While the monk strained to make his reentry, the monument gem, powered by Hal, continued on its path of conquest over the Monument of Ordinances.
It is indeed true that the Monument of Ordinance is a creation of Order and is also powered by Order but the level of might that it has been apportioned is nothing in comparison to the overall might of Order itself.
This a natural flaw in the Monument's design because while it was a creation made by a primordial concept, it was created at a time when the concept had been weakened.
True, it was a divine artifact but it was still at a range that Hal could very well manipulate.
Take the Primordial Cosmic Grimoire for instance;
It had been created by Chaos through its Avatar, Primordial Will and Hal was still able to override whatever control Chaos had over it to turn it into his codex.
Anyway, the sentience of the Monument fought back backed by the amount of might that Order had apportioned to it and while Infinity was not yet at a level where it could so easily trump the might bestowed on the Monument's sentience, it was surely already at a level where it could slowly eat away at the concept of Order it contained and make it a part of itself.
Order as well as Chaos were components in the creation of Infinity and should he please, Hal could always invoke said component and eat away at his primordial Opponent... Or at least eat away at a small part of it.
There was a massive bang that sounded against the walls of the section of the Monument Hal was in and knowing who was behind it, Hal ignored it... Two seconds later and the monk pushed himself through a small opening, he had forcibly created.
The monk looked hassled with the usually immaculate robes now appearing crumpled...
The Monk said nothing to Hal and just formed a simple seal that created a dome around him to protect against all attacks that Hal might have as well as root himself within the Monument.
The monk believed that, with the dome around himself, Hal would be unable to eject him as he had done before, and with the confidence as a bolster, he bent low to slam his palms against the 'ground' of the section of the Monument he was at.
The monk drove the entirety of his mental might into the Monument and together with its sentence, they pushed back on the Infinity-powered sentience of the Monument gem.
Hal joined the mental battle and even as he did, he was very clearly met with the disparity of mental strength between the Monk and himself but Hal did not care... He was not here for a mental battle but just to hold the monk off long enough for them the takeover to be complete and on that front, he succeeded.
"No..." the Monk said with disbelief and widened eyes as Hal used his newly gained sovereignty over the Monument to force the monk's mind out and back into his body.
Hal then used the divine might of the Monument to slam the Monk with a ban before he overrode whatever control the Avatar Of Order might have had and cast him out... This time the cast-out was permanent because try as he might, the Monk could not seek out the Monument.
Whatever had ever tied him to the structure was now gone.
***
The Imperial City...
All the forces of the Cult were within the Harem space except for the Devil beasts who were still focused on chomping down all the monsters still roaming.
The monsters, lacking all reasoning ability were not stopping their rampage and so the Devil Beasts, powered by their hunger to devour as well as their orders focused on hunting them down thought of nothing else.
Sassy was missing... When they all entered the Harem space, it only took a second before it was discovered that, somehow, Sassy had not entered with them.
With the senses of the gods focused on finding a signature of the Harem space, the inhabitants were trapped. The slightest attempt to open up a portal out of the space and they would be found.
So mighty were the gods that had been sent in comparison to Nexus world, that their senses covered it all over.
Also, even if they did get out, the Harem space would still be found out and destroyed. Dimensional escape would help no one. The only chance they had was to go off-world and that was not an actual possibility.
"We found it!" announced a Lieutenant.
"Break it open!" ordered Karmit the General and all it took was a focused attack to shake the entirety of the space hidden by the discovered fissure.
Only the fighting force of the Sapphirine Cult was within the Harem space as the denizens of Sapphire City had been relocated to the Dystopian Continent but of course, should the cult fall, all denizens, not just those of Sapphire City but everyone in the Nexus world, would fall as well.
Anyway,
*BANG!*
A hit to crack open the discovered fissure,
*BANG!*
And another to shatter it...
The space within the Harem space began to shake and fissures began to appear after the first strike and the second strike drove them all out.
They had all shrouded themselves with either their Ordinances or their cultivational pressure or both which protected them from the destruction of the space and once out, they took on their fighting stance to fight a force they reasonably had no chance against.
At the forefront of the combined forces was Melinda and close by her were Emily and Rita.
"Ah, see this pretties. I must say, for a mortal world, your looks are impeccable... Alas, your fates and your destruction are sealed..." Karmit said.
"I don't think it is," Melinda told the godly general while trying her utmost to push down the fear she was feeling by being so close to such divine pressure.
It wasn't the possible death that scared her... It was just her body's reaction to such a mighty force.
"Hahahaha, look around... Your leader, the abnormality has left you... Ran with his tail between his legs. You are all at my mercy...
You should cower and plead for your lives... If you do, I just might make your death quick and painless..."
Karmit paused his speech and then pushed his face close to Melinda,
"Don't you dare!" he said in a calm and authoritative tone that chilled Melinda to her bones but she resisted the urge to stop and let loose the attack she had been priming in secret.
*BANG*
Karmit took the blow without flinching and he scrunched up his face in anger before he grabbed her by the neck.
Immediately he did, every single one of the forces of the Sapphirine Cult let loose their attacks with the one to start it all being Emily.
Ordinances were implemented... Daos were employed and all were quelled by the mass of gods whose every attack caused a crack in the foundation of the Nexus world.
Thoroughly unbothered by the inadequate attacks, General Karmit squeezed Melinda's neck and broke it at once but even as Melinda went limp, her heart still beat and she was still full of Life essence.
The injury she had sustained of godly might was sapping her life essence but even as it did, Melinda replenished all she lost from the network of Life that only a harnessing level comprehension of the Abstract Ordinance of Life could allow.
Karmit raised a brow,
"Harnessing Level in the Ordinance of Life? Mighty impressive. Ah, so it's you... The one who caused the ruckus so noteworthy that my Lord still speaks of it...
You have talent... I wonder if you could be of use. It almost seems like a waste to end you now,"
There was a limit to how much life essence Melinda could draw to heal herself and that limit was fast approaching.
As the General spoke, his godly force pushed back the rest of the forces of the Sapphirine Cult and it was not even a contest as many lost their lives...
Among those who died were Marla, Amelia, Karmen, and Olivia. Their deaths arrived a tad faster on account of their lower cultivation within the Cosmic Saint realm.
The death of her daughter spurred Emily on but an attempt to use that anger in a fight was quickly rendered pointless in face of godly might.
The gods made short work of the forces of the Sapphirine Cult and those who were able to avoid death were unable to avoid injury enough to take them out of the battle completely.
Eventually, while Melinda's neck was still in Karmit's hold, reinforcements arrived in the form of the thousands of Devil beasts all fresh off of devouring every single monster that roamed the Haron Continent.
Individually, every single one of them radiated the might of the seventh star of the Cosmic Saint realm with the strongest of them all, Borus already bolstering the strength of a Demi-god.
Altogether, they were all a unit but even then, they failed against the gods and were all slaughtered.
Karmit almost found it funny that they had come only to be killed but the smile that was forming on his lips became a wide-open mouth of incredulity as every one of the Devil beasts began to exude a different sort of energy.
The Devil beasts arose, their injuries healed and they received a new bolstering of killing intent.
Melinda's body exuded the strange energy as well and her approaching limit never arrived... She appeared to have gained an infinite pool of life essence to draw from and as Karmit lifted her and squeezed even tighter around her neck...
*BANG!!!*
... He was struck by a force he was powerless to defend against...
....A force that freed Melinda from his hold...
... A force from the Divine Artifact that just arrived...
... An Artifact around which a massive horned serpent was coiled.
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