Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

"My Lord..." Ford began but the Sapphirine Prince ignored him.

Instead, he walked forward towards the battle which had paused following the manifestation of his Phenomenon.

Then he smiled and imbued his voice with Cosmic energy so that it boomed so loud there was no one on the battlefield who could not hear him, 

"You\'ve fought well." He said to his Blood Knights and Emissaries who glowed with pride.

They did not care that their Master was speaking through a woman. They only cared that he was with them.

"As for everyone else who is not from Sapphire city, I will be honest with you, there is only one way you will survive the massacre that is about to befall you;

.

You must bow and proclaim your undying devotion to me, The Sapphirine Prince."

There was no reaction from anyone at first and then Aaro spoke with his own voice imbued with Cosmic energy, 

"Before this war began, I had heard the news of a false religion in Sapphire city. A Cult meant to trick the people. You must be that false god. And this must have been staged to further your propaganda.

I expected this"

As he spoke, Aaro as well as his lieutenants who were composed of capable people from the Cities he called to fur support walked from the other side of the battlefield towards the side of the Sapphire city\'s council where the possessed Priestess stood with a sneer.

Soon, they had left the battle behind and were now facing the Sapphire city council with only 15 feet of space between them.

"Oh, you expected it?" the Sapphirine Prince asked with a raised brow.

Aaro nodded, 

"Yes, I did. I expected that a city with the guts to kill my messenger will have a hidden expert. That expert must be you, although I have to say, I did not think you would be a young lady."

"So you think this is all an act?" Selina asked.

Aaro nodded with a sad smile as though he pitied then for having to resort to such half-assed tricks.

"I have to admit, it was quite a smart idea. What better way to legitimize your false religion than to shock us with the presence of your \'god\'. But you see, if all you have up your sleeves as a peak stage Cosmic Phenomenon realm expert, then I am afraid you have already lost.

Of all the lieutenants with me, there are many at the late stage even if I am the only one at the peak stage.

All your other mid-stage experts are tied up battling my forces and your council which I assume are your true elites are outnumbered" 

He was not wrong.

His lieutenants did outnumber the Council in numbers.

However, the Sapphirine Prince burst into boisterous laughter, 

"The Council is my true elite? Are you insane? These are only those aspiring to be my Elites. You can call them glorified caretakers of my city if you will. You want to see my true elites, look behind you" he said and gestured with Selina\'s delicate hand.

With furrowed brows, The Baron turned and came upon a sight that chilled him to the bones. 

Every single one of the Blood Knights was now wielding a terrifying broadsword that now made it clear what sort of energy they were exuding; Demonic Energy.

Wherever the swords swung, lives were created in horrible bloody and gory manners.

The eyes of all the Blood Fiends were glowing Blood red as they enjoyed reading the Blood essence and advance their cultivation.

War was where they thrived and they could not be happier with the situation.

"Beautiful isn\'t it?" The Sapphirine Prince asked before he summoned a similar-looking broadsword and struck at the Baron\'s back.

Aaro leaped away just in time to avoid getting hit but he knew the strike had not nearly been as fast as it could be.

"What the hell are you?" He asked but the question was mostly directed at the whole confusing situation.

"Don\'t act like you don\'t know" The Prince said and vanished only to reappear in front of Aaro to strike at his midsection.

Aaro flicked his wrist and retrieved a silver shield from his spatial ring which he used to protect himself from the broadsword strike.

The Shield was a Phenomenon grade Artifact that belongs to the Kirsten family which had the ability to release a repelling force when charged with Cosmic energy.

*CLANG!*

The connecting hit gave off a ringing sound but a smile was still present on Selina\'s face as the Sapphirine Prince controlled get body to spin away from and strike this time at Aaro\'s side but the Baron was quick enough to defend himself with his shield Artifact once again as he summoned his sword Cosmic Armament.

While they battled, the council who had nothing against their Lord\'s words as they were indeed aspiring to become a part of his elite, began to battle the Baron\'s Lieutenants.

Meanwhile, the Blood Knights and Emissaries were still killing away while the rest of the Sapphire city forces were left with nothing to do. Clearly, they were out of their depth.

It further reiterated to them all that becoming a part of the Lord\'s forces was what really mattered. And it should remain their main focus.

Meanwhile, the Sapphirine Prince was still battling with the Baron, 

"Do I still seem like a false god to you?" The Prince asked with a smile.

"Yes. While I admit that you really are something and quite impressive and have put a lot of thought into this scam of yours, this remains false propaganda" he said with a grunt as he repelled Selina by charging his shield with cosmic energy and she slid a few meters away from him.

"Is that so?" The Prince asked with a smirk and his eyes flashed as an authority began to seep out of Selina\'s form. An authority that was already covering the Baron\'s forehead with sweat.

Then he moved two steps closer to the Baron, 

"Kneel" he said and Aaro shivered and tried to stop his knees from buckling but he found himself unable to.

*Whump*

His knees hit the ground and he was quick to raise his shield to defend against a sword strike but it was so heavy that it knocked the shield out of his hand.

Nefarious energy was passed into his body and it froze and made it impossible for him to move.

Then the Prince turned to the Lieutenants but spoke with a voice imbued with Cosmic energy that everyone could hear, 

"I have your Baron on his knees... Powerless. Surrender now or die."

He did not need to tell the forces battling the Blood Knights and Emissaries twice as they were quick to fall to their knees and plead surrender.

But that was not enough, 

"I want the pledge" the Prince said and to prove his point, A Blood Knight beheaded someone and looked more than happy to continue.

From the moment Hal had known he could act through a Proxy thanks to the Devil seed and the use of a Devil spell, he had planned something of this nature and that was why he really wanted this war to happen.

Once this bunch were \'converted\' at the field of battle, they would take the gospel of the Sapphirine Prince to all parts of the Barony and his corruption would continue to spread.

"We Pledge ourselves. We pledge ourselves to the Sapphirine Prince" they proclaimed.

All the Lieutenants proclaimed as well. Henrik included.

As soon as they did, they felt the connection. They felt the tendril that joined them to the Devil seed buried in Sapphire city.

There was no need for Aaro to pledge as his defeat already made him a candidate to be connected to the Devil seed and he was connected as well.

With this, the ominous pressure that had been present all through possession faded and Selina swayed from lack of energy but was caught by Jack and Frank.

Her cultivation reverted to the mid-stage of the Cosmic Armament realm while the forces of Sapphire city began their chants of victory and praises to their lord which also announced the birth of a new order in the Barony.

"All Hail The Sapphirine Prince"