Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

The Baron eyed the commander go one to rant about Sapphire city and the Sapphirine Cult but said nothing and kept it to himself that he and the rest of the devouts of the Sapphirine prince knew that it would take much more than this for Ghan and his men go actually pose a threat to their rise.

You see, Sapphire city had expressed it quite clearly that they had no interest in involving any of those who they had taken on the faith to come to their aid.

This had nothing to do with protecting them and was more about Sapphire city being willing to take care of this issue on their own.

The take over of the vast majority of the Duchy by taking over every county had not been to bolster Hal's forces and had been for nothing more than the gathering of faith.

Hal and by extension, those in his following had no use for the forces of their new devotees... Down the line, there could be recruitment to make those considered worthy a part of the Cult's force but now was not the time.

Anyway, Commander Ghan left the Baron's residence and returned to his camp set up on the outskirts of the barony to plan the best approach with his lieutenant.

Now, it is worth noting that 'small' used to describe the fighting force was only when compared to a proper battle force serving a direct purpose of the Duchy ruling Silvas... Following the death of the first batch of envoys with no hesitation and a clear attempt at a taunt, the underestimation of the forces of the cult had been toned down a good bit.

The force sent to attack and quell their arising might have been small by the standards of the capital but it was the most fearsome force the most in the Kirsten Barony had ever seen.

They packed enough power to truly quell an insurrection of the range they had been led to expect and had come prepared.

They had turned down the teleportation circles in the Kirsten Barony to prevent any of their enemies from sneaking behind the lines of surveillance and protection they had formed.

It was a smart move especially as it was mirrored in Sapphire city which had all teleportation circles deactivated to prevent the same potential problem.

It took the force of Commander Ghan a whole day after he arrived in the Kirsten Barony for his force to pack up their things and actually begin their move towards Sapphire City.

The Army they were expecting to meet should have moved away from the city and would have done so to protect their denizens from the dangers of the battle as well as protect the base of their Cult from damage. 

The eventual movement was a tad slow despite Commander Ghan's army moving as fast as they could while maintaining their structure as a fearsome unit.

The timeline of Ghan's arrival was at the end of a busy week of activity and his speech with the Baron had basically taken place while Hal was with the Devil Tribe chieftess.

Anyway, when the Commander moved, he had his strategy planned and every member of his unit knew what they were to do the moment the enemy was encountered... While they moved fast, they also moved carefully... Keeping their senses trained ahead to detect any potential trap or laid down array to their detriment.

When all was said and done, they were a powerful force who were moving on a territory inhabited by their foes. 

A good deal of distance from Sapphire city, which had expanded so wide to accommodate all those who wished to be closer to the source of their beliefs, a small group was spotted.

The group consisted of ten ladies led by three who stood in front of the other seven.

Things were already confusing and they certainly did not become clearer when the ladies announced themselves as being the Sapphirine Cult Military. 

"That's it?" Commander Ghan asked in a confused tone and rightfully so.

On the side that should have been packed with the army of the Sapphirine Cult stood ten ladies... Just ten ladies!

This can't be it. Commander Ghan thought his men were having the same thought.

And why would they not?

This was not an army...

Especially not when faced with those he had with him who were at least numbered at two thousand.

Senses were extended as far as possible and Ghan even retrieved tools that helped widen that perception range in other to discover things that were just not clear at the moment.

Alas, there was nothing to see and nothing to sense... In the immediate region, these ten were all there was.

"So I take it, you lead this bunch with a death wish," said one of the three women at the forefront and she gestured towards Ghan. 

She was a lady whose stance was exuding sexuality and whose black eyes had a hint of demonic purple in them... Despite the distance, as a testament to his cultivation and strength, Ghan could clearly see the features of all ten women.

Besides the lady with a demonic purple glint in her eyes were the other two leading with one having Blood red eyes and the other having black mist swirling about her form.

"And I take it, you are those sent to proclaim your City and Cult's surrender," Ghan said in a pompous tone.

As he spoke, he kept his eyes and senses peeled for any surprises but he remained confident.

The weakest in the force with him was at the mid-stage of the Cosmic Aurora realm.

His lieutenants were all either at the peak stage of the Cosmic Aurora realm or at the early stage of the cosmic Pagoda realm.

Ghan was at the mid-stage of the Cosmic Pagoda realm, edging ever closer to the late stage and he even had insight into an Elemental Ordinance.

They had been sent to put an end to the foolery that was the Sapphirine Cult, and their strengths, which were all impressive, had been considered more than enough to do so.

Marla, who Ghan only saw as the lady with dark smoke swirling about her form had a look of wonder on her face,

"She just said you and your men had a death wish, how does that translate to the desire to surrender?" she asked and the more words she spoke, the more stupid she found Ghan's statement to have been.

"Unlike you, we were going for something more practical than trudging the distance with such a massive force." said the lady with blood-red eyes.

The ten had come out here with the Golden chariot which was in their possession and saw more use with them than with Hal.

Trudging the distance was silly when they could move faster as a small group of ten in the luxury of a speedy carriage.

As for the rest of their force... Well, they would make their appearances soon.

"CHARGE!!!" Rita suddenly summoned her cosmic Armament and raised it above her head before she, Marla, and Karmen led the running line.

Ghan and his force widened their eyes at the ten running towards them but the moment of surprise at such an obvious act of stupidity only lasted five seconds before Ghan let out the order to attack with nothing held back.

Cosmic attacks streaked towards the ten ladies as well as cosmic Auroras but every single one of them possessed enough heightened sensory abilities to dodge and avoid getting hit while they kept charging.

Also, they stopped running in a direct line very quickly...

They had their strategies and quickly implemented those strategies as they separated and ran in haphazard patterns all to avoid the rain of attacks.

Ghan and his men did not charge forward... They did not have to and only a small section of the army actually let out cosmic attacks and Auroras. The rest would have been overkill as well as unnecessary. 

They had the suicidal ladies charging towards sure death and just had to wait to deliver said death... Or so they thought.

Suddenly, seven of the ladies skidded to a stop and went on one knee while the three frontrunners kept on charging.

Suddenly, the lady with a demonic glint in her eyes took on a demonic form that was complete with a wicked tail and demonic wings while her black eyes turned violet.

The second lady who had smoke swirling about her form suddenly had additions appear on her attire and sprouted smoky dark feathered wings while summoning a black cosmic Armament.

The third lady took on a fiendish demonic form and completed the set of weird.

With the energy and aura Rita and Karmen were giving off, the nefarious nature of their being was clear and their possible ties to Dystopians became glaring.

This went from being a put-down battle to stop an insurrection to a battle against beings of relations to the continent's most hated enemies; the Dystopians.

Rita got rid of her sword cosmic Armament for Essence Stealer; the Demonic bow which she used to shoot a flaming purple arrow right into the midst of Ghan's force as she took to the air with her wings.

*Boom!*

All this (the transformations and arrow shot) happened in the space of a second and wasn't even the most major thing to occur.

Remember the seven who got on their knees, well, they did so to brave themselves for large portal openings.

The largest portals they had ever had to open.

And yet, the portal being large was essential... How else were the mighty army of the Sapphirine Cult supposed to make a grand entrance on the battlefield?

Why would they trudge the distance when select representatives working in tandem with others in Sapphire city could simply open a portal and usher them through to surprise the enemy in seconds?

The seven opened their portals in different areas of the battlefield and it helped the arriving forces to attack Ghan and his men from multiple angles.