Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

Interception of Hal's strike was quite easy for Hugh and he even made use of the force behind the strike to move back and out of Hal's reach.

Needless to say, Hal pursued.

Soon the two were crossing weapons at incredible speeds and each trying to incapacitate the other.

Those spectating the duel could see the beauty in both of their actions with Hugh looking the most skilled with a sword but Hal still managing to contend with him.

"He is quite impressive" Devon said but the manner he said it made it clear that he did not really mean those words as a compliment.

Melinda frowned but did not retort because she knew what her father could see and through which he was making an assessment.

While Hal was still managing to hold on despite being less skilled with the sword, he was doing that with Hugh having not made use of his Bloodline.

Not to mention that she was starting to suspect that Bloodline harnessing was what Hugh had focused on the most in the last five years and was most likely the reason his cultivation was still quite lacking.

She also knew that Hal would not make use of his Bloodline in front of her grandmother because if there was someone she knew who would showcase Sariel's hatred for Devils, it was Isabella Dane.

A swift execution was quite certain and Hal would be dead before Melinda could say a word or plead on his behalf.

Without access to his Bloodline, Melinda could not help but clench her first to how bleak things were looking for Hal at the moment...

She was not the only one.

Rita had come to that assessment as well and was quite ready to make use of her succubus bloodline to take attention away from Hal if worst came to worst.

"He'll be fine" Marla suddenly said and her voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone.

And while she had blind faith in Hal or more accurately, she had the blindest faith in Hal, she was not just saying to make her or the other ladies calm. 

She was saying it because there was something Hal had that the other ladies had forgotten to input in their thought process of his fate.

They had neglected the fact that Hal was a Runemaster.

A fact neither Hugh nor the other members of the Dane family knew or could plan ahead for...

*Boom!*

A collision of cosmic attacks and both Hal and Hugh were tossed away from each other where they paused to stare while Hal gripped his sword tighter with a frown.

He hated this handicap and was already contemplating using {Fear!} to incapacitate his opponent.

However, he had already risked that with Cirk and felt doing it to another Dane who would most likely remain conscious after was not quite wise.

Soon, he and Hugh were dashing towards each other to exchange strikes with their blades again while also making use of their legs to kick at prone parts of their opponent's body.

Then Hugh looked up and down before lifting one hand off the handle of his sword and still managing to hold Hal in place.

The now-free hand suddenly combusted with flames and he sunk It right into Hal's ribs where it began to eat away at his clothing and right to his skin.

Hal leaped back and put distance between them while attempting to douse the flames with his hand and Cosmic Armament.

All to no avail.

The flames were already on his clothing and burning away at them. They were not actually smoldering his body yet but the pain remained.

Not to mention that the light gold flames seemed to have sensed something from him and were burning very aggressively.

A detail Isabella's light gold eyes narrowed at.

This was not something he could simply quell and before he could take measures to free himself, Hugh cackled.

"You can't douse the Dane family's holy flames. Unless you possess superior strength, they will continue to eat away at you slowly and leave you in perpetual agony. Yield and I will... What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm stripping" Hal replied and that was exactly what he was doing.

The flames had eaten away at his outer coat and inner shirt so he took them off and tossed them away to keep smoldering in light gold flames. 

Once they were off his body, Hal cracked his neck and muscle, not in the least bit ashamed that he was exposing his body.

Although to be fair, there was nothing for him to be ashamed of. His exposed top area just like every other part of him was the epitome of Manly fitness and beauty.

He pulled his sword out of the ground he had sunk it into and flicked it at Hugh whose mouth gaped in disbelief at Hal's audacity.

"Close your mouth pervert!" Hal called at him and Hugh blanked, 

"What... What did you call me?" He asked in a slow voice.

Hal rolled his eyes, 

"You heard me. Now are you going to fight or what?" He asked.

Hugh suddenly laughed, 

"Hahahaha, you know what I hate the most?..." He asked and paused as light gold flames burst out of his body and rose above his head.

"... Instigation" he finished as the flames congealed and formed a tiger's head.

Melinda's eyes widened and she turned to her grandmother who smiled at her, 

"You know what that is?" She asked Melinda who guessed, 

"A spell?"

Isabella nodded, 

"I taught him myself. It's not very lethal but it is not benign either. It should be more than enough to put this duel to bed. 

If you're worried I can stop it. It might not be very lethal but it is more than enough to injure him." She offered.

Melinda shook her head with a smile, 

"No, it's fine" she said just as Hugh deployed the Tiger head spell.

The spell headed towards Hal at quick speeds and he moved sideways experimentally and confirmed his suspicions that wherever he moved to, the Tiger head would follow.

Probably would not stop until it made contact.

Quickly he projected a Rune which caused the eyes of the spectators to widen at the surprise that he was a Runemaster but also felt it was of no consequence as not even Runes activated with small bits or Astral or Cosmic energy could protect from the spell.

But that was where things differed for Hal as he flooded the Rune with an immense amount of Astral energy he had stored in his body just as the spell hit.

*BOOOMMMM!!!"

The explosive impact was immense and Hugh could not help but feel complacent that he had won which was to be expected as that was his trump card. 

He had used up his strength to charge the spell and any...

*Whoosh*

The Sound of a dashing figure interrupted his thoughts and before Hugh could react, Hal was out of the explosion of flames that were still smoldering and punching him in the face...

*Bam!*

Just as he was alerted of a message on the communication talisman he had been given by Camira, the Kirsten Baroness to be contacted through by the Princess.

It looked like it was about time they had a second meeting.