Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

The monstrosity was completely made of metal and with a head that resembled a shark's. And that included its sharp metallic teeth.

The rest of its body was a mix of a bear's hindquarters and the front half of a lion... Excluding the head of course.

The metallic Klink that had sounded earlier had been from the long claws whose length made for constant contact with one another.

All the monster's limbs have roughly the same size of claws with each digit tipped with one.

As for its size; the monster was about the height of Karmen who was the second tallest of the current trio... Surpassing Olivia by a few inches.

Anyway, The monster was much wider than all Olivia and Karmen combined which made for an even more imposing presence.

And that was really saying something when considering how terrifying it already seemed after seemingly destroying the erected Array wall with ease.

The trio of Karmen, Olivia, and Harold stared at the monster with wide eyes before then looking down at the spot it was standing on...

... It was the same spot that had earlier been a large pit that Harold almost fell into.

The monster unhinged its large sharklike jaws and released a terrifying roar before charging at the trio.

At the same time, the statue warrior swung downward at them with its unarmed arm which had now morphed into being topped by a large hammer.

The trio leaped away quickly enough to avoid getting hit and once they landed back on their feet with the two ladies summoning Executioner, the three separated to tackle the statue and the monstrosity separately.

Karmen and Olivia being the weakest duo of the trio (cultivation wise) faced the statue warrior while the cosmic Pagoda realm expert faced the most imposing issue.

Gripping Executioner's handle tightly, Olivia stared at the statue warrior with an expression that made it seem like she was seeking vengeance for getting hit earlier before she and Karmen dashed forward.

The statue warrior took one step back not out of fear (which it was incapable of feeling) but to better balance its body and strike at the two ladies.

*Bang!*

The hammer hit the ground as it missed the ladies who had moved quick enough to escape and retaliated with their tapered fog attack.

Harold however was having even worse problems.

You see, when the monster had charged towards them, it had been moving at a speed that Harold, being a Cosmic Pagoda realm expert, had found to be slow.

Harold could not, at the time, stop himself from thinking he might have been drafted with the easiest opponent.

Maybe the monster's large size would impact its movement and allow him to use it to his advantage.

That entire mindset changed though the moment the monster opened its large maw, not to roar, but to release a suctioning force that immediately slowed Harold's movement and attempt to dodge.

Harold's eyes widened at the realization that he was face to face with the reason behind the suctioning force that had been coming out of the pit and had attempted to pull him down earlier...

... He was staring at the thing that had been waiting for him down in the pit and he had no doubt that had he fallen, he would have been snapped into half by its large teeth by now.

The thought did not make the situation any less terrifying.

He tried to pull away from the force that was not as gentle as it had been when he had been basically an uncultivating mortal.

That force was at a level he had been sure he would be able to resist had he had even a bit of his cultivational strength while this force was at a level that even now, even when fully powered, he struggled to resist.

And the suction only got stronger over time.

Then the monster suddenly stopped charging forward and relied entirely on its suction to pull a defenseless Harold closer.

Due to the force, Harold lost his grip on his cosmic Armament which flew into the monster's gaping maw but when Harold finally got closer to suffering the same fate... At which point he was already preparing countermeasures, the suction was cut off.

There was no time to rejoice though as the monster slashed at him with its claws in what was a clear attempt to cut him up.

Harold let loose his prepared countermeasure which had been a condensed Cosmic Aurora, one that was imbued with energy from the illusionary one-floor pagoda which appeared behind him.

*KLINK!*

*KLINK!*

*BOOM!*

*BANG!!!*

In a display that showed off the monster's sturdy build, the resulting blast smacked Harold into the wall while the monster remained in the same place it had earlier been.

The only sign that showed it had been affected was the fact that one of its bearlike hind limbs had moved back a step.

The monster did not relent as it stabbed at a seemingly prone Harold whose eyes had been closed.

Before the claws touched him though, Harold's eyes snapped open and he stretched his hand forward,

"Sixth Grade Skill; Charging mountain"

He summoned a six-circle ring, out of which charged a mountain which was clearly a representation of something bigger but still reached to the top of the tomb hallway they were in.

It was composed entirely of Cosmic energy.

The mountain slammed the attacking claws and pushed back until it was slamming into the monster and hitting it against the wall opposite Harold.

*KLINK!*

*KLINK!*

*BANG!!!*

The impact shook the entire hallway and most probably a large part of the tomb as a whole.

It brought it back to the remembrance of Harold that they were underground in a way that the lack of extreme heat (since they were cultivators whose body was sort of immune to extreme conditions that were not being influenced by Cosmic energy) and the ability to function fairly normally was incapable of.

Meanwhile, Karmen and Olivia had not been really affected by the tremor personally as they had leaped into the air right before it started.

Not to mention that it had actually been helpful in the sense that it caused their statue opponent to lose balance and stagger backward at which point, their planned aerial attack had even better success.

In the time of their battle, the statue warrior had gotten even taller, wider, and overall larger, and was towering over the ladies more than ever before.

Olivia preceded her efforts with a cosmic attack at the statue's chest and it caused damage that was beginning to close up before she landed on the said chest and stabbed it with Executioner's large blade.

The statue instantly reacted and made to swipe at her but Karmen quickly tried to occupy its attention by landing on its head and not just stabbing it with both her broadsword cosmic armament and Executioner but also blasting it with Cosmic energy.

*Bang!*

*Bang!*

*Boom!*

She destroyed a good portion of the statue's head and while it began its instantaneous regeneration, it had still given Olivia enough time to cut open the chest and behold the inside.

Earlier, as they fought, Karmen had tapped into the telepathic network she had with all Blood knights as their commander to discuss a possible escape with Olivia.

Not an escape out of the tomb completely with the use of the portable deportation circles but an escape away from this area.

Away from the statue and the monster and while Olivia saw merit in such an idea, they both soon ditched it as impossible.

If they wanted to leave, they had to win because there was no way the Statue was going to stay still long enough for two to dash past.

It was that alert and way too capable at multitasking.

Besides, only heavens knew what feats the monstrosity was capable of and how effective it could be if it wanted to keep them in place.

The fact that the Statue would be much too alert to escape was even better supported by how they had not even managed to catch it off guard thus far.

Only their cooperation was still keeping them in this fight and neither of the two was empowered enough to one-shot the statue so hard that would be incapable of regeneration.

Both ladies believed for sure that Hal would be able to do it.

Call it blind faith but they were his women, and they knew what he was capable of.

Alas, Hal was not here...

They were on their own...

And as Olivia beheld the glowing power source within the statue's chest that was basically an orb filled with Blue gems and connected to intricate Runes, she saw their ticket to victory.

All she had to do was stab through the said power source and when she moved to do just that, the statue finally hit her away.

"Harghhhh" she yelled as she hit the ground and was joined by Karmen soon enough. Although the commander's descent was voluntary.

Propping herself on one knee, Olivia was visibly upset... With herself,

"Damn it. I hesitated" she said.

Karmen shook her head,

"No, you definitely did not. it was just faster."

"The power source is in its chest. All we have to do is stab it" Olivia said but once again Karmen shook her head,

"No, that won't cut it. What if the power source could heal from a stab? What if there is more than one? We need something more definite." Karmen said and after briefing Olivia on her (insane) plan which Olivia nervously agreed to, the two sprung into action.

The first part of the plan was simple...

They would reenact the previous situation with the use of freezing runes that they had in their spatial rings.

The runes froze the statue's arms and body in place long enough for Karmen to land on its chest and stab into it before she proceeded to cut it open.

Alas, the plan began to fall apart when the runes were not enough resistance for the statue who broke free, and as it did with Olivia, it made a swipe at Karmen who yelled at Olivia with telepathy as well as voice,

"The Abdomen!"

Quickly, Olivia charged Cosmic energy and struck the abdomen, breaking it open.

Karmen pulled Executioner out of the statue's chest and fell downward where she reacted fast enough to stab into the hole in the statue's abdomen, a hole that was already sealed up.

She forced it open, with her body glowing a blood-red color, by ripping it up with Executioner's blade and then dove right in just as the abdomen sealed up.

Trapping her within the statue where she was sure to be crushed.

Like an inanimate object with no actual feelings that it besides alertness to danger, the statue made to attack as always when its alertness to danger forced it to stop...

Its abdomen was glowing a bright blood-red color of way more intensity than any fiendish fog the Blood knights had used this far.

Something or more accurately, someone within it was undergoing a transformation....