Rise of the Cosmic_Emperor

"Look at the ground?" Nicole repeated in confusion and many did indeed look down while the others wondered if this handsome blue-eyed guy did not have a screw loose.

Hal was undisturbed, 

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this not supposed to be a treasure trove of cultivation resources?" He asked.

The one to speak was Vanya in what was her first-ever vocal expression in Hal's presence, 

"Well, it is. I mean we are literally trampling what many Alchemists such as myself would kill to gather" she said.

"So why don't you gather it?" Hal asked with a shrug as it seemed like she was making a point to mention the trampling of these precious resources.

Vanya rolled her eyes, 

"Oh, I don't know, Hal. Maybe because since I entered this stupid garden, I've been running and fighting for my life. You know, this is why I never actually came in here. I was much better off paying some guy to get it for me" she said with a hint of annoyance.

Hal waved off her tirade as he crouched and said,

"My point is, the deeper you go into the garden, the denser it becomes with cultivation resources. I mean the Primal fruit we are all here for did not just happen to grow in the center, did it?"

Even as he said it, he wondered why he was the first to think of this. Especially since there were many among those present who had been to the Garden before today.

"He's got a point." Jelena said.

Amelia joined Hal on the ground, 

"This place is littered with pointless unimportant shrubs." She said.

Hal nodded, 

"Yes, it's certainly not the center"

"Oh, then where is the center?" Asked someone among those on his side.

Hal shook his head, 

"I have no idea"

"Screw this. Are we supposed to believe you when the Gardener said this is the center? When you have no idea for sure if he is wrong or right?" Vihaan asked.

Karmen made a threatening movement towards him and he actually flinched while Hal replied, 

"Well, you do have a point, Vihaan. Why WOULDN'T you believe a psychopath who looks to have every intention of killing everyone here? Now if you are done asking me stupid questions, 

I'm going to invite anyone who feels like going about killing each other without any thorough knowledge of whether this is truly the center or not to get back to it.

As for those who truly wish to find the fruit, you can wait calmly for my plan. Cause we only have a few more seconds before the purple freak's attention is turned back here." 

The Doxons, who by the way are actually more than Ivan, Artyom, and Elora but a group close to twenty-five, were doing a good job fending off attacks which were already minimal.

Only the truly brave ones (or stupid ones) attempted to attack them for everyone had heard takes of the might of the Doxon Trio.

And none of the three had made a move thus far as Artyom looked at those battling as though they were savages and to be fair, with the way they tore into each other, he was not totally off base.

"What do you think is going on over there?" Elora asked Artyom and gestured towards the direction of Hal and the Antonovs where no one was battling.

Artyom looked over, 

"Beats me. Maybe planning a revolution against their oppressor" he said with a shrug.

"Don't you mean our oppressor? Seeing as we are in the same situation they are" Elora pointed out but Artyom simply shook his head, 

"Nah. Don't lump us in with those dingbats. We have a plan..." he said.

He had only just said this when Hal's mellifluous voice sounded out, 

"Here goes!" He said loudly and slammed his hands into the ground and began releasing tremendous amounts of Astral energy which he had stored in his body into the ground.

In fact, he began to absorb from his surroundings and passed it all directly into the garden floor. While he did so, he was also passing Devil energy into the ground but at a more conservative rate.

Embry, who had been laughing at the horrific display paused as his eyes widened and his translucent skin became even more transparent and shimmered even more than before.

He turned slowly, almost disbelieving, to where Hal was, 

"Impossible" he groaned.

Hal grinned at him, 

"Gotcha"

Right from the moment by had showcased dominance by attacking without a gesture or a look at his opponent, Hal began to wonder what the hell was going on.

Especially since the attack (purple spike) was giving off faint signatures of Astral energy. When he thought deeply on it, the fog had been the same.

He refused to believe the Gardener was indeed that powerful and so he began to attempt inspection with his Astral perception but not at the purple gardener but at the garden ground.

He felt nothing but that did not deter him as he began passing Astral energy into the ground with his idea being that wherever there was a formation, he would feel a reaction thanks to his still tethering connection with the energy.

Anyway, wherever, his energy reached, there was a reaction which was usually its revocation.

And through moving it around, he could map a large formation in the garden and it was then that it all made sense.

Thanks to his own subtle array in Tretch forest, he could better understand that the reason for the Garden being such a treasure trove of cultivation resources was because of the inlaid array in the garden.

It was why the attacks had been ineffective on Embry and why his skin was translucent; Embry was an Astral construct and the energy he gave off reminded Hal mildly of the Salmon back in Sapphire city which had been an Astral beast.

Embry was similar, except that his formation was different.

The Array, according to further investigation by Grimoire was almost definitely a Divine Array and had been drawn to exist separately from its creator. It could remain eternally activated as it had been granted the ability to reason and absorb Astral energy to act.

Thus able to manipulate properties of the garden as it so wished. Making the Garden its domain.

And Embry was an avatar the Array created to act as its body. As it's representative. Through which it could speak what it wished to make known.

It was why Embry had not needed to look at the one he was driving the spear through since it was not actually him that was acting. It was the Array itself that was acting.

Embry was simply its figurehead.

As an Astral construct, just like an Astral beast, Embry can not be affected by energy below the Semi saint realm.

So, once Hal told the others his plan which was simply to hold the Gardener down and create a window where they could all leave here and either seek the center of the Garden or seek an escape from the Garden, he had actually said it without any real idea how to hold the Embry down.

For one, it was a construct made by a possible Divine Array and his Rank 4 Astral sense and energy could pose a threat.

But then it hit him, what actually had a chance of success:

Sealing.