Chapter 471 - Praises And Fears. R-18
To anyone other than the commanders, Devon's words were of little implications. They were much too focused on celebrating their victory.
Hal however, looked back towards the Dystopian continent while his brain worked fast in an attempt to think of how he could make use of such a situation to his advantage.
However, while he did come up with a lot, the mere thought of the high power level and his own weaker level (in comparison) caused him to think more realistically.
Schemes were all well and good but he was way too far and lacked the necessary Dystopian connections to make them happen.
If only, if only he had been able to mark Reyna or contract her, she could have been his way in.
*sigh*
There was so much to think about.
Especially his impending Bloodline tribulation..
Oh well, there was no point fussing over it for now.
The Haronians eventually all slumped off towards their camp, thinking to return after the celebration to collect their dead and at least not have the bodies of their fallen comrades rotting on the ground.
Eventually, Devon thought to have a sitdown with his daughter and Hal.
The report he had heard of this sketchy young man spoke of his lack of social skills in regards to his comrade and also his absolute lack of remorse at the death of many Haronians.
He simply fought and won.
Haronian C-class experts who had been in the Dystopian camp told of how Hal had saved their lives along with Melinda. The two whirling through Dystopian experts as though they were nothing.
They had sung their praises as much as they had expressed their fears.
The men especially told of how Melinda's golden eyes chilled them to the bones. Almost as though she was thinking of many different horrific ways to kill them.
That had caused Devon's lips to twitch as he knew that look quite well since it was the one Melinda always wore when she looked at him.
In fact, ever since her return to the Dane family, it was the look she wore when looking at any and every male that was not Hal, for whom for some reason she had nothing but fondness.
Anyway,
Devon did not ask for them to tell him of any of Hal's peculiarities (if they had noticed them, which in truth, none of them had noticed as Hal was always careful) because if Hal did indeed have a connection with Dystopia, he did not want to know.
It was such a bother.
One of the main reasons for him wanting Hal on this expedition was to discover his secrets but before they left the Silva Duchy, he had had a conversation with his mother.
Hal was a Doxon and was a potential link to powerful allies. Allies that while they disliked could actually aid them in defeating the Silvas and achieving their grand ambitions.
If he (Devon) found out what Hal was hiding and it indeed was a connection to Dystopia, he would most likely not be able to curb the instincts placed within him by the Primeval Virtue and act out in a way that would be detrimental to their plans to rule the continent.
Alas, even when unaware, he could still not stop himself from putting Hal in situations the Doxon man would most likely not survive.
Had Melinda not been over at the Dystopian camp as well, he might have held out until things got as difficult as they possibly could for Hal.
Of course, the Joke is on him as just like Melinda had said 'Everyone might die but Hal won't. He had his Harem space to hide in and wait out the battle.
In fact, It was inside the Harem space that Hal and Melinda were in at the moment Devon sought to find them.
...
The Mansion in the Harem space...
Hal and Melinda were inside the bath in Hal's room in the mansion with the water scented with so many pleasurable scents.
But Melinda was of the opinion that the scent coming off Hal's body put all the many scented mixtures in the bath to shame as she pressed closer to him and took long whiffs that got her heady with pleasure while her pussy tingled with pleasure.
She pressed her lips against his chest and kissed it before she moved up to nuzzle his neck and pepper it with kisses as well.
Hal lay back in the bath, with his eyes closed and the tip of his back-length black hair dipped inside the water.
His posture was a lounging one that told of being perfectly at ease as Melinda continued her treatment of kisses all over his well-muscled form.
Eventually, her ministrations progressed with her right hand going down towards his flaccid cock which she gave a few pumps while her perfect ass was teasingly above water level.
*Fap* *Fap* *Fap*
Her stroking quickly picked up in speed thanks to the lubrication of their bath water and Hal moaned lightly at the pleasure of her touch. Melinda was getting ever better at this the more she did it.
Soon, his cock rose as hard as it ever could and its sheer girth would have been enough to intimidate any woman, but Melinda was no stranger to its size.
While it truly was large, her pussy had long been shaped to accommodate him and him alone.
She rose and stopped her strokes before lowering her pussy over the cock and taking it inside herself, inch by inch, and never stopping until her ass was touching his laps and his entire length was deep within her.
Which also happened to be the limit of all she could take.
"Mmnnghhhh" she moaned in pleasure and gyrated her hips a tad bit on his cock causing it to move around her in such a way that had her eyes rolling into the back of her head.
There it was!
The familiar feeling that always managed to remain fresh.
Always managed to make her feel like a virgin again. Excluding the pain, of course.
Hal groaned at how tight she gripped him with her inner muscles and how good she made him feel.
And then Melinda raised herself upon him only to slam back down as hard as she possibly could, and slowly increased her tempo.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
"Nnghh... Nnghh... Nnghh" Melinda moaned in accordance to her downward thrusts and then Hal leaned forward and grabbed one of her nipples into his mouth to suck on it.
As he did, he was also kneading her other breast and the golden-eyed beauty quickly clung even tighter around him as her entire body was now twitching with pleasure and the twitches were quickly turning into spasms as she quickly neared her first orgasm of this particular session.
"Oh yes, that's it"
As she groaned and moaned her pleasure for anyone and everyone who had ears to hear, she spasmed and tightened even harder around Hal who still found a way to keep thrusting into her to help her ride out the orgasm that was sure not to be the last and was merely the first of many to come.
Melinda shuddered as she came down from her high and then Hal rose from the bath with her clinging tightly to him as he took them both to the large bed in the room.
It was there that he lay Melinda, pulled out of her, and lowered his head to begin sucking on her perfect nipples. The feeling of which had Melinda twitching with pleasure despite just coming down from orgasmic bliss.
Chapter 472 - [Bonus ] Body Collecting Committee. R-18
As he sucked on her erect nipples, Hal stretched his hand downward and initiated Erogenous touch to begin teasing her pussy that was still tingling from post-orgasmic bliss.
"Mmngghhh" Melinda moaned and grabbed his head to hold it even tighter against her breasts (whichever of the two he was focussing on) while she clamped her legs together in a hopeless bid to hold in her leaking juices.
However, her clamped legs did not stop Hal's ministrations.
Eventually, Melinda began to spasm once again and she squirted pussy juices as she was subjected to a minor orgasm.
Once she came down from that high, Hal propped her up on all fours and placed his cock right at her moist and glistening entrance.
He rubbed his cock against it for a short while before thrusting inside her to the hilt in one push that saw Melinda arch her back and moan out loud in pleasure.
At first, Hal thrust slowly, not to get her used to him as that bridge had long been crossed and forgotten, but just so he could not the sensation of being inside her warm and moist snatch.
The manner in which Melinda tightened around him and then loosened up only to tighten once again almost felt like he was getting a Cock massage.
Anyway,
His lustful nature eventually took over and his speed began to gradually increase as he thrust in and out at a quick and steady rhythm that was always accompanied by the musical hitting of his pelvis against her wonderful ass,
Her wonderful ass which he grabbed as he sawed his cock in and out of her.
"Ahhnn... Oh yes... Hal, harder... Fuck me HARDERRRR!!!" Melinda yelled at the top of her lungs and Hal did grant her wishes.
He pounded into her with resounding smacks that could be heard all around the mansion.
*PAH* *PAH* *PAH*
Even as the pounding went on, Melinda experienced multiple orgasms but minor and major that had her pussy spasming around Hal's cock, and enhancing the experience all the more.
And then, Hal's skin went crimson and became marred with Dark likes as he took on the form of a Mid-World Devil, a form that instantly aroused the vindictive desire to burn him to a crisp.
However, as the golden flames of her Dane bloodline began to coat Melinda's form, Hal initiated {Mind Meld} which instantly curbed the reaction while also heightening the pleasure of their intercourse all the more.
Then Hal pulled out of her and while Melinda's body twitched from even more minor orgasmic sensations, her lust for Hal was not yet quenched, although to be fair, she already deemed it as unquenchable, so she pushed him lightly down and quickly mounted his straight pointing hard cock.
She began to ride him, so hard and passionately that Hal felt as though he was some prized bull off of which she was attempting not to be bucked off. He did not particularly hate that feeling,
In fact, he welcomed it as he grabbed her hips but made no move to assist her thrusts.
This was all her.
*Smack* *Smack* *Smack*
Over and over, Melinda smacked her ass against Hal's laps while moans of pleasure kept leaking out of her lips.
Soon, the two changed positions once again with Hal raising one of Melinda's legs to spread her even wider for his smacks to have more impact and force behind them.
Then after half an hour in this position, Hal groaned and spewed copious amounts of cum inside Melinda's pussy, enjoying it, even more, thanks to her tightening snatch as she was having her most major orgasm yet.
But that was far from being the end and the two would continue changing positions and indulging in each other's bodies, sharing essence for many more hours to come.
...
Eventually, they separated and ended their passionate session as they both refined the essence they had gotten and moved ever closer to the Cosmic Aurora realm, although Hal was farther along.
When they were sure they were presentable again, they left the Harem space with Hal wondering how he could get every single dead body in Gelread valley.
He could not possibly go about picking the bodies and sending them into the Beast habitat as that would be quite impractical and give him away.
Shielding it from view with a dome of astral energy could also give him away due to the signature royal blue color his Astral energy takes.
At first, he wracked his brain and then thought,
'Screw it, there's no point hiding anything at this point. Let's just show this bunch where the bodies of their dead are going to end up'.
-
That night, the men and women of the Haronian Army saw something peculiar.
They had been celebrating since the Dystopians retreated and only planned to move their dead at night but someone beat them to it, or more accurately, something beat them to it.
"Alright move it along, move it along, we don't have much time. Master wants us to get this done as quickly as possible. Come on Devils-in-the-making, MOVE IT!"
The one speaking was a humanoid bear with red eyes and a monstrous-looking physique.
The Bear was of course Borus, the ex Tretch king and now commander of the Semi-Devil beasts inside Hal's beast habitat, and the monstrous physiques that boasted of hardness that surpassed what he ever had as a Demon beast was a sign of his mutation heading towards becoming a true Devil.
The ones he was addressing were none other than the thousands of beasts Hal had inside his Beast habitat.
Hal had set them all loose and let them gather the beasts themselves.
"Why are you all so slow? Pick up the pace, I want everyone grabbing at least two bodies. Let's clear this up quickly." Borus kept barking orders and soon he was approached.
They were B-class Lieutenants and while a dislike for these beasts showed in their expressions, they neglected to arm themselves for now as they sent word to the Grand tent on this peculiar sight.
"Who are you?" A B-class lieutenant eventually asked when he got a little closer to Borus.
Borus looked over at him with narrowed red eyes,
"My name is not for you to know" he told the lieutenant in a curt tone of voice.
The Lieutenant that had spoken frowned and looked ready to act out with extreme prejudice when another Lieutenant stretched an arm to hold him back as he asked Borus who had not looked a tad bit worried,
"Then might we ask. why you are here?" The Second Lieutenant asked.
Borus looked at the first lieutenant like he was an insect not worthy of considering before he said,
"We are a part of the Body Collecting Committee," Borus said with his voice not sounding any nicer than it had before.
Then he turned and continued barking orders to the Beasts.
"Those are the bodies of brave experts of the Haron continent, you bastards are stealing them!" Said the first lieutenant.
The second, however, decided to rephrase,
"Body Collecting Committee? I've never heard of it" he said.
Borus shrugged,
"I have no idea why that is. Our committee has existed since the dawn of time." The Devil bear said with a wolfish grin and a lick of his snout before he continued,
"We take contracts that involve clearing battlefields such as this of dead bodies. I have the contract right here..." He said and presented a parchment which he handed to the Lieutenant.
The Lieutenant frowned,
"This is not a contract. It just says 'We can do whatever we want and you can't stop us'."
"Sure it is! And it's a binding one at that. Just as it says, if you don't fuck off and stay out of our way, you are going to join the many bodies we're already carting away." Borus said in a not so veiled threat.
The Lieutenants immediately summoned their cosmic Armaments and charged Cosmic Auroras.
However, the display did not rouse fear in the semi Devil beast's eyes, instead, he looked pleasantly amused....
Chapter 473 - I Still Don't Like You...
Why was Borus amused?
It was not just because he could very well take these two as his physical strength enhanced with his semi-Devil physique had long surpassed their capabilities, the real reason was that he genuinely found the situation funny.
He was merely to bide time so that every body on the battlefield of Gelread valley could be carted away by the beasts hurrying about behind him.
As for the Lieutenants, while they did summon their Armaments and charged Auroras, they did not attack immediately as they were still outnumbered.
Let it be mentioned now that it was not just the two vocal lieutenants that were present. There were others, they just declined to comment and followed the lead of the vocal duo.
Anyway,
Well aware that these beasts far outnumbered them and their capabilities were still relatively unknown, they were only waiting for reinforcements and that was when a phenomenon occurred on the side of the valley.
A phenomenon that caught their attention.
It was a dark fog that was sipping out of a manly figure in a sapphire blue robe and a mask.
This was of course Hal and the fog around him was his Devil shroud.
Anyway, the Lieutenants had no idea who this new arrival was or where he had come from but when he nodded his head at Borus, they knew something troublesome was about to happen, but they did not react fast enough to dodge the punch Borus threw out at them both.
*BAM*
A simultaneous blow with one single sound sent both Lieutenants flying back.
The others that had come with the Lieutenants frowned and summoned Armaments while tossing cosmic Auroras at Borus.
Reinforcements be damned!
They needed to act now.
Meanwhile, the masked man waved his hand and a portal opened right by his side. A portal that the beasts began to walk through to dump the bodies and then going back out to take more.
Then those who were not occupied with attacking Borus, who was doing a good job dodging all they threw at him and hitting back when faced with physicality, soon noticed what was going on.
They did not have the time to think about the fact that this mysterious fellow had a pocket dimension housing many unknowns, they were merely focused on stopping him from taking the bodies of their dead comrades.
"Stop that" yelled a female Lieutenant and dashed forward with B-class experts of her platoon to stop the carting.
Hal who was keeping his perception spread knew they did not have much time before the arrival of reinforcements. Reinforcements that were sure to include A-class experts who had originally refrained from clearing bodies.
Apparently, it was not 'befitting their class'.
The Beasts all divided into two groups with the smallest group dealing with the B-class experts while the other much larger continued carting off bodies.
The B-class experts soon realized they were out of their depth as the Beasts proved practically undefeatable.
As their evolution proceeded, the development of the beasts was getting more focused on their physical strength which was enhanced by them getting ever closer to being Devils.
Add that to the fact that they could still use their attuned elements and imbue them with as much cosmic energy they had inside their bodies and you get why the B-class experts were finding it difficult to be victorious.
Frustration began to set in as many of them got crippled while they were all ultimately held down and could do nothing about the bodies being taken away.
Suddenly, Hal's sense perked and he passed his order of retreat to all his Beasts through the telepathic connection he had with them.
It was the best time to retreat too as they had successfully cleared every single body on the battlefield.
The B-class could not follow as they had been beaten down well enough already.
When the last beast, which was none other than Borus, entered into the portal, it closed behind him right as A-class experts arrived at the scene.
They arrived quick enough to see the Portal close and the masked man beside the closing portal get shrouded completely in dark fog before he dashed away from the scene.
Needless, to say, they pursued...
Of course, by the time they reached the spot Hal had vanished at and faced the direction he had faced, they saw nothing. It was almost as though he had vanished into thin air.
Hal was invisible a few meters from where they were searching and took his time to walk away from the area entirely before going into his Harem space for a change of clothes.
When he came back out, he stayed invisible for good measure as he crossed Gelread valley over to the Haron camp where he became visible once again and joined Melinda who smiled at his return.
"You look like you enjoyed yourself" she told him and Hal nodded with a smile.
He indeed had enjoyed himself.
Watching his beasts cart away the bodies and watching them overpower B-class experts brought a smile to his face.
At the moment, he knew the beasts would be digging into feasts of dead bodies and then go into hibernation. From that point, he was not entirely sure what level they would attain but he was interested to see.
"I actually did" Hal told her and kissed her forehead.
News of the actions of the thousands of beasts whose escape had been aided by the mysterious masked man had spread all about the camp and it was at the time of circulation that Hal and Melinda were invited by Devon to have a little sit-down.
...
Devon's Tent...
A circular table that usually held maps and strategic plans for the Haronian general to look through was now only occupied by a wine jug and three wine glasses.
Devon then filled the wine glasses with wine from the jug before he picked up one and gestured to the two,
"Go on, it's good for you" he said.
It indeed was good for them as Hal was quick to realize after inspecting it and having Grimoire double-check, the beverage granted him a boost in his cultivation.
Once Hal had taken a sip, Melinda took one as well while eyeing her father in an 'I still hate you' look.
Devon smiled at his daughter,
"It will help you break through bottlenecks" he said.
Melinda eventually downed the whole Drink and Hal did the same while Devon was a tad bit surprised at the ease with which they had refined and absorbed the wine's effects.
Even after downing gulp, the two showed no signs of discomfort.
He refilled their glasses and then finally began to speak about non-wine related topics,
"So, I heard you two made quite the impression during this Expedition. Melinda in particular, you caused quite the storm despite just arriving." He started.
Melinda sneered,
"What? Are you praising me? 'Cause trust me, I can do without such false gestures" she said.
Devon smiled fondly,
"I am indeed praising you but it is not a false gesture. It's genuine." He said and then looked at Hal who was smiling lightly in amusement,
"As for you... I still don't like you! But you did well. You were quite capable, truly you are a one-of-a-kind genius, but... You can't be trusted" he said.
Hal fought the urge to roll his eyes.
This was so typical and expected.
It no longer struck a chord in him.
He really could not care less what Devon thought of him at this point.
Hal decided to play along,
"Really now. What have I done to deserve such a harsh assessment?" He asked with his amiable smile.
Devon was silent for a while and then said,
"You're hiding something"
This time, Hal rolled his eyes,
"Aren't we all?" He asked.
"Aren't we all... what?" Devon requested clarification.
Hal shrugged,
"Aren't we all hiding something? Do we all not have secrets to keep? I mean, even the Dane family has something to hide. After all, I really doubt you would want the Emperor knowing his General is plotting to overturn his rule"
Devon frowned,
"You are out of line" he said.
Hal shook his head with a mockingly musing expression,
"Actually, I don't think I am. I am involved in this plot now, am I not?" He asked with a relaxed expression.
"Certain things are for you to know but not speak about" Devon said with a scowl.
"Oh please, what are you going to do, kill me? You have too much self-control to let yourself lose control and kill your hope at an alliance with the Doxon family"
"You're pushing it kid. Don't test me. Don't test my patience" Devon said and clenched his fist.
Hal leaned forward, not backing down,
"Then don't go off raving about me not being trustworthy especially if you still hold thoughts of an alliance with the Doxon family, regardless."
Silence...
During which, Melinda had taken to serving herself glass after glass of wine and smiling at the whole conversation that was getting her father purple with rage while Hal remained as relaxed as ever.
Eventually, Devon calmed down and sighed,
"Okay then. I admit your trustworthiness is of no importance to our goals, at least not directly. Whatever you are hiding, whatever it is that makes me uneasy around you, I don't want to know until we have accomplished what we want."
'After that though, I will make sure I end you' he added in his mind.
Almost as though Hal had read Devon's mind, he thought with a bright smile as they both stared into each other's eyes,
'By then, it would be too late, Old Man'
Chapter 474 - The List.
The staring contest of sorts went on for a few more seconds before Devon eventually averted his eyes and gestured to Hal that it was time for him to leave.
When Hal stood up, Melinda made to follow but Devon called to her,
"No, Melinda wait a moment more" he said and Melinda sat back down with a deeply disgruntled look.
Hal left the tent just as his communication talisman alerted him.
Hal went off to somewhere relatively private and away from the raucous of celebrations to take the call.
Out of the talisman boomed the familiar voice of Ehrlich,
"You're alive" said the Princess' stooge with a tone of disappointment.
Hal grinned,
"Well, I'm wasting my time talking to you so I must be" Hal said.
"Wasting your time? How dare you? I am contacting by order of the process and you go about saying nonsense like that." Ehrlich said and Hal rolled his eyes,
"Yeah, yeah, quit your yapping and get to the point, will you?" He said in annoyance.
Ehrlich paused and then,
"Now that the war is over, the princess has another mission for you to undertake" he eventually said.
Hal did not ask how she knew about the end of the war as Devon being a general to the Emperor must have long reported the end of the war through a communication talisman, pending a direct, possibly face-to-face report to the Emperor.
Instead, he mulled it over,
"No" he eventually said.
As Ehrlich misheard his reply, he had already launched into a description of this mission,
"Okay, so it will require you to go to a different Duchy. One you've most likely never visited... Wait, did you say 'No'?" He asked as his brain eventually caught up.
Hal nodded even though Ehrlich could not see him,
"Yes, yes I did. I won't do any more missions until I get to have a sit down with the Princess. If I can't even be afforded that, then I'd rather not offer up my services."
"Hey, hey look here, you are in no position to make demands. The princess requires your services, then you offer them up in the entirety" Ehrlich said.
"I don't think so. I never swore loyalty to her. I work to be paid and as such, I have absolute freedom to act as I please. If I do not want to offer up my services, then I will not. Deliver that to your princess and don't ever contact me until she accepts to have a sitdown.
Oh, and don't attempt some stupid stunt like kidnapping because I assure you that you will regret it"
And with that, Hal disconnected the communication talisman before Ehrlich could say a word in reply.
...
The Haronian army left Gelread valley the very next day. The expedition was over and it was time to go home.
Hal was especially happy to see the end of the expedition.
Now he did not have to act as though he gave a crap what happened to the Haron empire.
Although, those who had fought with him would claim that he had never shown any interest or form of patriotism from the very start.
Anyway, they soon arrived at the border forts where devoted experts kept an eye on any activities in the enemy continent and where the first sighting of the invasion-planning Dystopian Army had been seen.
They were only passing through and continued into the Haron continent's territory proper.
...
Once they were back in the Silva Duchy capital where they were given a sort of hero's welcome as they walked through the streets, Hal and Melinda were quick to separate from them.
This was actually a form of insubordination as all members of the army were to return to the main barrack behind the General and the commanders where they would be addressed on how well or how bad they had acted.
This was mostly formality but it was a formality that was to be followed but Hal and Melinda could not care less.
Once they arrived at the mansion Hal had been given by the Alchemist Organization, Arya was waiting to welcome them both and Hal had not even settled into his return to his mansion and his and the ladies' eventual entry into the Harem space when a visitor arrived at the mansion for him.
The visitor was a silver-haired young man with pale eyes, who even though Hal had not seen for months, he still remembered was Pierre Silva.
When Pierre saw Hal, Arya, and Melinda, he smiled at them and moved forward in excitement while presenting his hand to Hal who eyed it for a long while before shaking it,
"What are you doing here?" Hal asked as soon as their hands had disconnected.
No greetings. No false theatrical show that would have normally involved him struggling to recollect the Silva man's name before been reminded, he simply went straight to the point.
Maybe Hal should have been more friendly but he found it hard to be for numerous reasons.
He was still not pleased with the male gender, except if they were serving him and fighting for him. Even then, he only endured their presence.
He would much rather cuck, cheat and kill them.
He was sexist that way.
He was also no longer interested in 'powerful allies'. Having been decided that if a male was not marked or contracted into servitude by him, he had no need for their alliance.
First Pierre greeted Melinda and Arya with words and a gesture of his head. A gesture Melinda accepted in quite a curt manner.
Pierre smiled uncomfortably as he said to Hal,
"I said you should come to visit me at the Duchy palace but you never came. Surely, your run-in with Adeline could not have put you off, could it?"
Hal shrugged,
"The idea of a visit to your home fills me with trepidation. I'd really rather not." Hal said and
Arya soon excused herself.
Melinda thought to leave as well, but eventually stayed put to listen to what Pierre and Hal would discuss with her legs crossed.
"So, you're an alchemist" Pierre said not as a question but as a statement of fact. A fact he knew.
Hal did not find it surprising that he knew as the news was sure to be spreading in the top echelons. Especially since the top young alchemists whose league he was now unwittingly a part of, were part of the top Echelon.
"Yes, I am" Hal replied knowing where this was going and that it was related to the fact that Pierre knew he was a Runemaster.
"Wow, I never thought I'd get to see someone capable of the two professions. You really are incredible." Pierre said.
"But?" Hal asked as he knew there was one such word coming,
Pierre smiled,
"... But I never thought you would be linked to a Dane." He said and gestured to Melinda with his eyes.
Melinda sneered,
"What? Does that throw you off?" She asked.
"Throw me off? What is that supposed to mean?' Pierre asked but Melinda rolled her eyes,
"Oh don't play dumb. Since you came here, you have never made mention of what you actually came to visit Hal for. You want Hal in your corner, don't you? But you are thrown off by the fact that you met a Dane by his side."
Pierre smiled lightly,
"Even if that was indeed what I came here for, why would your presence affect such plans? After all, the Danes have been loyal subjects of the Duchy for millennia" Pierre said.
Funny thing was that both Hal and Melinda knew Pierre was saying that because that was what he believed.
The Silva man was being as unenlightened as he possibly could. However, maybe from certain things he had heard or certain things he might have experienced, he could sense the unspoken rivalry between the Danes and Silva and it made him uncomfortable in Melinda's presence.
After all, it was very likely Pierre knew nothing of the history between Danes and Silvas, or maybe he knew it in a manner that painted the Silvas as the 'good guys'.
Of course, it is prudent to know that this was practically how Isabella's take was to Hal as well. He (Hal) after all, had no way of knowing if all he had been told by the Dane patroness was the truth and nothing but the truth.
"Why are you here?" Hal asked and Pierre sighed before finally coming clean,
"Okay then, I did come for an alliance. An alliance during the Royal Academy Entrance exam taking place in two weeks"
Hal raised his brow,
'That's right, it's about time for that stupid exam. It completely slipped my mind'
'Of course, it did. You don't need all that nonsense, all you need is me' Grimoire perked up.
Hal's lips twitched,
'What? Are you jealous?' Hal asked but Grimoire remained quiet and declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Melinda who had clearly not forgotten about the exam even if she did not care either way, asked,
"So what?"
Pierre cleared just throat,
"The exam's challenges usually change every year but this year there will be two main stages; Group battles and single battles.
During the first stage, from the rumors, from reliable sources, I have heard no one fights alone and whether you have prearranged teams or not, you must be part of a group and work together towards your collective goal.
What that goal is, I have no idea, but I do know that having a talented cultivator such as yourself in my group could not possibly hurt my chances to get to the second stage."
Hal showed two fingers,
"Couple questions, why come to me when, as a Silva, you are sure to have many talented cultivators to fight with you? And also, how the hell do you even know I'm going to be taking the exam?"
Pierre looked a little confused at the second question,
"You don't know?" He asked but from Melinda's expression, it was clear that she knew and she proceeded to tell Hal,
"It's no big deal but the names of those participating is not a secret to be kept but something to be honored to be a part of. The list of participants already spread about the continent's main Duchy cities during your time at war."
Pierre nodded and presented Hal with a copy of the very long list where he had highlighted a few names, one of which was;
Hal from Sapphire city.
Chapter 475 - An Unknown Side.
Hal furrowed his brow as he looked over the list and confirmed multiple times that his name was really there. Melinda's name was there as well and so was Pierre's sister, Adeline.
Inwardly he sighed and was a tad bit upset at the public nature of his participation in the entrance exam.
"Okay then, I guess that answers the question of how you know I might be taking the exam, but what of the other question?"
Pierre sighed before he said,
"I'll be honest with you, other than Adeline, I have absolutely no one close to me to join up with.
The royal academy exam involves the best of the best which also means it involves the most egotistical young cultivators on the continent. There is just no way around that fact.
I learned how quickly people could change upon being recognized as the best when I took the exam the first two times in the past two years."
Hal raised his brow,
"You've taken the exam more than once?" He inquired to be sure of what he had heard and Pierre nodded,
"You are allowed to take the entrance exam three times. No one can take it any more times than that regardless of who they are. That includes members of the imperial family.
In fact, for a member of the Imperial family, you are only allowed to take the exam twice, and even then, taking the exam the second time would tag the person as 'weak' regardless of success or failure."
At this point, Pierre sighed and closed his eyes before he opened them and continued,
"My situation is similar. I have never been my father's favorite and my failing the exam twice did not help my likeability in his eyes. He has taken to sending me on demeaning tasks such as going to witness the induction of a Baron.
Which also happens to be how I met you.
Anyway, almost every friend I had passed the exam on our first try, as we had taken it together. The ones who failed succeeded the second time. In both cases, they dropped me as fast as they could.
They said I was dead weight.
A failure.
They were right..."
Pierre looked up at Hal and Melinda to see the two now sipping tea that was clearly rich in cultivation resources.
"What the hell?" His eyes widened.
First off, where did the tea come from?
In the space of the few words he had said with his head down, the two were already clinking glasses and watching as though all he said was simply interesting.
There was no sympathy in their eyes as they heard his sad tale.
"Oh, are you referring to the tea? A maid brought it in just a while ago" Hal said.
"Did you even hear anything I just said? Do you understand it?" Pierre asked.
Hal and Melinda nodded,
"Of course we did. It's all very sad" the golden-eyed lady said.
"Well, if it is, why aren't you showing it?" Pierre was utterly confused.
"Because sad or not, we actually couldn't care less when you have clearly already given up on yourself. Tea?" Hal asked and gestured towards the teapot on the small table separating him and Melinda from the Silva man.
"I wouldn't mind a cup" Pierre said and Hal nodded,
"Then get your own" he said and Pierre gapped.
"What?" He asked.
"Get your own tea. It does not come cheap and I would rather not waste it on a failure, isn't that right?" Hal said and gestured his question to Melinda who nodded,
"So right. It would be such a waste."
Pierre looked visibly upset,
"A failure? Now, look here..." He began but Melinda interrupted,
"Look here what? You said it yourself. They were right. Your father, your friends, they were all right. You are a failure."
Hal nodded,
"That's right. Why would I share such precious resources with a failure? Why would I want to assist you in an exam that you, a failure, have failed twice already?"
Pierre calmed down after that as he saw sense in Hal's words before he said,
"Because if you don't help me, I'm likely to fail and third time and I will not be able to bear the shame. That is not to mention the fact that I could get ousted by my family.
No longer able to call myself a Silva" he said in a pleading tone,
"Then why not just not take the exam?" Hal asked and Pierre took a deep breath,
"It will change nothing. It would also be seen as my third consecutive failure. Not participating is not an option. I have to participate and I have to pass. So, will you help me? If you're in my group, I believe I have a higher chance of passing the first stage."
The part he had neglected to talk about was that this was not only concerning him.
Adeline was taking the exam this year and she was adamant about being in her brother's group. She would drop every friend she had if they would not allow her brother to join their group.
Pierre was touched but also worried for her.
You see, the more times you take the entrance exam into the Royal Academy, the harder it is to pass. The competition becomes even harder to topple.
Unlike Hal and those close to him who breezed through cultivation realms and remained greedy for more, Pierre's cultivation did not improve drastically since he took the exam for the first time two years ago.
And if he did not take the exam this year, it would just be counted as a forfeit and an instant fail without any more chances.
Adeline was indeed a genius and there was even a possibility that before the Exam in two weeks, she will advance to the Cosmic Aurora realm, but because she wished to be in the same group with him, they would most likely have to settle for failures as well.
They would have to settle those who had taken their exams more than once.
And such a team, Pierre knew from his second exam experience was practically doomed to fail.
He needed new blood.
He needed another genius.
He needed Hal.
Hal looked to mull it over before he said,
"It depends. I could very well not participate in the Exam. That said, I'm intrigued with the prospect and I will definitely think about it."
Before Hal even bothered with the Royal academy exam, he wanted to have that sit-down with Tanya.
Maybe she would not give in and attempt to convince him to take on the new mission through other means, but he was sticking to his guns on this one. If not, the princess would simply always believe that he would work as long as the pay is right.
This could be every bit as restricting as swearing loyalty to her.
If he did not take a stand and make these occasional demands, he would really have no value in her eyes.
He'd be taken for granted.
And that was the last thing he wanted.
"Think about it... Please. It's not just my success that is on the line..." Pierre looked to wish to say more but eventually stopped and walked out of the mansion to return to the Silva Duchy palace.
Hal watched him leave and could not help but be amused at how different this situation was from when Hal and Pierre met for the first time when the young man had been sophisticated and important.
Speaking about meting honorable justice and eventually claiming they could be friends.
How different that was from the pleading expression he now had on his face.
Melinda slid into his lap and wound her arms around his neck as she began peppering his neck with kisses.
Then she asked,
"So... are you going to ask me or what?"
Hal raised a brow,
"Ask you what?"
"To join your group. Assuming you do take the exam that is" she said and leaned away from him to look into his eyes,
Hal wound his arm around her to grab one of her ass cheeks as he said,
"Should I have to ask? That should be a given. Like asking a lover if you will spend Valentine's day together or not. Such things don't need to be asked. They should be known."
"What's Valentine's day?" Melinda asked.
'Propaganda' Hal thought.
"A special day for lovers" was what he actually said.
"Where do they celebrate it?" Melinda asked as she was of course clueless as to such customs.
"In a place called earth" Hal told her with a smile.
"Where's that?"
"It's one of the many worlds that exist in the multiverse. It... used to be my home"
Melinda's brows furrowed and she wondered what Hal meant. How could he have been in another world and call it home when he was supposed to be born and raised in this world? The Nexus world.
She thought to question Hal on it but stopped when she realized, Hal was exposing a side of himself to her that he had never exposed to anyone else.
A side she could have gone the rest of her life and never known.
He was exposing it to her without any prompting from her.
All she had to do was listen.
At least for now.
Hal was still speaking,
"You could definitely crush the strongest of them without actually trying. And their most powerful weapons will be totally useless against us but they are amusing to remember.
Ah, life was kind of simple back then.
Not too boring. But this is so much better"
He pulled Melinda's face closer and connected their lips in a passionate kiss before separating and saying,
"I wouldn't trade this life for anything"
"Neither would I?" Melinda said and reconnected their kiss with even more passion than Hal had put into the kiss in the first place....
Chapter 476 - An Invitation Of Sorts. Part 1. R-18
"Ahhhnnn"
Arya moaned as Hal delved into her pussy and licked it for all it was worth. Getting her delirious with pleasure as she clamped her thighs around his head to hold him there but it did not do anything to hinder Hal who upped his cunnilingus skills even more.
Melinda had returned to the Dane territory already after some personal time with Hal. At the moment when Hal was spending time with Arya in the Harem space, Melinda was already reunited with the guard placed with her by her grandmother.
Of course, now Irma was more like a personal assistance rather than the bodyguard the golden-eyed beauty reluctantly accepted.
That said, Irma still reported back to Isabella but Melinda did not really mind.
She always refrained from talking about the main things that she wished to keep from her grandmother in Irma's presence and then made use of Irma's connections about the Dane territory and even the Duchy at large (thanks to working for Isabella) in her favor.
Anyway, after she left, Hal decides to indulge himself in Arya's body.
Something he had not done for so long and was sure to be quite the bountiful essence reaping session. Due to her being at the Cosmic Pagoda realm.
Arya arched her back, spread her thighs, and thrust her pussy even harder into Hal's lips and pleasurable tongue to gain even more traction but nothing was enough
Nothing was satisfactory.
No matter how she gyrated,
No matter how good she felt,
She was always wanting more.
At the moment, she moved speedily towards an Orgasm, and Hal's pleasurable tongue guided her along, and soon, she was exploding and squirting pussy juice into his mouth.
Pussy juice that the Devil quickly lapped up with joy.
Then he rose from between her legs to lie down on the bed beside her. He placed his hands behind his head as Arya knew what she was to do next.
Even as her body trembled slightly from the vestiges of her Orgasm, she pulled down his pants and Hal raised his lower half to ease the process, and then she took a few seconds to simply gawk at the majestic flaccid tool. The mere sight of which was causing her mouth to water.
Her pussy moistened as well, but since it was already wet, it hardly made a difference other than a tingling that very distinctly differed from her post-orgasmic tingles.
She grabbed hold of the tool and bent low to not yet lick it but to take a whiff of it. Take a whiff of that delicious scent that had the ability to make her lose all ability of rational thought.
Then she stretched her tongue to it and took a long lick of the tool before taking the head into her mouth to begin to suck while she stroked the rest of it with her hand.
She went hard from the very start because she knew she would not be rewarded with the erection of Hal's cock if her attention to it was considered to be half-assed.
*Fap* *Fap* *Fap*
*Slurp* *Slurp* *Slurp*
Was the sound of her strokes and licks and Hal enjoyed the attention she showed his cock. He enjoyed the movements of her hand and it showed In the gradual but sure stiffening of his cock.
As well as the occasional groans he allowed to leak from his lips.
'This is the life' he thought with his eyes closed as the fellation session continued.
Then he noted another presence in the room and his eyes opened to see Marla standing at the doorway and grinning wickedly with her eyes staring directly at Arya's ass which was thrust in her direction.
Hal smiled as Marla stepped closer to the two and then proceed to stick her tongue into Arya's glistening pussy lips.
So involved with her fellatio was Arya that she had not noticed Marla's presence in the room. Her guard had been completely down.
It was only after Marla grabbed her ass cheeks and stuck her tongue against her pussy lips that the Alchemist's eyes widened in surprise.
Looking quite comical with that expression as Hal's cock was still inside her mouth.
Then she removed her mouth from the wonderful organ so that she could turn her head a fraction and address Marla,
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.
Marla pulled back from her pussy lips,
"What's with those eyes? What, you've never had a woman eat you out before?" She asked and went right back to what she had been doing.
"Ahnnn" Arya moaned at the pleasure she felt from Marla's oral service.
It was nothing compared to how it had felt to have Hal lick her pussy but it felt very good all the same.
Hal chuckled at the classic Marla response before he pressed Arya's head back down onto his cock so she could pick up where she had left off.
Arya gladly did so, but every time Marla's ministrations struck a chord in her, she would moan and groan onto Hal's cock.
The vibration of which made it all the more enjoyable for Hal who occasionally thrust his cock upwards to get even more of the length inside Arya's mouth.
Arya had taken to massaging his balls in a bid to get his seed out of them and into her even faster.
Hal groaned,
"Here it comes" was the only warning he gave before his cum exploded out of his cock and into Arya's mouth.
It was them that Arya showed off her swallowing skills because even though the volume was immense as usual, she still managed to keep it from wasting.
She swallowed most of it and only left enough in her mouth to savor its delicious taste while Marla's licks got her ever closer to climax and soon, she was twitching and spamming as her orgasm rolled over her.
"Oh, yesssssss" she moaned and squirted her pussy juices onto the bed as Marla was no longer licking her but was merely looking at her with an amused expression.
"One would think, with the way you had looked at me, that you would not enjoy cumming to my ministrations. And you are so damn loud, I like it" she said with a sexy grin before she moved over to Hal to lick any left over cum on his cock.
Once she was done, Hal approached the prone Arya whose limbs were twitching occasionally.
He grabbed her smooth creamy thighs and spread her wide to expose her pussy. Then he dropped one of her thighs to take hold of his steely cock and place it at her entrance.
He rubbed it up and down her moist slit and even though she was still coming down from an orgasmic high, Arya groaned to him,
"Master, please, Fuck me. I need it so bad" she said.
Hal saw no reason to ignore her as he thrust half his cock length into her tight pussy.
Immediately he was inside her, Arya tightened around him and almost made it impossible to move.
Almost
Hal pulled back until only the head of his cock was left inside her before he thrust into her until his cock was inside her to the hilt.
Then he grabbed hold of both her thighs once again as he began drilling into the Devil-spell adept Alchemist who let him know how good she felt with her loud words.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
"OH YES, fuck me... Fuck me harder... Drill me... Make me lose all sense of reasoning... Make me mad with pleasure... Kill me... Kill me... Kill me with your cock..."
Hal for his part more than enjoyed the way her pussy squeezed tightly around him in a bid to milk him for all he was worth.
Arya's words were soon cut off though when Marla connected their lips to get any remainder of Hal's seed inside her mouth.
Chapter 477 - An Invitation Of Sorts. Part 2
For the next hour, Hal continued pounding Arya who had gone through multiple orgasms but was now heading towards one that surpassed all the others while Hal also groaned before dumping his seed deep inside her.
Arya fell unconscious after that and Marla was quick to reposition her body before she got on all fours to present her shapely ass to Hal while thrusting her tongue into the unconscious Alchemist's pussy at the same time.
Marla had no intentions of letting Hal's seed which was already starting to sip out of Arya's pussy to go to waste and would suck every drop of it into her mouth. Enjoying the wonderful mixture he Hal's seed and Arya's pussy juices while also enjoying Hal's wonderful cock thrusting into her from behind.
Hal smiled lightly as he placed his cock at her pussy was then thrust in, hard and fast.
The speed and force caused Marla's back to arch in pleasure as she muffled her moans with Arya's cum filled pussy.
*Pah* *Pah* *Pah*
*Smack* *Smack* *Smack*
The tempo of the session picked up and got even faster but that did not stop Marla from sourcing out all of Hal's seed inside Arya's pussy.
Eventually, she climaxed. Almost at the same time, she realized she had gotten every drop of Hal's cum that was inside Arya's pussy.
Once the tightening milking of his cock by her pussy had stopped, Hal pulled out of Marla's pussy only to change positions with her now lying on the bed as he pounded her in a classic missionary position during which she clung on to him with every strength she still had in her post-orgasm weak body.
She regained her strength while they had sex in this position though as the energy boost granted by Hal's seed finally came into effect.
Then after half an hour in that position, half an hour during which Hal had indulged himself in her beautiful breasts, they changed positions again.
This time with Hal standing and Marla clinging to him like a koala bear while he eased her pussy onto his cock and fucked her even harder thanks to gravity enhancing the force of his thrust whenever he lifted and dropped her back down on his raging pole.
All through this, Marla was moaning loudly while clinging even harder onto him. With her legs and arms as well as her pussy.
Of course, when Marla finally reached her limit, that was not the end of what quickly turned into an Orgy as Hal began his turns. Pleasing Every single woman in the Mansion.
Including Arya and Marla who later awoke from their slumber still hungry for more.
...
It was only until the next day (Normal time) that Hal finally exited the Harem space along with Marla, Arya, and Rita.
Marla was more than happy to roam outside of the Harem space.
Unlike the ladies inside it right now who had quite accepted it and even welcomed it as the best way of life, she was more than happy to spend some time outside of the space.
Arya soon left for the Alchemist Organization where she had now taken to work fully as an Alchemist.
She told Hal that the Branch head would surely be relieved that he had not died in war and it only served to amuse Hal who really could not care less.
After all, the Branch hard was only worried because he hoped Hal could win the Alchemist convention along with Adeline Silva. The whole idea which Hal had not particularly cared for.
Anyway,
One thing he did care about was meeting Lucile as he went to the Paladin Trade Union headquarters to see the building was undergoing massive renovation or more accurately, it had undergone it already.
They were putting the finishing touches but one look and it was clear that the Trade Union was a massive success. One that surpassed its previous state.
Clearly, Lucile had a good hand for business.
When Hal went in, the attendants were welcoming to him. When last he had been here, he knew Lucile had told them of him and said he was to be treated with respect.
He was to be treated like he owned the place.
And he actually did own part of it as he had invested the wealth of the Sheik of Black lagoon in it.
"Master Hal" greeted the clerk with a bow.
"I'm here to see Lucile," he told the clerk with a smile but the clerk said,
"I'm sorry to inform you, but lady Lucile has not been here in a month. We have no idea where she is" the clerk said.
"You don't seem worried" Hal noted and the Clerk raised a brow,
"Well, why should I be? She's alive and she is doing all she's doing for the good of the Union. Being worried is of no use or help"
"Exactly what is she doing?" Hal asked and the Clerk explained...
Apparently, Lucile had been successful in creating branches for the Union and the branches were doing relatively well so she returned to the headquarters a month ago.
However, the level of success was not satisfactory to Lucile, and when she learned of a venture with which she could source incredible Artifacts that they could auction off gradually to keep the Union successful, she went after it.
While the Union traded in so many things ranging from Arrays or attacking runes they were commissioned to sell by Runemasters to pills and Alchemical products they were commissioned to sell by Alchemists and anything else sellable, be it furniture, clothing, etc, with this horde of Actionable Artifacts in which they kept all the pay and were not being middlemen, they (the union) could be set for life.
It was an opportunity Lucile could not let slip away.
Not only that, she wanted to oversee it all personally along with the excavators who worked for the union and who should have been taking care of this sort of situation.
However, there was no actual location to find this horde of treasures, it was more like a riddle that when solved would lead to it.
So no one knew where she was and when she checked in to show she was alive, she never bothered to say where she was as she believed there was no point to such since she could be leaving that location soon anyway.
He asked if he could contact her and the clerk said no.
She could contact them, but they could not contact her. She had wanted it that way as the last thing she needed was interruptions on this quest of hers.
When Hal left the Paladin Trade union headquarters, his brow was furrowed as he wondered if Lucile was well wherever she was and it was when he was thinking of this that his communication talisman alerted him.
He found a private enough location and take the call, out of which sounded the voice of Princess Tanya Haron,
"Hello Hal" the Princess greeted.
"Hello Princess" he said as he felt he might as well add honorifics.
"Quite an interesting ultimatum you gave me. I have to admit I was intrigued and could hardly ignore such boldness" Tanga said and Hal shrugged.
"I'm glad" Hal said in a bland voice.
"That said, it was disrespectful" Tanya said.
"I don't care" Hal shrugged.
Tanya took a deep breath on the other side,
"Very well, you want a sit-down, you've got one. You will have to come to me though" the Princess said.
"Okay then, where are you?" Hal asked in a natural voice and Tanya sniggered before she replied,
"The Imperial Palace.... In the Imperial city"
Chapter 478 - A Peculiar Consort And A Familiar Face.
The Imperial City...
Tagged a city but more than large enough to compete with any Duchy. In fact, it was once the kingdom ruled by the Harons before they sought absolute dominance over the entire continent.
The Imperial city...
It was where the Emperor lived and from where he ruled the entire continent. From where he prevailed over the human race. The dominance of his Haron lineage that has not been toppled for millennia.
And yet, grand as it all was, the only thing that actually came to Hal's mind was,
'The Imperial palace... I wonder how many world-class beauties the emperor has in his imperial harem. The mere thought of cucking an Emperor gives me such thrill.'
'To even think of cucking the Emperor as weak as you are right now... Your greed truly has no limit.' Grimoire piped
Hal scoffed,
'Let's not even talk about a human Emperor, if I get the chance to get away with it and laugh in their faces afterward, I'll cuck gods!'
The Conversation was quick and Hal did not allow his thoughts to show on his face even though Tanya could not see him,
"Fine. I'll come to the Imperial palace" he said.
"You will?" Tanya seemed taken by surprise at how readily he accepted to come and see her in the Imperial Palace.
'Was she seriously thinking I would be too intimidated to go? How naive' Hal thought with a mild chuckle.
Tanya composed herself almost immediately,
"Okay then" she said and made to disconnect but Hal said before she could,
"Oh, but if I am coming, I can't possibly be expected to pay for my own transportation, can I?"
"Why shouldn't you pay for yourself?" Tanya asked.
Hal smirked,
"Oh? You're a princess and are not ready to fund your asset's travels? How cheap can you be?" He asked.
'Look who's talking!' Grimoire said in outrage and Hal ignored it.
"Fine. I'll fund your travels" Tanya said before disconnecting.
Hal decided there was no point in dawdling and went right to the Teleportation that had taken him to Doxon Duchy. He took his time so he could be sure Tanya would have gotten things ready for his departure.
Sure enough, when he got to the teleportation circle building and stated his name, he was told he did not need to pay.
Probably took just one call from the Princess.
It was that easy.
The journey to the Imperial city would take two days. The same as the length of journey between two neighboring Duchys.
The imperial city stood right at the center of the Haron continent and was surrounded by Four Duchys which made up the inner ring (Unofficially) named) of the continent.
Then the remaining Eight surrounded the four to complete twelve Duchys.
The Silva and Doxon Duchys were two of the four Duchys surrounding the Imperial city and so the journey to and from them was bound to be short.
Hal stepped onto the Teleportation circle and it was activated which saw him get sucked into the void.
When his eyes opened next, he was inside a Teleportation circle quite similar to the one he had gone into but yet possessing an elegance about it that set it aside.
After going through the usual refusal to have to state his name and then having his image taken, he then walked out of the building to see that the elegance he had noted or more accurately, felt in the Teleportation building was not restricted to the building.
The entire air of the Imperial City had the feel of that elegance.
The feel that they were at the center of everything.
And then, there was the Imperial Palace.
So immensely huge and impossible to miss.
Sitting at the center of the Imperial city.
It was there Hal headed.
Maybe he could have taken his time sightseeing but he was quite eager for something else at the moment.
And not all of those reasons were perverted.
After all, the main reason he had come here was to have a sit down with Tanya and find out where the map he had gotten from the Kruger estate led to.
He boarded a carriage which took him directly to the palace gates which were being guarded by intimidating-looking guards with intimidating late-stage Cosmic Aurora realm cultivation.
Only the Emperor's domain could ever showcase such flex where mere guards who stayed at the gate and were the weakest of his forces had cultivation to put some seasoned cultivators to shame.
The guards looked at Hal hostilely and were already sending him signals that he was not to even dare getting closer.
Hal paid them no heed as he took out his communication talisman. He contacted Tanya but it was Ehrlich who answered the call and while he rolled his eyes and the buff man groaned in annoyance on the other side, he still told him of his arrival.
"Wait there" Ehrlich said.
A few minutes later, the buff man arrived and the guards let him through where he then called to Hal to lead him inside.
As they walked towards the closest Teleportation circle, Ehrlich spoke,
"Be careful what you say in here. Your stupidity will not be seen as endearing. You are a nobody in the presence of the noblest of all bloodlines in the Haron continent. The Haron Bloodline.
This is an honor and should not be taken lightly." Ehrlich said and paused when they arrived at the closest Teleportation circle to the gate and then turned to look back at Hal,
"Do you understand?" He asked.
Hal in turn looked absolutely clueless,
"Do I understand what?"
Ehrlich swelled in anger,
"Do you understand everything I have just said?" He asked again.
"You were saying something?" Hal asked as he had indeed tuned Ehrlich out.
Why would he waste his time listening to the buff idiot when he could better spend that time with his thoughts on more important things.
Ehrlich growled but he said nothing.
The Teleportation circle took them deeper into the palace grounds but not directly to their destination.
All Teleportation circles in the Imperial palace had limits in their range which means, no matter what, you need to use more than one circle to reach any area of the Imperial palace or to leave the palace.
This was actually one of the reasons Ehrlich had launched into a speech to caution Hal on how to speak.
As there was no direct transportation to Tanya's residence, they were bound to meet so many of those who lived in the Imperial palace along the way.
Sure enough, right at the moment they stepped off the Teleportation Circle, they indeed met someone.
She was a woman dressed in stately attire that befitted her status as a woman in the Emperor's inner court.
Her brown hair was adorned with so many expensive ornaments that did not take away attention from the gorgeous imperial hairpin that held her hair in place at the top of her head. A hairpin that told of her status.
A hairpin Ehrlich recognized but Hal was clueless to.
"Your highness" Ehrlich bowed low, keeping his face out of sight as he did not dare to look this woman in the face.
In truth, she was not the Empress, but that was the only title her status was lacking for she was the mother of the First prince, Creten Haron who many already perceived would be inducted as the Crown prince.
Hal felt this was not the moment to act prideful or arrogant, (after all, who the hell was he in face of such status), so he followed Ehrlich's lead and bowed.
The Imperial consort did not really spare them any looks.
She was used to being bowed to.
It was the natural order of things.
How could they possibly not bow, knowing who she was?
However, as she walked uncaring past them, with her attendants trailing behind her, something about the black-haired lean young man caught her attention.
Something she could not really explain.
"Look up" she told Hal and he did so immediately to nail the beautiful consort whose ample breasts could not be totally hidden by her robe, with his sapphire blue eyes.
The consort bit her lip and then walked away in a huff.
As Hal watched her leave, he could not help but smile,
'Interesting' he thought.
Judging from the slight shake of her legs, Hal knew the consort was on the verge of an Orgasm.
From seeing his face.
While standing.
In a fairly public place with her attendants and clueless Ehrlich present.
'Very interesting'
Funny thing was that Hal who usually paid a lot of attention to women could not really be sure of the Consort's features. Other than ample breasts and brown hair, he could not make any more mention of her features.
The work of an Artifact... Or was he just not paying enough attention overall?
"Let's go" Ehrlich said, eager to leave and not willing to talk about the consort who was now gone.
However, as fate would have it, Hal was to see someone else that actually struck a familiar chord in him.
And that was because he had seen the man before.
As the Prince (Hal could tell he was a prince due to his robes) walked by and Hal followed Ehrlich's lead to bow, his attention was actually on the attendant closest to the Prince.
It was a man with multicolored hair and green eyes that seemed to have slits.
Hal instantly recognized him as the semi-saint, who belonged to an Organization the Princess was against, who almost grabbed hold of him at the Kruger Estate.
Chapter 479 - Who Is Seducing Who?
There was no mistaking, it was him.
At this point, Hal had completely forgone the thoughts of bowing as he now turned his eyes away from the multi-colored-haired apprentice to the Prince he was attending to.
The prince looked slight but healthy.
There was a sort of benevolence about his gaze as he actually took note of all those who bowed to him and acknowledged them with nods.
Hal wondered if he knew his attendant was a part of a secret organization or better still, if he (the prince) was a part of the organization as well.
Pietro looked over to Hal and the blue-eyed devil could tell there was no sense of remembrance in his gaze. There was scorn though and it was soon understood why that was the case when Pietro yelled at him,
"Hey you, why aren't you bowing to the Prince?" he asked.
Hal furrowed his brows not exactly sure what to say when the Prince himself waved his hand,
"It's fine. Let it go" he said with that same benevolent smile before he moved on.
After one last glare at Hal, Pietro followed with the other attendants.
When Hal looked to Ehrlich thinking he would caution him on his disrespect at not bowing to the Prince, the buff man made no mention of it.
Instead, he watched the prince and his attendants walk out of sight with a frown, and only when he was sure they were out of earshot did he say,
"Phony"
Hal did not ask what he meant by that and Ehrlich made no attempt to explain as he moved on to the next teleportation circle.
This circle took them closer to their destination but of course, they still were still far from where they were truly headed and as they walked, Ehrlich made no sound. He was quiet all through.
Hal knowing that this was not because he was suddenly conscious of the fact that Hal hated the sound of his voice knew there must be something else bothering the buff lackey of Princess Tanya Haron.
He did not ask though.
As they walked, they met many more inhabitants of the Imperial palace but they were not Imperials. They varied from guards to Maids to Eunuchs. All going about their business in the Imperial palace and to the service of the Emperor and his family.
The females all acknowledged Hal's looks and Hal always took the time to wink at them or lightly flirt with them. Which certainly seemed to make their day.
After the first fifty maids had fawned over Hal, Ehrlich could no longer stand the lack of attention to his own buff physique and picked up the pace. (The Jealous bastard)
Now they were no longer walking between circles, but were running at the peak of the speed their cultivations allowed them with Ehrlich more than a little surprised at the fact that Hal was keeping up with him.
Eventually, more than ten circles later, they were finally at an Amalgam of buildings that looked dignified and distinguished enough to house the most powerful family on the Haron continent, the Harons themselves.
Was Hal in awe of the sight?
You bet he was.
Anyways, at this point, there were no longer any Teleportation circles and both Hal and Ehrlich would need to navigate the streets between this amalgam of buildings to arrive at Princess Tanya's residence.
It actually took a much shorter time than Hal expected.
And soon, they were in front of a beautiful residence that was bustling with the activities of maids and was under the guard of guards.
They let them through once they saw Ehrlich and Hal allowed his eyes to roam as Ehrlich led him into the residence towards the lounge where he thought Tanya would be.
But she was not there.
An attendant walked in soon enough to tell Ehrlich that the Princess was waiting for Hal in her bed chambers.
Hal's eyes widened slightly in surprise but it was nothing compared to Ehrlich who's eyes became as huge as saucers.
"H-H-H-Her bed-chambers? But that is..." He began but the attendant interrupted him with her hand raised,
"That is what the Princess said. You are not about to question her, are you? Because if you are, I will be more than happy to teach you that it is not your place to do so." She said and her eyes flashed.
Hal could immediately tell that this attendant was not to be messed with.
She was dangerous!
Ehrlich gulped,
"There is no need for that" he said.
The attendant gave a short curt nod in satisfaction at his words before she turned to Hal who was always happy to see Ehrlich put in his place,
"Come with me" she said.
"Of course" Hal said with a dignified pose that looked quite good on him despite the fact that he was a degenerate pervert to the core.
He followed after the attendant and there was even more navigating as they went deeper into the residence of Tanya Haron and arrived at a beautiful door, despite which Hal could still smell the scent he had now identified with Tanya.
The smell of roses.
"He's here" the attendant announced and Tanya's voice sounded from inside the room,
"Bring him in"
The attendant pushed the door open after that and led Hal into a dim-lit room where the scent of roses was even stronger,
There was a transparent curtain partition through which Hal could see the large queen-sized bed the Princess' room contained.
There was nothing particularly special about the room other than the dim lighting but even then it still felt special.
And then there was Tanya Haron herself dressed in a smooth silk gown that emphasized her ample tits. She looked absolutely ravishing with so much exposed skin.
True, her usual clothing wee seductive but this went a step further.
If not for the good level of self-control Hal had, he would probably have been sporting a tent in his pants right now. And it would be all for her.
However, even the Devil should know when to bid his time.
Also, Hal knew what this was all about.
He could tell what all this out-of-character act was all about...
Tanya wanted to seduce him.
However, rather than feel glad at the possibilities, Hal was upset.
You might ask why?
Well, you see, he knew Tanya was not doing it because she wanted to have sex with him.
She was doing it to make him 'agreeable' to her suggestions.
Part of him wondered where she had gotten such an idea since from what he had noticed about Tanya, this was surely not her style of doing things.
While Hal did not know for sure, he was actually right that this was not Tanya's style of doing things.
Yes, she dressed a tad bit seductively, in gowns that always clung to her form to show off her breasts and her wide and sexy hips but it was usually more because she was comfortable that way.
This behavior of hers was out of character and how could it not be?
The one she had gotten the idea from was much more slutty than she could ever hope to be after all.
'What a sneaky Tease! It's certainly okay when I'm the one doing the teasing but, how dare you... how dare you attempt to get me revved up and horny for your hot body just so you can manipulate me?
How dare you dangle it like a forbidden fruit I am incapable of tasting?
How fucking dare you?'
Hal raged in his mind but kept it away from his face as he smiled at Tanya and actually bowed to her.
Of course, it was not a true bow and Tanya could tell when he used it to shamelessly look her from toe to head as he stood slowly, calmly back up.
She was not disgusted though. This only showed her plan was working.
"Have a seat" she told him and patted an empty spot on the sofa she was seated on.
There was no need to waste time with pleasantries.
Once Hal was seated, comfortably so, Tanya said,
"First off, what makes you think you are worthy enough to know of my plans? To know what I seek?"
Hal shrugged,
"I got you to invite me into your room just by saying no to a mission. Clearly, you value me. If I am wrong and you don't, then you can just send me off right now" he said.
While Tanya's expression remained the same, in her mind, she was actually agreeing with Hal while berating herself.
She could not kill him, could not hurt him, and while she might be able to threaten him to do her bidding, she ultimately decided to table the idea for now.
After all, if she could get him to be putty in her hands like she had seen Elsa do numerous times to other men, she could have him do as she wished with absolutely no issues.
She closed the small distance still between them on the sofa until their knees touched and then she stretched her right hand to his thigh.
According to Elsa, in Seduction, Talking was overrated. Actions speak louder. So much louder.
All that as well as any rational thought were tossed out the window (figuratively) as Hal placed his hand on hers which was still on his thigh.
Introducing Tanya Haron to a whole new world of pleasure, one she had never experienced before.
As she tried to hold back her moan, she looked up into his sapphire blue eyes and felt herself getting lost in them, she could not help but exclaim in her mind,
'Wait a minute, exactly who is seducing who?'
Chapter 480 - The Silver Moon Sect.
How could Tanya not ask the question?
How could she not ask it as the back of her hand which Hal was touching was radiating such pleasure all around her body and already causing her inner thighs to moisten?
How could she not ask when she now felt like she was a Lamb and Hal was a wolf quite ready to eat her up?
Cliche as that would probably sound, that was how Tanya felt and Hal was very much aware.
How dare she attempt to tease him?
Clearly, she had no idea who she was dealing with.
Suddenly Hal pulled her hand off his thigh and held it even tighter before he used it to pull Tanya towards himself.
Transitioning into a position where his back was against the sofa's hand rest and he had Tanya's back pressed against his chest.
Now he could look down and see the dip of cleavage between the high peaks on her chest.
He could look and enjoy to his heart's content as Tanya was not protesting anytime soon.
Why wasn't she?
Well, when they transitioned into this position, Hal's hands were now on her arms. Touching her smooth and creamy skin and running up and down those arms with his hands charged with {Erogenous Touch}.
So charged in fact that Tanya moaned and leaned against him even more.
The only other person in the room was the attendant and it was clear from her frown that she felt Hal was doing something dubious.
She was right of course but when she made to move, Tanya disentangled herself from Hal and put a lot of distance between them as she was now at the other side of the sofa.
A quick flick of her wrist and she pulled out a piece of clothing which she used to cover herself up.
It was more symbolic than anything and it symbolized the end of her attempt at active seduction.
Not just because she was not good at it but also because she was facing a master in the art. She wondered what would be the result if Elsa, who was the most seductive person she knew, clashed with Hal who was definitely no slouch.
Even now that Hal was no longer touching her, she could still feel tingly.
She could not help but wonder if, in her attempt to seduce him, she had not actually burned herself.
Her body craved his touch and was making her crave it more than anything she had ever wanted,
That's right.
It was making her crave his touch more than the accomplishment of her goals.
She shook her head and the action while having no direct effect on the calming of her thoughts and body did aid her in regaining control.
Once she was sure she had regained enough control of herself, she finally raised her head to Hal, whose Sapphire blue eyes still drew her in, and said in a calm tone of voice,
"This mission... I want you to undertake it. Saying No is not an option" she said with a frown.
Her tone was no longer sweet with a touch of ensnarement, now it was dangerous.
Quite like how a Cosmic Semi-saint expert was supposed to speak to a Cosmic phenomenon realm junior.
Hal's smile remained,
"My answer hasn't changed. And don't threaten me, you can't kill me" He said.
Tanya paused at the confidence in his voice,
'What sort of backings could you have? What makes you think you are untouchable?' She thought and then a woman came to mind.
A woman with long black hair and sapphire blue eyes. A face that was a tad bit similar to that of the young man sitting right in front of her with the similarity easy to notice once you know it's there.
She thought of the Blue-eyed witch, a woman she never wished to cross for more reasons than just the reputation the Doxon Duchess had built up.
Tanya was never one to follow the hype. But she knew, in this case, the hype was warranted.
"Okay then, you really want to know what the map leads to, I'll tell you" she said and Hal's eyes widened.
He was ready to stick to his guns but he had not expected Tanya to give in. Was she really that stuck on the idea of him going on this mission?
Was it really something she could not entrust Ehrlich to do?
Tanya continued,
"You should know though, that if the legends are true and you attempt to seek it out, you will experience the worse of deaths. The fresh ripped-off bones kind of death. Absolutely horrifying."
"Is that so?" Hal asked with widened eyes and he let his skepticism show.
"Yes, it is" Tanya replied.
And then she began;
Apparently, the map had been drawn by the First Emperor of the Haron continent to lead a worthy descendant to the secret to his success. The secret to how he had been successful in laying down the legacy of their Haron reign and the dominance they all now enjoy.
The Map led to a Nexus stone.
Or more accurately, it led to a secret vault belonging to the first Emperor and while containing much riches also contains the Nexus stone.
No one knew exactly how it worked but the little they knew through the legends said the one who could wield the Nexus stone would have unrivaled control over the continent.
However, the legend also claimed that anyone who did not possess Haron blood and wields the Nexus stone would suffer the worst of deaths. The flesh ripped off the bones sort of death.
"The map does not lead in the standard manner, it's more like a puzzle. And this would explain why most have been able to understand it." Tanya said.
"But you do" Hal noted and Tanya let a smile play in her lips briefly before quickly composing herself,
"Yes, I do. But while most gave truly seem unable to understand it, there are surely those who can. Which is where it gets tricky. Understanding the map does not mean you will surely find the vault because it just leads to another clue in the puzzle.
For the past two months, I have toiled to find the clue which happened to not be where the map claimed it would be due to changing terrain of the Haron continent over hundreds of thousands of years."
'Well, that's to be expected. If it is as flimsy as a piece of parchment like this map, then it is sure to have changed hands since it was kept.' Hal thought.
Tanya continued,
"I now know where it is and it is not at the kind of location anyone can ever attempt to rob. Or attack. This is not only because there are powerful experts there and is not only because once caught, the culprit will be punished by the Emperor himself,
The real reason no one will ever attempt to rob this place I am talking about is because it's a sect chuck full of diviners." Tanya said.
Her tone was normal. Neutral. But even then, the impact of her words caused a dense silence to descend and bear heavily in the room...
"Hahahahaha"
... At least that was how it was before Hal burst into laughter.
"Really? You are actually talking about a place full of fortune tellers?" He asked and his tone showed how ludicrous he saw it all.
Tanya frowned,
"Not fortune tellers, Diviners. And not just a 'place', it's a sect. The Silver moon sect. Known to only accept females because they are the purest of all mankind."
'Bullcrap' Hal thought but said nothing.
Tanya continued,
"The moment any ill will, be it robbery, murder, or just plain perversion is directed towards them, they will know. And they will be so locked down, any attempt at robbing the place will prove useless.
Any attempt at concealing oneself will also be rendered void as they would know of such an attempt even before it happens. In matters that involve their security as individual members or as a sect, they always know beforehand.
Even if you go in there with a clean mind in an attempt to change your mind on the fly once inside their walls and they can no longer react fast enough, it's pointless because they are sure to already know your plans beforehand.
No one has ever found a loophole in their system and many have stopped trying.
That's where I need you to go.
I need you to go to the Silver moon sect and get me the next piece of the puzzle."
Hal furrowed his brows,
"But you've made it clear that I cannot steal it. How then, do you expect me to get it?" Hal asked.
Tanya shrugged,
"How else? Charm"
"What?" Hal asked with a mild chuckle.
"You heard me, I said use your charm. Since you can't steal it, then go in there with the intention to charm your way to the piece of the puzzle.
I'll give you my Imperial seal and it will get you through the gates. Especially if your intentions at only getting the piece of the puzzle are all you have in mind.
However, I have to warn you, once inside the sect, no one can protect you. No powerful background will save you if you cross them and you could very well lose your life if you offend them.
All things in the Silver moon sect happen according to the wishes and whims of their sect head and from what I have heard, she can be very vicious...."