Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Embry grinned at them and then focused on Hal as he said,

"You have all been very naughty. Especially you, Doxon boy"

Hal was so worried as to what was about to happen now while his mind worked furiously right as he contacted Emily, that he did not correct the Gardener.

He was at the center and was already working on plans to get the Primal fruit, there was no better time to call for reinforcements. Especially since he could not open the Harem space portal and call out the ladies inside it.

When he contacted her though, Emily said nothing in reply as she had already been on her way before he reached out to her.

Her patience had already run out.

Purple spikes formed in mid-air and everyone took on battle stances. In their mind, they had gone through so much to get here and would not let it end just like that.

Everyone except Hal, that is.

He was charging up Astral energy which he had been absorbing from the atmosphere since after he drew the sealing array and that was what he focused on and he doubted it would be enough as is.

Before the purple spikes made their move, however, a Blue chain composed of Cosmic energy sprung out from the back of the crowd, destroyed one of the spikes, and went over to Embry who remained in place as the chains went right through him.

All eyes turned back to witness the presence of the Doxon trio with Elora looking a tad bit disappointed,

"Went right through, huh?" She said in a low murmur that many heard as she made a discovery Hal was already aware of.

Hal looked at all three on by one and then looked at the other Doxons behind them. He noted that their numbers had reduced by one it two and then noticed the presence of others.

Many others.

The Krugers for one had been quick to follow after the Doxons who shattered all obstacles they came across.

That was not to say the Kruger party and the others who followed after the Doxon came out scot-free and went through no danger because that was not the case.

At their arrival, Embry sighed and then he nodded his head,

"This is perfect. You ran away from a battle royale but it's going to happen now anyway. You were all stupid not to take advantage of this fellow's seal to escape the garden. Not to say you were sure to survive, but still, you should have taken the chance." He said.

"I am not leaving without that fruit" Ivan said in a lazy voice.

Embry smiled,

"Oh, that's fine. I am patient enough to wait to see which of you stupid kids would be alive at the end for me to kill.

In fact, I'm not going to stop anyone from going into the hill right now to pluck the fruit" he said and everyone tensed in preparation to spring towards the hill cave.

But then Embry raised his hand,

"But first..." he said and suddenly, a purple rune circle appeared in front of him and released a strange suction that drew every form of spatial treasure from everyone present and they all stuck to the circle.

The circle then moved to float beside him.

"... I'll be holding this" he finished.

Everyone frowned as this meant whoever got the fruit had to hold it for all to see.

Hal and Amelia's spatial rings as well as Karmen's spatial pouch were not left untouched.

But that did not worry Hal as his real storage was his Inventory which could not be taken by the Garden's Array.

However, the main issue remained getting the fruit.

Suddenly, someone dashed past him and ran towards the cave to where the energy from the fruit seemed to be calling them all.

"Vihaan" Delaney called.

Vihaan did not pause as he pushed his speed to the limit to get the fruit. This was his chance while everyone was still waiting for who would be the first to make a move. He would catch them all by surprise...

*Bam*

"Ack" he groaned as a large bright yellow war hammer was sunk into his stomach to knock him back where everyone made way for him to fall to the ground.

The one who had attacked was Nicole whose eyes were glinting.

"Where do you think you are going?" She asked him with a sneer.

Vihaan stood back up with a frown and hurried to use Cosmic energy to numb the pain of the strike as he summoned his spear cosmic Armament and ran towards her while letting out the pressure of this mid-stage cosmic Phenomenon realm cultivation.

Nicole's pressure surpassed his at the late stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm and she met his spear strike with her war hammer and used it to sweep him off his feet.

But she did not stop and struck down to shatter his sternum or at least she tried to but hit to the garden ground instead as Delaney was quick to pull him away.

One of those who had come with Vihaan stepped forward, in tentative steps probably to support his family member and fellow Sensual palace disciple but Nicole gave him a look and he was startled and took a step back,

"Really Seth, you want to attack me?" She asked him with an amused smile.

The young man named Seth shook his head to indicate a 'no'.

Hal looked around and noticed that Seth was not the only one reacting that way to her gaze,

"Interesting"

Hal said with twitching lips.

They were not acting that way because of her dominating performance today, they were acting that way because of how she had dominated them in bed.

He could only (and did not really want to) imagine what they had all been subjected to.

Her reach had spread so far.

Hal's thoughts were confirmed by her next words,

"Stop being so hyper. After I get the fruit, I will invite you to chow it down so that you can pour it inside me. If you want to help anyone get that fruit, it will and must be me" Nicole said with a cold smile.

As she said it, all those who Hal had noticed, either took steps back in defeat or looked resolute to get the fruit and present it to her.

"Enough talk" Boryan said and made his way to the cave.

Clearly, this was where the Antonovs would stop being a party as they all wanted the fruit. This was no longer a group effort.

Cheslav also summoned his Cosmic armament and in seconds, all hell broke loose.

Auroras and phenomena were blasting about and hitting at people and there were sparks caused by contact of cosmic Armaments and the occasional Artifacts.

Hal noticed Vanya staying apart from the battle to take her time picking herbs off the garden floor and there was so much to pick.

As the center of the garden, there were no useless shrubs. They all had uses.

Although she was focusing more on herbs to enhance potency and did not let the fact that she did not have a spatial treasure stop her from grabbing as much as she could into a piece of clothing.

The Kruger party was the one stopping people from entering the cave the most as Bray made it clear he was not here for the fruit, only to 'cut stuff'.

Soon, he was embroiled in combat with Cheslav, and even though they were both at the mid-stage of the Cosmic phenomenon realm, Cheslav was forced into the defensive thanks to Bray's quick moves on account of his body skill.

"Master, when do we act?" Karmen asked.

Not yet" Hal said as so far, they had been ignored because they had not made a move for the cave.

Hal was watching the Doxons and they had not made a move either. Clearly, they agreed with Hal; they were already here, so why rush? Why not take their time?

The Doxon trio was watching him as well and Hal gave them a wave that caused Ivan to frown and look away.

He chuckled to himself following that reaction.

And then out of the turmoil and chaos, someone finally broke out and took advantage of everyone being so busy to dash towards the cave.

Hal could not help but respect the stealthy move as even he had not spotted the move as he had been preoccupied with looking at the Doxons.

"Look at him go" he said as this young man got closer to the cave and then...

An arch of lightning rose from where Ivan stood and struck at this quick-feet young man before he could enter the cave,

*Boom!*

Not only electrocuting him half to death but also ending in an explosion that sent him flying far away from the cave entrance where it was unsure whether he was alive or dead.

Silence...

"Alright, I have seen enough"

Ivan said as the lightning now covered the entrance of the cave while he continued moving towards it with the Doxons following close behind.

"Like I said. I am not leaving this garden without the Primal fruit"