Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

A few minutes before attention was returned to Melinda and Rowan, Lan had hefted his shield and stared at Hal with intensely focused eyes that caused Hal to chuckle.

Then Lan charged right at him with his shield at his side and his spear facing Hal.

The speed of his movement was Impressive and very much worthy of a Cosmic Pagoda realm expert but Hal was able to follow his movements enough to block the spear with his Sword Cosmic Armament.

The contact of the sword blade and spear stem gave off a metallic clang sound just before Lan then moved his shield to bash Hal who easily grabbed it and pushed it aside.

But Lan had never really planned to hit Hal with his shield and even when Hal pushed the shield aside, he merely lifted his leg to kick him in the chest and send him sliding a few steps back.

As Hal slid, he narrowed his eyes at the force behind that hit. A force that Lan had not shown so far.

"Interesting" he mumbled before Lan dashed towards him with an even faster speed than before and managed to smack Hal with his shield and push even more steps back.

Hal was unbothered by getting hit by the shield and it was not hurting him in any way... That said, he did go on the defensive.

He did not try to hit Lan and only focused on not getting hit and just blocking hits from the Cosmic Pagoda expert especially blocking spear strikes with his sword while he mulled on what might have caused the fairly small but surely noticeable change.

It quickly became clear to Hal that the mending pills Lan had previously swallowed were not only to heal his wounds but to give him a sort of focus that boosted his abilities.

They did not give him an obvious boost in cultivation but they did let him use his abilities even more efficiently.

Lan was no longer sneering needlessly... He was no longer making cocky comments... His eyes, just like his entire being at that moment were totally focused on Hal and taking him down.

Hal found that interesting even though he found it funny and pitiful that the poor man still had no idea that it was not about focus...

Lan still had no idea that his defeat was already determined and all that was happening right now was no more than Hal enjoying the situation and making it more fun for himself.

Eventually, though, the fun had to end and Hal announced the end to Lan by trying to land a hit on him. But there was a reason Lan was hyper-focused and it was primarily to avoid getting hit by Hal.

Lan\'s strategy was simple.

Avoid getting hit by Hal\'s strong and devastating strikes and delivering his strikes which would result in a systematic weakening of the enemy until he was down and easier to take out.

It was a strategy that Lan still found very executable.

He was letting go of his pride as a cosmic Pagoda realm expert and he considered and fought Hal as an equal.

Anyway, as Hal tried to strike him, Lan leaped to the side as he had done a lot to avoid the hit and then made to follow through by shooting a cosmic Aurora at Hal through his shield that focused and strengthened the energy.

Hal did not avoid the strike and did not fire his Aurora in retaliation.

He merely released his sovereign law and seized a majority of the power within the Cosmic Aurora and rendered it weak enough for him to choke into nonexistence with his fist.

As the Aurora released a minute *boom* sound in Hal\'s fist, Hal went on to punch Lan who quickly, predictably used his shield to protect himself.

*Bang!*

The force of Hal\'s blow further dented the shield and had Lan sent a few feet back but not before he stabbed Hal with his spear... Or at least he tried to.

If Hal could contend with Pagoda rank Artifacts, then it stood to reason that he could contend with Cosmic Armaments formed and wielded by a Cosmic Pagoda realm expert.

Hal grabbed the spear and pulled it away from Lan while the latter was getting knocked back by his blow.

He broke the Armament against his knee in a second and then tossed the two halves onto the ground and did not spare them a look as they dissolved into Cosmic energy.

Rather he dashed towards Lan who was once again stable and in a stance of resistance to push back Hal\'s hits by thrusting his shield forward.

It was more than clear to Lan that the shield was nothing to Hal but it was only to buy himself time while he prepared to use a skill against Hal.

A skill the blue-eyed bastard would not be able to evade or brush off.

The skill was Lan\'s ultimate trump card...

He had his legs planted solidly on the ground in a mighty defensive stance as he focused his entire physical strength on using the shield for defense for at least long enough to activate the skill.

Alas...

*Bang!*

... After just one hit against the shield, every bit of cosmic energy he had mustered was shut off.

Every strength that Lan had relied on to use in defense was drained.

That blow was backed fully by Hal\'s sovereign Law and feeling it against the shield activated his Sovereign Aura inside Lan who stared up and shook all over.

How dare he fight against the Sovereign?

"I deserve to be put to death" Lan found himself mumbling and Hal grinned as if he was quite ready to fulfill that wish.

At that time, he heard an Official call out,

"OY! That\'s enough"

The words were not directed at him but at Melinda and Hal did not look away from Lan as he grabbed the shield and ripped it out of the Guild leader\'s hands.

*Bam!*

Hal kneed Lan in the jaw and it lifted the Guild leader to his feet only for Hal to kick him in the stomach and send him rising even higher.

At this point, Lan was totally airborne and his sternum was definitely broken but Hal did not let up and punched him so hard, he sent Lan even higher up.

"Ack" Lan groaned in pain and as Rune Circle appeared to send him back towards Hal, he was not exactly surprised... He only wished he could muster Strenght to resist.

*Bam!*

*Crack!*

A kick to Lan\'s side and the Guild leader could hear and feel his rib cage cracking but his troubles were nowhere near over.

*Bam!*

*Crack!*

*Bam!*

*Crack!*

*Bam!*

*Crack!*

*Bam!*

*Crack!*

In the few minutes it took for the Officials to call the fight and stop things from getting worse, Hal inflicted an extensive amount of damage.

In fact, he had inflicted the amount of punishment that he could inflict on Lan short of death.

In fact, he had Lan wishing for death out of the very bottom of his heart.

Every hit broke a bone and every broken bone had Lan thinking that he would never truly make a full recovery.

The worse part, he was forced to be conscious through it all and feel every hit, every break, and every pain.

It was as though Hal had commanded him not to fall unconscious.

No matter how bad it got, he could never pass out.

And not that he would pass out and pain would jolt him awake but that he never passed out at all. He was awake for all the punishment.

And through it all, he could not yell.

Hw could not scream out his pain as Hal had rendered him physically incapable of speaking so that he could feel his pain in silence... While yelling in his mind, of course.

*BAM!!!*

Hal did not really give the Officials time to intervene and just before they could, he ended it all with a final smack of Lan against the ground and then promptly stepped away from a limp and rag-dolled Guild leader to walk towards Melinda who was staring over at the battle still going on between Guild members.

The Officials (who just proved Hal\'s thoughts on how during an actual battle where someone was intent on doing extensive damage, they were absolutely useless, right) checked up on Lan who Hal promptly allowed to yell,

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

It went on for a while with Lan screaming to the very limit of his lungs and then promptly passing out.

As the Officials checked on the level of damage done, they looked over at Hal whose back was to them, and shook their heads at the cruelty.

This was a level of damage that could surely get a sanction from the Royal Academy and both Melinda and Hal knew it, they just did not care.

It was left to be seen if there would be a call to punish them both.

The Guild members under Rowan and Lan were becoming aware of the fate of their Leaders and it was clear that they were considering retreat but Hal noticed that there were too many of them that were not hobbling.

He needed to correct that.

Before retreat was executed by the enemies, he and Melinda joined the Sapphirine Guild Members to strike down as many as they possibly could...