline armament tried to make up for this by being large, swift, and very deadly but it was just not enough.

That was why the shadow bloodline's abilities were all perfect for espionage and assassinations rather than this but Hal was not quite ready to kill Red Beard just yet...

Once he had ascertained his bearing and was solidly rooted to the ground, Hal pointed his scythe at the bandit leader,

"Show me... Your ordinance"

Rearing from Hal successfully landing a hit on his side, Red Beard was visibly angry,

"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked and seeing that he was clearly not ready to open up, Hal felt he might as well continue,

He vanished once again, dashing towards Red beard who had not missed how far Hal had gone upon rebounding from the Cosmic energy shield and made his won assessment,

"Speed is all you have..."

However, while that was true it was still enough to make Hal troublesome to deal with.

And that was why even though he took on a defensive stance, Red Beard did not actually make any moves, he simply waited for Hal to connect with his weapon which did not take that long.

Only then... Right at the last minute did he make a move to protect himself with the handle of his hammer.

Hal, being much faster than him saw this and smirked before changing the direction he had been swinging in to catch his opponent off guard but he had been wrong!

Red Beard was never really after the scythe itself but the hand which was being used to swing it which did not really change position all that much. Hal had opted for a more subtle change in trajectory and that was his undoing...

Red Beard grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. Hal was not strong enough to resist the pull and neither was he strong enough to not be knocked back several feet when the bandit leader headbutted him,

*Bam!*

Hal groaned and his forehead was bruised quite badly but that was far from the end.

Being sent backward and lacking any actual control of his body, there was no way Hal could have defended himself when Red Beard covered the distance to sink his knee into his stomach...

*Bam!*

*Crack!"

... And break a few of his ribs.

Hal groaned in pain and was without a weapon since Reaper had fallen from his hand following that headbutt.

Sassy hissed, being the only one who was really paying attention to the battle as everyone else was preoccupied, and she slithered towards Red Beard but Hal reached out to her through their link and told her to remain where she was.

Red Beard hefted his hammer and brought it down towards Hal's head but the Devil blasted at him with a Cosmic attack imbued with a cosmic phenomenon.

Red Beard was easily able to blast it aside but Hal user that moment to summon Reaper to his hand once again and cut the bandit leader's calf as he slid out of attacking range.

Red beard groaned in annoyance before,

*Bam!*

Hal punched him in the face and then hit him in the midsection with the butt of Reaper in a clear retaliation for the knee to his ribs.

"Enough!!!' Red Beard yelled and released a violent blast of bright orange flames from out of nowhere while his eyes looked to be smoldering with flames of the same color.

"Enough. The longer this drags on, the more of my men meet their deaths" he growled.

Hal rolled his eyes,

"You are just figuring that out?" He said with a glance towards Karmen who was whirling through bandits and hacking away at anyone unfortunate enough to be at the end of her Cosmic armament or Executioner.

Then he focused on Red Beard who seemed to be charging himself up,

"So that's an ordinance. Impressive" He said with an approving nod.