Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

This win had gone a long way in establishing the dominance of the Sapphirine Guild and the Guild had cemented its place at the top...

... And they were very aware of this fact.

Celebrations were underway at the Sapphirine Guild headquarters.

Loud and raucous celebrations of the type could not possibly be ignored by neighboring Guilds but the Sapphirine Guild did not care if they cause any disturbance.

No one would dare say a word against them after all.

Every Guild had received a beat down courtesy of them and they had every right to be as loud and as rambunctious as they pleased.

It was a nice sight to see...

Even those who had been injured in battle were very much on the mend and active enough to prance around with joy and at the center of the celebration were the mighty duo of Melinda and Hal.

Both just finishing their first year at the academy but had already made a name for themselves by conquering the best of the young generation in the leaders of the four top Guilds.

Throughout the Guild war, the two had been pulling out surprises here and there with the most prominent and most-talked about surprise being successfully defeating the top Guild leaders each one after the other.

A feat that even the Elders who heard the tales and knew them to be surely true, found quite unbelievable.

It was just surreal.

Speaking of the Elders, they saw the error of their ways in setting very Guild against the Sapphirine Guild just because of their vendetta against Hal.

Of course, being the egotistical ass-hats that they were, they never actually admitted that they had done so out of pettiness and retained that it had all been to teach Hal a valuable lesson.

Whatever the reason they were comfortable with letting known though, it was still clear that what they had done had resulted in the favorite disciples and the previous banners of the Royal academy's excellence getting injured extensively.

That said, everyone who had been injured in the Guild war was sure to make a full recovery and if they were wise and used this setback to strengthen their resolve and Dao heart, they were likely to come out stronger.

They were likely to come out with a better understanding of themselves... However, the impact of what Hal/Melinda had done to them was sure to have lasting psychological effects.

The Elders felt that they would all probably become obsessed with taking revenge but Hal and Melinda knew that that was not the case.

They both knew that for the rest of their lives, everyone they faced directly during this Guild war would forever fear them.

That was the lasting psychological effect that the scary couple believed their actions would have.

Anyway, every member of the Sapphirine Guild looked at Hal and Melinda with admiration and was more than glad that they had joined the smallest Guild in the Royal Academy. 

Melinda glowed with pride at the admiration she received as their leader.

This was all her...

She had created tho Guild and her vision had made it all possible...

When she looked at Hal, he could see it in her eyes...

He could see that she was intrigued by this dynamic where Hal made her vision possible with his valuable input rather than the other way around as it usually was.

Hal had no issue taking a back seat in regards to the Sapphirine Guild...

He did not even accept an official or unofficial title of Co-Guild leader as he retained that he still had no stake in the Sapphirine Guild.

Besides, he had way too many responsibilities already...

The Guild was Melinda's and she deserved to have the spotlight shining on her and only on her.

At a point during the celebratory party where quite a few ladies of the Sapphirine Guilt were gushing all over him, Hal leaned over to Melinda and kissed her on the lips before getting up and raising the glass of cultivational brew which he had in hand...

"A toast" he announced and the noise in the hall were reduced to the point where he could be heard clearly without needing to yell.

"A toast to Melinda Dane, the reason you all are here right now and are celebrating being a part of the strongest Guild in the Royal Academy" Hal began.

"Hear hear" Chorused the ladies of the Sapphirine Guiid before they were silent again and allowed Hal to continue,

"I was not here when the Guild was created and I also had no idea that she would be creating it... But she had a vision... She had a vision of creating the smallest Guild and making it into something you all could be proud to be a part of.

A close-knitted sisterhood taking the Royal Academy by storm.

Granted, I doubt she envisioned that we would have to go up against the entire Academy but it all worked out in the end... 

To the leader of the Sapphire Guild... 

To Melinda Dane!" 

"To Melinda Dane!" the members of the Sapphirine Guild chorused before cheers burst out.

The cheers were quite loud but not loud enough to cover up a spiteful comment from the back of the room,

"Her vision almost didn't become a reality though. You almost ruined everything" 

All eyes were directed to the one who had spoken and it was none other than a frowning Valerie who had her arms folded underneath her breasts.

Silence descended upon the scene...

"Valerie..." Suri started to say but the annoyed lady quickly interrupted,

"But it's true though"

"Come on Val, you are seriously going to blame Hal for a decision made by the petty Elders when he is largely the reason we eventually won?" Nicole asked but Valerie just turned on her,

"But he was the reason that decision was made though. If it had not been for him, we would have formed alliances and actually fought the way we were supposed to. 

We would not have been put in the situation we were in.

We would not have needed his help..." She said.

"Valerie, that is enough!" Melinda said with a firm tone as she rose from her seat to glare at the lady who adamantly stared at Hal with anger.

Hal looked over at Melinda and shook his head with a smile,

"It's fine," he said.

Valerie chuckled,

"Of course it's fine. I haven't said anything that isn't true and everything I said had to be said. We were fine without you... We did not need you... Melinda had me and every other member of the Sapphirine Guild and we would have been fine... 

But of course, like the narcissistic man that you are, you had to make it all about yourself... You had to display and prove your dominance...

Ugh, I hate you men so much!

Always acting as though you're better... As though you own us, well you..."

*Bam!*

Valerie never got to finish speaking before a fist connected with the side of her face.

The one who had punched her was an angry-looking Sassy who hissed,

"Shut Up!"

For the first time, the members of the Sapphirine Guild saw a different side of Sassy... They saw a side that was not going to hold back and hide certain aspects of her abilities.

They saw a familiar that looked ready to go all out in defense of her master.

Valerie did not stay down for long as she returned to her feet and summoned her two Armaments while glaring and grinning at Sassy tauntingly,

"Or what?" she asked and a battle looked ready to break out.

Valerie felt she had only spoken the truth and as she looked around the room with her peripheral vision, she could see that no one agreed with her.

Last week when Hal had just had his hearing, they would have agreed with her but now, after all that had happened, which they now believed was for the overall good of the Guild, they no longer did.

Hal was in between both Valerie and Sassy in a second,

"Calm down Sassy. Like I told Melinda, it's fine. Valerie has a problem with me and I think it's high time it's all sorted." he said.

Sassy relaxed her stance and stepped back with a nod.

"Alright Valerie, why don't you disperse the Armaments... You don't want to fight me, do you?" he asked Valerie with a smile, and after a second, Valerie put the weapons away.

"Very good. Now we can talk about this like adults. Not in front of everyone though, the longer we stand here, the lower the mood becomes.

Regardless of what I did, the Guild war is over now and the Sapphirine Guild won. Surely, you are mature enough to not allow your issues with me or my gender to ruin everyone's joy and celebration" Hal said.

His words were so calm and his voice so mellifluous that it had the effect of immediately raising everyone's spirits and brightening the mood that was already getting dull.

The soothing effects were not lost on Valerie either even though she would not admit it.

She turned around and walked out of the hall.

She was almost at the entrance when Hal addressed the hall in general,

"Please don't stop the celebrations on our account. Remember, this is still your night" the last part was mostly directed at Melinda.

Hal entrusted Nicole and a calm Sassy to get the party going again and before he even caught up to Valerie, they had succeeded and the hall was once again booming with merriment.