With Lucifer around, returning to Hell was done in a jiffy.
They stopped by BK-759 to pick up Nicole before they returned, leaving Kriwon with one incapacitated Galactic Ruler and another on the verge of tearing his hair out from stress.
On a not-so-side note, Nicole had achieved her objectives on the planet she’d stayed behind on, though a few complications had arisen along the way, and by the end, she had to be literally "contained" just to prevent the multitude of spirits on the planet from following her off it.
Several spirit contractors nearly lost their own contracted spirits, as those spirits found Nicole far more appealing, drawn to her due to her loved-by-nature disposition that made her presence inherently ’comfortable’ for spirits and other nature-aligned races.
Much like Arthur had done, Nicole, being on another planet in another galaxy and away from her ho universe, had tried to go about things quietly without making a fuss.
She consciously avoided making a scene or provoking any conflicts. Then again, whether she was in her own universe or not, Nicole would have acted the sa way regardless, as she naturally possessed a calm disposition.
But even she was pushed to the point where she had to beat up a few people, including a few royals on that planet, and nearly got into an altercation with the Planet Lord.
Fortunately, that Planet Lord was the type who preferred using words before fists, so they were able to talk things out. During that discussion, he discovered she was the sa person their Galactic Ruler had issued a missive to locate about a week prior, following an order from the Universe’s Central Command.
He proceeded to invite her to his palace and asked about the reason for her presence on his planet, which she explained without hesitation.
As it turned out, the Planet Lord had also been cracking down on the criminals responsible for crystallising live spirits to convert them into elental energy sources, and she ended up collaborating with him to dismantle the organisations involved and rescue all spirits in captivity.
Now, it was from this point onward that the Galactic Ruler’s reason for stress, and near balding, began.
The spirits in captivity, who were already wary of the planet’s inhabitants, regardless of race, as they had been captured by organisations composed of mbers from virtually every race that lived on the planet, were initially cald by Nicole’s presence.
However, her presence did more than just calm them down. They beca attached to her and refused to let go when the ti ca for them to be returned to the special dinsional realms on the planet where spirits typically resided.
While the locals were still struggling to separate the spirits from her, the Galactic Ruler arrived with several of his subordinates, having been instructed by the Universal Central Command to investigate the purpose behind Nicole and Arthur’s presence in this universe.
The issue, however, was that Nicole had no idea what Arthur was searching for. All she knew was that he was looking for sothing, and whatever that was, it wasn’t located in their current galaxy—BK-759.
So when they asked Nicole where her companion who had co with her was, she replied honestly.
"I don’t know."
However, "I don’t know" wasn’t the answer the Galactic Ruler, or the higher-ups who had sent him, wanted to hear.
They wanted nas, reasons, and locations.
Nicole refused to give a na, as she wasn’t authorised to, especially since doing so would reveal that Arthur had left the Hell Universe.
Beyond that, she genuinely had no idea where he was or what his purpose was. All she told them was that they had arrived together, then gone their separate ways.
That was it. She didn’t know anything more.
But the Galactic Ruler couldn’t just take that answer back to his superiors, nor could he force an answer out of Nicole, because doing that would be the equivalent of shooting himself not just in the foot, but in the knee, the waist, the chest, and the fucking forehead.
Any thod he might have considered to forcefully extract whatever information he believed Nicole was withholding would land him in serious trouble. After all, Nicole was the daughter of a Count from the Hell Universe’s Devildom.
For reference, even the lowest-ranked Baron of the Devildom was a Galactic Ruler, much less a Count, which was two ranks above that and considered a mid-ranked Noble within the Devildom hierarchy.
That wasn’t even factoring in the unidentified Higher Noble who had been reported to have accompanied Nicole, and who just so happened to be the sa person they were currently searching for.
A Higher Noble ant Marquess or Duke, and the Universal Central Command didn’t even want to entertain the possibility that this person could be related to a Grand Duke.
Royalty? No. That possibility wasn’t even on the table.
Regardless, with that context, it was painfully clear just how catastrophic things could beco if he dared to try any forceful asures on Nicole.
Kriwon would gladly offer him up to Nicole’s father just to avoid the possibility of war, should the man even so much as claim that his daughter had been ’disrespected’ in any capacity.
And so began the man’s days of practically begging Nicole for information, all while constantly smacking so sense into his idiotic subordinates who were still entertaining thoughts that would only drag them into an even worse ss than the one they were already neck-deep in.
At the sa ti, there was the ongoing problem of the spirits on that planet, who still refused to leave Nicole alone, and that included the guardian spirit of the Planet Lord’s family, a being that had gone from a majestic, world-ending panther to a house cat chasing catnip within Nicole’s arms.
It should be noted that this spirit was a Half-Deity that could overpower even the Planet Lord.
Of course, none of the spirits clinging to Nicole even considered the idea of forming a contract with her, not even those who wanted to follow her off the planet. Every single one of them could clearly see that she had already been ’claid’ by a spirit far higher in the spirit hierarchy than they had ever imagined possible.
It was soti after they’d dealt with the last of the spirit kidnappers that Arthur finally returned, and he did so in a manner that made every single person present feel a level of existential dread they would never forget.
Now then, Arthur had recently attained full Cosmic Superiority, and since then, he had spent all his ti around his two Ego Weapons, a Galactic Ruler who was actively trying to kill him, and his much, much, much, much, much stronger great-grandfather.
Every one of these beings could not only perceive cosmic energy but manipulate it freely, and all the sentient humanoids among them were stronger than he.
Because of that, Arthur hadn’t been in the presence of any non-cosmic superior, or anyone weaker than him, since attaining full Cosmic superiority. As such, he was completely unaware of the overwhelming pressure his re presence exuded, the kind that made the Galactic Ruler break into a sweat when Arthur quite literally spawned in front of him without so much as a ripple in space-ti or a trace of teleportation.
Arthur had simply used cosmic energy to teleport, but because the others present could not perceive cosmic energy, it appeared as though Arthur had just spawned in front of them.
Even Nicole had been montarily startled by the abruptness of his appearance.
Oh, and as for his identity—the thing the Galactic Ruler had been struggling so hard to uncover? Yeah, he never did manage to find it out in the end, since Arthur had taken special care to ensure that information remained hidden.
In fact, to anyone who wasn’t Nicole or Lucifer, Arthur’s head appeared as a giant censored circle. That’s literally how he looked—a man with a massive, blacked-out sphere where his head should be.
It was equal parts eerie and hilarious.
Either way, Arthur’s sudden appearance ended up resolving the issue of the spirits clinging to Nicole, as they all scattered in fear the instant he arrived.
Lucifer appeared a few seconds later, picked both of them up, and left the universe in less than a minute.
When they arrived in Hell, Lucifer dropped Nicole off on Aeturn and dragged Arthur back to his domain in Varona, where he promptly began cramming the contents of a certain textbook into Arthur’s head.
The na of that textbook was How to be a Cosmic Being for Dummies.
Lucifer taught him how to suppress the pressure his existence now naturally exuded, how to perfectly conceal his cosmic energy without relying on his concealnt ring, and most importantly, he taught him the technique that would have made a world of difference during his fight with Kalvaro—Cosmic Energy Domination.
Unfortunately, that last one turned out to be far more difficult than Arthur had anticipated. He’d assud that since he could already manipulate ambient cosmic energy, dominating it would be simple.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Cosmic energy domination was anything but straightforward. He had to actively resist any attempt by others to impose their will on the ambient cosmic energy, and if their will was stronger than his, the energy simply wouldn’t respond to him, even if he was a full cosmic being and they were only sub-cosmic.
Arthur had only just barely managed to perfect the basics when Lucifer told him to take a break, left the domain, and returned a few hours later with Diablo and Arthur’s father, Hades.
Then he looked at Arthur and said, "Alright, now try to use cosmic energy domination to stop both of them from controlling the ambient cosmic energy."
Let’s just say Arthur didn’t take that particularly well.
He unsheathed Lostvayne and charged at Lucifer with the full intention of cutting off his head.
Of course, he got his ass handed to him and ended up being thrown back into the training room for another three months.
Then again, Lucifer was setting the bar absurdly high for Arthur, considering most people usually began their training by facing off against beings on their own level, not against a Half-Primogenial and a Superior Stage Monarch.
And yes, you read that right—Superior Stage Monarch.
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