Svetlana got close to Emily first and knocked her hammer out of her hand taking advantage of the fact that Emily's grip on the hammer had lessened after she got slammed away by the wave of the explosion resulting from the destruction of the Astral Construct.
With the hammer out of Emily's hand and her ability to react hindered, the blue-eyed witch proceeded to summon her cosmic Armament for the first time so far.
Svetlana's Cosmic Armament was a spear with a very garnished headpiece that was meant to be a symbol of status and power just as it was meant to be a tool for violence.
She stabbed at Emily with the Spear but Emily initiated her failsafe to warp reality and move into safety and once she did, she was still in range of Svetlana to grab her leg and whip her aside.
The action caused Svetlana to be floating uncontrollably toward the extreme end of the void space they were in and Emily followed up with what appeared to be a definite strike meant to put an end to the duel.
She succeeded in bashing Svetlana with her hammer but it came at the cost of Svetlana's spear tip stabbing into her shoulder.
*BAM!*
*STCHISSTCHH*
The two ladies had injured each other a few times already as well as damaged each other's garments but that all paled to the injury they just inflicted on each other.
The hammer strike knocked Svetlana back and the spear-stab also pushed Emily back. The two ladies had similar expressions on their faces almost as though they were both contemplating whether to continue their battle or call this a draw and be done with it.
Emily pulled the spear from her shoulder and as the injury was not life-threatening, she healed it with a quick warp of reality limited to that part of her body.
Svetlana did it to her injuries as well by reverting the time of each one of them to before the battle began.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe two ladies did not fix their clothes though for whatever reason.
The two had their eyes on each other as though waiting for the other to make the first move. Neither of the two was satisfied with a tie but neither wished to be the first to restart the battle.
"I should intervene," Harlyn said and sat up in her chair but before she could make a move, a loud bang sounded but it came from outside the space they were in.
*BANG!!!*
*BANG!!!*
More hits struck and then cracks began to form in the space. Two hands pushed through the cracks and began to push it apart and it took a determined strain from that individual before the cracks gave way and the rest of the space followed suit.
"Fear not, daughter, Father is here!" said a gruff voice before there was a loud bang, and the space completely shattered so that the interior returned to the normal one of the lounge.
The shattering of the space coating was ground-shaking and would surely have tossed average occupants aside and inflicted injuries on them but the women occupying the space were much too strong to be bothered.
It didn't shake those who were seated out of their seats although the duo of Emily and Svetlana were forced to get closer to the ground because the ceiling of the lounge was lower than the 'sky' of the void space coating they were previously in.
Kirill became visible and he took purposeful steps into the room before floating a few inches off the ground with a very angry expression on his face with his eyes an unnatural bloodshot hue.
The Doxon Duchy had gotten invaded and while that was expected, all plans Kirill had had for defense all quickly fell apart.
As one of the Duchys closest to the Imperial City, Doxon had gotten the best of attention from the Harons and so all squads that had been sent to the Duchy were headed by at least a peak Semi-Saint and at best a Cosmic Saint ranging from two to three stars.
The despairing news began with the communication tags of all these squad leaders becoming unreachable one after the other in the most silent manner possible. News of the decimation of several Haron outposts in the Doxon Duchy was not spreading and that somehow only added to the ominousness of the silence.
It was impossible and would be foolish to underestimate the Sapphirine Cult especially after they took over the Dane Duchy the very day they made their return from whatever realm they had been holed up in.
Kirill had not underestimated the Cult but he definitely did not expect the ease and silence with which they were dealing with the Haron bases.
And then, the Haron base he spent his time at, supporting them against the possible (now ongoing) invasion of the Sapphirine Cult, was visited by a woman who identified herself as Karmen, the commander of the Blood Knights.
"Is this really where your attention should be?" Karmen said.
"What?" Kirill asked in confusion.
"Your Palace... Your daughter" Karmen said with a smile and the blood-curdling pressure around her seeped into her words so that it caused Kirill to pause any thoughts he had of attacking her to perk his perception towards the Duchy Palace.
He saw the congregation of forces around the lounge and further investigation allowed him to see the interior was coated in a space warp obviously meant to contain a battle that would have otherwise destroyed the lounge.
Kirill had confidence in his daughter and his first reaction was not panic but calm assurance that his daughter would be fine. That said, he was curious. There are enemies and forces that even Svetlana could not handle. The Sapphirine Cult with its mysterious means was shaping up to be one such force.
What if...? Just what if, they had taken advantage of him not being at the Palace to go for Svetlana?
And then Karmen charged at him...
"Foolish" Kirill said and smacked her with the pressure of his cultivation but rather than be smacked back, Karmen dispersed into red demonic mist mixed with cosmic energy.
"A Cosmic Avatar? Pathetic" Kirill said before he realized the red mist was not dispersing.
The mist merged with Kirill before he could think to react.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Is it really Pathetic, Kirill?" asked Karmen's voice in the Doxon Man's head.
"We're talking about Svetlana after all. Your daughter, your pride and joy"
Not only did the mist have some sort of upper hand by attaching seamlessly with Kirill's Doxon bloodline by superior order, but it also touched on the subject that Kirill would never negotiate with.
His head was being filmed with images of his daughter getting battered and bruised by an enemy's weapon.
Kirill could have gotten rid of the mist but making sure Svetlana was alright, took prevalence.
Kirill made the decisions but they were influenced by Karmen's demonic Avatar and the moment he was away from the Haron base, the base was enveloped in an Infinity-powered Dome of secrecy as the real Karmen arrived and ushered in Blood Knights to attack the base and kill all Harons.
The plan to send Kirill to the Doxon Duchy Palace was improvised with Karmen deciding to take advantage of Emily starting a Duel with Svetlana.
The original plan had been to ignore the base Kirill was at and leave it for last but when the opportunity to divert his attention presented itself, the Blood Knight commander took advantage. Especially after a quick consultation with her Master.
Had her plan to divert Kirill away from the base not worked, Karmen would have continued with the original plan to ignore that base.
Anyway, Kirill let go of all worries he might have been feeling about the Haron bases and flew off to the Doxon Palace where he delivered a line that had his daughter cover her face in embarrassment before he broke through the void coating.
When he saw Harlyn Haron, his angry face softened and the red hue, caused by the Mist of Karmen's demonic Avatar, vanished just as her influence left in entirety.
Kirill could feel the tension of the battle between Svetlana and Emily but his daughter appeared to have things under control.
She did not look to be on the losing side at least, and even if she were to be losing, Kirill was of the mind that she had the support of the Empress of the Haron Empire.
"A distraction," he said with a frown, and his perception was directed to the base he had just left only to 'see' it was now shrouded and out of reach for him.
Svetlana opened her mouth to speak but a calm, masculine, and mellifluous voice interrupted her,
"A Family reunion. Sort of"
Kirill's head whirled towards the voice but before he could truly lay his eyes upon the speaker, he was smacked by a wave of energy that caused him to break a hole through the wall of the lounge as he sailed into the sky above the Duchy Palace.