楼上的上瘾女士

Silence...

No one said a word.

What was there to say when what they had been fighting for since they had been here just disappeared right in front of them.

Not even Karmen or Amelia had known that Sassy would show up to steal the fruit and much less go inside the Harem space right in front of everyone.

"What... was that? Artyom asked in disbelief and looked over at Hal just like Ivan and Elora were.

Hal's eyes were widened in surprise as well, 

"My goodness. Did you see that? That snake just came out of nowhere" he said with such an innocent expression that many were ready to believe he indeed had nothing to do with it.

Suddenly, the front of his clothes was grabbed by Artyom who yelled at him, 

"Where is it?" He asked in anger.

Hal sighed, 

"You'll have to ask the snake" he said.

"Okay then you mouthy bastard, where is the snake?" Artyom asked.

"Well, I have no idea. You can't possibly think this was my doing, could you? Because let me tell you, if that is the case, I will be very offended. I was just robbed of an opportunity for speedy advancement and the pain is still very fresh" Hal said with a Dejected expression and grabbed Artyom's hand.

The close contact could not have been any more perfect.

"What nonsense are you spewing...?" Artyom started to say before he began to feel a strong paralyzing fear that left him incapable of completing his words.

That was to be expected as Hal was now passing Devil energy into his body and forcing all of his body functions to shut down. Starting from his ability to move and speak.

And then suddenly, there was a lady with wonderful eye-catching and mouthwatering curves right there with a bejeweled mask on her face.

"I'll have to ask you to let him go" the masked lady said in a slow and threatening tone of voice.

No one knew when she arrived as her presence was completely untraceable. Even those who knew who she was but had no prior knowledge of the mask had no idea who she was as the Mask's abilities scrambled their memories and prevented recognition.

Through the pressure she was releasing, Artyom knew she was not to be messed with but even then, he could not be completely certain of what her cultivation actually was.

He just knew it was enough for her to crush him if she wished to.

He attempted to let go of Hal's shirt but found that he could not.

"I won't ask again" the masked lady said.

Artyom tried again and then groaned, 

"I... Can't" he said as he strained physically to unclench his hands but found that he could not.

Something foreign was in his body and locking him down, so to speak.

Then Ivan stepped forward and while frowning at both Hal and the Masked lady, he placed his hand in Artyom shoulder and passed lightning into his body.

The current freed Artyom of the hold Hal's Devil energy had on him but could not cure the fear he was still feeling.

He stepped back and walked stiffly towards Elora.

Ivan made to walk away as well but paused, turned to look at Hal, scowled, and then left without saying a word.

He had nothing to say.

Especially since there were two ladies on the scene capable of squashing him who he felt would be ready to do so should he make an attempt to attack this smug bastard.

Once they had walked away, Hal turned to eye Emily from head to toe, 

"Loving the look" he said with a smile while she frowned.

Obviously displeased at the dangerous idea of going on with getting the Primal fruit and telling her not to interfere.

'Amelia could have died' she told him telepathically.

'Oh, ye of little faith. Like I was going to let that happen' Hal replied with a roll of his eyes.

Emily huffed, 

'I highly doubt you will have a say in the matter when you are powerless against your opponent. You were careless' she told him.

On her way here, she had seen the death of many as well as some who were still alive but struggling against traps and other misfortunes. Needless to say, it did not paint a pretty picture.

Hal shook his head, 

'No, I don't think I was. I said not to interfere yet. I only needed you to be on standby. There are certain things I quite like to do as the underdog. Where would I put my face if at the sign of any danger, I call for help?' He retorted.

'Oh, so this is about your ego? You 'big manly ego'?' Emily asked in an incredulous tone of voice.

Hal paused and then said, 

'Yes, I guess I am not without the flaws of the common man. Come on, Emily, you know I am a staunch believer in always fighting with support if you have it and it is why I hardly do things on my own if I can have support.

But how can I possibly improve on a personal basis if I never actually fight my own battles? If I never get the opportunity to dig deep and think on my feet to come up with ways of survival.

Let's face it, you will not always be there to help and even though the Ladies are inside the Harem space and with me all the time, they will not always be there to help either.

Sometimes, I have to truly push my limits.

Besides, I accept help. I came here with two impressive ladies after all, who have gone against Cosmic Phenomenons and Cosmic Auroras despite still being in the Cosmic Armament realm.'

There was something else Hal did not add which was that he was working to eventually surpass them all and at some point in time, his strength would always be greater than theirs. Surely, there was no better time to start adjusting to that future role than to take the occasional risks.

Maybe not stupid risks but calculated ones. Or at least calculated enough to cover his basics and stay safe.

There was telepathic silence and then Emily groaned,

'Fine. But if you die, I'll kill you' she said.

Hal chuckled

'That kind of undermines the death itself but sure, you can have the first stab'

To everyone else, after Hal complimented the look, the two just stared at each other and occasionally had changes in expressions.

By the time, their attention returned to what was going on around them, Embry was clapping once again, 

"Oh, I always love a good twist. So a snake got the fruit in the end. Interesting. Still confused on how it even got here and how it left but oh well, the fruit is gone, we can get back to the order of the day. I am of course referring to killing you all"

Many groaned at the Gardener's words. Not because it scared them but because they were a tad bit tired of hearing him say the same thing over and over again.

"Don't you have something else to say?" Vihaan asked in a carrying voice.

"Yeah, as long as the Duchess is here, no one is afraid of you" Delaney said and Hal noted the same sense of devotion to Svetlana that her Aunt Noelle had.

Embry looked up, 

"Her?" He asked with a scoff and a large sword formed out of the wind which had a purple hue appeared in mid-air and swung at the Duchess but she vanished from the spot she had been and the sword missed.

There was an eerie sound to its swing and the sound was understood when they all noticed that while the purple wind sword had not hit anything. The swishing wind from its swing alone caused large gashes in the garden floor!

And it was those winds that now flowed towards Svetlana where she stood.

Svetlana waved her hand and a beam of light shot out of the orb in front of her and slammed into the Purple wind sword and dispersed it.

However, Embry smiled as that did not mean the sword's defeat but its versatility.

Even as the purple wind sword dispersed, its hazardous winds did not fade into the atmosphere but scattered all around causing even more large gases in the garden floor and moving towards the Doxon trio with enough speed and sharpness to cut them up.

However, another wave of Svetlana's hand and multiple Deep blue Runes appeared in the sky and all combined to form a giant hand in a split second and swiped the Doxon trio away from the hazardous wind's path.

The hand not only swept them away from danger but also towards where everyone else was. Among the way, it caught Hal, Amelia, Karmen, and Emily who still wore her mask and swept them there as well.

Once they were with the others, the giant hand of runes dispersed and the runes rearranged themselves to form a fairly transparent Array dome through which they could still view the battle.

When the Dome was completely formed, not even their feet were touching the ground.

All this happened in the space of a second or two.

Hal's eyes widened at such impressive Rune casting that he might have gone all his life thinking was impossible without equipoise.

Because Svetlana did not seem to just be channeling Astral energy. She seemed to be harnessing it after having stored it in her body which should be impossible.

Unless she was...

'She's a Rank 8 Runemaster' Grimoire confirmed his suspicions before they were even fully formed in his mind.

"That... Is insane" Hal could not help but admit but Grimoire did not really see it that way.

'It's impressive yes, but in a really high-powered battle, it won't help much in attacks. Sure, she can use it to manipulate her environment but it would not be the same. The main reason it will be effective right now is because she's battling Astral energy with astral energy.

What the Divine Array should really be looking out for is the Orb floating in front of her. It's a Divine Artifact!'