BXBX NOVEL Chapter 556 - Already At Each Other's Throats.
The Primeval Devil Authority!
Of all the parts of his bloodline Hal could outsource to all those in his camp, the authority that was his by birth was not one of them.
To be able or allowed to use the Primeval Devil authority was a privilege only the child of the Primeval Devil queen could enjoy.
Anyone else who tried to use the Primeval Devil authority besides Hal, even if they had been granted the opportunity either by the Devil queen herself or by Hal would have to pay a steep price.
The pain Artyom was feeling right now and would continue to feel for as long as he was branded by Hal qualified as a heavy price.
And to further highlight the importance and significance of what he was making use of despite not being a kin of the Devil queen, the pain was quadrupled whenever Artyom made use of the Primeval Devil Authority.
As he reached towards the third ability Hal had granted him, Artyom\'s legs shook as he was overwhelmed by the pain.
However, as stipulated by the branding, he was not allowed to scream out and was thus forced to suffer in silence.
His pain only being evident by his increasing-in-intensity grotesque smile and deranged expression.
Ivan was, however, not taking note of this as the lightning he was now harnessing formed into a spear that he prepared to toss at his cousin.
From experience, he knew the speed of such a strike was such that Artyom had no hope of ever dodging.
The Lightning blessing was an inheritance that had been passed down for generations in the Doxon family and their form of being blessed by their patron god(s).
Anyway, it was an inheritance that was meant to mimic the harnessing level of comprehension of a lightning Ordinance.
It was not exactly easy to master. If anything, its difficulty had been proven by a wide range of failures to acquire it.
Ivan could still remember the day he became capable of using it and had gloated to his grandfather in a bid to show off his ability and was only left mortified when Kirill looked over at him and said,
"I never learned to use the lightning blessing. Are you trying to insinuate that you are better than me?" As the Doxon patron spoke, there was a darkness about him that warned Ivan to choose his next words well or even better, walk away and not speak at all...
... Which was what he had done.
Anyway,
Ivan charged the lightning spear and prepared to let it loose.
His pose looked like that of an all-important Greek god about to smite his enemy but Artyom never looked worried.
He merely smiled his grotesque smile and released the Authority.
The fact that he was not too far from Ivan allowed him to spread the influence of the authority so that it affected his opponent and caused the lightning spear Ivan was charging to begin to flicker.
Slowly getting rendered null.
"What the- what the HELL?!" Ivan yelled in a confused and annoyed tone of voice as he found it impossible to harness his lightning.
The sliver of the Devil authority Hal could make use of was only fully effective on someone with Insight level Ordinance comprehension but since Ivan was not really wielding an ordinance but an inheritance meant to mimic an Ordinance, he more than fell within Hal\'s range of influence.
Had it been a battle between Hal and Ivan, it would have long been over.
Thanks to Elora, Hal knew what to expect of Ivan and Artyom and they had no real idea what to expect from him.
With that alone, he already had an edge and when you factor in that at the mid-stage of the Cosmic Aurora, Hal was unrivaled in the Cosmic Aurora ream and that the lightning Ivan relied on to surpass his peers and beyond was useless against the blue-eyed Devil, you can see how victory would be easy for Hal.
But that would not be satisfying.
He needed to turn the family upside down.
Speaking of turning the family upside down, the fathers of the battling duo (Kohen and Elian), arrived just in time to see the lightning fade away from Ivan\'s body because of whatever Artyom was doing.
While Ivan tried and failed to reactivate the Lightning and was getting more frustrated the longer things went on, Artyom pushed the speed he had been granted through the Shadow demon bloodline to the limit all to catch Ivan by surprise and sink his fist into his cousin\'s abdomen.
"Ack" Ivan groaned and doubled over only to be kicked in the face by Ivan.
A kick that forced him upright.
Ivan shook off the shock of the hit and attempted a block and a counter but he was too late to attempt to get back into the grove as Artyom already had a strong rhythm that would be hard to topple.
Artyom vanished only to reappear behind Ivan and smack him in the back of the head so hard that Ivan fell face-first into the ground.
A crack could be heard as his nose broke.
Hal smiled to himself as this was almost the same as what he had done to Artyom within the Dome.
Standing tall and ready to deliver a crushing kick to Ivan\'s head, Artyom spat,
"Pathetic. You lose your one trump card and you are rendered useless. Forced to gravel before me and keep on proving why you are not fit to be Duke" he said the words Hal had ordered him to say and the result was just as Hal had expected.
The burning drive was reignited within Ivan and he found the strength to roll away from Artyom\'s disastrous kick and launch into a series of counterattacks that served to bring the battle to more of an equilibrium.
Although, when things tipped in the favor of someone, it was always Artyom\'s.
"What the hell is going on here?" Kohen asked in a loud voice that both Doxon scions ignored as their battle continued.
Then Kohen and his brother turned towards Hal,
"This is all your fault" Kohen said.
Even if he had not heard from the servants that Hal seemed to be the mastermind of the altercation between cousins who had always considered themselves brothers, the mere fact that Hal was here already made him a culprit in the eyes of the Doxon brothers.
Hal sighed,
"I admit it is. I have opened Artyom\'s eyes to the truth. I have made him realize he is more than capable of governing the duchy. I have encouraged him to stand up for himself.
Oh, the horror" his words seemed in no way sincere and his tone was mocking.
Kohen sneered,
"Filling his head with pointless lies and unachievable dreams is not \'opening his eyes\'" he said and his brother turned to face him,
"What\'s that supposed to mean? That my son is not destined for great things?" Elian asked and Kohen paused before saying,
"Look at us. Already at each other\'s throats" Kohen said.
Elian foreword his brows,
"If we are at each other\'s throats, it\'s because you are disregarding my son\'s prowess when the decision to make Ivan the face of our faction was not because he is the best but just so we can present a united front" he said.
Kohen\'s lips twitched in obvious disagreement to Ivan not being the best but tabled it to return focus to Hal,
"Look at that, he is already making us fight. Guards, What are you waiting for? Apprehend that bastard for inciting discord among the best of the Doxon family"
That seemed to jeer the spectating guards and they moved towards Hal who smiled threateningly,
"Are you really sure you want to listen to him? You know, they are not the ones who will die if you do" he said, and just as a powerful presence descended upon the scene.
A presence that secured a hold on Ivan and Artyom and forced them to remain in place.
The one responsible for that presence was the Patron of the Doxon Family, Kirill Doxon who was at the moment floating in mid-air above Ivan\'s residence and eyeing them with an intense glare that filled them with fear...
.... If his presence had not already taken care of that.