Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Of course, Hal could not care less about Bradley\'s plans and dreams.

The vault contained other valuables, mainly skill scrolls among which Hal was sure the Knight guard Skill would be. 

From what he had seen in the Mayor\'s mind, he knew the skill was actually a high-tier fourth-grade skill which in itself was quite impressive.

There was no denying that Hal was a greedy fellow who was content with enriching himself at the expense of others but he felt his greed was nothing compared to Grimoire\'s.

All through this stagnation he and his ladies were now facing and those who were not yet there would eventually face, Grimoire was practically licking its lips and rubbing its metaphorical hands together in excitement. 

Once they broke past the stagnation as they were sure to do eventually, their ungraded techniques were sure to head towards an upgrade at incredible speeds and as they would be progressing into the Cosmic Aurora realm, only Blue gems would be accepted for the upgrades.

Actually, since this was only the Aurora realm upgrade, Hal could still upgrade the techniques with their equivalent in gold coins but that did not change his need for wealth.

In one move, Hal covered the contents of the vault with cosmic energy and drew it all into the inventory. Leaving the vault more empty than it had ever been.

Then he turned towards the doorway only to see a confused man looking back at him, 

"Who said you could clean out the vault?" He asked and immediately took on an attacking stance.

From Bradley\'s memories, Hal knew who this was.

He was Louis, the mayor\'s strongest and most trusted man with a cultivation base at the mid-stage of the cosmic phenomenon realm. He had been at the dinner party but just preferred to blend into the background.

He had, however, not attended the dinner itself which had been because he declined to dine at the same table with his lord.

Hal held up the personal seal, 

"I have the Mayor\'s seal. Surely that accounts for my being here" he said.

Louis frowned, 

"It does but it does not account for you taking everything it contains. My Lord would never order that"

Hal raised a quizzical brow, 

"He won\'t?"

Louis shook his head, 

"No, he won\'t." He said.

There was a glint in Hal\'s eyes as he made to walk past Louis, 

"Well, he told me to clear out the vault so I suggest you let it go" he said but Louis\' loyalty and confidence in his knowledge of his Lord\'s mannerisms caused him to reach out and grab Hal\'s shoulder, 

"Put it back" he said in a slow, intimidating voice.

Hal sighed and looked over at him, 

"And what would you do if I don\'t?" He asked there was a slight darkening of his eyes that Louis failed to notice as he said, 

"I\'ll kill you and take it all back."

Hal raised a brow, 

"Oh, you will? Well, it just so happens that I haven\'t killed anyone today. At least not yet so how about it Louis, will you be my kill?" With that question came the complete darkening of Hal\'s eyes.

Looking into those eyes struck fear into Louis\' heart and he took a few steps back and summoned his sword cosmic armament but before he could even make a single move, 

*Slash*

Hal had cut his throat with the serrated edge of his cosmic Armament, absorbed all of his Blood essence, and had dispersed of said armament before the body crumpled to the ground.

Then he projected a rune to the body and burned it up before locking up the Vault.

It had all been quiet and fast and caused no commotion.

Sure, the guards wondered why Louis did not exit the vault area even after it was closed but they were mostly confused and could not investigate since the seal to open the vault was in Hal\'s hands.

And he was gone from the scene already.

Hal continued till he was inside the hall where the Mayor often held conferences with the Influential members of the city. A vast majority of them were merchant families.

As Bradley had said, they were the backbones of the city.

When he entered the hall, Rita, Karmen, Olivia, Lillian and all the ladies in the Harem space who had reached the Cosmic phenomenon realm were there waiting for him.

And with them were the head of those influential families.

Before Bradley broke out of the Orb, Hal had sent them all out to capture and beat them sufficiently and bring them back to the Mayor\'s castle.

The most influential families, at least, the families that actually mattered and had the most wealth were only Seven and Rita, and the rest of the Ladies outnumbered and outmatched them and could actually pair up to guarantee a smooth operation.

However, while they did outnumber the family heads, they did not outnumber the guards and they had to be stealthy and swift. Mostly, they kidnapped the heads and then beat them up somewhere else.

Anyway, it was done and from the smile on their faces, Hal could tell the ladies had quite enjoyed it.

Kayla was positively glowing and occasionally casting glances at the female merchant head she had beaten up and the female merchant usually cast her the look you give to an insane person.

"W-w-what is the meaning of this?" Said Doug the merchant. He was not actually a head of an influential family. He was more of an up-and-coming merchant who had the good fortune to actually be able to converse with the Mayor and even offer advice.

That said, as the head of his merchant group, he had not really been required to go along with the merchant representatives to Red Beard\'s camp and had actually being beseeched by the Mayor to do so as he was the only merchant he could truly trust.

Hal ignored him as someone soon came into the hall in a slouched and defeated manner. That someone, was Bradley the Mayor who only spared the beaten-up family heads a few glances before he demurely bowed his head to Hal while the family heads wondered what the heck was going on.

With Bradley now present, Hal opened up the portal to the Harem space, and Bertha and Julie exited and looked around with wide-eyed surprise.

Having been explained to on how time worked in the Harem space, they knew it had only been a few hours, and yet there was so much change already.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, we can begin. Bradley has decided to abdicate the position of Mayor to Bertha and from now on, you all answer to her.

Of course, Bradley, you will now be her right-hand man because even though she is now about to break through to the mid-stage of the Cosmic phenomenon realm, you are still more powerful than her.

You will lend, no, devote all that strength to helping her reign."

The family heads shared a look, 

"Bertha is now Mayor?" One said in a confused tone of voice.

"Oh yes, she is" Hal said with a nod.

"W-w-we will not stand for this. Whatever has gotten into you Bradley, snap out of it" said another.

Hal chuckled, 

"We haven\'t even gotten to the best part and you are already so worked up. You see, I already cleaned up Bradley\'s vault so you all will provide Bertha financial security by giving her a quarter of your wealth. 

No one Is excluded. 

Except for Bradley of course since he is now destitute."