Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Sapphire City...

Whenever Hal was in Sapphire City, he usually spent time in the Temple of the Sapphirine Prince, especially seated on the throne that was lined very well above his Devil seed.

It gave him a sort of surveying feeling and got him better in touch with all areas he had control over, especially Sapphire City.

The Formation/Array, dug deep within the very foundation of the city grounds was finally reaching completion and Hal could see just how close more forces were getting to Sapphire City.

He wanted a display. He could not just have the city vanish. He needed a viewing when that disappearance happened and he especially wanted that awe.

Everyone who had business within Sapphire City was present. Melinda had arrived with members of the Sapphirine Guild who had all decided to join the cult and agreed to be contracted.

When Hal had finally returned to Sapphire City just over a day ago, he had come to this hall and Elsa was with him;

Elsa Evgeny, dressed in her usual skimpy attire, spun around in the massive magnificent hall within the Temple of the Sapphirine Prince where Hal was seated.

"Incredible," she had said and then looked at Hal who was smiling at her while seated on the throne in the magnificent hall.

Elsa had only had one chance to sleep with Hal after which his schedule had made it hard for them to see each other and the absence had done nothing but increase her urge for him.

Hal rewarded her patience with a visit where he spoke to her directly and face to face about his plans.

.. He hid nothing and Elsa's response was an instant acceptance after which she got tied to Infinity.

Elsa was only just brought to Sapphire City to be among those selected women to benefit from the retreat and one of the areas she wished to visit was the Temple dedicated to her Hal.

The architecture was incredible but the real reason she had exclaimed and had been so admiring of Sapphire City was the faith that Hal had garnered.

Elsa and Tanya had been friends for so long and even with the divide that was now between them, their friendship remained but the two were different. The fact that Tanya was striving to rule the Continent was in fast why their friendship was strained.

Elsa was a strong advocate for going with the flow and after getting directed by her family to compete with Tanya, she no longer was invested in goals.

She just wanted to live...

She had trouble with people whose goals were all they could see and all they could focus on... And yet, here she was, in a Cult-ruled city with a man whose goal was not a continental rule but World domination.

Even if there were advantages to staying with Hal regarding cultivation, she knew those advantages did not change the fact that she was a hypocrite.

The whole philosophy of just going with the flow was now tossed out in favor of eternity in Hal's embrace... In all contexts of the word.

There was comfort in the fact that abandoning previous philosophies for life with Hal did not sound bad one bit... It sounded and felt incredible.

She still remembered the intense intercourse that sealed her contract signing.

"You have something to ask" Hal said.

It was not a question and he was right.

He had not read her mind though and had just seen it in her expression. Just like a select few of his women, Hal had granted Elsa protection from him invading her thoughts without her permission.

Elsa sighed,

"Where does Svetlana fall within your plans? You seem to have shut her out"

Elsa believed she was well informed in regards to the two sides and while she was surely on Hal's side, she wondered if the fissure between mother and son should already no longer exist.

How was she to know that, according to Hal, there was really nothing tying him to Svetlana and hence, communication was limited?

Hal entertained her Inquisition,

"That's a genuine question. But is shutting her out not expected? Our relation is next to non-existent and the more I progress, the more I pull away.

I can't avoid her entirely though... Eventually, it will ill have to be decided; whether we are allies or enemies. Until then, why force it?"

Elsa furrowed her brows and then relaxed them... The answer provided might not have been satisfactory but it was one she could live with.

Anyway, that was the day before... Present time, Hal was alone in the hall, his eyes were closed in meditation and then, he watched with his minds-eye of sorts right as the Formation/Array was completed.

...

The forces moving from the Duchy capital to Sapphire city made their journey with the use off Teleportation and other space warping means as they trooped towards Sapphire City.

There was caution but there was also urgency and despite their space warping means, they moved with flight and on foot.

Scouts were on high alert for the slightest sign of attack but the forces took comfort in their large numbers which should detract any thoughts of ambush.

In regards to territory, Sapphire City had spread much wider than the previous constraints and this actually had something to do with those who had previously been killed before they got too close.

The entire area that an array/formation was being drawn around went past the people-populated city itself and so the workers drawing the areas were afforded extra security in case anyone got too close.

The Array/Formation was complete at the time the forces arrived and so there was no extra security. In fact, so newly dug out and drawn was the Array that it was easy to see.

Faraway from the boundary of the drawn Array was a figure in mid-air who crossed his legs and was afloat with the use of two large Devilish wings.

The figure was wearing a mask and exuding thick and malevolent energy whose feel and impact every single one of the forces could feel and detect.

No one was a fool... The fact that this fellow was the enemy and the representative of the city they were attempting to attack and destroy was clear.

Plus, some of them, the higher ranking ones, had been informed of the masked individual that Creten and Tanya had fought and this one fit the description.

The fact that there was Dystopian likeness in his image and in the feel of the energy he gave off was hardly an eyebrow-raising detail.

"You have been deemed a threat to the Empire and we shall mete the Emperor's judgment upon you and your nefarious city," said the green-eyed Haron man leading the forces.

The man took to the air in a brilliant show of Sainthood flight and many others followed after him.

The masked figure in the sky said nothing though and just joined his hands together and immediately he did, a portal opened beneath him on the ground.

Every Haron present recognized a similarity between that portal and the ones that had been used to attack the Imperial Palace.

A woman stepped out of the portal and she was wearing a large robe with symbols representing the Sapphirine Cult.

The woman had her hands joined together right out of the portal and she ignored the forces to say an earnest prayer,

"Great Sapphirine Prince, Lord of Infinity, the one true Sovereign, the Cosmic Emperor, I, your priestess implores you to grant your Avatar the strength to do what must be done"

As she said her prayer, a nefarious circle appeared in front of her joined hands... Looking like a true summoning ritual.

As soon as Selina, Priestess of the Sapphirine Cult, was done praying, all those present witnessed a massive phenomenon... One that was even more peculiar compared to what was already going on in the air.

A suffocating pressure that carried with it the dominance of a true Sovereign, a dominance that all power and Will must bow to, began to exude from the masked figure.

The Saints who had risen to battle the masked figure all saw their strength fluctuating... Their ability to harness Cosmic energy was getting hard to use and the struggle only got worse.

However, the priestess was not yet done,

"From your Great reserve of Astral energy, grant your Avatar a sliver to do what must be done!"

Another nefarious circle appeared and this second prayer was followed quickly by an explosive release of visible astral energy the descended in a column of power and started to light up the massive formation that had been etched into the ground.

Everyone was in awe and a few began to experience fear.

The masked figure (Avatar of the Sapphirine Prince) straightened himself in the air and summoned a Scepter and a Trident that both floated beside him while staring at the forces,

"While my lord works through me and until the Formation is done being activated, I shall entertain you all," he said before a flame crystal, sporting a few modifications, appeared in his hand.

Hal had had the crystal since he faced Red Beard (Ch 378) and had been unable to use it for Ordinance Comprehension although Melinda had succeeded... He felt now was the right time to let it loose.

The modifications boosted its explosive ability and the forces were unable to move away fast enough to truly escape the detonation.

*BANG!!!*