Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

The explosion knocked Andrei back but what sort of Semi-saint (though still at the early stage) would he be if he could not react fast enough to at least surround himself with Cosmic energy even if he could not run away from the explosion.

Even those not as strong as him, which was practically everyone in the room had shielded themselves despite also getting thrown away from the now-destroyed coffin to slam against the room's earthen and somewhat rocky wall.

*Bang!*

Ergo had used his Ax armament to charge Cosmic energy strong enough to create a shield wide enough to defend himself and prone Cirk on the ground but there was something about it that told Hal, who had now risen out of the rubble of rocks, that the half-naked brute had known of the explosive Array.

He was right.

Ergo was not as dumb as he looked and always had good instincts in battle. Pulling the Artifact out of the bony corpse's hand was such a situation where his instincts kicked in.

He had stealthily prepared his defense and kind of baited Andrei to not just be at a region most prone to the explosive blast but also be unprepared.

It had not been hard.

Like any Tomb raider and especially a patriotic tomb raider who wished to keep clearly important Artifacts out of the hands of the enemy while also striving for personal greed, Andrei had focussed more on Ergo and the Artifact than his and its surroundings.

The fact that Andrei was a Semi-saint and should have been smarter and known better only made the Antonov man's action seem even more hasty and foolish.

Anyway,

Properly protected from the Explosion and only being repelled a few feet away, Ergo sent the Artifact into his spatial ring and then retrieved a portable Teleportation scroll that he began to charge with Cosmic energy.

Andrei rose to his feet just in time to see the Scroll activate and teleport a tired-looking Cirk and a smugly smiling Ergo away.

"Damn it," he said just as another explosion rocked the room they were in.

*Boom*

Clearly, the exploding Sarcophagus had created an explosive chain reaction in the room.

The room they were in would no longer be the last to explode and all those within only had seconds before they met an exploding disastrous death.

Andrei frowned in annoyance but he could not dwell on the duo of Ergo and Cirk who were already gone with the Artifact so he retrieved his portable teleportation scroll just like everyone else and activated it.

Hal and Sassy walked over to Lillian who had actually been the quietest occupant in the room thus far which Hal knew had been due to her silently meditating on the new information she now had about herself i.e her Dao.

Hal knew she had already used her Portable Teleportation scroll against the buff man in the battle royale outside the silver double doors as it was information he had gleaned from her mind.

And while the spatial rings Lillian and Rita had gotten as spoils in their battle royale would surely contain Portable Teleportation scrolls, the destination would not be of their choosing.

Having been meditating since she got into the room, Lillian had not had the time to recalibrate the coordinates of any of the scrolls.

Besides, one scroll would definitely get him, Sassy, and Lillian out with no problem.

"Hey Hal, see you soon" Lucile told him with a smile that Hal returned with perverted enthusiasm before she was teleported away.

The Antonov siblings left the room next with Emily looking back at Hal as though in worry but he nodded at her in encouragement before she and her brother were gone.

Both with their own individual Portable Teleportation scrolls.

The scroll was in Hal's hand, activated and ready to transport.

With no outsider present, Sassy was once again coiled around his arm in her miniature form but before they were transported, Hal got an eerie feeling at the back of his neck.

A sort of death chill that was followed with the faintest sound of crackling lightning in his ear.

Instinctively, Hal knew what it was.

His Bloodline tribulation had caught up with him.

At the worst possible time no less.

He was right.

Outside the tomb, the sky was dark above the Tomb entrance and the lightning tribulation had returned for another try at killing the anomaly living in the Neglected Nexus world.

It happened in a split second and Hal knew teleportation would not be fast enough for an escape.

It was not.

*Krakaboom* 

The lightning struck down at Hal with an overbearing weight that made him incapable of mustering any bit of strength.

This tribulation was a thousand times more forceful than the last he had faced. 

Grimoire had told him that the Tribulation would always be unexpected and its time of arrival could not be predicted and it had also told him it would be stronger every time.

He was not just facing the tribulation for his own strength increase but for the increase in the strength of his forces all of whom he had bestowed powers from his bloodline in one way or the other.

It was almost as though the lightning strike was slowing down the speed of the teleportation scroll or even keeping it inactive until the target (Hal) was hit.

It was not only the scroll it was snaking inactive. 

Even the exploding Arrays stopped in the face of its commanding and overbearing presence but that was hardly something to rejoice at considering Hal knew it just wanted to be the one to end him and not a bunch of annoying exploding Arrays.

The tribulation was prideful that way.

The entire structure of the tomb which was virtually unbreakable for any cultivator not at the cosmic Saint realm having been enhanced with multiple Arrays that seemed only susceptible to the self-destructive Arrays also inlaid within the structure while also being built with incredibly durable material could not offer any form of protection against the destructive force of Hal's bloodline tribulation.

There was a commanding air to the Tribulation as the lightning barreled down to strike Hal down.

Lillian could not see the lighting but she could hear it and being connected to Hal, even more so by her Fiendish bloodline, she knew it to be immensely dangerous. 

But, despite being oppressed, Hal still had a card to play.

He raised his head at the room ceiling and began to release the presence of a monarch. Not just any monarch but a monarch before whom all things must bow,

"Sovereign Law!" 

Even as he used his Dao, Hal remembered he was no longer protected as he had been within his mind's purgatory.

He knew he was making use of a power that he was not allowed to use and while that had stopped him from using it before now, he could no longer bother to care.

Immediately he spoke, the rumbling, destructive and chaotic energy within the tribulation seized and it became no more than a light shower that had no impact on the tomb or Hal whatsoever.

Hal's Sovereign law had seized the elemental power that was powering the strike that was about to hit and incinerate him in a loud and crackling blast of dangerous lightning.

However, it was not a permanent solution as there were still dark clouds above the tomb.

Speaking of the tomb, once Hal's Sovereignty law rendered the Tribulation temporarily inactive, its exploding Arrays all blew up at the exact same time in a magnificent blast that would kill even a Cosmic Saint caught in it...

*BOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!*

***

Portable Teleportation Circles hardly ever have an immense range and are usually more for quick getaways as opposed to long-distance transportation options.

The scrolls with Hal's party had been imputed with coordinates for the closest city to the tomb which was where they had first arrived and then boarded a carriage to travel the rest of the way when they came to explore the tomb.

Rita, Karmen, Olivia, Harold, and Jared arrived first.

When the explosions began, they had first thought to wait for their master even when those that had come with Lucile had already left at the first sign of danger which was basically the first rumbling that was followed by the first explosion. 

The duo that had come with Lucile left with their Portable Teleportations scrolls with the destination in mind being the rendezvous point they had with Lucile.

The ladies as well as Jared and Harold had not been waiting to offer assistance as they were more than smart enough to know they could not really help those within the room behind the high-unbreakable crystal door.

They were only hanging back to not seem cowardly at fleeing at the first sound of danger.

That said, the next explosion which seemed awfully close to them (it felt even closer because of how jumpy they were feeling) they activated their scrolls and were gone.

Their spatial rings were significantly filled with riches.

Now, they were at the Teleportation Circle and expecting the return of the others.

Emily and Andrei arrived next and while Andrei acknowledged the bows and respectful greetings of the duo of Jared and Harold who presented their rings filled with wealth gotten from the tomb to him, Emily's attention was expectantly on the Teleportation circle.

There was a feeling that she could not shake.

Hal and Lillian should have returned almost immediately after her and Andrei but it was a whole minute (which actually felt longer to the Antonov woman) before the Circle lit up and on it was a single arrival.

Lillian's looked immediately to her side, hoping to see Hal but she was alone on the Teleportation circle.

Alone as she had expected.

Right before she was teleported, she felt Hal's hand-pulled almost forcibly away from her and the activated Teleportation scroll.

She had known he did not come with her.

She had just hoped... wished she was wrong...

Emily took a step towards her,

"Hal...?" she asked.

No words met her question but Lillian's negatively shaking head was all the answer she needed....