Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Karmen stressed each word not out of fear or lack of confidence but to make sure the silver-haired lady heard her clearly while she pointed her blood-red broadsword towards her.

The silver-haired lady looked in her direction and let out the pressure of the peak stage of the Cosmic Phenomenon realm. Not only that, it was clear that she was already heading ever closer to turning her Phenomenon into an Aurora.

And yet, even as she felt that pressure that far surpassed hers, Karmen did not bat an eye. If anything she grinned and her eyes flashed while she looked close to letting out her fiendish side.

Hal who had been feeling a little sense of deja vu since his first meeting with Tanya had involved almost the exact same words the silver-haired lady just used, could tell and sighed.

It would seem Rita was not the only one at an equivalent of his previous lesser devil form and even Karmen's fiendish bloodline was now acting up in the face of combat.

He looked in her direction, 

"Karmen" he said in a soothing voice and she took a deep breath while reining in her fiendish pressure but that did not mean she lowered her weapon.

The silver-haired lady looked from Hal to Karmen and her brows furrowed as she briefly felt what Karmen had been letting out and it had an effect on her.

Hal cleared his throat, 

"Miss, please lower your weapon" he said in a polite tone and a smile.

Arya looked over and realized what was happening but Hal told her telepathically not to interfere for now so she hung back and watched.

The silver-haired lady sneered, taking Hal's polite request for fear. 

However, she had no intentions of letting him off easy. Whether due to her strength or due to the tells on her features that showed she was a Silva, she did not care why he was showing fear.

He should have been quick to notice that earlier and not stare at her, 

"I don't want to" she said in a singsong kind of voice.

"And might I ask why?" Hal said, refusing to be distracted by her voice.

"You looked at me" The lady said with a shrug as though what she just said made sense.

Hal of course thought otherwise.

"To be fair, most of your face is covered with a veil and there isn't really much to see" he said.

Hal could tell she was frowning behind the veil and most have seen the truth in those words, Even then she did not lower her battle-ax and actually pressed it closer to Hal's neck.

Karmen's broadsword moved closer to her as well.

At that moment, a group that was quite clearly her guards which was a detail that Hal could detect since the one leading the guards had silver hair and pale eyes as well, walked into the waiting hall from the outside.

Immediately, they noticed Karmen's weapon pointed at the silver paired lady, they summoned their Armaments as well and pointed it in a threatening manner at her while the silver-haired guard walked towards the ax wielding lady, 

"My lady, are you well?" He asked.

The silver-haired lady frowned, 

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

The guard looked uncomfortable,

"I truly was waiting outside for you my lady, but I felt there has to be a reason you were not yet out and my job is to keep you safe so I took a spur-of-the-moment decision to ensure your safety."

The silver-haired lady looked over at him, 

"I'm fine. You can go now" she said and at that time Hal grew impatient of her antics as he stretched his hand and grabbed the stem of her ax and pull it down to turn and press her body against his.

The lady's eyes widened for two reasons;

He dared to touch her and

For some reason, he could overpower her without letting out the pressure of his cultivation.

Hal saw no big deal in it since he was making use of his strength of his Devil form as discreetly as he could.

"What are you doing?" She said in a steady voice and Hal could not help but admire how she was able to keep a lid on her emotions despite her heart pounding so loud.

"I'm calming you down and I get the feeling that without restraining you, you won't believe I was not ogling and even if I was, it should be considered a compliment." Hal said.

"Oh lucky me." The lady said with her voice heavy with sarcasm.

Hal chuckled mildly while ignoring the angry looking guards who were pressing in closer to him and were already restraining Karmen who he told to remain calm telepathically, 

"Yes, miss. Lucky you. I have seen a lot of beauties and while I do admit you are the cream of the crop, it is still a little narcissistic to consider my eyes on you as more than a passing gaze." He said and spoke so close to her ear that the lady almost leaned back even more into his soothing voice.

She struggled to regain her composure while starting to come to the conclusion that this young-looking man might actually be an expert and she might have misunderstood him, 

"So it was merely a passing gaze?" She asked in her same steady voice.

Hal looked taken aback as though he could not see how she came to such an assumption, 

"What? Of course not. I was definitely admiring any part of you I could see" he said and let go of her.

The lady turned around to face him again, 

"You..." She said while trying to keep her fast-beating heart under control.

The silver-haired guard walked briskly towards Hal, 

"How dare you touch her?" He said in a booming voice but the lady called him back, 

"Garrett, that's enough. This was just a misunderstanding" she said through gritted teeth before turning around towards the exit of the building.

Hal on the other hand was a little surprised no one even came out on behalf of the Organization to attempt a mediation.

This was after all, their turf.

Clearly, they saw no reason to bother with the fate of a nameless nobody like him.

He watched the guards move out of the Organization building and smiled at the memory of the feel of the silver-haired Lady in his arms. It had been quite an experience.

Also due to their proximity, Hal could ascertain that she was an alchemist and not just here to purchase directly from the Organization branch instead of retailers.

A luxury only a few in the Siva Duchy were afforded.

Her Spiritual sense was at the 5th rank and that coupled with her cultivation made her both a cultivation and Alchemical genius.

At that time, someone walked out from one of the inner rooms past the reception area of the organization building and made a beeline towards Arya.

"Alchemist Nadia. It is such an honor. It's been so long since we last heard from you" he said while bowing numerous times to Arya who looked at him with a sneer.

"Shut up!" She said and the man was struck dumb while the clerk looked like the order might have been directed at him as well.

"Have we done anything to offend you?" He asked.

Karmen dispersed her Cosmic armament and she and Hal walked over to where Arya stood.

"You still have the face to ask me that? My apprentice was just assaulted by someone in this very building and the whole event was ignored. What do you have to say for yourself? 

Is this how I should expect to be treated from now on?

Should I simply call headquarters and ask directly if the order of disrespect came from them?" She rained down questions on the Man and he looked stumped.

He had no idea Hal was connected to Arya as he had not been there to see them walk in together.

That fault lay with the clerk who was as stiff as a board and looked scared to death. (Whether by Arya or the man was a little unclear.)

And although they could not really afford to offend the Silva family, they could have still mediated, and offending Alchemist Nadia who was known to very influential at headquarters was something he could not even dare to do.

The best hope to regain their old relation was simply to pacify her by ensuring everything she came for today was a smooth success.

"I'll personally be at your service." He said and bowed deeply while Hal smiled inwardly at the thought that this man was most likely high ranking at this branch.

Arya snorted, 

"It's not enough. But I guess it's a start."