Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

The eyes of all who witnessed Ergo's attack were widened in surprise and that included Hal's, although his surprise was followed by recognition.

The gem was obviously an artifact ingredient from the Dystopian continent, or more accurately, the Devil tribe on the Dystopian continent.

Now that he thought about it, Hal realized there was no real reason for surprise.

After all, the organization surely had their plans, plans that usually crossed paths with Tanya's so it was not too much of a stretch that they would do all they could to achieve their aims.

Whatever they might be.

Besides, he was not so naive to think Tanya was not the same.

After all, she had the body of a Dystopian who had a forbidden technique of monsterization (Remember Baldar the Dystopian from Hal's initiation mission for which he went to Black Lagoon back in chapter 310) and was probably researching the said body for anything that could prove useful to her course.

The entire scenario with Ergo bursting out fiendish moves also provided what Hal felt was a crucial insight to the man's speedy advancements and looking towards Cirk, he could not help but wonder if the Dane young man had been granted those clearly devilish cultivation boosting means.

He doubted it though.

After all, Cirk had the Dane bloodline which would surely repel all things Demonic or Devilish.

That said, Hal still had it at the back of his head not to underestimate Cirk should they face one another as Demonic or Devilish means, while unique looking to Haronians, were not the only means for explosive cultivation increase.

In fact, in a normal situation, there was not much difference in the speeds of both styles of cultivation.

HAL's speedy increase was mainly due to the Primordial Cosmic Grimoire through which he got the Primordial Cosmic art.

Likewise, for the sort of speedy increase Ergo had, there was usually something else involved.

Hal had considered it before but had not been too serious about it.

While he mulled things over in his mind, Lucile's surprised expression transitioned into a narrow-eyed one of annoyance at the thought that if Ergo used this significant powerup when they had their earlier duel, she would not have stood a chance.

Which begged the question; why did he not use it?

Don't get her wrong... She was glad he had not used it, she was simply wondering why.

Clearly, he had no problem displaying the suspicious and clearly Dystopian attacks in front of an audience... So why?

Her annoyance was only further inflamed when Ergo looked back at her with his ax over his right shoulder.

His expression was smug as though to tell Lucile that she was never in his league and her tactic of using her speed to get away from him would not have worked had he gone all out.

Lucile's eyes flashed and she seemed close to summoning her cosmic Armament, stepping into the room and then engaging Ergo in another duel when somebody who had been mostly quiet thus far, stepped forward.

Andrei had a deep frown on his face as he directed his words at Ergo,

"Have you, by chance been consorting with the enemies of the Haron empire?"

He sounded so patriotic that Hal could not help but look at him with a slight smile playing on his lips.

A smile that Emily shared.

They could not help but see the irony as there could not possibly be anyone more Dystopian than the one with intimate connections with all the main Antonov ladies.

Meanwhile, Ergo did not seem the least bit bothered by Andrei's words and dodged a puppet attack to go after the rest of the raiders.

Killing them off one by one in absolutely gory and bloody manners. Their essence getting absorbed by the gem in his ax blade.

He definitely heard what Andrei had said, he just did not care one bit and that only served to infuriate Andrei.

In all honesty, he was not exactly a patriot.

However, being a patriot was never the criteria for any citizen of the Haron continent to hate the Dystopians.

There was too much bitter history between the continents and anything Dystopian used by a Haron citizen was at best something to frown upon and at worse, a sign of espionage or treachery.

Treachery against the people and the brave ones who had died in the war against the Dystopians.

And many had died.

Anyway, Andrei would not stand for this possible sign of treachery as well as disregard for his presence and his words and moved to enter the room of riches when Emily reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Don't" was all she said with a frown and a serious expression but it stopped Andrei in his tracks.

It did not matter that he was older and stronger, he listened.

And she did have a point.

They were not in the outside world and he (Andrei) and Ergo were not in some contest. They were underground... In a tomb and all fighting for their own interests.

So far, Ergo had cut down the competition in the sense of killing all the raiders within the room of riches and was now going about destroying puppets.

Lessening the load on Olivia, Karmen, Harold, and Sassy and it would be foolish for Andrei to disrupt that just because of his values and thoughts.

For now, he should simply let it be.

While the siblings had their silent, almost-telepathic communication, Hal looked over at Cirk who had now summoned his cosmic Armament and was radiating the pressure of a Peak stage Cosmic Phenomenon realm expert as he fought while using the golden flames of his bloodline.

That was just one stage above what his cultivation had been when he and Hal last met and while in a normal standard, that was an okay cultivation speed, for Hal who had expected more from the Dane man, it came as a bit of a disappointment.

'Oh well, it will just make killing him even easier' he thought with a mental shrug.

Sassy, whose directive from Hal had unofficially changed the moment Olivia and Karmen were in the room and offering assistance, dodged a hit from a puppet while making sure to attack and corrode the puppet's arm as it swept past her.

Just then, the second double doors opened up and in walked the rested trio of Rita, Lillian, and Jared and with their sights surveying the room of riches, taking in the wealth, the dead, and the puppets (both the destroyed and the active), their eyes eventually fell on Olivia, Karmen, Sassy and Harold and they quickly joined in.

Lucile and the two guards with her went inside to join in the puppet destruction as well.

Soon, it was a full house and the puppets lost the numbers advantage as more of them were destroyed and their total defeat was inevitable.

Emily strut into the room with her brother following after her but she did not spare the ongoing battles a second look, and none of the puppets went after her either as they were preoccupied with their survival.

Emily stood in front of the door while keeping a distance between herself and the area in front of the door where the illusion array was drawn.

Hal followed soon after and the two watched the area together.

Hal, having a better understanding of Arrays, squatted to better observe it.

He stretched a hand towards the Array and touched it lightly. He pulled his hand away the moment he felt his consciousness getting pulled into the array.

At this point, Emily was observing the area before and around the door in search of a way into the room and when none seemed apparent, she began to consider if brute force was truly the only way through the doors.

She began working on a plan in her mind with the forefront of it being Hal drawing a large-scale array that could protect against the illusion array.

Rather than watch the two, Andrei eyed Ergo who no longer shot out condensed Blood energy which was finite and could be depleted.

Instead, Ergo fought close combat with the ax's capabilities strengthened by the glowing blood energy within the red gem and the result was more or less the same and at least no less efficient.

While Andrei observed Ergo so much that it could be interpreted as creepy, Hal made a discovery.

One he told to Emily in a low voice,

"The entrance... It's in the array.... Or more accurately the entrance is THROUGH the Array. It's much more intricate than a simple Illusion Array"