Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

The flanks of the Baron\'s army were quickly sent into disarray after the surprises attacks.

It was hard not to run in the face of dark fog-covered figures who exude terrifying fear.

"Hold the Line!" Henrik yelled in a bid to stop their orderly line from collapsing under pressure as he had come to wait as his brother\'s lieutenant.

When his brother suggested he come along, he was all too happy to accept since he was not actually having the best of times with his fiancee Eva.

She had been in a bad mood since that Hal from Sapphire city had come to Kirsten city but it got even worse after the war became official.

She and her sister, Baroness Camira were holding ground back in Kirsten city.

Anyway, while he said that, the forces of Sapphire city moved into action with the ones leading the charge being the Blood Knights.

The Council stayed behind the forces and would yell orders from behind and with them was Selina who was grinning at the scene with that \'I know something you don\'t look\'..

Frank and Jack were by her aides in a protective manner.

The forces of the Barony dashed forward as well, mostly to get away from the fear-inducing fog cloaked figures tearing through their ranks. 

However, as it turned out, dashing forward was not the solution to their predicament as the Blood Knights charging leading the charge of the Sapphire city forces was not in any way less terrifying than the Emissaries.

Their eyes had all turned Fiendish red and they were exuding the blood curdling presence of the Blood fiends that were.

If there was one thing the Barony\'s forces had in their favor, it would be their larger numbers which they were trying to make use of to overwhelm the Blood knights but it proved far from being as easy as they thought. Especially after the Blood Knights began implementing their fog\'s offensive abilities.

The rest of the forces from Sapphire city who were following the lead of the Blood knights could not help but feel awe at their impressive battle prowess.

Basically, the Blood Knights were taking care of most of the enemies, and their job was just to offer support and not become overwhelmed.

Ford\'s brows were furrowed because he knew that while things were going well for now, they were not going to remain that way.

From the pressure of cultivation the Blood Knights were giving off, none of them was past the Mid-stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm. Even the Emissaries were the same.

While their Blood fiend and Devil shroud abilities did well to cover up the deficiency, in a war where the force they were fighting against outnumbered them by at least two times, this advantage did not really make too much of a helpful difference.

The main highlight of the fight and the only way they could succeed would be to defeat the Baron but he was at the Peak stage of the Cosmic phenomenon realm and had capable lieutenants at the mid and late stage. 

Especially after he had been able to get support from other cities.

Ford sighed.

He could not help but think to the fact that their strategy had not been to go with brawns.

When they learned the Baron would get supporters from other cities, the council planned to try espionage and somehow reduce the fighting force of those cities.

To do so, they asked the Emissaries who would be best for assassination attempts to rid them of these potentially troublesome experts but the Emissaries refused to act until the Priestess sought the mind of the Prince.

Then Selina returned with orders that they were to do no such thing. 

Apparently, Hal had something planned.

What that plan was, Neither Ford nor the Council had any idea but judging from Selina\'s smile, she did.

It would seem the Prince was indeed speaking to her.

On the other side of the battlefield, Baron Aaro was conversing with his Lieutenants, 

"Okay... So it would turn out they more secrets than we could have thought" Henrik said even as many more fell to the attacks of the Blood Knight and Emissaries while none of them had been killed thus far.

The successful attacks by the Baron\'s forces were all on those who were not Blood Knights and Emissaries and even then, the deaths were nothing compared to the losses the Baron\'s forces had suffered.

"You think?" Aaro snapped at him.

Henrik frowned but said nothing. He could understand why his brother was being so snippy.

"What we need to do is simple, we take down their council. The ones who really call the shots. If things keep going on like this, our numbers advantage would be useless." Said one lieutenant.

"I agree. From what we have learned, there is no one at the Peak stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm among the Council and this surprise from these forces aside, we still have a chance if we go directly to the council."

Aaro was about to say he totally agreed when a disturbance came from the other side of the battlefield.

Selina\'s eyes were closed and she had her arms outstretched on either side of her with Frank and Jack holding on to those arms as she shook violently.

Ford and the rest of the Council had no idea what was going on and Edvard actually took a step towards his niece in concern but Jack yelled to him, 

"Stand back!"

"She has been training for weeks to be able to do this" Frank added.

The Krast lord froze with his hand still stretched towards Selina, 

"To do what?" 

He asked in an incredulous tone, just as the shaking stopped.

Frank and Jack let go of her arms and stepped back just in time for had they stayed closer, they would have been repelled by the monstrous pressure the Priestess began to give off.

A Black pentagram appeared beneath her feet and began to feed her energy that seemed otherworldly.

The pressure of her cultivation which was at the mid-stage of the cosmic Armament Realm became evident but it did not stop there and began to climb in explosive boosts.

*Boom!*

Mid-stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon Realm.

*Boom!*

Peak stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm.

Then a physical manifestation of her monstrous pressure appeared behind her in the form of a monstrous shadow with Sapphire blue eyes that was grinning menacingly. 

The manifestation was brief and soon vanished along with the pentagram but as soon as it did, Selina\'s eyes opened but they were no longer hers.

Not exactly.

The normally black sclera was now nightmarish black and her usually black iris became a striking sapphire blue.

Selina clenched and unclenched her first and said in a low voice, 

"Interesting"

However, the voice did not sound like hers. It was not feminine.

It was a mellifluous male voice that everyone on this side of the battlefield recognized.

Selina turned to face Edvard, 

"To do what, you asked? Well, your dear niece was training to house a fraction Of my power.

Speaking of which, why are you all still standing?" Said the Sapphirine Prince who it was now clear had possessed Selina and was speaking through her.

Of course, that was not exactly true.

Hal had discovered that it was possible to act by proxy through anyone who was connected to his Devil seed which was everyone in Sapphire city.

He chose Selina because it would further reiterate her position as his Priestess and would make even more of an impact when he acted through her.

Immediately, every one of them fell to their knees and bowed.