Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Ivan was still battling Elora and debating whether or not to make use of his lightning blessing as it proved difficult to overpower Elora when he heard the yell.

A yell he knew to have been produced by Artyom.

Almost at the same time the yell sounded out, the reinforcements arrived and even they perked towards the sound coming out of the dome.

Then the dome came down and revealed a peculiar sight; Hal was down on one knee, his head bowed while Artyom, still gripping his sword artifact stood before him.

"Artyom, are you alright?" Ivan could not help but ask the question on everyone's mind just as Artyom turned around and grinned in a grotesque manner that resembled the expression of a man recovering from a traumatic event.

It made the scene all the more confusing.

Who had won what everyone felt had been a battle within the Dome?

Was it the kneeling Hal who, despite being in a submissive-looking position, remained immaculately dressed?

Or

Was it the disheveled crazy looking Artyom whose pose was that of a dominant victor but whose face told a completely different story?

"Of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" Artyom asked as he began taking quick steps towards Ivan whose battle with Elora was definitely on a pause with the young lady no longer attacking him with her chains but hanging back to see how things played out.

While also occasionally looking over at Hal whose head was still bowed.

"I have finally seen the light" Artyom said as he stood only a foot away from Ivan and stretched his hand to grab his cousin's shoulder,

"I finally understand..." He said.

Ivan furrowed his brows,

"Understand what? The value of our brotherhood?" He asked and Artyom shook his head as with one hand grabbing Ivan's shoulder, he said,

"No. I finally understand the foolishness of my convictions. Also, I finally have what I need to take you down a peg..."

*Bang!*

The release of a cosmic Aurora by Artyom seemed completely spontaneous and without any prior charge up and it hit Ivan point-blank and tossed the Doxon man far away from his cousin...

... With minimal injuries.

Ivan would have been a fool if he had not taken measures to protect himself with cosmic energy the moment a disheveled Artyom walked up to him after only yelling out in agony just seconds ago due to unknown events within the Dome.

It only stood to reason that nothing was as it seemed.

And the Doxon was prepared for any such scenarios.

Or so he thought before Artyom began to release a dark fog whose presence instilled fear in Ivan. Fear that increased in intensity the closer Artyom got to Ivan.

Ivan shook the fear off, thinking 'It's all in my head' and blinking a few times.

When Ivan refocused on Artyom, the fog was done and  he summoned his barbed spear cosmic Armament and took a defensive stance as he tried to jeer Artyom back to his senses,

"Artyom, what do you think you are doing? Get a grip!" He said but his cousin merely smiled his grotesque smile and dashed forward to go in on the attack.

How was Ivan to know that even now, Artyom's mind was constantly reliving his traumatic torturous experience while getting branded by Hal?

Speaking of Hal,

Now that the battle between cousins had begun, he had stood back to his feet and was now stretching in a perfectly relaxed pose while he eyed the guards who had no idea if they were to intervene or not.

The two who were battling were the ones they had come to support and now that they were fighting each other, were they also supposed to separate into two groups and battle it out as well?

Eventually, they settled for a more passive reaction and stood watching it all unfold.

They thought about sending a message to the fathers of the duo but ultimately decided against it...

There was just no need when servants were already spreading tales of the event throughout their wide network.

The two fathers were bound to hear of it and intervene soon which was good as the battle between the two was getting more serious the longer it went on without intervention.

*Boom!*

Artyom only just released another Cosmic aurora that Ivan easily dodged only to realize it had only been to herd him in a certain direction that only made it easier for Artyom to close the distance between them and swing his sword at his cousin's neck.

Ivan blocked the strike with his spear and still determinedly on the defensive and only searching for space to talk some sense into Artyom, he leaped back but had only just made to move that Artyom twisted and kicked him in the stomach.

Moving at a speed that surpassed the speed of a mid-stage cosmic Aurora realm expert that he was giving off.

Moving so fast, Ivan who was at the peak of the realm could not map his movements or follow them with his eyes.

And then as Ivan moved back having just been hit, Artyom followed up with a series of blows on his cousin's face...

... Most of which Ivan was unable to avoid and served to aggravate him even further.

Artyom would have reveled in the joy of the advantages he was reaping by getting branded with Hal's devil mark but that was hard when the very same mark made it impossible for him to forget the pain of his branding torture.

Forcing him to relive it even while he was fighting.

But somehow still making it possible for him to be focussed on fighting at the same time.

Hal had told him,

"Do what I want properly and one day, Ivan will feel this pain as well. Do not do it properly -half-ass it- and forever live with the knowledge that only you will feel it."

Hal had granted him three abilities;

One of them was the Devil shroud which was to be used liberally as it was not exactly a subtle ability.

The second was the Shadow demon ability of speed and killer precision and the third was the most exciting to use...

An ability only Hal had used thus far and had never shared with anyone.

However, without it, Artyom would be powerless against Ivan's trump card.

"Since when was Artyom so battle sharp?" Elora asked Hal now that she was by his side.

She had known Artyom for years, they had fought together enough for her to know that while impressive in his own right and worthy of the title of genius, he was nothing compared to Ivan.

While she went on with Hal's plan to try and get him to turn against Ivan, she had not actually believed he could be Ivan's match.

Of course, it could be argued that he was only still winning because Ivan was not serious about fighting.

"Since I knocked some senses into him" Hal answered with a light satisfied smile.

"How did you get him to turn against Ivan?" Elora asked and Hal shrugged with the same smile,

"I talked some sense into him" he had only just spoken that there was a bang sound that was resultant of Ivan finally having had enough.

Finally realizing there was no talking to his idiotic cousin.

"You want a fight? You've got one!" He yelled and he began releasing crackling lightning that all those at the scene knew went past simply being powerful.

The lightning blessing coupled with his peak cosmic aurora realm cultivation meant Ivan was unrivaled in his cultivation realm and could even most likely battle Cosmic Pagoda realm experts.

Alas, as Artyom faced it, his grin only got wider.

Not even his constant reminder of torturous pain could take away the genuine anticipatory feeling he had at the moment.

This was it.

This was the moment he would get to test out the third ability Hal had granted him.

He would get the opportunity to make use of the Primeval Devil Authority!